CULEBRA
|
  Real Name: Jay Alvaros
Identity/Class: Alternate Reality
(Earth-93060/Ultraverse)
human mutate (ultra);
presumably an American citizen;
apparently Latino ethnicity
Occupation: Unrevealed (possibly a student)
Group Membership: "Gross Babies" (Dragonfly, Duey, Elven/Elvia, Gunk, Prime/Kevin Green, Wicca/Stephanie),
Affiliations: Dragonfly, Elven (Elvia), Gunk, Phade, Prime (Kevin Green), Turbocharge (Michael Hardaway), Wicca (Stephanie)
Enemies: Doc Gross (Vincent Gross), Duey, the Popes;
formerly the Prime race (notably the Homebringer and Primogenitor)
Known Relatives: Unidentified family members
Aliases: "Lizard Boy" (from Homebringer);
see comments
Base of Operations: At least formerly the west side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, Earth-93060
First Appearance:
Power of Prime#1 (July, 1995) |
.
|
Powers/Abilities:
Jay could adopt a monstrous reptilian form ("Culebra") with green, scaled skin,
fanged teeth, an elongated forked tongue, three clawed fingers and a thumb on each hand, three or four toes (see comments),
and a long, semi-prehensile tail that it could use as a striking
weapon. This Culebra form has a prominent serrated dorsal fin running
from the top of his head, down his back, and along the length of his
tail (yes, dorsal is not appropriate for a biped, as dorsal typically
relates to an animal that is more horizontally oriented; the fin is
superior on the top of his head and posterior on the back of his head,
neck, and back, and...I'm not sure what it would be on his tail, but
probably superior or dorsal there).
It had an unspecified degree of superhuman strength and durability.
The Culebra formed as an external body around
Jay, with it both protecting his true body and supplying him with
oxygen, etc. When he was done with a body, he would tear out of it, and
it would eventually decompose into liquid (presumably within minutes to
hours). Presumably if he remained in his Culebra form long enough
and/or expended too much energy, the form would degenerate on its own.
Jay considered his monstrous form to be
disgusting and sinful. He had no interest in being a hero or a life of
adventure, although he was willing to fight for his life and to help
those that were risking their lives for him.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8" in human form; perhaps 8-12' in Culebra form)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs. in human form; weight
in Culebra form unrevealed as it was likely full of an unidentified
fluid in addition to containing Jay's form)
Eyes: Brown; (as Culebra) sold red
Hair: Black (including a small "rat tail"; (as Culebra) none |
History:
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - Via a combination of science and
sorcery, a collection of alien beings on the Godwheel created god-like
forms for themselves as an homage to the gods that had vanished
following a cataclysmic war. These aliens then considered themselves to
be of one race, the Prime race, though every score of years they had to
rest and renew their godlike forms, returning briefly to their original
forms, which now disgusted them.
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) <Over 15 years before Prime
I#1> - The Prime race's renewal cycle became accelerated, so that some bodies
lasted only minutes or seconds, and many of their number perished.
The Prime sent their Homebringer to
Earth, carrying genetic samples from their oldest records. They sought
out Dr. Vincent Gross, a brilliant and daring geneticist, whom they
hoped could cultivate a fresh code.
(Power of Prime#1 (fb) - BTS) - Gross had been working in genetic
manipulation for some time without success before receiving the
information from Homebringer.
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - Gross
promised to cultivate a new code but said it would take years to
develop. Homebringer periodically returned to Earth to examine Gross'
progress.
(Power of Prime#1 (fb) - BTS / Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS
/ other sources) - Gross used these techniques on a number of women,
leading to numerous children who developed the ability to generate a
second, superhuman form around their bodies. These included the youths who would become Culebra, Dragonfly, Duey, Elven, Gunk, Prime, and Wicca.
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - Finally, Homebringer discovered that Gross' work had come to fruition in Prime (Kevin Green).
(Power of Prime#1 (fb) - BTS) - Considering the other
"Gross Babies" to be monstrous and defective, the Primogenitor ordered
their destruction.
(Power of Prime#3 (fb) - BTS) - Jay's changing back
in forth between his human and his monstrous lizard form (later
designated Culebra) caused a lot of strife within his family. His
priest, Father Reyes, told him it was wrong.
(Power of Prime#1 (fb) - BTS) - Jay promised Father Reyes that he would never turn into his monstrous form.
