Thunder Girl

Real Name: Molly Wilson

Identity/Class: Human transformed by magic

Occupation: Librarian (her counterpart was an archaeologist)

Affiliations: Mother Nature, Professor Eureka, Dr.Weird, Ultiman, member of the Knights of Justice, member of the Whiz Kids, member of the Round Table of America

Enemies: Dr Hy Q Binana, Tornado Girl

Known Relatives: None (however her counterpart had a sister, Eve, and unnamed elderly parents)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unknown

First Appearance: Big Bang Comics #3 (Calibre)

Powers/Abilities: Able to fly, has superstrength and invulnerability. Possesses enhanced vision and the "wisdom of the owl".

History: In 1940 on Earth B, pretty little Molly Wilson was a 14 year old orphan, working as a librarian. Because of her innate goodness, she was chosen by Mother Nature herself to become a powerful hero. Given an emerald necklace and ring, whenever Molly touched one to the other and spoke aloud the word "Alakazam!" she was transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into the green costumed Thunder Girl. In this identity (she looks the same, but no one recognises her) she had the powers of nature: The flight of the eagle, the eyes of the hawk, the wisdom of the owl, the strength of the elephant, the hardness of diamond, etc.

Thunder Girl became a member of the Knights of Justice and soon acquired an arch enemy in the form of Dr Hy Q Binana, a laboratory chimpanzee given a human genius intellect in an experiment conducted by Molly's friend, Prof Eureka. Dr Binana referred to Thundergirl as "the Big Green Cheesecake". It was when Dr Binana used science to duplicate Thunder Girl's powers in a villain he called Tornado Girl, that it was revealed that "females are better able to store the cosmic energy" that gives them the powers of nature.

The "Criss-Cross Crisis" took place on Earth B in 1944. The evil Dr Binana opened a dimensional portal to Earth A, where it was 1964. Attempting to destroy both Earths with a super bomb on Earth A, he was thwarted when Thunder Girl leapt through the portal from her native Earth B to stop him triggering the device. Both Earths were saved and the portal was closed, trapping Thunder Girl on Earth A. Dr Weird appeared to explain that it would be dangerous to return her, due to the instability of opening the portal and her being two souls inhabiting one body. Making the best of it, Thunder Girl changed back to Molly, but the combination of the forces of nature of two Earths was so great, that Molly got amnesia. Found by Ultiman (who was unaware of her dual identity) she was identified by him as a missing person and returned to her (counterpart's) parents.

On Earth A, Molly Wilson was a grown woman, an archaeologist who had gone missing looking for the lost fountain of youth. Not only was this Molly not an orphan (having elderly parents), but she also had a younger sister called Eve. Everyone assumed that the younger, amnesiac Molly must have been the result of an encounter with the fountain of youth. However, that didnot explain the fierce thunderstorm that seemed to be following her . . . .

Unable to protect Molly from the lightning (he was vulnerable to magic) Ultiman was astonished when a bolt got through and transformed her into Thundergirl. Remembering everything, she decided that it was too dangerous to change back to normal, so she "disguised" herself as Molly by braiding her hair, adopting a phony pair of glasses and wearing ordinary clothes over her costume. She went to high school, which caused further problems, since she did not know when WW II ended and had to learn to like the Beatles instead of Benny Goodman. A further complication was that while Eve was a fan of Thunder Girl, she quite rightly suspected "Molly" of not being her real sister (it is not known if the Earth A Molly ever returned). During this period, Thunder Girl becameUltiman's unofficial sidekick.

Thunder Girl eventually joined the Whiz Kids, and found a safe way to change back and forth. By the 1980's, she had joined the Round Table of America. Molly was now middle aged, (Big Bang characters age in real time) though still 20 years younger than she should be, but Thunder Girl had stopped aging when she reached 18.

Comments: Thanks to Chris Adams for the above information.

He notes "In Big Bang Comics supposed publishing history, Thundergirl was created by a famous children's writer as a non-violent role model for both girls and boys. Due to a creative dispute, she ceased publication in 1944. Big Bang then resumed publication with the "Criss-Cross Crisis" in 1964, hence the heroine's 20 year leap forward.

In reality, "Criss-Cross Crisis" was her first appearance. Stories set in the 1940's are done in the style of Otto Binder and CC Beck's original Captain Marvel. Stories set in the 1960's are reminiscent of the Silver Age Supergirl. In the Whiz Kids, she co-fills the role of Wonder Girl in the Teen Titans with Moray. The relationship with Eve is similar to that of Flash Thompson and Peter Parker in early Spider-man stories and her fictional creation is inspired by Charles Moulton's original version of Wonder Woman. Thundergirl's main influence is, of course, Mary Marvel. Thundergirl's migration to Earth A neatly avoided the continuity problems that DC had with the Black Canary."

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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