Jubilee (comics)
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Jubilee (Jubilation Lee) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #244 (August 1989).
A mutant, Jubilee's powers gave her ability to generate explosive energy sparks. A teenaged "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.
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[edit] Publication history
Jubilee had her own self-titled series set in Los Angeles.
According to Joe Quesada, Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, Jubilee and 'friends' will be popping up in the near future in a new Marvel project. It is said that this project will please fans, and that Joe Q himself is very excited about it (newsarama.com, Joe Fridays #14). Joe Q has also stated that Jubilee will be a lead character in this project, and that they have big plans for her to become a lead character in the Marvel Universe.
However, according to Joe Quesada, Jubilee will not regain her mutant powers. He said specifically of the character, "I can tell you here that she will remain powerless for the foreseeable future."[1]
[edit] Fictional character biography
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 a Hollywood shopping 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, the mall security hired mutant hunters known as the M-Squad to capture her. Jubilee held her own by blasting the M-Squad's energy tractor beams, but she was eventually caught by them. She was rescued by X-Men members Dazzler, Psylocke, Rogue, and Storm, who happened to be shopping at the mall. Curious, she tracked them for a while and later followed them into a portal.
She found herself in the X-Men's temporary base, deep in the Australian outback. She stayed in hiding until the X-Men had abandoned the base, and their enemies the Reavers had captured Wolverine. While she was living in the underground base, the mutant known as Gateway, who created the portal to the Hollywood mall, was the only being aware of Jubilee's existence. During her stay in the base she stole food and borrowed clothes from several of the X-Men to create a makeshift costume for herself. She was also attacked by a cybernetic dog, and was forced to use her powers in self-defense by blowing up the beast. This was the first time Jubilee learned her powers could do real damage, although a later retcon had her first manifestation causing destruction on a similar scale.
While sneaking around the caverns in the outback base, Jubilee was 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 Jubilee outside. Jubilee was torn between her desire to help Wolverine and her fear of what the Reavers might do to her if they caught her doing so. Thus Jubilee watched as, after the storm hit, Wolverine flew into one of his berserker rages and summoned 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 made the decision to risk helping Wolverine, and helped him back to her hiding spot in the complex, where she did 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). Before Wolverine had completely recovered, the two were forced to abandon their sanctuary when the Reavers located them and attempted to capture them. They managed to escape and make their way to Madripoor.
Afterward, Jubilee teamed up with Wolverine on several of his missions throughout the world. During this time she held her own against the Hand and blew up a section of the Mandarin's castle with her powers when she, Wolverine, and Psylocke were the supervillain's prisoners.
[edit] Wolverine and the X-Men
Wolverine brought Jubilee to Professor Xavier, who welcomed the girl with open arms, and she and Wolverine developed a close father-daughter relationship with one another. Jubilee needed the guidance of a parent, while Wolverine needed the peace and joy of a child. Due to this relationship, Jubilee is referred to as Wolverine's unofficial sidekick. The duo teamed up to take down Sentinels, Omega Red, Sabertooth, Mojo (see Abcissa, Other Versions, below), and Sauron, and even seek revenge on Reno and Molokai for the murder of Jubilee's parents. Jubilee also teams up with Wolverine and Cable.[2]
Jubilee found a home with the X-Men, and even joined the X-Men Blue Team. She aided her fellow mutants in battles against Mondo, the Shi'Ar Empire, and the Brood, among others. She formed close bonds with many of the team members, including Beast, Professor Xavier (whom she took rollerblading when he briefly had the use of his legs) and Illyana Rasputin. Jubilee mourned the loss of Illyana with the rest of the X-Men, especially Jean Grey.
[edit] DC vs. Marvel
In the Marvel vs DC storyline, Jubilee fought with the X-Men and other Marvel heroes against the heroes of the DC Comics world. Jubilee was caught in a fight against Tim Drake, aka Robin. The two however, were reluctant to fight, and after their match (which Robin won), became involved romantically. Because of this, the two were infused in the Amalgam Comics world as Sparrow, sidekick to Dark Claw. Jubilee vowed to remember Robin always when the rift between the DC and Marvel worlds was finally closed. On DC/Marvel: All Access, with Access's aid, she finally reunite with the Boy Wonder. However he admitted to her that he is in a relationship with then-girlfriend Ariana Dzerchenko. The two find themselves stalked by Harvey Dent. Working together, they brought down the former District Attorney.
[edit] Generation X
Feeling that she needed a rest from the stresses at the mansion, Jubilee volunteered to join a new group of teenage mutants known as Generation X. The team was led by both Banshee and Emma Frost, and was composed mainly of Jubilee, Husk, Synch, M, Chamber, Skin, and Penance.
