| Jubilee | |
|---|---|
Jubilee Decimation: Generation M #2 (February 2006). Cover by Stuart Immonen |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #244 (May, 1989) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont Marc Silvestri |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee |
| Species | Vampire (formerly Human Mutant) |
| Team affiliations | New Warriors X-Men X-Corps Generation X Xavier Institute |
| Notable aliases | Wondra |
| Abilities | Possesses the powers and abilities of a vampire. Formerly: Ability to project pyrotechnic energy plasmoids Concussive blasts Ability to evade the detection of telepaths Ability to explosively charge objects. |
Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men.
A mutant, Jubilee had the superhuman power to generate "fireworks" of explosive plasma. A teenage "mall rat," she was the X-Men's youngest member in the early 1990s, often playing sidekick to Wolverine. She eventually joined the junior team Generation X. She was a prominent character in the 1990s-era X-Men animated series. In late 2004, Marvel launched a self-titled series for Jubilee set in Los Angeles, written by Robert Kirkman and covers by Casey Jones; it was canceled after six issues.
Jubilee is one of the depowered mutant characters who later reappeared using technology-based powers in the New Warriors comic series. She has since been turned into a vampire.
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Jubilee was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989).
Jubilation Lee is a Chinese American girl born in Beverly Hills, California, where she lived with her wealthy immigrant parents. An immensely talented gymnast, she was believed to have the potential to participate in the Olympic Games. However, her life was destroyed when her parents were murdered by the hitmen Reno and Molokai.
Jubilee was sent to an orphanage, but she ran away and hid in the Hollywood Mall, stealing food to survive. She first discovered her mutant power to generate blinding and explosive energy "fireworks" while running away from mall security. The stress of running away from the security guards caused Jubilee to emit a large light energy blast while in a back alley. This completely disoriented the men and allowed the frightened young girl to escape. Upon learning about her mutant ability to create fireworks, she realized she could earn money by using her powers to entertain customers in the mall.
Frustrated with the young girl's rebellious nature and powerful lightshows, and their own inability to catch her, the mall security hires mutant hunters known as the M-Squad to capture her. Jubilee initially holds her own by blasting the M-Squad's energy tractor beams, but she is eventually caught by them. She is rescued by X-Men members Dazzler, Psylocke, Rogue, and Storm, who happened to be shopping at the mall. Curious about the women, she tracks them for a while and later follows them into a portal.[1]
On the other side of the portal, Jubilee finds herself in the X-Men's temporary base, deep in the Australian outback. She uses her wits to stay in hiding in the base while the X-Men remain unaware of her. While she is living in the underground base, the mutant known as Gateway, who created the portal to the Hollywood Mall, is the only being aware of Jubilee's existence. During her stay in the base, she steals food and borrows clothes from several of the X-Men to create a makeshift costume for herself. Peter Rasputin notices evidence of her food gathering but is distracted by the attack of Nanny. Jubilee personally battles Nanny, and finds that her energy powers neutralize the brainwashing power-manifestations Nanny emits. She is also attacked by a cybernetic dog, and is forced to use her powers in self-defense by blowing up the beast. This is the first time Jubilee learns her powers can do real damage, although a later retcon has her first manifestation causing destruction on a similar scale. She stays in hiding until the X-Men have abandoned the base, and their enemies the Reavers have captured Wolverine.
