Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
Some times a herald, some times a love interest of Johnny Storm: Nova
For the full Who The Clix? archive, click here. To support us on Patreon, click here.
Appearances in Heroclix: Fantastic Four, Mutant Mayhem, Critical Mass
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #164 (November 1975)
Team Affiliantions: Fantastic Four
Created by: Roy Thomas and George Pérez
Frankie Raye meets Johnny Storm while working for the United Nations as an interpreter. Though Frankie has a fear of fire, she works past it to begin a relationship with Johnny. They break off their courtship shortly after and the two are estranged for quite a time. They attempt to date each other again and learn that her fear of fire is the result of a mental block created by her stepfather. When she was younger, Frankie was doused with the same chemicals that allow Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, to burst into flames. This also reveals to Johnny that Frankie’s stepfather is Phineas Horton, the inventor of the original android Human Torch.
Frankie is able to break through her mental block and activate her suppressed superhuman powers. She helps the Fantastic Four on a few adventures before volunteering to become the new herald of Galactus. She proves to be a problematic herald, having no problem leading Galactus to inhabited planets to feed on. This comes to a confrontation when she leads Galactus to the Skrull home world, which he consumes. Nova is present at the Shi’ar trial of Reed Richards.
The Silver Surfer meets Nova for the first time when he helps her escape Skrull imprisonment. Nova battles the Elders of the Universe and is aided by the Silver Surfer himself. This also brings her into conflict with Captain Reptyl, Ronan the Accuser, more Skrulls and eventually the In-Betweener. During these adventures, she also flirts with both the Surfer and Firelord. She meets Power Pack and battles the second Star-Stalker before ultimately being killed by Morg, the herald of Galactus that replaced her.