| Wildfire, Mistress of Flame | Who's Who Bio |
|---|---|
 | Heroic/Villain ID: Wildfire Nicknames: Princess of Flame, Mistress of Flame Civilian ID: Carol Vance Martin Civilian Occupation: pampered rich debutante, Volunteer Air Raid Warden Appearance: Tall and lithe with waist length red hair. As Wildfire, her hair shimmers like flame and falls to her ankles. She may use heat waves to blur her face in her Wildfire identity. She wears her Wildfire costume under her civilian clothes. She leaves a trail of flame in the air as she flies, but she is never enveloped in flames. 5 Earths Universe: Earth X Base of Operations: Lives with her parents in NY City. Born: 1923 Aging status: Normal (perhaps magically retarded) Status: Quality Character, introduced to 5EP by Libby Lawrence Relatives: Father Frank Vance, deceased, Mother unnamed / deceased, Adopted parents John and Mrs. (unnamed) Martin Associates:  Mr. Fire, a Fire Elemental sometimes referred to as 'the Lord of Fire' or 'the God of Fire' |
Group Affiliations: Civil Air Patrol
Enemies: Bundists, spies, gangsters, arsonists. Particularly rough on anyone who uses fire for evil or destructive purposes. She once tossed an arsonist to die in a coal burning furnace.
Powers: Control of flames and fires. She can cause things to burn, absorb fire (she once absorbed the fires from dozens of burning buildings), create flaming constructs, or create constructs of 'solid flame' which may be very warm but do not actually burn. She can throw fireballs and flame darts capable of destroying pistols and causing rubber tires to catch fire, accurately enough to hit hands or the tires on a moving car. She can create a flaming shield which melts bullets. She can create constructs of flame, and she can create constructs of 'solid flame' which do not burn whatever they touch. She can fly and she has 'fire powered' super strength and enhanced physical durability. Flames can talk to her, she can sense fire at a distance, and she once created a candle that could be used to 'summon' her - the candle flame created a tiny fiery sprite which carried a message to her and then guided her back to the one who owned the candle. If she is weakened, she can draw energy from flames. She may be able to heal bodily injuries if she is in contact with flames. She has human vulnerabilities (such as chloroform); her powers can be temporarily cancelled by immersion in water, such as the stream from a fire hose, and she has been frozen solid by liquid nitrogen (and returned to normal after being surrounded by fire).
Source of Powers: magical, granted by a powerful fire elemental
Knowledge and skills: Carol is extremely agile and has exceptional reflexes, perhaps aided by her magic. She is expert at navigating through wealthy society in the early 40s. As a blackout warden, she is familiar with the laws and regulations governing civilian behavior during blackouts and periods of declared emergencies, and has received significant training in first aid.
Weapons and Gadgets: her flame constructs and 'solid fire' creations
History: As a toddler, Carol lived in a cabin in the forest and her father Frank was a ranger. Her parents perished in a forest fire in 1941, but during the fire, three year old Carol wandered into the woods and was fascinated, rather than terrified by the fire. A fire elemental saw her and was captivated by her cheerful greeting (“Oh! Are you Mr. Fire? I like fire!”) and he granted her powers (“I shall spare you, oh fearless child! I now give you immunity against death or injury by fire, and make you Mistress of Flame, with power equal to my own!”). She was quickly adopted by the very rich Martins, who read the story of her miraculous survival in the newspaper. She must have had some unrecorded but public adventures as Wildfire while she was growing up, as during her first published story she was already instantly recognized by civilians.
(Partial) list of 5EP appearances: (links)
Smash Comics Comics #25-37, 1941-1943
The Space-Time Gambit (as a mind-controlled pawn of Dr. Doome)
Other - from the 5Earths Earth X Timeline
April 12, 1941: Wealthy young socialite Carol Vance Martin becomes Wildfire, the mistress of flame. Wildfire can fly and create a sheath of flame around her, and she is able to command fire and reshape it into various forms, such as a physical hand that can hold people without burning them. Wildfire can also throw precise flame-darts, create an impregnable shield of flame, and even create small flame-beings that can act independently. In her first known case, Wildfire saves a new munitions plant used for U.S. defense after it was set on fire by saboteurs. Learning that they work for the Green Masked Bund, Wildfire tracks them down to their headquarters, where she rescues the kidnapped Senator Raymond, who has been forced to sign a letter advocating that the U.S. refuses aid to other democracies. Note: Wildfire has appeared in public before this story, since she is already known by name. [“Introducing Wildfire,” Smash Comics #25 (August, 1941)]