SPITFIRE

 

SPITFIRE

Real Name: Jacqueline Falsworth Crichton

First Appearance: Invaders (Vol. 1) #7, July 1976 (as Crichton); Invaders (Vol. 1) #12, January 1977 (as Spitfire)

Powers: Jackie Falsworth was a member of the United Kingdom's Home Guard in 1942 when she suffered great blood loss after she was attacked and bitten by the vampire Baron Blood. She soon received an emergency transfusion of blood from Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. She subsequently discovered that, as a result of the combination of a foreign element introduced into her bloodstream by Baron Blood's bites and the artificial blood given her by the android Human Torch, she had developed the ability to move and think at superhuman speeds. Following her complete recovery from her injuries, Jacqueline made herself a costume, took the code name Spitfire.

As Spitfire, Jackie possesses the ability to think and move at superhuman speeds and possesses superhuman metabolic vitality, reaction time, and endurance. Originally, she could run at a top speed of 50 miles per hour for up to a half hour before fatigue impaired her performance. At lesser levels of exertion, she could function optimally for hours. However, her speed has increased considerably over time, possibly to supersonic levels. Spitfire's entire body is oriented toward the rigors of high-speed running. Her cardiovascular and respiratory systems are more efficient than a normal woman’s. She metabolizes an estimated 50% of the caloric energy content of foodstuffs (normal human use is about 25%). The chemical processes of Spitfire's body are so highly enhanced that her body does not generate fatigue-poisons, the normal by-products of locomotion which force the body to rest, as quickly as a normal human being does. Her tendons and bones somehow became stronger in order to withstand the stresses of high speed motion, and her joints are smoother and lubricated more efficiently than a normal woman's. Spitfire's heightened metabolism affords her great resilience to impact related injuries. Her reaction time is about twice as fast as that of a normal woman. She possesses superhuman strength primarily in her lower body as part of her body's adaptations for running at superhuman speed. She can leg press approximately 550 lbs. under optimal conditions.

Jackie aged naturally over the decades since, and eventually became too frail to use her powers with any frequency. A second and larger transfusion from the original Human Torch in later years actually restored her vitality, giving her the body of a teenage girl (despite being chronologically many decades older), and returning her powers to her at full capacity. She seemed to be reverting to an older form more recently, though, but has since been turned into a vampire. She has demonstrated certain vampiric abilities, such as being able to lift at least 2,000 lbs, pointed fangs, and the ability to smell and track blood.

Sptifire is an exceptional natural athlete and fighter and has been trained by both her father and Captain America in several forms of hand-to-hand combat. She is also a trained pilot.