While sneaking around the caverns in the outback base, Jubilee is startled and horrified to find Wolverine tied to an X-shaped cross, being tortured by the Reavers. The Reavers eventually cut the torture session short to seek shelter from a coming storm, leaving only Wolverine and the hiding Jubilee outside. Jubilee is torn between her desire to help Wolverine and her fear of what the Reavers might do to her if they catch her doing so. Thus Jubilee watches as, after the storm hits, Wolverine flies into one of his berserker rages and summons enough strength to tear his arms (which had been nailed to the cross while he was being tortured) free before collapsing to the ground. Jubilee finally makes the decision to risk helping Wolverine, and helps him back to her hiding spot in the complex, where she does her best to nurse him back to health (after being brutalized repeatedly by the Reavers, days of exposure to the harsh elements of the outback, and deprivation of food and water, Wolverine's healing factor had been taxed to its limit and thus was not able to quickly repair his body the way it normally would).[2] Before Wolverine has completely recovered, he and Jubilee are forced to abandon their sanctuary when the Reavers locate them and attempt to capture them. The pair manage to escape and make their way to Madripoor. They battle the Mandarin and Matsu'o Tsurayaba's Hand. Jubilee holds her own against the Hand, and blows up a section of the Mandarin's castle with her powers when she, Wolverine, and Psylocke are the supervillain's prisoners.[3]
Afterward, Jubilee teams up with Wolverine on several of his missions throughout the world. She does not handle the travel well, as she desires American food and luxuries. She helps Wolverine in battle when he becomes involved with well-intentioned but violent mercenaries.
Alongside Wolverine and Psylocke, Jubilee battles Hardcase and the Harriers.[4] She also meets the Black Widow.[5] and goes to Genosha for the first time.[6] After meeting the X-Men, she travels with them to the Shi'ar Empire, but is captured by the Warskrulls. There, she first meets Professor Xavier.[7] She also briefly falls under the control of the Shadow King, along with the X-Men and numerous others.[8]
Wolverine brings Jubilee to Professor Xavier, who welcomes the girl with open arms, and she and Wolverine develop a close father-daughter relationship with one another. Jubilee had been needing the guidance of a parent, while Wolverine had been needing the peace and joy of a child. Due to this relationship, Jubilee is referred to as Wolverine's unofficial sidekick. The duo team up to take down Sentinels, Omega Red, Sabertooth, Mojo (see Abcissa), and Sauron. They even confront Reno and Molokai, the hitmen who murdered Jubilee's parents. After the battle, Jubilee wants to kill them but Wolverine talks her out of it. Jubilee also teams up with Wolverine and Cable.[9]
Jubilee finds a home with the X-Men, and joins the X-Men Blue Team. She aids her fellow mutants in battles against Omega Red, the Shi'ar Empire, Skrulls, and the Brood, among others. With the last three, she holds her own against many powerful entities, often being the vital factor that helps save fellow X-Men and/or innocent people. She forms close bonds with many of the team members. She catches piggyback rides with the Beast, enjoying his leaping abilities. When Professor Xavier temporarily regains the use of his legs, she takes him rollerblading. She has the chance to talk about Wolverine with Shadowcat, who had been in her role before. She bonds with the younger version of Illyana Rasputin. Jubilee mourns the loss of Illyana with the rest of the X-Men, especially Jean Grey.
Jubilee also participates in the mission to rescue several kidnapped New Mutants from Genosha. She becomes separated and finds Boom Boom and Rictor. The group survives on the streets of the island nation before meeting up with the other X-Men and participating in the final battle.
Alongside the X-Men, Jubilee is captured by Omega Red, Matsu'o Tsuryaba, and Fenris. She also fights Sabretooth during this encounter.[10] Alongside Wolverine, she then clashes with Mojo, and first traveled to Tokyo.[11] She aids the X-Men and Ghost Rider against the Brood.[12] In Tokyo, she first meets Yukio, and teams with her against Cylla.[13] Jubilee then journeys with the X-Men to Mojoworld.[14] She meets Terror,[15] and then meets Nick Fury, John Wraith, and Silver Fox.[16]
Jubilee joins a new group of teenage mutants known as Generation X. The team is led by both Banshee and Emma Frost, and is composed mainly of Jubilee, Husk, Synch, M, Chamber, Skin, and Penance.
