Miss America / Miss Cosmos
Created by ??
+ History
In the late spring of 1941, on Liberty Island, reporter Joan Dale had a dream that the Statue of Liberty came to life and granted her the power to alter the nature of matter. Regardless of the powers, she created a colorful costume and became Miss America, one of America's first heroines. In truth, she would later learn that she had been reclaimed by the top secret government agency, Project M, and her powers were actually the result of a secret experiment. (Military #1, Secret Origins #26)
Later that year, the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor. The supernatural hero Uncle Sam got wind of the attack and assembled a group of heroes to prevent it. He named this group the Freedom Fighters (with Hourman, the Invisible Hood, Magno, Neon the Unknown, and the Red Torpedo). Their mission was doomed. After the fight, it appeared that all but Uncle Sam had perished. Sam would later discover, however, that three of his allies had survived. Miss America was among them, having been reclaimed Project M. (All-Star Squadron #31)
She was not present at the next gathering of the Freedom Fighters, (#31-35) but resurfaced soon thereafter. When Robotman and the Young All-Stars visited Project M, they discovered that Miss America was indeed alive, albeit comatose. (Young All-Stars #12) A battle with the Ultra-Humanite broke out, which awakened Joan from her coma. (#14) She promptly returned to the defense of her country and in late May, 1942, she joined the Justice Society as the group's secretary. (Annual #1) Several months later, Wonder Woman (Hippolyta) debuted on the scene and also joined the JSA. (Wonder Woman v.2 #130-133) It is still unclear how Hippolyta's membership affected Miss America's status with the JSA, if at all.
During the war, Joan struck up a friendship with the young heroine called Fury (Helena Kosmatos). (#27) Also during this time, Hippolyta's daughter, Diana, was sent back in time. To disguise herself, Diana assumed Miss America's costume but returned to the future without revealing her true self to either Hippolyta or Joan (but Hippolyta deduced the truth after Diana had gone). (Wonder Woman v.2 #184-185)
Several cases have been documented exhibitng Miss America's participation with the Justice Society, including the battle with the Lorelei (All-Star Comics #39, Infinity Inc. #50) But after the JSA was forced to disband in 1951, Joan found that her powers were waning. (Infinity #49) She settled down and married Admiral Derek Trevor. Sometime after this, and under circumstances yet to be revealed, Fury gave birth to a baby girl, named Lyta after Hippolyta. Helena entrusted her newborn to Joan and Derek Trevor, who agreed to raise the girl as their own, and never reveal Lyta's true parentage. The identity of Lyta's biological father has never been revealed. (#48)
Joan and Derek were happy to lead normal lives and were supportive when Lyta took the name Fury II and joined the group called Infinity, Inc. Recently, she is known to have met the modern-day Wonder Woman. The details of that meeting are a bit cloudy. (WW #185)
Like New Again
Joan
Dale returns and confronts her doppleganger.
From U. S. & the F. F. v.1 #6 (2007). Art by Daniel Acuña.
Recently, Joan lost both of those closest to her. First Lyta and her husband Hector perished under mysterious circumstances. (JSA #80) Next, her husband Derek succumbed to old age. Upon his passing, Joan revealed a great secret: she had used her powers for decades to effect the appearance of aging — for Derek's sake. Her "loss of powers" had also been a ruse. (Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #6)
Joan chose to return to adventuring soon thereafter, just as Uncle Sam's new team of Freedom Fighters was up against a new Miss America (II). This woman was an android created as a puppet for the spy organization, S.H.A.D.E. Like Joan, this woman was massively powerful and possessed personal information on all the FF. It was Joan herself who stepped in to bring her down. (#5)
Joan umasked this "Miss America" as a robot then accompanied the Freedom Fighters back to their headquarters, an other-dimensional land called the Heartland. (#6) Joan then enthusiastically threw herself back into crimefighting, joining Sam's band as they took on Gonzo, an alien who posed as President of the United States. (#7)
From Uncle
Sam & the
Freedom Fighters v.2 #8 (2008). Art by Renato Arlem.
Notes
Miss America was part of the Quality Comics lineup, a company later purchased by DC. Originally, her origin was not a dream; the expanded version of her origin involving Project M appeared in Secret Origins #26, which also established the date of her debut.
The first textual reference to Miss America taking the place of Wonder Woman in the JSA was in Infinity, Inc. #49 (4.88).
+ Powers
Miss America possesses formidable telekinetic abilities. She is an expert in their use; not only can she use them to affect objects, but can affect matter on a molecular level.
Her powers also extend her youthfulness. As the decades passed after the War, Joan pretended (for the sake of her husband) that her powers were waning and altered her own appearance to effect aging. After his death, she ended the ruse.
There appears to be a mystic element to Joan's powers, which is the most likely explanation for her extended longevity.
Appearances + References
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