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Soon, however, Julie feels the urge to use her powers again, presumably not having used them at any point during the months of pursuit of the super-powered Runaways, and apologizes to [[Phil Urich]] before diving off a building and soaring into the sky.<ref>''The Loners'' #1</ref> However, it is not explained why it is suddenly an issue for her to avoid using her powers during the events of the Loners comic series, as she had used them in public without wearing a mask during the events of Runaways: True Believers with the full encouragement of Turbo.
Soon, however, Julie feels the urge to use her powers again, presumably not having used them at any point during the months of pursuit of the super-powered Runaways, and apologizes to [[Phil Urich]] before diving off a building and soaring into the sky.<ref>''The Loners'' #1</ref> However, it is not explained why it is suddenly an issue for her to avoid using her powers during the events of the Loners comic series, as she had used them in public without wearing a mask during the events of Runaways: True Believers with the full encouragement of Turbo.


She also reveals to the group that her flighty personality and seemingly low intelligence is a facade that she adopted when she moved to California<ref>''The Loners'' #4</ref>, and that she has not registered as superhuman<ref>''The Loners'' #5</ref>, though her brother Alex is a registered superhero and his (and Julie's) shared origin is known not only to the SHRA, but to [[Reed Richards]] (who knows the Power family personally) and [[Tony Stark]] - the figureheads and architects of the Superhuman Registration Act. Despite admitting her flighty persona is an affectation, Julie continues to act exactly as before for the remaining issues of Loners.
She also reveals to the group that her flighty personality and seemingly low intelligence is a facade that she adopted when she moved to California in order to fit in with her team-mates and fellow Los Angelinos<ref>''The Loners'' #4</ref>, and that she has not registered as superhuman<ref>''The Loners'' #5</ref>. Despite admitting her flighty persona is an affectation, Julie continues to act exactly as before for the remaining issues of Loners.


When Julie suddenly appears during a misunderstanding between [[Penance (X-Men)|Hollow]] (the mutant formerly known as Penance) and Ricochet, she is stabbed through the shoulders by Hollow's claws<ref>''The Loners'' #3</ref>. Her 'alien metabolism' allows her to recover quickly from the wound.<ref>''The Loners'' #4</ref>
When Julie suddenly appears during a misunderstanding between [[Penance (X-Men)|Hollow]] (the mutant formerly known as Penance) and Ricochet, she is stabbed through the shoulders by Hollow's claws<ref>''The Loners'' #3</ref>. Her 'alien metabolism' allows her to recover quickly from the wound.<ref>''The Loners'' #4</ref>

==Loners continuity==

There are some minor continuity and logical discrepancies thrown up by Julie's appearance in both Runaways and Loners that have yet to be addressed in print - though such discrepancies are not necessarily story elements in and of themselves, but the result of writers and editors being unaware of - or discarding - established continuity in favor of stories and characters they have already decided to implement, and thus may never be explained to readers by necessity.

*Despite learning how to teleport herself and others vast distances<ref>''Power Pack'' (vol. 2) #4</ref>, Julie never once utilises this ability throughout her appearances in Runaways and Loners, even when it would be prudent to do so, such as when she and Namie must flee police officers <ref>''Loners'' #5</ref>, and when she is in need of medical aid and must get to a hospital <ref>''Loners'' #3</ref>.
*From Loners #4 onwards (including her appearances in Marvel Holiday Special 2008 and War Of Kings: Darkhawk), Julie's hair is coloured - and she is specifically referred to as being - blond, despite having red hair in her every other appearance in Marvel comics for the previous 25 years - including the first three issues of Loners.
*Julie has aged seven years since the events of the original series according to Loners #4, yet fellow Power Pack member [[Franklin Richards]] has aged from 4 to 8 in the same space of time<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #564</ref>.
*Julie purports to be from New York, though her family spent less than four years resident in the city of New York and now reside in [[Bainbridge Island]]<ref>''Power Pack'' (vol. 2) </ref> <ref>http://www.marvel.com/universe/Lightspeed</ref>.
*Julie claims to want nothing more to do with her superheroic identity, yet retains her powers despite being capable of transferring them to one of her siblings<ref>''Power Pack Holiday Special''</ref>.
*Julie states she has had her powers "as long as (she) can remember"<ref>''Loners'' #1</ref>, yet she obtained them at the age of 10.
*During the opening scenes of issue 1 and the denouement of issue 4 of Loners, Julie and other characters make pointed arguments that she must protect her identity at all costs, yet Julie's redesigned costume does not have a mask to obscure her facial features, despite the two previous iterations of her costume featuring a mask<ref>''Power Pack Holiday Special''</ref> <ref>''Power Pack'' Vol.2</ref>.
*Julie's costume is constructed from [[unstable molecules]] and appears instantly on command, yet is never seen to do so throughout the entirety of her appearances during either Runaways or Loners.
*Julie is not registered as a superhuman<ref>''Loners'' #5</ref>, yet the origin of her powers is not only shared with her brother [[Alex Power]] (who is registered) and thus known to the government, but personally known to [[Reed Richards]] - the architect of the registration act - who knows the Power family personally - not least because his son Franklin is a member of Power Pack.
*Julie's birthday has been established as not falling until after the graduation period for [[elementary school]]<ref>''Power Pack'' #45</ref> at the end of the school year, meaning she could not begin her final year of education (and thus graduate) until after she had turned 17. She would therefore not have completed her final year of legally-required state education in New York, and thus have been required to attend compulsory education in Los Angeles until she turned 18 by that city's (and state's) laws. She is not seen to attend school or college during her appearances during Runaways or Loners.
*As a minor, Julie would require a legal custodian in order to reside in the state of California.


