Post by lissilambe on Feb 8, 2014 12:08:29 GMT -5
GIMMICK
Words by Don Walsh
Art by KEROGA
Real Name: Hayley Pemberton
Aliases: None
Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record, still a minor
Occupation: High school student, part-time adventurer
Known Relatives: Jacqueline Pemberton (mother), Merry Pemberton (great-grandmother), Patrick Dugan (great-grandfather), Sylvester Pemberton (a.k.a. Skyman, great-uncle)
Group Affiliation: Seven Soldiers of Victory
Base of Operations: Dos Rios, Texas
Height: 5'5”
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Reddish-blond
Powers & Abilities: Gimmick has a multi-track brain which is the root of her abilities. She can spread her focus onto a number of different things at the same time, and her body can even follow two of these tracks if possible. When this focus is on one thing, her body is unequaled, making her an acrobat potentially as capable as the best out there. Even split, her agility is quite good. She's a gadgeteer able to jury-rig quick devices from components in her pouches, as well as develop longer-term advances with time and equipment when she can sit still. That's not often though, as her brain needs more input to keep it satisfied, giving her what appears to be borderline ADHD. How many things she can actually focus on at once is unknown, but so far, she's been able to work two different computer devices at once at the same time she set up an ambush for attackers while developing lines of code to hack into a guarded database.
She wears one regular piece of equipment, being her augmented glasses that help hide her identity as well as providing an augmented view of the world around her and giving her the ability to see in the dark, in infrared, and in a 360-degree arc around her.
History: Hayley was raised by her mother Jacqueline, with a skewed vision of her family tree. She does not know the identity of her father, nor why he left them, and Hayley sees the way Jacqueline raised her as parallel to her how her great-grandmother Merry raised her daughter alone when Pat Dugan disappeared on her. This parallel led to Hayley, a normally bright and cheerful child, to hold a great anger for her great-grandfather.
From an early age, she learned that Merry had been the “Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks,” a minor mystery girl back in the late Forties, and that for a brief time in the Nineties, Jacqueline had taken a similar alias as Gimmix in New York City. She worked out, joined the gymnastics team at school, gathered all sorts of components and tools, and built her augmented reality glasses all in preparation for taking up the role of costumed crime-fighter in their honor, but had trouble finding the right time to debut. When the news got out that the Seven Soldiers had been seen again, including her absent great-grandfather Pat, she knew her time had arrived.
She ambushed Pat at his house and revealed the truth to him, explaining she didn't want any making up, or excuses, or teary-eyed bonding; no, she expected him to make it up to her family by introducing her to the Seven Soldiers and sponsoring her desire to be a heroine. She got her way and in the ensuing months, discovered that maybe Pat wasn't all to blame, finding in him and his friend Greg Saunders (see Vigilante I) father figures she never knew she missed, a big sister in Yolanda Montez (see La Garra) and even an uncle in Sylvester Pemberton (a.k.a Skyman). This is leaving her confused with her loyalty to the family narrative, particularly her mother's bitterness, but the feeling of family she gets from the Seven Soldiers is definitely returned by the chipper young woman.
The Future: The family narrative is destined to get more confusing, as Pat meets Jacqueline, and both Pat and Hayley meet the other branches of the family tree. Gimmick and Son of Vulcan continue to get closer as well, and face their darkest test as heroes. And Hayley must struggle with her growing fondness for Pat even as she watches him starting to endanger the fabric of the Law's Legionnaires.
First Appearance: Seven Soldiers of Victory #7
Bibliography: Seven Soldiers of Victory #7-16 and continuing to appear there monthly