Wallflower (Marvel)
Wallflower is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Laurie Collins was a female human Mutant raised by her single mother, Gail Collins, who never told her that her father was Dr. Sean Garrison, a famous psychiatrist and self-help guru. Garrison’s popularity was based on his pheromone based powers, enabling him to manipulate the emotions of the people around him. One such woman who fell prey to his power was Gail herself, whom Garrison coerced into having a romantic relationship with him. However, when Gail ended up pregnant with Laurie, she developed an immunity to Garrison’s pheromones and left him upon realizing that he had been controlling her. Gail was traumatized after the incident with Sean and became very insular. With no other role models, Laurie too isolated herself believing that allowing other people to get close would result in her getting hurt. At thirteen years old, Laurie was on vacation when her own powers of pheromone control manifested. All of a sudden, she was popular and felt happy. Gail, however, realized what was transpiring and explained to Laurie that using her power was unfair on others. Once more, Laurie retreated into herself, feeling that she could never trust how anyone felt about her ever again. (New Mutants v2 #11)
One lunch period, Laurie was approached by Danielle Moonstar, a former student turned faculty member of the Xavier Institute, who tried to bond with Laurie and encourage her to join in with the others. Laurie was adamant that other people would like her only because of her pheromones, and that they wouldn’t like her for real. Regardless, Moonstar found the perfect roommate for Laurie in new student Sofia Mantega, who could easily blow the pheromones away with her power to control the wind. When other students learned that Laurie was rooming with Sofia, they questioned Sofia about this, but Sofia stood up for Laurie and a friendship grew. (New Mutants v2 #3)
Wallflower began to confront her discomfort with her abilities more directly. She was pushed into field training with the rest of her team, where her pheromones influenced both allies and bystanders, sometimes disrupting the mission. During a training exercise, she accidentally triggered hostile emotions in one of her peers, escalating into an argument until Dani intervened. Laurie’s lack of control over her powers highlighted her vulnerability, but she stayed determined to continue training alongside her classmates, despite the embarrassment her abilities caused her. (New Mutants v2 #5) Laurie soon found herself not only spending time with Sofia, but also a pair of other new students recruited by Moonstar. The four teenagers were allowed to accompany Moonstar to New York when she was searching for another potential new mutant, Josh Foley. This led the young mutants into a trap, set by Donald Pierce and his new group of militant mutant haters, the Reavers, whom Foley had just joined as he was unaware of his status as a mutant. The young mutants were forced to use their powers to defend themselves, but Laurie had a hard time controlling her abilities, projecting the fear she felt onto friends and enemies alike. Eventually, she was stabbed in the back by Pierce himself and would have died if not for Josh Foley using his newly discovered healing ability to save her. Laurie and her friends returned to the school, with Josh joining them shortly thereafter, and they all picked Moonstar as their personal advisor. (New Mutants v2 #6)
Laurie had started to show more active involvement during missions. When her team faced a chaotic situation involving hostile students, she hesitantly used her pheromones to manipulate emotions in order to protect herself and her friends. Though the application was clumsy, Laurie’s decision to deploy her abilities marked her slow shift from a passive participant to a more assertive member of the team. Her control remained fragile, but she demonstrated that her powers could serve as both a defensive and strategic tool if wielded carefully. (New X-Men: Academy X v1 #2)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Wallflower was depicted as a slim young woman with light blonde hair and pale green eyes, often styled in a way that made her appear delicate and understated. She typically dressed in modest clothing that reflected her shy personality, contrasting with her brightly colored New Mutants uniform, which incorporated gold and black in the standard Xavier Institute design. Her withdrawn body language and hesitant posture often reinforced her image as someone uncomfortable in her own skin. (New Mutants v2 #2)
Laurie was deeply introverted, sensitive, and insecure due to her inability to control her pheromone powers. She was reluctant to trust others, fearing that any bond she formed might be a by-product of her abilities rather than genuine affection. Despite this, she was compassionate, empathetic, and loyal once she opened up to her teammates. Over time, Laurie demonstrated resilience, facing her fears to stand with her peers, and displayed courage even when she doubted herself. (New X-Men: Academy X v1 #2)
She was said to enjoy reading and solving puzzles. (New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook v1 #1)
It was noted that she disliked public speaking with her also being voted the 'Shyest Student' at the Xavier Institute. (New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook v1 #1)
Laurie Collins was the daughter of Gail Collins and Dr. Sean Garrison, the latter of whom operated as a famous psychiatrist and self-help guru. In reality, her father was a Mutant with the ability to manipulate people using his pheromone-based powers. In fact, he used this same ability to make Gail Collins fall in love with him. Using his powers, he made her fulfil his desires until she was pregnant with their daughter. During the pregnancy, Gail became immune to Sean's pheromones and quickly realised what he had done to her. This led to her leaving him after seeing that he was controlling her whereupon she came to raise their daughter alone as a single mother. (New Mutants v2 #11)
Powers and abilities
Using Nimrod technology, the Purifiers came to identity her as an Omega Threat. (New X-Men v2 #24)
She had inherited her fathers ability to release pheromones that could be used to manipulate the emotions of others and control them. Laurie's powers first began to manifest when she was 13 years old whilst she was on vacation. (New Mutants v2 #11)
Wallflower was a mutant whose primary ability lay in the generation of pheromones capable of influencing the emotions of others around her. These pheromones could make targets feel attraction, fear, anger, or calm depending on her emotional state, though at first, she had little conscious control over them. Initially, they manifested involuntarily, but with training at Xavier’s, Laurie learned to exert more direction, using them tactically in combat or high-stress situations. While not physically enhanced beyond baseline human levels, her unique powers allowed her to alter conflicts psychologically, making her both dangerous and unpredictable in group dynamics. (New Mutants v2 #2)
Notes
- Wallflower was created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Keron Grant where she made her first appearance in New Mutants v2 #2 (August, 2003).
Alternate Versions
Appearances
- New Mutants v2: (2003)
External Links
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