Jolt

Helen Takahama was a teenage girl whose exposure to experiments by the villainous Thunderbolts granted her bioelectric powers, transforming her into the energetic hero Jolt — one of the few members who genuinely wanted the team to embrace true heroism.

Few characters capture the electric optimism of late-'90s Marvel quite like Jolt, who burst onto the scene in 1997's Thunderbolts '97 — Kurt Busiek and company's landmark launch of one of the most celebrated team books of the Modern Age. Over nearly three decades of publication, Jolt has proven herself a genuine fan favorite, racking up 51 catalog appearances, three of them collector-significant key issues, and showing up everywhere from the main Thunderbolts series to Marvel Zombies: Dead Days. She keeps remarkable company throughout those adventures — sharing pages with the likes of Karla Sofen, Melissa Gold, Clint Barton, Songbird, and Atlas — a roster that speaks to just how central she is to some of Marvel's most compelling corner of continuity. If you've ever wanted a character with real staying power who debuted at the heart of a genuinely groundbreaking comic moment, Jolt is absolutely worth your time.