Miriam Sharpe

Miriam Sharpe is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Mark Millar and artist Steven McNiven, she first made her appearance during the 2006 crossover event Civil War #1 as an anti-superhero protestor modeled after activist Cindy Sheehan.

Publication history

Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada has stated that, at one point during the planning of Civil War, Miriam Sharpe was intended "to shoot Cap right after he puts his hands up to be handcuffed".^[1] Mark Millar has confirmed that Sharpe's concept came, in part, from Cindy Sheehan, although other statements have tied her creation to the four widows of firefighters from New Jersey who died on September 11th and who pushed for the creation of the 9/11 Commission. Others point to Sharpe as representing public opinion in the Marvel Universe.^[2]

Fictional character biography

All that is known about Sharpe prior to the "Civil War" storyline that she was married, was a resident of Stamford, Connecticut and had a young son named Damian who attended Stamford Elementary.

Her son was at school the day that the New Warriors attacked the supervillain known as Nitro. During that battle, Nitro used his powers to destroy much of Stamford, including the elementary school. After her son's death, Mrs. Sharpe became the most powerful voice in the emerging Pro-Registration Movement. At a memorial service for the victims of the Stamford attack, Mrs. Sharpe had a highly publicized confrontation with Tony Stark where she blamed him for funding the Avengers so that he could "Play Hero". It was this confrontation that convinced Stark to also champion the Registration Act as Iron Man. However, Stark had in fact already been covertly supporting Registration Act even before the Stamford disaster.

Sharpe is widely noted by pundits as a brilliant political operator. In the weeks following the Stamford disaster she managed to create a support base that would gather hundreds to march on the White House, influence super-humans and eventually convince congress and the president to pass the superhuman registration act.

During Civil War #2, Sharpe appeared on stage at the press conference where Spider-Man unmasked as one of his first public supporters. In Civil War #4 she attended Bill "Black Goliath" Foster's funeral. She would again speak with Iron Man, this time to bolster his commitment to the SHRA. She also gave him an Iron Man model, her son's favourite toy, to remind him of what he was fighting for.

Wolverine would also seek her out to tell her the story of how he brought justice to Nitro and to Walter Declum, CEO of Damage Control Inc., who gave Nitro Mutant Growth Hormone pills to boost his power, thus destroying Stamford and giving Declum many profitable contracts for rebuilding.

In Civil War #6, Tony Stark shows her a series of gardens created as a memorial to the children lost in the Stamford incident. It is here Mrs. Sharpe thanks both Stark and Reed Richards for backing her idea of superhero registration despite its negative side effects. In Civil War #7, she joins Tony Stark following the climatic battle to discuss the future in the wake of the Pro-Registration victory. As they discuss future plans, including Stark's recent promotion to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sharpe tells Stark that she has finally started to believe in superheroes again, thanks to him.

Post-"Civil War"

In light of the public relationship between Stark and Maya Hansen, the creator of the Extremis virus, who Sharpe considers a "Mass Murderer", Sharpe went on the television program Viewpoint to publicly attack the government for supporting her.

Sharpe is later on hand to support the appointment of Ultra Girl as director of the Junior Guardsmen, a youth branch of the Initiative, akin to the JROTC program.

She later appears in Fear Itself: The Home Front #2 (2011), in which she saves surviving New Warrior, Robbie Baldwin, who involved in Stamford Incident, from an angry mob.^[3]

References