belladonna-microverse-mn3-fullBELLADONNA

Real Name: Possibly Belladonna

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Microverse) humanoid (Homeworld's First Zone native)

Occupation: Duchess

Group Membership: Homeworld's resistance against Argon/Karza;
    formerly the ruling/wealthy class of Homeworld's First Zone

Affiliations: Slug;
    formerly Argon, Baron Karza, DeGrayde, Dog Soldiers;
    as Belladonna, she had consider influence in Homeworld's upper classes

Enemies: Argon (as possessed by Karza), Baron Karza, DeGrayde, Dog Soldiers;
    formerly the Micronauts (Acroyear, Bug, Mari, Arcturus Rann), Slug,

Known Relatives: None identified;
    if she was a member of the royal family, she would likely have been related in some fashion to Argon and Mari, and Arcturus, Dallan, and Sepsis Rann

Aliases: She wore the form of and was sometimes mistaken for Slug (she was sometimes called Slug by Argon)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
     formerly the Body Banks, First Zone, Homeworld, Microverse;
    formerly the royal palace, First Zone, Homeworld, Microverse;

First Appearance: Micronauts I#3 (March, 1979)

Powers/Abilities: Elderly and frail, Belladonna was scheming and conniving, seeking power through whatever means she could. She used her political influence initially to help others in power such as Karza and/or Argon, and when she assumed Slug's form she was perfectly happy to use sex as a means to manipulate and ideally control others; however, this was useless against the inhuman Argon/Karza.

    After her plans failed and she was forced to consider marriage to an inhuman tyrant, she began to re-examine her previous actions and priorities, and she became sympathetic and supportive of the rebels.

    Although Slug had been an accomplished warrior, Belladonna possessed her physical strength, but none of her fighting skills or spirt.


slug-microverse-belladonna-face

Height: Unrevealed
    In her original body, she was approximately 5'5" relative height in the Microverse, which would translate to perhaps 5.6" in Earth's dimension following conventional interdimensional transport
    For Slug's body, I'd estimate her at 5'10" and 6", respectively
Weight: Unrevealed
    In her original body, she was approximately 110 lbs. relative weight in the Microverse, which would translate to perhaps 1.1 oz (33 grams)  in Earth's dimension following conventional interdimensional transport
    For Slug's body, I'd estimate her at 140 lbs. and 1.3 oz (39 grams), respectively
Eyes: Brown; (in Slug's body) blue
Hair: White; (in Slug's body) black

History:

(Micronauts I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Duchess Belladonna knew Karza for well over 900 years.

(Micronauts I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Old and dying, Belladonna sought a new body in the Body Banks. She reserved the body of Princess Mari.belladonna-microverse-slug-stasis

(Micronauts I#3) - Belladonna was the first patient to arrive in Karza's Body Banks. She praised him for his consistent "courtesy incarnate," which befitted one of noble birth. As Karza feigned being humble and gracious, Belladonna cut him off, asking him to dispense with the pleasantries. When he acknowledging the needs for her urgency, Belladonna insisted on the young body he had reserved, and Karza asked her forgiveness as he informed her that Mari had escaped following his coup, and he had only captured her brother, Prince Argon. Noting she couldn't be choosy at her age, Belladonna agreed to take Argon's body, but Karza denied her, noting that he had plans for Argon (whom he had mutated into a centaur); however, he assured Belladonna he would find her a suitable body.

(Micronauts I#5) - As newly captured rebels were decontaminated in the Body Banks, Belladonna asked how long she would have to wait for the new body he had promised her. Encouraging patience, Karza reviewed to her how he had used the Body Banks to restructure Homeworld. After Karza subdued the centaurian Argon as he broke out of his cell and challenged the Baron, the rebel leader Slug (incognito, having allowed herself to be captured along with the other rebels in order to locate and free Argon) rushed forward and denounced Karza. Belladonna acknowledged that she appreciated why Karza couldn't giver her Argon's body, and Karza proudly announced that his troops had ferreted this girl (Slug) as the perfect form for Belladonna's next thousand years or so.

 (Micronauts I#39 (fb) - BTS) - Possessed and influenced/controlled by Karza, Argon (aka Force Commander) made Duchess Belladonna mistress of the Body Banks.

