Charlotte Jones (comics)

Charlotte Jones
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Factor vol. 1 #51 (February 1990)
Created by	Louise Simonson, Terry Shoemaker
In-story information
Alter ego	Charlotte Jones
Species	Human Latent Mutant
Team affiliations	NYPD X-Men
Abilities	unknown.

Charlotte Jones is a fictional character, a latent mutant in the Marvel Comics Universe. Her first appearance was in X-Factor vol. 1 #51.

Fictional character biography

Jones was once a trauma nurse at a Brooklyn hospital. Her husband was a police officer who was killed when he was walking home from a parents' night with their son, Timmy, at his school. They were caught in the middle of a drug war. One of the bullets nearly severed Timmy's spine, resulting in years of physical therapy to learn to walk again. As a result of that night, Charlotte became a police officer herself. She and Timmy live with her mother-in-law in a small apartment.

It was in this capacity that Jones first met the winged mutant named Archangel, a member of the team of superhuman mutant adventurers known as X-Factor who had only recently fought off the mental manipulations of the eternal mutant Apocalypse. Archangel saved Jones from plummeting to her death after her police helicopter was struck by a news chopper, and then saved her again the next day from an ambush by a street gang. Jones was later captured by the psychic vampires known as the Ravens who sought to make Archangel one of their number by forcing him to feed on Jones' life energy. However, Jones managed to free Archangel, and the Ravens were defeated with the assistance of X-Factor and two members of the X-Men, the mutant techno-wizard Forge and the sonic-screaming Banshee. As a result of their brief psychic linking, Archangel admitted that it was Jones' courage that helped him overcome the Ravens' control. In his initial visit after the vampiric incident, Archangel bonds with Timmy, promising to take him flying. He does take Charlotte flying, to work. On the way they buzz Iceman and his girlfriend, Opal. Subsequently, Jones and Archangel began to see each other socially, and the two began to fall in love, something her mother predicted would happen.

Jones later clashed with Magistrates from the island nation of Genosha who had come to the U.S. to reclaim escaped mutate Jenny Ransome. During a firefight with the Magistrates, Jones' partner was killed. Following them into the sewers, she was saved by Forge who provided her with an X-Men training costume. This proved a snug fit but afforded Jones a great degree of resistance to physical injury.

Breaking Up Is Hard

Jones and Archangel would eventually end their relationship after Archangel rejoins the X-Men, but Jones still remained an ally to the mutant heroes. Later, after Jones had been promoted to Detective, she was forced to betray the X-Man named Iceman and the mutant doctor Cecilia Reyes to cyborg Prime Sentinels from Operation: Zero Tolerance, a government-sponsored anti-mutant strikeforce headed up by the android Bastion. Bastion had abducted Jones' son, leaving her with no other choice. Her son was eventually rescued by members of the X-Men shortly before OZT was shut down.

Around this time, Jones decides to convey some information about a Gene Nation massacre to the X-Men. Wolverine, Storm and Cannonball show up. She discreetly ushers them into the city morgue. Supposedly all the dead people had simply stopped with no signs of death. This information comes into doubt as Wolverine soon discovers the morgue attendant himself had been killed and replaced by Gene Nation member Sack. A battle in the morgue breaks out against multiple members of Gene Nation.

Bonding

Later, while pursuing a drug pusher named Rufus Delgado, she and Rufus unwittingly stumbled into the secret base of the Neo, a race of superior mutants who were waging a war against the X-Men. Jones and Delgado were affected by the powers of the Neo named Tartarus and his sister Elysia, which caused them to experience their greatest fear and greatest desire respectively. For Jones, it was the fear of falling victim to a criminal. For Delgado, it was his desire of gaining dominance over his long-time nemesis Jones. The result was a physical merging of the two into a two-torsoed winged demonic amalgam of a creature, with Delgado's personality dominant. Delgado subsequently struck a secret deal with the Neo Rax, who sought to usurp control of the Neo from their then-leader Domina. After the X-Men invaded the Neo's stronghold, Delgado was killed when he was decapitated by the feral X-Man Wolverine. A ceasefire was eventually called between the Neo and the X-Men, and Jones was restored to her normal self.

Back on the Job

Jones continues to serve as a detective with the New York Police Department, and remains a steadfast ally of the X-Men.

Sergeant Jones was with the X-Man known as Bishop shortly after M-Day when he goes to the apartment of a former mutant named Hannah Levy. She used to be able to eat only insects; she feared they had returned to eat her ^[1].

Jones is also with Bishop when he approaches the Metropolitan Correctional Facility to check on the Shi'ar Death Commados. They were being held for murdering most of the Grey family line; this was done to prevent the rise of the destructive Phoenix entity.

The Death Commandos escape. In the ensuing firefight, Jones is swatted at, and seemingly, into a dimensional portal that the Commando Deathcloak manipulates. She is later seen recovering in the hospital during Bishop's visit.

Other versions

Days of Future Past

Charlotte appears in the bleak Days of Future Past story as a courier for food and supplies for mutants. She is allied with Jubilee, Synch and Leech. It is hinted that her son was killed when the Sentinels took over. She is captured by Citizen V and has no choice but to betray her allies^[2].

Footnotes

1. ^ House of M: The Day After #1, January 2006
2. ^ Wolverine: Days of Future Past #1