Up next we have the lovely bride of Ultron, gorgeous iron maiden Jocasta, the Do-It-Yourself Mail Order bride if there ever was one!
Created by Henry Pym’s frankenstein creation Ultron, It was only natural that Ully would want his bride to be infused with the life-force of Janet Van Dyne-Pym, Hank’s wife (as well as the nimble WASP)! Using advanced technology, a kidnapped Wasp, and a brainwashed Henry Pym, and a Brainwashed Henry Pym, Ultron hoped to transfer Janet’s soul into the metallic shell of his mate!
Alerted by Hank’s trustworthy ants, the Avengers intervened just as Janet’s life-breath was almost completely absorbed by Jocasta, and the sudden separation resulted in two-two-two girls in one! And although she did start off with her hubby’s diabolical bad habits, Jocasta quickly saw Ultron as the crumb he really was, and crossed over to the side of the Angels!
George Perez really knew what he wa doing when he created the visuals for this character. It was like he’d been studying just what was so attractive about TINa, the platinum kitten of the METAL MEN, and added MORE curves and general sexiness, and came up with Jocasta…Sexy? heck, he even got her a sexy-as-hell Metal GARTER BELT as part of the design, or at least that’s what I always thought it was!
But it was her potrayal in the later issues under the care of David Michelinie and John Byrne’s hands where I really felt she could branch off into a multi-dimensional character, as they depict her as a naive, curious girl very observant of the “human interplay” between her fellow Avengers. There’s this great scene where Tony Stark’s putting the moves on Ms. Marvel, and Jocasta is bored of the bland chatter. She tries to connect with the Vision, whose off-standish attitude only made her look more warm and human in contrast!
But the best is perhaps when general fly-in-the-Avengers-ointment Government Official Henry Peter Gyrich realizes she’s “alive”, and demands to know if she’s cleared for security. She then shames him, asking him if the government is so paranoid now they’re screening the machines!
