Menace
Attributes
| Eyes: | (as Lily) brown, (as Menace) yellow |
| Hair: | (as Lily) dyed blonde, (as Menace) red |
| Height: | (as Lily) 5'6", (as Menace) variable |
| Weight: | (as Lily) 116 lbs, (as Menace) variable |
Powers
| Abilities: | After being exposed to one of Norman Osborn's new Goblin serums, Lily has the ability to consciously mutate herself between her human and Menace form. While Menace, Lily has increased strength, durability, and agility |
| Weapons: | Menace's arsenal comes straight from one of Norman Osborn's Goblin hideouts. She flies on a Goblin glider equipped with missile launchers and blade clusters. Menace also carries an explosive-firing gun, a battle ax, razor wings, and razor discs. There are 6" retractable blades on each gauntlet on her arms |
Summary
| Citizenship: | U.S. |
| Education: | college graduate |
| Former Occupation: | Socialite |
| Known Allies: | Norman Osborn |
| Known Relatives: | William "Bill" Hollister (father) |
| Major Enemies: | Spider-Man, Harry Osborn |
| Marital Status: | unmarried |
| Place of Birth: | St. Albans, Queens, New York |
Background
Using an old journal belonging to Harry Osborn and some fancy new Goblin serum, Lily Hollister transformed herself into the villain Menace and began playing politics.
Lily's sense of entitlement did not come by accident, she was the daughter of a wealthy attorney named Bill Hollister. Even though money was never in short supply for Lily, her father's love was and she was always very jealous that he favored her childhood friend, Carlie Cooper, over her. Carlie, a forensic specialist with the NYPD, was Lily's roomate in NYC. Lily's father, now a city councilman and Manhattan's district attorney, caught the eye of Harry Osborn as a potential political candidate worth investing in. Harry met Lily (sound familiar?) while researching the various candidates and the two became lovers. They were both convinced that Bill Hollister could win the city's mayoral seat, but Lily wanted to secure the victory.
Soon after Harry and Lily began dating, Lily grew concerned about Harry's stress level as he struggled to get the Coffee bean back up and running. Believing that Harry was back on drugs, Lily began snooping through his closets and eventually she stumbled upon one of the journals that he made back when he was the Green Goblin. Using the journal, Lily uncovered the location of one of Norman Osborn's Goblin hideouts and she decided that some dirt on Norman may help build a cause for her father to run for mayor. But that's not what she found, instead, while Lily perused the hideout, she accidentally knocked over some experimental serums and absorbed them through her skin. She soon realized that she could transform into a Goblin-like creature with increased strength at will! Lily's reign as Menace had begun.
Lily's first plan as Menace was to simply open a slot for her father in the mayoral race by driving one of the candidates out. During a mayoral debate between Randall Crowne and councilwoman Lisa Parfrey, Menace arrives and kidnaps Parfrey. After Spider-Man and Jackpot team up to rescue the councilwoman, a miscalculation by Jackpot leads to Parfrey being tragically killed as the glider crashes into her. Hollister soon enters the race and Menace continually 'attacks' her father's campaign events in order to foster sympathy for him in the polls. Lily even goes as far as to call Menace out publicly, telling the villain to "bring it on, ugly".
Randall Crowne was quite aware of his rapid drop in the polls and things got worse whenever Menace popped up. When Menace blew up a Hollister campaign truck, the explosion unveiled a sweatshop owned by Crowne, which became a PR nightmare. Crowne then called in his old friend Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts team to detain the Spider-Tracer killer in order to win some PR support for Crowne. While in NYC, Osborn was confronted by Menace who warned Norman to leave the city and get out of her way. The two trade blows and Menace eventually gets the upper hand, but she leaves suddenly claiming she has "got places to be".
Interestingly, during the Skrull's secret invasion it was Jackpot who first noticed that Menace may not be wearing a mask. She made the observation while struggling to remove the mask during a confrontation with the villain.
Lily's duplicitous lifestyle continued on for some time and her relationship with Harry progressed as well. Eventually Harry decided to propose to her and he did so while on a date with Lily at the Statue of Liberty. But Lily turned down his proposal, sighting his past as the Green Goblin as a major concern. When Harry goes back to Lily's house to explain why she should marry him, he inadvertently stumbles upon Menace reverting back to Lily's human form. With the cat out of the bag, Lily shares her origin with Harry and he can barely stomach the news. Their relationship ends but Harry is not through with Menace. On election day during a battle between Spider-Man and Menace, Harry arrives on a Goblin glider wearing a Goblin mask and fires a serum into Menace. The serum causes Menace to revert back to Lily, and this is all caught on the news. Lily is outed as Menace and her father's mayoral chances end immediately. Later, while detained, Norman approaches Lily and welcomes her to the family, a new union forms. As Menace, Lily later confronts Harry and tells him she's 'moved on'.
