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Hank Henshaw first appeared as a crew member on board the doomed NASA Space Shuttle Excalibur in Superman (vol. 2) #42, and Henshaw and the other crew members were next seen in Adventures of Superman #465.[4][5]
Hank and the other three members of the Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, are part of a radiation experiment designed by LexCorp that is affected by a solar flare, causing their shuttle to crash.[1] As a result of their radiation exposure, the human bodies of two crew members were destroyed. However, their minds survived and they were able to construct new bodies out of cosmic radiation and bits of earth and wreckage from the shuttle, respectively. Initially, Henshaw and his wife suffer no ill effects from the radiation (though Hank's hair turns white), and the crew travels to Metropolis in the hopes of using LexCorp facilities to cure their mutated crewmates. During a brief battle with Superman, one crew member, now composed of radiation, becomes unhinged and flies into the Sun, destroying himself. By this time, Henshaw's body has started to rapidly decay, while his wife is beginning to phase into an alternate dimension. With Superman's help, Henshaw is able to use the LexCorp facilities to save Terri. The remaining member of the shuttle crew commits suicide, using an MRI booth to tear apart the metallic components of his body.[6]
Though Henshaw's physical body expired, he was able to transfer his consciousness into the LexCorp mainframe. Now able to control technology, Henshaw appears to his wife in a robotic body. The shock of this bizarre rebirth is too much for Terri to bear and in a fit of insanity, she jumps to her death. By this point, Henshaw's electronic consciousness has begun to disrupt Earth's communications networks. Using NASA communications equipment, Henshaw beams his mind into the birthing matrix which had carried Superman from Krypton to Earth as an infant.[1] He creates a small exploration craft from the birthing matrix and departs into outer space alone.[7]
Henshaw spends some time traveling between planets, bonding with local lifeforms to learn about the culture and history of various worlds. Henshaw comes to believe that Superman was responsible for the tragedy of the Excalibur after learning that around the time of the accident, the Man of Steel had thrown a rogue Kryptonian artificial intelligence (the Eradicator) into the Sun. Henshaw believes that this created the solar flare that resulted in the Excalibur crew's transformations (although Superman had shared this concern with Terri after he had saved her life and she had confirmed that the flares would have been triggered before Superman disposed of the Eradicator).[8] Over time, Henshaw becomes delusional and paranoid, believing that the Man of Steel had intentionally caused the deaths of himself, his wife, and his crew, then driven him from Earth. Arriving on a planet controlled by alien overlord and Superman foe Mongul, Henshaw learns of Warworld and forcibly recruits Mongul as part of a plan for revenge against Superman.[9]
Reign of the SupermenEdit
Main article: The Death of Superman
Cover of Superman (vol. 2) #79. Art by Dan Jurgens.
With Superman apparently dead after his battle with Doomsday, Henshaw decides to pose as him in order to destroy his reputation. To that end, the Cyborg claims to be Superman reborn, the result of the hero's body being pieced together and revived with technology. The Cyborg then uses knowledge obtained from Superman's birthing matrix to construct a body that is genetically identical to Superman's.[9] When analyzed closely by Professor Hamilton, the Cyborg passes for the real thing, due to components within himself that include Kryptonian alloys, combined with the fact that the replaced body parts correspond with those parts of the original Superman's body that were most severely injured in his fight with Doomsday.[10]
After destroying a Superman memorial plaque in front of the Daily Planet, the Cyborg exiles Doomsday into space, prevents a nuclear meltdown, and saves the President of the United States from an assassination attempt. The White House then endorses the Cyborg as the 'true' Superman.[11][12] When confronted by Lois Lane, the Cyborg claims his memory is "blurry", but he can see a "spaceship on a farm and the name Kent", suggesting that Henshaw may be aware of Superman's secret identity.[10]
Henshaw's arrival as Superman is simultaneous with that of three others: John Henry Irons (the self-styled Man of Steel), the Eradicator (the self-styled Last Son of Krypton), and the modern Superboy.[11] The endorsement of the President ensures that the Cyborg eclipses the rest of the heroes claiming to be Superman's heir. During this time, two cults spring up in anticipation of Superman's return from the dead: one that deifies the Eradicator and another that venerates the Cyborg. Supporters of both eventually come to blows over which is the real Superman.
Destroying Coast CityEdit
When an alien ship appears over Coast City, the Cyborg attacks and severely injures the Eradicator, allowing Mongul's craft to destroy the city. The Cyborg also murders an entire family of vacationers trying to find a way out of the devastated area.[13] The Cyborg was then able to convince the White House and the public that the Eradicator was responsible.[14] After tricking and defeating Superboy, Henshaw prepares to launch a nuclear warhead intended to convert Metropolis into a second Engine City.[14][15]
Superboy is able to escape and warn John Henry Irons, Supergirl, and the resurrected (but powerless) original Superman of the Cyborg's plans.[9][16] The quartet travels to the site of the former Coast City, and Superman (whose powers are slowly returning), Supergirl, and Steel confront Mongul and the Cyborg, while Superboy stops the missile from hitting Metropolis.[17] While Green Lantern defeats Mongul, the Cyborg lures Superman and the Eradicator to the Engine City main reactor and attempts to kill Superman with the kryptonite that powers the engine. When Henshaw tries to kill Superman with a concentrated blast of kryptonite radiation, the Eradicator intercepts the blast at the expense of his own life. As the kryptonite energy passes through the Eradicator, the radiation is altered and acts to fully restore Superman's powers. Superman is then able to easily defeat the already weakened Cyborg by sticking his arm through Henshaw's chest, killing him and shattering his body. When Henshaw panics and states that he will "somehow" find a way to come back, a doubting Superman simply says that if Henshaw does, he will be waiting.[18]
It was later revealed that Henshaw chose to attack Coast City first because he and his late wife were former residents. This was part of an effort to erase his former life.[19]
ReturnEdit
Hank Henshaw in Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #1, drawn by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding
Before exiling Doomsday into space, Henshaw had installed a device on the monster to allow him to detect if Doomsday were to ever escape. After the destruction of his Cyborg Superman form, Henshaw transfers his consciousness into this device as Doomsday is "the safest place in the galaxy" for the Cyborg to hide. Doomsday is brought on board a space cruiser and, despite frantic efforts of the crew to jettison him, kills the crew, and upon landing on Apokolips, proceeds to pillage the planet.
When Superman, his power now boosted by being repowered by "purple kryptonite", arrives; Henshaw emerges by reconfiguring an armored Apokoliptian trooper, brutally murdered by Doomsday, into a new body (which, by all accounts, had its DNA overwritten with the Kryptonian DNA Henshaw had obtained while in Superman's birthing matrix, and thus still retains a portion of Superman's abilities and still looks the way the Cyborg Superman looked, except for a change in the color of the Cyborg's metallic components) and proceeds to lay siege to the planet alongside Doomsday. The Cyborg successfully takes over most of Apokolips but is captured by Darkseid's Omega Beams during a battle with Superman.[20]
Apokolips and beyondEdit
Darkseid did not kill the Cyborg; rather, the Omega Effect captured Henshaw in a small orb, with Darkseid planning to use the Cyborg against Superman at a later date.[21] Darkseid eventually frees Henshaw with the understanding that Henshaw is to leave Apokolips and never return.
The Cyborg eventually aligns himself with an intergalactic Tribunal which is seeking to bring Superman to trial for the crimes of his ancestors. Henshaw assists the Tribunal in capturing the Eradicator, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, and Alpha Centurion, who had intended to rescue Superman. However, the Cyborg betrayed the Tribunal and attempted to conquer their planet for conversion into a new Warworld. Superman and his allies stop the Cyborg's plan and, when Henshaw's involvement in the destruction of Coast City is brought to the attention of the Tribunal, they find him guilty of genocide and sentence him to death. As an electronic consciousness, Henshaw cannot be killed by normal means and is transported beyond the event horizon of a black hole, where not even light can escape from the gravity.
Rather than being destroyed, the Cyborg is transported (unknowingly by another villain, Thanos) to a Marvel Multiverse dimension designated as 616, as seen at the beginning of the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances crossover one-shot issue. The Cyborg destroys a planet in another attempt to recreate Warworld, attracting the attention of the Silver Surfer. Their short battle is interrupted by the arrival of Parallax, who has been tracking the Cyborg for some time, seeking vengeance for the destruction of Coast City. In the confusion, Henshaw escapes and is returned to the DC Universe. Parallax undoes the destruction of the planet that Henshaw had caused using power donated from the Silver Surfer.
Henshaw in his later, less Superman-based configuration. Art by Doug Mahnke
The Cyborg encounters Hal Jordan again at the Source Wall,[22] a nexus of statues that channels vital energy to preserve the Fourth World. Parallax uses his powers to generate representations of the victims of Coast City, which tear the Cyborg's body apart. Jordan then disperses Henshaw's consciousness, and the Cyborg is seemingly destroyed once again.[1]
During a crisis involving the Godwave, Superman (wearing his blue energy costume at the time) travels to New Genesis and encounters Henshaw again. Henshaw has taken part of the Source Wall's structure and crafted a small world made up of his memories, which he uses to taunt Superman before being defeated again. Unknown to Superman, the Cyborg stored his own consciousness in Superman's high-tech containment suit. After Superman returns to Earth, Henshaw escapes and constructs a new body, this time posing as an art teacher at a high school in an attempt to start over. He is a popular teacher and befriends the blind Ashbury Armstrong (daughter of Dirk Armstrong), but ultimately his rage towards Superman causes him to reveal his true identity and his new body is lost in a fight with Superman. To escape detection, Henshaw stores his consciousness in a clay statue. This statue is later stolen by the Toyman and the two villains join forces to kill Superman. To this end, the Cyborg designs a machine that will break Superman's energy form down into multiple components and beam them to different points in the galaxy, preventing Superman from reforming. A malfunction in the machine causes Superman to split into Superman Blue and Superman Red, the latter of whom eventually defeats and recaptures the Cyborg.
