Dazzler's History
Alison Blaire was born to Carter Blaire and Katherine Blaire in the Long Island suburb of Gardendale, New York. Her parents had a tense relationship: her father was a stoic law student, while her mother was a free-spirited entertainer. Ultimately, this led to Katherine walking out on Carter and a toddler-aged Alison, leaving Carter to raise Alison with the help of his mother.Katherine's leaving had a profound effect on Carter, who had kept the shameful secret of Katherine from Alison all her life. As Alison entered adolescence and developed dreams of becoming a singer, her father became increasingly intolerant to the idea. Instead, he forced Alison to choose a life path similar to his own; Alison would become an academic star, and continue on a path to law school. Alison's grandmother, Bella Blaire, was more sympathetic to young Alison, and encouraged her to explore her creative energies.
However, while performing at a middle-school dance, Alison manifested her mutant abilities, blinding all in attendance save herself. For years, Alison kept her powers a secret from those closest to her, further alienating her from her father. By the time she reached university, Alison began to explore her powers and her musical ability. She crafted her own performing suit and accessories, naming herself "The Dazzler." It was at this moment Alison decided to abandon her father's dream. While at her graduation ceremony, Alison informed Carter that she would not be attending the law school he had selected for her, and would pursue a life as a singer, without her father's blessing or financial support.The Dazzler used her light-based mutant powers as a draw for her performances. Taking the sound of the music and converting it into dazzling displays of color drew the young singer enough attention to land her gigs at several New York clubs and discotheques. However, Alison knew that she, a mutant, would have to keep the nature of her powers a secret. Marketing her light shows as a "technological secret," Alison was able to bypass critical speculation for some time. Yet while this little white lie fooled the club managers and others in her life, it did not escape the notice of Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club, or Charles Xavier, founder and mentor of the X-Men.
Both the Hellfire Club and the X-Men sent entourages to a Dazzler performance to recruit Alison to their respective ideological side. The X-Men sent Phoenix, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler to have a discussion with the young woman, while the Hellfire Club sent a group of armed men to take her by force. The combined powers of Dazzler and the X-Men suppressed the foes, and the new team also worked to free other members of the X-Men held captive by the Hellfire Club. Professor Xavier offered Alison a position within the X-Men, but she declined, instead choosing to focus on her career.At this time, Alison became an increased target for superheroic phenomena. In one instance, she was possessed by the foe Lightmaster, and was thankfully saved by Spider-Man. In another, she acquainted herself with Johnny Storm -- the Human Torch -- at a posh nightclub. As the Dazzler was becoming more popular in the club circuit, she was becoming more known in the superhero circuit as well.
This co-mingling of superheroes and career proved both beneficial and detrimental to Alison. Needing a well-deserved break, Alison auditioned and won a performance spot at up-and-coming nightspot Numero Uno. Unfortunately, the singer bested the Enchantress, who -- so incensed by the outcome -- vowed to have revenge upon the Dazzler. As her new superheroic friends packed the club, the Enchantress summoned her minions, erupting in a large battle. It was Alison herself who sealed back the Enchantress' nefarious energies, ending her plans. While she won a battle against a powerful adversary, her performance was in ruins. Despite this outcome, Alison continued to follow her dream. When given lemons, the Dazzler made lemonade. She signed on as a singer with a reputable agent -- Harry Osgood -- and was given a formal stage manager, back-up band, and a knockout performance spot at a United Nations charity summit! Unfortunately, before she could perform, the Dazzler encountered Doctor Doom, intent on stealing one of the "Jewels of Doom" currently held on display at the UN. Dr. Doom then used the chanteuse to retrieve another of these jewels from the villainous Nightmare in his Nightmare Dimension. In the dimension, Dazzler was confronted with her own self-doubts and insecurities her father planted within her. Overcoming this obstacle, Alison retrieved the jewel and destroyed them. As Doom was to seek retaliation, the Human Torch came to her rescue. The Dazzler again survived a brutal encounter, but at the expense of her career.
