The Women Of Marvel Comics - Part One

Jean Grey or Marvel Girl has been in the Marvel universe since 1963 with the first appearance of the X-Men. Jean was born with telekinetic and telepathic powers and is a very powerful omega level mutant. Jean has died and been reborn in the Marvel universe, firstly dying and being reborn as the Phoenix force which led to her second but not last death during the Dark Phoenix saga. A very loved and nurturing character, Jean is close friends with her mentor Charles Xavier and enjoys a sister like relationship with fellow mutant Storm, she has been romantically linked with Wolverine and married to Cyclops. The character appeared in all three X-Men movies.

Originally portrayed as a villain as part of Magnetos Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants alongside her twin brother Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch ( Wanda Maximoff ) first appeared in X-Men # 4 in 1964. Wanda was soon to turn her back on a life of crime and was recruited as a member of the Avengers in issue # 16 of that title. As a member of the Avengers, Wanda falls in love with team member the Vision, an android created by the Avengers robot enemy Ultron, despite opposition from fellow Avengers Captain America and Hawkeye, Wanda eventually marries Vision. Scarlett Witch has the ability to produce chaos magic although using her power does not always work in her favor.

The love interest and one time wife of Peter Parker alias Spider-man. MJ is a beautiful green eyed redhead who in the past has competed for Peters affection with Gwen Stacey and Felicia Hardy ( the Black Cat ). Mary Jane makes her debut in issue number 42 of The Amazing Spider-man from November 1966 after numerous mentions by name in previous issues. When Peter finally gets to meet her he is stunned by her beauty as she utters what has now become a famous line in comic book history " face it tiger.... you just hit the jackpot! ".

Arguably Spider-mans first true love, Gwen first appears in Amazing Spider-man # 31 nearly a year before Mary Jane Watson. Spider-man accidentally causes the death of Gwen during a battle with the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-man # 121, a storyline that shocked fans and an issue that many experts believe helped usher in a more mature era of comic book story lines known as the Bronze Age ( 1970s ) of comics. Gwen is a very attractive blonde and was played by Brice Dallas Howard in the movie Spider-man # 3 and by Emma Stone in the reboot movie The Amazing Spider-man.

Janet Van Dyne " the Wasp " is a character that has now been around in the Marvel universe for over 50 years having made her debut in Tales To Astonish # 44 in 1963. Able to shrink down in size to only a few centimeters or as in later comics the ability to grow to a huge size,Wasp also has the ability of flight and can shoot yellow energy blasts. A founder member of the Avengers, once seen as its weakest member, Wasps experience and leadership skills have proved invaluable to the team on many occasions.

Katherine Anne " Kitty " Pryde is first seen as a character in Uncanny X-Men # 129 from 1980. The character is portrayed as a very intelligent and confident thirteen year old girl, then the youngest ever member of the mutant team. The character was originally a foil to some of the more established characters but soon became a favorite in her own right. Kitty possesses the mutant ability to phase through objects or people and things that she touches become intangible. Kitty is a main character in the X-Men storyline " Days Of Future Past" storyline and will be played by Ellen Page in the forthcoming movie of the same name. As the character of Kitty matured her character became more commonly known as Shadowcat. John Byrne the artist who first drew Kitty Pryde, based her look on what he believed an adolescent version of Sigourney Weaver would look like.

The X-Men,s own southern belle. Rogue is a tremendously popular character with fans of the X-Men comics. When she made her debut in Avengers Annual # 10 in 1981, Rogue was a villain, the stepdaughter of shape changing mutant Mystique. Rogue has the ability to absorb the life force , super powers, physical strength and memories of anyone she touches, she considers this ability a curse as she is allowed no close contact with anyone. After absorbing the powers of Ms Marvel, Rogue fears she is going insane and turns to the X-Men for help. Rogue has been a member of the X-Men now for over 30 years and has had an on off relationship with fellow member Gambit. For many years due to her mutant abilities Rogue has limited her physical contact with others but in recent years she has been able to take full control of her powers.

Designed to be the ultimate killing machine X-23 ( Laura Kinney ) was cloned from a damaged genome taken from the mutant Wolverine. For many years Laura proved to be a more than capable assassin until a series of tragic events lead her into the hands of the X-Men where she has now begun to rebuild her life. X-23 made her first appearance in the animated series X-Men Evolution and made her comic book debut in 2004 in NYX #3.

After Jennifer Walters a lawyer is shot and seriously wounded by a crime boss who had crossed paths with her father, she is given an emergency blood transfusion by her cousin Bruce Banner ( the Hulk ) after receiving Banners radioactive blood, Jennifer acquires similar yet reduced powers to her cousin. At first like the male Hulk, Jennifer mutates into She Hulk only when she is angry but after a while manages to get her power under control and chooses to permanently stay in her She Hulk amazonian like form. Jennifer has been a member of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Elizabeth " Betsy " Braddock was originally a telekinetic English girl and sister of Captain Britain who appeared in the British Marvel imprint Marvel UK in 1976. In subsequent adventures Betsy joins the X-Men and acquires the skills and abilities of a Japanese ninja known as Kwannon.In her early appearances with the X-Men Psylocke is shown as having only telepathic and telekinetic skills but eventually she develops fighting skills, body armour and is drawn having predominantly Asian features and purple hair as opposed to her original blonde.