Moondragon (Heather Douglas) Appreciation 2023

[Nomads1]

Heather always appealed to me for her attitude (long before Emma Frost got famous for much the same 'Frosty' demeanor), as well as her power, which intrigued me because it was self-taught. Somehow, she trained with aliens, and became a psychic of near-Jean-Grey levels. Telepathy (and, to a lesser extent, telekinesis) appear to be something you can gain as part of mystical training (Dr. Strange, Baron Mordo, Jennifer Kale, etc. were listed as having these powers as a result of training), or training by aliens (Bob/Marvel Boy, Heather/Moondragon and Mantis all gained psychic powers as a result of alien training. Heck, even Dr. Doom has a psychic power from alien training, to switch his mind with someone else!).

That's always intrigued me, and I wondered for ages if some mutants were mutant telepaths *or* telekinetics, but managed to *learn* the other, perhaps even being telepathically taught that psychic discipline the same way that a telepath can 'teach' someone a new language or skill with a quick psychic download. It would certainly be a scary development if mutant telepaths could train non-telepaths with psychic potential, like Heather, to be telepaths!

(And that's my assumption, that alien-trained folk like Heather, Marvel Boy and Mantis, all had some latent psychic potential and weren't just average schmoes! I'm not sure I like the notion that all six billion people on Earth could get a bit of training and all be like Moondragon!)

Yeah, Heather's attitude definitely is what has made me fall in love with the character. When she showed up in Englehart's Avengers, she definitely had that stuck up, hollier than thou attitude, however, she was still clearly a good guy. And, before Ba-Bani, that was, as far as I knew, how she was always portraited, treading that thin line. And, for me, she was always such a fascinanting character for so many other reasons that made her unique, and that were not always explored at the depth it should. She is one of the few Avengers with mental powers, a skill that the mutants seem to always hog in their teams. Not only that, but considering that Mantis was merely empathic, before getting the full psychic upgrade, and Sersi was not as adept as others from her Eternal race, Heather was by far the most powerful mentalist in the Avengers armory. Her martial arts skills, putting her almost in the same League as Captain America or the Black Widow. There were not that many like this back in the 70's. Another aspect that was very rarely explored was the fact that, due to her upbringing in the advanced society of Titan, Heather was one of the few female good guys that actually excelled in science. Her current status has acutually made me feel confused. I was never a fan of the Dragon of the Moon retcon, that it was this evil ancient entity that corrupted her. I prefered when the hubris was all her own. The merging with an other-dimensional Heather is, IMHO, yet another unnecessary complication of what should be a much simpler character. I'm still hoping that Moondragon will re-join the Avengers, further exploring her usefulness to the team, as well as the disruption she always brings to their ranks.
As for, what differes Heather and Mantis from the other mutant telepaths, the way I see it, mental powers such as telepathy, teleknisis, empathy, etc...are all part of the potential evolutionary package of humanity. All of us have it, despite it never being fully develped beyond the potential. Through training, Mantis, Heather and a few others managed to unlock this evolutionary potential, granting themselves those abilities in various degrees, however, they are still human. Mutants have an x-gene that sets them apart from the rest of humanity, an X-gene that grants them access to powers that the human race has the potential to develop, such as telepathy, T.K., enhanced physical attributes, etc..., and some far beyond those the human race even has the potential to acchieve, such as fireing devastating beams of concussive force through their eyes, or absorb cosmic energy and fire blasts of energy through their hands, or even controling the weather, to mention a few. to sum it up, it's all in the x-gene.

Peace

[Sutekh]

Yeah, Heather's attitude definitely is what has made me fall in love with the character. When she showed up in Englehart's Avengers, she definitely had that stuck up, hollier than thou attitude, however, she was still clearly a good guy. And, before Ba-Bani, that was, as far as I knew, how she was always portraited, treading that thin line.

IIRC, it was her exposure to the mind of Michael Korvac, and her desire to stop the wars on the Ba-Bani homeworld, that prompted her to seize control of the planet and force them to peace. So even when she 'turned villain', she had good intentions, just used absolutely not-good tactics to impose peace on the warring Ba-Bani.

And, for me, she was always such a fascinating character for so many other reasons that made her unique, and that were not always explored at the depth it should. She is one of the few Avengers with mental powers, a skill that the mutants seem to always hog in their teams. Not only that, but considering that Mantis was merely empathic, before getting the full psychic upgrade, and Sersi was not as adept as others from her Eternal race, Heather was by far the most powerful mentalist in the Avengers armory. Her martial arts skills, putting her almost in the same League as Captain America or the Black Widow. There were not that many like this back in the 70's. Another aspect that was very rarely explored was the fact that, due to her upbringing in the advanced society of Titan, Heather was one of the few female good guys that actually excelled in science.

I have long thought that the Avengers could use some brainy ladies in the lab. All the lab scenes we would see back in the day involved Tony and Hank (Pym) and blue Hank (McCoy) and occasionally T'Challa, but the lady Avengers would be characterized by Janet changing costumes and acting kind of flighty or Wanda or Tigra losing their minds / self-control...

Heather (and Bobbi/Mockingbird!) had serious science chops, enough to empower the 'Dark Messiah,' and to implant various cybernetic enhancements in Ramrod and Angar the Screamer.

And, just a random forgotten tidbit, Heather came to Earth from Titan in a Titanian ship capable of space travel, and avoiding Earth sensors. A ship that is probably still squirreled away somewhere, since Heather didn't use that ship ever again, to leave.

It amuses me to think there's an alien ship, probably unarmed and large enough to contain a lab for her cyborg/empowerment work, just sitting at the bottom of a lake or somewhere it won't be discovered easily, that might someday find use in a story somewhere.

