As mentioned in Knockout’s backstory, which I’ll include here too, the former superhero known as Supermodel. This is Supermodel in her heyday, before everything went to hell.
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The original American Dream was Rita Rose, an actress in the 1930’s who found herself imbued with great powers after she put on what she thought to be a tacky piece of costume jewellery on the set of one of her movies. The necklace was actually an ancient talisman and plunged into her chest where it affixed itself to her heart. As American Dream, Rita used her new strength to fight crime and even battled axis forces in Europe (where she was a big hit with the troops). After many years of serving her country, Rita found a way to remove the talisman from her heart and retired as American Dream and started a family. She locked away the necklace and lived the rest of her life in Hollywood where she continued to make many wonderful movies.
The second and modern American Dream, contrary to what many people think, actually has no ties to the original whatsoever and simply took the name as an homage to one of her heroes. Nevertheless, she has distinguished herself well and become one of the worlds most beloved superheroes.
When Rita’s granddaughter Jennifer, an up and coming model, decided to rummage through her grandmothers old jewellery box for something to wear to a vintage photoshoot, she unwittingly stumbled upon the talisman that gave Rita her powers all those years ago. Jennifer found herself imbued with the same powers. After the initial shock wore off, Jennifer decided to try and honour her grandmothers legacy and use her new found strength for good. Despite Rita’s protests that she should live a normal life instead, Jennifer chose to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and became the crime fighting Supermodel. (The American Dream name was obviously being used)
Jennifer proved to be as good as Rita was at using her powers for good and quickly earned a lot of respect from the hero community and the world at large. Unfortunately she also earned her fair share of enemies too. Chief among them, the sisters Knockout and Bombshell. The sinister sisters repeatedly battled Supermodel and repeatedly came up short. But a tragic event would soon change everything.
When the extra-dimensional tyrant known as Omega led an invasion of Earth, the entire planet was caught by surprise. Humanity fought back, it’s masked heroes (and villains) leading the charge. In the end, the invaders were pushed back. But there were many casualties. Among them was Rita Rose, who died protecting her family from the invaders.
After her death, something snapped in Supermodel. The death of her grandmother changed her. She grew angry and resentful of the superhero community who she blamed for not saving her grandmother. It was then that Knockout and Bombshell implemented their most devious scheme. They captured and brainwashed their hated enemy and convinced her to join them. The world was in shock when Supermodel began to actually work with these devious villains. They watched in horror as their once beloved hero fell from glory.
For years, Supermodel, Knockout and Bombshell worked together as a villainous trio, often coming into conflict with American Dream and Sentinel. Eventually the sisters began to lose their hatred for their one time foe. They even began to like her.
When the world had finally recovered from the Omega invasion, a series of events (which I’ll cover when I get to the next chapter of the Entropy saga) led to the dreaded Omega and his army returning to earth once again. The sight of Omega enraged Supermodel so completely that she seemingly lost her mind and attacked the invader with a ferocity no one had ever expected. Unfortunately, the talisman which gave Jennifer her powers and was attached to her once pure heart had other plans. Her heart had now become so poisoned with hate that the talisman chose to abandon her rather than be further contaminated. Now powerless, Jennifer found herself at the mercy of the most cruel and evil entity the world had ever known. Attempting to escape the tyrant with the aid of Bombshell and Knockout, Jennifer was paralysed by debris from a collapsing building after Bombshell misfired an explosion that levelled the building. Jennifer was the lucky one though. Knockout was seemingly killed in the explosion as she fought to hold off Omega. In complete shock at the thought of killing her own sister, Bombshell fled, leaving the crippled Supermodel alone. It was Jennifer’s niece, Jamie, who found her and carried her to safety. In the chaos that followed, no one is really sure, Jamie herself, how she came to be in possession of her aunt’s necklace.
In the aftermath of the invasion, the invaders once again pushed back, Jamie found herself the new bearer of the heart talisman. Ask Jennifer and she would tell you that the necklace found its own way to her, seemingly self aware and looking for a new host. Jamie isn’t really a believer in the whole “living jewellery” thing but she has a gemstone attached to her heart now and the powers that come with it. At her aunt Jennifer’s request, Jamie has taken up the family legacy as a super powered hero. Jennifer, now returned to her senses and pardoned of her crimes for her efforts in fending off the invasion, hopes that her niece can use the power of the talisman for good instead of the evil she herself caused. The ever cheery and optimistic Jamie seems to already be making an impression on the boys in masks. Not that she has any interest in a single one of them of course.
Jamie is now under the tutelage of a number of other heroes in the use of her powers and frequently turns to aunt Jenn for guidance. Jennifer is more than willing to help, provided Jamie does one thing for her.
At her aunt’s request that she honour her fallen sister, Jamie now goes by the crime-fighting alias of Knockout.
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Supermodel
