SPINDRIFTER
Real Name: Marandi Sjörokker
Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional (Cloudsea) magic user
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Ally of Spider-Man; Associate of Dr. Strange (Stephen Strange)
Enemies: the Tordenkakerlakk and the League of Three Threes;
Known Relatives: Kurudred (father), Gorath Tenclaws (uncle)
Aliases: Sea Spray (another translation of her last name). Sjörokker may just be a name she chose, but it is Norwegian(?) for Spindrifts, Sea Sprays, or Spindrifter; Mandi; she has also taken on numerous names of the years while adopted by families on Earth
Base of Operations: The Nonesuch in Marmorkjelde (Marble Spring) within the Cloudsea dimension
Education: Elementary; informally trained in spellcasting
First Appearances: Marvel Graphic Novel#22: Spider-Man: Hooky (1986)
Powers:
Marandi has accumulated a large amount of mystical experience,
artifacts, and lore in her greater than 200 years. She used her
Ponchos for short term flight in other dimensions. She (and
anyone else) can fly without assistance in the Cloudsea
dimension. She lived in an intelligent ship, the Nonesuch, which
could travel at great speeds and obeyed her commands. Marandi
knew how and where to access dimensional portals to multiple
realms. She typically would take more indirect routes that did
not require much power output on her part.
After being forced to grow up, she realized she could access greater amounts of magic. She has the potential to be a sorceress on par with Dr. Strange.
Marandi was formerly under a spell that kept her at twelve years of age physically and emotionally. It is uncertain at what rate she will now age.
Height: 5'
Weight: 100 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
History: Marandi Sjörokker is the daughter of the infamous extra-dimension sorcerer Kurudred the Blood Drinker, the Tyrant of Dolara and Master of the Nightspawn. Kurudred wanted to take over the Seven Planets of Lemne, which were under the protection of another sorcerer, Elmak the Light-Shaper. After several struggles and foiled kidnapping of the people of Lemne, Kurudred conjured for eight days and melted Elmak's base, the Citadel of a Thousand Lamps into a big ball of slag...with Elmak in it. A band of sorcerers known as the League of Three Threes hunted and trapped Kurudred and drew a Death Rune on his brow. The League then did the same to Kurudred's brother, Gorath Tenclaws. The League was uncertain how to handle Kurudred's twelve year old daughter, Marandi. They feared that she would grow up in the family tradition, but were not comfortable in killing a little girl. Kurudred, realizing that League would eventually kill her unless they were sure she would not grow up evil, used the last of his power to cast a spell of Marandi, preventing her from growing older.
Time may pass at a different rate in the Cloudsea dimension, but Marandi spent the next 207 years as a twelve year, learning a small amount of magic from her dad's books and exploring other dimensions. At some point, she encountered the Oracle of Stoa Neroi who revealed that she would eventually meet her fate at the hands of the "Spindrifter's Bane." Marandi spent a significant amount of time on Earth, where she developed an interest in the history of the vikings and samurai. In an effort to gain an education, she would manage to get herself adopted by a family on Earth. Eventually someone would notice that she wasn't getting any older, which would result in anything from attempting to burn her at the stake to hormone injections, depending on the era. She even encountered Dr. Strange while traveling between dimensions. On one of her more recent stints as an adoptee, she lived in Forest Hills, and delivered newspapers in the neighborhood a five year old Peter Parker.
Eventually Marandi tired of the shifting lives, the
running and hiding, and watching others age, get sick, and die.
She returned to the Cloudsea dimension. Shortly thereafter, she
began to be plagued by the Tordenkakerlakk, a giant insect which
she named, translated as "Thunder Cockroach."
Initially, Marandi was able to repel this creature, but it would
always return, somewhat larger and more powerful. Marandi began
to fear that the Tordenkakerlakk was the Spindrifter's Bane, and
that it would eventually kill her.
Marandi traveled to Earth and recruited Spider-Man, whom she knew as a young boy, to assist her. She brought Spider-Man to the Cloudsea dimension, where she explained her plight, beliving that the creature was a creation of Elmak: a curse on his murderer's family. and they soon encountered the Tordenkakerlakk. Spider-Man managed to defeat the creature, but it would reform, more powerful than before every time he stopped it. Spider-Man eventually realized that only Marandi would be able to stop the Tordenkakerlakk, and he feigned injury to force her to confront it. With his encouragement, she did summon the will to muster sufficient magical power to cause it to dissipate. Spider-Man explained to her that he had figured that Kurudred himself had actually created the Tordenkakerlakk to act as a catalyst to force her to overcome his spell of eternal youth when it would be safe for her to grow up. This had occurred with the recent death of the last member of the League of Three Threes. With the spell broken, she would finally begin to become an adult. Grateful, she returned Spider-Man back to Earth, although she did invite him to come join her harem someday (of which she felt the Vision would be an integral part).
Comments:
Created by Susan K. Putney and Berni Wrightson.
This is an excellent story. I would love to see some like Louise Simonson or Ann Nocenti, etc. do a follow up story. Perhaps if the "Cockroach Conspiracy" accessed the magic of the Tordenkakerlaker...
Marandi's ponchos were originally magic capes, perhaps the creation of Enitharmon the Weaver, the creator of Dr. Strange's Cloak of Levitation.
Spindrifter has a full entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook.
Last Updated: 09/05/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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