Dwayne McDuffie

Volcana (Marsha Rosenberg) is a fictional character (a supervillianess turned superheroine) featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics who first appeared in Secret Wars #3 (July 1984). She was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck.

Fictional character biography
Marsha Rosenberg was born in Denver, Colorado. Marsha was a day care center employee who, along with her friend Skeeter, was a normal human resident of Denver who was spirited away to the Beyonder's "Battleworld" during Marvel Comics' Secret Wars series. Lusting for power and respect, she and Skeeter agreed to serve Doctor Doom, in exchange for super powers. Doctor Doom had managed to figure out how to operate a machine utilizing alien technology, and used it to grant her the ability to transform into a molten lava form, and fire powerful thermal energy blasts, hence her choosing the codename "Volcana". She allied herself with Doctor Doom and the criminal faction, and battled the She-Hulk in a confrontation with the heroic faction. During the series, she developed a relationship with the supervillain Molecule Man. She bargained with the Enchantress, and then battled the Enchantress with the intent to renege on her bargain.

Marsha later took up residence back on Earth with Owen Reece, and hosted the Beyonder upon his arrival on Earth. She tricked the Molecule Man into challenging the Beyonder, and then participated in the defeat of the Beyonder.

Some time later she accompanied the Molecule Man and the Fantastic Four to the Beyonder's universe, and separated from the Molecule Man when he apparently became irrevocably merged into another "cosmic cube" along with the Beyonder. Unlike her friend Skeeter, who became the supervillianess Titania, Marsha did some superhero work, She had battles with the Wizard and Moonstone. She also assisted the Avengers in repairing the damage to the Earth's crust caused by the Beyonder. Later, she was briefly reunited with a de-powered Molecule Man (who had mysteriously returned to Earth) and battled Klaw. It was at that time that she gained the ability to assume volcanic rock and volcanic ash forms. She subsequently discovered that, just before his supposed "death," the Molecule Man had secretly "willed" her a portion of his reality-warping power and it was this power that gave her the ability to manifest these other forms at critical times, just when she needed them. Once he regained his power from her, she found herself no longer able to tolerate the darker side of his personality and terminated their relationship.

Powers and abilities
Marsha Rosenberg gained superhuman powers through genetic manipulation by highly advanced technology and performed by Doctor Doom. As Volcana, she originally had the ability to convert her entire body into a plasma form, in which she blazes with white-hot intensity, at times setting aflame any surface beneath her. In her human form, the 6'5" tall Marsha has long black hair, and usually wears only her magenta-colored swimsuit; her clothing is manufactured from unstable molecules, thus it is not destroyed when she is in her plasma form. The alien technology that empowered her makes her powers totally undetectable when she is in human form.

Her plasma form grants her superhuman durability and consists of highly charged particles which surround her in white-hot flame and is able to emit controlled bursts of thermal energy up to 40 feet. She later gained the ability to convert her body into a stone form, a volcanic rock (basalt)-like composition which still enables movement and grants her superhuman strength. She subsequently gained an ash form, a volcanic ash (pumice)-like composition whose configuration she can shift, shape and control at will. Volcana cannot make partial transformations; she can possess the attributes of only one of her forms at a time. Monitoring devices subcutaneously implanted by Doctor Doom can be triggered to stimulate the aggression centers of her brain.

Television

 * Volcana appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Villainy Redux Syndrome!", voiced by Grey DeLisle. She is shown to be the girlfriend of Molecule Man and aids him into helping Doctor Doom, MODOK, and Abomination break out of the Vault. In the episode "When Strikes the Surfer," Volcana was seen with Nebula (whose mouth was removed by Thanos using the Reality Gem) and Molecule Man at a galactic diner. When Volcana discovers that Nebula has no mouth, she has Molecule Man create a new one for her. Nebula tells Molecule Man and Volcana that the Dark Surfer is causing havoc. Doctor Doom approaches the three villains stating that they should band together to trap the Dark Surfer in the machine Doctor Doom once used to drain the Silver Surfer's powers. Volcana joins Doctor Doom into attacking the Dark Surfer. Dark Surfer ends up sending the villains on Doctor Doom's side through a portal.

Novels

 * Volcana appears in the novel Spider-Man/X-Men: Time's Arrow: The Present by Tom DeFalco and Adam-Troy Castro, in which she is hired by agents of Kang the Conqueror to fight Cable and the Beast. While she is not normally a mercenary, she needed the money to repair her car.


 * An alternate universe version of the character also appears in the book, as a member of a resistance movement against a fascist version of the X-Men.