SPINNERETTE

Real Name: Unrevealed, possibly Solon-Stabilizer (see comments)

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Solon)

Occupation: Starship stabilizer

Group Membership: Her Solon star-crew

Affiliations: Archie and his gang of hobos, Invisible Girl (Susan Richards), Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)

Enemies: None; formerly Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic, Franklin Richards

Known Relatives: All Solons are related to each other through their process of asexual reproduction, likely leading back to one core being

Aliases: Spinner

Base of Operations: Solon, Nardea star system, Milky Way galaxy

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#237 (December, 1981)

Powers/Abilities: As with all members of her race of identical beings, Spinnerette reproduces asexually through fission. She is identical to all female members of her race, and very nearly identical--with the exception of gender--to the males. As a Solon, Spinnerette has certain psionic powers, but her race can become "drunk" when in contact with oxygen-rich atmospheres.

Spinnerette traveled to Earth aboard a spacecraft, where she used her power to prevent vertigo in the weightless environment of space; but on a plane where gravity already exists, her power had the opposite effect and caused a sensation of violent dizziness in others.

Height: 9'
Weight: 325 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: None
Skin: Blue

History:
(Fantastic Four I#237 (fb) - BTS) - When their spaceship's solar cell was damaged, a group of Solons arrived on Earth in search of indium to repair it; they landed their spaceship in the waters off the shore of Long Island Sound. Noticing that all humans were of different sizes and colors, they saw no reason why one of their own would not blend in, so they sent Solon-Stabilizer to search for the indium.

(Fantastic Four I#237 (fb)) - Solon-Stabilizer made her way into a camp of homeless men, and one of the hobos (Sam) attacked by throwing something at her. She lashed out with her psionic powers, knocking several of the hobos out with a strong vertigo effect. Archie, one of the only ones to not be rendered unconscious, tried to make contact with the tall alien female, who seemed very interested in his wristwatch. Mistakenly believing she was interested in the silver of the watch and not the indium, Archie put together a plan to use the woman (whom Archie dubbed "Spinnerette") to help gain riches. As her time on Earth lengthened, she also became more increasingly "drunk" on oxygen.

(Fantastic Four I#237) - While enjoying a day in Central Park with their young son Franklin, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl came across Spinnerette and the bums robbing a jewelry store. Spinnerette's powers knocked out both Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl, so Franklin lashed out at her with his mutant powers. Spinnerette was hurt by Franklin's mental assault, so the hobos picked her up and made their getaway.

   After they recovered, the two FF members investigated the crime scene, where they learned that Spinnerette had actually not taken anything from the jewelry store herself, and she had left odd aluminum-lead alloy "ball-bearings" (later revealed to be her people's equivalent of coins) in return for what the men had stolen. No sooner than this was discovered than another nearby alarm went off, this one at a pawn shop. Reed and Sue confronted the group again, and Mr. Fantastic managed to catch one of the homeless men while Spinnerette and the others got away. The captured man explained how they found Spinnerette, and after hearing from the pawn shop's owner that the "big lady" had taken his solar-powered calculator (leaving more "ball-bearings" behind), Mr. Fantastic finally pieced together the puzzle.After leaving the hobo with authorities, Reed and Sue returned to the Baxter Building -- hoping to avoid a severe interplanetary diplomatic blunder, Reed grabbed his universal translator, then he and Sue used the Airjet-Cycle to fly to the next robbery.

   Confronting Spinnerette yet again, Reed told Sue to place a force-field around the alien female's head, cutting off her supply of oxygen -- this returned Spinnerette to her non-"drunk" state and, through the universal translator device, she explained her mission. Spinnerette, Reed and Sue returned to the area where the other aliens waited in their spacecraft, and Reed gave them a box of indium, declining their payment of "ball-bearing" coins.

   After she gave Reed and Sue a tour of the spacecraft and repairs were made, Spinnerette and her fellow crew-mates left Earth.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

As all members of her race are essentially clones of one another, they do not seem to have actual names, but rather designations pertaining to their mission duties. Thus, by our standards, Spinnerette's true name may very well be Solon-Stabilizer, the position she held on her ship.

    Spinnerette's race, the Solons, received an entry in the Alien Races section of OHOTMU Deluxe Edition#15. It is from this entry that most of the data regarding their planet is taken.

Spinnerette was also somehow able to perceive Sue when she was invisible -- possibly this was related to her psionic abilities. -- Ron Fredricks

Profile by Madison Carter

CLARIFICATIONS:
Spinnerette has no known connections to:

Archie

Archie, or "Arch," was a homeless man. One night, while he and four other hobos (including Sam) were camped in back of a junkyard near Long Island Sound, they encountered a giant alien woman; because of her power to induce vertigo in others, Archie dubbed her "Spinnerette".

When Archie noticed that the alien woman seemed to be interested in his silver wristwatch (which Archie had stolen two years earlier), he mistakenly believed she came to Earth for silver, so he and the other hobos used Spinnerette's size and powers (as well as her actual search for indium) to rob jewelry stores.

But Mr. Fantastic was able to communicate with Spinnerette, and he helped her and her fellow stranded travelers; the eventual fate of Archie is unrevealed.

--Fantastic Four I#237 (237 (fb), 237

Solon spacecraft and star-crew

A space vessel capable of interstellar travel, it landed in the waters of Long Island Sound after its solar cell was damaged.

All the ship's functions--other than the drive system--were controlled by the crew of trained ESPers, including communications, navigation, and sensor scans.

The crew included Solon-Pilot, Solon-Stabilizer/Spinnerette, and at least four unidentified others; they came to Earth in search of indium, to be used to repair the damaged solar cell.

--Fantastic Four I#237

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#237, p17, pan6 (main image - Spinnerette)
Fantastic Four I#237, p10, pan4 (headshot - Spinnerette)
Fantastic Four I#237, p18, pan2 (Spinnerette uses her powers against Mr. Fantastic)
Fantastic Four I#237, p19, pan1 (Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic using universal translator device to communicate with Spinnerette)
Fantastic Four I#237, p16, pan4 (Archie)
Fantastic Four I#237, p12, pan3 (following Franklin Richards' mental assault, Archie directs his gang to carry collapsed Spinnerette)
Fantastic Four I#237, p19, pan4 (Solon starship rises from waters of Long Island Sound)
Fantastic Four I#237, p20, pan2 (Solon star-crew)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#237 (December, 1981) - John Byrne (writer/pencils/inks), Glynis Wein (colors), Jim Novak (letters), Jim Salicrup (editor)

First posted: 02/01/2006
Last updated: 08/26/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters