Real Name: Pearl Gross

Identity/Class: Human;
   citizen of Canada

Occupation: Nightclub owner;
former terrorist/political assassin;
former circus fat lady

Group Membership: Masters of Evil;
former member of Superia's Femizons

Affiliations: Bones, other sideshow performers

Enemies: Asp (Cleo Nefertiti), Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier), Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Clementine D'Arbanville, Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), Diamond Lil, Guardian (Heather Hudson), Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier), Paladin, Secret Avengers (Black Ant/Eric O'Grady LMD, Black Widow/Natasha Romanova, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde, Venom/Eugene "Flash" Thompson), Secret Avengers (Black Widow/Natasha Romanova, Phil Coulson, Nick Fury Jr., Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Mockingbird/Barbara Morse), John Steele, Taskmaster (Tony Masters);
    briefly Beast (Henry McCoy), Wonder Man (Simon Williams)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City;
formerly Bagalia;
formerly Quebec, Canada

First Appearance: Alpha Flight I#22 (May, 1985)

Powers/Abilities: Along with being an excellent organizer of criminal activities, Pink Pearl had an immense bulk and great strength. Pearl's body-fat also gave her some degree of protection, as it cushioned her vital organs, and she was able to survive being struck in the chest by a thrown knife.

Height: Unrevealed (6' 4"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (650 lbs. by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond

History:
(Alpha Flight I#22 (fb) - BTS) - Pink Pearl's past is largely unrevealed, but at some point she was hired by Clementine D'Arbanville while D'Arbanville's circus was still in Europe. Pearl came highly recommended by her previous employer... although Clementine had the distinct impression he was glad to get rid of her.

   Pearl was contacted by unrevealed parties who hired her for an assassination plot against the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the United States -- both officials would be having a top-secret meeting in an ordinary farmhouse in Quebec, only three miles from the circus's location.

   Pearl was secretly behind the delays that kept Clementine's circus out of season, long past the time they should have left Quebec and been off to their winter quarters -- all part of the assassination plot.

   Clementine's regular performers started having "accidents," and each time Pearl coincidentally knew performers who could take their places. At first counting her blessings, Clementine became concerned when she realized she was surrounded by strangers--all of them loyal to Pearl--so she contacted her old friend Jean-Paul Beaubier (Northstar) for help.

(Alpha Flight I#22) - Jean-Paul bought along his sister Jeanne-Marie (Aurora) to Clementine's circus, and Clementine told them about her troubles and suspicions of Pink Pearl. Just then, the trio found themselves attacked and captured by Pearl and Bones.

   As Pearl held the three prisoners, she told them of the plot to assassinate the nearby Prime Minister and President by detonating a nuclear bomb in the main circus tent. Northstar and Aurora broke free, and in the ensuing struggle, Pearl was accidentally struck by a knife thrown by Bones -- all her fat cushioned her from a killing blow, but the sudden shock knocked Pearl out. Pink Pearl was subsequently taken into custody by the authorities.

(Captain America I#387-388 - BTS, 389-391, 392 - BTS) - Pink Pearl was among the female super-villains assembled by Superia to form the Femizons. She watched a fight between Anaconda and Quicksand and later participated in the attack on Paladin and Captain America when they came aboard Superia's ship. She was also present during Superia's welcome speech on Femizonia and later went shopping.

(Alpha Flight I#105 (fb) - BTS) - After being acquitted, Pink Pearl became a legitimate businesswoman and ran a club specializing in an all-male revue.

(Alpha Flight I#105) - When Alpha Flight members Aurora, Guardian, and Diamond Lil (all in their civilian identities) went to Pink Pearl's club, Aurora disrupted business by jumping on stage and flirting with the strippers. Pink Pearl grabbed Aurora by her hair and ripped open her own dress, exposing the scars she'd borne from their last fight. They traded blows before Pearl tossed Aurora aside, then Pearl leaped on Guardian and Lil, who punched Pearl through the window. The police arrived and arrested the three heroines.

(Secret Avengers I#29) - Pink Pearl joined the Masters of Evil alongside hundreds of members in Bagalia. They attacked John Steele on behalf of Max Fury; Steele later died.

(Secret Avengers I#30) - The Masters of Evil were taken over by the Abyss, who sought to spread them to the outside world.

(Secret Avengers I#31) - The Abyss-possessed villains moved to Bagalia's borders as the Secret Avengers tried to stop them.

(Secret Avengers I#32) - During the fight against the Secret Avengers Venom and Valkyrie, Pink Pearl was touched by the virulent Carrion. The Abyss was vanquished and the Avengers let the villains go free, having no authority in Bagalia.

(Secret Avengers II#2) - Pink Pearl was among the villains of Bagalia who battled the Secret Avengers, who now sought to free Taskmaster.

