I personally think that one relatively new character that Marvel has introduced does not get the credit that she is due. I am, of course, talking about Warbird.

Warbird was first introduced in Wolverine and the X-Men #1, as the bodyguard of Kid Gladiator, so of Lord Gladiator, Emperor of the Shi'ar Imperium. She starts off as mostly a background character, but she has found herself increasingly in the spotlight. Created by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, there wasn't really much to her in the beginning. But during the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover, her character is flushed out significantly and her origin is revealed.

Ava'Dara Naganandini always wanted to be a warrior, and forgive me for saying this, but she was the best there was at what she did. As a Warbird, she was elite, the creme-de-la-creme of the Shi'ar, almost a super-soldier of her species. But she wasn't perfect, for her greatest enemy was self-doubt, she saved the life of a child, when her orders were to slay all to complete her mission. She has a soft side, and she doubts herself. She draws, really well, but finds this talent pathetic and shameful for a warrior of her calibre. She is reprimanded and sent to Earth to guard the difficult Kid Gladiator. When Lord Gladiator arrives to fight the Phoenix, she eagerly leaps to his side, ready to die for the honour of her empire. She lives to carry the back the broken and beaten body of her liege. When the Shi'ar leave Earth, Warbird is left behind, for failing to obey the orders of her lord, for failing to protect Kid Gladiator. She takes up a post with Wolverine's X-Men, and tries to find new meaning to her life.

I find warbird to be by far one of the more amusing characters to have appeared in recent Marvel continuity, and a character whom I really hope sticks around. Her rather adult comments to Iceman leave me in stitches, and her inner dialogue in almost every book she is featured in really steals the show in every book that she is in. I have high hopes for this character and hope that she is not left by the wayside in the future.

What are your thoughts on this character?