Femme Appeal is one of SHUSH's most trusted agents, but nobody outside of the highest ranks of the organization knows that. This is because Appeal's talents are put to use for undercover operations, which she excels at. She knows how to play along with the people she needs to trust her, presenting herself as someone who's willing to take her faux-allies' words at face value and someone who might know a useful thing or two, but never anything crucial. Odds are that in reality she is miles ahead on the goings-on of whatever scheme she is investigating and waiting for the right time to strike. Appeal is a martial artist who prefers to use her feet over her fists and can easily take down multiple foes at once. Her one big weakness, even if it's unlikely to come up during her work, is her protective nature towards children. If she sees a child in trouble, she will do anything in her power to help them even if the cost is high.
Character[]
Background[]
Femme Appeal is one of the few SHUSH agents remaining let alone active on missions after the all-around takeover of the Quackwerks Corporation. Coincidentally, her mission was related to the way SHUSH's main opponent, F.O.W.L. dealt with the takeover. After working as an undercover agent for months and having worked herself up the F.O.W.L. ranks, Appeal temporarily was the only person in the world standing between it and Duckthulhu. To complete her mission, SHUSH had given her a scroll that contained a spell that afforded her a chance, which she would have had she not had the luck to meet an ally in Morgana Macawber. Morgana, a magic expert, ensured that the chance was used. Appeal disappeared immediately afterwards to maintain her cover and was put on another mission. "F.O.W.L. Disposition, Part 4"
While little is revealed about Appeal's civilian life, it is possible she has a daughter.[1] This would provide an explanation as to why the safety of children means so much to her.
Personality[]
"Dedicated" is a good word to encapsulate Femme Appeal. Her undercover work takes time she won't ever get back and requires her to coat herself in whatever persona that will bring the mission to a good outcome. Every move needs to be calculated and Appeal pulls it off with a sniper's patience, even if her true emotions are eating her up. A moment of safety such as with an ally might have her lash out, but she's quick to collect herself and get back to the important matters. There's no name or fame in it for her as that would make her unsuitable for future missions, and this is acceptable to her for the greater good of the world. The only thing that has a chance of piercing her charade is the presence and safety of children. If a child is at risk of getting hurt, her cover becomes insignificant to her. It appears that so far this has not put her in a truly tough spot, but as she goes from one mission to another, the liability remains.
Appearance[]
Appeal is a tall fox with the proverbial curves in all the right places. Her hair is medium brown with occasionally a hint of red, and her eyes are blue. Appeal's the kind of spy that dresses in catsuits accompanied by a utility belt to store stuff.
Fiction[]
Comics[]
Appeal works her way into the employ of F.O.W.L. and becomes one of the organization's best agents. She discovers several valuable secrets and gains crucial information, but the big catch is High Command's desire to summon Duckthulhu. She is working on a way to stop this when she becomes aware of a team-up between Steelbeak and Darkwing Duck that's actually a trap for the latter. She awaits them in the main room of F.O.W.L. Headquarters and joins them to look after Darkwing, offering a secret tunnel she knows to exist through which they can reach the summon chamber without having to pass by any guards. Even Steelbeak only had heard of the tunnel, which is connected to a room where the Eggmen project had been developed back in the day. Because none of the trio knows the exact layout of the tunnel, Appeal simply picks the lock of the first door they come across in hopes it will help them further. Instead, it is the door to the Eggmen room, which still houses the rejected alternative to the Eggmen: a large robotic walrus. The three run for their lives "F.O.W.L. Disposition, Part 2" until they hit the end of their path and can choose between facing the robot or jumping down a pit which bottom is obscured from sight. Fight seems the better option, but none of Steelbeak's gadgets or his shoe have any effect on the behemoth. When it is the walrus's time to strike, it uses its freeze beam on Steelbeak and Appeal. It turns them into near-indestructable pillars and the robot picks Appeal up as a weapon. Darkwing answers by fighting back with Steelbeak, which he wins but at the cost of knocking Appeal down the pit. The freeze beam's effect breaks her fall, but she is now separated from the other two. She doesn't have to look far for a new plan of action, as she's landed on a regular path in F.O.W.L. Headquarters. She spots Ammonia Pine, who has captured Quiverwing Quack and Arrow Kid. Sensitive to children in danger, Appeal blows her cover to attack Ammonia, with a kick taking her out long enough to free the children and get them to run. Ammonia recovers before her opponent can refocus on her and thwacks Appeal om the head with her mop. "F.O.W.L. Disposition, Part 3" A moment of distraction gives Appeal the opportunity to kick her way through Ammonia and a number of Eggmen to save the children again, but it's her luck that Morgana Macawber then shows up to permanently deal with Ammonia. For some reason, Morgana thinks Appeal is reponsible for Darkwing's disappearance. After all that happened, Appeal becomes severely ticked off and rants down on Morgana that she's a double agent trying to stop F.O.W.L. and that Darkwing's need to be a hero may have doomed them all. Morgana believes her, moreso when Appeal offers her a scroll that can be used against Duckthulhu. The four of them rush over to the jetpack storage to get to the summon chamber faster, but are too late to stop Duckthulhu's awakening. Appeal, Darkwing, and the children team up to keep Duckthulhu's followers at bay while Morgana activates the scroll. The sorceress creates a new reality to confront Duckthulhu in and sacrifices herself to drive him away. As everyone awakens, Appeal hides herself while SHUSH agents come to clean up the mess. She contacts J. Gander Hooter to report on her mission, who immediately assigns her a new one. "F.O.W.L. Disposition, Part 4".
Notes[]
- Femme Appeal is named after Emma Peel, the fifth secondary protagonist of the 1960s television series The Avengers.
- The original idea for Femme Appeal was that she, as per Aaron Sparrow's words, "was just with F.O.W.L. because of some drawn-out subplot involving her missing daughter. James told Chris Burns he thought that added another unimportant subplot and another character that would have to be introduced. James originally wanted to have the final issue have a Darkwing-led SHUSH vs. F.O.W.L. showdown (because the third issue was pretty much just filler, with characters running from robots) but Ian refused. James asked me what I thought, and we decided Femme Appeal should be a double agent, and the fans should at least get a glimpse of SHUSH in the series. Chris Burns agreed, and voila."[1] It appears the plot of the missing daughter was supposed to roll into a romantic relationship between Appeal and Darkwing, hence why prior in "F.O.W.L. Disposition" Morgana is questioning the value of her relationship with Darkwing.[2]
- The new mission Appeal gets at the end of "F.O.W.L. Disposition" is probably related to what was originally supposed to be the invasion-style story for the "Dangerous Currency" arc, which was altered to tie things up when Boom! Studios lost the license. Whether the Joe Books run will get back on Appeal's work is yet to be seen.