full body

LIGHTTRAKKER

Real Name:  Rebecca Littlehale (though it is possible that her name has since been legally changed)

Identity/Class:  Human mutant

Occupation:  Elementary school student

Group Membership:  None

Affiliations:  Power Pack (Destroyer (Alex Power), Molecula (Julie Power), Counterweight (Jack Power), Starstreak (Katie Power) ), New Mutants (Cannonball (Sam Guthrie), Magik (Illyanna Rasputin), Mirage (Danielle Moonstar), Sunspot (Roberto DaCosta), Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), Warlock), mutant rights supporters, Skippy, unnamed TV technician, possibly Bob & Fred, Velma, NYPD policeman Mike and his partner, Mrs. Grey

Enemies:  Bogeyman, mutant haters, various unnamed TV reporters, unnamed late-night TV host, unnamed school bullies

Known Relatives:  Unnamed parents

Aliases:  'Becca  (nickname of Rebecca), "The Littlest Mutant"

Base of Operations:  Currently unrevealed;
formerly Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn, New York City

First Appearance:  Power Pack I#37 (June, 1988)

Powers/Abilities:  Rebecca is a mutant teleporter whose power is activated by her looking at a strong light source and teleporting to within a few feet from where the light is.   A strong light source like TV studio lights, or a strobe light, or even a flashlight, can cause her powers to activate against her will, to counter this she wears dark sunglasses at all times.  She can will herself to teleport to a weaker light source, such as light glinting off a metal dogtag.  The farthest distance she can jump is currently unknown, though she has teleported a few miles involuntarily.  She can teleport others, though she has yet to try it with anyone else other than her dog Skippy.

head shotHistory:  Rebecca Littlehale was an elementary school student at P.S. 125 in Brooklyn, New York (grade not mentioned, but given her size relative to Jack Power/Counterweight, I'd say she was around eight years old and in the 4th grade, same as he was at the time).  The first couple of times she teleported she evidently didn't go farther than a few yards, but the experiences frightened her, since she didn't know where the power came from, or what to call what she did teleporting. She began wearing dark glasses full time in case someday she looked at the sun and teleported there involuntarily.

(Power Pack I#37) - Rebecca was outside her school watching the other kids play during recess when three of her classmates approached her and began to harass her and call her names.  When one of the boys stole the dark glasses she was wearing her powers activated (possibly triggered by the sun reflecting off a skyscraper window somewhere in NYC; the story doesn't say what did it), and she teleported away from the schoolyard.  She spent the next few hours unwillingly teleporting all over NYC, eventually landing on some support beams on the Brooklyn Bridge during a rainstorm when the flashing car headlights caught her eye and drew her there.  She held tight to the beam, unwilling to open her eyes lest she inadvertently teleported again, and feared she'd never find her way home again before she starved to death, or worse.  Two policemen (Mike and his unnamed partner) stopped and tried to help her down; feeling safer when one of the policemen grabbed her hand she opened her eyes, only to see the light from the top of the Empire State Building and teleported from the Bridge to the top of the Building.  She stayed there for the next few hours (till well past midnight) until she heard the traffic noises around her die down some.  Feeling it might finally be safe enough to see where she might be, she opened her eyes, but saw a flashlight being flashed outside a nearby apartment building, and promptly teleported over to it.  Finding herself outside on the window ledge, she pleaded with the people on the inside to not let her fall from there, unaware that the people she was talking to was Power Pack.  Jack used his gravity powers to keep Rebecca from falling while helping her inside his and Alex's bedroom (where the Pack had been having a secret meeting to discuss a mysterious caller who knew of their double lives).  Once inside, Rebecca told them who she was and what had been happening to her for the last several hours, though she did not open her eyes during her recital.  Alex then told her what she had been doing all that time was teleporting (which was the first time she was aware that what she was doing had a name), and that she must be a mutant herself.  When the Pack told her she was in Manhattan on the upper west side and reassured her that the room was dark, Rebecca opened her eyes and pointed out the window towards where here home was at, only to see some studio lights shining from a nearby skyscraper and promptly teleported to the studio they were located in, disrupting the late-night talk show being broadcast then.  Rebecca kept her hands over her eyes the whole time she was there, answering the talk show host's questions about who she was without realizing her answers were being broadcast live for the entire country to hear.  When an energy ball fired by Destroyer (who was searching for Rebecca with the rest of the Pack) exploded outside the studio's windows, Rebecca looked at the explosion and once more teleported to where the light was at, and was rescued from falling to her death by Starstreak and Counterweight.  She recognized their voices as the kids who'd helped her earlier, though she still didn't know their names.  Power Pack flew her to her house, which was crawling with cops.  Fearing the police were going to arrest her parents because she didn't tell them she was a mutant, she ran to them to try and get them to leave her parents alone, only to be reassured that the police were there to help find her instead.  When Rebecca told them she was a mutant they were relived to finally know what was going on with her, and to have her back home safe and sound.  Rebecca tried to introduce her parents to her rescuers, but found the Pack had left before she could do so.

