Mrs Zirma
Mrs Zirma was a sentient, malevolent alternate history who masqueraded as an old lady in one universe.
Physical appearance
Although taking the appearance of an old lady with glasses and short, curly hair, Mrs Zirma was actually an eldritch being furnished with a number of tentacles — some where her limbs should have been, and a number of other, smaller ones on the lower half of her face, lining a mouth filled with sharp fangs. (COMIC: My Bloody Valentine)
Biography
Mrs Zirma was an insidious alternate history who seeped into the minds of human beings using viral memories and then pulled them into her “storyworld”, a false history where she was genuinely a mild, fussy old woman. She was considered the deadliest alternate history active in the early 21st century — “all killer, no filler” — and would usually kill her victims. Her existence was recorded in various reports, including a mention in the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.
Eventually, Zirma took up residence in a trailer in an ordinary trailer park. After Zirma killed Bruce, Nigel sent Jenny Everywhere to confront Mrs Zirma, giving her a "mental password" that could snap her out of a telepathic trance. Using the password, Jenny was able to evade Zirma's attempts to ensnare her. She then threw a Laudomite hand-grenade at Zirma, filled with “the dreams of the unborn”, the one thing capable of destroying “history”. As Jenny departed, the grenade did its work, destroying both Zirma and her trailer. (COMIC: Mrs Zirma)
Behind the scenes
Mrs Zirma takes her name from the imaginary city of Zirma in the 1974 Italian novel Invisible Cities, which is alluded to in the comic story. The name was also used in The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere, where Jenny Everywhere and Glendalf reminisce about besieging “the Tower of Zirma” with the help of Octobriana. Whether the two Jenny Everywhere entities named “Zirma” have any connection is unknown.
