Subject: THE ORIGIN OF MEDUSA
For what it is worth -
The Super heroine you describe in the preface to "Birth of a
Super Hero"--Medusa--is one of my favorite comic heroes. Here is the
reader's digest version of her story:
The character Medusa (then known as Madame Medusa) appeared
sometime in the 60's and was created by Jack Kirby, one of the legends
of the comic book art field. She was working with a villain named The
Wizard. She later became part of the Wizard's team of super villains
called the Frightful Four, and battled the Fantastic Four.
She had been suffering from amnesia, and was unaware of her true
origin until she was contacted by her family: The Unhumans. The Unhumans
were a race of mutants living on the moon. There they had a society that
worshipped the Terrigen Mists. When exposed to the mists, they were
granted powers. Medusa had been granted the power of Living Hair.
She later married the king of the Unhumans, and served a short
while as a substitute member of the Fantastic Four. Her sister,
Crystal, also has long hair, but only about waist length.
Medusa's hair (according to the 'official' sources) is about six
feet long. But posseses incredible tensile strength and elasticity. It
can be extended to nearly 40 feet, but loses strength doing so. At
its normal length it is about as tough as steel cabling of equal
diameter. When it is 'relaxed' it retracts to around her knees or to her
ankles, or floats around her depending on the artist.
Medusa's power is described as a special form of telekinesis
that only affects her hair, and it is that same telekinesis that relays
the sense of touch back to her when she is using her powers. She can do
as many as six or seven things at once using her hair alone.
She cannot fly, although she had glided before, as well as
whipped her hair around like a fan to generate wind. She can climb
buildings quite well with her hair, or move quickly across the ground.
Medusa (and the other Unhumans) often make guest appearances in
other comic books. They also had a recent short run of their own book
(a six-issue mini series I beleive.) So if you want to see more, keep
looking!
--MrDave
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Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 00:16:29 -0500
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