(Power Pack I#39 - BTS) - Rebecca and her parents gave an interview to reporters, who arrived at their house, and Rebecca retold her story for them, and mentioned being rescued by four magical kids (Power Pack, whose team name she didn't know at that time).

(Power Pack I#39) - The next day, after both the late-night interview and the later one with a reporter aired, Rebecca's life became a media circus, requiring her and her family to use police escorts to leave and enter their house.  Returning from school, Rebecca and her mother encountered a gauntlet of reporters and pro- and anti-mutant protestors camped out in front of their house.  Rebecca hated the crowd, since their presence was upsetting both her and her dog Skippy, who was locked up inside the house and barking his head off.  Outside the house a female reporter approached Rebecca and asked her to teleport for the camera.  When Rebecca refused the reporter deliberately knocked her glasses off, breaking them and causing Rebecca to break down in tears.  Right then the house exploded, firebombed by persons unknown (presumably they were anti-mutant, but their exact identity was never specifically revealed).  Fearing for the life of her dog, Rebecca ran back towards the house to rescue him, while Power Pack (who had been warned by an anonymous caller to stay away from Rebecca, and who came by to try and protect her from the mysterious threat) secretly rescued the many protesters who were either too stunned to move to safety or were too busy fighting each other to rescue themselves.  Looking to save Rebecca from the fire, Molecula and Destroyer saw Skippy and correctly deduced he was the one Rebecca was trying to save, and quickly grabbed both and got them away from the house.  Outside, Rebecca was reunited with Skippy, and thanked the Pack (who she recognized from their voices) for their rescue.  Before they could react, a bright strobe went off high in the air, catching Rebecca's attention and activating her teleporting power.  Emerging high into the air with Skippy still in her arms, she fell into a semi-opaque power-cancelling sack held by the Bogeyman (the one behind the earlier mysterious phone call to Power Pack), who was now in the business of procuring mutant kids for people and organizations who wished to use them as living weapons.  Despite Power Pack's best efforts, the Bogeyman escaped with Rebecca and Skippy.

(Power Pack I#40) - The next morning an interview with Rebecca's mother was broadcast, recapping the previous issue's events.  Meanwhile Power Pack, with aid from the New Mutants (who ha seen her abduction on TV and were also seeking to rescue Rebecca from her captor) were preparing to implement a plan to track the Bogeyman back to his hideout, but the early arrival and capture of Starstreak by the Bogeyman at the Power's apartment building threw the plan into chaos, forcing the two teams to improvise.  At the Bogeyman's hideout, Rebecca doubted Starstreak's story of a coming rescue.  When Starstreak asked what Rebecca's super-hero name was going to be, Rebecca responded that she didn't want to be a hero and just wanted to go home again.  After the combined Power Pack and New Mutants teams freed the two girls from their sacks Skippy slipped from Rebecca's arms to go bark at one of the Bogeyman's robots.  Noticing the light glinting off Skippy's tags, Rebecca willingly teleported over to where the dog was and grabbed him from the robot's grasp.  After Magik teleported the Bogeyman to her Limbo realm, Warlock flew everyone back to Rebecca's house to return her to her family.  Before they landed, Rebecca got her first good look at what was left of her house, and became upset over the loss, and of the continuing presence of reporters and police.  Setting down behind a nearby fence, Rebecca said her good-byes to the Pack (whose names she finally learned) and the Mutants, then teleported herself and Skippy to where the TV lights were at, and back to the arms of her relieved parents.  When a reporter asked them what their plans were now, Mr. Littlehale announced that they were going to move and change their names to avoid more harassment by reporters, mutant haters, and mutant supporters, while Rebecca grew up and decided for herself what she wanted to do.  Rebecca then announced that when she was an adult, she would use the name Lighttrakker and use her powers to help people like she had been helped, but for now she wished only to be a little girl and to get used to her new-found abilities.

Comments: Created by Louise Simonson (writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Stan Drake (inks).

Power Pack I#38 was a fill-in issue.

It is currently unknown if Rebecca still has her powers after M-Day hit.