”Dark Reign”
During Norman's Dark Reign, he and Lily devise a plan to help garner support for his cause. They want to convert Harry to an Avenger, named the American Son, and have him die as a martyr, helping Norman earn more sympathy from the public. Lily baits Harry by telling him that she is pregnant with his child, this causes Harry to accept Lily once again. Harry then reluctantly accepts his father's offer to become an Avenger as he secretly searches for a cure for Lily so that the two can live a normal life (good luck!). When Harry approaches Lily with the cure, she turns him away and tells him about their plot against him and that the true father of the child is Norman. Lily stays off-radar for a significant period of time, remaining in Norman's protection at the Avenger's Tower.
”Origin of the Species”
However, after Norman's failure during his siege on Asgard that ultimately led to his imprisonment in the Raft, Lily became very vulnerable. Lily frantically gave birth to a baby boy while on the run from a group of super-powered villains, it was Doc Ock that delivered the child. (Amazing Spider-Man #642)
Spider-Man quickly rescued the baby and struggled to get him to safety. Spider-Man inadvertently handed the baby over to the Chameleon, who was disguised as Harry. Meanwhile, Carlie took Lily to their apartment where they were followed by Tombstone, who hoped that the baby would eventually end up back with Lily. After it was returned, he would take it to Octavius. He was stopped by Lily, who impaled him with her goblin glider. After Spidey rescued the baby from the Lizard and Octavius, he let MJ know that the kid was safe and she passed the info on to Lily. Lily left on her glider, saying that Osborn's men would be hunting for her and that she would be a danger to her son. She wanted MJ to tell her baby that she loved him. (Amazing Spider-Man #645)
”Goblin Nation”
Menace returned, under the employment of the Green Goblin. Her first duty was to break the Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) out of police custody and deliver him to the Goblin. Osborn was preparing for his assault on Spider-Man (Octavius) at Spider-Island 2. (Superior Spider-Man #16) She was returned to a powerless human after being given Octavius’s Goblin formula antidote. (Superior Spider-Man #31)
”Axis”
After being depowered, Lily was being transported via armored truck by the police. Goblin King saved her from the transport as it crossed a bridge. He forgot she had been returned to normal and when she fell off of the bridge and into the river, she lost her memory. Wandering the streets, she learned that Roderick Kingsley was making ordinary people into superheroes. (Hobgoblin: Axis #1) Kingsley trained her to become a hero called Queen Cat, based on the Black Cat. Goblin King came to kill Kingsley, who was defended by Hollister. Goblin King fled but left a message for her to contact him. (Hobgoblin: Axis #2) She came to his meeting and pretended to join him. When Goblin King attacked Kingsley again, Queen Cat again showed that she had no loyalty to Goblin King and wanted a fresh start in life. (Hobgoblin: Axis #3)
”The Queen Cat Strikes”
She found a job working security in a museum, which was burglarized by the Black Cat. Queen Cat was embarrassed to have “allowed” Black Cat and her crew escape and made it her job to capture Hardy. She stole some loot that Black Cat herself had stolen, hoping to lure her into a trap. (She had beaten up Felicia’s mentor, the Black Fox, when she stole the stolen gems.) It didn’t go well, as she was taken by surprise by Cat’s gang and then by Black Cat personally. Felicia was amused by her story of being the spoiled rich girl turned supervillain turned superhero. Black Cat allowed Queen Cat to think of her as an arch enemy if she wanted but she knocked Hollister out anyway. (Black Cat (vol. 4) #4)
”Cult of Carnage”
As Liz comforted Stanley, Lily watched them from afar, wearing a hood. (Misery #2)
Misery went after Corwin Jones, who had stolen the Life Foundation symbiotes (Lasher, Phage, Scream, Agony, Riot) and Carnage’s offspring Toxin. Misery went after Jones but was beaten since he had bonded to all of the aliens. He called himself Madness. She was put into a medical tube to recover and be contained. Little did anyone know but Queen Cat had been watching from the ventilation vent. After Carlton Drake and Jones left, she entered the room and told Liz that she’d better have some more tricks up her sleeve or they were both dead. (Misery #3)
After it was revealed that the Harry she knew had been a clone and was killed, Lily went after her son. Stanley was being raised by Liz Allan, Harry’s widow. What Lily didn’t know was that Liz had become Misery, a co-bonding between the Carnage and Anti-Venom symbiotes. (Misery #4)
Both women considered Stanley to be their son but Lily replied that Stanley called Liz “Aunt Liz.” Misery demanded to know why Harry kept a private phone to keep in touch with her and Lily didn’t know. She never answered the calls because she had amnesia. She assumed that Harry just wanted to know that she was ok, not as a personal slight against Liz. Lily wanted her son back but didn’t want to erase his “aunt” from his life. Liz refused to let her near him and Lily understood but claimed that she was better after getting help. She warned that Stanley was in more danger than Liz realized because the threat was so close that she wasn’t paying attention. Lily didn’t explain but said that as long as Liz was a C.E.O. and connected to Norman Osborn, Stanley wouldn’t be safe. That’s when she was attacked by Madness.
After the fighting was done, Lily was unconscious and in the hospital after being gored by Madness. The doctor noted that she had cleared received excellent neurological care to repair her memories. He suspected she had friends in high places. That friend turned out to be Kolina Frederickson. (Misery #5)
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