Woman Crush Wednesday: Jet
Yeah I’m doing some very little known heroes lately but it’s worth doing. This week’s WCW is a short-lived powerhouse. Jet first appeared in comics in 1988 “Millennium #2” The Guardians of the Universe (creators of the Green Lanterns) decided to create their successors. Essentially they wanted to create new Guardians and they believed that their successors were destined to come from Earth. So they gathered ten individuals together, taught them the nature of the cosmos and bestowed powers and immortality. One of them was Celia Windward, a young Jamaican woman living in Europe (potlucks were LIT!).
She had the power to control electromagnetic energies and when her powers manifested, she gave off a green aura that looked like fire but she had no control over fire. She joined the team that the Guardians created, appropriately called New Guardians. Jet was a powerhouse against the many foes she went up against but through fighting one called “Hemo-Goblin”, she contracted HIV (really though?!). Her symptoms got worse and eventually turned into AIDS which in turn killed her as she used the last of her energy to repel an alien invasion. So….an IMMORTAL Guardian of the Universe was killed due to AIDS in the end? And it had to be a black woman? But I digress. If you read more and come across the One Year Later events, you see that Jet is still alive and has renounced the actions of the Green Lanterns (they messed up big time). After the One Year Later events, she is seen gathering non-American heroes to be apart of the Global Guardians to which she leads.
She clashes with the Green Lanterns very often. Not physically (well sometimes) but in the world view. She believes that they are overstepping their station as Green Lanterns during the One Year Later events and tries to essentially do their job for them while attempting to bring them to “justice”. I mean, she was created by the Green Lanterns creators so it kind of makes sense. Jet is a strong, moral and determined leader and hero which rubs off on others. Besides contracting AIDS, she is one of the strongest women in the DC universe and should be celebrated as such.
Do you have any other facts on Jet that I missed? Let me know in the comments. Also, feel free to suggest any other super powered women I should highlight! Until next time, Nerd out!