Profile by Elf with a Gun

Clarifications:

Lighttrakker has no known connections to

  • TRACKER of Earth-Chronomancer, Morlocks, accompanied Bishop on his assault on Chonokeep, hands and feet removed by Chronomancer @ Bishop: Last X-Man#10
  • TRACKER of New Universe @ DP7#21
  • TRACKERS - Cult of the Living Pharaoh, descendents of Living Pharaoh Abdol, wore armor to increase strength + durability + project energy blasts @ Marvel Comics Presents#25/4
  • LIGHT-SEEKERS - joined the Order of the Golden Dawn @ Master of Kung Fu I#83
  • LIGHTSHOW of Ultraverse (Nikki ) - allied w/ Pilgrim @ Strangers#16
  • LIGHTSPEED - Power Pack, Excelsior, original and current identity of Julie. fly at great speeds while leaving a rainbow trail @ Power Pack I#1
  • or to anyone else with a similar name

parentsMr. and Mrs. Littlehale  Rebecca's parents were typical suburban types, though what jobs they had are unrevealed.  When Rebecca first began wearing dark glasses full time they became worried about this change in her behavior, though they didn't realize she was a mutant who needed them to block her powers at that time.  When they found out the truth, they supported their daughter, even after their house was firebombed by anonymous mutant haters who wished to kill them.  After Rebecca was reunited with them after she escaped from the Bogey Man, Mr. Littlehale declared his family's intention to move and change their names to restore their privacy once more, and to allow Rebecca to grow up without a constant media circus following her every move.  It is currently unrevealed if they followed through on that, though.

--Power Pack I#37 (Power Pack I#37, 39, 40

 

 

 

 

 



Skippy  Rebecca's dog is a basic Heinz 57 (old slang term for mixed breed dog whose breed ancestry is not immediately apparent), in the Medium-Small category of canine sizes.  Possibly he had some beagle in him, though that is unclear from his appearance.  He was locked up in the house the day after his human Rebecca was outed on live TV as a mutant teleporter, to protect him from attacks by hostile humans (and to keep him from the usual suburban dangers of getting run over by cars, getting lost, ect.).  When the house was set on fire, he was trapped inside until he was rescued by Power Pack.  Reunited outside with his human, he was in her arms when a trick by the Bogey Man caused her powers to activate, and he was carried along for the ride, and was caught in the same trap she was.  When freed from the confining sack, Skippy immediately escaped from his human's arms (no doubt happy that he was free to run again) and ran up to a nearby robot to bark at it.  He was rescued from its hands by Rebecca, who used the light reflecting from his ID tag to teleport over to where he was at.  When Rebecca returned home she teleported Skippy along with her, and presumably he is still with Rebecca and her family.

--Power Pack I#39 (Power Pack I#39-40

 




School bullies (and Mrs. Grey) These three unnamed boys were students in Mrs. Grey's class along with Rebecca (Mrs. Grey was not shown during this arc).  During recess the boys approached Rebecca and began harassing her about her wearing sunglasses after their teacher told her she wasn't to wear them in class, proclaiming her at first a vampire, then called her a mutant (they didn't believe she was one, they just wanted to be mean to her and call her names).  The boy in the blue vest then knocked her down and stole her glasses.  The boys were startled when Rebecca inadvertently teleported away, then they ran in fear to tell Mrs. Grey that Rebecca really was a mutant.

--Power Pack I#37

 

 



NYPD policemen:  These two policemen spotted Rebecca after she had teleported to one of the support beams on the Brooklyn Bridge.  At first Mike feared she was a jumper, though his unnamed partner quickly realized she was hanging on for dear life instead.  (Which of these two is Mike is unknown.)  The brownhaired cop climbed up to where Rebecca was standing and grabbed her hand to help her down, not understanding her fears of looking at the light until she opened her eyes and unwillingly teleported out of his grasp.

--Power Pack I#37

 

 

 

 

 



Late-night TV host:  This unnamed fellow was taping/broadcasting his late-night show when Rebecca inadvertently crashed his set.  He then broadcast an impromtu interview with her, without bothering to get such things as legal permission from either Rebecca or her parents, or their consent to be on his show.  His main concern was using "The Littlest Mutant" as his ticket to the top of the ratings charts than for her wellbeing.  His broadcasting of Rebecca's real name and home address led to her house being picketed by both pro-mutant and anti-mutant protesters, its later firebombing, and Rebecca's subsequent kidnapping by the Bogey Man.

