Profile: Misty Knight

Misty Knight

First appearance: Marvel Premiere #21, March 1975
Creators: Tony Isabella, Arvell Jones

History: the first notable black woman in Marvel's universe, Misty began as a NY policewoman whose right arm was destroyed by a bomb attack, and received a special bionic arm to replace it, courtesy of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. She left the police, and instead formed a special investigative business with Colleen Wing, and subsequently romanced Iron Fist, who was partners with Power Man. All of them formed the early take on Heroes for Hire in the Bronze Age.

Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: since the mid-2000s, when Marvel's quality was on its way downhill, Misty was forced into the proceedings of the Civil War crossover, where she and Colleen were written taking the side of those favoring registration for superpowered heroes, in one of the worst examples of heroes clashing with each other - quite possibly far more than with villains - at the time.

What's wrong with how this was done? It was one of the most reprehensible examples of exploiting other people's creations for the sake of political metaphors that were divisive, and ruined the Marvel universe in the long run. Civil War was but one of the most insufferable crossovers in Marvel's history.

Was there any good to come out of this? Ever since Marvel and DC turned everything into a whole crossovers-every-year situation, there hasn't been anything good for character drama and personality development, that's for sure. Misty's just one of many characters who've only been ruined in their use as a result of this.