Freestyle (comics)
| Freestyle | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Wildstorm Comics |
| First appearance |
Gen¹³ Volume 2 #7 (1996) (cameo) DV8 #11 (1997) (full appearance) |
| Created by |
Mike Heisler Juvann Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jocelyn Davis |
| Team affiliations |
International Operations DV8 |
| Notable aliases | Freestyle |
| Abilities | Freestyle can psionically view multiple possible timelines and subconsciously chooses the best course of action for herself from these possibilities. |
Jocelyn Davis also known as Freestyle is a character from the comic book series DV8. She first had a background appearance in Gen¹³ #7, by Brandon Choi, Jim Lee and J. Scott Campbell, but her character was named and fully revealed by Mike Heisler and Juvann Kirby in DV8 #11
Fictional character biography
Little of Freestyle's past is known, but it has been revealed that she is the fifth of seven children and that she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. To help make herself stand out in a large family, Jocelyn took up gymnastics. She excelled at the sport and was already a highly skilled gymnast before being a part of Project: Genesis.
Jocelyn was tested "gen-positive" and taken to Project:Genesis, a project funded by International Operations with the goal to create superpowered soldiers under their control. Using activator drugs, the gen-positive subjects were turned Gen-Active and immediately cryogenically frozen. Jocelyn's powers, being more subtle than those of other Gen-Actives, activated without the project's managers noticing, but when the guards came for Gen-Actives Evo and Sublime, Jocelyn tried to use her powers to escape. The guards hit her with an electroshock gun and froze her as well. Shortly afterwards the actions of John Lynch and Gen¹³ forced Project Genesis Director Ivana Baiul to flee, taking the frozen Gen-Actives with her.
The Gen-Actives were thawed on Ivana's base on the Caballito Island and trained to become DV8. Ivana considered Freestyle a threat though, because her powers were unpredictable and DV8-member Copycat was incapable of controlling her; a backlash would hit her whenever she would try. Freestyle was frozen again and left behind on Caballito Island when the team left.
Many months later, DV8 returned to Caballito Island and an experiment of Ivana unleashed Copycat's multiple personalities, who were now trying to possess others. To stop them, Ivana tricked one of the unleashed personalities into possessing Freestyle. The backlash knocked the alternate personalities back into Copycat and Ivana decided to add Freestyle to the team again. She used Freestyle's ability to crack the codes on the secret files of I.O. director Miles Craven and used these files to eventually blackmail her way back into I.O., this time as its leader. Freestyle and her fellow Deviants were now official agents of International Operations.
During her time in the Deviants Freestle did her best to get along with rest of the team. Unlike most of her teammates though, Freestyle always had a strong distaste for violence. She eventually befriended Sublime and Copycat and started a tentative romantic relationship with Evo. This relationship would prove to be short-lived as Freestyle found it difficult to even look at Evo after she saw him rip apart an enemy, who had been trying to flee during a mission.
After the breakup of DV8, Freestyle went to Las Vegas where she took a job as an exotic dancer. Using her powers to clean up at the casinos, Jocelyn bought the club she'd been working at only a month after starting there. Freestyle was seen having an unwelcome reunion with her old DV8 field leader Threshold.
In the eight issue 'DV8 Gods and Monsters' 2010-2011 series, Freestyle and her DV8 teammates are thrust into a prehistoric world. War soon erupts as the team allies with rival tribes. Freestyle and Gem's adopted tribe is obliterated by Threshold simply because he could. Later, all disputes are forgotten when a meteor threatens the world. Stormwatch only manages to rescue the team but Freestyle had burned out her own brain trying to think of a way to save everyone. Her body is kept on the Authority's slipship.
Powers and abilities
Freestyle has the ability to psionically view multiple possible timelines and subconsciously chooses the best course of action for herself from these possibilities. A side effect of this power is that she ages at an incredible rapid pace when using her power for a prolonged period. Ivana has theorized that Freestyle actually lives through all the possible timelines until she finds one that is favourable to her. She has little control over this power, and when placed in a situation where she can't escape her powers still automatically activate. For example, when Ivana forced her to decrypt I.O.'s secret files, her powers forced her to keep trying until she was finished. Though she only needed a few minutes to crack the codes, she was aged many years and near death. Freestyle quickly returns to her actual age when she stops using her powers. Freestyle is an excellent gymnast and uses her powers to increase her formidable agility to superhuman levels. She also has a perfect sense of direction. It is unknown if this is related to her powers or just a natural talent. Another side effect of her powers protects Freestyle from Copycat's mental powers.