 (Micronauts I#43 (fb) - BTS) - Belladonna helped Argon consolidate his rule by winning Homeworld's upper classes to his cause.
(Micronauts I#39) - Duchess Belladonna greeted Force Commander in his royal palace, announcing her fealty and asking whether she should get down on her knees. Mockingly telling her that her withered knees would probably snap like matchsticks if she did, Argon asked why she had sought an audience with him, and she noted that she served him -- as she had Karza before -- for the price of regaining her youth (which Karza had failed to pay). Argon told her she could choose any body she wanted, and Belladonna chose Slug's (Argon's former betrothed). Argon approved this due to Slug's siding with the rebels, instructing Belladonna that she could take Slug's form whenever she wanted.

 (Micronauts I#40) - Sitting alongside Argon, Belladonna watched a new harvest of sub-levellers enter the de-lousing pools, noting how they had such beautiful, youthful bodies. After DeGrayde questioned Argon's judgment, leading Argon to discharge his right wrist and choke DeGrayde, Belladonna wondered how he could do this, unless -- and Argon finished her thought, noting that he had already begun altering his own bio-structure in the Body Banks.slug-microverse-belladonna-transfer

(Micronauts I#43 (fb)) - In return for her aid, Argon offered Belladonna a boon, and she noted that she wished youth. He told Belladonna she could go to the Body Banks and take any body she chose, and Belladonna noted there was only one she wished, Slug. Argon told her she could have Slug's form, as she no longer meant anything to him (it's difficult to tell whether this discussion was repeated (see the entry for #39), or whether it was shown in two slightly different variations).

 (Micronauts I#43 (fb)) - Disbelieving Argon's statement that Slug meant nothing to him, Belladonna felt that Argon's attraction to Slug was strong enough that if he had a version whose craving for power matched his own, he would again wish to make her his queen.

    She watched as Argon had his Dog Soldiers take Slug and prepare her for the mind-transference.

    Within the Body Banks, DeGrayde transferred Belladonna's mind into Slug's body and vice-versa.

  (Micronauts I#41 - BTS) - Now wearing Slug's form, Belladonna paraded in front of Argon, confirming the transformation. Argon instructed his soldiers to leave him, and Belladonna danced seductively before Argon.

    Assuming the silent Argon to be ensorceled by her beauty, Belladonna imagined being able to manipulate him as she wished. As she tried to seduce him, however, Argon cast her aside telling her he had no desires and then revealing he had transformed himself into energy form. belladonna-microverse-slug_body

    Mocking Belladonna's desire for love now that she was in a nubile form, Argon noted that they would indeed be wed, as his apparent marriage to rebel leader Slug would take some of the fire out of the rebellion.belladonna-microverse-slug_face.jpg

 (Micronauts I#43) - Belladonna (in Slug's body; henceforth, unless otherwise noted, "Belladonna" refers to the mind of Belladonna in Slug's body and "Slug" refers to the mind of Slug in Belladonna's body) stood beside Argon in the royal palace's balcony. She recoiled from his touch with horror on her face as Argon instructed her to not let the people know she couldn't bear his touch and reminded her that she would soon be his queen.

(Micronauts I#43 - BTS) - Secretly observing hidden amongst the crowd, the Micronauts wondered over how what appeared to be Slug could side with Argon, but Bug observed closely and noted that she appeared to be acting against her will; nonetheless, he had no idea of the woman's true nature.

 (Micronauts I#43) - As DeGrayde mocked her condition, Belladonna looked at him in a silent, futile plea for help. Belladona remained silent as DeGrayde informed Argon that he had located the Micronauts Acroyear, Bug and Mari in the crowd; the Micronauts escaped with the aid of rebels.

(Micronauts I#44 (fb) - BTS) - Belladonna poisoned some "drapa" made from the sweet pares of Tropica in a plot to kill Argon.

 (Micronauts I#44) - Within the Royal Palace, Belladonna offered Argon the drapa. He told her she need not serve him, but she told him it was her honor and most fervent desire to do so. Removing his helmet and then converting from energy into human form, Argon mocked her trembling as she was unnerved by what he had become. As he drank the drapa, however, he told her he knew it was poison and that he was drinking it only to show her that she could not kill one who was no longer alive.

    As she acknowledged this with surprise, Argon struck her down with a backhanded slap and told her he knew all of her thoughts, including her fear and hatred of him, and her treachery. Nonetheless, he tolerated her because she could not possibly harm him, and he demonstrated his power over her by briefly causing her to revert to her aged true form (or at least made it appear that he had done so). However, he told her he wouldn't take away her youth as the real Slug would then regain it, and she might find some way to upset his plans. As he departed, he reiterated her true value in disheartening the rebellion by making it appear that the rebel leader was marrying him.