The Cyborg later attempts to take over Kandor, but fails when he is defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone. Shortly after the Superman Y2K story, Henshaw escapes the Zone and attacks Superman, who was suffering from Kryptonite poisoning. Henshaw is defeated with the help of the Kandorians and sent back to the Phantom Zone, swearing revenge. However, he is not encountered on subsequent visits to the Zone.
ManhuntersEdit
Henshaw returns in a form similar to his original body, when he is revealed to be the Manhunters' new Grandmaster.[23] With his influence, the Manhunters have been upgraded with organic material, most notably with blood. On the Manhunter home world of Biot, in sector 3601, Henshaw is holding captive several assumed-to-be-dead Green Lanterns, most of whom appeared to die during the Emerald Twilight saga.
Henshaw has also used Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters. During the Green Lantern story arc No Fear,[24] Kryptonian robots are seen servicing the Manhunters. Henshaw, the Grandmaster, allowed the Green Lantern Corps to rebuild for unspecified reasons as a part of his master plan. While Henshaw explains that he first encountered the Manhunters around the time he was imprisoned in the Source Wall by Parallax, it has yet to be revealed how the Cyborg was able to escape the Phantom Zone and take control of Biot. Henshaw is defeated when Biot explodes, destroying most of his body aside from his head.
Henshaw's head is then brought by a Guardian back to Oa so that they can learn of how he was able to take control of Biot, what he has learned from the Manhunters and to learn about "the 52"[25] (referring to the 51 alternate Earths created during the second Crisis as well as their own reality). It is also revealed that the Cyborg knows of the 52, though exactly how he came by this knowledge is not made completely clear. It is stated that he has explored "The Bleed"; the space between dimensions, which could have occurred either when he was imprisoned there, when he was imprisoned in the Source Wall, or in his past exploration of the Marvel Universe.
Sinestro CorpsEdit
Cover art for Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman #1, by Ethan Van Sciver.
Henshaw's head is taken by the Sinestro Corps after their invasion of Oa to Qward. Henshaw is later seen as a herald of the newly returned Anti-Monitor. He reconstructs his cyborg body and replaces the S-symbol on his chest with the symbol of the Sinestro Corps. He now wields ten Qwardian power rings.[26] It is revealed that Henshaw has joined the Sinestro Corps so that the Anti-Monitor can later kill him and allow him to rest in peace.[27]
Henshaw was the focus of the Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman one-shot that was released on October 3, 2007.[8][28][29] In this book, Henshaw and his Manhunters head to Earth to assist the Sinestro Corps in their attack. En route, Henshaw stops leading the Manhunters which continue to their preprogrammed destinations. As he watches them go, he remembers everything that has happened to him, from their dreadful shuttle accident to his wife's suicide when she sees him in his robot form. He finishes this journey down memory lane by going to his wife's grave. He digs her corpse out and rips it into two, shouting that all he wants is not to be with her, but for these memories to fade.[8]
Meanwhile, the Manhunters begin an assault on the JLA satellite. Hawkgirl, Black Lightning, and Red Arrow retaliate; however, all three are neutralized when Henshaw assists in the attack and he successfully tampers with the mechanics of the satellite core. As the satellite is thrown out of orbit, Superman appears and engages Henshaw in battle. Their fight continues on Earth, while Sinestro transports his crew and his ship from the anti-matter universe. At first Superman seems to have the upper hand; however after two punches, Henshaw strikes with great power and rage, punching him through the Statue of Liberty. By the end, Henshaw has Superman in a choke hold, thinking that the victory is near.[8]
He is later seen briefly in Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime, having presumably been beaten back by the combined strength of Superman, Supergirl, and Power Girl.[30]
When the Green Lantern Corps decide to detonate New Warworld and the central power battery of the Sinestro Corps to destroy the Anti-Monitor, Henshaw allows himself to be trapped behind a shield and exposed to the massive explosion. Before he is destroyed, however, he thanks the Green Lantern Corps.[31]
Most of Henshaw's body survived the explosion, but it took further damage when Superman-Prime hurled the Anti-Monitor into space. The upper part of his skull was retrieved by the android Manhunters. Unable to detect any life signs and confused without his leadership, the Manhunters reanimated the brain of the Cyborg Superman. He shed a tear when he realized he was still alive.[31]
Death and retrievalEdit
In the Brightest Day crossover, Henshaw would eventually return and work with the Alpha Lanterns as they attempted to augment every Green Lantern, including Ganthet, into an Alpha.[32][33] This was apparently at the suggestion of the robed figure holding Ion and Parallax, who told him that Ganthet held the knowledge to destroy him permanently, after Henshaw's attempts to provoke Nekron into killing him during the Blackest Night failed because he lacked a heart to attract Nekron's interest.[34] By threatening to make the Alpha Lanterns kill themselves if Ganthet does not cooperate, Henshaw forces Ganthet to work on reversing the augments that turned the Green Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns, hoping that he can use the resulting information to restore his original mortal body.[35]
Henshaw was seemingly killed when his lifeforce was finally separated from his nearly indestructible body by the combined full powered blasts of several Lanterns and Ganthet, and appeared on the mental plane of Alpha-Lantern Boodikka in an attempt to take her bio-mechanical body over, where both beings were their original, un-powered selves. Her essence, gifted with her innate, formidable combat skills, engaged his in one-on-one combat, and she quickly overpowered and killed his astral form.
Afterwards, however, Ganthet noted immediately that there was something different about her. Boodikka claims this is because Ganthet's newly discovered emotions allowed him to see her as she is (Boodikka's true self, now in control of her body again), not by what she is (an Alpha Lantern).[36]
In the Reign of Doomsday crossover, Boodikka was attacked by Doomsday while investigating the remains of New Krypton, and Henshaw was revealed to still be alive inside her, forming a new body out of her internal circuitry to fight Doomsday while Batman and Supergirl were trying to repair Boodikka.[37] Henshaw uses his abilities to take control of the JLA Watchtower and uses the satellite's defenses in an attempt to kill Doomsday, reasoning that if he could manage to destroy the creature that killed Superman, it would prove once and for all that he is superior to Superman. After the creature is violently dismembered by Henshaw, it somehow absorbs the nanotechnology from Henshaw's body and repairs itself, becoming a new being dubbed Cyborg Doomsday. Cyborg Doomsday somehow manages to negate Henshaw's ability to repair himself, which leads Henshaw to believe that he might finally meet his demise. Supergirl bursts onto the scene and attempts to stop Doomsday herself, but Henshaw fires an energy blast at her, stating that he would not allow her to defeat the creature that had humiliatingly beaten him only moments before. With Supergirl distracted, Cyborg Doomsday knocks her out and then tears one of Henshaw's arms off before departing with both of his unconscious captives.[38] Trapped in a satellite with the other Supermen, the heroes conclude that Henshaw has been trapped with them to keep them disorganized due to the tensions caused by his presence, prompting Henshaw to depart and search the satellite himself. After Superman arrives to rescue his comrades, Henshaw reveals that the Doomsdays that fought them were actually all clones of the original created by Lex Luthor.[39] Henshaw tries to fight them, but Superman rips his central node off, knowing that they would not survive a confrontation with the Doomsdays.[40] After the Doomsday clones are sent to another dimension, Henshaw is in custody of S.T.A.R. Labs.[41]
The New 52 and DC RebirthEdit
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, a fully human Henshaw appears as a doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and colleague of Caitlin Fairchild. He is tasked into reactivating the android Spartan.[42]
While in space and after saving a planet called I'noxia, Supergirl discovers an amnesiac Cyborg Superman living there. This version is revealed to be Zor-El, who survives Krypton's destruction and is reconfigured as a half-human half-machine by Brainiac to be his scout looking for stronger species in the universe. His heart was switched with that of a human to remove his ability to be affected by kryptonite.[43]
When the human Henshaw is sent into space on the Excalibur on a long-term mission, he is monitored by the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the pre-Flashpoint universe, who were trapped in the New 52 world following the Convergence, with Superman seeking to prevent the rise of some of his former adversaries in this world. When the Excalibur crashes after returning from a ten-year journey to Jupiter and back, Superman saves the ship, but is puzzled to see that Henshaw is the only person on board.[44] Taking Henshaw to a base he has established in the Arctic regions to better assess if this Henshaw is a threat or not, Superman is briefly forced to face both Henshaw and a new foe called Blanque, who possesses powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities and was also kept in the fortress, but once Blanque is focused on fighting Superman, Henshaw helps Superman defeat this new foe with the weapons of a spaceship that was also kept in the fortress. It is later revealed that Henshaw acquired part of an object known as 'the Oblivion Stone' on Jupiter, with Superman forced to face an alien warrior seeking both Henshaw's part of the stone and another part kept in the fortress, but Superman drives her off, Henshaw claiming when questioned that he had no memory of anything that happened on the Excalibur or between it landing and him being discovered.[45]
