At the age of 21, she attempted to join the USAF by lying about her gender on the form. Reacting only to Ryan's tests scores and letters of recommendation from flight instructors (several of whom were ex-military), the USAF quickly wrote back, stating they were eager to discuss a spot in their advanced training program.
Then they met her.
The brass were incensed and toyed with the idea of indicting Ryan for falsification of an official document. Cooler heads prevailed and in recognition of her pluck and considerable skill, she was assigned to a support role at an air base in Texas.
In 1951, Ryan was riding as a passenger on a cargo milk-run high over Montana when the metahuman villain Lightstorm attacked the cargo plane and kidnapped one of the passengers (a sergeant, who was the son of a prominent Los Angeles politician and later rescued by the Red Knight). With the flight crew dead and the cockpit on fire, Ryan took the plane's controls and managed to land it, saving the lives of the other seven passengers. Ryan received a commendation for her bravery and a nice-sounding, but largely ceremonial, commission. More importantly, Ryan was given her choice of new assignments.
Ryan requested a transfer to the USAF test pilot program in Nevada, and it was swiftly granted. Again, officially she was in a clerical support role, but she still managed to learn a great deal. She even got some surreptitious flight time in on some of the experimental aircraft, impressing most of the male test pilots with her exceptional natural ability, and breeding envy and hostility in others.
Three years later, when parts of the test pilot program were folded into the beginnings of America's space program, she went along, again as support. It was in these circles that she first met Dr. Reed Richards. Richards was impressed by her determination and recognized that she was also clearly one of the most qualified pilots available, and yet was not even being considered for admittance into the astronaut program. Later, when Richards became disenchanted with the politics and bureaucratic inefficiency of the government space program, he began developing his own as a private sector venture. One of his first acts was to recruit Alex Ryan as his official test pilot. Ryan eagerly accepted, resigned her commission with the USAF, and began intensive training.
In mid-1956, Richards unveiled his experimental FTL starship, the Argo, to the world. Its first flight would be be both a shakedown cruise and a mission of mercy on behalf of Zero Man, the alien friend of humanity, who would also act as the expedition's guide. The other members of the crew included the metahuman Wonder Man, who would help protect the ship and crew against the unexpected dangerous of space, the A.I. prototype and ship's computer H.E.R.B.I.E., and the ship's pilot.
Cmdr. Alex Ryan.
On June 9th, 1956, the Argo lifted off from the Baxter Building and Alex Ryan became the first human being without super abilities to travel beyond Earth's orbit.
That designation would be short-lived, however. Soon after leaving the solar system, the Argo was accidentally bombarded by a blast of comic rays excited by the ship's stardrive. The cosmic rays had a miraculous effect on Alex Ryan, altering her cellular structure to readily channel and store radiant energy. Ryan emerged from this ordeal with a wide variety of light and energy-based super abilities, but also now requiring exposure to strong light every few hours in order to survive. Despite having to deal with these sudden and shocking changes, Ryan always kept in mind the mission and her crewmates and never wavered from her duty. Thanks to this dedication, Ryan played a major role in the eventual success of the mission, and considering the parameters of that mission soon grew to involve multiple warring alien empires and the fate of the galaxy, this is no small achievement.
The Argo and her crew returned to earth on June 17th, 1956, to a hero's welcome. It is believed by many that Ryan's prominent contribution to humanity's first major foray into space will have huge ramifications for the cause of women's rights throughout all facets of society.
Ryan, herself, now spends most of her time trying to adapt to her world-wide celebrity and status as an icon. Closer to home, Ryan is positively idolized by Reed Richards' house guest, Sue Storm. Ryan is also trying to adjust to her new abilities, which allow her to generate laser eye-beams, become insubstantial and fly (although, as she often discovered during the Argo expedition, not all at the same time). As most of these powers were initially discovered either by accident or in combat situations, Ryan is quite happy to be bringing them under control. That said, the work is on-going: Ryan also has the power to create perfect holographic illusions of everything from an amazing recreation of the flaming cargo plane cockpit where she almost died (which understandably unnerved her colleagues on the Argo when they were suddenly sitting in the middle of it) to periodic visits by fuzzy bunnies, but she remains unable to fully control it.
Because of her new abilities, people have been incessantly curious as to what Ryan wants her "super" name to be. Ryan, herself, seems not particularly interested in such things, but her reluctance has only fueled public interest all the more. The Daily Bugle is currently running a reader contest to pick Ryan a "catchy" nick name. Several members of the Justice League have advised Ryan that she'd best nip this in the bud quick.
Needless to say, all of these new problems and concerns have made Ryan's life a bit more unpredictable than she would like, but it really doesn't bother her. No mater what else happens, Ryan knows she can now always be sure of two things: No one will ever sit in her pilot's seat but her, and she can finally fly whenever she wants.
(Character created by Ashley Smith)
[Ted Brengle]