But for Alison Blaire, her powers still proved to be a curse. While riding the New York subway, a couple was being harassed by men with armed weapons. Alison quickly used her powers to subdue them, only to find that she, then, became the enemy. The couple she "saved" quickly began harassing her, and as a crowd formed to assail her, she fled. Clearly, there was no place for mutants in the larger society.Her career fared no better. After another performance was soiled -- this time by Hulk -- Harry Osgood became increasingly curious over the nature of Alison's stage effects. The "technological secret" was in question. When Harry confronted Alison about the nature of her powers, she stormed out, defensive. How could she reveal her true identity? To make matters worse, an old enemy of Osgood sent the Enforcers -- a group of mercenaries -- to harm him. When Harry Osgood was kidnapped, Alison made it her mission to find and protect him. After defeating the Enforcers and saving Harry, she confessed to Harry her most hidden secret: that she was a mutant! Not knowing how the first non-superhero would react to such a revelation, Alison breathed a sigh of relief when Harry gave her his support, and vowed to keep her "technological secret" safe.
Alison's "technological secret" may have been safe regarding the average citizen, but for the U.S. Government, it was a pressing affair. Alison was whisked away by Project: PEGASUS against her will to undergo several strenuous tests regarding her mutant powers. While at PEGASUS, Dazzler witnessed several other super-powered beings being held captive, including Klaw and Solarr. As time went on, Alison became increasingly intolerant toward the members of Project: PEGASUS. The researchers found that Alison had no natural limit to her abilities, and theoretically could be the most powerful mutant on Earth, with unlimited energy potential. Intolerance swiftly turned into aggression, and -- upon witnessing Klaw being tested by PEGASUS technicians -- inadvertently freed the villain. Klaw then turned his energies upon Dazzler, unaware that her mutant ability transformed sonic energy into light-based energy. As Dazzler began to absorb Klaw's essence, she found she could not stop the process. The Dazzler had fully absorbed Klaw into her body, storing it as light energy.
Unable to cope with her "murder," Dazzler used the energy to free herself from the confines on PEGASUS. The strong energy signature alerted the space entity Galactus to the young mutant, who abducted her as a means of retrieving his renegade herald, Terrax. Galactus then imbued Dazzler with the power cosmic -- a source of unlimited sound energy, allowing the human to enter a black hole to retrieve the herald. Dazzler succeeded in her task and, using her virtue of compassion, convinced Galactus to pardon Terrax and return her to Earth.
Amidst it all, Alison suffered several bouts of trial... and error. For one, she could not hold a decent relationship. Wanting to get away from the superhero circuit, Alison dated Dr. Paul Jansen, who after weeks of courting, proved to be unable to adjust to Alison's unconventional lifestyle. Likewise, Alison could not hold down a gig to save her soul, inconveniencing both her manager, Harry, and her band. Most disconcerting, Alison was literally on trial for the murder of Klaw. Enraged by the outcome of her stay at PEGASUS, the agency decided to file suit against Alison. For days, she feared for her life, but with the help of lawyer Kenneth Barnett, she was pardoned.
Things turned upward for the singer. Alison began to date Ken. And she began speaking more and more with her grandmother, Bella, although relationships remained tepid with her father. The relationship became more icy when Alison began wearing her mother's locket as a tribute to the woman she never knew. Despite this setback, Alison was determined to make it big. And she did. She was allowed to tour the West coast as a warm-up singer for rock star Bruce Harris. Unfortunately for the Dazzler, her act proved so good that it became a threat for the star, and Bruce nixed her from the tour.
Disheartened, Alison returned home, whereupon she was courted by none other than former X-Man Angel. The Angel attempted several times to win the Dazzler's heart, and decided the key to success lay with finding her mother. Unfortunately the Angel, a close friend of Alison beat her to it! Katherine Blaire was hiding as Barbara London, a matronly vocal coach. Katherine followed Alison throughout her budding career, but could not bear to confront the daughter she had abandoned. Alison's family situation was about to reach a climax.
