JANICE TRAVERSof Earth-7484
JANICE TRAVERS
of Earth-7484
Real Name: Janice Travers;
formerly Janice Manning;
maiden name unrevealed
Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-7484) human
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None known
Affiliations: Unidentified pet Collie
Enemies: Not appreciating Deathlok
(Luther Manning) to be her former husband, she considered him a monster
and feared he was there to hurt her or their son, Richard.
Known Relatives: Mike Travers (husband), Richard Manning (son);
Luther Manning (Deathlok; former husband, presumably legally dead)
Aliases: Janis (see comments)
Base of Operations: At least formerly a house just outside Fort Dix, New Jersey
First Appearance: Astonishing Tales#27 (December, 1974)
Powers/Abilities: Janice demonstrated no superhuman abilities, but she raised her son by herself for over four years.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10"; she didn't look more than 6" shorter than the 6'4" Deathlok)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 140 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (likely brown)
Hair: Black
History:
(Marvel Fanfare I#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - Luther Manning took his wife, Janice, to a grassy, wooded area by a pond or lake.
(Marvel Fanfare I#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - Luther and Janice spent their first summer together in a beach house in an unspecified location. They had a pet Collie.
(Astonishing Tales#27 - BTS) - Janice was pregnant with her son, Richard, when Luther Manning was seemingly killed (his body/brain was preserved and used to reconstruct his form as the cyborg Deathlok).
(Astonishing Tales I#36 (fb)) - The infant Richard was fed a baby's bottle by Janice.
(Astonishing Tales I#31 (fb) - BTS) <Six months before Manning's revival as Deathlok> - With Luther having been dead for five years, Mike Travers and Janice Manning got together romantically.
(Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition#35: Deathlok entry /
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005:
Deathlok entry) - Mike and Janice were married.
(Marvel Fanfare I#4/2 - BTS) - In an effort to restore their control over Deathlok, a group of scientists, including Hugo and Dr. Commonhate, subjected him to illusions of his past existence, including his wife Janice and his former pet Collie. While "Janice" tried to encourage him to sit with him and saw him in his fully human form, Deathlok resisted the illusions and smashed her away; the illusory Janice either dispersed or was knocked into the lake.
Deathlok next found himself back
at the beach house he had shared with Janice, only to be attacked by a
cyborg version of their Collie, which he destroyed.
Ultimately recovering from the illusions/hallucinations, Deathlok became more angry with Ryker and his men for using his cherished memories against him.
(Astonishing Tales#27 - BTS) - Escaping from Ryker, an exhausted Deathlok punched in coordinates in his helicopter and instructed his computer to plot a course to get away from pursuers; only upon reviving did he realize he had targeted Janice's house (see comments).
(Astonishing Tales#27 - BTS / Astonishing Tales#28 - BT) - Knowing Ryker's Terminal Eyes were monitoring everything, Deathlok nonetheless decided he wanted to go see Janice and explain his situation.
(Astonishing Tales#27) -
Hearing someone approaching, Janice thought it was Mike, and she noted
that she was worried as Major Ryker hadn't called for days. Her relief
turned to terror when she opened the door to see the monstrous Deathlok
at her door; although Deathlok tried to explain that he was her
husband, Luther, she considered him some kind of hideous monster and
told him to get away from her. Deathlok's continued efforts to calm her
failed, and Deathlok's computer noted she was in hysterics.
Deathlok wondered if he was wrong
to come here and let her see him like this, but he determined that
somehow he had to convince her that he was still alive. 
As Janice
physically struck at Deathlok, their son, Richard cried out for mommy.
While Deathlok was drawn to his son's voice, Janice begged the monstrous Deathlok to spare her child. Deathlok started to walk into the room, but ultimately decided he couldn't bear his son's rejection, too.
As Deathlok smashed out through the door, Janice stood and watched.
Overcome by the horror of his own
existence, Deathlok tried to shoot himself in the throat, only to find
that the laser could not be used to harm him.
Comments: Created by Rich Buckler.
Deathlok first called her Janice,
and then Janis a couple panels later, but is was consistently Janice
thereafter. Too bad...we can't get enough Janis Joplin homage.
It seemed a little odd to me when
I first read Deathlok noting he had traveled to Janice's house (rather
than "our house"), but between his serving in the military and having
been declared legally dead, perhaps he realized that, at least
subconsciously, it wasn't his house, at least anymore.
The images in Astonishing Tales I#36 are a bit suspect as they are shown as if they are Luther's memories, when we know he wasn't around to see his son as an infant or a toddler. Nonetheless, it's not much of a stretch of the imagination that the infant Richard was fed a bottle by his mother, nor that as a toddler he played with a ball.
It's not clear whether the images
of Janice from Marvel Fanfare I#4 mirrored those Luther and Janice
experienced together earlier in their life or whether he was seeing her
present appearance in those memory scenarios.
Anywhere, I'll include those images in the comments here for future reference.
This profile was completed 8/31/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Janice Travers should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
#36, pg. 8, panel 4-5 (infant with bottle; toddler)
Marvel Fanfare I#4/2, pg. 3, panel 3 (mental image; reclining oblique);
panel 5 (face, partial)
Appearances:
Astonishing Tales#27 (December, 1974) - Rich Buckler &
Doug Moench (writers), Rich Buckler (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks), Roy
Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales#28 (February, 1975) - Rich Buckler (writer/artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales#36 (July, 1976) - Rich Buckler (writer/pencils), Keith Pollard (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe I#3
(March, 1982) - Mark Gruenwald (head writer/designer/editor), David Cody
Weisse, Peter Sanderson, Roger Stern, Bob Simpson, Bob Harras, Joanne
Harras (research)
Marvel Fanfare I#4/2 (September, 1982) - David
Anthony Kraft (writer), Michael Golden (penciler), Bob Downs (inker),
Al Milgrom (editor)
First posted: 09/07/2021
Last updated: 09/05/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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