Elsa Bloodstone

Infobox comics character


imagesize=250
converted=y
caption=Elsa Bloodstone from Bloodstone #1,
art by Michael Lopez.
character_name=Elsa Bloodstone
real_name=Elsa Bloodstone
species= Human
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Bloodstone" #1, (Dec. 2001)
creators=Dan Abnett (writer)
Andy Lanning (writer)
Michael Lopez (artist)
powers=Superhuman strength,
Accelerated healing factor,
Immunity to vampire bites,
Skilled fighter
cat=super
subcat=Marvel Comics
hero=y
sortkey=Bloodstone, Elsa|

Elsa Bloodstone is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appears in Marvel's "Bloodstone" mini-series of 2001 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

As she is a young, female monster-hunter there are potential similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, although when asked about this the authors said "neither of us have seen an episode of "Buffy" all the way through! I know we're missing out on some great TV but we've determined to steer clear of Buffy at least while we're doing Bloodstone." [ [http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/dec01/abnett_lanning.shtml New DnA] , Sequential Tart, December 2001]

Publication history

Elsa appeared as the lead character in the "Bloodstone" mini-series and has been mentioned in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Other versions of her have appeared in "Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness" and as a team member in the "Nextwave" series.

Fictional character biography

Beautiful and feisty Elsa Bloodstone is the daughter of famous monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. Following her parents' breakup when she was two years old, Elsa accompanied her mother across Europe. Despite never knowing her father, Elsa remained curious about him. Though ignorant of her father's career, she was plagued by dreams about vampires and other creatures of the night.

Shortly after Elsa's 18th birthday, Ulysses died and left his Boston home (the Bloodstone House) to Elsa and her pregnant mother, along with all of its contents, accumulated during his millennia of adventures. Arriving in Boston, Elsa encountered several unique individuals affiliated with her father: Charles Barnabus, a pureblood vampire lawyer and executor of the estate; the clerk Mr. Dluga, his teenage son Tomas and his vampire-hating grandfather Papa Dluga; and Adam, the caretaker of the house. Actually Frankenstein's Monster, Adam helped indoctrinate Elsa into her true heritage, offering her the mystic Bloodstone Choker which bonded with and empowered Elsa. Adam also gave her other items from her father's collection, including a mystic lamp that contained a captured djinn ("genie") and served as an early-warning detection system, glowing whenever a mystical threat was active in the world.

Using the lamp, Elsa encountered Dracula in Bosnia and later helped the Living Mummy defeat the resurrected Egyptian necromancer Rakses. [ [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/rakses.htm Rakses] at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe] Elsa then became embroiled in a Nosferati vampire plot to infect Dracula, Barnabus and other pureblood vampires with a virus, turning them into an eternal source of nourishment for the Nosferati. Elsa confronted Nosferatu himself, her Bloodstone Choker destroying the vampire when he tried to bite her.

After those events, Elsa and her mother had elected to remain at Bloodstone House, turning it into a curiosity shop run by her mother while Elsa continues exploring the family vocation of monster hunting in between college classes.

Recently Elsa joined up as part of Iron Man and the government's Fifty States Initiative. Elsa has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear to have signed the Superhuman Registration Act and become part of the Initiative. [ [http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.947 Avengers: The Initiative #1 Character Map] ]

Powers, abilities and equipment

Elsa has exhibited superhuman strength, speed, durability and endurance, and a regenerative ability. She appears to possess all of the abilities her father once had. In addition, She has demonstrated immunity to vampire bites (her blood will destroy a vampire if consumed and the original Bloodgem fragment itself is anathema to vampires).

In the "Bloodstone" series, Elsa claimed that she had inherited at least some of the Bloodgem power genetically, but it has also been shown that her powers of strength and invulnerability were bestowed upon her by the Bloodgem fragment she wears on a choker, although she does not appear to be wearing it in "Nextwave #8" flashbacks to her childhood training sessions. She has also been portrayed as an expert marksman.

She has been shown to use a removable Bloodgem on a choker as well as a number of artifacts gathered by her father. These include a lamp which contained a genie whom Ulysses had enslaved years ago. This serves as an early warning system, lighting up during times of supernatural crisis, and transporting him to said crisis. In "Nextwave", she carries a guitar case with a false cover, containing two Uzis and a rifle.

Other versions

Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas

Elsa appears in the "" mini-series.

Marvel Zombies

Elsa Bloodstone alongside the other members of Nextwave show up "in a purely superfluous cameo" in the third issue of the "Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness" to save Ash from a zombified Power Pack, before being "humiliatingly and ruthlessly dispatched off-panel" moments later.

Nextwave

Elsa Bloodstone has also appeared in "Nextwave", but the series' connection to the Marvel Universe is unclear - it was initially out-of-continuity [Jennifer M. Contino (2005-12-08). " [http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004516 Ellis Talks Nextwave & Ultimate Extinction] ", Comic-Con International] [Wade Gum (2006-07-01). " [http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/000765389.cfm Heros Con: Joe Quesada Panel] ", "Wizard"] but has recently been portrayed as the adventures of tourists from Earth-A. ["She-Hulk" #21 (2007)] [For further details on this see Nextwave#Continuity] However "Civil War: Damage Report" suggest that at least parts of the adventures of the team were set in the main continuity: the other were delusions brought by costant use of drugs, mental conditioning and deceptions by their H.A.T.E. employers. Her delusional state could also account for her "memories" of being routinely subjected to abusive monster-hunting training by her father, like being left alone in childhood with a robotical nanny programmed to torture her whenever she wasn't able to reply to a question regarding monsters, or being forced by her father to kill monsters, as a toddler, armed with simple cutlery.

The character elected to suspend her college studies upon being recruited by Dirk Anger of H.A.T.E. to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction (UWMD) alongside Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Aaron Stack, and The Captain. Shortly after this recruiting Elsa and her teammates found H.A.T.E. to be funded by the Beyond Corporation©, which is in fact a terrorist organization. Using the stolen Marketing Plan of Beyond, the Nextwave squad traveled across the country destroying hidden UWMDs which included Fin Fang Foom, Mindless Ones, and Forbush Man.

Despite being one of the most trained and serious members of the group, she suffers constant abuses by her teammembers, like being confronted by Tabitha Smith about her European origins and accent (referred even in the "Nextwave Theme Song" as her main characteristic), and constantly ogled by Aaron Stack, attracted by her large chest.

Bibliography

* "Bloodstone" #1-4 (2001-2002)
* "Nextwave" #1-12 (2006)
* "Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness" #3 (2007)

Notes

References

*comicbookdb|type=character|id=3852|title=Elsa Bloodstone
* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/bloodstoneelsa.htm Elsa Bloodstone] at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/e/elsa.htm Elsa Bloodstone] at the International Cataglogue of Superheroes

External links

* [http://www.marvel.com/universe/Bloodstone,_Elsa Elsa Bloodstone] at the Marvel Universe
* [http://www.atomicavenue.com/atomic/TitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=8093 Mini-series details]