Both Banshee and Emma Frost educated the teenagers in school subjects as well as combat and field skills. Jubilee and the other mutant teens honed their unique abilities and occasionally battled foes such as the Juggernaut, Omega Red, and their arch-rival Emplate. Time after time, Jubilee used her experience with the X-Men to help her teammates outsmart their enemies. On more than one occasion, Jubilee was solely responsible for the defeat of Emplate. She used her sarcasm when Emplate siphoned her powers so that he would 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 blew up Proudstar Hall in order to defeat him. Her teammates survived the massive explosion because Iceman covered them with an ice shield.
During her stay at the Massachusetts Academy, Jubilee was kidnapped and held hostage by Bastion during Operation: Zero Tolerance. She managed to resist his mental probes for a good amount of time, hiding valuable information about the X-Men. Jubilee staged an escape early on after being kidnapped, literally knocking several armed soldiers unconscious with a large plasma volley. Her innocence and morals led to her capture once more, as she decided to give CPR to one of the guards she injured. She eventually escaped with the help of Bastion's assistant Daria. While wandering the desert after her getaway, she was attacked by a Prime Sentinel and held her own by blasting his vision receptors. She was saved at the last minute by Wolverine, who took her back to the X-Men until she was comfortable enough to return to Generation X.
One of the most important details of her stay with Generation X was when she discovered the true killer of her parents, Hunter Brawn. She staged a solo operation, using all of her powers, skills, and abilities to track down Brawn. With the help of her friends and teammates, she managed to take him down. Enraged at how he had destroyed her family, her powers flared to a massive level. Instead of killing the man, she took out her aggression and blew up his warehouse, leaving him to be arrested by local authorities.
[edit] After Generation X
After Generation X disbanded, Jubilee moved to L.A. with former teammate Skin (Angelo Espinosa) to pursue an acting career. She was unfortunately cast in stereotypical Asian roles, and after her agent tried to seduce her, she blasted him with a powerful plasma blast.
Around this time she was offered a position on Banshee's militaristic X-Corps team, alongside former teammates Husk and M. The three young women hesitantly joined Banshee in order to keep an eye on him. During her run with the X-Corps, Jubilee held off an uprising in Paris by blinding hostile enemies. Jubilee and Husk, with the help of Stacy X, also managed to take down the Blob and rescue Banshee from Mystique.
Jubilee returned to L.A. with Skin, but the two of them (along with Magma and other mutants) were kidnapped and crucified on the front lawn of the X-Mansion by the Church of Humanity. Jubilee and Magma recovered from the attack thanks to Angel's healing blood, but Skin and the others weren't so fortunate. Jubilee became slightly depressed due to the loss of her friend Skin and reunited with her friend Husk (Paige Guthrie). The two of them, along with Angel, attended Skin's funeral. Since the grave keeper wouldn't allow a mutant to be buried in his cemetery, he had Skin cremated and unemotionally handed Jubilee Skin's ashes. From then on, Jubilee went on a few missions with Nightcrawler and Havok's Uncanny team, but was taken off the active roster when Cyclops decided she needed a mental break.
[edit] L.A. and Aunt Hope
Jubilee was contacted by a long lost relative, her aunt Hope. Hope decided to adopt Jubilee and take her into her home in Los Angeles, which gave Jubilation a much needed break from mansion life. Jubilee attended Payton Noble High School and became a peer advisor. She got into a few fights in school, and was reprimanded because of her power display. She also befriended a mutant named Shane Shooter, and helped him take down a gang leader. Unfortunately for Jubilee, her aunt was caught in a crime ring, as she was an assassin. While Wolverine was visiting Jubilee, the two of them, along with Hope (and her butler Brad), got into a battle with Hope's old boss. Hope was caught in a violent explosion and seemingly died, causing a distraught Jubilee to move back to the mansion with Wolverine.
Jubilee, who had yet again left Xavier's for LA, was one of the massive number of mutants who lost their powers due to the magics of the Scarlet Witch.[3] It is revealed that due to her powerloss, Jubilee becomes involved in a liberal movement groups while she lives in New York.[4]
Jubilee reappears in a Los Angeles half-way house for depowered mutants.[5] Wolverine stumbled upon Jubilee while looking for his friend Maverick in New York. Jubilee was working at a facility for de-powered mutants. She helped some of the depowered mutants escape to safety, but she was kidnapped by Omega Red and his henchmen, as Wolverine was sidetracked during the battle.
Wolverine managed to use S.H.I.E.L.D. as a distraction in finding Omega Red and Jubilee, but found that she was gravely injured with a spike through her chest. The 'Savior' arc ends with Wolverine trading his freedom from S.H.I.E.L.D. for Jubilee's safety and well-being. She was last seen being carried away in a medical unit by S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, and is most likely under their watch and medical supervision.
Jubilee was rumored to be one of the new characters of the new series, "The Loners". However, this isn't true. According to marvel.com,under the new comic releases for June 6th, Generation-X's Penance (now called Hollow) will be that new member.[1]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Jubilee has the mutant power to generate bright bursts of energy plasmoids from her fingertips. She referred to these globules as fireworks. The globules obeyed her mental control, travelling where she directed them, arranging themselves in balls, streamers, and other shapes, and exploding when she wished. The strength of the energy 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's brain simulating the effects of a massive stroke. Jubilee could absorb the fireworks back into her own body without harm.
