Other TG Comic Book "Heroines"

Psi-Mage
Big Bang Comics #30

This entry doesn't have any overt TG characteristics but it seems to be a strong possibility. Written by Mike Barr (writer and creator of Mantra), Psi-Mage is a similar character who has both psionic and magical powers. Also, in this backup story, it's explained that her origin is rather similar to Mantra's, in that her spirit has been placed into the body she now inhabits.

At the back of this issue, there was a two-page letter written by Mike Barr (Page1, Page2), urging readers to write in if there was sufficient interest in seeing the character continue (as well as her teammates in the Verdict, which are presented with Psi-Mage in the earlier pages of the issue). Sounds like a good suggestion to me...

Vamp-Animus
Deadpool #0, 6

A second-rate character from an old Captain America comic, the villainous Vamp here runs into the wisecracking mercenary Deadpool and displays a...different side of herself.

Don Grady
Crime Mysteries #1 (May, 1952)

Hey, toots. The name's Grady�Don Grady. I'm a gumshoe�a sleuth��a shamus�a private dick�although some call me 'the man of a thousand faces.' (And yeah, some of those faces are broads�you wanna make something out of it?) In this caper, I'm investigating the death of a leggy dame named Babe who got bumped by a low-down sleaze, see? But Don Grady always gets his man, even if I have to dress up like your granny to do it.

Joshua Kane
Rising Stars #10, 12

This sequence is taken from the Rising Stars series (great books�go buy them!), and features the sensitive and tormented Joshua Kane. Ten years before these events took place, Joshua helped to sell out his fellow "Specials," and now seeks to atone for his misdeed. Here, he accompanies some of them into the ruined city of Chicago which is being held hostage by the insane and powerful Critical Maas. In order to boost her power, she seeks to kill the other Specials by detonating a tactical nuke and destroying the city. However, Joshua steps forward to prevent this, and not incidentally displays another long-hidden aspect to his personality.

Altered Image
Altered Image #1, 2

The crossover event that you demanded! (Well, I'm assuming it was you, since I sure didn't ask for it.) Anyway, in this three-issue limited series, Image comics presents us with a mixed bag of their more popular heroes ending up in a fairly tongue-in-cheek adventure together. During the action, the heroes get mushed together and mixed up a couple of different times, so for instance we have the Savage Dragon and Spawn becoming "Dragon Spawn." This makes for a few fun moments when the male heroes are crossed with the comely heroine Witchblade. We're also treated to a number of other "hybrid heroes" as the characters make their way through various alternate universes.

Loki
Thor Annual #18

Loki makes an interesting recruitment pitch to one of his potential servants. (I have to admit, there are some interesting perks to the job...)

Hanza
Gold Digger vol. 1 #47, vol. 2 #10
Contributed anonymously

The warrior Hanzo discovers the dangers of quaffing potions meant for women only. Later, we're treated to a flashback scene of his transformation.

Ms. Merlin
Big Bang Comics #27

In this account of the fictitious "Big Bang" universe, we're told of the "Mike Merlin" character, who is a descendant of the famous wizard. Unfortunately Mike had difficulty controlling his powers, so he was adopted by the "Round Table of America" while he learned to master them. Eventually Mike did perfect his control over the magic, but not before getting turned into a woman.

Bennett Beeny
Judge Dredd: America #1-2
Contributed by Serpi and Joanna

This one needs a little explanation. In this Judge Dredd two-issue comic we're treated to a story of unrequited love, as one Bennett Beeny moons hopelessly over his best friend and girl-next-door, named America. After America is critically wounded and left brain dead (partially due to Bennett's actions), he finds a way to make amends and get the girl...by way of a full-body transplant.

The Russian
Punisher vol. 4 #1-5

Okay, so maybe I'm just demented, but this one is kind of fun in a bizarre sort of way. Here we are re-introduced to the Russian, a villain that had been previously decapitated by the Punisher. Normally you'd think that would be enough to kill a guy, but since this is the comics, he instead comes back as a cybernetic powerhouse who has orders to kill the Punisher.

As you can see, the rejuvenation process has also had some, shall we say, interesting side effects. However, the Russian seems to have taken it pretty well, and aside from being a murderous lunatic seems like a generally happy, good-natured goof. Go figure.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the story ends with the Russian getting killed. (This is the Punisher, after all.) And since he was about ten feet away from a nuclear explosion at the time, I don't think he'll be coming back from this one.

Well, for a while, anyway.

The Thousand
Tangled Web: The Thousand #1-3

This one is also kind of weird, but since it's also written by Garth Ennis--the same guy who gave us "The Russian," above--I guess that's to be expected.

In this three-part Spider-Man story, Spidey runs afoul of a new villain called "The Thousand." This creep used to be Carl King, a bully that picked on Peter Parker before he got bitten by that infamous radioactive spider. After learning the web-slinger's secret identity, Carl decides that it should have been him that should have been Spider-Man and gotten all the fame and glory. Unfortunately, since the spider that bit Peter was long dead, he did the next best thing--he ate it.

Needless to say, that didn't turn out quite as well as Carl had hoped. Instead of getting powers like Peter got, he instead became a sentient swarm of spiders who could eat his victims from the inside-out and impersonate them by wearing their skins. (Charming, huh?) He decides to confront Spider-Man to take over his body, but along the way we get to see him take over a couple of women. (We also get to see him turn into a swarm of spiders, but I've thoughtfully decided to blip past that part. This isn't the Arachnoid Graphics and Fiction Archive, after all, and besides I hate spiders.)

Eww...spiders.... <shudder>