Alison's biggest break yet finally lay at her footstep: a prestigious gig at Carnegie Hall! And her budding romance with Angel proved that her life, finally, could reach a harmonious center: the Dazzler lived her dream, and could truly be herself with a fellow mutant. It didn't last long, as her father fell into a psychological stupor. Carter Blaire awoke to confront Alison with the truth about her mother, Katherine. She did not simply leave the family, but rather slowly denigrated into an unfaithful drug addict who left Carter to be with her new beau, Nicholas Brown. Alison could not believe the horrid story, and left in tears. Her energy had to go toward her career, and no longer her family. She didn't know, however, that Katherine had left the abusive Nick Brown and hid away as Barbara London.Alison's friend Vanessa convinced Barbara to attend the Carnegie performance, and Carter convinced himself to make amends with his daughter. The family re-united after the performance, with Alison finally coming face-to-face with her mother for the first time in her memory, and also developing a new understanding for her father.
All was not as simple as it seemed. Barbara had married Nicholas Brown, and also had a daughter -- Lois -- leaving Alison with a half-sister! Alison attempted to form a relationship between both Barbara and Lois London, quickly befriending her new sister. However, other complications arose. The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants -- Mystique, Rogue, and Destiny -- sought revenge on the X-Men, and decided that the Angel would be an appropriate source of information. The trio attacked Warren; however, Alison defeated the trio of villainesses. Rogue vowed revenge on the Dazzler, becoming increasingly jealous of her popular and attractive lifestyle. Unfortunately, the mutant gene was alive in both sisters. Lois' powers manifested while being harassed by a homeless derelict, and, unfortunately killed the man in the process. Terrified, Lois asked for Alison's assistance. The two fled New York as fugitives, hiding on the road and assuming brief false names to avoid being tracked by the authorities. Worse, an unidentified photographer took photos of the incident, blackmailing the women into murdering a wealthy Californian man in exchange for the film negatives.
As the duo went to meet this Californian, he turned out to be none other than Nick Brown -- Lois' father! The photographer was hired by Nick to track his daughter, Lois, and decided to use the evidence as further blackmail for a financial profit. Nick then offered Alison several social connections to the West Coast elite, including photographers and actors -- including the famous Roman Nekoboh.Alison and Nick's relationship turned sour. And when Lois opted to stay in her biological father's comfort rather than with the sister who uprooted herself for her own benefit, Alison left. Alone and with nowhere to turn, she began to start her life anew, renting an apartment in San Diego and taking a job as an aerobics instructor and part-time model.
Roman Nekoboh had a particular interest in Alison. He helped introduce her to other members of the Hollywood elite, but particularly wanted her to star in a new film of his. Suspecting she was a mutant, he wooed Alison into divulging her hidden secret, and convinced Alison to "come out" as a benefit to mutants everywhere. Thus, Dazzler: The Movie was born, highlighting the ups and downs of her many adventures, and the social good mutants offer to society. Over time, Alison succumbed to the allure of a wealthy, spoiled lifestyle. As she was in a relationship with Roman, Alison allowed her emotions win over her better judgment, and agreed to a public relations stunt that would publicly unveil her as a mutant. Several jet engines supplied Alison with enough power to demonstrate the magnitude of her abilities. However, the sound proved too great, and it backfired, frightening and scattering onlookers.
As a result, negative press mounted against the singer. Protests against Roman Nekoboh -- a mutant sympathizer -- mounted. At a private press screening, a riot erupted. Alison could not believe the reaction, and went to confront Eric Beale, her financial backer. Beale, obsessed with Dazzler as an object of sexual desire, would only release the movie on condition Alison sign a contract making her his sole creative property. Blackmailing Alison in a bout of sexism and racism, Beale noted that the film would improve the world's opinion of mutants, and that she should take the personal sacrifice not only for her career, but also for the social good. In a final act of defiance, Alison rejected Beale, destroyed the only known copy of the film, left Roman, and return to pick up the pieces of her life.
