Dazzler (Alison Blaire) is a Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. She first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #130 (February 1980).
A mutant with the ability to convert sound vibrations into light and energy beams, Dazzler was originally developed as a cross-promotional, multi-media creation between Casablanca Records, Filmworks, and Marvel Comics until the tie-ins were dropped in 1980. The character was created by a committee of Marvel staff, principally writer/editor Tom DeFalco and illustrator John Romita, Jr.
Despite the fact that Dazzler was originally commissioned as a disco singer, the character shifted to other musical genres, including rock and adult contemporary. She starred in a self-titled solo series in the early 1980s which lasted 42 issues, a Marvel Graphic Novel titled Dazzler: The Movie, a 4 issue limited-series co-starring Hank "The Beast" McCoy titled Beauty and The Beast, and later joined the cast of the X-Men. She was briefly a member of the spin-off group Excalibur but now has re-joined the X-Men.
Fictional character biography
Alison was born in Gardendale, New York to Carter and Katherine Blaire. Her mutant powers first manifested when she was in high school. An aspiring singer, she volunteered to perform at her school dance when her light-generating abilities first appeared. Everyone at the dance assumed it was a technologically-generated special effect, an assumption commonly made before she reveals herself to be a mutant later in her life.
Using the stage name "Dazzler", Alison sets out to make a name for herself in the music industry, using her light powers and dancing ability to enhance her performances. It is at one of her shows that Alison first meets the X-Men who are attacked by the forces of the Hellfire Club. Angry at the interruption of her show, Alison lashes out in anger at the Hellfire intruders, unintentionally making one of them catatonic. Alison subsequently aids the X-Men in finding Kitty Pryde. She had always assumed that life as a disco queen would be exciting but finds the fight with the X-Men's enemies going a bit too far. Thus she turns down their offer to join the team.[4]
Dazzler hides her status as a mutant from all but those closest to her. After acquainting herself with the various Marvel Comics superheroes, Alison finds herself continually using her abilities to fight both ordinary criminals and rogue superhumans — often at the expense of her career ambitions. On one occasion, she meets Spider-Man, and teams with him against the Lightmaster.[5] She later battles the Enchantress,[6] is overwhelmed by Doctor Doom, the Absorbing Man and then fights off Nightmare.[7] She briefly allies with the Blue Shield,[8] and aids the X-Men and Spider-Woman against the misguided Caliban.[9] On another occasion, she battles the Hulk[10] and establishes a long standing feud with the then-mentally unstable Rogue.[11] She also had a romantic affair with Warren Worthington III.[volume & issue needed]
In the course of her inadvertent adventures, she even encounters the planet-devouring Galactus, who initially thinks she is of little notice and generally ignores her. Nevertheless, he temporarily endows her with cosmic energy so she can retrieve his herald Terrax for him.[12] In addition to being offered membership into the X-Men, Alison is also asked to audition for a place in the Avengers. She declines while facing Fabian Stankowicz (who is ultimately easily defeated by the Wasp), saying that the superhero "trip wasn't for [her]."
After moving to Los Angeles in a vain attempt to help her half-sister Lois London, Alison attempts careers in fitness training, dancing, modeling, and acting. Influenced both by her lover, Roman Nekoboh, and her desire to abate the growing anti-mutant sentiment, Alison publicly declares her mutant identity. The revelation backfires, destroying her reputation and career and inflaming anti-mutant sentiment, which sends Alison into a depressive state. Forced again into hiding, she spends some time as a keyboard player in rock singer and fellow mutant Lila Cheney's band. While on tour, the band's plane crashes, which leads to Dazzler, Lila, and a bandmate being successfully rescued by Cannonball and his brother, Joshua. Lila has been knocked out so Dazzler uses the music Joshua plays at the scene to blast a hole through the wreckage. Alison is later possessed by the psychic mutant Malice. She is saved and taken in by the X-Men, becoming a member of the team.
During her tenure with the X-Men, Dazzler receives training, attains greater control over her powers, and develops a romance with the extra-dimensional Longshot. She is also forced to work alongside the now-reformed Rogue. Despite considerable tension between them at first, due to Alison's difficulty getting over Rogue's attempts to kill her in the past, over time she eventually believes Rogue is genuinely remorseful and forgives her. Dazzler struggles with her career ambitions and personal insecurities, and eventually she and her team-mates in the X-Men enter the mystical Siege Perilous, which leaves her in an amnesiac state. Discovered washed up on a beach by her former bodyguard Strong Guy, she is nursed back to health by him and Lila Cheney, though their efforts prove unsuccessful in helping restore her memory. It is eventually restored when she is found by Longshot. Devastated by the loss of her career, Alison ventures to Longshot's native "Mojoworld", and remains there to help fight in the ongoing rebellion against the tyrant Mojo along with Lila Cheney.