==Powers and abilities==
==Powers and abilities==

Revision as of 21:29, 7 March 2009

Lightspeed
Lightspeed, art by GuriHiru
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearancePower Pack (vol. 1) #1 (August 1984)
Created byLouise Simonson
June Brigman
In-story information
Alter egoJulie Power
Team affiliationsLoners
Power Pack
Notable aliasesLightspeed, Molecula, Mistress of Density, Starstreak
AbilitiesAcceleration/Flight, Teleportation
Previously: Control over her own mass and size

Julie Power (also known as Lightspeed) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.

Publication history

Julie aged from 10 to 11 years old in the original series[1]; in the 2000 mini-series, she is 14; in the all ages mini-series published in 2005 (which takes place in an alternate universe), she's 12; and in the first issue of the Hulk/Power Pack mini-series, her age (12) is printed on her shirt.

In Loners #4, Julie is stated as being 17 years old, suggesting that (since Loners was taking place in 'current' Marvel continuity) she was 15 and living alone in Los Angeles (with her parents' blessing) during the events of Runaways: True Believers, as over two years have officially passed 'in-universe' during the events of Runaways' publication. This is consistent with the rule of thumb that one 'Marvel year' equates to roughly three 'normal' years, given that at the conclusion of the Power Pack miniseries in November 2000 Julie was 14, and less than three years later, Runaways' debuted in April 2003.

Fictional character biography

Julie Power was born in Richmond, Virginia to Dr. James Power and Margaret Power. She was a founding member of the superhero team Power Pack. The second oldest of the four Power siblings, she was 10 years old when she was given her powers by Aelfyre Whitemane, a dying Kymellian noble.[2] She continued to operate with Power Pack through their entire history.

Power Pack

Before long, the Power family moved from Virginia to New York City. There, the Power Pack encountered other superheroes such as Spider-Man,[3] and Cloak and Dagger.[4]. With Power Pack, she battled the Boogeyman.[5] They also met Franklin Richards,[6] and encountered the New Mutants.[7] Her powers were later siphoned into the Snark Jakal; when returned, her powers were exchanged with those of her brother Jack, and she became Molecula.[8] Eventually, she regained her original powers and resumed her original codename.[9] Power Pack then encountered Galactus and Nova.[10]

Julie was perhaps the most "normal" of the Power siblings. When she was not in "superhero mode" Julie could be quite shy and quiet; in several instances, she was bothered by bullies at school. Her solo storylines often involved regular "kid issues" such as babysitting and cheating on tests. Julie was also a voracious reader, and was frequently seen reading, carrying or quoting books, even graduating elementary school with honors in english[11]. She frequently stepped into a maternal role with her siblings, sewing and washing the team's costumes, caring for Katie and Franklin Richards and attempting to restore peace during conflicts.

In battles, Julie possessed quick reflexes and was a strong fighter. In the Pack's initial conflict with Prince Jakal, Julie was able to single-handedly bring down the Snark's ship. She was also the only member of Power Pack in the original series to be directly responsible for the death of another character—Pestilence, in the Fall of the Mutants, fell to her death when Julie struck her with the "Julie Hammer" battle technique (though Pestilence might have survived had she not resisted Katie's attempt to pull her to safety).