Always optimistic, Alison attempted to start from square one. Sadly, there was no work to be had in a society that left mutants on the outside of it. Rejected from the most menial of work, Alison gave up hope. She was left to peruse parties as a low-level socialite all while still being barraged by negative tabloid press. This left Alison emotionally susceptible to others. When a charismatic man named "Flynn" approached Alison about a community where she could call home, there was little she could do to refuse. Alison was increasingly ashamed of her mutant powers that brought her so much pain. With the aid of a drug that caused Alison to lose control of her powers, Flynn gained the influence he needed to control the Dazzler. Alison joined Flynn's group -- an underground group of mutant "gladiators" that battled one another to the death for the amusement of a wealthy human elite. With the assistance of the Avenger Beast, Alison was able to break free of her emotional insecurity and the psionic influence that plagued her, and together the two brought an end to the gladiator ring. The following events did little for Alison. She tried to get perfuming gigs as often as she could under pseudonyms. And even then she was still assailed by villainous characters. Eventually she sought solace with the band of fellow mutant rock star Lila Cheney, who brought Alison to the New Mutants. Two members of the New Mutants had fallen into the ranks of a new gladiator ring, and once again Alison succumbed to the allure of the limelight, no matter how brutal. The events of the second "Secret Wars" broke Alison away from the gladiators, and she fell into an awkward relationship with the Beyonder, a cosmic being who found Alison to be the most beautiful and one of the most powerful beings on Earth. She rejected his advances.
After overcoming the shame she felt for her powers, Alison turned to the X-Men for assistance in honing her mutant abilities. Agreeing to the request, Professor Xavier gave Alison a suit amplified and gave precision to her powers. Alison then turned to the road, combating villains and owning her role as a super-hero. The new twist was short-lived, A bounty hunter named O.Z. Chase was hired to apprehend the Dazzler for a meta-human duo named Dust and Silence. The two needed Alison's light effects to awaken a latent drug in humans, giving them meta-human abilities. To coerce Alison, the villain Dust possessed the body of her father, Carter Blaire. However, Dust's abilities caused the slow breakdown in the organic matter of the host, ultimately killing Carter. Alison and O.Z. fought of Dust in Carter's body, leaving him for dead, and searching for Barbara London, who was being held by his counterpart, Silence.Silence captured Alison, and forced her to use her mutant abilities for her goals. If she did not cooperate, Barbara would be killed. Luckily, a team of friends rescued Alison and Barbara, and Alison rechanneled her light energy as a concussive sound force to kill Silence. Alison then faked her own death to hide from the authorities and the press that so plagued her life.
The Dazzler again went into hiding as a member of Lila Cheney's back-up band. However, her inability to seize the spotlight made her an easy target for the psychic entity Malice, who was eagerly looking for ways to attract the X-Men. Possessing Dazzler, Malice made Alison a threat to those around her, calling the X-Men to her aid. Once Malice was defeated, Alison reluctantly joined the X-Men, as her identity and safety were compromised.Alison's alliance with the X-Men brought many adventures. Alison was forced to confront and cooperate with Rogue, a one-time adversary who wished to kill her. While the two heroines formed a tepid friendship, it was tested several times as Rogue envied Dazzler's relationship with teammate Longshot; Rogue even dressed and posed as Dazzler to court the man's attention.
With the X-Men, Alison also learned to rely on teamwork and cooperation. Being used to tackling the Marvel Universe's largest villains solo, Alison attempted to halt the Juggernaut by her lonesome. Fortunately, Juggernaut did not wish to cause the singer harm, and Alison merely passed out from overexertion. After this, Alison learned to use teamwork more effectively in subduing later foes.In one battle, Dazzler, along with the X-Men, sacrificed their lives to subdue the Adversary. Resurrected by Roma, Dazzler and her teammates were now "living legends" who were thought dead, and invisible to any sort of mechanical perception. Dazzler had faked her own death to hide from the world, and now it was a permanent aspect of her reality.The X-Men gravitated to Australia to confront a band of cyborg looters known as the Reavers. The team then took over the Reavers base in the Australian Outback, where they made permanent residence. Alison, accustomed to the social life of New York City and Southern California, often grew intolerant of the new environment.