After the reality disruption caused by Mister Mxyzptlk caused the histories of the pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Superman to merge during the DC Rebirth reboot, Henshaw's memories of his past as the Cyborg Superman were restored. With this knowledge, he set out to assemble various old foes of Superman like Metallo, the Eradicator, Blanque, and his old 'ally' Mongul to form the Superman Revenge Squad before using the Oblivion Stone to restore his body to its Cyborg Superman state. He even expressed interest into recruiting General Zod to his group.[46] The new Superman Revenge Squad then set out for Kal-El's Fortress of Solitude to obtain the Phantom Zone Projector, still in need of Zod's Kryptonian army to defeat the Superman family. What the Cyborg did not realize was that Zod was using the Squad to achieve his own ends. After finding his family trapped within the Zone's confines, Zod betrayed them, leaving Henshaw trapped within the Phantom Zone.[47]
He would soon be released by his hated enemy, Superman, on account of an epiphany Clark had while on a time traveling excursion with Booster Gold. To keep the maddened bionic menace docile while he came up with a more humane means of detaining him, Superman gave Henshaw a Kryptonian memory crystal that would pacify the Cyborg Superman's rage by letting him relive his happiest memories in an fantasy world fabricated by his own mind.[48] This self-imposed incarceration would not last, however, as the demented machine man found another means of escape. While he was trapped, a part of his mind escaped into the universe, where he sought to manipulate the Guardians and their appointed intergalactic law enforcement bureau, the Green Lantern Corps, to facilitate his escape.[49]
Even trapped within Superman's Kryptonian dwelling, Henshaw was able to influence the Central Power Battery back on Oa a universe away. From within his cell, he orchestrated a mystery surrounding the death of a Guardian to find a powerful weapon, the Phantom Ring.[50] After hacking into the Lantern ring network, Henshaw used the unsuspecting Corpsmen Simon Baz, to break the Cyborg out of the Fortress of Solitude and deliver him the Phantom Ring.[50] Though Henshaw was able to capture the Green Lanterns as his hacking into their main central Power Battery rendered their rings useless,[51] however due to John Stewart and Simon Baz using the Kryptonian weapons that Simon borrowed from the Fortress, along with the fact that any Green Lantern who had not recharged their rings prior to Henshaw hacking into the main battery (such as Hal Jordan and Kilowog) were immune, allowing them to fight back.[52] In retaliation, Henshaw retreated to Earth with the intention to recreate the disaster of destroying Coast City with the power of the Phantom Ring. With the help of other Green Lantern Corpsmen (such as Sodam Yat), Henshaw was defeated and forced to retreat with the Phantom Ring
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Madelyne Pryor was a cargo pilot in Anchorage, Alaska working for Scott Summers' grandparents when she and Scott meet during a Summers family reunion.[15] A romantic relationship quickly begins between them; however, Scott is disturbed at her striking resemblance to his dead lover, Jean Grey/Phoenix.[16] Also, she was the sole survivor of an airplane crash that occurred the same day Phoenix died on the moon.[17] In addition, Professor X is unable to scan her mind (which, he notes, is occasionally the case with normal humans). Scott, still recovering from Jean's death, becomes obsessed with the idea that Madelyne is her reincarnation, eventually confronting her with his suspicions. Madelyne, furious and hurt, punches Scott and runs from him.[4] As soon as she is alone, she is abducted by Mastermind, who had been manipulating the X-Men for months — as revenge for being driven temporarily insane by Phoenix due to his involvement in her corruption. To defeat him, Storm summons a violent storm which nearly kills Madelyne, but Scott resuscitates her. After the conflict, Scott comes to terms with the fact that Jean Grey is dead and that Madelyne is not her, and that he loves her all the same. The two are married, and Scott retires from active duty with the X-Men.[5]
AnodyneEdit
Giving up the life of an adventurer proves harder for Scott than imagined. Early in Madelyne and Scott's marriage, they (along with Alpha Flight and the rest of the X-Men) are taken to an abandoned city by the Asgardian trickster-god Loki. Entirely for his own purposes, Loki bestows mystical powers on a small group of non-powered humans, including Madelyne, transforming her into a healer of virtually any injury, illness, psychological issue, or physical defect. She adopts the name "Anodyne" and cures Scott's childhood head injury, enabling him to control his optic blasts without the use of ruby-quartz lenses. She also removes Aurora's DID and Wolverine's berserker rage. When it is discovered that Loki's gifts are extremely flawed, and fatal to some, everyone assembled reject the gift. Madelyne and the other beneficiaries are reverted to their original states, as are all those who had been healed by Madelyne. During this adventure Madelyne reveals that she is pregnant.[18]
AbandonmentEdit
Going into premature labor, Madelyne gives birth to a baby boy (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers) alone in the X-Mansion.[19] Sensing a reluctance on Scott's part to retire to family life, a powerless Storm challenges him to a duel for leadership of the team, which Storm wins. This in effect forces Scott to accept his new role as a husband and father.[20]
Although Scott tries to live a normal family life in Alaska, he often thinks of Jean Grey, and of his life with the X-Men. Maddie tries her best to make Scott happy, but her efforts seem wasted. Finally Scott receives a call from his former teammate Angel that Jean Grey has been found alive. Without explaining himself, Scott abandons Madelyne and their son to reunite with his lost love, and forms X-Factor with his old friends from the original X-Men.[21] Madelyne and Nathan are then attacked by the Marauders; Nathan is kidnapped and Madelyne left for dead, but survives and is hospitalized as a "Jane Doe".[22] A guilt-wracked and increasingly unstable Scott returned home to find his house empty, and all records of his family's existence erased.[23]
Alone and threatened, Madelyne calls the X-Men for help; they arrive and fight off another attack by the Marauders.[24] Despairing from Scott's absence and of her son's fate, she contemplates suicide. Madelyne's brother-in-law, Alex Summers (Havok), talks her out of it, and the two of them grow closer.[25] With the Marauders still after her, she stays with the X-Men, and they sacrifice their lives to stop the Adversary from remaking the world in Fall of the Mutants. A reporter video-interviews them before their death, and Maddie uses this to deliver a message to Scott, pleading that he find their child.[26] With the world thinking them dead, Madelyne and the X-Men are resurrected by the Omniversal Guardian Roma and begin working secretly out of an abandoned Reavers base in Australia. Madelyne serves as the team's technical support.[27]
Demonic corruption and origins revealedEdit
Monitoring news transmissions, Madelyne learns that Jean Grey is alive and with Scott. She punches the computer monitor's screen, breaking it and causing electrical feedback that renders her unconscious.[28] The Limbo demon S'ym invades Madelyne's mind during her unconscious state, and tempts her to take on the power that would make her the Goblin Queen. Believing to be dreaming, Madelyne accepts.[29]
Madelyne keeps the existence of the original X-Men as X-Factor secret from the others, filtering in only information and news showing X-Factor as an anti-mutant group. Later abducted by the Genoshans and taken to their island-nation,[30] Madelyne is subjected to psychic torture intended to transform her into a docile slave of the state. Madelyne instinctively lashes out with her developing abilities, which cause the deaths of her torturers.[31] In the recorded images of the psychic probe performed on Madelyne, a connection is made to the Phoenix Force and her appearance reflects her eventual change into the Goblin Queen.[32] Shortly after being rescued by the X-Men, Madelyne strikes a bargain with another demon, N'astirh, to find the Marauders and return her son to her. During this time, she and Alex become lovers.[33]
Goblin-Queen Madelyne meets Mr. Sinister. Art by Marc Silvestri.
To keep his end of their bargain, N'astirh takes Madelyne to the orphanage in Nebraska where Scott grew up, actually a front for Mr. Sinister's genetic laboratory. Sinister appears and tells Madelyne about her origins.[34] When he learnt about Jean Grey, he planned to eliminate her parents and take the girl to his orphanage. Fortunately for them, Charles Xavier had already approached them and started to work with the young girl. Sinister only managed to acquire a blood and tissue sample which he then created a clone of her. However, the clone had no life and failed to develop any mutant powers, so Sinister left the clone in her incubation tube as a failed experiment. When Phoenix took her own life, a part of the Phoenix Force entered and awakened the clone, giving her sentience and renewed Sinister's interest. Sinister named her "Madelyne Pryor", and created a false background, implanted memories, and a personality designed to attract Summers and conceived a plan to use the clone to facilitate selective breeding between her and Scott. He then planted her with Scott's grandparents' company, thus ensuring the two would eventually meet.[35] As Jean Grey's return might cause the truth about Madelyne to be uncovered if the two were to meet, Sinister tasked his Marauders with killing Madelyne and bringing him Nathan, the fruits of his scheme.[35][36]
Broken in spirit to insanity by the revelations,[37] when N'astirh gives Nathan back to her, she willingly decides to aid N'astirh in his demonic invasion of Earth.[35] Returning to New York City, where the demonic invasion is already in full swing, she confronts X-Factor with the revelation that she is alive.[38] When the X-Men arrive, Madelyne steers the teams against each other at first, and convinces Alex to join her. X-Factor and the other X-Men work together to defeat N'astirh.[39] Madelyne refuses to stop, forcing the heroes to overwhelm her. Cyclops rescues his son, but Madelyne commits suicide in an attempt to telepathically take Jean with her. The Phoenix Force appears to Jean and offers to save her, but in order to survive Jean has to integrate the essence of both the Phoenix and Madelyne, gaining their memories and personalities.[40] Mr. Sinister attempts to entrap all of the X-Men and X-Factor in Madelyne's dying mind, but forced to choose between having revenge either on the X-Men or Mr. Sinister, Madelyne ejects Mr. Sinister from her mind. With her personality influencing Jean's, she then prompts the X-Men and X-Factor to attempt lethal retribution against him.[41]
Jean, having inherited Madelyne's maternal feelings for Nathan Christopher, becomes his proxy mother and briefly raises him until Apocalypse, seeing the potential threat in the child, infected him with a techno-organic virus. Dying, the child was taken 2,000 years into the future by Askani to be saved.
