Black Superheroes: XS
Monday, February 24, 2014
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| She's the black sheep of the Flash family* *(Oh my god, I'm so sorry I said that) |
First Appearance: Legionnaires #0 (1994)
History: Born in the 30th Century Jenni Ognats is the daughter of Dawn Allen, one half of the superhero duo the Tornado Twins, and the granddaughter of a time displaced Barry Allen, the second Flash (boooooo). Unlike other members of the Allen family Jenni showed no signs of possessing super-speed. After the murder of her mother and her uncle Jenni was left in the care of her father Jeven Ognats of the planet Aarok (a human colony). One day she and her father were kidnapped by the Dominators, an race of aliens who had repeatedly made trouble for Earth. Knowing Jenni’s heritage they purposely attempted to awaken her potentially latent powers through stress by torturing her father. The plan worked and Jenni’s connection to the speed force awoke, granting her superhuman speed just like the rest of her family. She used her new found abilities to escape with her father. After submitting herself to United Planet scientist to learn to control her new powers. Eventually she was recruited into the Legion of Super-Heroes, the premier superhero team of the 30th Century, under the codename XS. Jenni possesses all the standard powers of The Flash, including super-speed and the ability to vibrate her molecules allowing her to move through solid matter. She also possesses a ring from the legion that allows her to fly.
Beta Says: For all intent and purposes XS is the female equivalent of her cousin Bart Allen, aka Impulse (and…ugh, “Kid Flash II”) in that they have near identical origins except that Jenni was born without powers and had a normal childhood while Bart was born with accelerated aging and had to grow up living in a virtual reality world which severally damaged his ability to function in the real world. By contrast Jenni seems like a pretty normal, if shy, teenage girl. They were created in the same year so it’s a bit strange to note that Bart is MUCH more famous, relevant and popular.
You know, in superhero comics the Summers Family Tree (as in Scott Summers, aka Cyclops) is usually pointed out as the biggest example of convolution when it comes to character relationships but the Allen Family Tree is probably almost as damn bad but no one ever really talks about it. Let me put it this way; the current Flash has a half black teenage granddaughter from the future. And she’s not even the weirdest one.
More on XS after the jump.
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