Sabra | |
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Sabra from All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9, art by Mike Perkins. |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | (cameo) Incredible Hulk vol. 1 #250 (August 1980) (full) Incredible Hulk vol. 1 #256 (February 1981) |
Created by | Bill Mantlo (writer) Sal Buscema (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Ruth Bat-Seraph |
Species | Human Mutant |
Team affiliations | Mossad X-Corporation |
Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, durability and the ability to heal Anti-gravity devices with the ability to fly Wrist gauntlets that fire plasma bursts and paralyzing quills |
Sabra is the alias of Ruth Bat-Seraph, a fictional character published by Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Publication history
Sabra made a cameo appearance in Incredible Hulk vol. 1 #250 (August 1980) but first fully appeared in Incredible Hulk vol. 1 #256 (February 1981) and was created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Belinda Glass came up with the name and concept of the character.[1] "Sabra" means both a native of Israel and a kind of prickly pear.
Fictional character biography
Ruth Bat-Seraph was born near Jerusalem, Israel. Raised on a special kibbutz run by the Israeli government after her power manifests, Ruth was the first superhuman agent created to serve the Mossad (the Israeli secret service). She becomes a police officer in addition to serving as a government agent. Her first public act as Sabra is to battle the Hulk, whom she mistakenly believes is working with Arab terrorists operating in Israel.[2] Not long after that, Sabra is chosen as a pawn of Death in the latter's game against the Grandmaster. There, she meets Iron Man and the Arabian Knight and battled She-Hulk and Captain Britain.[3] She later appeared at the Hulk's amnesty ceremony in Washington, D.C.[4] Some years later, Sabra's young son is killed in a terrorist attack. She disobeys orders in order to bring her son's killers to justice.[volume & issue needed]
A dispute with the Hulk again would be intensified as Sabra's powers had temporarily robbed him of his voice, making it seem as if he is still a near-mindless monster. She fights the Hulk, but the two work through their differences and attempt to search for a child who was foretold to become a genocidal maniac, while contending with Achilles of the Pantheon, who was sent to kill the boy.[5]
Later, during a peace process meeting, Sabra finds herself fighting the New Warriors while under the mental influence of a mysterious, unexplained force.[volume & issue needed]
Some time after, Sabra finds herself caught up in the events of the anti-mutant campaign known as Operation: Zero Tolerance. It is at this time Sabra fights alongside the X-Men and begins to subscribe to the philosophies of Charles Xavier.[volume & issue needed] Sabra spends some time as a member of the X-Corporation's Paris branch.[volume & issue needed] She accompanies Charles Xavier and other X-Men members to Genosha, after it was demolished by Sentinels.[6]
Sabra is one of a handful of mutants to have retained their powers after the effects of M-Day.[7]
Ruth is later seen, under request from the British Government, to aid Union Jack against a terrorist attack on London.[8] She comes into conflict with the new Arabian Knight because of cultural differences, but they begrudgingly work together, paralleling her relationship with the first Arabian Knight during the Contest of Champions.[volume & issue needed]
It is later revealed that Sabra has formed a policing force against unruly mutants. This team is fronted by Bishop with additional team mate Micromax (formerly of Excalibur).[9] Sabra is identified pro-registration in the Superhuman Civil War as one of the 142 registered superheroes under the Initiative.[10][11]
Sabra is briefly seen fighting off Skrulls in Israel.[12]
Powers and abilities
Sabra's mutant power has enhanced all of her body's physical abilities, such as strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and stamina, to superhuman levels. She can withstand impacts up to high caliber rifle fire, though she has been wounded by fire from an MP-40 sub-machine gun.[volume & issue needed]
She is also able to charge other individuals by transferring to them her own life energy, in the process enhancing their physical state of health (she has twice used this ability to save dying individuals) and granting them low-level super-powers, which are apparently at random and otherwise unrelated to Sabra's own mutant powers (such as the wind-generating powers given to a woman who took the costumed identity Windstorm). The recipient retains their new powers until Sabra herself decides to withdraw them by retrieving her life energy. Her standard power levels drop when she gives away her life energy (she has been shown losing up to half her natural physical power), but they return to normal once she takes back her life energy. She still remains susceptible to gas attacks.[volume & issue needed]
Her various costumes, usually based on the design or colors of the Israeli flag, contain additional paraphernalia to enhance her combat capabilities. She wears a cape that contains a secret Israeli gravity-polarization device, which allows her to neutralize gravity's effect on her mass, and a tight array of four electric micro-turbines which impel air for sufficient thrust for inertialess mass to fly at subsonic speeds. She wears special pressure reduction valve nose-filters to allow her to breathe at high speeds and high altitudes. The cape also contains a wafer-thin computer system which processes her mental commands received by the circuitry in her tiara. The cape also has an optical navigation device which functions as an auto-pilot. Besides her cape, Sabra also has neuronic-frequency stunners built into her two wrist bracelets that shoot "energy quills," small bundles of low-density plasma (like ball lightning), that travel just below the speed of sound, that paralyze the nervous system of any organic being almost instantaneously.
In addition to her superhuman abilities and equipment, Sabra possesses the standard weapons, and armed and unarmed combat training given to members of the Israeli military. She is trained in police methods and skills and in anti-terrorist techniques.
Some accounts indicated that none of Sabra's powers are mutant in origin, but instead granted through an Israeli project similar to the American Super-Soldier program that created Captain America, but as of the moment she is still considered a genetic mutant by the US government.
Other versions
House of M: Masters of Evil
Sabra is a member of the Red Guard and assists them in their fight against Hood's Masters of Evil.[13]
Ultimate
- In the Ultimate Marvel imprint Sabre (under her alter ego name) appears as a severed head on the wall of an hideout of the supervillain Doctor Faustus with the heads of agents from other intelligence agencies, who were sent after him but were obviously spotted and killed, too.[14]
In other media
Television
Sabra appears in the 1994 Fantastic Four TV series as the Silver Surfer passes her in the air.
Films
- In X2: X-Men United, her name was seen on a screen among a list of other mutants when Mystique hacks the system of William Stryker for information on different mutants.
Partial list of appearances
- The Incredible Hulk #250, 256, 279, 386-387
- Contest of Champions #1-3
- New Warriors #58-59, 66
- X-Men #67-69, 72-73, 111, 131-132
- Excalibur #120-121
- The Uncanny X-Men #366-368, 379
- Civil War: X-Men #1-4
- Union Jack (vol. 2) #1-4
- The 198 Files one-shot
- All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #9
- Excalibur (vol. 2) #5
- X-Men Millennial Visions one-shot
- Marvel Super-Heroes Summer Special 1991
- Avengers / JLA #4
- Secret Invasion #6
- Astonishing Tales: Sabra (one-shot)
References
- ^ Incredible Hulk #256
- ^ Incredible Hulk #256
- ^ Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions #1-4
- ^ Incredible Hulk #279
- ^ Incredible Hulk #386-387
- ^ New X-Men #132
- ^ The X-Men: 198 Files
- ^ Union Jack #1
- ^ Civil War: X-Men #1
- ^ Avengers: The Initiative #1
- ^ Avengers: The Initiative #1 Character Map
- ^ Secret Invasion #6
- ^ House of M: Masters of Evil #4
- ^ Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars #2
External links
- Sabra at Marvel.com