Publication history
Julie Power featured in all 62 issues of Power Pack published by Marvel Comics between 1984 and 1991. Between issues #1 and #25 of the original Power Pack series, Julie starred as the alter-ego of the superhero Lightspeed, but her superhero codename changed to Molecula when she gained her brother Jack's powers during the course of a storyline. She continued as Molecula between issues #25—52 until she regained her original powers and superhero name, which she retained until Power Pack's cancellation with issue #62. Julie later appeared in both the 1992 Power Pack Holiday Special and Power Pack vol. 2 miniseries "Peer Pressure", which was published in 2000, at some point changing her superhero name to Starstreak in the intervening years. During this publishing hiatus, her only appearances were brief cameos in New Warriors .
Outside the Power Pack series of comics, she has since appeared in Runaways (vol. 2) and the Runaways spin-off title Loners , and presumably as a background character when that team later appeared in the miniseries War of Kings: Darkhawk (though she is not identified specifically at any point during this series). Julie appeared as a regular character in Avengers Academy from issue #20 (Dec. 2011) through its final issue #39 (Jan. 2013). Julie has also appeared in several non-canon alternate continuity titles such as Exiles , Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness and various Power Pack miniseries aimed at younger readers.
Fictional character biography
Julie Power was born in Richmond, Virginia to Dr. James Power and Margaret Power. She was a founding member of the superhero team Power Pack. The second oldest of the four Power siblings, she was 10 years old when she was given her powers by Aelfyre Whitemane, a dying Kymellian noble. [2] She continued to operate with Power Pack through their entire history, later relocating to Los Angeles to live on her own after quitting the team in unrevealed circumstances.
Julie is the only Power family member who had a birthday happen within the comic series, turning 11 years old. [3] In the second volume of Runaways , Julie is nebulously identified as being an "ex-teenager", but in the later Loners #4, Julie identifies herself as being 17 years old. In the letter column of Avengers Academy #31, Julie is identified as being about 19 years old.
Power Pack
After the events of Power Pack #1-#5 which detailed the team's origin, the Power family moved from Virginia to New York City. There, Power Pack encountered other superheroes such as Spider-Man, [4] and Cloak and Dagger. [5] They also met Franklin Richards, [6] and encountered the New Mutants. [7] Julie's powers were later siphoned by the Snark Jakal; when returned, her powers were exchanged with those of her brother Jack, and she became Molecula. [8] Eventually, she regained her original powers and resumed her original codename. [9]
Julie was perhaps the most "normal" of the Power siblings. When she was not in "superhero mode" Julie could be quite shy and quiet; in several instances, she was bothered by bullies at school. Her solo storylines often involved regular "kid issues" such as babysitting and cheating on tests. Julie is also a voracious reader, and was frequently seen reading, carrying or quoting books, even graduating elementary school with honors in English. [3] She frequently stepped into a maternal role with her siblings, sewing and washing the team's costumes, caring for Katie and Franklin Richards and attempting to restore peace during conflicts.
Excelsior/Loners
Julie's personality detailed above changed during unrevealed circumstances and she was reintroduced during the 'Runaways: True Believers' story-arc as a flighty, naive, wannabe actress who lacked worldly experience despite her many adventures with Power Pack. [10] It is initially revealed in Runaways that because of her time with Power Pack, Julie decided to retire from super-heroics because she had missed out on having a normal childhood, [10] though this later changes to her retiring from super-heroics to protect the privacy of her family [11] and focus on developing a private life of her own away from prying eyes, and so she moved to Los Angeles to seek fame as an actress. This also later changes to her retiring from super-heroics to develop an identity of her own away from her family or other superheroes, [12] prompting her to join the superhero group Excelsior. However, she (as well as the others within the group) agree to go on a mission offered by Rick Jones (though they do not know his identity at the time) to return the Runaways to the foster care from which they had escaped at the conclusion of their first series [13] in exchange for one million dollars and a refitted Quinjet. Though this initial mission for the fledgling Excelsior team was a failure, they spend the next few months continuing to pursue the Runaways regardless, [14] before discontinuing their pursuit and deciding never to use their powers ever again in unrevealed circumstances that occurred sometime before the beginning of the Loners miniseries, but which could be related to the events of "Civil War".