Excelsior (Loners)

Since she had not been exposed to audiences in almost three years, Julie's personality was retooled from the intelligent, sensibly-dressed character featured in the original Power Pack to something more relatable to modern teenage girls when she was reintroduced during the Runaways: True Believers story-arc as a flighty, slow-witted wannabe actress who dressed in highly fashionable clothing and lacked worldly experience[12]. Though this drastic change is not immediately explained during this storyline, it is later revealed in Loners that Julie is pretending to be unintelligent to fit in with her team-mates. During the Runaways storyline, Julie does reveal that because of her time with the Power Pack, she decided to retire from super-heroics to focus on her private life and regaining "some of the innocence I lost" by dropping out of high school and moving to Los Angeles to seek fame as an actress. However, she (as well as the others within the group) agree to go on a mission offered by Rick Jones (though they don't know his identity at the time) to return the Runaways to foster care, from which they had escaped at the conclusion of their first series[13] in exchange for one million dollars and a sub-orbital plane for use as a means of transport for the newly-formed superhero team. Afterwards, they collectively decide that it was a one-time mission to try to give others the chance of a normal life that the members of the group never had. They spend the next few months continuing to pursue the Runaways[14].

Soon, however, Julie feels the urge to use her powers again, presumably not having used them at any point during the months of pursuit of the super-powered Runaways, and apologizes to Phil Urich before diving off a building and soaring into the sky.[15] However, it is not explained why it is suddenly an issue for her to avoid using her powers during the events of the Loners comic series, as she had used them in public without wearing a mask during the events of Runaways: True Believers with the full encouragement of Turbo.

She also reveals to the group that her flighty personality and seemingly low intelligence is a facade that she adopted when she moved to California in order to fit in with her team-mates and fellow Los Angelinos[16], and that she has not registered as superhuman[17]. Despite admitting her flighty persona is an affectation, Julie continues to act exactly as before for the remaining issues of Loners.

When Julie suddenly appears during a misunderstanding between Hollow (the mutant formerly known as Penance) and Ricochet, she is stabbed through the shoulders by Hollow's claws[18]. Her 'alien metabolism' allows her to recover quickly from the wound.[19]

Loners continuity

There are some minor continuity and logical discrepancies thrown up by Julie's appearance in both Runaways and Loners that have yet to be addressed in print - though such discrepancies are not necessarily story elements in and of themselves, but the result of writers and editors being unaware of - or discarding - established continuity in favor of stories and characters they have already decided to implement, and thus may never be explained to readers by necessity.

  • Despite learning how to teleport herself and others vast distances[20], Julie never once utilises this ability throughout her appearances in Runaways and Loners, even when it would be prudent to do so, such as when she and Namie must flee police officers [21], and when she is in need of medical aid and must get to a hospital [22].
  • From Loners #4 onwards (including her appearances in Marvel Holiday Special 2008 and War Of Kings: Darkhawk), Julie's hair is coloured - and she is specifically referred to as being - blond, despite having red hair in her every other appearance in Marvel comics for the previous 25 years - including the first three issues of Loners.
  • Julie has aged seven years since the events of the original series according to Loners #4, yet fellow Power Pack member Franklin Richards has aged from 4 to 8 in the same space of time[23].
  • Julie purports to be from New York, though her family spent less than four years resident in the city of New York and now reside in Bainbridge Island[24] [25].
  • Julie claims to want nothing more to do with her superheroic identity, yet retains her powers despite being capable of transferring them to one of her siblings[26].
  • Julie states she has had her powers "as long as (she) can remember"[27], yet she obtained them at the age of 10.
  • During the opening scenes of issue 1 and the denouement of issue 4 of Loners, Julie and other characters make pointed arguments that she must protect her identity at all costs, yet Julie's redesigned costume does not have a mask to obscure her facial features, despite the two previous iterations of her costume featuring a mask[28] [29].
  • Julie's costume is constructed from unstable molecules and appears instantly on command, yet is never seen to do so throughout the entirety of her appearances during either Runaways or Loners.
  • Julie is not registered as a superhuman[30], yet the origin of her powers is not only shared with her brother Alex Power (who is registered) and thus known to the government, but personally known to Reed Richards - the architect of the registration act - who knows the Power family personally - not least because his son Franklin is a member of Power Pack.
  • Julie's birthday has been established as not falling until after the graduation period for elementary school[31] at the end of the school year, meaning she could not begin her final year of education (and thus graduate) until after she had turned 17. She would therefore not have completed her final year of legally-required state education in New York, and thus have been required to attend compulsory education in Los Angeles until she turned 18 by that city's (and state's) laws. She is not seen to attend school or college during her appearances during Runaways or Loners.
  • As a minor, Julie would require a legal custodian in order to reside in the state of California.