Her current status has actually made me feel confused. I was never a fan of the Dragon of the Moon retcon, that it was this evil ancient entity that corrupted her. I prefered when the hubris was all her own. The merging with an other-dimensional Heather is, IMHO, yet another unnecessary complication of what should be a much simpler character. I'm still hoping that Moondragon will re-join the Avengers, further exploring her usefulness to the team, as well as the disruption she always brings to their ranks.

I'm of two minds about the Dragon of the Moon business. On the one hand, it could be a convenient 'out' to at least temporarily tweak her power level, by saying that she was artificially pumped up by the DotM during some of her more epic feats (for instance, she once blocked a blow from Thor's hammer with telekinesis, a power she barely ever even uses, and not something I really think of as 'her thing', so I wouldn't freak out if she got toned down a bit in that specific area). On the other hand, it's come and gone, and that doesn't seem to have happened. The whole DotM thing doesn't seem to have really had much impact, long-term. She's still kind of imperious, still kind of 'mommy-knows-best,' still a ridonkulously potent psychic. With or without the Dragon of the Moon, nothing has really changed, so what was the effing point of that retcon anyway?

[Phoenixx9]

When Heather debuted and somewhat after, she was supposed to be highly intelligent (again, probably from her training and reaching her peak intelligence level) and scientific. Other than her initial appearance, I guess most stories did not require/revolve around those things and we got to see the other aspects of Heather. But she does still have her scientific training and intelligence as part of her skill sets.

I thought both Heather and Hellcat departed Earth in the space ship? If not, we better find it before the villains do!

[JudicatorPrime]

I'm not sure I like the notion that all six billion people on Earth could get a bit of training and all be like Moondragon!)

I tend to agree that while every human being has some capacity for psionic ability -- after all, isn't the Phoenix Force a composite of the psionic energies of all sentient beings -- not everyone should be able to reach the same tier even with training as, say, Moondragon. I mean anyone can learn chess and possibly become quite adept at strategy and gambits, but not everyone will become an accomplished Grandmaster, even with all of the training and experience in the world. I feel the same way about magic in the Marvel universe. There ought to be stratification and tiers due to disparities in individual make-up and potential.

Having said that, we all know that writers have their pet characters which inevitably get boosted power-wise. In some cases, it's just easier to do a power boost than do the work necessary to build and develop a great character irrespective of power level.

[Thirteen]

Recalling the MOONDRAGON vs MANTIS Celestial Madonna Grudge match from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.
Oh! That early 90s artwork where the Rob Liefeld effect started to take hold and seasoned artist started to adapt to the new trend.

[Phoenixx9]

MOONDRAGON costumes Appreciation

Moondragon looks great in a cape!

[Phoenixx9]

Didn't she get her tk powers from the gem? I remember seeing a panel where Thanos mentions to Moondragon that she's "harvested" her tk powers from the gem.

No Moondragon had TK from her training, just like her TP.

However, I am sure the Mind Gem enhanced her powers when she had it and probably a tiny bit after sshe gave it up.

Green is definitely her colour!

Yes, that is another similarity she has in common with Jean. The 2 of them really need to team up in a new great cosmic adventure!

[Phoenixx9]

Didn't she get her tk powers from the gem? I remember seeing a panel where Thanos mentions to Moondragon that she's "harvested" her tk powers from the gem.

Recalling the MOONDRAGON vs MANTIS Celestial Madonna Grudge match from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.
Oh! That early 90s artwork where the Rob Liefeld effect started to take hold and seasoned artist started to adapt to the new trend.

Wait....where/when was this from please? I never saw this fight before!

Heather won the fight?

[Nomads1]

Recalling the MOONDRAGON vs MANTIS Celestial Madonna Grudge match from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.
Oh! That early 90s artwork where the Rob Liefeld effect started to take hold and seasoned artist started to adapt to the new trend.

Poor Herb Trimpe.

Peace

[kcekada]

That Mantis/Moondragon confrontation looks like something that happened in Heather's mind -- not an actual confrontation. That's just a guess. I would think it was from Warlock and the Infinity Watch, but that's another guess. I stopped collecting that series after the first six or so issues.

[seccruz]

Recalling the MOONDRAGON vs MANTIS Celestial Madonna Grudge match from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.
Oh! That early 90s artwork where the Rob Liefeld effect started to take hold and seasoned artist started to adapt to the new trend.

At least they both had feet...

[Thirteen]

Wait....where/when was this from please? I never saw this fight before!

Heather won the fight?

That Mantis/Moondragon confrontation looks like something that happened in Heather's mind -- not an actual confrontation. That's just a guess. I would think it was from Warlock and the Infinity Watch, but that's another guess. I stopped collecting that series after the first six or so issues.

NOPE it's a real fight. The entire fight is enumerated in the link the original post, and below.
FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.

[Phoenixx9]

NOPE it's a real fight. The entire fight is enumerated in the link the original post, and below.
FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.

Thanks!

Sorry I missed it originally.

[Nomads1]

NOPE it's a real fight. The entire fight is enumerated in the link the original post, and below.
FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #25.

Thanks!

Sorry I missed it originally.

It was rather recently reprinted in Fantastic Four Epic Collection: This Flame, This Fury.
https://www.amazon.com.br/Fantastic-...s%2C214&sr=8-2

Peace

[Phoenixx9]

It was rather recently reprinted in Fantastic Four Epic Collection: This Flame, This Fury.
https://www.amazon.com.br/Fantastic-...s%2C214&sr=8-2

Peace

Thank you!