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Bluebird (comics)
Encyclopedia
Bluebird sometimes rendered BlueBird, is a supporting character
in Marvel Comics
's Spider-Man
series. Created by Stan Lee
and Steve Ditko
, she first appeared in Amazing Fantasy
#15 (1962).
(scripts) and Olliffe
(pencils) in the nineties.
's at Midtown High who turned him down for a date, preferring the more handsome and muscular Flash Thompson
.
Thirty years later, writing for Untold Tales of Spider-Man
, Kurt Busiek
resurrected the one-note brunette from obscurity and gave her a background. She was an ambitious, thrill-loving girl who took blue ribbons in gymnastics
. With fellow popular kid Jason Ionello, she attempted to cash in on a Daily Bugle
contest offering a thousand dollars to a reader who brought in pictures of Spider-Man
. Although their mission was a bust, Sally loved the thrill and became very smitten with the web-slinger when he touched her cheek just before leaving her and Jason with a warning to give it up.
Sally and Jason tailed Spidey again, who was (unwillingly) working for Electro. The flash from Sally's camera
roused Spidey from his hypnotic state, and a well-placed kick by the athletic young Sally took Electro by surprise long enough for Spidey to readjust his mask—which the high-voltage lowlife had been preparing to remove—and defeat him. Spider-Man posed for a shot with an ecstatic Sally and Jason that the Bugle ran.
Suffused with glee, Sally tried to get a permanent gig on the Bugle, but was told the photographer's job was filled—by Peter Parker. Peter admitted this but asked her not to tell their fellow Midtowners. Sally donned an eccentric blue-and-white costume and decided, with her aerobic skills, to become a superheroine. She asked Peter to take some Bugle pics of her doing some stunts, but Peter refused. Angered, she threatened to blackmail him by revealing that he took Spider-Man pictures, but he undercut her by telling them himself.
Bluebird's zeal but lack of experience caused trouble for Spider-Man during fights with Scarlet Beetle and Electro. Her "ether
egg" weapons would detonate prematurely or have little effect, once even allowing the villain
to escape. Considering her more trouble than she was worth, Spider-Man actually let the Black Knight
's men hurt her quite badly to dissuade her from interfering in his fights again. Spider-Man later felt bad about this.
Bruised but undaunted, Sally and Jason headed to an area where Spidey was fighting the Knight, with Sally's camera. She intended to capture some shots of the fight. However, Sally's zeal ends up costing her her life when she wheedled Jason to speed up, and the two ran a red light. Their car struck an oncoming bus
. Jason incurred mild head trauma; Sally was killed.
Spidey felt horrible about this. "She'll never laugh again...She'll never toss her head the way she did, instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could be obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now she's gone."
Supporting character
A supporting character is a character of a book, play, video game, movie, television or radio show or other form of storytelling usually used to give added dimension to a main character, by adding a relationship with this character...
in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
's Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
series. Created by Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, she first appeared in Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, and revived in 1995 and in the 2000s. It is best known as the title that introduced the popular superhero character Spider-Man in 1962...
#15 (1962).
Publication history
Sally is interesting in that she was a fairly minor and forgettable member of Flash Thompson's entourage, appearing in only one issue during the Silver Age. (It is thought she was mistakenly labelled "Sally Green" in #36, but this is in dispute.) Her short-lived "Bluebird" career was an afterthought created by the team of BusiekKurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
(scripts) and Olliffe
Pat Olliffe
Patrick "Pat" Olliffe is an American comic book artist and penciller.-Biography:Olliffe is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on Untold Tales of Spider-Man and Spider-Girl ....
(pencils) in the nineties.
Fictional character biography
Sally Avril was a fellow student of Peter ParkerSpider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
's at Midtown High who turned him down for a date, preferring the more handsome and muscular Flash Thompson
Flash Thompson
Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a supporting character in Marvel Comics’s Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 ....
.
Thirty years later, writing for Untold Tales of Spider-Man
Untold Tales of Spider-Man
Untold Tales of Spider-Man is an American comic book series starring Spider-Man published by Marvel Comics for 26 issues from September, 1995 to October, 1997....
, Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
resurrected the one-note brunette from obscurity and gave her a background. She was an ambitious, thrill-loving girl who took blue ribbons in gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
. With fellow popular kid Jason Ionello, she attempted to cash in on a Daily Bugle
Daily Bugle
The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper that is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most prominently in Spider-Man comic titles and their derivative media...
contest offering a thousand dollars to a reader who brought in pictures of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
. Although their mission was a bust, Sally loved the thrill and became very smitten with the web-slinger when he touched her cheek just before leaving her and Jason with a warning to give it up.
