White Rabbit (comics)

Publication history

She first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #131 in July 1983, and was created by J.M. DeMatteis, Kerry Gammill, and Mike Esposito.

Fictional character biography

Born from a wealthy family, the girl who would become the White Rabbit grew up in a safe, secure environment and was showered with all the material possessions she desired. However, she was bored, and only found entertainment from classic literature, such as Alice in Wonderland, her favorite. As she grew older, her family married her off to an older gentleman named Lewis Dodson (a name derived from the author of the Alice in Wonderland books, Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Dodgson). At the time of the marriage, she was twenty-five and he was eighty-two. Being treated as a trophy wife caused her mind to snap, and she eventually had him killed (or murdered him herself), simply saying about his death that he "died happy", and used her inheritance to buy various gadgets so that she could experience a life full of danger and excitement.

She became the White Rabbit, an eccentric female criminal, whose costume resembled a cross between the literary character from Alice in Wonderland and a Playboy Bunny. While the White Rabbit is clearly insane to the point of being completely ridiculous, she is quite articulate and has a great knowledge of literature, as well as being a total psychopath. She spent her first days as a criminal robbing various fast food joints, most notably "Kwikkee Burger". She and her gang were eventually confronted by Frog-Man (a frequent customer at Kwikkee Burger), who was able to defeat her hired help only with Spider-Man's aid. The White Rabbit escaped, but struck later at a book fair, where she found the two super heroes once again. The White Rabbit, witnessing her men getting defeated, fled using her jet-boots, but they began to malfunction, allowing Frog-Man to knock her into a building.

Much later, she resurfaced, plotting to get her revenge on Frog-Man. She allied herself with the Walrus, but they were defeated by Spider-Man, Frog-Man, and Frog-Man's father, Leap-Frog. Ditching the Walrus, she popped up again later with two new villains, Mad Hatter and Dormouse, though they were both actually hired actors, as no other supervillains would work with the White Rabbit. She formed a new plan by capturing Grizzly and Gibbon and ransoming them for one billion dollars in gold. She also created several genetically-altered rabbits, who were ready to eat Grizzly and Gibbon. The Mayor, however, only offered the White Rabbit $2.50, which caused her to fly into a rage and raise the ransom to five billion dollars (this time the Rabbit demanded that the ransom be paid entirely in quarters), but Spider-Man, under the alias of the Bombastic Bag-Man - as he was currently wanted for murder as Spider-Man thanks to the machinations of Norman Osborn, he was forced to use an alternative costume and lacked the time to get any of his other new costumes (See Identity Crisis (Marvel Comics)) - infiltrated the White Rabbit's hideout and battled her giant rabbit robot. She was then knocked out by Grizzly (who claimed he did it so he wouldn't be accused of being sexist); he and his partner had escaped, remembering Gibbon's natural affinity with the Animal Kingdom and thus taming the GM Rabbits.

White Rabbit was later seen at an auction in which the Venom Symbiote and Scorpion suit was sold. She tried to rob another bank, but was interrupted by Grizzly. However, she escaped and the police arrested Grizzly by mistake.

In the limited series Claws, the White Rabbit, her outfit modified (now more than ever resembling a Playboy Bunny), became romantically involved with Arcade, a man with a dedication for drama and who controls 'Murderworlds', where people are killed off in carnivalesque ways. They go after Wolverine and the Black Cat. The two heroes manage to defeat Arcade and the White Rabbit. They are dropped off into the Savage Land, a prehistoric land hidden deep in the Antarctic. The White Rabbit became queen of a group of tribal warriors.

During the Dark Reign storyline, White Rabbit appears as a member of the Hood's gang. She is part of a sub-group of said gang that attacks Mister Negative. The motive is because he won't hand over his control over the criminal underworld in New York's 'Chinatown'.

White Rabbit is next seen in Los Angeles, where she is working as a drug dealer to the rich and famous. One of her clients is Bobby Carr, Mary Jane's boyfriend. Carr is also an actor and is using Mutant Growth Hormone to bulk up for a movie role. The Rabbit turned on her client when the U.S. Department of Justice wanted him to inform them who his dealer is. White Rabbit and her gang attacked Carr and MJ at a trendy Los Angeles club, gassing the party goers. Mary Jane rescued Carr and took out White Rabbit at the club, when the police arrived and took the White Rabbit into custody.

During the Spider-Island storyline, White Rabbit (alongside Chance and Scorcher) attacks Peter Parker and Carlie Cooper at an abandoned lab that Jackal is in at Empire State University. She ends up knocked down by Peter Parker using the moves he learned from Shang-Chi.

White Rabbit later makes a cameo at the Raft at the time when Hydro-Man, Scorpion, and Trapster spring Doctor Octopus (whose mind has been swapped with Peter Parker's mind) out the Raft.

White Rabbit later appeared as a member of the Menagerie (which also consisted of Hippo, Skein, and a new villain called Panda-Mania). They were on a rampage stealing expensive eggs from an auction. White Rabbit named the group the Menagerie because of the villains' animal themes, even though Skein did not use the Gypsy Moth name. She and the Menagerie are defeated by Spider-Man despite the fact that Skein used her powers to destroy Spider-Man's outfit. White Rabbit and the rest of the Menagerie later reunite to commit a diamond heist, which led to another defeat at Spider-Man's hands.

White Rabbit next hires Howard the Duck to procure Pym Particles for her, but the plan is foiled by Ant-Man. She later participates in a gang war, battling the Spot in the Third Precint.

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, White Rabbit allies with Walrus and the new Goldbug for a plan that involves tampering with New York City's drinking water. The three villains are located and defeated by Spider-Woman, and are taken to the refurbished Ryker's Island, now called the Cellar.

White Rabbit later appeared as a member of the Hateful Hexad alongside Bearboarguy, Gibbon, Ox, Squid, and Swarm. During the Hateful Hexad's disastrous fight against Spider-Man and Deadpool, the battle is crashed by Itsy Bitsy.

Abilities and equipment

The White Rabbit has no superhuman abilities but is well-educated (at least a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature or its equivalent) and knows some martial arts.

The White Rabbit is obsessed with the works of Lewis Carroll, and her equipment reflects this: her weaponry includes an umbrella that shoots razor-sharp or explosive carrots, a large, rideable, heavily armed robot rabbit, genetically-engineered killer bunnies and jet-boots. She also had two custom-modified vehicles: a zeppelin called the Flying Hare, and a van called the Bunnymobile.

Due to her ridiculous appearance, insanity, lack of judgement and bad reputation, few people take her seriously and dismiss her as a raving lunatic.

Marvel Adventures

White Rabbit appears in the Marvel Adventures Spider-Man series. She is romantically interested in Venom, and even writes to him when he is in the Vault. White Rabbit plans a series of Lewis Carroll-inspired robberies alongside Venom, while he pretends to be Spider-Man's new unwanted sidekick. However, Spider-Man figures out the plan and easily defeats Venom and White Rabbit.