The life of Carol Danvers has not been easy. Early in her life she and her two older brothers would consistently move around following the military career of her father, Joe Danvers, any stresses of such lost on Carol at such a young age. However, her father was honourably discharged following an injury that largely cost him the use of his right leg. Joe had never been a particularly warm or attentive father, but he further adapted to civilian life poorly, even if the worst of his harsh expectations fell upon his two older, and male, children. While her older brothers had known their mother, Carol never did, having gone missing shortly after Carol’s birth, a relationship she certainly felt the absence of keenly.

Early in her time in education, now settled in Boston, Carol became something of an outcast, teased for her devastating home situation, She made few friends, which, combined with the lack of affection, or even basic recognition, from her father, only further compounded her isolation. While she had a single good friend, her main solace was her brothers, who, being substantially older than Carol, would soon be out of the day-to-day picture. This would prove to be even more total than expected, for pushed by their father’s demanding standards and his own expectations, both joined the US Army, careers that were well regarded if tragically short-lived, as both would perish in separate, but simultaneous, Middle Eastern conflicts. Any grasp Joe Danvers had on a sense of family died along with them.

With no sense of family at home, Carol took it upon herself to never be the butt of jokes again among her peers. She shed the small number of true, but equally outcast, friends and instead dominated her social circles. If she couldn’t hold people’s affection, she could hold their respect. Athletic abilities she had honed in sports she had enjoyed were turned on climbing the 'ranks' of highschool cheerleading, and a burgeoning charisma went from brief forays in stage and drama work to holding the attention of her peers.

As she neared the end of her High School education, after several years of the 'new and improved' Carol Danvers, her abilities began to manifest. Relatively minor changes to her strength, speed and durability soon became increasingly extreme. Her own experimentation with such no doubt revealed her changing nature to an observant watcher. She was approached by Dr Walter Lawson, a research specialist for the US Air Force, at first under the guise of seeking to recruit a promising candidate, and then more truthfully, as Mar-Vell, exile of the Kree. He revealed to Carol that her mother's true name had been Mari-Ell, a fellow fugitive from the Kree Empire, and assistant to the Doctor in his research on Earth. The pair had initially come to Earth on a mission from the Empire, deliberately seeking to splice human and Kree DNA, before eventually defecting to their new home, trading secrets of interstellar intelligence and technology for the US government in exchange for acceptance. The loss of Mari-Ell, for even the Doctor knew not what had happened to her, had been a great harm to his project, but now with her daughter, he could proceed.

Carol was not particularly inclined to assist for the Doctor's own sake, but instead out of a desire for a connection she had lost in any other aspect of life, as well as the suggestion the work could further enhance her abilities. Indeed, the introduction of the ancient Nega-bands to Carol not only destroyed the Kree relic, but supercharged her abilities above and beyond those of even the most powerful of the genetically engineered Kree warriors. As part of Mar-Vell's arrangement with the US government, the success of the project was reported. Carol has taken on the alias of Warbird, and begun to use her powers in the role of a hero, but one that ultimately reports in to the often mysterious leadership of the Pentagon.

One of the more interesting recent villains that Carol Danvers has faced in the main marvel canon is Star, a woman of similar power level to Carol with an equally (if not more so) troubled background but without the structure of military training to discipline her and instead highly connected to the darker elements of the US military/industrial complex. I thought it would be interesting to take this concept and apply it to Carol herself, with her powers manifesting earlier in her life. Ultimately there is still a good person within Carol who feels a call to use her powers for good, but it is more directly in conflict with her childhood trauma of neglect and loneliness, as well as the trials and tribulations of later high school/early college life.

A seemingly normal boy who was born to seemingly normal parents and grew up in a seemingly normal life. Until his father died, leaving his mother unable to support both herself and her son. They moved into F.E.A.S.T. a homeless shelter in Queens, until they could get back on their feet. That time never came, unfortunately. One day, a supervillain attacked by the name of Madame Monstrosity. Taking several of the people at F.E.A.S.T. to be her latest guinea pigs for a mutation experiment. In this, he had his DNA crossed with that of a highly venomous Spider, his mother didn't survive the experiments.

He seemed doomed to be nothing but a footsoldier in the army of Madame Monstrosity until the Amazing Spider-Man broke down the door, defeated Madame Monstrosity and freed those who she experimented on from her Mind Control... With everyone free, everyone was free to go back to their homes and their families... Except little Bailey... With nobody left to look after him, he took the advice that he had heard from Old Lady Parker from F.E.A.S.T. about how, with great power, comes great responsibility. Bailey went back to Feast and managed to cobble a basic super-suit together that would compliment his powers and set out into the world as "The Amazing Spider-Boy."

During his adventures, he was taught by a number of other heroes how to fight and how to survive. Although he found himself alone regularly. This all came to ahead in one of his adventures, Bailey found himself protecting an old man who some shady government agent type and their goons seemed insistent on capturing. Bailey refused to back down, to bend or to stop his defense of this seemingly helpless old man. Beaten, bloodied and all but dead on his feet, Bailey wouldn't let them just do what they wanted. He had great power and with it came great responsibility.

Elsewhere in the Multiverse, little did either of them know that the Web of Life was under attack by forces unfathomable. During the attack, Bailey place in the Web was cut. Instantly, the entire universe ceased to know him. All trace of him erased, all presence of his memory, photo's, records, anything and everything to do with Bailey's life instantly erased. The only one who remembered anything was the old man. Little did any of them know that the old man was a Wizard. An immortal being who watched time and space and sought those who could protect it from those who would damage it.

Remembering the boy, the Wizard sought him out in this new timeline. Unfortunately, not even his infinite sight could find the boy. Eventually he found out about the battle on the Web of Life. The boy had been removed entirely, not just re-written, but deleted. Nobody but he even remembered him. That boy was almost killed saving him from the forces of evil... Taking drastic measures, the Wizard travelled to see The Fates. The 3 sisters who controlled the Loom that wove all that is, was, could or possibly. Making a deal, they took the images from the old mans memory and they wove his image into the loom.

Now Bailey has appeared in this strange world. He is once again alone... Except for the Wizard... The Wizard sees what he is, what he could be and has plans for the boy... But one last test is needed. When the boy hits rock bottom, how will he react?

Bailey is an interesting character who has potential, but i also like the idea of exploring a character who is forced to adapt from one set of powers to a completely different type. Plus, the mystical side of Spider-Man is always an interesting place to explore. Combining that with the always interesting idea of the Old Gods of the world attempting to stay relevant in this new world of Superheroes and The New Gods. All of these elements blend together to create a narrative of a boy who has always found himself at the whims of others and never been given a choice of his own. And even those who are attempting to help him have ulterior motives. Doesn't hurt that i will finally have the opportunity to portray one of my favourite supervillains, silently watching, orchestrating, one who has plans for both the deep magics of the wizard as well as the Web of Life itself.