Carolyn Forge

Carolyn Forge is a net.hero created by Tom Russell. See also Electra.
Alter Ego:	None
Aliases:	Aero Lass (or Areo Lass, as it was consistently misspelled), Escapade Girl
Primary Writer:	Tom Russell, Jesse Willey (formerly)
Status:	Former member of Teenfactor, probably active as a scientist and possibly a net.hero
Usability:	Usable with permission

History

[Note: Tom Russell has elsewhirled the original Teenfactor series, so some or all of Carolyn Forge's original history may no longer be canon.]

The long, strange, sad tale of Carolyn Forge begins with one of the Legion's greatest enemies, Doctor Killfile. Marie Smith, the net.hero called Miss Calico, was won over by his charm and fell in love with him when he was engaged to a Caron Forge, a fellow super-scientist who worked as a postal worker. On his wedding night he arranged for Marie to meet him and his fiancee, then called off the wedding and raped them both. They each became pregnant and gave birth to children. Dr. Killfile then switched their children at birth: Deliah was raised by Marie, while Carolyn was raised by Caron Forge.

Caron Forge was a cruel, strict and controlling mother, who tried to keep her away from the outside world. Carolyn had inherited her father's superhuman genius but had few friends. But Carolyn's childhood was not a wholly unhappy one, thanks to the two close friends who studied with her, Rick Henkerton and Libby. Libby was mute and Rick suffered from an unique disability, so they both understood her sense of being an outcast. Libby and Carolyn were normally fast friends, but one day they had an argument. It was the last time they ever spoke, as the next day, Libby died of a brain tumor. From then on, Carolyn desired to find a way to conquer death, and became determined to save people like Libby.

When Carolyn was a teenager, her adoptive mother joined the League of Disgruntled Post Office Workers and was later kicked out. To protect herself and her daughter from the League, she invented a suit of armor, taking the name Aero Lass. Caron then killed the leader of the League, Brother Gary, and got into a fight with Teenfactor. But Carolyn found her mother and was shocked by her actions, which distracted Caron, allowing Teenfactor to defeat her. A regretful Caron passed on her armor to her daughter, who joined Teenfactor.

Carolyn flourished in Teenfactor, finally finding a group of friends and a place where she could fully exercise her genius. When Jennifer Frost took over the team, Carolyn was one of the members who left with Malingerer Lad to form a new version of Teenfactor, but the two teams rejoined to battle Self-Righteous Preacher's evil side, Vice.

Shortly afterwards she met Terrence Coffee, AKA Useless Powers Lad. He, too, came from an abusive background, though she didn't know this at the time. He immediately fell in love with her, and Carolyn responded to his warmth and kindness and fell in love with him in return. Soon Terrence gave her the gift of immortality through his power to manifest the Spoon of Destiny. But fate intervened in the form of an incarnation of the Time Crapper who was Terrence's future self. He brought Terrence to trial for his own crimes, but gave him one last chance to see his teammates. Terrence and Carolyn finally consummated their love before he was taken away.

In spite of losing Terrence, Carolyn persisted as a net.hero, growing in strength and confidence and eventually becoming Teenfactor's leader. She also reunited with Rick, now the net.hero Boy Redundant Lad, reigniting a somewhat stormy friendship. But she soon discovered she was pregnant. Her mother was horrified (probably influenced in part by her own past experiences) and insisted she abort, but Carolyn refused. Vixen provided her support and took her to Lamaze classes. During this period she also built a new, more powerful version of her mother's armor. The birth itself was somewhat difficult due to Carolyn's immortality, which meant that her body kept repairing the "damage" to itself, including her separating from her child. But Death itself intervened to help her give birth--an incarnation of Death that seemed strangely familiar... She named her son Samuel Terrence Forge.

Not long afterwards, the second Boss Supreme put out a bounty on Sammy's head. Death once again came to her rescue and revealed himself as Terrence, who had been transformed into Death as punishment for his future crimes. The Time Crapper then intervened to ensure his own existence. His goal was to sacrifice Sammy, the final catalyst which would turn Terrence into the Crapper. But Terrence's love for Carolyn helped him triumph over the Time Crapper, and Sammy was saved.

The Time Crapper, convinced this was the last time Terrence would see her, had given her memories of the identity of her true parents. At last she reunited with her real mother--and they were confronted by her real father. Teenfactor defeated Dr. Killfile with the aid of Easily-Discovered Man and Easily-Discovered Man Lite. She helped set her mother up with a new life.