A point of interest about Jubilee's powers is that she often refers to them as Pafs. Considering that the word 'Paf' appears in many instances as onomatopoeia when drawn with her powers, it is believed to be the sound that her energy bursts create, much like Nightcrawler's Bamf noise.
As referenced by Emma Frost while training in Generation X, Jubilee has 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.
In her early appearances, Jubilee also displayed an apparent immunity to telepathy, but this was soon forgotten. She has on occasion used this ability to hide herself from psychic scans and probes from Sentinels. Whether or not she knows of this ability has yet to be determined.
Jubilee is a talented gymnast, and while living rough 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, sufficient to survive combat with the Hand. She has also been shown to have strong leadership abilities during her closing time with Generation X, often been placed in a field commander role by Banshee.
In one issue of Wolverine's comic, it was stated that Jubilee suffers from dyscalculacy. Given her status as an academic underachiever, this assessment can be assumed to have some degree of accuracy.
[edit] Other Versions
[edit] The New Mutants
In the New Mutants Annual #2 (1986), Mojo kidnaps the Bratpack, three children who befriended Longshot, and transforms them into adult superheroes. One of the three is Darla, a blonde Caucasian girl who becomes Jubilee. Her powers are identical to the Asian-American Jubilee. By the end of the comic, however, Darla (and the others) are returned back to their powerless original selves as children.
[edit] Abcissa
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.[2]
[edit] MC2
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 has been revealed to rather act on her own and only reluctantly cooperates with other heroes. She apparently still retains a reserve status within the group, and has joined them on several occasions. She can sporadically be seen in the Spider-Girl series and related mini-series.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
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.
[edit] Mutant X
In Mutant X, Jubilee is the leader of the villain team the Marauders, although she has trouble keeping her team under control. After the Marauders had a fight with Bloodstorm, Jubilee was severely hurt.
[edit] Days of Future Past
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.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
- In the 1992 X-Men animated television series, Jubilee was voiced by Alyson Court. Jubilee was a main character of the original animated series, and starred in almost all of the episodes throughout the many seasons it aired. She also retained her surrogate daughter/father relationship with Logan, aka Wolverine, who was still shown to dote on her in his own gruff way; in one episode, Logan was even shown teaching Jubilee how to drive.
- In the 1996 television film Generation X, the character was portrayed by Heather McComb, who is Caucasian, not Chinese. Jubilee's character in the Generation X movie had several power scenes and was one of the main characters.
- In the 2001 X-Men: Evolution animated television series, she appeared infrequently as one of the New Mutants, and was voiced by Chiara Zanni.
[edit] Films
- Jubilee also appears in all three X-Men films, though she was 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 Storm and Rogue. In X2, Jubilee appears in a deleted version of the museum scene which gives a brief introduction to her powers. 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. She has no talking parts within X3; contrary to earlier rumors, she displays none of her powers within the film.
[edit] Video games
- Jubilee appears in some of the X-Men video games. She is a selectable helper character in Marvel vs Capcom, in which she throws several fireworks at her enemies (and is voiced by Alyson Court). She is also a cameo helper character in the Wolverine game for the NES, in which she gives Wolverine a device to breathe underwater for a longer period of time.
- Rumor has it that the X-Men Arcade game had several hacked versions back in the 90's at local arcades, in which Jubilee, Gambit, and Psylocke were playable characters that replaced Dazzler, Colossus, and Nightcrawler.[citation needed]
- She was also supposed to be a playable character in two other X-Men games in the past, but these games were cancelled before being released world-wide. One of the games was called X-Women for Sega Genesis, and featured Storm, Rogue, Jean, and Jubilee as playable characters. The other game was a PC title, in which Jubilee was dressed in her Generation X gear.
- Most recently, Jubilee appears as a playable character in the video game X-Men Legends, and is voiced by Danica McKellar from the show Wonder Years. In X-Men Legends, Jubilee is unlocked early on in the game by talking to her at the X-Mansion. The character's back story and personality in the game are very true to her comics counterpart. Her moves are represented fairly well, except for a taunt ability that was thrown in, and a basic set of melee strikes that doesn't incorporate her gymnastic abilities whatsoever. According to the creators, she did not appear in the sequel because "It's not that we don't like her, it's just we don't need her"[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ NEWSARAMA.COM: NEW JOE FRIDAYS WEEK 32
- ^ Marvel Team Up vol. 3 #19 (April 2006)
- ^ Decimation: The Day After
- ^ Generation M #2
- ^ Wolverine: Origins #7
[edit] External links
- MDP: Jubilee - Marvel Database Project
- UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Jubilee
- Jubilee on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