ReappearanceEdit
Madelyne mysteriously reappears years later as an amnesiac to Nate Grey (X-Man), the "genetic offspring" of Scott Summers and Jean Grey from the alternate reality known as the Age of Apocalypse, when he arrives into Earth-616.[10] Under the tutelage of Selene, Madelyne eventually becomes the Hellfire Club's "Black Rook" (even becoming Sebastian Shaw's mistress),[42] has her memories of her previous life restored by Tessa,[43] and meets her aged son Cable in an uneasy truce.[44]
It is revealed that Madelyne is actually a "psionic construct" inadvertently resurrected by a combination of Nate Grey's psionic powers and his desperate need for a mother figure upon his arrival on Earth-616.[45] Antagonistic for a time after this revelation, eventually she and Nate become companions, until an attack by Strikesquad: Gauntlet, a group of operatives wearing psi-shielded armor, Madelyne was buried alive by one of them. She managed to escape by teleporting, yet, as the battle had taken a lot out of X-Man, she looked drained and withered. In no shape to continue whatever plans she had with Nate, she left.[46]
Red QueenEdit
Soon after, Nate Grey is accompanied again by Madelyne alive and well, but she ended up revealing herself as the Red Queen, a Jean Grey from Earth-9575, an alternate reality where she becomes a creature of violence and unquenchable desire. She seems to have taken advantage of Madelyne's fragile state and replaced her in order to worm her way into Nate's head.[3][47] She also claims to be the one who had influenced Nate into latching into Madelyne's psychic energy remnants and gave it form,[48] but she's eventually killed when Nate creates a sun around her that burns her to death,[49] leaving the exact details of how she replaced Madelyne to be revealed, but obviously since the Red Queen showed that she could absorb the life forces of others to enhance her own power, she may had absorbed Madelyne's psionic body Nate Grey had created or at least severed her consciousness’ connection to it, since Cyclops and Cable would eventually encounter Madelyne within the telepathic astral plane, describing herself as now only a "ghost" and unable to return to the physical world.[50]
Some years later, the X-Men investigate an anti-mutant group calling itself the "Hellfire Cult", being led by Empath.[51] Empath is secretly being controlled and taking orders from a mysterious woman also calling herself the "Red Queen", who is particularly interested in learning about Cyclops' new lover Emma Frost. (Scott and Jean's marriage had fallen apart, and Grey then died during a mission soon afterward.) The X-Men take down the Cult and capture Empath, while the Red Queen slips away unseen.[52] She then psionically impersonates Frost and has virtual sex with Scott, without him realizing the deception. Afterward, the Red Queen travels to Madripoor where she recruits Chimera into a new group called the "Sisterhood of Mutants" and reveals herself to be Madelyne Pryor returned to the living somehow. Later during a concert of Dazzler's, Scott is surprised at the sight of Madelyne observing him from a distance before losing her amongst the crowd.[12]
With Martinique Jason (recruited before the Cult's exposure)[11] and Chimera accompanying her, Madelyne recruits Spiral and Lady Deathstrike into the Sisterhood as well.[53] Madelyne then recruits Martinique's half-sister, Lady Mastermind, who accepts membership on Madelyne's peculiar (and ironic) promise to bring back the half-sisters' late father, the original Mastermind. Carrying out Madelyne's orders, the Sisterhood retrieved the corpse of Revanche and performed an elaborate set of procedures on Revanche and a captured Psylocke, fully restoring the body and transferring Psylocke's mind into it.[54] Madelyne's true priority was to restore herself back into flesh-and-blood. In the time since the encounter in the astral plane, Pryor had eventually managed to manifest back in the physical world as an intangible entity of psionic energy and needed to find a body to inhabit that could contain her disembodied form and psionic powers. The experiment on Psylocke served as a test run for Pryor.[55]
The Sisterhood commences a surprise raid on the X-Men's base, quickly neutralizing several of the main X-members. Recovering from the initial attacks, the X-Men force the Sisterhood (now including a brainwashed Psylocke) to retreat. But the battle was only a distraction, as the real purpose was for Madelyne to locate Jean Grey's gravesite.[56] Madelyne's own body had been cremated after her suicide,[57] so Grey's seemed the only option available to her. At Jean's grave, Madelyne attempts to repeat the ritual with her corpse. However, Cyclops had correctly guessed Madelyne's goal and had arranged for Grey's body to be replaced with another, which Madelyne only learned after it was too late. The second she bound herself to the corpse, she discorporated as the decayed body could not contain her vast psionic energies.[13]
Avengers Vs. X-MenEdit
During the 2012 Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Mister Sinister had created a group of six Madelyne Pryor clones in order to take the Phoenix Force energies from the Phoenix Five (consisting of the Phoenix Force-empowered Cyclops, Colossus, Emma Frost, Magik, and Namor). Unlike the original Madelyne, none of the six clones showed indications of having individual personalities or free will, but instead appeared to follow Sinister completely.[58] The Madelyne Pryor clones joined Sinister's other clone creations in fighting the Phoenix Five and managed to defeat each one.[59] They also were able to siphon some of the energy from the Phoenix Force, but they all were immediately killed by the entity itself.[60]
Lady Deathstrike's SisterhoodEdit
Lady Deathstrike, whose consciousness had taken possession of a Colombian girl named Ana Cortes, formed an all new Sisterhood initially composed of her, the mutant Typhoid Mary, and the exiled Asgardian Amora (the Enchantress).[61] The sentient bacteria Arkea possessed Lady Deathstrike's assistant Reiko and joined.[62] As Arkea feared being opposed by the X-Men, she wanted powerhouses with the Sisterhood, so she had Enchantress use her magicks to restore Selene and also planned to resurrect Madelyne Pryor. Ana Cortes managed to turn against Deathstrike, contact the X-Men and alert them of the Sisterhood's location, and then committed suicide in an attempt to prevent Arkea's plans.[63] Arkea was able to place Deathstrike's consciousness into Reiko also, and seeing an opportunity, spliced Jean Grey's DNA to Ana's body, making it a fully compatible host for Madelyne Pryor. Enchantress then used her magicks to retrieve Pryor's consciousness, place it into the body and revive Madelyne (in the process, seemingly reshaping Cortes' physical appearance into Pryor's), making her flesh-and-blood again for the first time since her own suicide. When the X-Men arrived and attacked, Madelyne fought and telepathically defeated the more experienced telepath Rachel Grey. Storm offered Madelyne and Selene a deal, essentially letting them go free as the X-Men were only after Arkea at the moment. As Madelyne and the other members of the Sisterhood didn't particularly care for Arkea, they deserted her, allowing all of the Arkea bacteria to be destroyed. Accompanied by Selene, Madelyne declared that she would create an all new Sisterhood.[14]
Dawn of XEdit
Madelyne is not seen in "the first wave" of villains that accepted Xavier's invitation to join him on Krakoa, however, she is referenced in Mister Sinister's Red Diamond, a gossip sheet which lists very cryptically Sinister's secrets. One of them is about Madelyne Pryor which indicates her legacy as the Goblin Queen is far from complete.[64] The secret reads as follow:
:Years ago, a deceased redheaded pretender made a pact with the devil. When she passed on, most believed that any secrets she had went with her to the grave. Won't everyone be surprised when they find out not only is this not true, but she left behind a whole lot more than secrets.
— Sinister Secret #3
In her Goblin Queen's attire, Madelyne has since reappeared at Mr. Sinister's old orphanage where she had captured and strung up in some sort of ritual the Marauders that were living there, apparently unaware that a team of mutants was sent by Mr. Sinister to destroy the abandoned clone farm that Sinister left under the orphanage.[65]
The team finds the Marauders, who seem a little zombified and eventually Madelyne comes out of the shadows to Havok's surprise. She seems a little too angry that no one cared about her return and commands the clones to attack Kwannon's team. In the fight, Havok's powers are being neutered by Prism until Madelyne, in her own words, decides it's time to reunite with her former lover and destroys the clone. She then uses her magic spells to remove his mouth and silence him, then takes off with him to somewhere else.[66] She then recaps her history up to Inferno to Alex. After cutting his own mouth so he could talk, Alex ask about the affair between himself and Madelyne and the impression he had that Madelyne was using him as a stand-in for his brother to try and recreate an imitation of her marriage. Madelyne eventually announces her great plan. Basically, she's so determined to be noticed and prove that she exists that she's going to unleash all of the cloned Marauders as an army of mutants who will invade Krakoa and kill everyone there. She also reveals to Alex she intends to kill him and send his head to Cyclops.[67] The team was able to ultimately thwart her plans and save Havok, but it came at a cost. The Marauders that Madelyne had turned into zombie-like creatures were killed by John Greycrow, but Madelyne herself was shot as well. As she seemingly dies, Madelyne restores Havok to his true appearance and tells him that she only wanted them to know that she was a real girl. Havok lashes out, using his powers to destroy the clone farm. When the team returned to Krakoa, the Quiet Council had to decide about resurrections. Cyclops himself tells Havok that while the Council decided to approve resurrection for the original Marauders, they decided not to resurrect Madelyne on the grounds that Madelyne being a clone goes against their protocols, simple as that. The decision infuriates and devastates Havok further, who screams at his brother that she was a real person, one who did in fact exist. What Havok doesn't known is that the Quiet Council could not decided whether Madelyne is a clone or her own person, so her resurrection remains undecided.[68]
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Slapstick was originally junior high school class clown Steve Harmon, from New York City. In a plan to get back at his archrival Winston, Steve dresses as a clown to blend into the crowd at a strange new carnival.
Before Steve could enact his plan, Winston and his date, Heather, were kidnapped by several clowns. Steve picks up a mallet as a weapon and follows them. The group enters the carnival funhouse and enters a portal disguised as a mirror. As it was closing, Steve follows.