    Considering that Argon was a monster, Belladonna recalled how she had considered Argon a pale imitation of Karza that she could easily manipulate. Realizing he had no need for beauty or anything else now, she vowed that she could not wed such a creature.
(Micronauts I#45 (fb) - BTS) - Slug arrived in Argon's royal chambers, armed with a pistol, where she encountered Argon and Belladonna. Argon laughed in amusement as Belladonna and Slug struggled against each other.

 (Micronauts I#45) - Having returned to Homeworld with Acroyear and Bug and joined in assaulting Argon's forces, Mari arrived in Argon's chambers as Slug struck down Belladonna, noting that despite her aged form she was still a fighter rather than a pampered pet as Belladonna was.

    However, when Slug pulled her pistol and announced that if she could not have the body that was rightfully hers, neither could Belladonna, Mari (assuming this to be the true Belladonna attempting to kill the true Slug) blasted the pistol out of her hands. Slug tried to explain that Mari didn't understand what was going on, but she was unable to prevent Mari from punching her down. belladonna-microverse-aiding_slug.

    Mari then rushed to the side of "Slug," who asked her to kill Argon, noting that he was no longer human. Argon then taunted Mari, revealing how Slug and Belladonna's bodies had been switched, after which he revealed that he was now a being of energy. As Mari engaged Argon, the recovering Slug recovered her pistol and took aim again at Belladonna. However, Argon then fired an energy dagger into Slug's right forearm, forcing her to drop her pistol. belladonna-microverse-star_sceptre

    Argon blasted Mari out of the window, after which he levitated Slug into the air  and informed her that Belladonna would marry him in her body, while Slug's punishment would be to live and continue to age; perhaps he would allow her be Belladonna's handmaiden, advising her to use the body she had stolen to please her monarch.

 (Micronauts I#46 (fb) - BTS) - As Argon's Dog Soldiers arrived and Argon looked out the window to observe Mari's fate, Slug and Belladonna fled.

(Micronauts I#46 - BTS) - Learning this, Argon ordered his Dog Soldiers to find them.

(Micronauts I#46 - BTS) - In the royal palace's bowels, as Belladonna helped Slug down the stairs, Slug asked why she was helping since her most fervent desire to kill Belladonna. Noting the horror she had experienced with Argon, Belladonna acknowledged her folly and begged Slug's forgiveness.

    After Slug shared her history, Belladonna asked in what way she could aid the rebellion, and Slug noted she could start by pulling the short sword from her right forearm (see comments), after they could discuss how an old woman in a young woman's body could best serve the rebellion.

 (Micronauts I#48 (fb) - BTS) - Belladonna and Slug took refuge in the Body Banks.

(Micronauts I#47) - Belladonna and Slug, the former still holding the latter for support following her injury, found Pharoid's star scepter. It shone brightly despite it having no power due to long being deprived from sunlight, and Slug hoped it would aid them in freeing Pharoid and forcing the Body Banks technicians in returning them to their rightful bodies again.

(Micronauts I#48 (fb) - BTS) - Belladonna presumably helped Slug put her injured right arm in a sling.

(Micronauts I#48 - BTS) - DeGrayde informed Argon that they had determined Slug and Belladonna to be within the Body Banks, noting that anyone foolish enough to seek sanctuary there would soon be begging them to accept their surrender.

(Micronauts I#48) - Holding Pharoid powerless star scepter, Belladonna forced a guard (ignorant of the weapon's limitations as she threatened to blow off his head) to tell them the location of DeGrayde's laboratory. After Belladonna had knocked out the guard by striking him in the back of the head with the scepter, the two women traveled to the lab, where Slug held the scepter and ordered the scientists to switch back her and Belladonna's bodies.

 (Micronauts I#49 (fb) - BTS) - Force Commander's agents recaptured Slug and Belladonna at the Body Banks before the transfer could occur, and they learned that the Micronauts and Pharoid had been taken by the Death Squad as well.

(Micronauts I#49 (fb) - BTS) - Wedding plans were made for Argon and "Slug" (actually Belladonna; Karza would marry the woman who appeared to be Slug) with the goal of demoralizing the rebels and making them think the resistance had come to an end.

belladonna-microverse-dualstrangle (Micronauts I#49) - Within the royal arena, Argon asked "Slug" if it was not a perfect day for a wedding, and Belladonna asked why he continued the deception as he knew she was not Slug, and she told him that he could force her to marry him, he could not make her love him.