(Power of Prime#1) - Jay fled from two members of
the Popes who sought to force him to join the gang. He warned them to
leave him alone, but when they chased him into a dead end, he
transformed into his giant Culebra form. As the two gang members
shouted in terror and denial, Culebra punched one down and struck the
other with his tail, knocking him unconscious against a brick wall. As
soon as his two former pursuers were unconscious, Jay forced his way
through Culebra's outer casing; disgusted with himself for having
transformed after promising not to do so, be began to vomit.
Homebringer then opened a portal and pulled Jay into
the Prime region of the Godwheel ignoring his questions of who he was
or his instruction to stay away.
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - Jay was
imprisoned in a stasis tube alongside a number of other "Gross Babies"
(Dragonfly, Gunk, Wicca) and slated for incineration.
(Prime I#26 - BTS) - Homebringer opened
a portal to transport Prime to the Godwheel. Apparently false images of Culebra,
Dragonfly, Duey, Gunk, and Wicca urged him to come join them, giving
his essence back to his creators rather than wandering the world
confused. However, Phade and Turbocharge were able to pull Prime back
to Earth.
As Phade and Turbocharge did some
research and tracked down the location of other "Gross Babies"
(children of women manipulated by Doc Gross, apparently via the
material given to him by Homebringer), Prime sought out Elven and
convinced her to join him in investigating their origins.
After Prime and Elven met up with
Phade and Turbocharge, Elven called out a challenge to the Homebringer,
who opened a portal and pulled her in, after which Prime, Phade, and
Turbo followed her through the breach. Phade temporarily destroyed Homebringer when he assaulted the heroes.
(Power of Prime#2) - As the
Primogenitor discussed the origins of the Prime race and the Gross Babies, Turbocharge elected to check out the
infirmary, where he found a pair of Primes (or guards, if they weren't primal beings) dragging the woman they had
taken away toward a fiery chamber. Subduing the guards, Turbocharge
asked the woman what they were going to do to her. Although he could
not understand her words, she pointed to a pile of bodies beside a
number of chambers containing Culebra, Dragonfly, Gunk, and Wicca.
Correctly surmising that the pile was people whose Prime bodies had
failed and were going to be destroyed and that those in the tanks were
the "Gross Babies," Turbocharge opened Gunk's chamber.
(Power of Prime#2 (fb) - BTS) - Turbocharge freed the rest of the "Gross Babies."
(Power of Prime#2) - Turbocharge brought the "Gross Babies" back to Prime and the others, warning that
the Primogenitor was not some benevolent god.
(Power of Prime#3) -
Turbocharge further explained that the other Gross Babies -- who were
considered "flawed" -- had been slated to be incinerated along with the
members of the Prime race who could no longer generate primal bodies. At
Elven's query, Primogenitor confirmed this, explained their reasons,
and punctuated his point by tearing open Culebra's form to expose the
youth inside: "Look upon this shrunken, scrawny mockery in the form of the gods! Why should it be cursed with life?"
When the Primogenitor continued
that if Prime aided the Prime race, they could give the "Gross Babies"
their "godly form" permanently, Ray insisted that he wanted to be cured of his transformations (leaving him only in his normal
form) and to be returned home, Primogenitor retorted that to use their holy science to undo godly
bodies would be be blasphemy.
Prime agreed to let the
Primogenitor use his genetic code to help his people and make him Prime
forever on the condition that they also sent home the Gross Babies and
helped fix their powers however they wanted them to be.
As Primogenitor prepared to accept
these terms, however, Duey (Doc Gross' early creation who had absorbed
and controlled Gross) interrupted, advising Primogenitor to refuse to
let
the others dictate their terms but rather take the genetic material
that they needed. As the Primogenitor resolved to discuss the matter
with the council, Duey revealed his alliance
with the Homebringer, who subsequently grabbed Jay and Dragonfly and
then exclaimed
that the genetic material they sought was their legacy and that he
would not see it
dispersed to "the world of these feeble imitations" (Earth).
As the Gross Babies assaulted
Homebringer, Primogenitor insisted that Homebringer must not be harmed
and that Prime stop his friends or all deals were off. Though not
wanting to lose his chance to be Prime all the time, Prime ultimately sided with his friends and
joined the fight against Homebringer.
Duey eventually drew out Doc Gross from within his own body and then cut into Prime's body
and pulled out his heart, which was the source that generated his Prime
bodies.
