Mercenaries aren't always the gun-totting Gears of War-stereotypes we all think of when the term comes up. They're not all red-masked mouthy men either. Sometimes mercenaries can be right down the street, behind the doors of "Heroes for Hire". Today's Z-Lister is one of the Hero for Hire's earliest members, Colleen Wing.
Colleen Wing was created in "Marvel Premier #19" in 1974 by Doug Moench and Larry Hama. Her origin states that she grew up in the mountains of Honshu, Japan, being raised by her grandfather Kanji. Kanji taught the young Colleen the ways of the samurai and she mastered the arts very quickly. Kanji was the former head of the Japanese secret service, while Colleen's second-uncle was the new head, her father was a professor in New York and her mother had been killed when she was a child. When she became a young adult, Colleen and her father Professor Wing met Danny Rand-the martial arts hero Iron Fist-in New York and assisted him in fighting crime. Colleen later teamed up with another New York crime fighter named Misty Knight, who would become her best friend. During their team-up, Misty's arm would be damaged in an explosion. It was with Colleen's support and guidance that Misty gained the strength to go back to crime fighting with a new bionic arm. Colleen and Misty formed a detective industry called Nightwing Restorations (way before DC Comic's Dick Grayson became the vigilante "Nightwing") and the duo gained the street name "Daughters of The Dragon". Colleen and Misty would also be reserve members of Luke Cage and Iron Fist's pay-to-be-saved organization "The Heroes For Hire".
Colleen went through some very captive situations in the years to come. First she fell under hypnotic control of the villains Master Khan and Angar The Screamer and she was forced to fight her friend Iron Fist. She was then held captive and turned into a heroine addict by the villains, being saved by Misty and assisted in overcoming her addiction. After a mission with The X-Men, Misty found herself needed their assistance after she was kidnapped by the villain Arcade. She had a short romance with an actor named Bob Diamond. Later she was turned into glass temporarily by Chemistro. When Marvel's Civil War prompted SHIELD to establish various teams of enforces, Colleen Wing and her new Heroes For Hire were enlisted. However, after seeing how SHIELD treated the character Moon-Boy, Colleen disbanded the Heroes for Hire and left SHIELD's watch.
After an event called "Shadowland" in which Colleen, Misty, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spider-Man and Shang-Chi try to help/defeat Daredevil-who was A. possessed by a demon and B. leading The Hand ninja clan-Daredevil contacted Colleen with intel on her mother. When he was part of The Hand, Daredevil discovered Colleen's mother was a member "The Nail", a team of female swordsmen resurrected by The Hand's dark magic and used as assassins. While this team was killed by The Hand's enemies, Daredevil asks Colleen to lead a new less-evil version of The Nail consisting of herself, Black Lotus, Makro, Yuri, and Cherry Blossom. This team eventually falls apart and Colleen betrays and escapes them.
With Misty Knight set to appear on Marvel's Netflix show "Luke Cage", I think it stands to reason we might see Colleen Wing appear on Marvel's Netflix show "Iron Fist", thus leading to their "Defenders" show. This character is very interesting to me in that while she is often played as a supporting character she is in no way lacking solo hero matierial. Her relationship with both samurai ethics and ninja lore, combined with her experience fighting crime in New York makes a deadly combination for an otherwise overlooked character. I can only hope possible Netflix notoriety gives her more to do in the comics, whether it be a solo series, a new Heroes for Hire, or some new inclusion of her in Marvel Comics. After all, with Cindy Moon/Silk being an Asian spider-chick and Amadeus Cho being the new Asian Hulk, it would seem the potential for characters like Shang-Chi and Colleen Wing to be higher than ever before. Then again they can always make Iron Fist Asian and piss the world off for another four days. Thanks for reading and Happy Celebration September!
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