At the moment of entry, an energy burst races across Steve's world, alerting the senses of several beings, such as Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man and Howard the Duck.
His molecules stretch across 3741 dimensions and Steve ends up in the realm of the Scientist Supreme of Dimension X (who resembles Groucho Marx). The scientist helps Steve master his new form, a body composed of living unstable molecules dubbed Electroplasm. This essentially makes him a living cartoon character.[3] The scientist, who had been ousted from his position by the Overlord, theorizes that Steve had come to his new form because he was slightly out of synch when entering the funhouse portal.
Using his new powers and a map the scientist had, Steve freed many captive Earthlings from the evil Clowns from Dimension X and their ruler, the Overlord. It is learned that this is what the scientist had intended all along. The Overlord's plan had been to brainwash Earthlings enough so their belief would be sufficient to give Overlord whatever he desired. The Overlord's plans were foiled when the belief that held up his castle gave way as the humans regained their right minds. The castle crashes. The captured humans run to the portal, followed quickly by the monstrous clowns. Steve destroys the mirror, eradicating the clown's influence on this reality.
Minutes afterward, Steve is found by his best friend, Mike Peterson, who agrees to assist him.[4]
Other enemiesEdit
Steve has other villains to confront: a Punisher copycat called the Overkiller attacks Steve because he thinks he is a mutant (the mutant was Dr. Denton). The two fight in a mall, destroying most of it. Steve ends the fight by literally kissing Overkiller and then walloping him while the man reacts with disgust. Spider-Man assists with the battle.[5] Slapstick also battled the super smart, preteen Dr. Denton and Teddy, and rescued Barbara Halsey.[6] There was also a homeless man, the Neutron Bum, with the power to cause explosions. Despite the gathering of dozens of superheroes willing and planning to fight the man (including Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Speedball, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and the New Warriors), Slapstick simply neutralizes the situation by getting Neutron Bum what he had been yelling for all along — a cup of coffee — and then blindsiding the man from behind while he's drinking it.[7]
He is a friend of Speedball of the New Warriors and is described as "The hero who doesn't fight crime but rather plays cruel tricks on it."
Later, Slapstick teamed up with the New Warriors to fight Dr. Yesterday, partly because doing so would impress women.[8] It has been established that at some point prior to Justice and Firestar leaving the New Warriors to become Avengers, Slapstick and Ultra Girl are made official members of the Warriors and given communicators, after helping the team stop a Badoon invasion.[9]
Civil WarEdit
During the Civil War storyline, Slapstick helps the surviving members of the New Warriors find Hindsight Lad, the young man and former Warrior responsible for outing the secret identities of past Warriors and allies to the public. LaFroyge was stopped, arrested by the authorities, before Slapstick's identity was made public.[10]
The InitiativeEdit
Slapstick is later seen on the bus of new recruits arriving at Camp Hammond as part of the Initiative training program.[11] He is later seen, with other heroes, confronting Ben Grimm as part of a training mission.
Slapstick and other Camp Hammond members are sent out as crowd control when the Hulk and his Warbound crew leads an attack on New York. He is assigned morale support for the evacuating citizens under command of the Avenger Triathlon. A fellow recruit, Rage leads a rebellion against the crowd support mission in order to go confront the Hulk. Slapstick joins in. His team is swiftly defeated by the Hulk's forces.[12]
The recruits are imprisoned by Hulk's forces in Madison Square Garden and neutralized with power-sapping technology. They are rescued by black ops forces associated with the Camp.[13]
Later it is Slapstick who attacks and almost kills Gauntlet out of loyalty to the New Warriors, in retaliation for Gauntlet's use of the team's name as an insult.[14] He has since tried to admit this to his teammates but is always comically interrupted. He later comes in possession of a device containing the memory and personality of KIA, the villainous clone of Michael Van Patrick, and decides to keep it for further use.[15]
Slapstick and several other former New Warriors have recently been recruited by Justice and apparently deserted from the Initiative, after Justice finds evidence of shady activities within the organization.[9] After helping stop KIA's rampage, this new group officially quits the Initiative, intending to act as a form of independent oversight for the program. As legally registered heroes, they are free to act unless they break the law while doing so. When asked to change to his less conspicuous normal form, Slapstick admits that he has not done so since joining the Initiative, and claims that the mechanism that activates the change no longer works.[16]
He later returned to Camp Hammond with the team, now calling themselves the New Warriors again,[17] and battled Ragnarok, the cyborg clone of Thor.[18] Slapstick is also a noted presence in the multi-hero effort to rebuild New York after the events of World War Hulk.[19]
Fear ItselfEdit
During the Fear Itself storyline, Slapstick appears at a meeting held by Prodigy regarding magical hammers that have crashed into the earth. He later joins forces with other heroes to battle the Worthy.[20]
Mercs for MoneyEdit
When Deadpool founded his Mercs for Money, he employed the services of Slapstick, among numerous other vigilantes, to pose as him in order to extend his reach across the globe.[21] While striving to do good, like his new colleagues, Slapstick has severe emotional problems due to an inability to change back to his human form.[
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Before being formally gathered by Doctor Strange to fight supernatural threats, Hannibal King, Frank Drake, and Blade had founded the detective agency King, Drake, and Blade (later renamed Borderline Investigations).
After Strange manipulates the trio into forming the Nightstalkers, the team fights many emerging supernatural enemies. These include Lilith, Mother of All Demons;[4] HYDRA's Department of Occult Armaments (DOA), led by its Lt. Belial;[5] and its renegade Dracula clone Bloodstorm; and the one-time Lord of Vampires, Varnae.[6]
The Tomb of Dracula threadsEdit
Blade (standing), King (background) and Drake (foreground): Nightstalkers #16 (Feb. 1994): Cover art by Bill Wylie and Frank Turner.
In the final arc (#16–18, Feb.-April 1994), King's house, including Borderline's office, is destroyed by a HYDRA Dreadnought stealing Drake's anti-occult nanotech gun, the Exorcist. Strange reveals that the Montesi Formula, which had eradicated and prevented further vampires, was weakening. In response, he explains, he had gathered the three most experienced vampire-hunters so they could learn to function as a team before Dracula, the Lord of Vampires, returned. Since all three were traumatized by their early vampiric battles, Strange held off informing them of vampires' possible return until necessary.
In a final battle, Varnae, a previous Lord of Vampires who had already returned, takes psychic control of King and directs him to kill his comrades. King stakes himself instead. Drake attempts to sacrifice his own life to kill Varnae, engineering an Exorcist-powered explosion. Blade, in self-defense, has already staked Taj Nital, his old comrade from The Tomb of Dracula (who had been turned vampiric between the two series). Blade survives and attends his teammates' funeral but encounters King again in the subsequent series Blade. There he learns King's plunge into a metal pole (rather than silver or wood) had fortuitously not killed him and that he had escaped the explosion. King also informs Blade that Drake was left scarred and crippled in both body and mind
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The character has appeared in several Spider-Man media adaptations over the years, including animated television series and video games. Dimitri Smerdyakov appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), portrayed by Numan Acar. IGN ranked the Chameleon as Spider-Man's 14th greatest enemy.[2]
Publication history
Fictional character biographyEdit
Dmitri Smerdyakov was born in Soviet Russia. In his youth, he became a servant and half-brother to Sergei Kravinoff, and later a minor associate of Gustav Fiers. Although Dmitri and Sergei were friends, Sergei was often abusive to Smerdyakov, leading to a combination of admiration and resentment towards Kravinoff. Eventually, Smerdyakov emigrated to the United States of America. As he had made a talent for himself during his youth by impressing his brother by impersonating friends and neighbors, he assumed an even more impressive disguise: the identity of Chameleon. During his first known criminal outing, he impersonated Spider-Man, though he was soon exposed and arrested. Shortly afterward, Sergei (now known as "Kraven the Hunter") came to America, and the Chameleon set his old associate's sights on Spider-Man.[10] Both men became long-time enemies of Spider-Man, part of his primary rogues' gallery.
