[14] When not using her powers, Ashley is a proverbial "big fish in a small pond," being a famous fashion model in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her hometown.
Although offers have come her way numerous times for more prospective opportunities, she has declined them all, choosing to stay in Milwaukee with the team she considers family.
After Dinah Soar's death, Big Bertha considered quitting the team to focus on her modeling career but decided to stay.
She later captures Leather Boy, a rejected GLA member, who had infiltrated the team's headquarters disguised as Doctor Doom and killed Mr. Immortal and Monkey Joe, Squirrel Girl's sidekick.
During the final battle, she tried to save Flatman from being sucked into a vortex made from the device that Maelstrom created to achieve universal destruction.
After their victory, they returned to their headquarters only to find that Tony Stark had sent a cease and desist notice ordering them to stop using the Avengers name.
They were given a rescue mission to save Dionysus after he fell from Mount Olympus and was captured by A.I.M., who planned to use his powers to cause mental instability on all the superheroes they consider a threat.
They relocate to Detroit, Michigan where they meet a girl named Pansy at their new headquarters, a factory owned by Tony Stark.
Upon getting arrested after a fight, Doorman escapes leaving Flatman and Bertha to deal with a young girl named Goodness Silva who can transform into a werewolf and was attacking the police inside the station.
After Doorman mysteriously disappears upon entering the bar, Bertha and Good Boy discover that Dick Snerd is Nain Rogue, after finding him drunk in his office.
[32] After Connie tells the team to lie low for a couple of days, Bertha goes to a modeling gig for a weight-loss product created by Dr. Nod.
She then discovers that the gig was a trap set up by Dr. Nod to get a sample of her mutant DNA and use it to improve his product with Bertha's powers.
Bertha sends a text to the rest of her teammates, including Good Boy, and takes some of the supplements herself to fight Dr.
[39] Bertha suggested that these capabilities are actually based on the manipulation of body mass, so she can selectively increase fatty tissues in those specific anatomical parts to control their size.
[43] In addition to her mutant powers, she is also a wealthy supermodel,[44] formidable unarmed combatant,[45][46] skilled aircraft pilot,[47] and a proficient card player.
[48] Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Big Bertha a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.
Before she was comfortable as Bertha full-time, Ashley's routine of vomiting to maintain a beauty standard had striking similarities to dysmorphic disorders, despite the drastic physical change it brought.
Bertha claims she does not work for a pimp because "they promote rude behavior", and ends up getting involved in Deadpool and Bob's latest misadventure when other prostitutes begin gunning after them.