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Background
Sally Avril was part of a group of kids in Queens, New York, consisting of
Liz
Allan, Tiny McKeever, Seymour O'Reilly, Jason Ionello and Peter Parker
who were
friends since Elementary School. But by the time they arrived at Midtown High
School, Peter had drifted apart and the clique was taken over by new
student Flash Thompson. From that point, Sally wanted nothing to do with
Peter,
shooting him down when he asks for a date in favor of "dream boats like Flash
Thompson" and coaxing Liz away from Peter rather than offer sympathy after the
death of his Uncle Ben.
Always craving excitement and fame, Sally gets her kicks by being an
accomplished, blue ribbon winning High School gymnast. Always willing to
appreciate a practical joke for the excitement it would bring, Sally is the
only
member of the group who approves of Jason's prank of stealing Peter Parker's
clothes from his gym locker. Convinced that the others disapprove of this
theft
because it wasn't concocted by Flash, Jason comes up with a new scheme and
invites only Sally to join him. The Daily Bugle has previously offered one
thousand dollars to anyone who can discover Spider-Man's true identity. Jason
and Sally plan to be the ones to win that money.
Prowling the city at night with a pair of binoculars, Sally and Jason come upon
a meeting between Spider-Man and Batwing. By this time, most of the enthusiasm
for the project rests with Sally. While Jason worries about the safety of the
part of town they are in, Sally revels in the excitement. This difference of
opinion is only expanded when Spider-Man discovers them and warns them off the
hunt; but while webbing Jason's feet to the floor, Spidey merely gives Sally an
affectionate pat on the cheek. Still trailing Spider-Man, Sally and Jason
witness the wall-crawler committing a robbery unaware that he has inadvertently
been brainwashed by Dr. Winkler who is working for Electro. At the
villains'
hideout, Sally snaps a picture just as Electro prepares to unmask the
hypnotized
Spider-Man. The flash bulb wakes the web-slinger from his trance but he is
still on the verge of being defeated by Electro when Sally staggers the villain
with a kick to the head; setting him up for defeat by a punch from Spider-Man.
The wall-crawler shows his gratitude by taking a picture of Sally and Jason
standing over the unconscious Electro. It appears on the front page of the
Bugle with the headline "School Kids Foil Super-Villain".
This success gets Sally thinking that she can take pictures of Spider-Man for
the Bugle but when she arrives at the newspaper offices, she finds Peter Parker
there and learns that he is already doing what she had planned to do. Peter
asks Sally not to tell the other kids.
So, Sally changes her plans and decides to become a super-hero. Enlisting the
help of Jason's engineer father for weapons and equipment, Sally dons a white,
blue and black costume with a blonde wig and becomes the Bluebird. She shows up
at Peter's house and asks him to take action photos of her. When Peter
refuses,
Sally blackmails him by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the
rest
of the gang which forces Peter to reveal it himself at school. Stymied, Sally
decides to become Spider-Man's partner, horning in on his fight with Electro
and
the Eel. Her new weapon, the Ether Egg, fails when she throws it at Electro
because ether evaporates too quickly and even as Spidey defeats the villains,
Sally's overenthusiastic coup de grace allows them to escape.
Undeterred by her mistakes and encouraged by her newfound fame when Liz Allan
asks for her autograph, Bluebird joins Spider-Man's battle with the Scarlet
Beetle, bringing Jason along as her personal photographer. She finds herself
in
constant danger but is bailed out by Spider-Man who uses one of her Ether Eggs
to stop the Scarlet Beetle by throwing it into his mouth. Now realizing that
Sally feels invulnerable because she is so sure Spidey will rescue her, the
web-spinner decides to do nothing in their fight against the Black Knight's
thugs. As a result, Bluebird is quickly punched into helplessness. Spidey
lays
it on thick, telling Sally she is in over her head and convincing her to quit
being Bluebird. But this only boosts her desire to succeed in her previous
plan
to take action photographs for the Bugle. When Spider-Man takes on the Black
Knight, Sally talks Jason into driving her to the scene, urging him to drive
recklessly. When she convinces Jason to run a red light, an oncoming bus hits
their car. Jason escapes with only a mild concussion but Sally in killed in
the
wreck.
Spidey blames himself, believing that she would still be alive if he'd let her
continue as Bluebird until talked out of it by the Human Torch. "She'll
never
laugh again", he tells the Torch, "She'll never toss her head the way she did,
instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of
something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a
few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could
be
obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now
she's gone."
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