Ms. Steed
Encyclopedia
Miss Steed also known as Black Queen
is a fictional character
, a mutant
in the Marvel Comics
Universe. Her first appearance as Miss Steed was in Excalibur #96. Emma Steed was an obvious homage to Emma Peel
and John Steed
, from the British television show The Avengers
. Early art for the character, in fact, matched the appearance of Diana Rigg
who played Mrs. Emma Peel.
Miss Steed initially appeared as Damask during the Age of Apocalypse
, an event which caused the history of the Marvel Universe
to diverge from its usual path. Although many Age of Apocalypse characters were alternate versions of existing heroes and villains, Damask did not appear to have an Earth-616
counterpart until Miss Steed was introduced over a year later.
During the London Hellfire Club
's failed attempt to take over London using a demon, Emma Steed killed their Black King, who had been driven insane by the monster.She was apparently in contact with Onslaught
as well, although their connection was never fully revealed. When Brian Braddock
approached Steed about the chaos in London, she attacked him using glowing psionic blades attached to long burning chains, but her blades bounced off his forcefield, which he then threw at her, nearly taking her head off. The Black Queen's current whereabouts are unknown, although she may have been arrested by the authorities.
After the events of House of M
and Decimation
, where 99% of mutants lost their powers, it remains to be revealed if the Black Queen is one of the lucky ones to retain her powers.
.
Little is known about Damask before her first appearance. She was a student of the Shadow King
, who was sexually attracted to her, and quickly became a high-ranked assassin, working for Apocalypse
as the leader of a the Dark Lord's elite taskforce, the Pale Riders. Her fellow Pale Riders were Dani Moonstar
and Dead Man Wade
.
When Dani finds out that the X-Man Nightcrawler
is looking for the mysterious place known as Avalon, a haven for humans, Apocalypse sends Damask and her Pale Riders to find Avalon and wipe it out. Nightcrawler is in search of the precognitive Destiny
, who lives on Avalon
. To find Destiny, Nightcrawler teams up with his mother, Mystique
. The Pale Riders follow them to Avalon. During the trip, Dani amuses herself by torturing Dead Man Wade, whose healing factor instantly restores all the damage she does. Damask gets annoyed by Dani and kills her, enjoying her death.
When they arrive at Avalon (a tropical paradise in the middle of Antarctica), Nightcrawler and Mystique meet up with the mutant known as Switchback
and with Destiny and her adopted son Douglas Ramsey
. Destiny reveals that she has a vision of Avalon on fire. Damask and Wade follow Nightcrawler and his friends, but when Damask sees the beauty of Avalon, she begins to doubt her mission. Wade hates all that lives though and attacks the group, only to be quickly dispatched by Damask and Nightcrawler. Damask tells the group that she never knew that life could be like it is on Avalon and that she wants to join them. Nightcrawler, Mystique, Switchback and Damask form a group, which Nightcrawler calls X-Calibre after the caliber of bullets in Mystique's guns. The group is determined to take Destiny back to the X-Men
before the future Destiny saw becomes true. Damask also kisses Nightcrawler, curious if his skin does feel like velvet.
X-Calibre is then attacked by another one of Apocalypse's servants, the Shadow King
himself, who possesses various inhabitants of Avalon in quick succession, turning them against their friends and loved ones. He then possesses Mystique. Nightcrawler, Damask and Switchback combine their powers to kill the Shadow King, but he makes another mutant kill Douglas with the last of his strength. With Douglas dead, Destiny is convinced that Apocalypse must be stopped and travels with X-Calibre back to New York.
Damask did not appear in the 2005 "Age of Apocalypse" series, nor was she mentioned in it, so it appears that Damask fled underground, knowing what the repercussions for treason would be. She appears to be currently at large and wanted by the X-Men for the part she played in the empire of Apocalypse.
Her nature is also destructive to psionic and astral projections rendering her resistant to telepathic intrusion.
Black Queen (comics)
Black Queen, in comics, may refer to:*Marvel Comics characters, members of Hellfire Club:**Phoenix , member of The Lords Cardinal**Selene , replaced Phoenix after the Dark Phoenix Saga...
is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a mutant
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Universe. Her first appearance as Miss Steed was in Excalibur #96. Emma Steed was an obvious homage to Emma Peel
Emma Peel
Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...
and John Steed
John Steed
John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....
, from the British television show The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
. Early art for the character, in fact, matched the appearance of Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
who played Mrs. Emma Peel.
Miss Steed initially appeared as Damask during the Age of Apocalypse
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 - 1996 comic book crossover storyline published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616, although it was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it had...
, an event which caused the history of the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
to diverge from its usual path. Although many Age of Apocalypse characters were alternate versions of existing heroes and villains, Damask did not appear to have an Earth-616
Earth-616
In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 or Earth 616 is the name used to identify the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.-Origin of Earth-616:...
counterpart until Miss Steed was introduced over a year later.
Fictional character biography
Hellfire Club (comics)
The Hellfire Club is a fictional society within the Marvel Comics Universe that often comes into confrontation with the mutant superhero team, the X-Men...