The Chameleon inspired Kraven to begin hunting Spider-Man, inviting Kraven to dispose of the hero.[11] With Kraven, the Chameleon battled Iron Man,[12] and then confronted the Hulk.[13] At one point, the Chameleon disguised himself as Hank Pym, and robbed Pym's laboratory for documents to combat Virus Nine. While delivering the documents and a shrunken Hulk to HYDRA, he was encountered and defeated by Ant-Man.[14] The Chameleon disguised himself as the Torpedo and battled Daredevil.[15]
When his half-brother committed suicide,[16] the Chameleon became obsessed with making Spider-Man suffer for his failure to prevent this. He ingested a serum which made his face permanently featureless and malleable. He attempted to kidnap America's leading expert on superconductors, but was thwarted by Spider-Man.[17] He then kidnapped J. Jonah Jameson. He approached the Maggia for support to be New York's new crime lord, and formed an alliance with Hammerhead.[18] Disguised as a scientist, the Chameleon temporarily removed Spider-Man's powers. He allied himself with the Femme Fatales, the Scorpion, and the Tarantula to eliminate Spider-Man and the Black Cat, but escaped when his plan failed.[19]
The Chameleon's most ambitious play against Spider-Man happened when he formed an alliance with Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin. Before Harry's death, the Chameleon was told Spider-Man's secret identity could be found through Peter Parker, to construct androids of Peter's parents; the Chameleon later admitted that he went through with the plot to confirm once and for all that Peter was Spider-Man. The plan led to a psychotic breakdown for both Spider-Man and the Chameleon, Spider-Man briefly renouncing the civilian identity while the Chameleon is sent to Ravencroft Asylum.[volume & issue needed] But when Doctor Ashley Kafka sneaks him into a basement to try to continue treating him in the belief that he was close to a breakthrough when the court were preparing to put him on trial, the Chameleon escaped and attempted to convince Spider-Man of actually a hallucinating writer who had suffered a mental breakdown after his daughter's death in a car accident but Peter managed to break through this deception due to his own strength of will.[20] The Chameleon's confirmation of Spider-Man's secret identity led him to try to attack Spider-Man through family and friends but this effort met with rather dismal results when Mary Jane Watson subdued him with a baseball bat.[21] Somewhere in between this and subsequent appearances, he appeared to have been destroyed by his nephew Alyosha Kravinoff; Alyosha later threw a Chameleon mask at Spider-Man's feet, referring to it as 'That weakling Dmitri' but apparently recovered, waking in a hospital.[volume & issue needed]
After tricking Spider-Man to the bridge where Gwen Stacy's death occurred, on the pretext of having kidnapped Mary Jane, he declared his own loneliness and love for Peter. When Peter laughed, he threw himself off the bridge.[22] He reappeared some time later in a mental institution, completely incapacitated, believing himself to be Sergei Kravinoff rather than his true self.[volume & issue needed] He later reappeared in his Chameleon identity as part of the Sinister Twelve villain team organized by Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin.[23]
After Spider-Man was unmasked, the Chameleon gathered a gang of villains called the Exterminators,[1] including Will O' The Wisp, Scarecrow, Swarm and Electro, and also blackmailed the Molten Man into his employ all in an effort to defeat Spider-Man and attack the web-slinger's family.[volume & issue needed]
However, the Chameleon was dealt a most humiliating defeat by May Parker's hands, when he attempted to trick May into believing he was Peter, then murder May. But May was not fooled by any means, and defeated the villain with a plate of oatmeal-raisin cookies laced with Ambien. The Rhino was also employed as part of the team up and later defeated Spider-Man only to be unable to collect payment from the Chameleon as he was already captured.[24]
After the "Civil War", the Chameleon showed up among the villains at Stilt-Man's funeral at the Bar with No Name where the Punisher poisoned the drinks and blew up the bar.[25]
The Chameleon next appeared in the newest incarnation of Super Villain Team-Up called MODOK's Eleven. In this limited series, it is revealed that he contacted A.I.M. the moment he was telepathically summoned by MODOK. He then allowed A.I.M. to send in their newest creation, the Ultra-Adaptoid, under the guise of the Chameleon.[volume & issue needed] Additionally, it was revealed in Super Villain Team-Up: MODOK's Eleven that his apparent insanity and demise years earlier were in fact well-crafted ruses designed so that he could fade into the background once more.[volume & issue needed]
The "One More Day" storyline ended with the removal of Peter and Mary Jane's timeline from all memories and no one knows Spider-Man's identity, including the Chameleon.[26]
The Chameleon returns to New York more sadistic and sociopathic than ever before. To complete his hired goal of bombing City Hall, he kidnaps Peter who works for Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. While posing as Parker, he tries to better his life, revealing that he always tries to rectify the problems in the lives of his "faces".[27] Using Peter's security clearance to get access to various materials, the Chameleon was poised to bomb City Hall before Peter escaped and thwarted his plans as Spider-Man. During the resulting confusion, the Chameleon escaped.[28]
Sometime later at an alley building during "The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt" storyline, the distraught Chameleon is met by Sasha Kravinoff and Ana Kravinoff who want his help in avenging Sergei's death.[29] Various follow up issues during The Gauntlet storyline show the Chameleon helping the Kravinoff family into creating an alliance of Spider-Man's enemies as well as Diablo.[30] First, he and Sasha managed to spring Electro from prison.[31] Then Chameleon approached Mysterio stating that he has friends that are "dying" to meet him.[32] When it came to the Grim Hunt part, he posed as Ezekiel in order to get close to Spider-Man to defeat and bring to the Kravinoffs in order to sacrifice as part of a ritual that will revive Sergei.[33] After Sergei is resurrected, the Chameleon states that the problem might stem from inward anger of being resurrected. He and the Kravinoffs discover Spider-Man's corpse, which turns out to be Kaine in Spider-Man's costume instead.[34] The real Spider-Man goes to take revenge on the Kravenoff family. Spider-Man soon arrives and pulled the Chameleon and Alyosha into the huge nest of spiders. Sasha realizes that the Kravinoff family wasn't hunting the spiders, but it was the spiders hunting them.[35]
During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, the Chameleon is invited by Doctor Octopus to join his supervillain team where he gets involved in securing some specific items for Doctor Octopus. He poses as Harry Osborn to trick Spider-Man by telling him that Menace's infant has died. When Spider-Man has been away, the Chameleon got the infant.[36] Doctor Octopus later talks with the Chameleon saying that the baby is the first of a new species. Using a lead gained when he took down Shocker, Spider-Man arrives at the Kravinoff Mansion where he captures the Chameleon who reveals that the baby is still alive and is in the Lizard's clutches.[37]
The Chameleon later becomes a member of Doctor Octopus's latest incarnation of the Sinister Six. He poses as Captain Steve Rogers in order to infiltrate an Air Force base.[38] The Chameleon disguises himself as a tribal chief when he and Mysterio pull off a zombie pirate attack on some natives.[39] Using robots of the other Sinister Six members, Chameleon and Mysterio pulled off this scheme as a diversion so that Doctor Octopus and the other Sinister Six members can infiltrate the Baxter Building to look for specific technology plans while the Future Foundation were investigating the more obvious threat.[40]
The Chameleon later poses as Klaw in order to infiltrate Intelligencia so that he can help the Sinister Six steal their Zero Cannon.[41]
During the "Ends of the Earth" storyline, the Chameleon was present with the Sinister Six when Doctor Octopus tells them about a master plan.[42] The Chameleon was present at Palazzo Senatorio at a summit where the world's greatest minds and the world leaders is carried out to discuss about Doctor Octopus's supposed offer to save the world with the Chameleon disguised as Al Gore. As Al Gore, the Chameleon states that Doctor Octopus would save them. Without a counter-argument, Spider-Man punches Al Gore and reveals to everyone present that Al Gore is actually the Chameleon in disguise. Spider-Man's new costume could detect which person is actually the Chameleon based on heartbeats. A transmission from Doctor Octopus states activating the Octavian Lens which are blocking the harmful UV rays from the sun in order to reinforce this offer. After letting the Chameleon go, Spider-Man secretly places a Spider-Tracer on the Chameleon so that the Avengers could follow him. They follow the Chameleon to the Mediterranean Coasts where the Sinister Six is waiting for the Chameleon. Using many of the stolen objects, the Sinister Six successfully subdue the Avengers leaving only Spider-Man standing.[43] After Spider-Man and the Black Widow escape with Silver Sable's help, the Chameleon suggest that since the Sinister Six's remaining members had each received their $2 billion and their criminal records expunged, they should just leave Doctor Octopus and his scheme. But they stay on board as that would make an enemy out of Doctor Octopus. The Chameleon later gets involved with Mysterio in tricking Spider-Man's allies into thinking they were destroying Symkaria, in order to give Doctor Octopus more time to complete the 200 satellites. However, the Chameleon is captured and the Black Widow threatens to reveal the secret behind his real face.[44]
Following the "Dying Wish" storyline, the Chameleon later fights Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius's mind in Spider-Man's body) and the Secret Avengers on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.[45] The Chameleon ends up knocked unconscious and the Superior Spider-Man transports him to his hidden underwater lab where he ends up imprisoned.[46] The Chameleon, Electro, Sandman, Mysterion, and the Vulture are later seen as part of the "Superior Six" team. The Superior Spider-Man has been temporarily controlling their minds in order to redeem them for their crimes, doing this by forcing them do heroic deeds against their will which almost get some of them killed. Every time they are done being controlled, they are put back in their containment cells.[47] They eventually break free of the Superior Spider-Man's control and attempt to exact revenge, while nearly destroying New York in order to do so.[48] With Sun Girl's help, the Superior Spider-Man is barely able to stop the Superior Six.[49]
Following the true Spider-Man's return, the Chameleon attempts to drive Spider-Man insane as revenge for the Superior Spider-Man's earlier treatment of him. However, Deadpool switches costumes with Spider-Man, with the Chameleon unaware of this. He fails at driving Deadpool insane (as Deadpool is already insane), and ends up being shot in the leg by him. Both heroes (in each other's costumes) punch the Chameleon at the same time, knocking him out and later delivered him to the authorities.[50]
At the conclusion of the "Hunted" storyline, the Chameleon is revealed to be one of the attendees at Sergei's funeral as he is pleased that Sergei spared him from the Great Hunt. As he walks away, the Chameleon quotes to his dead stepbrother to sleep well and states "You needn't worry. The world is no longer your burden. Besides, there won't be much of it left soon...Not by the time I've finished."[51
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Psycho-Man first appears in the 1967 Fantastic Four annual, as the leader of a technocracy that governs a microscopic system of worlds in the Microverse.[2] Due to overpopulation on these worlds, the character decides that the macroscopic world will be an ideal new base. Using technology from the mainstream Marvel universe, Psycho-Man remains microscopic in size but is able to function by controlling a suit of advanced human-sized armor. Using a portable device capable of influencing people's emotions, Psycho-Man enslaves a number of human subjects to build a larger version of the machine, with the intent of subjugating the world. The plan, however, is thwarted by Fantastic Four members the Human Torch and the Thing, by the Royal Family of the Inhumans and by the Black Panther; Psycho-Man is forced to retreat back to the Microverse.[3]