Sally and Jason tailed Spidey again, who was (unwillingly) working for Electro. The flash from Sally's camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
roused Spidey from his hypnotic state, and a well-placed kick by the athletic young Sally took Electro by surprise long enough for Spidey to readjust his mask—which the high-voltage lowlife had been preparing to remove—and defeat him. Spider-Man posed for a shot with an ecstatic Sally and Jason that the Bugle ran.
Suffused with glee, Sally tried to get a permanent gig on the Bugle, but was told the photographer's job was filled—by Peter Parker. Peter admitted this but asked her not to tell their fellow Midtowners. Sally donned an eccentric blue-and-white costume and decided, with her aerobic skills, to become a superheroine. She asked Peter to take some Bugle pics of her doing some stunts, but Peter refused. Angered, she threatened to blackmail him by revealing that he took Spider-Man pictures, but he undercut her by telling them himself.
Bluebird's zeal but lack of experience caused trouble for Spider-Man during fights with Scarlet Beetle and Electro. Her "ether
Ether
Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R–O–R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether"...
egg" weapons would detonate prematurely or have little effect, once even allowing the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
to escape. Considering her more trouble than she was worth, Spider-Man actually let the Black Knight
Black Knight (comics)
The Black Knight is the alias of several fictional comic-book characters that appear in the Marvel Comics universe.The first is a medieval knight created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely. The second is a supervillain descendant of the original, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and...
's men hurt her quite badly to dissuade her from interfering in his fights again. Spider-Man later felt bad about this.
Bruised but undaunted, Sally and Jason headed to an area where Spidey was fighting the Knight, with Sally's camera. She intended to capture some shots of the fight. However, Sally's zeal ends up costing her her life when she wheedled Jason to speed up, and the two ran a red light. Their car struck an oncoming bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
. Jason incurred mild head trauma; Sally was killed.
Spidey felt horrible about this. "She'll never laugh again...She'll never toss her head the way she did, instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could be obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now she's gone."
Powers and abilities
Bluebird possessed no superhuman powers and used the following gadgets to fight crime: a retractable rope-line, insulated boots to protect her from electricity, blue paint pellets and ether-filled "Bluebird's Eggs". Avril was also a skilled gymnast.Television
- Sally Avril appears as Rand Robertson'sRandy RobertsonRandy Robertson is a supporting character in Marvel Comics's Spider-Man series. Created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #67 .-History:...
shrill-voiced girlfriend in The Spectacular Spider-Man voiced by Grey DeLisleGrey DeLisleGrey DeLisle is an American voice actress, singer-songwriter, and comedienne. To date, she has released four solo albums and has featured on the tribute album Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash and film soundtrack of Loggerheads...
. This series depicts her as a blonde, although her natural hair color in the comics was black (she donned a long blonde wig as Bluebird). She generally has the original appearance of Liz Allen, who is Hispanic in this series. She loudly turns Peter down for a date in the pilot episode and then becomes angry that Randy doesn't seem jealous about him approaching her. Sally is shown to have some typical high school mean girl traits when she is utterly surprised as to why a gorgeous girl like Mary Jane WatsonMary Jane WatsonMary Jane Watson, often shortened to MJ, is a fictional supporting character appearing, originally, in Marvel comic books and, later, in multiple spin-offs and dramatizations of the Spider-Man titles as the best friend, love interest, and one-time wife of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man...
would come to a prom with the nerdish Peter Parker. Later, she tries to put Mary Jane down by sneering at how she was dumped by the "King of Geeks" Parker and she is seen yelling at her fellow clique-member Glory GrantGlory GrantGloria Grant, more commonly known as Glory Grant, is a Marvel Comics supporting character of Spider-Man. She is introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #140 as a neighbor of Peter Parker. Peter then helps her secure a position as J...
over displeasing the latter's prom date Harry OsbornHarry OsbornHarry Osborn is a fictional character, a supporting character of Spider-Man in the . In addition to being Peter Parker's best friend, Harry was the second Green Goblin and is the son of Norman Osborn...
before he could offer their group a ride home in his personal limousine. She vociferously blames Peter for Liz Allan and Flash's breakup. She also mocks Flash ThompsonFlash ThompsonEugene "Flash" Thompson is a supporting character in Marvel Comics’s Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 ....
's hero-worship of Spidey when he is framed for armed robbery by ChameleonChameleon (comics)The Chameleon is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko; the Chameleon is the first member of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery, based on issue...
and his associates Quentin Beck and Phineas Mason. Later Flash tells Peter, after May Parker's heart attack, that "even Sally feels sorry for you", suggesting that perhaps she is beginning to soften towards him. In "Probable Cause", she is paired up with Peter in a Police Ride-A-Long where they were driven around by Captain George Stacy.
External links
- Bluebird at Marvel.com