's failed attempt to take over London using a demon, Emma Steed killed their Black King, who had been driven insane by the monster.She was apparently in contact with Onslaught
Onslaught (comics)
Onslaught is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Man #15 , and was co-created by writers Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, and artist Andy Kubert....
as well, although their connection was never fully revealed. When Brian Braddock
Captain Britain
Captain Britain , briefly known as Britannic, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly, #1...
approached Steed about the chaos in London, she attacked him using glowing psionic blades attached to long burning chains, but her blades bounced off his forcefield, which he then threw at her, nearly taking her head off. The Black Queen's current whereabouts are unknown, although she may have been arrested by the authorities.
After the events of House of M
House of M
House of M is an eight-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2005. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel, its first issue debuted in June 2005 as a follow-up to the events of the Planet X and Avengers Disassembled...
and Decimation
Decimation (comics)
Decimation is the late 2005 Marvel Comics storyline spinning off from the House of M limited series. It focuses on the ramifications of the Scarlet Witch stripping nearly all of the mutant population of their powers, thereby reducing a society of millions to one of scant hundreds.This event, which...
, where 99% of mutants lost their powers, it remains to be revealed if the Black Queen is one of the lucky ones to retain her powers.
Age of Apocalypse
Ms. Steed was known as Damask and was the leader of the Pale Riders, a trio of assassins working for ApocalypseApocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
.
Little is known about Damask before her first appearance. She was a student of the Shadow King
Shadow King
The Shadow King, also known as Amahl Farouk, is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shadow King exists as an entity of pure psychic energy that feeds on the hatred of humanity...
, who was sexually attracted to her, and quickly became a high-ranked assassin, working for Apocalypse
Apocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
as the leader of a the Dark Lord's elite taskforce, the Pale Riders. Her fellow Pale Riders were Dani Moonstar
Danielle Moonstar
Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, originally codenamed Psyche and later Mirage, is a fictional Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men....
and Dead Man Wade
Deadpool (comics)
Deadpool is a fictional character, a mercenary and anti-hero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool first appeared in The New Mutants #98 Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional character, a mercenary and...
.
When Dani finds out that the X-Man Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
is looking for the mysterious place known as Avalon, a haven for humans, Apocalypse sends Damask and her Pale Riders to find Avalon and wipe it out. Nightcrawler is in search of the precognitive Destiny
Destiny (comics)
Destiny, in comics, may refer to:* Destiny , member of the Endless in the DC Comics/Vertigo series The Sandman and host of 1970s horror comics.* In Marvel Comics, Destiny may refer to:...
, who lives on Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
. To find Destiny, Nightcrawler teams up with his mother, Mystique
Mystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
. The Pale Riders follow them to Avalon. During the trip, Dani amuses herself by torturing Dead Man Wade, whose healing factor instantly restores all the damage she does. Damask gets annoyed by Dani and kills her, enjoying her death.
Switchback (comics)
Switchback is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in Marvel Comics. Created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Ken Lashley, she first appeared in X-Calibre #1 ....
and with Destiny and her adopted son Douglas Ramsey
Cypher (comics)
Cypher is a fictional mutant character, a superhero from Marvel Comics. He first appeared in New Mutants vol. 1 #13 .-Fictional character biography:Doug Ramsey was born to Philip and Sheila Ramsey...
. Destiny reveals that she has a vision of Avalon on fire. Damask and Wade follow Nightcrawler and his friends, but when Damask sees the beauty of Avalon, she begins to doubt her mission. Wade hates all that lives though and attacks the group, only to be quickly dispatched by Damask and Nightcrawler. Damask tells the group that she never knew that life could be like it is on Avalon and that she wants to join them. Nightcrawler, Mystique, Switchback and Damask form a group, which Nightcrawler calls X-Calibre after the caliber of bullets in Mystique's guns. The group is determined to take Destiny back to the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
before the future Destiny saw becomes true. Damask also kisses Nightcrawler, curious if his skin does feel like velvet.
X-Calibre is then attacked by another one of Apocalypse's servants, the Shadow King
Shadow King
The Shadow King, also known as Amahl Farouk, is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shadow King exists as an entity of pure psychic energy that feeds on the hatred of humanity...
himself, who possesses various inhabitants of Avalon in quick succession, turning them against their friends and loved ones. He then possesses Mystique. Nightcrawler, Damask and Switchback combine their powers to kill the Shadow King, but he makes another mutant kill Douglas with the last of his strength. With Douglas dead, Destiny is convinced that Apocalypse must be stopped and travels with X-Calibre back to New York.
Damask did not appear in the 2005 "Age of Apocalypse" series, nor was she mentioned in it, so it appears that Damask fled underground, knowing what the repercussions for treason would be. She appears to be currently at large and wanted by the X-Men for the part she played in the empire of Apocalypse.
Powers and abilities
Miss Steed possesses the ability to create blades of psionic energy that attack and disable a person's brain and mind. These blades seem to appear from the area around her head, and although visible, are not corporeal weapons. They destroy both the physical portions of a brain, and psionic forms (including the Shadow King's astral form) on contact. This ability has been referred to as psionic skinning.Her nature is also destructive to psionic and astral projections rendering her resistant to telepathic intrusion.