During a misunderstanding between Hollow and Ricochet, Julie appears without warning or explanation and is stabbed by Hollow. [15] She claims that her 'alien metabolism' allows her to recover quickly from the wound, [16] though it is not explained how her healing ability works now that she is separated from her siblings, as physical contact between them is required to heal grievous wounds. [17]
Julie reveals to the group that her flighty personality and seemingly low intelligence is really a facade that she adopted when she moved to California, that she has merely been pretending to be unintelligent for the preceding two years in order to fit in with the rest of her teammates, [16] and also that she has not registered with authorities as an active superhuman. [18] Despite admitting her flighty persona is an affectation, Julie continues to act exactly as before for the remaining issues of Loners, and in the final issue's closing montage is seen playing absentmindedly with her hair much as she does in issue #4 when suggesting she is merely playing a part for the benefit of others. [19]
Avengers Academy and the Runaways
Julie was seen (among the other young heroes) to be arriving on the new campus for the Avengers Academy. [20] She is attending at the Academy as both a student and a teacher's assistant, under Quicksilver's tutelage. [21] When fellow Academy member Striker confides to her that he is gay, she confirms that she is bisexual. [22] During an earlier encounter with the Runaways, Julie and Karolina Dean express a close personal interest in each other in the middle of combat before they are interrupted by Molly Hayes. [23] Following a later joint mission of the Avengers Academy and the Runaways, Julie and Karolina agree to go on a date, [24] and eventually they end up being romantically involved. [25]
Sometime afterwards, but Karolina's lack of commitment to their relationship created friction between them. In her despondent mood, Julie ended up consuming a magical cupcake originally given to Molly Hayes by her new schoolfriend, Abigail, [26] a 13-year-old girl rendered ageless by a gift from the Enchantress. [27] Eating the cupcake regressed Julie to a 13-year-old herself. [28] Though the problem was fixed by an antidote the Enchantress had provided, Julie nevertheless broke up with Karolina. [27]
Future Foundation
When circumstances prompted Julie to be drawn in to assist the Future Foundation when they were under threat, she revealed her recent run of bad luck to Alex, who apologized for not being there for his sister through her coming out and bad break-up. To help Julie get back on her feet, Alex offered her a position as a teacher with the Future Foundation. [29] During a mission in a space prison to help reassemble the disintegrated Molecule Man, Julie encountered the reality-displaced Rikki Barnes, which resulted in a mutual romantic attraction. [30]
Powers and abilities
Julie's original power (and that most associated with the character) was unaided flight by means of rapid forward propulsion that left a highly visible tri-colored band of light in her wake. Julie never flew at the speed of light as her codename suggested, and her top speed remains unknown, but it was supposed by her brother Alex on one occasion that she had broken the sound barrier. [31]
Julie gained the density powers previously held by her brother Jack for a time and operated under the name Molecula. [32] As Molecula, Julie can create force fields and bubbles, the latter of which can be employed to cushion herself or others from falls. Julie also learned to make herself taller and larger, though she still retained the same mass and would become tired when increasing her height and stature for long periods of time. [33] Julie eventually regained her original acceleration powers [9] and gained the ability to teleport large distances without any visible sign of exhaustion. [34]
In unrevealed circumstances at some point between the Power Pack (2000) miniseries and her reappearances in both the second Runaways series and the Loners miniseries, after returning to her original codename once again; Julie learned to refine her powers so she could now hover in the air without having to accelerate to stay aloft, [35] and could also now physically stand on her own rainbow trail, use it as an impromptu cushion against falls, or even as a hammock. [12]
Along with her siblings, Julie possesses Kymellian healing powers. Julie is the first Power sibling to use this ability, albeit unconsciously, when her broken arm mysteriously heals quickly during the Pack's initial conflict with the Snarks. Later in the series she heals herself automatically, after switching to cloud form and back, when her legs are seriously injured during a battle with the mutant team Trash. When her brother Jack calls attention to it during the battle, Julie answered, "Yeah, that happens sometimes". [36]
With her siblings, Julie owns a Kymellian smartship, Friday. The ship acts as an unofficial team advisor and accompanied the Pack on several missions. As with other members of Power Pack, it is not seen during Julie's appearances in Loners - though she does mention Friday in passing during her first mission with (what was then known as) Excelsior on their search for the Runaways. [37]
Equipment
Julie wears a costume of unstable molecules created by Friday. The costume exists in an extra-dimensional space known as "Elsewhere" until summoned by voice command (the wearer would say the words "costume on!"). The costume also houses a communicator which is used to communicate with Friday, and is later modified to include a mask. [38] As with all the team's costumes, the pockets of the costume can be used as an access point to Elsewhere itself, where the cartoon-like creatures known simply as "The Tailors" reside in a colorful wonderland of talking dinosaurs, enchanted forests, mad monarchs, surreal architecture and malleable physical laws. [39]
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