 | ||||||
Featuring the following heroine!
Firebird
by Sean McQuaid
Real name: Bonita Jaurez, social worker
Former aliases: Esperita
First appearance: Incredible Hulk 265
Favorite quote: "Again I know the freedom--the ecstasy--of flight! Never have I experienced such total joy! It seems almost...sinful!" (Incredible Hulk 265)
Team affiliation: Former founding member of the Rangers; occasional reserve Avengers member (usually West Coast).
Powers: A fiery meteorite fell near Bonita and gave her the ability to control heat, even on the molecular level. Her powers, which often manifest themselves in a sort of bird-shaped glow, include flame projection and manipulation; generation of convection currents to levitate and propel herself and other objects; heat projection and absorption; and various other applications of controlled heat.
Favorite story line: Toss-up between the WCA storyline in which Bonita talked Hank Pym back from the brink of suicide (though their brief subsequent romance seemed awkwardly tacked-on) and the Avengers Spotlight tale in which she dealt with the revelation that the meteoric source of her powers was waste material from an alien child's failed experiment. The devoutly Catholic Firebird had previously believed this to be a sign sent directly from God Himself.
Least favorite story line: Her most recent appearance, a trivial AWC Annual back-up tale in which those usually intelligent ladies Firebird and Wasp all but cat fight over their mutual ex-boyfriend, Hank Pym, even though they both dumped him long ago.
Future for the character: The Avengers writers have pretty much forgotten Bonita for the past hundred issues, so a significant comeback would be nothing short of miraculous.
