- "There's something different in all of us, and nothing-- not a spell, big gloves, nothing-- can change that or take it away. We're all still mutants."
- ―Jubilee
Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee (briefly known as the Sparrow) is a member of the human subspecies known as mutants, born with superhuman abilities. She can generate pyrotechnic energy blasts from her hands. Introduced as an orphaned "mall rat" from Beverly Hills, Jubilee joined the X-Men in the early 1990s, becoming the team's youngest member and often playing a sidekick role to her father-figure, Wolverine.
History[]
Origin[]
The daughter of two prosperous Chinese immigrants, Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee was born in Beverly Hills, California, where she lived with her wealthy parents. An immensely talented gymnast, she was believed to have the potential to participate in the Olympic Games. However, her life was destroyed when her parents were murdered by the hitmen Reno and Molokai.
Jubilee was sent to an orphanage, but she ran away and hid in the Hollywood Mall, stealing food to survive. She first discovered her mutant power to generate blinding and explosive energy blasts (what she herself refers to as "fireworks") while running away from mall security. The stress of running away from the security guards caused Jubilee to emit a large light energy blast while in a back alley. This completely disoriented the men and allowed her to escape. Upon learning about her mutant ability, she realized she could earn money by using her powers to entertain customers in the mall.
The mall security attempted to put an end to her unauthorized performances, but she constantly eluded them. They hired the M-Squad, a company of professional mutant hunters, to capture her. Jubilee is rescued by X-Men members Dazzler, Psylocke, Rogue, and Storm. Curious about the women, she tracks them to the portal leading back to their base in the Outback and steps through.
Jubilee stays in hiding in the base, as she has never heard of the X-Men and has no idea how they might react to her presence. She steals food and borrows clothes from several of the X-Men to create a makeshift costume for herself. She is attacked by a cybernetic dog, and forced to use her powers in self-defense by blowing up the beast. This is the first time Jubilee learns her powers can do real damage, although a later retcon has her first manifestation causing destruction on a similar scale.
While sneaking around the caverns in the Outback base, Jubilee witnesses the X-Man Wolverine being captured and tortured by the Reavers. Jubilee is terrified of the Reavers, but unable to convince herself to abandon a fellow human being to such suffering. During a respite from the torture sessions, Jubilee helps Wolverine back to her hiding spot in the complex, where she does her best to nurse him back to health. Before Wolverine has completely recovered, he and Jubilee are forced to abandon their sanctuary when the Reavers hunt them down. The pair escape and make their way to Madripoor. They battle the Mandarin and Matsu'o Tsurayaba's Hand. Jubilee holds her own while fighting against the highly skilled Hand, and blows up part of the Mandarin's castle with her powers when she, along with Wolverine and Psylocke, is taken prisoner.
Afterward, Jubilee teams up with Wolverine on several of his missions throughout the world. She does not handle traveling well, as she desires American food and luxuries. She helps Wolverine in battle when he becomes involved with well-intentioned but violent mercenaries.
Alongside Wolverine and Psylocke, Jubilee battles Hardcase and the Harriers. She also meets the Black Widow and participates in a mission to rescue several kidnapped New Mutants from Genosha. Against her protests, Wolverine places her in charge of looking after Boom Boom and Rictor and meeting up with X-Factor. The three survive on the streets of the island nation before meeting up with the other X-Men. After meeting the X-Men, she travels with them to the Shi'ar Empire, but is captured by the Warskrulls. She also briefly falls under the control of the Shadow King, along with the X-Men and numerous others.
DC vs. Marvel[]
In the Marvel/DC crossover series DC vs. Marvel storyline, Jubilee first meets Robin when he suddenly appears in her room. She starts admiring his costume and eventually develops an attraction to him. The two are later transported to a warehouse and before they begin their fight, Jubilee kisses Robin. While Jubilee has the upper hand, Robin uses a sneak attack and wins without hitting her. Robin and Jubilee suddenly end up in Venice, and while they do not know how they ended up there, neither cares and soon they start a relationship. With the universe restored and the heroes and villains returned to their respective universe, Jubilee becomes upset that she will never see Robin again. However, she is later briefly reunited with him in the follow-up Age of Amalgam Marvel/DC crossover series.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Energy Projection: Sparrow has the meta-mutant power to generate bright bursts of energy plasmoids from her fingertips. The strength of the energy can range from a multitude of colored sparkles capable of temporarily blinding a person to a powerful detonation capable of smashing objects and destroying property, or a precision burst inside a human's brain simulating the effects of a massive stroke. Sparrow can absorb the fireworks back into her own body without harm.