Big Bertha

Ashley Crawford is a supermodel who secretly possesses the mutant ability to expand her body mass into a nearly invulnerable, superhumanly strong giant form. She uses this power as Big Bertha, serving as a founding member of the Great Lakes Avengers.

Bursting onto the scene in The Avengers Annual #19 in 1990, Big Bertha is a Marvel Copper/Modern Age original whose staying power across more than three decades speaks for itself. She's most at home in the pages of Great Lakes Avengers, where she keeps lively company with the likes of Flatman, Doorman, Deadpool-adjacent oddball Craig Hollis, and the rest of that wonderfully offbeat roster — a corner of the Marvel Universe that balances heart with humor in a way few books have matched. Her appearances stretch from Avengers West Coast to Avengers: The Initiative, showing she's no one-trick curiosity but a character with genuine range across Marvel's landscape. With a key issue already to her name and a presence that's endured into 2024, Big Bertha is exactly the kind of hidden gem that rewards the dedicated collector who digs a little deeper.