Both Banshee and Emma Frost educate the teenagers in school subjects as well as combat and field skills. Jubilee and the other mutant teens hone their unique abilities and occasionally battle foes such as the Juggernaut, Omega Red, and their archrival Emplate. Time after time, Jubilee uses her experience with the X-Men to help her teammates outsmart their enemies. On more than one occasion, Jubilee is solely responsible for the defeat of Emplate. She uses sarcasm when Emplate siphons her powers so that he will become enraged enough to not have control over them, causing him to blast himself with Jubilee's energy blasts. During the team's last encounter with Emplate, Jubilee blows up Proudstar Hall in order to defeat him. Her teammates survive the massive explosion because Iceman covers them with an ice shield.
During her stay at the Massachusetts Academy, Jubilee is kidnapped and held hostage by Bastion during Operation: Zero Tolerance. She manages to resist his mental probes for a good amount of time, hiding valuable information about the X-Men. Jubilee stages an escape early on after being kidnapped, knocking several armed soldiers unconscious with a large plasma volley. Her innocence and morals lead to her capture once more, as she decides to give CPR to one of the guards she has injured. She eventually escapes with the help of Bastion's assistant Daria. While wandering the desert after her getaway, she is attacked by a Prime Sentinel and holds her own by blasting his vision receptors. She is saved at the last minute by Wolverine, who reunites her with the X-Men. After discovering Bastion has planted a nano-explosive inside Cyclops, the X-men return home dropping Jubilee off at Massachusetts Academy on the way.[17]
One of the most important episodes of her stay with Generation X comes when she discovers the true killer of her parents, Hunter Brawn. She stages a solo operation, using all of her powers, skills, and abilities to track down Brawn. With the help of her friends and teammates, she manages to take him down. Enraged at how he has destroyed her family, her powers flare to a massive level. Instead of killing the man, she takes out her aggression by blowing up his warehouse, leaving him to be arrested by local authorities.
In the Marvel/DC crossover series "DC vs. Marvel" storyline, Jubilee first met Robin when he suddenly appeared in her room and starts admiring his costume and later develops an attraction to him. The two were later transported to a warehouse and before they begin their fight, Jubilee kissed Robin. While Jubilee had the upper hand, Robin used a sneak attack and won without hitting her. Robin and Jubilee suddenly ended up in Venice, and while they don't know how they ended up there both didn't care and had started a relationship. With the universe restored and the heroes and villains returned to their respective universe, Jubilee became upset that she would no longer see Robin again. However, she was later briefly reunited with him in the follow-up Age of Amalgam Marvel/DC crossover series.
After Generation X disbands, Jubilee moves to L.A. with former teammate Skin to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately she is cast in nothing but stereotypical Asian roles, and after her agent tries to seduce her, she blasts him with a powerful plasma blast.
Around this time she is offered a position on Banshee's militaristic X-Corps team, alongside former teammates Husk and M. The three young women hesitantly join Banshee in order to keep an eye on him. During her run with the X-Corps, Jubilee holds off an uprising in Paris by blinding hostile enemies. Jubilee and Husk, with the help of Stacy X, also manage to take down the Blob and rescue Banshee from Mystique.
After her time in the X-Corps, Jubilee returns to L.A. with Skin, but the two of them (along with Magma and other mutants) are kidnapped and crucified on the front lawn of the X-Mansion by the Church of Humanity. Jubilee, Magma, and the others recover from the attack thanks to Angel's healing blood, but Skin isn't so fortunate. Jubilee becomes depressed due to the loss of her friend Skin, and reunites with her friend Husk. The two of them, along with Angel, attend Skin's funeral. Since the gravekeeper won't allow a mutant to be buried in his cemetery, he has Skin cremated and unemotionally hands Jubilee the ashes. After that, Jubilee goes on a few missions with Nightcrawler and Havok's Uncanny X-Men team, but is taken off the active roster when Cyclops decides she needs a mental break.
