| Elsa Bloodstone | |
|---|---|
Elsa Bloodstone from Bloodstone #1, art by Michael Lopez. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Bloodstone #1, (Dec. 2001) |
| Created by | Dan Abnett (writer) Andy Lanning (writer) Michael Lopez (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Elsa Bloodstone |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Nextwave |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, Accelerated healing factor, Immunity to vampire bites, Skilled fighter |
Elsa Bloodstone is a fictional character, appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appears in Marvel's Bloodstone mini-series of 2001 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. She is the daughter of the previously established Marvel Universe character, Ulysses Bloodstone.
As she is a young, female monster-hunter there are potential similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, although when asked about this the authors said "neither of us have seen an episode of Buffy all the way through! I know we're missing out on some great TV but we've determined to steer clear of Buffy at least while we're doing Bloodstone."[1]
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Elsa appeared as the lead character in the Bloodstone mini-series and has been mentioned in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Other versions of her have appeared in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness and as a team member in the Nextwave series.
Elsa lives in Bloodstone Manor with her mother and ally Adam the Frankenstein Monster; she has befriended Charles Barnabus, a pureblood vampire lawyer and executor of the Bloodstone estate.[2] Together along with Dracula they defeat Nosferatu and his clan of vampires.[3]
Pursuing a monster-hunting occupation, she begins an online blog to create an electronic encyclopedic reference guide for the numerous monsters and alien beasts in the Marvel Universe (published by Marvel as Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters).[4]
Elsa Bloodstone has also appeared in Nextwave, but the series' connection to the Marvel Universe is unclear - it was initially out-of-continuity[5][6] and was later implied to be the adventures of tourists from Earth-A.[7][8] However Civil War: Damage Report suggest that at least parts of the adventures of the team were set in the main continuity: the others may have been delusions brought by constant use of drugs, mental conditioning and deceptions by their H.A.T.E. employers. Her delusional state could also account for her "memories" of being routinely subjected to abusive monster-hunting training by her father, like being left alone in childhood with a robotical nanny programmed to torture her whenever she wasn't able to reply to a question regarding monsters, or being forced by her father to kill monsters, as a toddler, armed with simple cutlery.[9]
The character elected to suspend her college studies upon being recruited by Dirk Anger of H.A.T.E. to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction (UWMD) alongside Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Aaron Stack, and The Captain. Shortly after this recruiting Elsa and her teammates found H.A.T.E. to be funded by the Beyond Corporation©, which is in fact a terrorist organization.[10] Using the stolen Marketing Plan of Beyond, the Nextwave squad traveled across the country destroying hidden UWMDs which included Fin Fang Foom, Mindless Ones, and Forbush Man.[11][12][13]
She suffers constant abuses by her teammembers, like being confronted by Tabitha Smith about her European origins and accent (referred even in the Nextwave Theme Song as her main characteristic), and constantly ogled by Aaron Stack, attracted by her large chest.[14][15]
Recently Elsa joined up as part of Iron Man and the government's Fifty State Initiative. Elsa has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear to have signed the Superhuman Registration Act and become part of the Initiative.[16] She later returns to her monster-hunting adventures: still with her brasher mind-set, seen in her Nextwave days, she vows solemnly to never have children on her own, since she feels the responsibility of being a Bloodstone too heavy to be forced on another living being. Instead, she chooses to end her legacy once and for all, completing the task of freeing humanity from monsters before dying. [17]
Elsa has exhibited superhuman strength, speed, durability and endurance, and a regenerative ability. She appears to possess all of the abilities her father once had. In addition, she has demonstrated immunity to vampire bites (her blood will destroy a vampire if consumed and the original Bloodgem fragment itself is anathema to vampires).
In the Bloodstone series, Elsa claimed that she had inherited at least some of the Bloodgem power genetically, but it has also been shown that her powers of strength and invulnerability were bestowed upon her by the Bloodgem fragment she wears on a choker, although she does not appear to be wearing it in Nextwave #8 flashbacks to her childhood training sessions. She has also been portrayed as an expert marksman.
She has been shown to use a removable Bloodgem on a choker as well as a number of artifacts gathered by her father. These include a lamp which contained a genie whom Ulysses had enslaved years ago. This serves as an early warning system, lighting up during times of supernatural crisis, and transporting him to said crisis. In Nextwave, she carries a guitar case with a false cover, containing two Uzis and a rifle.
In an archaeological expedition, Elsa and her team find the stone statue of Fin Fang Foom.[18] She sells this statue to Tony Stark for the opening of his new casino only for the statue to release the actual dragon himself from his stone tomb.[19]
Elsa Bloodstone alongside the other members of Nextwave show up "in a purely superfluous cameo" in the third issue of the Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness to save Ash from a zombified Power Pack, before being "humiliatingly and ruthlessly dispatched off-panel" moments later.[20]