--Power Pack I#37 (Power Pack I#37, 39

 

 

 

 

 



Velma:  Velma (no last name given) wrote a best-selling book titled "Heavenly Hollywood" that she was promoting on the late-night TV show.  She had just started the interview when Rebecca teleported in.  For the rest of the interview period she just sat and watched as Rebecca was interviewed instead of her.  After Rebecca teleported out the host went on to the next guest (Curtis the Wonder Python and his unknown partner) instead of returning to Velma.  (Whether that was because Velma refused to continue, or because of some other reason has never been revealed.)  Based on her posture during her few panels, she seemed to be torn between feeling sympathy for Rebecca's plight and mild revulsion of being that close to an actual mutant.

--Power Pack I#37

 

 

 



Bob and Fred:  These two guys were the first to approach Rebecca when she arrived on the set.  Their jobs on the show (I'm guessing, since I don't know very much about behind-the-cameras job titles) seemed to involve calling camera shots, ordering commercials to run, and stuff like that.  Bob (on the right) ordered an impromtu commercial break while he and Fred (on the left) sorted out how Rebecca got on the set.  When she tried to explain how she got into the studio Fred declared her a nutcase and wanted to get her off the stage, but was overridden by the TV host, who wanted to make her their ticket to the top of the ratings charts.

--Power Pack I#37

 

 




Unnamed technician:  This guy was never named, nor is any clue given to why he was on the set (I'm assuming he was a stagehand or something similar).  However, he did believe it was criminal for the TV host to exploit Rebecca like he did when she teleported onstage, and contacted the operator to give him the phone number of Rebecca's parents so he could tell them where their little girl was, and what had happened to her on the talk show.

--Power Pack I#37

 

 

 




TV viewer:  This unnamed guy (who seemed to be a blue-collar immigrant) was watching the talk show from his home, and complaining about how the show's quality had gone downhill, and believed the televised teleporting appearance by Rebecca was nothing more than poor special effects.  After the interview with Rebecca was over he angrily turned the TV off (apparently because he thought Rebecca was a bad pre-planned publicity stunt put out by the talk show host, rather than, say, disgust over the ethics of interviewing Rebecca in those circumstances).

--Power Pack I#37

 

 

 

 

 




TV reporter:  Which station or TV show she worked for is unrevealed, though given her behavior towards Rebecca I'd guess she was affiliated with a tabloid show.  She approached Rebecca and her mother when they were trying to enter their house, and asked Rebecca to demonstrate her teleporting power for the camera.  When Rebecca refused to take off her glasses to do so the reporter deliberately bumped Rebecca to knock her glasses off and break them.  When Rebecca' mother complained to a nearby officer about the assault, the reporter claimed the officer was the one who jostled her instead, and threatened to report him for 'pushing' her into Rebecca.

--Power Pack I#39

 

 

 

 

 




Protesters:  Both pro-mutant rights and anti-mutant rights protesters descended on the Littlehale's house the day after Rebecca was publicly outed as a mutant, arguing over who was right.  Of the lot of them, these two were best defined of the bunch.  After the Littlehale house was firebombed these two continued to argue their positions instead of getting themselves to a place of safety.  While the pro-mutant man was trying to point out whoever set the house on fire were bigger sinners than a typical mutant, the anti-mutant woman flew into a rage, attacking the man with her purse and her sign and declaring the house fire just retribution for the mutant sinners.  She kept up the attack even after Counterweight used his gravity powers to shove them to safety, with the woman yelling insults and the man becoming confused over how they were moved to safety.

--Power Pack I#39

 

 

 

 

 



images:
Main:  Power Pack I#39, p11, pan5
Headshot/powers: Power Pack I#40, p27, pan2-3
Parents:  Power Pack I#40, p27, pan7
Skippy:  Power Pack I#40, p24, pan1
Bullies:  Power Pack I#37, p2, pan2
Policeman Mike & partner:  Power Pack I#37, p11, pan6
TV host:  Power Pack I#37, p20, pan4
Velma:  Power Pack I#37, p20, pan3
Bob & Fred:  Power Pack I#37, p19, pan4
Unnamed technician:  Power Pack I#37, p20, pan5
TV viewer:  Power Pack I#37, p20, pan1
TV reporter:  Power Pack I#39, p11, pan4
Protesters:  Power Pack I#39, p17, pan1


Appearances:
Power Pack I#37 (June, 1988) -  by Louise Simonson (writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Stan Drake (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Power Pack I#39 (August, 1988) -  by Louise Simonson (writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Mark Farmer (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Power Pack I#40 (September, 1988) -  by Louise Simonson (writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Gerry Talaoc (inks), Carl Potts (editor)


Last updated04/28/07

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