Origin

Lisa Molionari was an up-and-coming young street artist, who goes by Coat of Arms. She was uniquely inspired by the super-heroic condition after her magic coat appeared to her next to some wall art that asked "R super heroes gud?"(sic). She met Norman Osborn, whom she considered the greatest super-villain artist and a major inspiration for her work. Confronted with her idol, Coat of Arms "spazzed out a little" and showed Norman a trio of paintings she had done depicting the Green Goblin, the third showcasing the death of Gwen Stacy. Norman had a spazz-out of his own, assuming the work was satirical and threatening to use his governmental powers to make Coat of Arms "disappear" before leaving in a huff. Coat of Arms was so inspired by Norman's momentary slip into the Green Goblin persona that she found the Melter and formed the Young Masters. Coat of Arms refers to the Young Masters as old-school superheroes, "feared and hated by those [they're] sworn to protect." However, her motivations lean more towards artistic expression and exploration, referring to the Young Masters' job as to illuminate the tension between pro- and anti-registration supers, as well as other divisions within superhuman community.

Creation

Coat of Arms was created by Paul Cornell and Mark Brooks in 2009 and first appeared in Dark Reign: Young Avengers # 1.

Major Story Arcs

Dark Reign

Coat of Arms and Melter brought together their own version of the Young Avengers:

• Enchantress
• Executioner
• Big Zero
• Egghead

When their superhero activity got them on the news, the real Young Avengers decided to track them down. They wanted to discuss using the name, offering to let them keep it if they proved themselves worthy of it. They paired off with Coat working with Speed, who she had met before they had secret identities in juvenile hall. After their trial period, Coat and Enchantress are chosen to join the Young Avengers while the rest of them had to change their name. Coat rejected the offer.

Dejected, Melter called Norman Osborn from the card he gave Coat and requested his help. The Dark Avengers would show up to back up Coat’s team against the Young Avengers, causing an all out brawl. She held back and watched the fight, listening to either side pontificate. Reluctantly, Coat jumps off the fence and chooses her own team. She combines the magic of her coat with the magic of Enchantress and Wiccan. She uses it to take Sentry out of the fight and then has her whole team teleport to safety.

Avengers Academy

Coat, along with Enchantress and Big Zero, are hired by boy-genius billionaire, Jeremy Briggs. Briggs had created a cure for any possible superhuman ability he called Clean Slate. He needed their help to disseminate it to the entire population. Coat saw the de-powering as a great performance piece. They started with a test on the students of the Avengers Academy, which was on hiatus due to the Avengers/X-Men feud. Coat and her allies were given the antidote to the cure so that Briggs could fill the room and secretly dose the students.

During the scuffle, the floor gave way, and a number of the students made their escape. Big Zero chased after, while Coat swiped Reptil and White Tiger’s amulets to cast a tracking spell. She found them after the students defeated Big Zero. She used the powers of the amulets against them. This backfires when exposing them to their old amulets allows them to take back their powers and overwhelm her.

Powers and Abilities

Coat of Arms abilities are derived from her Coat, once belonging to the mystical villain Tiburo, which at times possesses multiple arms used for holding multiple gadgets, weapons and other utilities; Lisa's able to use these excess limbs as if they were her own and are usually seen wielding swords, though one of her arms is used to hold her camera. They seem to be able to come and go at will, as in one scene she is seen with all of them but in the next, apparently straight after, she is seen with her normal contingent of arms. She seems to need the coat in order to grow her extra arms. She also used the coat to generate a force field to protect herself from Speed and materialize objects. Possession of the Coat also gives her a measure of magical ability and spellcasting, as she was able to channel her own powers to aid Wiccan and the Enchantress in defeating the Sentry.

She is a skilled artist, focusing on a super-heroic theme. Besides the "scenes" she constructs in her service to the Young Masters, she paints portraits of super-humans including the Thing, Captain America, the Green Goblin and what appears to be either Quicksilver or Prince Namor.