While inactive, Jubilee is contacted by a long lost relative, her aunt Hope. Hope has decided to adopt Jubilee and take her into her home in Los Angeles, which gives Jubilation a much-needed break from mansion life. Jubilee attends Payton Noble High School and becomes a peer advisor. She gets into a few fights in school, and is reprimanded because of her power display. She also befriends a mutant named Shane Shooter, and helps him take down a gang leader. Unfortunately for Jubilee, her aunt is caught in a crime ring, as she was an assassin. While Wolverine is visiting Jubilee, the two of them — along with Hope (and her butler Brad) — get into a battle with Hope's former boss. Hope is caught in a violent explosion and seemingly dies (she is later revealed to have been thrown afar by the explosion, revealing her cybernetic nature), causing a distraught Jubilee to move back to the mansion with Wolverine where she is seen celebrating Christmas in X-Men, Volume 2, #165.
Jubilee is revealed to have lost her powers on M-Day[18] due to the reality-altering powers of the Scarlet Witch. She returns to New York shortly after "running" a half-way house for depowered mutants in Queens, NY[19] and is kidnapped by Omega Red and his henchmen while Wolverine is sidetracked during the battle and taken to Berlin as a hostage. Wolverine manages to use S.H.I.E.L.D. to find Jubilee, but she is beaten and injured badly. Logan trades his freedom from S.H.I.E.L.D. for Jubilee's safety and well-being. She is carried away in a medical unit by S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.[20]
Jubilee next resurfaces as Wondra,[21] the second in command of the latest incarnation of the New Warriors. She uses technologically-based super strength (supplied by what appears to be a variation of The Wizard's "Wonder Gauntlets") capable of lifting a locomotive engine over her head.[22] Recruited as the first member, Jubilee takes a more serious attitude to her role as Wondra and serves alongside former teammates and X-Men Chamber ("Decibel"), Stacy X ("Ripcord)", and Sofia Mantega ("Renascence"). Jubilee distrusts Night Thrasher and uncovers evidence that he is using the team for less than noble reasons, and after a trip to the future, the former mutants leave the team in the hands of ex-members of the Initiative (Slapstick, Justice, Ultra Girl, et al.).
After leaving the New Warriors, she returns to San Francisco and meets with a group of younger mutants who tell her about Utopia, the island home for mutants. Jubilee reaffirms her identity as a mutant, despite being depowered, but still declines to join the X-Men on Utopia.[23]
Cyclops sends Pixie to check on her, and while the girls are chatting, Jubilee is one of many individuals to be mass infected with a bio-engineered virus by a vampire suicide bomber. Jubilee is taken to the X-Men's headquarters, where they run tests on her, confirming that the virus is slowly but surely transforming her into a vampire, making her less and less able to handle sunlight. Meanwhile, others infected by the virus quickly turn into full vampires and begin enacting the plans of the mysterious "Lord of Vampires."[24]
Later while talking to Doctor Nemesis, Jubilee reveals that something is calling for her, to which Doctor Nemesis tells her to fight it back. Jubilee eventually tells him that she doesn't want to fight. Much later while the X-Men gather to discuss the death of Dracula and learn who the new Lord of Vampires is, Dr. Kavita Rao is seen checking on her only to be attacked.
Jubilee leaves Utopia to go see Xarus, who proceeds in biting her. It's also revealed that Xarus only wants Jubilee so the X-Men can come to rescue her and fall into a trap, especially Wolverine.[25]
It appears that Jubilee has been successfully transformed into a vampire and temporarily did the same to Wolverine after he came to rescue her.[26] She remains a vampire and was being detained in a holding cell beneath Utopia for observation.[27]
At Gambit's behest, Wolverine travels to Paris, taking Jubilee with him. There, tensions between her and X-23 (who is travelling with Gambit) flare up. Meanwhile, Gambit talks to Wolverine about the difference between how he treats Jubilee and X-23, who both see him as a father figure.[28] Jubilee soon starts to develop a friendship with X-23 due to their similar circumstances, with the latter helping her deal with her urges to kill while Jubilee in turn helps Laura learn how to be a normal girl. [29]
Due to the character's history, Jubilee has had a diverse range of powers as a mutant, a depowered human, and later as a vampire.
