las vegas chorus girl

Real Name: Unrevealed (see comments)

Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed (see comments)

Group Membership: Partner of "Maurice"

Affiliations: Steve Gerber and Howard the Duck were a few feet from the conflict and may or may have encountered them

Enemies: "KILLER lampshade"

Known Relatives: Unrevealed (see comments)

Aliases: Unrevealed (see comments)

Base of Operations: 57th street and Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York (at least formerly)
    (presumably formerly) Las Vegas, Nevada

First Appearance: Howard the Duck I#16 (September, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed. Becoming one with her headdress, she achieved godhood (see comments).

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'10"-6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 140-160 lbs; while lean, she was still curvaceous, and at that height, those weights are probably convervative)
Eyes: Unrevealed (likely brown, but perhaps green or blue)
Hair: Black 

History:
(Howard the Duck I#16) - In a "BRAIN-BLASTING BATTLE SCENE," an ostrich and a Las Vegas chorus girl fought a "KILLER lampshade" in a "DUEL TO THE DEATH!!"

(Howard the Duck I#16 - BTS) - The ostrich stuck its head in a manhole, shrugging off all that had happened and returning to his secret identity as a roadblock. The chorus girl found herself in the thrill of battle, becoming one with her headdress, and was elevated to godhood. The lampshade died.

Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Tom Palmer.

    The above history occurred in the caption in the single panel, double page spread of the "obligatory comic book fight scene" occurring during an experimental stream of consciousness issue (taking place during a cross-country roadtrip involving Howard the Duck and Steve Gerber) printed as an alternative to a reprint in the event of a missed deadline. In a subsequent letter page, Gerber himself pretended to be a fan writing in, demanding a series for the ostrich and chorus girl.

    Allegedly (according to Wikipedia, at least; I haven't personally seen the request, so I neither confirm nor deny), Neil Gaiman, writing on the CompuServe comics forum. said he'd love to see that story. Regardless, Gerber eventually reimagined the characters as Nevada and Bolero for the Vertigo imprint of DC comics. AFAIK, Nevada and Bolero first appeared in Vertigo Winter's Edge#1 (January, 1988), followed by the six issue series "Nevada" (May-October, 1998; I have the trade paperback), and again in Vertigo Winter's Edge#2 (January, 1999 - still looking for it, darn it!). Really cool series, IMO. Google it for more information...I may go back through the series and fill in the bio information as possible parallels to their Earth-616 incarnations at some point, but not right now. Maybe I'll even profile Nevada at some point...perhaps once my kids go off to college in 2026 and 2029 for my son and daughter, respectively.

    Additionally, Gerber parodied Nevada and Bolero as "Utah" and Ravel (a roc-like gastronis (Google it)) in Howard the Duck (MAX)#4 (June, 2002). I didn't see her identified as Utah in the comic, but it's noted as such as Nevada's Wikipedia page. I'll check and confirm at some point, and I'll probably profile this version at some point in the future. 
    However, since Utah is a border state to Nevada, it seems like Arizona would be a great name for the -616 version of the character. And since Maurice Ravel was the creator of the play Bolero, Maurice would be a great name for the -616 ostrich.

    "Acheiving godhood" leaves a lot to interpretation. Maybe it was literal, and she was apophosized into a god in some pantheon? Maybe she gained powers some might consider god-like? Maybe it was just referring to some sort of epiphany and she had some sorrt of religious experience.
    I doubt we will ever learn the true story of the Las Vegas chorus girl, the ostrich, or the Killer Lampshade...but stranger things have happened.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"Nevada"-616 should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Howard the Duck I#16, pg.9 (including the first page, which was reprinted from last page of #15)

Appearances:
Howard the Duck I#16 (September, 1977) - Steve Gerber (writer, editor) and Tom Palmer (artist).

First posted: 07/29/2012
Last updated: 11/07/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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