Ruby Thursday (Thursday Rubinstein) is a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. She is usually depicted as a member of the Headmen. She is named for the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

song, " Ruby Tuesday".

Publication history

Ruby Thursday first appeared in '' The Defenders'' #32-33 (February–March 1976), and was created by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and

Jim Mooney James Noel Mooney (August 13, 1919 – March 30, 2008) was an American comics artist best known for his long tenure at DC Comics and as the signature artist of Supergirl, as well as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, both during wh ...

. The character subsequently appears in ''Defenders'' #35 (May 1976), ''Defenders'' Annual #1 (October 1976), ''

Omega the Unknown Omega the Unknown is an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976 to 1977, featuring the eponymous fictional character. The series, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney, ran for 10 issues before ...

'' #9-10 (July, September 1976), ''Defenders'' #76-77 (October–November 1979), ''The Sensational She-Hulk'' vol. 2 #1-3 (May–July 1989), ''Web of Spider-Man'' #73 (February 1991), ''Deathlok'' #2-5 (August–November 1991), ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #97 (December 1992), ''The Defenders'' vol. 2 #5 (July 2001), 8-10 (October–December 2001), '' I ♥ Marvel: Outlaw Love'' (April 2006), ''She-Hulk'' vol. 2 #10 (October 2006), and ''Heroes for Hire'' #6-8 (March–May 2007). Ruby Thursday appeared as part of the "Headmen" entry in the original ''

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic u ...

'' #5, and in ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89'' #3, and she received an entry in ''The All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update'' #4 (2007).

Fictional character biography

Thursday was a scientist who grafted an organic computer to her head composed of malleable plastic that can assume any form she wills it to. She was recruited by Arthur Nagan into the supervillain group known as the Headmen. Her residence at the time was a mansion in Laurel Canyon.''The Defenders'' Annual #1 Her intentions at the time of joining the headmen were to replace the head of every human with a plastic head like hers. She ran for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

as the candidate of the "Global Head" political party under the slogan "New heads for old". She was forced to drop out after Jack Norriss (associated with the superhero team known as the Defenders) tricked her into revealing her non-human self at a public campaign event. Shortly after the end of her presidential campaign, she was defeated by the Hulk and captured along with the rest of the Headmen by the Defenders. She later partners with a large purple creature called Dibbuk (named after, but unrelated to a dybbuk) and bases herself in Las Vegas. She robs

of $55,000 in casino winnings in a Las Vegas hotel room. Omega chases her on foot in Las Vegas. Police arriving on the scene see a superhuman man in costume (Omega) appearing to assault a normal woman (Ruby) in her car. Omega starts brawling with the police and they open fire killing him. After the death of Omega, Ruby notices that his body is made up of advanced organic cybernetics. She steals his body from a Las Vegas morgue and attempts to dissect it intending to incorporate its technology into her head. Confronted by the Defenders, her plastic head is struck by the

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

's bio-electric "sting". The head breaks open and Dibbuk teleports a seriously wounded Ruby away. When next seen, her plastic head appears much smaller. Ruby later participates in the plan to gain her ally

Chondu the Mystic Chondu the Mystic, sometimes known as Chondu the Magician, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Chondu the Mystic first appeared in ''Tales of Suspense'' #9 and was created by Doug Wildley and Geo ...

a new body; specifically, the body of a clone of

She-Hulk She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...

. The Headmen hire the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, then later Mysterio in order to test She-Hulk for compatibility. She is subdued and cloned, but escapes with the aid of Spider-Man. Ruby is arrested by the New York city police. Ruby begins running weapons procurement scams against A.I.M. She partners with and becomes romantically involved with the

Answer Answer commonly refers to response to a question. Answer may also refer to: * Answer (law), any reply to a question, counter-statement or defense in a legal procedure Music * Answer, an element of a fugue Albums * ''Answer'' (Angela Aki albu ...

. After having stolen money from A.I.M. on five occasions, A.I.M. hires the assassin Bullseye to kill Ruby. He uses her relationship with Answer to draw her out of hiding and throws the

album '' Flashpoint'' (which contains the song " Ruby Tuesday") into her chest apparently killing the biological portion of her body. The

saves her head after Bullseye leaves in hopes of reviving her later. During the ''

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'', Ruby later is involved in a high-speed 'chase' through the streets of Manhattan. The super-heroine Hellcat ends up clinging to her bumper. Ruby uses her malleable head to fire a gun at Hellcat during the pursuit. The fight is ended with the intervention of She-Hulk and her allies. She-Hulk does not actually go for Ruby, she takes down Hellcat first for being an unlicensed superhero. The results of Ruby's rampage are shown in the forms of cars being shot up, people traumatized by this, and a cab ending up through the front window of a bookstore. Ruby herself is subdued by the weaponry of Two-Gun Kid, a licensed bounty hunter for the state of New York. Ruby and the Headmen then fought the Heroes for Hire while attempting to transplant Chondu's head onto Humbug's body. At some point, she was imprisoned in The Raft, which Wolverine broke her out of in his plan against Romulus. Ruby was contacted by Romulus and her daughter's life was threatened, forcing her to give Romulus the information to Wolverine's plans. When confronted by Wolverine, Ruby attacked, defeating him by impaling him with the tentacles she had formed with her head. Soon, Cloak,

Silver Samurai Silver Samurai is the name of two different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, both acquaintances of Wolverine. The character has appeared in several X-Men-related animated series and video games before ma ...

Skaar Skaar may refer to: *Skaar (comics), a fictional character from Marvel Comics *Skaar Ridge, a ridge on the southeast side of Mount Augusta in Queen Alexandra Range *Bryn Christopher or Skaar, British singer People with the surname *Andrew O. Skaar ...

, and

Bruce Banner The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

appeared, all battling Ruby Thursday. She held her own, but was eventually caught by Skaar and teleported back to The Raft by Cloak. It was later discovered The Answer is the one who had planned her escape. Following the ''

Avengers vs. X-Men ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' (''AvX'' or ''AvsX'') is a 2012 crossover event that was featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The event, consisting of an eponymous limited series and numerous tie-in books, involves the return of the Phoen ...

'' storyline, Ruby Thursday is among the villains that are imprisoned at an unnamed prison. She participated in a prison riot until she and the other villains were defeated by

Mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

and Rogue. As part of the " All-New, All-Different Marvel" branding, Ruby Thursday subsequently attacks a police station with

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, and Shriek. The quartet is subdued by Spider-Woman's apprentice,

Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

Powers and abilities

Ruby Thursday's head had been replaced with a mass of "organic circuitry". The red spherical mass has the ability to alter its shape so she can form appendages or weapons, replenish herself, and project different bursts of energy. If the sphere is separated from her body, she can still control it, no matter how far. Ruby is also a scientific genius, with knowledge in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and robotics.''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update'' Vol 1 #4 (December 2007)

Publication history

Fictional character biography

Powers and abilities

References

External links