Jubilee has since gained the powers of a vampire from her transformation by the bite of Xarus, son of Dracula. Her powers include superhuman strength and speed, and the ability to turn into vapor. It's possible that she can heal much faster than a human.
As a vampire, Jubilee now possesses all of the weaknesses of a vampire. She must sustain herself on blood and avoid direct sunlight, garlic, silver, and religious symbols.
Jubilee had the mutant power to generate bright bursts of multi-colored energy plasmoids from her fingertips. She referred to these globules as "fireworks." The globules obeyed her mental control, traveling where she directed them, arranging themselves in balls, streamers, and other shapes, and exploding when she wished. The strength of the energy varies in degrees of power and intensity, and could range from a multitude of colorful sparkles capable of temporarily blinding a person to a powerful detonation capable of smashing objects and destroying property, or a precision burst inside a human brain, simulating the effects of a massive stroke. Jubilee could absorb the fireworks back into her own body without harm. Jubilee often referred to her powers as "pafs." "Paf" appears in many instances as onomatopoeia for her powers.
While training in Generation X, Emma Frost described Jubilee as having the untapped potential to detonate matter at a sub-atomic level, which in theory is the equivalent of a fusion bomb. Her moral stance on taking a life was observed by Emma during the "Phalanx Covenant" when Jubilee explained her fear of killing someone should her powers ever flare up again as they did during the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline in Uncanny X-Men where she destroyed an entire house during a panicked moment. Emma Frost stated that Jubilee had unlimited potential and was one of the most powerful mutants she had ever encountered. Her Age of Apocalypse alternate had minimal qualms in this regard, and made liberal use of her full powers.
In her early appearances, Jubilee also displayed an apparent immunity to telepathy, but this was soon abandoned by writers. She had on occasion used this ability to hide herself from telepathic scans and probes from Sentinels. Whether or not she knew of this ability remains unaddressed.
Jubilee was among the mutants depowered by M-Day. She fell into a deep depression following the loss of her powers, going through several jobs before joining the latest incarnation of the New Warriors as Wondra.
Upon joining the post-Civil War New Warriors team, Jubilee gained highly advanced technology from Night Thrasher to replace her mutant abilities, giving her superhuman strength. While the upper limits of this power were not explored, the technology allowed Jubilee to lift the engine of a freight train over her head. Wondra's power suit and gauntlets also enhance her with limited invulnerability, as well as the ability to fly with hover discs.
Jubilee is a talented gymnast and rollerblade skater. While living on her own, she used her skills to evade capture while stealing to survive, first from the various shops in the mall and later in the X-Men's Australian base. She has also displayed above average hand-to-hand combat skills, having learned street-fighting techniques while in Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall, and being coached further by Wolverine. Her skills are sufficient enough to survive combat with the Hand. She also demonstrated strong leadership abilities, often being placed in a field commander role by Banshee during her closing time with Generation X, and acting as a drill-sergeant figure for the most recent New Warriors team.
In one issue of Wolverine's comic, it was stated that Jubilee suffers from dyscalculia.[30]
In one alternate timeline, Mojo tried to stop the Big Crunch, the end of time and collapse of all matter which would start a new Big Bang. Jubilee told him to stop, and she would be his slave. Giving her the new name Abcissa, her powers would be altered to animate and control the many chains that were attached to her body. Abcissa and Mojo kidnapped Jubilee, taking her to the Crunch, so she would become Mojo's slave. Jubilee refused, which nullified Abcissa's existence. Wolverine arrived and defeated Mojo.[31]
In the Age of Apocalypse, Jubilee is part of Gambit's X-Ternals, a group of rebel thieves. She went with the X-Ternals to the Shi'ar Empire in order to steal a piece of the M'Kraan Crystal. Jubilee also displayed a greater level of control over her power by detonating the clothing of several Madri enforcers on a molecular level. Her fate in the tenth anniversary issue of the Age of Apocalypse is currently unknown.
