Joan Dale (New Earth)
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Contents |
History
In the late spring of 1941 on Liberty Island, reporter Joan Dale has a dream that the Statue of Liberty comes to life and grants her the power to alter the nature of matter. She creates a colorful costume and becomes Miss America, one of America's first heroines. In truth, she had been abducted by the top secret government agency, Project M, and her powers were actually the result of a secret experiment. They believed the experiment to be a failure and had returned her to whence she had been taken, leaving her none the wiser.[1]
Later that year, the Japanese plot their attack on Pearl Harbor. Uncle Sam learns of the attack and assembles a group of heroes called the Freedom Fighters (with Hourman, the Invisible Hood, Magno, Neon the Unknown, and the Red Torpedo) to prevent it. The mission is doomed and all but Uncle Sam seemingly perish in the fight. Sam later discovers however that three of his allies had survived: Miss America among them. After the mission, she is reclaimed by Project M.[2]
When Robotman and the Young All-Stars visit Project M, they discover that Miss America is indeed alive, albeit comatose. A battle with the Ultra-Humanite breaks out, which awakens Joan from her coma. She promptly returns to the defense of her country and in late May, 1942, she joins the Justice Society of America as the group's secretary.[3]
Miss America is last seen as an active heroine in a flashback in JSA, where she is once more working with the Freedom Fighters.
Retirement
Eventually, Joan Dale's powers fade and she retires as Miss America. She marries Admiral Derek Trevor, and eventually they become the adoptive parents of Hippolyta "Lyta" Trevor Hall, who becomes the modern-day Fury in Infinity, Inc.
Lyta becomes pregnant with the child of her teammate and lover Dr. Fate, however Hector soon dies. She moves back home with her adoptive parents, Joan and Derek Trevor, and is soon reunited with Hector, who has become the new Sandman. Learning that Hector can only exist one hour outside the Dream Dimension, Lyta and Hector marry and Lyta joins Hector in the Dream Dimension. Joan and Derek Trevor attend the wedding.
One Year Later
A much older Joan Dale returns, to confront a youthful impostor bearing the mantle who has, under the orders of Father Time, managed to neutralize and capture the new team of Freedom Fighters.
Joan reveals that she never lost her powers, but used them to create the illusion that she had aged in order to retire and live a normal life with her husband. Now that Derek Trevor has passed away, she lets the illusion slip and resumes her youthful, heroic guise to aid Uncle Sam and his new team. While fighting the impostor Miss America, Joan discovers that she is in fact an android and destroys her.[4]
Later Red Bee, mutated into an alien-insect creature, mind-controls Joan into absorbing Human Bomb's explosive energy and taking it into space. Joan then explodes, presumed to be dead. Unbeknowst to her allies, Joan manages to keep her consciousness alive, rebuilding a new, young body from extant space materials. Evolved into a new form of life, she discards her Miss America identity to claim her new moniker: Miss Cosmos.[5]Powers and Abilities
Powers
Elemental Transmutation: Miss America has the powers of transmutation on a molecular level. Her own inexperience with the physical sciences initially curtailed her use of the powers early in her career, usually using it for simple changes that were not permanent. There appeared to be an upper limit to the size of matter, and the duration of its transmutation, but this was not ever made specific.
Following her recent return, Miss America appears to have become much more proficient with her powers, claiming that she would be able to transform an enemy's organs to glass or shrink them to microscopic size.
Notes
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- In post-Crisis continuity, the original Golden Age Wonder Woman's adventures had been erased from existence and Miss America replaces her in many of the JSA's adventures. However, following a retcon in Wonder Woman Vol 2 #128, several months after Miss America joins the JSA, a different Wonder Woman debuted on the scene and also joined the JSA. It is still unclear how this Wonder Woman's membership affected Miss America's status with the JSA, if at all.[6]
- Miss America also replaced the Golden Age Wonder Woman in the parenting of Hippolyta Trevor, the Infinity, Inc. member who was the modern-day Fury, at least in the sense of adopting Lyta and also marrying a former military person with the last name of Trevor. (Lyta's original father in pre-Crisis Earth-Two history was General Steve Trevor, the husband of Princess Diana of Paradise Island.) Lyta's actual birth mother in the New Earth reality was Helena Kosmatos, the Golden Age Fury.
See Also
- Discuss Joan Dale (New Earth) on the forums
- Appearances of Joan Dale (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Joan Dale (New Earth)
- Images featuring Joan Dale (New Earth)
Links and References