Dazzler eventually returns to Earth without Longshot after an unfortunate series of events, including miscarriage and war. She helps Jean Grey in the fight against a repowered Magneto, who is backed by an army of Genoshans. She and Jean lead a small band of mutants to back up the original X-Men, who are in Genosha already. Dazzler faces down Magneto who turns her powers against her and incinerates her. As he arrogantly boasts about his triumph, Dazzler reveals herself to be alive and well. She and Jean had concocted a plan for Alison to generate a hard-light hologram of herself to distract Magneto who was then killed by Wolverine. After the conclusion of this incident, the X-Men offer Alison support for her personal problems, but she declines.
Characters in the Marvel Universe that are counted among her fans are Juggernaut,[13] former teammate Colossus, the Hulk, Northstar, Julia Carpenter,[14] The Rhino[15], Molly Hayes, Kitty Pryde, and Pixie.
Powers and abilities
Dazzler is a mutant with the ability to transduce sonic vibrations which reach her body into various types of light. This ability seems to operate over a great range of frequencies, including the audible spectrum, and a great variation of sound pressure levels regardless of the complexity, dissonance, or randomness of the sound. For example, a car crash and a symphonic passage of equal duration will both produce usable incoming acoustic vibrations.
Dazzler, however, prefers utilizing the sound of music, particularly that which is rhythmically sustained. Not only is music more pleasant to her ears, but the steady beat of contemporary music provides a more constant source of sound to convert. The precise means by which this conversion process works is as yet unknown. Left undirected, Dazzler's light will radiate from her body in all directions, producing regular flashes of white light. By conscious control over the light she produces, she can control its direction, frequency (color), amplitude (intensity), and duration.
Apparently, Dazzler must consciously or subconsciously will the light to leave her body. Otherwise, light would "leak" from her at all times, even when she was asleep or unconscious. Dazzler can produce numerous effects with the light she converts from sonic vibrations. She can simply cause a bright glow all about her body. She can create very simple patterns out of rays of light like circles, squares, triangles, and stars, or even certain combinations of patterns which produce trance-like effects in her targets. She can also make a shrouding fog consisting of pure light. With effort, she can even create holograms of human beings and other three-dimensional beings and objects. She can create a pulse of light on the order of several thousand watts of power, which temporarily blinds people with its brilliance. She can create a chaotic cascade of sparkling lights and colors that severely upsets other people's equilibrium, or a pulsating strobe-light effect. By concentrating, Dazzler can generate a coherent beam of light, approximating a laser beam, with which she can cut through virtually anything.
Her training with the X-Men, especially with Cyclops, has taught her how to produce such laser-like beams with much less effort than it previously required of her. She generally directs the laser from a single finger when she requires precision in its use, since pointing aids her in defining its direction. However, she can also direct laser blasts from both hands at once when she wishes, as well as from her eyes, for example, to demolish a large structure. She most often uses her hands for directing her light effects, but she could also use other parts of her body.
Since studying with the X-Men, she has become adept at directing her blinding strobe light blast from her eyes. Dazzler has also learned how to create a destructive shield about herself with laser light that can vaporize oncoming projectiles. The most powerful manifestation of her abilities is a concentrated beam of solid photons she usually fires from her right index finger. The beam is extremely powerful and as a consequence uses a great deal of her energy reserves. She has since learned how to produce these blasts without draining herself, while still providing them with considerable power. She has also recently shown the ability to form her photon emissions into solid constructs, such as swords and staffs. Dazzler's potential to convert sound to light is unlimited. Curiously, she cannot use her own unamplified voice as a source of sound for her transduction abilities. Dazzler's body, especially her eyes, shields itself against any injurious effects of her light transducing abilities and against those of bright lights in general. Her ability to transduce sound also protects her from being deafened by loud noises.
There is no known upper limit to Dazzler's sound absorption powers. When Galactus enlisted her to retrieve his wayward herald Terrax from the heart of a black hole he had her exposed to unimaginable sounds, including the explosion of an entire galaxy, to boost her to sufficient levels.[volume & issue needed]
Since the events of Dazzler: The Movie, Alison's body can store light energy for future discharge on occasional instances of extreme duress.
She has been shown to create a "null space" of sound in a certain radius of her person, as a result of "pulling" the sound in her area to her person, to either protect a crowd of people as in "Dazzler: The Movie" or to supercharge her power reserves.
Dazzler is a highly skilled athlete, and has become an excellent hand-to-hand combatant thanks to her training with the X-Men, and with the Gladiators. In addition, she is a talented singer, actress, and dancer. She is also a highly accomplished roller skater and can move at high speed; she occasionally wears a pair of roller blades which magnetically adheres to her boots.
Thanks to Professor X, Dazzler's costume contains devices that enable her to store sonic energy more efficiently and to gauge and focus the light she generates with greater skill. She formerly carried a customized radio/cassette tape player to provide her with sound until she acquired the sound storing devices in her costume.
