Forager II

FORAGER II

Real Name: Forager

Class: Extraterrestrial (Bug)

Occupation: Warrior

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New Genesis

First Appearance: New Gods III #2 (March, 1989)

Powers: Forager was a skilled warrior possessing great agility and speed. Her insect wings gave her the power of flight, and like all Bugs she had a high tolerance for radiation. She was armed with a shield, a gauntlet that shot an acidic glue-like substance, and a Mother Box.

History: (New Gods III #2, 3) - A beautiful young female Bug had the mantle of Forager passed on to her, and charged with carrying on the original Forager’s legacy. She attended Forager’s funeral, and met his former comrade-in-arms Orion. Orion arranged peace-talks between the New Gods and the Bugs, demanding independent states for the Bugs in exchange for their services in the war against Apokolips. Some of the Council of Five bristled at the idea of cooperating with Bugs, and the Commander claimed they’d be poor soldiers. Prime One offered Forager as their champion, and challenged the New Gods to select their own to battle her in an arena., Lonar was chosen, and after a brutal fight he won, but was impressed with her skills, and the fact that she would rather die than be beaten, so he proclaimed the Bugs worthy allies. Metron awoke from his coma and revealed to Orion that the Bugs were created by the New Gods as biological weapons against Apokolips, but when they escaped and ravaged New Genesis they blamed Apokolips for their creation. Orion felt betrayed and told Highfather he was not as righteous as he seemed. He struck Highfather and left New Genesis.

(New Gods III #4, 5) - Orion spent time contemplating on a mountaintop in Tibet, but Forager followed him. She told him he’d have to accept that the New Gods weren’t perfect, but they were trying to make amends with the Bugs, something Apokolips would never do. Mantis built an insect colony around a nuclear missile silo in Tulsis, Nevada, planning to bombard Earth with a nuclear attack. Orion and Forager invaded the colony, slaughtering Mantis’ horde of bugs, but their efforts to stop Mantis from firing off six nuclear missles failed. Mantis attacked Forager and seemingly killed her. In his rage at losing a woman he felt connected too Orion killed Mantis. With Lightray’s help he caught up to the missiles and opened a Boom Tube to the insect colonies of New Genesis, destroying their civilization. Orion felt no joy, but thought the Bugs deserved what they got. Forager reappeared alive and railed against Orion for not considering using the Boom Tube to bring the missiles to an empty world. Mantis’ hordes had perished, but so had many innocent Bugs. She hit Orion and told him he was no different than his father Darkseid.

Comments: Created by Jim Starlin & Paris Cullins

Forager had a cameo in New Gods III #6 and 14.