Shortly afterward her family life became even more complicated when the woman she could have been in a now-averted alternate timeline, Electra, arrived in the Looniverse to join the team. Carolyn instantly hated and distrusted her, since Electra knew how to push all her other self's buttons, and she made no bones about being attracted to Terrence herself. Then Carolyn became pregnant with twins and took a leave of absence from Teenfactor, during which Electra attempted to rape Terrence; when she discovered this later she came to hate her even more.

Carolyn then attempted to use her immortal blood develop a cure for all diseases and death. This was particularly urgent because Malingerer Lad was HIV-positive. He turned down the cure, feeling he didn't deserve it after cheating on Vixen and lying to her, and left the team. Carolyn destroyed the cure because the government was refusing to give it to people they considered unworthy.

Before long Carolyn gave birth to her twins, Jack and Elaine, facing the same obstacle as before. This time it was the sorceress Janis Kult who intervened, delivering the twins and then kidnapping them. Carolyn enlisted the aid of The Drizzt to save them. He revealed that Kult had taken them to an future timeline ruled by an omnipotent Dark God, and only she could destroy it. She found her children, now her own age, who had become net.heroes called Methyl-Cyanocrylate Lad and I'm-Melting-I'm-Melting-Oh-What-A-World-All-My-Beautiful-Wickedness Lass, part of a resistance movement against the Dark God. Carolyn discovered to her horror that the Dark God was her own future self, bitter from the grief of losing her children, who wanted to punish the world for all she had suffered. Carolyn dared the Dark God to kill her, but she could not and killed herself instead. Carolyn then returned to her own world with her children. During this battle her armor was destroyed, and she took the name Escapade Girl.

But their reunion was short-lived. Before long, Janis Kult, seeking revenge on Voidmaster destroyed the Teenfactor headquarters, killing the rest of the team including Jack and Elaine. Terrence and Carolyn joined together with many of the surviving former members and Pearly White to fight them both. After this, Teenfactor was truly over. Terrence proposed to Carolyn and she accepted, and Teenfactor ended with Terrence taking her over the threshhold. Now at last she could have the happy family life that had long been denied her.

Or so she thought.

The Killfile Wars

[I'm uncertain how to handle this material, since Tom Russell Elsewhirled Jesse Willey's stories with his characters becuase he disliked Jesse's use of Electra in Adventures Beyond Comprehension, but other authors have referred to elements of the Killfile Wars. At any rate, Tom did approve of Jesse's tarnishing and then killing Terrence, so we can probably assume that he is dead.]

New Teenfactor and beyond

Over time Tom Russell came to regret making Carolyn Dr. Killfile's daughter, seeing it as the kind of cheap retcon that's all too common in superhero comics. In the abandoned New Teenfactor revamp, Carolyn was a teenage super-genius recruited by the government with no indication of any traumatic past. Or of her being ¼ elf and ¼ cat. However, Arthur Spitzer referred to Carolyn as Killfile's daughter in Beige Countdown, although it was in a dream sequence. She has not been seen since, though she may have joined with the other surviving members of Teenfactor to battle the zombie Gerald Ford.

Recently, a new Doctor Killfile has appeared; it's rumored that she may be another of Carolyn's counterparts.

Personality

Initially, Carolyn was shy, sweet and introverted. She grew in confidence over the course of her time in Teenfactor, eventually becoming the team leader. She is kind, considerate and highly compassionate. Nonetheless she also shows moments of self-righteousness, such as some of her interaction with Rick and her destruction of the "Cure". She has also shown the capacity for fierce anger, especially in her interactions with her "sister" Electra. In many ways she has shown affinities with both her mother and her father.

Carolyn has weathered an enormous amount of pain and loss and transcended her abusive family to grow into a strong net.hero. Or so it seems. In a number of alternate timelines, Carolyn has broken under the weight of all she has suffered, and the results have not been pleasant. The Drizzt said that there were many timelines where the grief from the loss of her twins turned her to evil. It remains to be seen whether this is one.

See also How To Write Aero Lass.

Powers and Abilities

Carolyn Forge is an immortal super-genius scientist and inventor. Initially, she wore a suit of powered armor designed by her mother; later she improved on the suit so it runs on her immortal bioelectricity. She has stopped aging at 15 years old.

Appearance

A slim, beautiful woman with brown hair.

Appearances

• Malingerer Lad and Teenfactor #4-20
• Teenfactor #1-130
• Pearly White #1
• Journey Into Irrelevancy #4
• Killfile Wars
• New Teenfactor #1
• Burst Beetle Tweseveny #2-3