(A+X#12/1) - Beast was pinned down by Pink Pearl in a wrestling competition while his team-mate, Wonder Man, looked on.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

Whenever she spoke, Pearl had the odd habit of always referring to herself in the third-person. -- Ron Fredricks

Presumably, Pearl is still running her nightclub.

It may be that she did her wrestling ("Last 3 rounds vs. Pink Pearl, win $1,000!") in New York in the A+X story, given the proximity to Avengers Mansion in the A+X story.
---Grendel Prime (updater)

John Byrne got this character's name from "Pink Pearl" art erasers -- thus the title of the first Alpha Flight story she appeared in, "Rub-Out".

And a big THANK YOU to Chadman and Snood for assistance on this profile!

Update by Markus Raymond: Secret Avengers. Image update by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS: Pink Pearl has no known connections to:

• Big Bertha (Ashley Crawford) - member of the GLA/GLX--West Coast Avengers II#46
• Pearla - Queen of Mirwood--Fantastic Four I#16
• Pearl Sect - renegade HYDRA section--New Warriors I#61
• Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton - Howling Commandos member--Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos I#8
• Pink Fink - Fantastic Four foe--Fantastic Four Coloring Book Featuring H.E.R.B.I.E. The Robot
• Pink Lady - magical entity--Wolverine/Doop#1
• Zelda Pinkley - Dominic Fortune ally--The Hulk!#22
• Pink Mink - artifact--Wolverine/Doop#1
• Pink Psychos - mutated by Pink Mink--Wolverine/Doop#1
• Ella Pinkwater - president of Octagon--Marvel Comics Presents I#71/3
• Teena the Fat Lady - member of Circus of Crime--Incredible Hulk I#3
• any other "Pink", "Pearl" or fat lady characters

Bones has no known connection to:

• Bone Hammer - of Ultraverse--Ultraforce II#1
• Bonehead - criminal--Speedball#8
• Bone Machine - of Earth-928, used by Metalscream--2099 Unlimited#4
• Bones (Bess Bliss) - sister of Donna (Flesh)--Spider-Woman III#3
• Bones - transferred curse to Bess Bliss--Spider-Woman III#16
• Bones, - of Earth-8410's Midnight Wreckers--Machine Man II#3
• Boneyard - arms dealer--Terror Inc.#9
• Boneyard - of Ultraverse--Mantra I#1
• any "Bone-" characters

Bones One of Pink Pearl's sideshow performers, he was a combination "living skeleton"/contortionist/knife-thrower. He acted as Pearl's right-hand man, and his favored method of attack was to ensnare people in his gangling limbs. He wrapped himself around Northstar and rendered him unconscious. Bones later threw a knife at Aurora while Pink Pearl was holding her; but Clementine D'Arbanville collided with Bones and caused him to unintentionally hit Pearl instead. Pearl's body-fat saved her from a fatal wound, but following her defeat, Bones was likely taken into custody by the authorities. --Alpha Flight I#22

Other sideshow performers After Pink Pearl arranged for "accidents" to occur to sideshow performers in Clementine D'Arbanville's circus, Pearl had those performers replaced by her unidentified agents; loyal to Pink Pearl, they included a bearded lady, a strong man, and a midget/"mighty mite". They assisted Pearl with an assassination attempt; but after Pearl was defeated by Northstar and Aurora, all three of the performers were likely taken into custody by the authorities. --Alpha Flight I#22

images: (without ads)
Alpha Flight I#22, cover (Main Image - Pink Pearl vs Northstar and Aurora)
Alpha Flight I#22, p11, pan2 (Headshot - Pink Pearl)
Alpha Flight I#22, p10, pan1 (Pink Pearl)
Alpha Flight I#22, p20, pan4 (Pink Pearl jumping)
A+X#12/1, p5, pan2 (Pink Pearl wrestling Beast)
Alpha Flight I#22, p11, pan4 (Bones attacks Northstar)
Alpha Flight I#22, p12, pan1 (Bones wrapped around Northstar)
Alpha Flight I#22, p19, pan5 (other circus performers)

Appearances:
Alpha Flight I#22 (May, 1985) - John Byrne (writer/pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Captain America I#387-392 (early July - late September, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Rik Levins (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Alpha Flight I#105 (February, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Secret Avengers I#29-32 (September-December, 2012) - Rick Remender (writer), Matteo Scalera (penciler/inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Secret Avengers II#2 (May, 2013) - Nick Spencer (writer), Luke Ross (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
A+X#12/1 (November, 2013) - Christos Gage (writer), David Williams (art), Jordan D. White & Nick Lowe (editors)

First posted: 02/17/2007
Last updated: 03/15/2023