The character reappears in the title Fantastic Four when Mister Fantastic; the Human Torch and the Thing travel to Psycho-Man's realm to find the Herald of Galactus the Silver Surfer. Becoming aware of the threat of Galactus, Psycho-Man allows the heroes and the Surfer to leave unopposed.[4] In the title Micronauts the diminutive heroes are joined by the entire Fantastic Four and battle Psycho-Man, who at this time claims to be in forced exile.[5] Psycho-Man reappears in the title Fantastic Four, and uses an android based on the villain the Hate-Monger to incite hatred amongst the population of New York City.[6] Psycho-Man succeeds in transforming the Invisible Woman into the entity Malice, and sends her to destroy the remainder of the Fantastic Four. Mister Fantastic frees his wife from the conditioning, and they pursue Psycho-Man to the Microverse, where the villain is forced to experience a number of negative emotions simultaneously by the Invisible Girl after she turned his own equipment against him. The villain lapses into a coma, and Susan Richards - in recognition of the personal growth she experienced during this mission - changes her name to the Invisible Woman.[7]
Reduced to a minuscule size after an accidental exposure to Ant-Man's shrinking gas, Spider-Man finds himself in the Microverse face-to-face with Psycho-Man. After a failed attempt to drain the Captain Universe power from Spider-Man (a power he no longer possesses), Spider-Man breaks from Psycho-Man's prison to find an alien universe that Psycho-Man has shrunk and demanded they make him king. After a battle with Psycho-Man, Spider-Man with the help of the beings of this shrunken universe, is able to destroy the device that controls Psycho-Man's power to manipulate the size of things, sending Psycho-Man shrinking and Spider-Man to return to normal size.[8]
In the fourth volume of the title Captain Marvel, the Kree hero Genis-Vell has an encounter with Psycho-Man in the Microverse when the villain temporarily controls Marvel's ally, Drax the Destroyer.[9] The character launches another attack on New York City in the title Marvel Knights 4 but is defeated once again by the Invisible Woman;[10] appears in an issue of the fourth volume of the Black Panther and battles a new version of the Fantastic Four (the Black Panther; the mutant Storm; the Thing and the Human Torch).[11]
Psycho-Man is killed by the Red Hulk during a tournament organized by the Grandmaster, but restored to life with other fallen characters when the tournament is completed.[12]
It is revealed that Psycho-Man has a daughter, who calls herself Psycho-Woman, who uses an "emotional modifier" device, far superior to her father's technology. She engineered a series of events that led to Johnny Storm impregnating a woman, in hopes of using the child's genetics to create a cosmic energy-powered army. Hiding in Johnny's body, she was apparently incinerated when he "flamed on".[13]
Psycho-Man attempted to take control of the students of Avengers Academy while they were out on a 'field trip' with substitute teacher Spider-Man.[14] He was defeated when Spider-Man's will power proved sufficient to shake off his influence thanks to his old experience with the Psycho-Man. Spider-Man rallied the other students to fight back and throw off his control, simultaneously giving Spider-Man the chance to connect to his students and prompt them to prove their worth as heroes.[15]
During the "Fear Itself" storyline, Psycho-Man takes advantage of the fear and chaos caused by the Serpent and his Worthy by plotting to use Man-Thing as the ultimate fear bomb for Earth and other worlds. Psycho-Man has to deal with the Fearsome Four (consisting of Howard the Duck, She-Hulk, Nighthawk, and Frankenstein's Monster). Psycho-Man brings forth an alternate version of the Fantastic Four (consisting of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Gray Hulk, and Ghost Rider) from another dimension and brainwashes them into fighting the Fearsome Four. Howard the Duck uses his secret weapon - a device called the "No Thing" - which defeats Psycho-Man and the alternate Fantastic Four.[16]
When the mysterious Quiet Man mounted an attack on the FF, one of the villains he recruited to aid in his assault was the Psycho-Man, whose dimensional technology helped the Quiet Man access the forces of Counter-Earth created by Franklin Richards, recruiting and brainwashing its heroes as part of his plans. However, the Psycho-Man's role in his plan also allowed Reed to defeat the Quiet Man, whose plan depended on the idea that the villains would withdraw and allow the Quiet Man to present himself as the hero who exposed Reed's attack, as Reed correctly deduced that the Psycho-Man wouldn't give up control over two worlds. The Psycho-Man was defeated when Valeria managed to calculate how to hack his equipment and use it to make the Quiet Man's forces withdraw.[volume & issue needed]
During the aftermath of the "Secret Empire" storyline, Psycho-Man then appears in Colorado causing a riot until he is thwarted by the Champions. Before escaping, Psycho-Man's emotion-controlling device affects the time-displaced Cyclops which causes him to behave strangely. He then appears in a facility in Alabama, where he affects the scientists with his device and uses them to attack the Champions until Cyclops defeats him by attacking him from behind, nearly killing him.[17
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The Magdalena is the title of a series of women descended from Jesus Christ via his marriage to Mary Magdalene. The Magdalena inherits great powers from the royal bloodline and acts as a warrior in the defence of the Catholic Church.[3][4]
The Roman Catholic Church has been the Magdalena's employer since the Middle Ages, raising her from childhood and training her until she is ready to carry out her role. The Inquisition, a secretive and powerful council of cardinals, oversees the Magdalena's activities and decides her missions.
Sister RosaliaEdit
Sister Rosalia was a former Magdalena who died when she was 33 years old. She was raped as a teenager by a masked assailant. She became pregnant as a result of the assault and gave birth to a girl. The child was stolen from her and raised in an unidentified convent.
In her last mission, she was sent to investigate vampirism in France. She was informed that vampirism is a retrovirus that forces vampires to consume blood to restore their hemoglobin. She decided that they were not evil and aided their escape. She was killed by the soldiers of the Inquisition, the Garduna, for trying to prevent them from slaughtering the vampires. It was hinted that Rosalia might have been infected with the virus and would rise three days after her death, mirroring the Resurrection of Jesus.
Sister MariellaEdit
Mariella, the adult daughter of Rosalia, was sent to kill Jackie Estacado with the Spear of Destiny, but unbeknownst to her she still wasn't fully trained and wasn't able to differentiate between right and wrong. After the Sisters of the Order of Magdalene performed the ritual which gave Mariella the ability to divine a person's sins, she and her Sisters were overpowered and defeated by Jackie, who made an example of them by crucifying them in the church. After recovering from her crucifixion and the fight with Jackie, Mariella learned where the Spear of Destiny was and prepared to retrieve it. While doing so, she encountered the Angelus and Appolonia Francetti in the Amazon rainforest and was again left to die after Appolonia used a portion of the Darkness' power to subdue her.
PatienceEdit
The third and current Magdalena is known as Patience, created by writer Brian Holguin. Patience was in her novitiate but she left her convent suddenly, forcing the Inquisition to send an agent, Kristof, to track her down when her time came to assume the role of the Magdalena.
Kristof found Patience living on the streets with a homeless girl named Rowan Barry. Kristof became Patience's mentor and gave her basic training. Patience was initially hesitant but later accepted her destiny when Rowan was abducted by agents of an evil force. The events lead to a disagreement with Kristof and the Inquisition, prompting her to declare herself independent of their control. She remains allied with them only when their goals do not conflict with her ethics.
Patience appeared again when Sara Pezzini, an officer of the New York City Police Department and wielder of the Witchblade, was attacked by a bloodthirsty demon posing as a young woman. Patience helped her to drive away the demon.
Benedetta Maria FerroEdit
Benedetta was a Magdalena of Spanish descent who tried to stop Jackie Estacado's ancestor, Miguel Estacado, from obtaining a treasure meant for the Pope. During her battle with Estacado, she was fatally wounded before plunging the Spear of Destiny into the hull of Estacado's ship. Before her death, Miguel took the spear, intending to return it to the Holy See, and left her to die, a decision he later regretted.
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In the novel, It is a shapeshifting monster who usually takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, originating in a void containing and surrounding the Universe—a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse". It arrived on Earth during an asteroid impact and made its home under the land which Derry would be built on, initially preying on indigenous tribes. It would sleep for millions of years, then, when humans appeared in Derry, would fall into a 27-year slumber and wake for about a year in order to feed on human fear, often assuming the shape of what its prey fear the most. It has a preference for children since their fears are easier to interpret and adults are harder to scare, in a physical form. It can manipulate people with weaker wills, making them indifferent to the horrific events that unfold or even serve as accomplices.
In the novel, It claims that its true name is Robert "Bob" Gray, and is named "It" by the Losers Club. Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male due to usually appearing as Pennywise. The Losers come to believe It may be female (because it lays eggs), and perceiving It's true form as a monstrous giant spider. However, It's true appearance is briefly observed by Bill Denbrough via the Ritual of Chüd as a mass of swirling destructive orange lights known as "deadlights", which inflict insanity or death on any living being that sees them directly. The only person to survive the ordeal is Bill's wife Audra Phillips, although she is rendered temporarily catatonic by the experience.
Its natural enemy is the "Space Turtle" or "Maturin", another ancient dweller of King's "Macroverse" who, eons ago, created the known universe and possibly others by vomiting them out as the result of a stomachache. The Turtle appears again in King's series The Dark Tower. Wizard and Glass, one of the novels in the series, suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, omnipotent creator referred to as "the Other" (possibly Gan, who is said to have created the various universes where King's novels take place).
Throughout the novel It, some events are depicted from Pennywise's point of view, describing itself as a "superior" being, with the Turtle as an equal and humans as mere "toys". It's hibernation begins and ends with horrific events, like the mysterious disappearance of the Derry Township's 300 settlers in 1740–43 or the ironworks explosion. It awoke during a great storm that flooded part of the city in 1957, with Bill's younger brother Georgie the first in a line of killings before the Losers Club fight the monster, a confrontation culminating in Bill using the Ritual of Chüd to severely wound It and force It into hibernation. Continually surprised by the Losers' victory, It briefly questions its superiority before claiming that they were only lucky, as the Turtle is working through them. It is finally destroyed 27 years later in the second Ritual of Chüd, and an enormous storm damages the downtown part of Derry to symbolize It's death.
