THUNDER WOMAN
Thunder Woman also known as Thunder Girl
Real Name: Molly Wilson
Identity/Class: Human transformed by magic
Occupation: Librarian (her counterpart was an archaeologist)
Affiliations: Mother Nature, Professor Eureka, Dr.Weird, Ultiman, member of the
Knights of Justice, member of the Whiz Kids, member of the Round Table of
America
Enemies: Dr Hy Q Binana, Tornado Girl
Known Relatives: None (however her counterpart had a sister, Eve, and unnamed
elderly parents)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unknown
First Appearance: Big Bang Comics #3 (Calibre)
Powers/Abilities: Able to fly, has superstrength and invulnerability. Possesses
enhanced vision and the "wisdom of the owl".
History: In 1940 on Earth B, pretty little Molly Wilson was a 14 year old
orphan, working as a librarian. Because of her innate goodness, she was chosen
by Mother Nature herself to become a powerful hero. Given an emerald necklace
and ring, whenever Molly touched one to the other and spoke aloud the word "Alakazam!"
she was transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into the green costumed Thunder
Girl. In this identity (she looks the same, but no one recognises her) she had
the powers of nature: The flight of the eagle, the eyes of the hawk, the wisdom
of the owl, the strength of the elephant, the hardness of diamond, etc.
Thunder Girl became a member of the Knights of Justice and soon acquired an arch
enemy in the form of Dr Hy Q Binana, a laboratory chimpanzee given a human
genius intellect in an experiment conducted by Molly's friend, Prof Eureka. Dr
Binana referred to Thundergirl as "the Big Green Cheesecake". It was when Dr
Binana used science to duplicate Thunder Girl's powers in a villain he called
Tornado Girl, that it was revealed that "females are better able to store the
cosmic energy" that gives them the powers of nature.
The "Criss-Cross Crisis" took place on Earth B in 1944. The evil Dr Binana
opened a dimensional portal to Earth A, where it was 1964. Attempting to destroy
both Earths with a super bomb on Earth A, he was thwarted when Thunder Girl
leapt through the portal from her native Earth B to stop him triggering the
device. Both Earths were saved and the portal was closed, trapping Thunder Girl
on Earth A. Dr Weird appeared to explain that it would be dangerous to return
her, due to the instability of opening the portal and her being two souls
inhabiting one body. Making the best of it, Thunder Girl changed back to Molly,
but the combination of the forces of nature of two Earths was so great, that
Molly got amnesia. Found by Ultiman (who was unaware of her dual identity) she
was identified by him as a missing person and returned to her (counterpart's)
parents.
On Earth A, Molly Wilson was a grown woman, an archaeologist who had gone
missing looking for the lost fountain of youth. Not only was this Molly not an
orphan (having elderly parents), but she also had a younger sister called Eve.
Everyone assumed that the younger, amnesiac Molly must have been the result of
an encounter with the fountain of youth. However, that didnot explain the fierce
thunderstorm that seemed to be following her . . . .
Unable to protect Molly from the lightning (he was vulnerable to magic) Ultiman
was astonished when a bolt got through and transformed her into Thundergirl.
Remembering everything, she decided that it was too dangerous to change back to
normal, so she "disguised" herself as Molly by braiding her hair, adopting a
phony pair of glasses and wearing ordinary clothes over her costume. She went to
high school, which caused further problems, since she did not know when WW II
ended and had to learn to like the Beatles instead of Benny Goodman. A further
complication was that while Eve was a fan of Thunder Girl, she quite rightly
suspected "Molly" of not being her real sister (it is not known if the Earth A
Molly ever returned). During this period, Thunder Girl becameUltiman's
unofficial sidekick.
Thunder Girl eventually joined the Whiz Kids, and found a safe way to change
back and forth. By the 1980's, she had joined the Round Table of America. Molly
was now middle aged, (Big Bang characters age in real time) though still 20
years younger than she should be, but Thunder Girl had stopped aging when she
reached 18.
He notes "In Big Bang Comics supposed publishing history, Thundergirl was
created by a famous children's writer as a non-violent role model for both girls
and boys. Due to a creative dispute, she ceased publication in 1944. Big Bang
then resumed publication with the "Criss-Cross Crisis" in 1964, hence the
heroine's 20 year leap forward.
In reality, "Criss-Cross Crisis" was her first appearance. Stories set in the
1940's are done in the style of Otto Binder and CC Beck's original Captain
Marvel. Stories set in the 1960's are reminiscent of the Silver Age Supergirl.
In the Whiz Kids, she co-fills the role of Wonder Girl in the Teen Titans with
Moray. The relationship with Eve is similar to that of Flash Thompson and Peter
Parker in early Spider-man stories and her fictional creation is inspired by
Charles Moulton's original version of Wonder Woman. Thundergirl's main influence
is, of course, Mary Marvel. Thundergirl's migration to Earth A neatly avoided
the continuity problems that DC had with the Black Canary."