Big Bertha (comics)

Big Bertha
Art by Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar and Will Quintana
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 (July, 1989)
Created by	John Byrne (writer and artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Born: Ashley Crawford Legally changed to: Bertha Crawford
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Great Lakes Avengers
Abilities	Skilled aircraft pilot Superhuman strength and durability Ability to alter size and mass of her body and leap great distances

Big Bertha (born Ashley Crawford, legally changed to Bertha Crawford) is a fictional character, a mutant superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Created by John Byrne, she first appeared in West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 (July 1989).

Not a lot is known of Bertha's life before she responded to Mr. Immortal's advertisement for a hero team, the team who would become the Great Lakes Avengers. It was revealed in the G.L.A. mini-series that Ashley is in fact a mutant.

When not using her powers, Ashley is a proverbial 'big fish in a small pond', being the most famous fashion model in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her hometown. Although offers have come her way numerous times for more prospective opportunities, she has declined them all, choosing to stay in Milwaukee with the team she considers family.

She was seen in public with the team by Hawkeye and Mockingbird, who later agreed to become their mentors. With the team, she helped Hawkeye and the West Coast Avengers against "That Which Endures." They also assisted Mockingbird in a holding action against Terminus. After aiding the Thunderbolts against the villain Graviton, the team clashed with the mercenary Deadpool.

During the G.L.A. mini-series, the team took on Maelstrom who was trying to destroy the universe. After Dinah Soar's death, Big Bertha began to think of quitting the team to focus on her modeling career but decided to stay. She later captures Leather Boy, a rejected GLA member, who had infiltrated the team's headquarters disguised as Doctor Doom and killed Mr. Immortal and Monkey Joe, Squirrel Girl's sidekick. During the final battle, she tried to save Flatman from being sucked into a vortex made from the device that Maelstrom created to achieve universal destruction. Fortunately, it turned out that only his clothes had been sucked off and he was merely standing at an extreme angle so he wouldn't be seen naked. After their victory, they returned to their headquarters only to find that Tony Stark had sent a cease and desist notice ordering them to stop using the Avengers name. After discovering that they were all mutants, the team changed their name to the Great Lakes X-Men, complete with new costumes.