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History

Early Life[]

Marsha Rosenberg was born and raised in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, growing up as someone looked down upon by most of her peers, as she was overweight and socially awkward. Her only real friend was Mary "Skeeter" MacPherran, who was similarly unpopular, in her case for being scrawny and from a poor background. The two girls were consistently mocked and humiliated since childhood by the wealthy and popular Vanessa Ashwood and her social clique, and both worked as lowly salesgirls to make ends meet.[4]

Marsha Rosenberg (Earth-616) from She-Hulk Vol 1 10 001

Meeting Mary

When Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) began to fighting crime in Denver, Rosenberg remarked that her hair was the same color as Mary's. Mary falsely confided in her friend that she was secretly Spider-Woman, and when Rosenberg spread the rumor, Mary saw her popularity grow, and the two found themselves invited to a party organized by Vanessa. In the midst of the party, however, their suburb of Denver was ripped from Earth and used by the alien Beyonder to create the makeshift planet Battleworld. When the real Spider-Woman arrived on the scene and saved the guests from being crushed by falling debris, Vanessa and her friends realized they'd been duped and chased MacPherran and Rosenberg into the forests of Battleworld. Frightened and exhausted, the two young women were found by the villain Doctor Doom. Doom was looking for recruits for his army of supervillains to battle the team of superheroes who had also been assembled on the planet, and offered the girls the chance of gaining superhuman powers. The girls accepted Doom's offer.[4]

Marsha Rosenberg (Earth-616) from She-Hulk Vol 1 10 002

Empowered

Using the energies of an alien storm, Doctor Doom genetically altered both women to give them powers; Rosenberg became the fiery Volcana, being able to transform into living plasma, while MacPherran became the superhumanly strong Titania. The duo then joined the other villains in battling the heroes, and Volcana quickly beat She-Hulk in battle.[5]

Madly in Love[]

She soon developed a romance with her fellow villain Owen Reece, the Molecule Man, who, like her, was rather socially awkward. She became very protective of him.[6] When Reece was grievously injured in a battle with the X-Men, Marsha unwisely made a deal with the sorceress Enchantress to be transported to Reece's side, in return for whatever the Enchantress wanted.[7] After the villains had spent some time on the planet, the Molecule Man decided to use his powers to take the fragment of Denver back to Earth. However, the Enchantress didn't trust Reece's abilities to get her home and, having learned of Doom's theft of the Beyonder's power and his plans to invade Mephisto's Realm and rescue his mother, she decided to call in Rosenberg's debt to her, intending to use Rosenberg's life force to power a spell to take herself home in time to warn Asgard, fearing that Doom would set his sights there after conquering Mephisto's Realm. However, the Enchantress was prevented from draining Rosenberg's life force by Reece and the Lizard, who had grown fond of Rosenberg as she had treated them kindly.[8]

Owen Reece (Earth-616) and Marsha Rosenberg (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 319 001

With the Molecule Man

Reece successfully transported the Denver suburb and its inhabitants, including the villains, back to Earth,[4] and Rosenberg and Reece stayed together as lovers, living an anonymous life.[9] They had another encounter with the Beyonder, but, once that was settled, they thought they could put it all behind them.[10] However, their peace and quiet just weren't meant to last, as Doom appeared one day and savagely attacked Owen, leaving him to die.[11] He recovered due to his powers, but decided to investigate why Doom wanted him dead, leading the couple on a quest that ended with yet another encounter with the Beyonder. Then, they learned Owen and the Beyonder were incomplete components of a Cosmic Cube, and a heart-broken Marsha had to watch as her lover merged with the Beyonder to form a massive Cosmic Cube, which was left in the null void of the Beyonder's realm, while she was returned to Earth.[12]

Unlike her friend Titania, who became a full-time supervillain,[4] Volcana tried the heroic approach, fighting villains such as the Wizard and Moonstone. During the fight against the latter, she discovered the ability to turn into volcanic stone, using the extra endurance to defeat her enemy. In reality, however, her power upgrade had been caused by a portion of the Molecule Man's power, that she unknowingly retained.[3]

Owen Reece (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 24 001

The return of Molecule Man

One day, Rosenberg finally decided to let go of the past and clean the apartment she'd shared with Owen, but when she got there she found her lover in flesh and blood. Unfortunately, their reunion was cut short by Ulysses Klaw, sent by AIM to capture the depowered Owen. During their fight, Volcana transformed into a new volcanic ash form, but Klaw still had the upper hand. Facing a no-win scenario, she wished that Owen still had his powers, unconsciously returning her portion to him and allowing him to end the fight. At last, there was nothing that could stand in their way, but their relationship soon broke down, as Rosenberg couldn't tolerate Reece's bloodthirsty and ego-maniacal personality change since his power's return.[13]

Reuniting with Titania[]

With Owen out of the picture, Volcana rekindled her friendship with Titania and even attended her wedding.[14] After laying low for a while, Volcana was hired by Nightwatch with Titania to keep She-Hulk away from documents that incriminated him as a murderer. They both attacked She-Hulk but were defeated by her and Hellcat and left incapacitated.[15]

She met She-Hulk again after being invited by Titania to join their recreational fight club. At first, she was left watching, since She-Hulk would rather not have to fight anyone with lava powers, but Volcana found a brawling partner when The Thing showed up.[16]

Attributes

Power Grid[19]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Long Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

  • Transformation: Volcana has the ability to transform her body into three separate volcanic forms: Plasma, Stone, and Ash:[13]
    • Plasma: Her body in this form is surrounded by a corona of superheated plasma, which melts or combusts most projectiles that touch it.[1]
      • Energy Projection: In this form Volcana can project bursts with a temperature of over 5,000°F and up to a 40 feet range.[17]
    • Stone: This form grants Volcana superhuman strength and high resistance to injury.[3]
      • Superhuman Durability: Volcana's stone form grants her vast resistance to damage.[3]
      • Superhuman Strength: While in her stone form, Volcana can lift 4 tons.[17]
    • Ash: Volcana can control her shape at will when in this form.[13]

See Also

Links and References

References

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