Miriam Sharpe
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Miriam Sharpe is a fictional character, in the Marvel Comics universe. She first made her appearance during the 2006 crossover event Civil War.
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[edit] 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].
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Life Before Civil War
Little is known of Miriam Sharpe pre-Civil War. Neither her career nor her home life comes up as major subjects. All that is known is that she was indeed married, was a resident of Stamford, Connecticut and had a young son named Damian who would attend Stamford Elementary.
[edit] Champion of the Superhuman Registration Act
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.
Mrs. 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, Mrs. Sharpe appeared on stage at the press conference where Spider-Man unmasked as one of his first public supporters.
Mrs. Sharpe again apeared in Civil War #4 to attend Bill "Black Goliath" Foster's funeral. She would again speak with Iron Man, this time to bolster his commitment to the SHRA.
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, where Tony Stark showed her a series of gardens that were 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 "Big Idea" for registration despite how it's torn their lives apart. Stark assures her that there is “no shame in making enemies if it means making people safer.”
Her latest appearance was in the final issue of Civil War, where 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.
[edit] Trivia
- Wizard Magazine has noted a number of similarities between Miriam Sharpe and Scarlet Witch. Both have lost children (Miriam Sharpe's son Damian during the Stamford Incident and Scarlet Witch's twins) and are the architects of world-altering changes (Civil War and House Of M, respectively)in the Marvel Universe.
- It has become a popular topic of Internet Discussions to accuse her of being a behind-the-scenes puppetmaster, controlling Tony Stark thanks to the fact that she spat on him in Civil War 1, even going as far as to accuse her of secretly being Loki or Mephisto. Some Fans cite Tony Stark's erratic behaviour and the unprecedented security access given to a civilian as further evidence of this theory.
Joe Quesada has stated that "there is no villain pulling the strings in Civil War", so this theory has been abandoned by many.
