HANNAH CONOVER

Real Name: Hannah Conover

Identity/Class: Human/Brood Queen

Occupation: Former faith healer

Affiliations: her own Brood "Children" (Edwina, Felipe, Fred, Maryanne, Nancy, Randy and Thomas), Conover Crusade, Glory Day Ministry, Josey Thomas, X-Men

Enemies: Brood Empress, Firstborn, Harry Palmer, Josey Thomas

Known Relatives: Reverend William Conover (husband)

Aliases: Rogue Queen

Base of Operations: The Conover Crusade, mobile throughout the American southwest; currently, possibly at Muir Island, Scotland

First Appearance: (Cameo on billboard) Uncanny X-Men I#232 (August, 1988); (full) Uncanny X-Men I#233 (September, 1988)

Powers/Abilities: Hannah Conover has the powers of a Brood Queen: superhuman strength and durability, the ability to implant eggs in others to create new Brood, a telepathic link with, and control over, her Brood nest. Hannah Conover also possesses a remarkable faith and strength of will, allowing her to resist the influence of the Brood Empress and hivemind.

History: (Uncanny X-Men I#233)- Hannah brought hot coffee to her husband William, but had difficulty pouring it do to her arthritis. The couple spoke of the battle between the X-Men and the Brood Mutants going on in nearby Denver, and William stated he wished he were a mutant with healing abilities, able to heal Hannah’s arthritis.

(Uncanny X-Men I#234)- Hannah reassured her nervous husband backstage before his sermon. As the Reverend walked on stage, Hannah was approached by paramedic Josey Thomas, who offered to help ease her arthritis.

(X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath#1 (fb))- Hannah followed Josey Thomas to the paramedic’s ambulance for “treatment” for her arthritis, and Josey transformed into a Brood and implanted her with the egg of a Brood Queen.

(Uncanny X-Men I#235)- As the X-Men’s battle with the Brood spilled over into the Glory Day Ministry’s meeting site, Hannah was taken captive by Brood Queen Harry Palmer, but was rescued when the X-Man Wolverine crawled beneath the stage they were on, dragged Palmer down, and killed him. Hannah returned to her husband’s side, her arthritis mysteriously cured, as Josey Thomas watched, smiling, from nearby.

(X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath#1 (fb))- Over the next few months, Josey coached and guided Hannah as she began to build her own loyal force of Brood, using her newfound “Miracle Hands” to infect others, under the guise of faith healing and “The laying on of hands”. Still, Hannah was plagued by what she was doing, until, one day, she listened to one of her husband’s sermons, and her humanity and faith overwhelmed her Brood side. Horrified by what she had become, and what she had made others into, Hannah fled the stage, refusing to implant any more innocents with Brood eggs. The Brood Empress would not stand for such defiance however.

(X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath#1)- The Brood Empress gave Hannah one last chance to return, entering her dreams and explaining the Brood’s nature, their desire to survive, and the unity the Brood offered. She then threatened Hannah that if she did not return, the Empress would send her Firstborn to kill Hannah, her Brood, and all she loved. Hannah woke up screaming, but refused to tell her husband why, believing he could not possibly forgive or love her after what she had done. She then took a trip into town with an elderly couple, Fred and Nancy, who were among her Brood. In town, the Firstborn arrived, guided by Josey Thomas. After slaughtering  Ms. Thomas, the Firstborn attacked Hannah. Fred and Nancy transformed into Brood to defend her, but were killed. The Firstborn didn't intend to kill Hannah yet. Their goal was to lure all of Hannah’s Broodlings to her defense, then slaughter them all. The X-Men arrived due to Jean Grey’s psychic eavesdropping on Hannah’s struggle with the Empress, and carried her off to safety in the desert. Hannah, however, wanted to die, feeling it was the only way to atone for her sins and protect the lives of others.

(X-Men/Brood: Day Of Wrath#2)- While Wolverine wanted to kill Hannah, and Hannah wanted to die, the others tried to dissuade her. Bishop pointed out that in his time there were peaceful Brood, perhaps due to Hannah, and Beast and Jean recognized Hannah was a threat to the Brood, and may be able to help save others. Hannah’s Brood arrived to defend her, and a scuffle ensued, but Hannah quickly brought it to a stop. Cannonball tried to dissuade her against suicide, but Hannah referred to what the Bible said about dying that others might live (John 15:13). As she sensed the Firstborn nearby, Hannah ordered her Brood to delay the X-Men (without harming them, so she could draw the Firstborn away and prevent any more innocents from being harmed). She fled into the desert, but her loyal Brood found her just as the Firstborn arrived, and her Brood “children” were slaughtered. She felt each of their deaths while trying to hold them back, but they were driven by a desire “only to buy a few more moments of life for she who gave them more life.” The X-Men arrived, but they were unable to save the Broodlings. Cannonball rocketed off with Hannah to safety. As Sam communicated with Jean, Hannah sensed that the Firstborn had captured her husband, and transformed into a full Brood, knocking Sam out.  She considered infecting the boy, (an External Brood, interesting idea), but her humanity still held enough sway to stop her. She screamed in rage at what the Brood had done to her and her husband, and ran off to surrender herself, hoping the Firstborn would free William if she did. As she arrived, she revealed to the Reverend Conover what she had become, and was amazed that he still loved her. The Firstborn, however, had no intention of releasing William, and she briefly fought them, only to collapse back into her human form, and beg God and her husband for forgiveness for her sins. As the Reverend consoled her, assuring her sins under duress are forgivable, the Firstborn attempted to finish them both, just as the X-Men arrived. Feeling that there was no other way, Iceman, Jean Grey and Beast told the Reverend Conover they must cryogenically freeze Hannah to break her link with the Brood hive-mind, until they could cure her, or find a way to block the Brood mind-link. However, they couldn't let Hannah know, as all Brood are mentally linked, or the Empress would know that her “death” was only as ruse. As she was placed in stasis, she and her husband recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Hannah was taken to X-Mansion and placed in a cryogenic stasis pod. Professor Xavier spoke of transferring her to Muir Island for better treatment, and expressed his belief that she was part of his dream of harmony between all beings.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri.

Since the death of Dr. Moira MacTaggert, it’s unclear what’s happened to Hannah Conover, if Bishop’s theory was correct, she’s probably still in stasis, never to be “cured”, but, eventually, fated to awaken and bring a new, peaceful race of Brood into existence. The X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath storyline, (September-October, 1996), reprinted in the X-Men: Brood War trade paperback, is beautifully written and illustrated, except for one minor error, (four Firstborn arrive on Earth, one is killed in a gasoline explosion in the first battle, one has his jaw blasted off and dies in the second, one is speared through the chest and killed by Iceman using a giant icecicle, yet two are left to kill each other at the end, with Hannah’s apparent death, their job being done.) It's a wonderful story, one I highly recommend.

Profile by Darc_Light, minor (mostly surname spelling) corrections by Luis Dantas