Valient Grrl is probably the busiest woman in MCComix right now, being in (and brainwashed in) no less than three on-going comics, and yet each appearance is vastly different than each other and shows off a different side of her, which is refreshing.
Let me give my feedback on her appearances (of which two of them I'm writing myself, so, you know, writer's insight.
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Valient Grrl in Forbidden Fantasy. Valient Grrl has always succeeded most in drawing out the most intense feelings from everyone she comes in contact with. People she meets always come away with strong opinions and impressions of her. Belinda obviously hated her, blaming her for the loss of her lover, her lab, and her freedom, and Kristen became THE woman she hated more than anyone else. And Valient Grrl felt the same way. Belinda had stolen her, copied her, and humiliated her, and Kristen, more than ANY other heroine, knew what Belinda was capable of. It was truly a great rivalry of brains vs brawn that reminded me of The Leader vs The Hulk, but Kristen was smart too. She may not be a super-genius, but she did her best to keep watch on Belinda even inside the prison and to instruct Warden Smith not to get lax with her. Ultimately, Kristen was betrayed by someone she trusted and counted as a friend, and she was stripped of her pedestal. She was brainwashed into Belinda's slave, and her love for Alpha Woman doesn't even flicker in her mind. Honestly, I hope Kristen doesn't fully recover from this. She's had her noodle messed with so many times, but this is the one that seems like it has the potential to actually change her. Her memories and emotions deleted and modified, if she ever does get free, will she go back to normal? Or will she struggle with an identity that she feels she should know but can't identify with? She's told she loves Tina, but she no longer feels it, or she's told Mechana and her used to fight but she doesn't feel that anger towards her anymore. She's left marked and changed; she'll recover and move on with her life, but the scar tissue in her brain will always remind her that she's not quite the same woman she was before Belinda got a hold of her, and she'd need to move past it. That's the potential I see, the chance to make Valient Grrl stand alone and apart from the baggage she's been saddled with, no longer defined by what she is (a clone), who she is (Alpha Woman's girlfriend), or what she's done (many mind controlled crimes). Until then, though, Belinda should go wild with her.
Valient Grrl in Body Image. This was my attempt to focus more on Valient Grrl's vulnerable side, which I'll definitely be getting to in future issues. For a woman as strong as Kristen is, it's difficult to imagine she's still actually a young, insecure woman trying to find her place in the world. We forget that while the heroines love her as one of their own, the general public's first impression of her was that of a wild-card hothead and a brainwashed robot girl that invoked fear in the general populous as she robbed banks, destroyed property, and caused havoc wherever she went. To me, Kristen has had the additional burden of trying to regain the public's trust since then, since they view her almost as more of a threat to their safety than many supervillains. Furthermore, she's genetically super-tall and super strong, and has the most daring and revealing outfit of any Squad member, leaving her the main target of criticism from the tabloids about how she looks and dresses. She's in a constant battle for respect and struggles with self-respect. She also has to live up the legacy of the prior "Valiant" woman, of whom the papers and tabloids feel she is far inferior to. So, she has body image issues, lives in the shadow of her predecessors, and is haunted by the ghosts of her past, and then Leo, Theo, and Cleo come along and exploit her human weaknesses, enslave her again, and set out to systematically turn her into everything she feared she'd become, using her to ruin lives and to become once again a public threat. Even if she breaks free and saves the day, the damage is already catastrophic; will the public really stand by and let her freely fight criminals when the city bill is in the millions every time she screws up? How much will her friends stick up for her in the face of persecution? How loyal is Alpha Woman to her lover when the heat rises and Hypnotica comes along for competition? These will all be addressed in the issues to come and really explore not just Valient Grrl's personal problems but also how the city as a whole views her.
Valient Grrl in Hypnotica. Obviously this is a big one, since it's in the pages of "Hypnotica" that Valient Grrl uncovers her origins as an APEX-created test product. This, obviously, is going to have major repercussions on her as an individual. It's illegal to allow clones to exist, and so this proud heroine is now forced to hide a terrible secret, and also lie and cover up for her new friend Hypnotica. How far would you go to protect someone you cared about? How many laws would you break to ensure their safety? When the very person you work for and live with, Alpha Woman, is one of the individuals that helped pass an "anti-clone" law, how complicated can that relationship get? Beyond that, Valient Grrl's past and future are no longer so clear-cut. She has a mother she never knew or spent time with, and whom doesn't even know Kristen exists. She's now someone APEX and Max have rediscovered, and will they really let an expensive product like her wander free without monitoring her? Her sense of identity, of who she is, is in danger of being lost. But, this series also shows how strong she is. The revelations she uncovered would break and cripple the mind of a lesser being, but in even the hardest circumstances, she stands her ground and does what her heart tells her is right, whether what her heart tells her is right endangers her life or even breaks the law. Kristen is the youngest full Squad member, but I also see her as the heroine with the most potential to become a true legend. The people of Metrobay may hate and fear her, her past may be full of rookie mistakes and hotheaded decisions, and she may continue to defy the very laws she promised to honor and respect, but she is a natural leader, a skilled tactician, a powerful warrior, and a kind and loving soul. Unfettered, she could possibly be a better leader than Ms. Metrobay or Alpha Woman, but her own fears, self-doubts, and dependencies on them limit this, but as "Hypnotica" showed, when she's in charge, she's brilliant and terrifying. She has potential, and her actions in "Hypnotica" are just the beginning of a story arc for her that will be followed up on showing just what she is actually capable of.
Kristen remains one of the first, and best, heroines MCComix has ever produced. From her origins as a confused and reckless rookie to her gradual maturation and evolution into a triple-A heroine, she continues to exhibit enough variety and appeal to warrant those many appearances she makes. Despite everything that's happened to her, both good and bad, she's endured and will likely continue to endure. She's full of potential, and whether she ever succeeds in matching the legacy her mother Valiant Woman earned that has only grown to mythic proportions through the decades, or whether she breaks from expectations and marches down a different path, possibly one against the law or against the very Squad and friends she's spend her whole life honoring and protecting, one thing remains true of her; she follows her heart and she'll never compromise that.
And, to me, that's the mark of not just a good heroine, but a GREAT one.