COLE
Real Name: Cole (last name unrevealed; possibly Wittman (see comments))
Identity/Class: Human mutate (see comments)
Occupation: None
Group Membership: The Frightful Four (informally)
Affiliations: The
Fantastic Four (Human Torch (Storm), Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic,
The Thing (Grimm)), Spider-Man (Parker);
formerly the Frightful Four (Hydro-Man,
Salamandra, Wizard)
Enemies: Frightful Four (Hydro-Man, Salamandra, Trapster, Wizard)
Known Relatives: Salamandra (mother), Wizard (father)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: Fantastic Four III#514 (August, 2004)
Powers/Abilities: Developing the ability to create and control gravitrons, Cole was able to alter the mass of objects, often at great physical expense, taking on the mass drawn from the objects or transferring her own into it. Despite having learned how to control her powers, they become active during times of duress.
History:
(Fantastic Four III#515 (fb) - BTS) - Nineteen years ago, Bentley Wittman used his technology to impregnate his wife, Salamandra.
(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#12 (Wizard)) - Salamandra was kept sedated during her pregnancy to prevent her from aborting their child.
(Fantastic Four III#514) - Their troubled marriage ended soon after, with Wittman leaving Salamandra upon determining their unborn child, named Cole, possessed no superhuman gifts.
(Fantastic Four III#514 (fb) - BTS) - Salamandra shuffled Cole into 15 different schools during her 12 years of grade school. As Cole grew older, she saw her globe-trotting mother less and less, averaging two weeks a year in recent times. Salamandra tried to make it up to her daughter with jewelry and other expensive gifts.
(Fantastic Four III#515 (fb) - BTS) - Cole manifested the ability to create and control gravitrons, creations of her father. Her power manifesting itself by increasing or decreasing her mass to dangerous levels and finding herself unable to control it, she emailed Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) of the Fantastic Four under the auspices of setting up a blind date so she could meet Reed Richards to find a cure.
(Fantastic Four III#514 (fb) - BTS) - Cole joined her mother on a trip to New York to meet Johnny, arriving at JFK Airport. Parting ways, Salamandra gave Cole a ring equipped with a teleportation device, unknown to her daughter who believed it to be another of her mother's attempts to buy her love.
(Fantastic Four III#514) - Meeting Johnny Storm outside a Manhattan coffee shop, Cole was startled by the sudden arrival of the other members of the Fantastic Four who followed Johnny to his blind date. Touching the exterior of the coffee shop, Cole's powers caused it to collapse. Running into an alley amid the chaos, Cole was followed by the Human Torch. Discussing her tumultuous relationship with her mother and the ring she'd received, they found common ground, both having had difficultly with their parents. Cole relaxed enough to accompany him to the Baxter building, soon excusing herself to use a washroom and unknowingly providing Salamandra, Wizard, the Trapster, and Hydro-Man -- the Frightful Four -- a way into the headquarters of the Fantastic Four.
(Fantastic Four III#515) - Staying out of sight while the Frightful and Fantastic Foursomes fought, Cole emerged to use her powers to free the Human Torch from one of Trapster's traps. Shot at by the Trapster, Cole soon recovered and teleported herself to the Wizard's lair with her parents and Hydro-Man. On their arrival, Cole was subjected to tests to ensure her well-being and she learned the story of her parents' ill-fated marriage and the process of her conception. Horrified by this, and equally put-off by her father's newfound interest in her because of her powers, Cole fled. Tracking down the Human Torch and apologizing for using him as a way of reaching Reed Richards, both were surprised by the sudden arrival of Richards and the other members of the Fantastic Four. Richards told Cole that with the Wizard's data he'd be able to help her control her powers.
(Fantastic Four III#516) - Returning to the Wizard's lair, Cole used the ring to teleport the Fantastic Four in. Tending to a shaken Human Torch, they kissed before being confronted by Hydro-Man, who Cole tried to stop by directing a piece of machinery at him. Her body emaciated by her extreme power use, Cole was taken by the Wizard and placed in a device to restore her form. Horrified by her father's words that the Fantastic Four won't help her because they believed that she was one of the Frightful Four, Cole used her powers to lift the Wizard's lair from under the streets of New York. Horrified by her grotesque appearance from having absorbed such mass, Cole pulled away from the Wizard, who approached her in an almost fatherly fashion. Telling him she that saved him because despite all the horrible things he had done, he was still her father. She added that she couldn't let his plans continue and sent the mass back into the structure, plummeting it downward, taking Cole and the Wizard with it.
Collecting the Wizard's data, Richards surmised that the genetic procedures that the Wizard had used 19 years ago were primitive by today's standards, and it would be easy to stabilize Cole's powers. However, they were unable to find Cole or Wizard in the aftermath of the crash.
Comments: Created by Mark Waid & Karl Kesel (writers), Paco Medina (pencils) and Juan Vlasco (inks).
When asked if Cole was her first or last name, Cole replied "it is what it is." In all likelihood, Cole is a single name.
It's unclear when Cole's powers first manifested. It's possible they were inherited, an effect of her father's experiments with gravitrons (not unlike Peter Parker passing his spider powers down to Spider-Girl), but considering that Cole's powers were undetected following her birth, she could be a mutant.
Wizard has since appeared, but Cole's status is unrevealed.
Profile by G Morrow.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Cole has no known connections to
images:
(without ads)
Fantastic Four III#514, p12, pan1 (main image)
Fantastic Four III#514, p18, pan4 (head shot)
Fantastic Four III#516, p19, pan2 (absorbing mass)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four III#514 (August, 2004) - Mark Waid and Karl Kesel
(writers), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Fantastic Four III#515 (September, 2004) -
Mark Waid and Karl Kesel (writers), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco
(inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four III#516 (October, 2004) -
Mark Waid and Karl Kesel (writers), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco
(inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#12 (2006) -
Jeff Christiansen (head writer/coordinator), Jeff Youngquist &
Jennifer Grünwald (editors)
Last updated: 02/06/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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