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DEVI BANNERJEE

Real Name: Devi Bannerjee

Identity/Class: Human, civilian of India

Occupation: United Nations representative

Group Membership: None

Affiliations Avengers (Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Marvel/Monica Rambeau, Falcon/Sam Wilson, Hercules/Heracles, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Namor the Sub-Mariner/Namor MacKenzie, Rage/Elvin Haliday, Sandman/William Baker, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, Sersi/Silvia Sersi, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Quasar/Wendell Vaughn,  Thor/Thor Odinson, Vision/"Victor Shade"), Avengers West Coast (Hank Pym, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Living Lightning/Miguel Santos, Mockingbird/Bobbi Barton, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter, Tigra/Greer Nelson, USagent/John Walker, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Wasp/Janet Van Dyne, Wonder Man/Simon Williams), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards-Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Nick Fury, Stan Lee, Namorita (Namorita Prentiss), Raymond Sikorski, Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett);
also celebrities including George Bush Sr., Barbara Bush, Prince Charles and Lady Diana (see comments)

Enemies: None (although she probably didn't appreciate Doctor Doom briefly holding her hostage)

Known Relatives:  Unrevealed

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: United Nations Plaza, New York City

First Appearance: Avengers I#329 (February, 1991)

Powers/Abilities: Ms. Devi Bannerjee did not possess any known superhuman abilities. A trained diplomat and negotiator, she was seemingly unphased by meeting superhumans and other noteworthy people.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 125 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:

(Avengers I#329 - BTS) - Following the United States government's decision to revoke the Avengers' security clearance, Captain America called a special meeting of the general membership to discuss the situation. Over the course of two days, the Avengers debated and voted on a new charter, while Captain America secretly kept United Nations representative Devi Bannerjee informed about the team's progress. Satisfied a conclusion was about to be reached, Ms. Bannerjee travelled to the newly constructed Avengers Headquarters.

(Avengers I#329) - After another late night vote on the charter, several of the assembled Avengers became increasingly agitated at the apparent impasse of voting on a charter, without the assurance the federal government would even approve it. Captain America then called the meeting to order and introduced Devi Bannerjee, yielding the floor to her. Considerate of the late hour, Devi quickly came to the point and relayed the offer the United Nations had extended to the Avengers: if the team would amend their rules to allow for a truly international membership, the UN would offer to adopt the team as a special unit of their peace-keeping force, assignable only to cosmic, extraterrestrial, occult, subterranean, sub-oceanic menaces, invasions, limited incursions, infestations and enchantments not instigated, abetted or sanctioned by a current member nation. Taking a moment to let all this sink in, the Avengers accepted Bannerjee's proposal with a resounding "yea".

(Avengers I#332) - On Thursday, March 21st, 1991 UN representative Devi Bannerjee, along with the Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, Stan Lee and several other dignitaries and ambassadors attended the official opening ceremony for the new Avengers Headquarters on 890 Fifth Avenue. The festivities were rudely interrupted when Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) took over the building's security systems, placing it under total lockdown while  infiltrated the building with a series of Doombots, placing it under total lockdown while he addressed the assembled crowd.

(Avengers I#333 - BTS) - Doom allowed Bannerjee and the other non-superpowered guests to leave Avengers Headquarters before continuing his plan to force the team to hand over the secret to their dimensional travelling.

Comments: Created by Larry Hama (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks).

Having the Avengers become part of the UN Peace Corps was treated as a minor story point, but it should have been a major issue. The charter proposed by Bannerjee clearly stated the Avengers could only take action if a threat wasn't instigated, abetted or sanctioned by a member nation. This meant that, officially, they had to sit on their hands whenever Namor or Warlord Kro would go on the warpath, after all Atlantis and Lemuria were part of the UN. If a supervillain would have been clever enough to either arrange asylum or an ambassorial title in any of the (in 1991) 166 member states, they could potentially operate unopposed by the team in much the same way Doctor Doom's status as Latveria's ruler offered him diplomatic immunity. This situation would soon prove untennable, particularly when the UN ordered the Avengers not to go to Genosha (during 1993's Blood Ties crossover). Afterwards, the whole UN charter idea was quietly ignored, even when Geoff Johns sort of revived the idea during his 2002 run when he had the United Nations acknowledge the heroes as their own country.

In Hindi mythology, Bannerjee's first name Devi is a mortal woman thought to be a reincarnated goddess.

Devi Bannerjee was listed among the Avengers Associates (her first name misspelled as "Deri") in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#1 (2008).

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Devi Bannerjee should not be confused with


images: (without ads)
Avengers I#329, p4, pan3 (main image)
Avengers I#332, p3, pan1 (with the Bushes, Charles & Diana)


Appearances:
Avengers I#329 (February, 1991) -
Larry Hama (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Avengers I#332 (May, 1991) -
Larry Hama (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Avengers I#333 (June, 1991) -
Larry Hama (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Tom Morgan & Reggie Jones (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)


Last updated: 02/05/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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