    Argon mockingly told her that he thought she craved power and asked if regaining youth had not softened her hard, cold heart; not waiting for an answer, he told her that it only mattered that their subjects would see him marrying the rebel commander.

    After Argon initiated the wedding games, which featured Acroyear, Bug, and Pharoid facing DeGrayde's monstrous spider-creature, Belladonna asked Argon to stop this madness. However, after Acroyear slew the creature, Huntarr and Mari joined in their allies in opposing Argon's Death Squad.

    Inspired by this, the people rose up and rushed the Dog Soldiers, calling for Force Commander's death. Slug urged Belladonna that the people must see their leader as the monster he was. Acknowledging this, Belladonna rushed forth and pulled off Argon's helm, exposing him as a non-human energy creature.

    However, as they people were appalled, Argon beseeched his people to forgive him, as he had not betrayed them but had been under the control of another. With that, Karza revealed his presence, tearing open and emerging from Force Commander's armor.

    Those in the arena collectively gasped, and Slug remained mere feet from Karza as Biotron and Arcturus Rann arrived and challenged him.

(Micronauts I#50) - After Karza determined Rann to no longer possess the Enigma Force and thus to not be a threat, he picked up and began strangling both Slug and Belladonna. Slug denounced Karza as scum who had slain her parents, horribly destroyed the man she loved, and stole her youth.

    Amused, Karza acknowledged all of this but taunted that her spirit was not matched by her pale, pathetically frail body, so susceptible to nervous shock. He then blasted her with eyebeams, and she cried out in agony about her heart; Karza mocked her further, asking her, "Don't you mean Belladonna's heart?" He then dropped her from a height, although she apparently died before even hitting the ground.belladonna-microverse-death

    Belladonna denounced Karza, "You killed her! You struck her down in cold blood! You monster! You evil, inhuman murderer!"

    Karza mocked Belladonna's strong words, asking if she would rather have Slug live to compete with her for the beautiful body she now inhabited, as now she would have no rival for his love.

    Belladonna choked out, "L-love a heinous horror like you? I--I'd rather die!"

    Replying that he was always willing to oblige a lady, Karza launched his left gauntlet; still holding Belladonna, it smashed her against the wall and then returned to his wrist after releasing her dead form (Slug's body) to fall to the ground.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Michael Golden, and Josef Rubinstein.

    Too many people spell "Duchess" as "Dutchess," with a "t." It refers to the wife or widow of a Duke, and is a feminine form of that word...it is not the feminine form of the word "Dutch." It makes Hulk mad.

    Micronauts I#39 introduced Belladonna as "a crone of unimaginable age and unsurpassable ugliness"

    In #46, Slug asked Belladonna to help pull out the dagger Mari had thrown into her forearm the previous issue. However, while Mari had shot the blaster out of her hand and punched her out while believing her to be the true Belladonna, it was Argon that had thrown his shortsword into her forearm when she aimed her recovered blaster at him while he was struggling with Mari.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:

Belladonna should be distinguished from:


Slug should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Micronauts I#3, pg. 8, panel 2 (full);
    #41, pg. 7, panel 1 (as Slug; face);
       pg. 8, panel 6 (as Slug, body);
        pg. 10, panel 5 (Belladonna's face, inhabited by Slug);
    #46, pg. 14, panel 6 (aiding Slug);
       pg. 15, panel 2 (stasis tubes);
    #48, pg. 13, panel 4 (using star sceptre as blunt weapon);
    #50, pg. 13, panels 4-6 (slain by Karza)
       

Appearances:
Micronauts I#3 (March, 1979) - by Bill Mantlo (writer), Michael Golden (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#5 (May, 1979) - by Bill Mantlo (writer), Michael Golden (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
 Micronauts I#39 (March, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Steve Ditko (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#40-41 (April, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#43 (July, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#44 (August, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Danny Bulanadi, Carl Potts, & Al Milgrom (inkers), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#45 (September, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#46 (October, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Luke McDonnell (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#47 (November, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Mike Vosburg (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#48 (December, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Butch Guice (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Micronauts I#49-50 (January-February, 1983) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Butch Guice (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)

First posted: 08/10/2019
Last updated: 08/10/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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