Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Human female mutate (?)

Occupation: Mercenary

Group Membership: Unnamed band of mercenaries in Justin Hammer's employ

Affiliations: Beetle (Abner Jenkins), Blacklash (Mark Scarlotti), Blizzard (Mickey Quaid), Boomerang (Fred Myers), Cyclone (Gregory Stevens), Justin Hammer, Spymaster

Enemies: Beverly Hills Police Dept., the Intruders (Fin, Lightbright, Man-Eater, Sandman), Larry Arnold, Latisha, Morris and his gangstas, Silver Sable, the Wild Pack (Battlestar, Amy Chen, Crippler, Doug Powell, Raul Quentino)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

First Appearance: Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#21/1 (February, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: The exact nature of Afterburner's powers are not known, but may be derived from Speed Demon's formula of physical enhancement. She is a short, slim, young woman capable of running at superhuman speeds, appearing as a blur, with superhuman reflexes and agility, although with normal strength and intelligence. She employs her speed to knock opponents over or to run around them while punching them rapidly. She has short green hair (the color possibly indicating that she might be a mutant, or else it is (badly) dyed), with yellow goggles, black leotard and red cape, gloves and boots. She also carries a small pouch on each exposed thigh, possibly to hold stolen items. Afterburner's headset includes two antennae that may be for communication. She has a sassy and flirtatious personality. She seemed inexperienced at fighting and was the first of Hammer's hired thugs to retreat when the battle escalated.

History:

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#21/1) - In an effort to acquire Beverly Hills real estate cheaply, the crime-lord, Justin Hammer, hired Latisha to coordinate over 130 separate gangs from Los Angeles to invade and take the locals hostage. A group of wealthy residents then hired the mercenary Silver Sable to protect them. Latisha informed Hammer of Silver Sable's involvement, who then ordered all of his super-powered operatives in the L.A. area to converge on Beverly Hills and engage Silver Sable and her Wild Pack in combat. After defeating the local gang members they had encountered, Silver Sable and her crew were suddenly confronted by Hammer's hired muscle, namely Afterburner, Beetle (Abner Jenkins), Blacklash (Mark Scarlotti), Blizzard (Mickey Quaid), Boomerang (Fred Myers), Cyclone (Gregory Stevens) and the new Spymaster.

(Silver Sable & Wild Pack#22/1) - Led by the Beetle, Hammer's mercenaries attacked Silver Sable and her Wild Pack, with Afterburner punching Powell rapidly, but with little effect other than disorienting him. Blacklash then bound up Powell from behind with his whip, which left Afterburner free to engage Silver Sable's reinforcements, the Intruders (Fin, Lightbright, Maneater and Sandman).

Meanwhile, Latisha overestimated her importance to Hammer, who told her that the gangs would be cleared out once he had bought all the valuable property at a discounted rate. Latisha then resolved to attack Hammer's mercenary squad before tackling Silver Sable, and she and her gang members armed themselves with high-powered weaponry.

Back at the main fight, confusion reigned as mercenaries and Latisha's gang members engaged each other in a three-way vicious battle, with Afterburner knocking out several gang members. The tide then turned against Hammer's mercenaries, with Silver Sable's crew and the gang members firing at them. Overwhelmed, they quickly retreated, led by Afterburner, and escaped in a waiting hover-transport.

Comments: Created by Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (penciler) & Pam Eklund (inker).

Likely candidate for one of Zemo's Thunderbolts?

Perhaps she died in the same skiing accident that her colleague Cyclone did?

Profile by Grendel Prime

Clarifications:

Afterburner has no known connections to:

• Afterlife - angel that became warped after many years on Earth, became evil in Afterlife dimension, cured by Dr. Strange @ Dr. Strange III#89
• Afterlife dimension - realm where human spirits go before heaven @ Dr. Strange III#88
• Afterlings - (Ozamatli) - bat-human hybrids, created by the sorcerer Morophla, later controlled by Varnae @ Conan the Barbarian I#43
• Aftermath - third British Sleeper, programmed to destroy planet if the Gulf War escalated to a nuclear level @ Plasmer#3
• Aftershock of Earth-MC2 - daughter of Electro, powers caused backlash every time father touched her, started on criminal path, but convinced to stop by Electro with help of Spider-Man, Spider-Girl and the Avengers @ Spider-Girl#51
• Burner (Byron Calley) (also called Crucible) - mutant, member of Resistants, reported directly to Red Skull (Shmidt), pyrokinetic @ Captain America Annual#4
• Burner Patrol - Exiles of Central City with flame powers @ Fantastic Four I#294
• Any other "After-" or "burner" characters

images:
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#22/1, p9, panel 1 (main),