the PEARL SECT
MEMBERSHIP: Mother
of Pearl, Jenkins
PURPOSE: World domination
AFFILIATIONS: Hydra (formerly)
Enemies: The New Warriors, The Avengers, Hydra
BASE of OPERATIONS: The sealed sub-basements of the
Crash-Pad
FIRST APPEARANCE: New Warriors I#61 (July, 1995)
HISTORY
The Pearl Sect were once loyal HYDRA agents under Baron Wolfgang
von Strucker, but when the organization fragmented after his
temporarily death and the east coast branch was restructured by
Silvermane under a corporate model, they left in disgust, vowing
to make a new HYDRA worthy of Strucker. They found a
half-completed A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, HYDRA's old tech
division who later split off to form their own terrorist arms
cartel) storehouse built by the Taylor Foundation under an
abandoned factory of theirs, and moved in. There they formulated
a plan of world-domination through far more subtle means than
HYDRA's usual nuke-'em-till-they-glow policies: They'd build a
giant mind-control device and train it on the nearby Wall Street,
fomenting economic chaos and eventual governmental collapse. They
stayed hidden when the New Warriors arrived and set up shop on
the upper levels of the factory, but didn't leave because the
close proximity to Wall Street was crucial to their plans. For a
couple of years the Warriors never even suspected their
existence, though a couple of their associates at the Taylor
Foundation guessed at what the factory had been intended for.
During that time, they put their plot into practice, while
keeping an eye on the superhero kids upstairs.
(New Warriors#61)-Pearl Sect agents monitor an argument between Hindsight and Rich Rider (Nova I), who are trying to figure out how to enter the section of the Crash-Pad that's sealed off. They also watch as Justice monitors construction work upstairs, and talks to Walter Rosen of Genetech on the phone. They are also out of sugar for their coffee.
(NW#65)-A Pearl Sect member editorializes on how
predictable Rich Rider is in his constant talking about finding
his kidnapped girlfriend Kymaera/Namorita, as he's being replaced
by the next shift.
(NW#72)-The Pearl Sect goes to Condition Yellow yet again, as Hindsight is tampering with the mechanism to open their sealed headquarters. This time it works, and his moment of delight is spoiled by a dozen HYDRA soldiers pointing large guns at him. The doors are resealed and Hindsight is tied to a chair, as Mother of Pearl explains about her organization, and their plans to cause mass havoc on the economy and then pick up the pieces of the United States afterwards. She is about to use the portable version of their mind-bender on him, but Hindsight gets the Sect arguing about the flaws and merits of HYDRA's various Cold War world domination schemes, and uses it a distraction so he can cut through the ropes holding him down. The Sect's argument is interrupted when the Black Widow, Hercules, the Vision, and Turbo I show up; Mother of Pearl has them turn their mind-bender on the Avengers and Turbo, and then attacks the terrifically disoriented heroes. A Pearl Sect victory is imminent, when Hindsight smacks the agents operating the corruptor with a chair, causing it to swivel on Mother of Pearl. The Avengers and Turbo make short work of the suddenly apologetic Pearl Sect, and turn them over to the authorities.
MEMBERS
Mother of Pearl, the leader
of the Pearl Sect, wears... okay, look at the pictures, don't ask
me to describe it. She (he? See below) carries a cane, and like
all supervillains, enjoys expounding her evil plots before
'taking care' of our hero. She also makes terrible puns
("They can't see the forest OR the trees!").
Jenkins' father was heavily involved in Hydra's 'Overkill Horn,' the plan to detonate every nuclear warhead on earth, and defended the plan both to Hindsight and to his fellow operatives.
The son of the man who came up with Hydra's plan to irradiate the earth and then conquer it.
COMMENTS: The Pearl
Sect created by Evan Skolnik and Patrick Zircher.
The Pearl Sect was behind the scenes in every comic that had the Crash-Pad, but since they never did anything, I left those out.
The issue about the Pearl Sect was a lot of fun -- a flamboyant villain just serious enough to not be too goofy, a generic plot device take-over-the-world machine (which Hindsight immediately identifies as "some kind of brain-altering energy beam projector!"), and a spotlight on the most under-appreciated member of the Warriors' cast, who is able to talk his way out of a predicament and save the day, while providing commentary on how ridiculous all Hydra's Cold War plans were.
Mother of Pearl and the Pearl Sect are presumably still incarcerated, and the vast knowledge they have of the Warriors and their allies is still at their disposal. So there's still the story of their revenge on the team to be told. They don't seem like the types to strike at the Warriors' friends and families; it's more likely they'd write a tell-all book and use their resources to publish it, and then Mother of Pearl would go on the talk-show circuit.
CLARIFICATIONS: Mother of Pearl and The Pearl Sect should not be confused with:
See, this was Evan's objection to the farming out of Marvel's faltering first-tier titles to Image (which we know as the Heroes Reborn debacle), presented as an allegory. Originally Mother of Pearl was called Pearl Man, a much more blatant reference for Ron Pearlman, one of Marvel's executives in charge of the project. Also, catch her line: "We've had to rob and lie too long to be feld by this!" (Rob Liefeld -- get it?), and Black Widow mentioning "These days, the world needs all the heroes it can get." ('A World Without Heroes' was one of the working titles for the Heroes Reborn period). Skolnik explained it to the members of the New Warriors mailing list at the time, who've since passed it down to other fans.
Debacle is right! In my opinion, the Heroes Reborn year was the low point in my 24 years of reading Marvel. Don't EVER do anything like this again, please.--Snood.
Profile by Flank McLargehuge
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last updated: 08/01/02.
All characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com