Frances Hyatt

Origin

Frances Hyatt was once a waitress at Stu's Diner in Nevada. She had worked there long enough to know all the locals. At some point in time, Frances was taken by the Silver Surfer and touched by him, knowing her somehow. She later described it as him taking away her ambition and keeping her in one place. The Silver Surfer actually placed a portion of Frankie Raye's essence into Frances hoping to later reunite it with the Nova essence, in an attempt to bring back Frankie Raye (or at least some semblance of her).

Creation

Frances Hyatt was creared by Kathryn Immonen and Tonci Zonjic and first appeared in Heralds issue 1 (2010).

Major Story Arcs

Heralds

One night while working at the diner, a flash filled the sky and seemed to enter Frances. She tried to leave the diner, but when patrons came to her assistance she lashed out, stabbing a customer. She ran out and began driving, only to crash and met a man who she called 'father'. This man was Professor Horton, long dead, who turned out to be an escaped clone from a S.W.O.R.D. facility. Upon seeing him, Frances burst into flames causing a massive explosion.

Frances awoke in a ditch, trying to muster the strength to get up. She was found by a group of super heroines who were trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. Frances went with them to the Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four, in the hopes of obtaining some answers. They were amazed by Frances' resemblance to their old friend Frankie Raye, the one who would become Nova: Herald of Galactus. Though Nova was long dead, somehow S.W.O.R.D. had a similar entity captured and Frances appeared to be almost the same girl who once hosted it. When the clones escaped the S.W.O.R.D. holding facility in Nevada, so did the Nova entity and it bonded with Johnny Storm looking for Frankie.

The Nova entity escaped Johnny and sensed the piece of Frankie in Frances. When it was unable to take Frances, it fled setting a trap at Frankie Raye's former apartment. After relaying the story of the Silver Surfer, Frances went to Frankie's apartment in order to attempt to awaken more of Frankie's memories. There, the Nova entity kidnapped Valeria Richards, daughter of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, instead. Frances accompanied the team into space where they discovered Valeria and the Nova entity in the heart of a star. The Nova entity cocooned Valeria in a strange substance. That substance turned out to be the suit Professor Horton had made for Frankie Raye to suppress her powers long ago, somehow animated by the Power Cosmic becoming the "Nova entity" itself.

Emma Frost sensed that both Valeria and the Nova entities minds were active in this cocoon. The Invisible Woman and She-Hulk managed to pull Valeria from the living suit while Frances looked on in horror. When the suit attempted to bond with the Invisible Woman, it spoke to Frances. It told her to save them, to be brave. Frances knew what she had to do, jumping in the way to become bonded with the being, just as the Silver Surfer had told her would happen. While she was bonding with the suit, she remembered the words of Hellcat and Silver Surfer, claiming to not be as strong as they said she was. It is unknown what exactly happened after she became 'Supernova', but she left the team abruptly, returning to Earth. Although Frances was unchanged on the inside, she now was confused and possessed great power. She returned to the diner where she worked, not knowing what she was looking for. Following a conversation with the new waitress, Frances flew away trying to figure out what she wanted with her new life.

Powers & Abilities

It is unknown if Frances possesses the full cosmic powers of Nova, but she has shown the ability of flight and fire control. Unlike Frankie Raye in her Nova state, Frances can 'flame off.'