Jenny Swensen (comics)
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| Chrome | |
 Artwork by Paul Ryan from D.P. 7 #32 |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #1 (1986) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Jenny Swensen |
| Team affiliations | Captain Manhattan, The United States Army, DP7, the Central Intelligence Agency |
| Notable aliases | Spitfire, Chrome |
| Abilities | Durable metallic skin and super-strength |
Jennifer Swensen, also known as Spitfire or Chrome, is a fictional paranormal in the Marvel Comics imprint New Universe. She first appears in Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #1. She takes on the name Chrome in DP7 #30.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Spitfire and the Troubleshooters
Professor Jennifer "Spitfire" Swensen's father invented some robotic exoskeletons known as MAX armors. After his death, Jenny stole the suit and, along with the help of some brilliant college students, used it to help people. They also fended off repeated attempts by forces who wanted to acquire the suits and use them as weapons.
Swensen and her MAX Armor were eventually absorbed into the United States Army. She later used the resources provided under the project to create a suit of her own.
[edit] The Pitt
On December 22, 1987, as part of her job with the Army, Jenny was called to use her MAX Armor to investigate the destruction of Pittsburgh. At this point, all that was known was that an unknown disaster had struck the city. Jenny was the first person to get an accurate sense of the extent of the damage. She flew down into the crater, almost 14 miles below where Pittsburgh used to be, before seeing a mass of sludge at the bottom.
Jenny entered the sludge to take a sample of it and spotted a family of survivors, in a car that had fallen over the edge. While she attempted to rescue them, some of the sludge (or "Pitt Juice" as it came to be known) was able to penetrate her airtight suit seals and contaminate Jenny.
When she informed her superior officer of the damage, he ordered the Pitt completely sealed off. He then ordered Jenny to go in and take more scientific readings. Jenny wanted instead to search the area for more survivors, but was ordered not to... so she decided to go AWOL, flying the MAX armor away and searching for signs of life.
Some time later, she encountered a few paranormals who'd breached the perimeter of the Pitt in order to search for friends. She was initially in conflict with the group, and accidentally destroyed one of Randy O'Brien's antibodies, before two other paranormals, Charlotte Beck and Lenore Fenzl were able to use their abilities to bring Swensen's suit down. When they finally had a chance to talk, the group was able to enlist Swensen's aid in rescuing Dave Landers who was fighting for his life inside The Pitt.
That rescue damaged the MAX armor a little more, and Swensen was forced to abandon it as she didn't have what she needed in order to repair it. She travelled with the paranormals for a while, and led a team of the female paranormals to go after Mutator, who'd been captured by a group of scavengers. An extended fight with their paranormal leader, Pitt Bull delayed the woman getting back to their makeshift camp, and by the time they arrived, the others had already been captured by the army.
Swensen went to the army base alone to check in and see if they were captured. As she'd recently been AWOL, the army was displeased with her, but the Central Intelligence Agency managed to get her remanded to them. By this time, Jenny had begun to suffer from her exposure to Pitt Juice. Her body was partially covered by a mass of shiny boils, and the rash was spreading.
The CIA brought in a paranormal named Stephanie Harrington who had healing abilities, in an effort to cure the infection, but Stephanie's touch accelerated it instead, and Jenny's entire body was now covered in a metal skin.
After her transformation, Jenny joined and lead the CIA's paranormal task force. They were first sent out into Brazil, where they were assigned to locate a biological weapon. That weapon was actually a monstrous paranormal, originally formed out of the family Jenny rescued from the Pitt, and the team barely escaped with their lives, at the cost of one of their own.
[edit] New York
The CIA next assigned Jenny's group to monitor presidential candidate Philip Nolan Voigt. Their surveillance was discovered almost immediately and he used his paranormal powers to mind control the women into doing his bidding. He also later had them attack Randy O'Brien and Dave Landers, to prove a point.
Jenny, her teammates, Randy, and Dave all lived in the same building after that as friends. Their program was suddenly terminated by the CIA, and Jenny had to face off against an assassin hired by her disgruntled former boss.
Later, Jenny was fighting off some muggers and encountered a man in a superhero costume, calling himself Captain Manhattan. He was considering creating a team of paranormals to fight crime. Later, they met again when Captain Manhattan was lured into an ambush at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Jenny and her friends happened to be there, and they assisted him. It was there that Captain Manhattan, thinking on the spot, gave her the codename Chrome.
Jenny became smitten with Manhattan began to assist him in fighting the crime in New York City as Chrome. Still, she wondered if Captain Manhattan even saw her as a woman, considering her unusual appearance, and whether any kind of romance was possible.
When a man claiming to be able to cure paranormal abilities offered his services, the two investigated him together. He seemed sincere, and offered to cure both of them on the spot. Jenny considered it but wasn't ready at the time. She knew that Captain Manhattan might not be interested in her at all if not as a superhero partner... and yet she wanted to be a woman again. She attended the Cure's mass healing in New York while she made up her mind. Despite the fact that she stayed waiting for her turn at the Cure when her friends left, she must not have gotten the Cure after all, as she was later seen, as Chrome, helping Captain Manhattan defend their world against alien threats.
[edit] Powers and abilities
[edit] MAX Armor
Jenny Swensen often flew an armored exoskeleton called the MAX armor. The suit greatly enhanced her strength, allowing her to lift over half a ton. It could also fly for extended periods, and contained its own life support systems. The suit contained a full array of sensors and its weaponry included missiles.
[edit] Chrome
After becoming mutated by exposure to Pitt-Juice, Jenny's skin hardened into something resembling metal. This renders her extremely durable, even bulletproof. She also has some degree of superhuman strength, the extent of which is not clear. Jenny is immune to most forms of sedatives and narcotics in her metal body.
One trade-off (besides that she stands out as obviously paranormal) is that Jenny's sensation of touch is now negligible. She's stated that she needs to be punched to even be aware she's been touched.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] newuniversal
An alternate version of Jenny Swensen, under the name "Dr. Jennifer Swann" appears in newuniversal, Warren Ellis' re-imagining of many of the New Universe concepts.
This version of the character works for a government project Spitfire, designing an exoskeleton called H.E.X. which is supposed to confer superhuman strength to the operator.
It appears that Dr. Swann has been affected by the White Event and chosen to become the Cipher, possesses some ability to remotely sense, analyze, and exchange information with electronic devices. Her superhuman abilities are what allows her to complete the H.E.X., which, ironically, the government intends to use to hunt down and exterminate Jenny and her fellow superhumans.
[edit] Exiles: Days of Then and Now
A younger version of Jenny Swensen appeared in this one shot. This version was similar to the original New Universe, and possibly the same one the Exiles visited during their World Tour. She was inspired by Quentin Quire to become a hero and then moved to his world to replace its Iron Man, who was supposed to have been important in solving the world's crisis, but had died when the original Exiles ignored their mission in order to chase Proteus across different dimensions.
