Abigail Brand

Infobox comics character


converted=y
caption=Agent Brand in "Astonishing X-Men" vol. 3 #20.
character_name=Abigail Brand
real_name=Abigail Brand
species=Human/unknown alien hybrid
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Astonishing X-Men" vol.3, #3 (2004) (Cameo)
"Astonishing X-Men" vol.3, #6 (2004) (first full appearance)
creators=Joss Whedon
John Cassaday
alliances=S.W.O.R.D.
aliases=
powers=Energy coating over hands.
cat = super
subcat = Marvel Comics
hero = y
villain =
sortkey = Abigail Brand
addcharcat# =

Special Agent Abigail Brand is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics' universe. Her first appearance was a cameo in "Astonishing X-Men" #3 (2004), and she was introduced fully in "Astonishing X-Men" #6 (2004). She was created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Abigail Brand is the commanding officer of S.W.O.R.D., a S.H.I.E.L.D. offshoot that deals with defending the Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Almost no details about her personal life have been revealed, but she is known to be twenty-eight years old."Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust" one-shot]

Ord and The Breakworld

When an alien by the name of Ord came to Earth convinced that a mutant was destined to destroy his planet, Brand intervened in order to avoid an interplanetary war. Brand acquiesced to Ord's plan to avert the destruction of his world by allowing him to create a 'cure' for the mutant 'condition'. It was later revealed that the mutant prophesied to destroy Breakworld was Colossus; furthermore, statements made by Ord suggest that neutralizing Earth's mutant population may have been just one step in an as-yet unrevealed plan.

After her involvement in this plan became known to the X-Men and to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury, Brand faced a board of inquiry to answer charges against her conduct. She defended her actions on the grounds that averting interplanetary warfare was a responsibility so great as to justify courses of action that would otherwise be considered immoral or illegal. This defense seems to have convinced the board as she was subsequently still in command of S.W.O.R.D.

Despite the antagonistic relationship she and Fury demonstrated toward each other, she is considered a Nick Fury loyalist by new S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill. Brand made no effort to hide her dislike for Hill, and no further contact between the two has been shown.

In a final attempt to draw Breakworld's forces away from the Earth, Brand had the X-Men (including Colossus), Ord, and Ord's ally Danger, teleported aboard a S.W.O.R.D. starship and travel to the Breakworld itself. Ord, with the assistance of Danger, was able to contact his homeworld to alert them of Colossus' location, not knowing that this was all part of Brand's plan. Despite their past differences and Brand's continuing high-handed attitude, she attempted to work with the X-Men to find a solution to the crisis. However, Breakworld forces caught up with the S.W.O.R.D. vessel before Brand had predicted they would, forcing the X-Men and the S.W.O.R.D strike team to use the ship's escape pods to finish their journey to the Breakworld. Once on the surface, Brand and Henry McCoy teamed up and became separated from the other X-Men, at which point they were forced to take shelter in a small cave to avoid a device that was altering the weather to subfreezing temperatures. To McCoy's astonishment, Brand used some type of superhuman power to generate enough heat to keep them alive.

After meeting back up with the rest of the X-Men, Brand, Beast, Wolverine, Armor, Shadowcat and their new ally Danger were part of a last ditch assault on the Breakworld's doomsday device before it can be fired at Earth. During the ensuing battle against Breakworld soldiers, Brand dove into the path of a laser blast meant for Beast. Severely wounded, she explained to Beast she did it since as a genius he had the greatest chance for disarming the weapon. Her last words to Beast before passing out were to "save the damn world already."

Eventually Brand came to and rejoined the team. As McCoy tended to her wounds, he noted her rapid healing and when he attempted to draw more information out of her, Brand countered by revealing an intense sexual attraction to him. The X-Men and surviving S.W.O.R.D. strike team members headed toward the site where Colossus was prophesied to destroy the Breakworld, but Brand's team was attacked by Breakworld forces. When Brand was captured and threatened by several Breakworld men, she quipped that she would "never get gang-raped on a first date," and killed her attackers after revealing that "Brand" is not her surname, but a sobriquet referencing her powers. After the Breakworld mission ended, Brand offered McCoy a job with S.W.O.R.D., stating that she needs someone who will question her actions and help her avoid making mistakes. She then again propositions him sexually, telling McCoy when he brings up the fact that he's a "blue, furry monster" that her father, an alien, was one as well.

ecret Invasion

She is present at The Peak, S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters, when it is destroyed by a Skrull posing as Dum Dum Dugan. Due to an emergency suit, she and a few other S.W.O.R.D. agents are able to survive in space long enough to witness the arrival of the Skrull armada in Earth space. She later is able to board one of the Skrull armada's ships by breaking into the exterior. After making it to the control/camera room, she witnesses the death and destruction the Skrulls are causing all over Earth, which makes her shed a tear. She then later is seen discovered by a Skrull youngster and a guard, who subsequently points his gun at her. ["Secret Invasion" #1, 4] She outsmarts the guards and kills every Skrull on board. She frees their prisoner, the hero Mister Fantastic, who takes her to the Savage Land. She sees that all of the "Earth heroes" who had crash landed there were actually Skrulls. ["Secret Invasion" #5] Brand later flies the Avengers to New York.

Physical appearance and abilities

Brand's green hair is a trait that has long been associated with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemy HYDRA, and Wolverine disparagingly referred to her as "Hydra-hair" at their first meeting. ["Astonishing X-Men" vol. 3 #6 (2004)] She revealed in "Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men" #1 that this is her natural color, inherited from her blue-furred extraterrestrial father. Neither her father's name or species have yet been revealed.

Brand has a tattoo on each bicep; one reads "Grace", the other "Anna". The significance of these tattoos has yet to be revealed. [ "Astonishing X-Men" vol. 3 #8 (2005)]

Her half-alien heritage has given her the ability to coat her hands in some type of blue energy flame and her tongue the ability to shape alien languages that humans are unable to make. ["Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men".(2008)]

Notes

References

*comicbookdb|type=character|id=7516|title=Abigail Brand