However, the Dazzler provided a much-needed source of entertainment and verve. Exhausted from many missions and the social isolation of the Australian desert, Alison would frequently tour local bars and venues to sing and interact with non-teammates. In one event, she brought her fellow female team members to a mall where they indulged in a day of shopping and frivolity. Make no mistake, the Dazzler was the life of the party. Even stowaway orphan Jubilee found comfort in Dazzler's quarters: the teenaged mutant found an immediate kinship in the extent of Alison's wardrobe!It wasn't all fun and games, however. Dazzler had undergone a body-swap with the villain Diamondback, was subject to the malevolent psychic forces when a demonic inferno engulfed New York, and had been blinded by the villain Spiral. Alison was also besieged with visions of her life in the different paths she could have taken: lawyer, mother, singer, superhero, and bum. This insecurity fueled her post-inferno, where a glimpse into the jewel of the Siege Perilous showed her varied demises in each life path.
After Alison's fateful visions, the team fell apart. While defeating Master Mold, Alison blasted her teammate Rogue through the mysterious portal. Wolverine left the team without any warning to unknown whereabouts. Longshot faded from reality to "find himself," and Havok accidentally killed Storm. The four remaining teammates: Dazzler, Colossus, Havok, and Psylocke, attempted to carry on, but under threat of the Reavers' coming onslaught banished themselves through the Siege Perilous where Rogue had fallen weeks before.Alison awoke on Malibu beach, unaware of who she was. Her former allies Lila Cheney and Strong Guy discovered her and took her into their company. Unfortunately for Alison, she was in the middle of a maelstrom involving Dazzler: The Movie. A copy had survived and found by a young acquaintance of Alison's. Meanwhile, Eric Beale had become obsessed with the Dazzler and vowed to kill her.
Dazzler: The Movie was at last publicly screened, and Alison had defeated Eric Beale. However, she could not remember her true identity. Even as her other teammates had rediscovered themselves, Alison could not recall, and her former love Longshot re-encountered her before the X-Men.Longshot went to the amnesiac Dazzler for help, and Lila Cheney teleported the trio from harm's way. Alison slowly regained her memories, and chose to stay with Longshot on his native world, and assist him in his fight for independence. Alison became pregnant, although lost the child.After several years abroad, Alison returned to Earth following a cataclysmic destruction of Mojoworld. Finally putting herself first, Alison jump-started her career in her classic Dazzler digs, where all seemed well. Unfortunately, a worldwide turn of events for mutants made the career short-lived, and once again Alison returned to low-level performances in the United Kingdom to make ends meet.
She has since joined the superhero team Excalibur, finding solace in a world where she is once again a minority. She recently began singing again, and after one particular gig in an English night club she was killed by an evil Jean Grey, when her body was taken to the hospital and checked on she seemingly woke up from her death, a full diagnosis of her body stated that she was fine and her body was in working condition. With the help of her Excalibur teammates they put an end to the faux X-men team. After her first adventure with the Excalibur team she had another death experience when The Juggernauts old friend returned for a vengeance against him, Black Tom Cassidy returned with only a few of his mutant abilities when Dazzler, in the middle of fighting with him, was shot in the back by one of his henchmen and seemingly died (again) after a few moments she got up from her death and aided in defeating Black Tom. The Excalibur team was concerned about how and why she came back from the dead again but Dazzler seemed to care nothing about it. When Camelot was destroyed in the past with the help of the Dark Knight, Dazzler and Excalibur aided in defeating the evil forces at hand. Recently when Juggernaut wanted to receive the full power of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, Nocturne of the team wanted to help Cain and stop him from making any mistakes, but Dazzler didn't care this put her at odds with her best friend on the team. Nocturne stated that Dazzler did not deserve the love that Cain gave her because she would always be a performance girl waiting to be in the fame lights. Though seemingly reluctant Dazzler stopped the agent of Cyttorak and Juggernaut from retrieving the crystl.
