Katie Power

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Energizer

Energizer, art by GuriHiru

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Power Pack #1 (August 1984)
Created by	Louise Simonson June Brigman

Characteristics
Alter ego	Katie Power
Affiliations	Power Pack
Notable aliases	Energizer, Starstreak, Counterweight
Abilities	Disintegrating, absorbing and releasing energy. Previously, acceleration/flight; controlling gravity

Katie Power is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. She first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.

1 Character history
2 Powers and paraphernalia
3 Role in Power Pack
4 Katie in The New Mutants
5 Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius
6 Katie in MC2
7 Bibliography
8 See also

[edit] Character history

Katie was a founding member of the superhero team Power Pack. The youngest of the four Power siblings, she was only 5 years old when she was given her powers by Alfrye Whitemane, a dying Kymellian noble. She continued to operate with Power Pack through their entire history.

Katie aged from 5 to 6 in the original series; in the 2000 mini-series, she was 9 and in the 2005-2006 mini-series, she is 8. Based on the Runaways series, in which her sister Julie is portrayed as a 16-year-old, Katie's current age in the Marvel Universe is believed to be 11.

[edit] Powers and paraphernalia

Katie as Energizer on the cover of Power Pack #11.

Katie began her career as a superhero as Energizer. She could disintegrate any kind of matter, including water and air, store the energy and expel it in balls of explosive fire. Katie's Energizer power was highly destructive, potentially lethal, and, in various issues, was able to destroy buildings and bring down supervillains such as Kurse. Katie initially had little control over her power, and tended to use it when she was frightened or angry, but as the series progressed, she gained control over her abilities.
During the Snark Wars, Katie voluntarily relinquished her energy powers to the Snark prince Jakal. Her siblings had already had their abilities forcibly taken from them by Jakal. In the ensuing battle, the powers reverted back to the Power siblings one by one; Katie ended up with acceleration/flight powers.
From Power Pack #25-52, Katie was known as Starstreak. She was able to fly quickly, leaving a stream of rainbow light in her wake. While Katie as Starstreak was never able to break the sound barrier, as her sister Julie did (Power Pack #13), she did refine the power by developing hovering abilities.
In Power Pack #52, Katie gained the gravity powers previously held by her brothers Alex and Jack and adopted the name Counterweight. She was able to float, gravitize to any surface, and cancel the gravity of any object she touched. She was also able to increase her own gravity to deliver "Super-G" powerful punches and make herself extremely heavy.

Katie regained her Energizer powers in the Power Pack Holiday Special that followed the original series. In both the 2000 and 2005 mini-series, she appeared as Energizer.

Along with her siblings, Katie possessed Kymellian healing powers. Usually, she was required to work with her siblings to generate and use this ability; however, she occasionally accessed it on her own.

With her siblings, Katie owned a Kymellian smartship, Friday. The ship acted as an unofficial team advisor and accompanied the Pack on several missions.

Katie wore a costume of unstable molecules created by Friday. The costume existed in an extradimensional space known as "Elsewhere" and could be summoned with voice commands. In the 2000 mini-series (and a back-up story in the Holiday Special), this outfit included a mask; in the original series, it did not. Katie was the only member of Power Pack to actually visit Elsewhere; while there, she learned how to modify the team's costumes (by placing a request within a costume's pocket, returning it to Elsewhere, and then summoning it back).

In the original series, Katie also owned a gold Kymellian coin. It was originally given to her as a special "tooth fairy gift" from her honorary godfather, Lord Byrel, in Power Pack #4. Later in the series, the coin was used as a tracking device to locate Power Pack by both the team's allies and enemies.

[edit] Role in Power Pack

At the beginning of the original series, Katie was a highly suggestible character. She was frequently goaded into using her powers by her siblings. Her eldest brother, unofficial team leader Alex, bullied her to such an extent that she compared him to Power Pack's archenemy, Queen Maraud, in one memorable scene.

As the series progressed, Katie grew into a much more assertive and sensitive individual. When she witnessed the physical damage she had done to Jakal and Kurse, she began to realize the magnitude of her actions. After her involvement in the Snark Wars, in which she saved her siblings' lives, Katie emerged as a stronger character and refused to use her powers to seriously harm people.

Whenever possible, Katie attempted to act as a rescuer. During The Fall of the Mutants crossover, Katie even tried to save Pestilence, in spite of the fact that the villain had just made her ill.

In spite of her youth, Katie was a key member of Power Pack. In numerous instances, she rescued the entire team, uncovered critical information and played major roles in missions. Katie saved Franklin Richards from Master Mold in Power Pack #36. In Uncanny X-Men #205, she helped a seriously injured Wolverine flee his adversaries long enough to heal.

Katie was highly intelligent; at five she was literate and able to write fluently enough to compose a "War Journal," copying The Punisher. In the 2000 series, she was depicted as a genius who skipped several grades of school and could program supercomputers.

Katie also had a close, sibling-like relationship with the fifth Power Pack member, Franklin Richards. The two did not become friends immediately; during Franklin's first encounter with Power Pack, Katie disliked him on sight. She was jealous of the attention he received from the other members of the Pack, and perceived him as usurping her role as the "littlest superhero" and the team baby. However, after Franklin showed his courage in battle with Jakal, despite his lack of any "active" powers to defend himself, Katie's opinion of him improved considerably. Their relationship after their initial adventure was much more amicable, though still flavored with a pseudo-sibling rivalry. Franklin's superhero codename, "Tattletale," was taken at Katie's suggestion.

[edit] Katie in The New Mutants

In issue #49 of The New Mutants, the team, displaced in a possible future due to the unstable teleporting powers of Magik, encountered an elderly Katie Power, leading a rebellion against the tyrannical mutant-dominated government that ruled the United States. In this future timeline, Katie possessed all the powers of the Power Pack, and was implied to be the only member of the Pack to have survived.

[edit] Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius

In the out-of-continuity humor series Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius, a non-superpowered Katie Power appears as a classmate of the Calvin-esque Franklin character who comes to visit him at the Baxter Building. Though Katie seems to have a crush on Franklin, she is initially spurned by him in stereotypical young boy fashion; however, Franklin seems to reciprocate the crush when he realizes that Katie has a talent for mischief and mayhem similar to his own.

[edit] Katie in MC2

In issue #2 of the MC2 mini-series called Avengers Next, An adult Katie Power (currently being called Kate) made her debut within the series starring the next generation of Avengers, in the adventure involving American Dream, Bluestreak,J2, Sabreclaw, Spider-Girl, Stinger and Thunderstrike. Kate was recommended by Psi-Lord of the Fantastic Five, to use her skills as an energeticist. However, in a misunderstood battle caused by Thena (Thor's daughter); Kate used her Kymellian energy powers to resolved the conflict.