(Power of Prime#4) - Elven and
Wicca assaulted Duey and Homebringer, causing Prime's heart to fall
back into his body, after which Gunk flowed over Prime, sacrificing his
form's energy to restore Prime's body. However, Homebringer then
stripped Steffi of her Wicca body.
Steffi asked Jay if he could
return to his monstrous form, but he feared that their foes would kill
him. Steffi argued that they were going to kill them (or worse) anyway
but that if he could help, now was the time. Jay further argued that he
did not even know the others, but Steffi reminded him that the others
were fighting to get him home even though they did not know him. After
she picked up a rock and rushed off to help out any way that she could,
Jay considered that he was not some "Magic: The Gathering Hero," but
that if he did not do something, he would never see Chicago again.
Resolving that while it was gross, terrible, and probably a sin, he did
not have a choice, Jay "climbed back into his snakeskin" and climbed up
and assaulted Homebringer; his distraction allowed Phade to escape from
within Homebringer.
As the Primogenitor used the Prime
race's fading power to briefly adopt a giant form and subdue
Homebringer and Duey, Culebra considered that he hated his snake body
and hated being a freak. He resolved that as soon as he got home he was
going to try to forget this had ever happened.
After Primogenitor transported the
group to an island on Earth, the Gross Babies wondered what they were
supposed to do.
Comments: Created by Gerard Jones, Len Strazewski, John Statema, Mark Pacella, Bob Smith, and Chris Ivey.
I'm no herpetologist, but according to our friend
Wikipedia, Culebra is a name for a giant anole rough 6.3 inches (160
mm) in length. It is also known as Anolis roosevelti (named for
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who was governor of Puerto Rico circa 1931
when the anole was first described) and the Virgin Island's giant
anole. It is extremely rare and possibly extinct. It is/was native to
Culebra island in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
It would seem likely that Jay was of Puerto Rican heritage.
Any plans for the Gross Babies at the end of the
Power of Prime fell to the wayside as the Ultraverse was restructured
during Black September.
Jay was consistently called Culebra in the Cast
of Characters story summaries, but he was not actually called that
in-story. He identified himself as Jay Alvaros in Power of Prime#4, but
he only referred to his other form as his "snake skin" or his "snake
body." He was more of a lizard than a snake, but, oh well...
As can be seen in the credits below, there were
different artists in Power of Prime#1-2 and #3-4, which explains the
variation in appearance.
Why it is not explicitly shown, in Power of
Prime#1, at least two panels seem to show him with four toes. In Power
of Prime#2, he clearly has three toes. I don't think his feet are
clearly shown in #3, but he appears to have three toes in #4.
This may be artistic license and/or mistake in Power
of Prime#1, but it is quite possible that Jay subconscously varied
Culebra's appearance. Prime manifested his "rogue Prime" appearance at
will.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Culebra should be distinguished from:
- other lizard-men, people, etc...
images: (without ads)
Power of Prime#1, pg. 1, panel 2 (Jay, full body, climbing fence);
panel 5 (Jay face);
pg. 2-3 (Culebra confronting Pope members);
pg. 4, panel 3-4 (Culebra rear view showing tail);
pg. 5, panel 5 (Ray emerging from Culebra form);
#2, pg. 19 (full-ish; obscured by Turbocharge);
#4, pg. 11, panel 2 (freshly transformed into Culebra);
Appearances:
Prime I#25 (July, 1995) - by Len Strazewski & Gerard Jones
(writers), John Statema (penciler), Bob Smith (inker), Hank Kanalz
(editor)
Prime I#26 (August, 1995) - Gerard Jones & Len Strazewski (writers), John Statema (penciler), Bob Smith (inker),
Hank Kanalz (editor)
Power of Prime#1 (July, 1995) - Len Strazewski &
Gerard Jones (writers), Mark Pacella (penciler), Chris Ivey (inker),
Hank Kanalz (editor)
Power of Prime#2 (August, 1995) - Len Strazewski &
Gerard Jones (writers), Kevin West and Tim Hamilton (pencilers), Bob Almond (inker),
Scott Bernstein (assistant editor), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Power of Prime#3-4 (August-September, 1995) - Len Strazewski &
Gerard Jones (writers), Mark Pacella (penciler), Chris Ivey (inker),
Scott Bernstein (assistant editor), Hank Kanalz (editor)
First posted: 01/23/2024
Last updated: 01/23/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
� 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to
www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back to Characters