Golden Gail

Origin

Gail Gibbons was an orphan in Spiral City. One night after sneaking out of the orphanage, she visited a movie theater. There, she met the wizard, Zafram. His name is the golden word, and it is prophesied that when someone worthy and pure of heart speaks it, they shall inherit his power. With his powers safe in Gail’s hands, Zafram was freed from his Earthly body.

Creation

Gail made her first appearance in Black Hammer #1 by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston. She was an homage to classic Golden Age heroes including Captain Marvel.

Major Story Arcs

Before Rockwood

Gail would fight crime for years, aging in her civilian form and being forever 9 years old in her superhero form. She would occasionally share a fraction of her power with allies creating The Golden Family. Her major rival was Sherlock Frankenstein, however, when he went legit in the 70s, she decided to retire. She let her Golden Family replace her as champions of Zafram and started a romantic relationship with Sherlock.

Welcome to Rockwood

When Spiral City was under attack by the Anti-God, Gail was recruited into the fight with Spiral’s other heroes by Starlok. When Black Hammer hit the Anti-God with his cosmic hammer, it caused a bright light. They found themselves teleported to Rockwood on a small farm for 10 years. There, Gail was stuck in her nine year old girl superhero form, even though she was in her 50s. Much to her chagrin, she pretended to be Abraham Slam’s granddaughter and went to school. Despite this, she continued to entertain her vices for alcohol and tobacco. She also had feelings for Barbalien, but he did not reciprocate.

They were settling into some kind of routine, but that was uprooted when Lucy Weber appeared. She was the daughter of their fellow superhero, Black Hammer, who died trying to leave the perimeter of Rockwood. She believed all the heroes had survived the event and wanted to find them. She couldn’t remember how she got here though.

Soon after the team was brought back together by Weird to witness Lucy pick up her father’s hammer and become the new Black Hammer.

Age of Doom

Now that Lucy remembered everything she could explain the town of Rockwood to the others. They were all asleep in stasis pods on Col. Weird’s ship in the Para-Zone while their minds were kept in a magical illusion caused by the Cabin of Horror. This was due to a pact between Weird and Madame Dragonfly to save the universe. The killing of the Anti-God threw off the balance of light and dark. Weird and Dragonfly needed to take the heroes out in order to retain that balance. Lucy’s dad was killed when he tried leaving Weird’s ship and was exposed to the Para-Zone energies. With everyone awake, Weird took it upon himself to set auto-pilot to leave the Para-Zone.

Unfortunately, leaving the Para-Zone simply put them in yet another fabricated reality. Gail was a catatonic old woman in a nursing home. Lucy tried using her hammer to bring her memories back, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t until she was convinced to say her magic word and transformed into her super form that her memories returned. They needed her help to take on the Anti-God, who was targeting their new reality.

Unfortunately, Lucy receives a message from her father and Starlok. In order to defeat the Anti-God, the superheroes have to disappear again. Rather than kill them, Lucy convinces them to voluntarily re-enter the imaginary farm land, while she stays back as defender of Spiral City.

For Gail, that meant returning to the farm with her lover, Sherlock, where he was transformed to match the age of her body. They both acted appropriately for that age as well.

Character Profile

• Height: 4'1" (5'5" as human)
• Weight: 62 lbs (151 lbs as human)
• Eye Color: Blue (brown as human)
• Hair Color: Blonde (brown as human)
• Citizenship: American
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Retired superhero
• Distinguishing Features: In her superhero form, she is forever a nine year old girl.

Powers

Gail can transform into Golden Gail and back with a magic word: Zafram. Even though Gail continues to age, her superhero body is stuck as a nine year old. In her superhero form, she is capable of flight, heat vision, super strength, speed, and invulnerability.