Powers and abilities

  • Julie's original power was the ability to fly quickly, leaving a stream of rainbow light in her wake. While she never flew at the speed of light, as her codename suggested, she did break the sound barrier at least once.[32] Julie later refined her abilities so she could teleport over great distances without any visible sign of exhaustion.[33] While flying, she generates a protective aura around her of an undetermined thickness that protects her from air friction.
  • Julie gained the density powers previously held by her brother Jack.[34] She expanded on her powers by learning to create force fields and bubbles and saved her parents' lives with these skills. Julie also learned to make herself taller and larger without losing her physical form - though she still retained the same mass and was prone to becoming tired when increasing her height and stature for long periods of time. Julie eventually regained her original acceleration powers[9] and changed her codename to Starstreak.[33]
  • Along with her siblings, Julie possessed Kymellian healing powers. Julie was the first Power sibling to use this ability, albeit unconsciously, when her broken arm mysteriously healed quickly during the Pack's initial conflict with the Snarks. Later in the series, she healed herself automatically when her legs were seriously injured during a battle with the mutant team Trash - though this was established in expository dialogue in a later issue, and not shown in the comics themselves.

With her siblings, Julie owns a Kymellian smartship, Friday. The ship acts as an unofficial team advisor and accompanied the Pack on several missions, but it was destroyed[35], later rebuilt[36], and its current status is unknown.

Julie wears a costume of unstable molecules created by Friday. The costume existed in an extra-dimensional space known as "Elsewhere" until summoned by voice command (the wearer would say the words "costume on!"). The costume also houses a communicator which is used to communicate with Friday, and was later modified to include a mask.[33] As with all the team's costumes, the pockets of the costume can be used as an access point to Elsewhere itself, where the cartoon-like creatures known simply as "The Tailors" reside in a colorful wonderland of talking dinosaurs, enchanted forests, mad monarchs, surreal architecture and malleable physical laws.[37]

Other versions

Avengers and Power Pack Assembled

Julie is active in an alternate timeline in which the Pack has been banished by Kang the Conqueror[38]. She is a 23 year old woman possessing her father's scientific brilliance in addition to her Kymellian powers.

House of M

Julie, along with her brother Alex, was seen as a member of a super-powered gang that called themselves the Wolfpack; in which the other members were known as the New Warriors[39].

Exiles: Days of Then and Now

Julie is a member of Quentin Quire's surviving team; in which against the Annihilation Wave that was led by a banished Hulk[40].

Millennial Visions

In the "Power Pack: Starting Over" story within Marvel's 2001 Millennial Visions one-shot comic, Julie is a 30 year old researcher for SETI. In this alternate universe, she is depicted as being the most stable of the four Power siblings, who are estranged from each other, and reunites them to fight the Snarks again.[41]

Bibliography

  • Power Pack #1-45, #47-62 (1984-1990)
  • Power Pack Holiday Special (1992)
  • Power Pack Mini-series #1-4 (2000)
  • Power Pack: Shelter from the Storm Graphic novel (1989)
  • Power Pack and Spider-Man Special issue (1986)
  • Excalibur #29
  • The Loners #1-6
  • Marvel Holiday Special 2007
  • Marvel Superheroes Summer Special
  • Marvel Universe #10
  • Runaways v2, #1-6 (2005)
  • Secret Wars II #6
  • Strange Tales #12-14
  • Thor #357, #363
  • Uncanny X-Men #195 (reprinted in X-Men Classic 99)
  • X-Men #195

References

  1. ^ Power Pack #45
  2. ^ Power Pack #1
  3. ^ Power Pack #6
  4. ^ Power Pack #7
  5. ^ Power Pack #14
  6. ^ Power Pack #16
  7. ^ Power Pack #20
  8. ^ Power Pack #25
  9. ^ a b Power Pack #52
  10. ^ Power Pack #58
  11. ^ Power Pack #45
  12. ^ Runaways Vol. 2 #1
  13. ^ Runaways V1 #18
  14. ^ Runaways V2 #7
  15. ^ The Loners #1
  16. ^ The Loners #4
  17. ^ The Loners #5
  18. ^ The Loners #3
  19. ^ The Loners #4
  20. ^ Power Pack (vol. 2) #4
  21. ^ Loners #5
  22. ^ Loners #3
  23. ^ Fantastic Four #564
  24. ^ Power Pack (vol. 2)
  25. ^ http://www.marvel.com/universe/Lightspeed
  26. ^ Power Pack Holiday Special
  27. ^ Loners #1
  28. ^ Power Pack Holiday Special
  29. ^ Power Pack Vol.2
  30. ^ Loners #5
  31. ^ Power Pack #45
  32. ^ Power Pack (vol. 1) #13
  33. ^ a b c Power Pack (vol. 2) #1-4
  34. ^ Power Pack (vol. 1) #25
  35. ^ New Warriors V1 #75
  36. ^ Power Pack V2 #2
  37. ^ Power Pack #47
  38. ^ As seen in Avengers and Power Pack Assembled #3 and 4
  39. ^ In House of M: Avengers #3
  40. ^ Exiles: Days Of Then And Now #1
  41. ^ Millennial Visions Marvel, 2001

External links

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