In this alternate universe, where part of the Marvel multiverse is fused with part of the DC multiverse, Jubilee is combined with Robin to become Sparrow, sidekick of Dark Claw (Wolverine + Batman).
In Days of Future Past, Jubilee is one of the last X-Men alive and among the few mutants who aren't prisoners in a concentration camp. She lives together with her lover Synch in the ruins of Hollywood.
In MC2, Jubilee is the leader of a team of mutant heroes called the X-People. She was also part of A-Next, a future generation of Avengers. However, Jubilee prefers to act on her own and only reluctantly cooperates with other heroes. She apparently still retains a reserve status with the Avengers, and has joined them on several occasions. She can sporadically be seen in the Spider-Girl series and related miniseries.
In Mutant X, Jubilee is the leader of the villain team the Marauders, consisting of Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Husk, although she has trouble keeping her team under control. After the Marauders had a fight with Bloodstorm, Jubilee was severely hurt.
Team X was a brief one-shot featuring Bishop and Deathbird. It features a green-bodysuit Jubilee (code-named Vertigo) from about fifteen years into the future. Vertigo was a part of a resistance movement against Shi'ar Majestrix Alanna, the maniacal daughter of Lilandra and Professor X. This version of Jubilee possesses several light-based powers including making light knives, firing photon beams, and turning invisible.
Jubilee is a member of Alpha Flight, first appearing in Ultimate X-Men #94. The team overpowers the X-Men during their game of baseball against the Academy of Tomorrow and kidnaps Northstar, claiming that he belongs with them. Her powers and appearance seem not to differ greatly from her Earth-616 counterpart, as well as her laid back personality during and after the battle. She is a fan of Dazzler. She is such a fan that she planned to get Dazzler's autograph and wore one of her band's shirts when they attacked, much to the annoyance of her team, especially Snowbird.
Jubilee also appears in all three X-Men films, portrayed by Katrina Florece in X-Men and by Kea Wong in X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. In the first film, Jubilee is limited to a few cameo scenes in both Professor Xavier's and Storm's classrooms. She is featured in a deleted scene, in which she talks to both Kitty Pryde and Rogue. In X2, Jubilee appears in a deleted version of the museum scene which gives a brief introduction to her powers as blue electricity crackles around her fingers. Jubilee is among the six kidnapped young mutants that Storm and Nightcrawler rescue. She can be heard calling Storm's name and is shown running to safety with the X-Men and can be seen in the X-Jet. She also appears in the final classroom scene and briefly talks to Professor Xavier. The size of her role in X-Men: The Last Stand is limited; she appears within the first ten minutes of the film, and can be seen sitting in the classroom.
Jubilee appears in some of the X-Men video games:
| Jubilee (Bratpack) | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Longshot #4 (December, 1985) |
| Created by | Ann Nocenti Art Adams |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Darla |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Bratpack |
| Abilities | Ability to project pyrotechnic energy plasmoids |
An earlier character named Jubilee first appeared in Longshot #4 in 1985. This character was a Caucasian female with strawberry blond hair created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams. She is first introduced as a young girl named Darla and she and her friends, a gang called the Bratpack, meet Longshot when he first escapes to Earth. She develops a childhood crush on Longshot. They are later captured by Spiral and given powers by Mojo in New Mutants Annual #2 as part of a new team of captured and artificially aged fighters also called the "Bratpack". Darla was given the ability to produce pyrotechnic displays or fireworks, and was called "Jubilee" because, as she stated, "Every day was a celebration." Under the influence of the similarly brainwashed Psylocke's psychic powers, Darla and her teammates were then sent to stop the New Mutants from rescuing the X-Men who had been regressed in age and turned into the X-Babies. Everyone is freed and returned to normal when Cypher frees Psylocke from Mojo's control.
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