Arden

Character History

Arden arrives in the New Universe to study the Star Brand, held by Kenneth Connell. She flies in Tangentia, or Tan, a sentient ship that can go from one universe to another. In the past, she has studied Star Brands in other universes as well.

She runs into Gladiator, who Ken threw into space some time ago. She interrogates him about Ken, and then leaves Gladiator in space, flying onwards to Earth.

She invisibly spies on Ken for a while. She's not impressed, and makes fun of his friends and his haircut. Finally Ken notices her and she falls out of her ship. Ken catches her and she decides they might as well talk.

She tells him she's a scientist studying the way the various alternate realities affect each other. According to her, changes in one universe sometimes affect other universes. Some universes are more prone to unusual happenings (like Earth-616) and others are more "normal" (like the New Universe). Apparently many of the normal universes' comic books accurately reflect the more unusual universes' realities by means of the "leaking" process from one reality to another. However, the Star Brand is a constant, and exists whether or not a universe is "normal" or "unusual," and may get its power from the multiverse itself somehow.

She urges Ken to live with a little more imagination. She gets him to dig under a diamond mine and get some diamonds. They sell them and hang out on the French Riviera for a while, and sleep together.

She isn't supposed to interfere with the realities she is studying, however, and her boss, Dr. Lester, finds out what she's been doing and brings her back to her reality. She isn't arrested but is kept on base from then on. According to Dr. Lester, her interference causes him to think about the potential of his power in a different way, but since he lives in a "normal" universe that doesn't like strange things like the Star Brand, he's headed for a disaster...like the Black Event, where Ken destroys Pittsburgh.