Pennywise makes a tangential appearance in King's 2011 novel 11/22/63, in which protagonist Jake Epping meets a couple of the children from It, asks them about a recent murder in their town, and learns that the murderer apparently "wasn't the clown." It also appears to Jake in the old ironworks, where it taunts Jake about "the rabbit-hole," referring to the time portal in which Jake moves from one time to another.
Film and televisionEdit
In the 1990 miniseries, Pennywise is portrayed by English actor Tim Curry. One original guise is made for the miniseries: Ben Hanscom's deceased father (played by Steve Makaj).
In the 2017 film adaptation, It Chapter One and its 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, Pennywise is portrayed by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård.[5] The second movie slightly deviates from the book in It's final form being a drider-version of Pennywise and is motivated by revenge on the Losers Club. Will Poulter was originally cast as Pennywise, with Curry describing the role as a "wonderful part" and wishing Poulter the best of luck, but dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts and first film's original director Cary Fukunaga leaving the project. Spanish actor Javier Botet was cast as the Hobo leper in both movies and the monstrous form of Ms. Kersh in the second film. Two original guises were made for the first film: the Headless Boy, a burnt victim of the Kitchener Ironworks incident (played by Carter Musselman), and the Amedeo Modigliani–based painting Judith (played by Tatum Lee).[6]
Pennywise will also appear as a supporting character in the upcoming live-action/animated film Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will also be distributed by Warner Bros.[7]
Reception and legacyEdit
Several media outlets such as The Guardian have spoken of the character, ranking it as one of the scariest clowns in film or pop culture.[8][9][10] The Atlantic said of the character; "the scariest thing about Pennywise, though, is how he preys on children's deepest fears, manifesting the monsters they're most petrified by (something J. K. Rowling would later emulate with boggarts)."[11] British scholar Mikita Brottman has also said of the miniseries version of Pennywise; "one of the most frightening of evil clowns to appear on the small screen" and that it "reflects every social and familial horror known to contemporary America".[12] Author Darren Shan cited Pennywise as an inspiration behind the character Mr. Dowling in his 12.5 book serial Zom-B.[13]
The American punk rock band Pennywise took its name from the character.[14]
Association with 2016 clown sightingsEdit
Main article: 2016 clown sightings
"I suspect it's a kind of low-level hysteria, like Slender Man, or the so-called Bunny Man, who purportedly lurked in Fairfax County, Virginia, wearing a white hood with long ears and attacking people with a hatchet or an axe. The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying."
—Writer Stephen King's reaction to the recurring clown scare phenomenon.[15]
The character was suggested as a possible inspiration for two incidents of people dressing up as clowns in Northampton, England and Staten Island, New York, both during 2014.[1][16]
In 2016, appearances of "evil clowns" were reported by the media, including nine people in Alabama charged with "clown-related activity".[17] Several newspaper articles suggested that the character of Pennywise was an influence, which led to King commenting that people should react less hysterically to the sightings and not take his work seriously.[18]
The first reported sighting of people dressed as evil clowns in Greenville, South Carolina was by a small boy spoke to his mother of a pair of clowns that had attempted to lure him away.[19] Additional creepy clown sightings were reported in other parts of South Carolina.[20]
Evil clowns were reported in several other U.S. states including North Carolina,[21] Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming[22] Later the same year, "clown sightings" were reported in Great Britain, Australia, and Latin America.[23][24][25]
One hypothesis for the wave of 2016 clown sightings was a viral marketing campaign,[26] possibly for the Rob Zombie film 31 (2016).[27] A spokesperson for New Line Cinema (distributor of the 2017 film adaptation of It) released a statement claiming that "New Line is absolutely not involved in the rash of clown sightings."[28]
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Sara PezziniEdit
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A New York City detective, Sara first encountered the Witchblade while on a case with her then partner, Michael Yee. After both officers were mortally wounded by criminal Ian Nottingham, the gauntlet suddenly left the possession of his employer, Kenneth Irons, and gave its power to Sara, healing her wounds.[citation needed] When Jackie Estacado, the host of the Darkness, was possessed by its influence, he impregnated a temporarily comatose Sara as part of an effort to sway the Witchblade's balance. However, neither of them became aware of this until later. Eventually, Sara met and relinquished the Witchblade to Danielle Baptiste, to whom the artifact had a strong affinity. Amidst complications during the birth of her daughter, Hope, Sara's life was saved when she received half of the Witchblade from Dani.[citation needed] Sara now possesses the full Witchblade and Dani is now the host for the Angelus.
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Mr. Majestic, born Majestros on the planet Khera, was a Kherubim warlord. He has two children, Kenesha and Majestrate. Due to widespread infertility among Kherubim, resulting in even fertile women being able to bear only one child, fertile Kherubim deemed compatible would be made to breed, and so Majestros and the Coda warrior Lady Zannah (who would go on to become Zealot, a founding member of the Wildcats) were chosen, and Zannah become pregnant.[5] Since Coda warriors would become priestesses if they gave birth, and Zannah wished to remain a warrior, her mother, Harmony, pretended the child, Kenesha, was stillborn, and then claimed to have become pregnant and given birth, passing Kenesha off as her own daughter, Zannah's sister.[5] Only Zannah and Harmony were aware that Kenesha was in fact Zannah's daughter.[5]
Majestic was one of the four Kherubim lords trapped on earth during the Kherubim/Daemonite war. It is later revealed that he took his son with him on this journey (see Majestrate below). During the days of the Roman Empire, Majestic became romantically involved with a human woman named Rebecca,[6] his only known relationship with a human, or with anyone since arriving on Earth, since Majestic believes that humans are a lower life form compared to the Kherubim,[7] and that a relationship of any kind would weaken him in his fight against the Daemonites.[8]
He spent centuries fighting for justice, eventually revealing his existence to the public, becoming the only known post-human hero for a time,[9] and went on to join the government-sponsored Team One.[9][10] While the team was fighting Lord Helspont and the Cabal, his friend, teammate and fellow Kherubim Yon Kohl (known as the adventurer John Colt), was ambushed by a group of Daemonites.[11] Colt convinced Majestic to kill him and the Daemonites in order to achieve their mission objective and save New York City from a nuclear attack.[11][12] This event caused him to seek solitude in the Arctic.
At some point, Majestic created a headquarters for himself by hollowing Mount Rushmore and building a base inside it, known as the Rushmore Sanctuary.[13]
Years after killing John Colt, Savant approached Majestic and asked him to help Zealot in her battle with Tapestry. And thus, Mr. Majestic made his return.
After most of the original WildC.A.T.s were sent to Khera and presumed dead, Majestic and Savant formed a new WildC.A.T.s dedicated to performing surgical strikes on the post-human underworld.[14] The team was manipulated by one of their own, Tao,[14] into taking part in a war against post-human criminals, and Majestic appeared to kill Tao,[15] although it would eventually be revealed that it was, in fact, shapeshifter Mr. White, who had been brainwashed into believing he was Tao and assuming his form.[16]
Savant and Majestic went on to leave the WildC.A.T.s, and shortly afterwards proceeded to go on an expedition in Peru, accompanied by Savant's best friend Mabel Bligh.[17] The expedition ended up leading Majestic, Savant and Mabel to meet and befriend several post-humans, including Sheba, Cybernary, Met-L and Disperse, forming the short-lived group Savant Garde.
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In November 2013, Marvel Comics announced that Kamala Khan, a teenage American Muslim from Jersey City, New Jersey, would take over the comic book series Ms. Marvel beginning in February 2014. The series, written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Adrian Alphona, marked the first time a Muslim character headlined a book at Marvel Comics.[2] However, Noelene Clark of the Los Angeles Times noted that Khan is not the first Muslim character in comic books, which include Simon Baz, Dust and M.[3] The conception of Kamala Khan came about during a conversation between Marvel editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker. Amanat said, "I was telling him [Wacker] some crazy anecdote about my childhood, growing up as a Muslim American. He found it hilarious." The pair then told Wilson about the concept and Wilson became eager to jump aboard the project.[4] Amanat said that the series came from a "desire to explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective."[5]
Artist Jamie McKelvie based Khan's design on his redesign of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel and on Dave Cockrum's design of the original Ms. Marvel.[6] Amanat requested that the design "reflected the Captain Marvel legacy, and also her story and her background."[7] Amanat stated that Khan's costume was influenced by the shalwar kameez. They wanted the costume to represent her cultural identity, but did not want her to wear a hijab,[8] because the majority of teenage Pakistani-American girls do not wear one.[9] Amanat also stated that they wanted the character to look "less like a sex siren" to appeal to a more vocal female readership.[8]
Marvel knew that they wanted a young Muslim girl, but stated that she could be from any place of origin and have any background. Wilson initially considered making her an Arab girl from Dearborn, Michigan but ultimately chose to create a Desi girl from Jersey City.[10] Jersey City, which sits across the Hudson River from Manhattan, has been referred to as New York City's "Sixth borough".[11][12][13] It therefore forms an important part of Khan's identity and the narrative journey of her character since most of Marvel Comics' stories are set in Manhattan. Wilson explains, "A huge aspect of Ms. Marvel is being a 'second string hero' in the 'second string city' and having to struggle out of the pathos and emotion that can give a person."[14]
The series not only explores Khan's conflicts with supervillains but also explores conflicts with Khan's home and religious duties. Wilson, a convert to Islam, said "This is not evangelism. It was really important for me to portray Kamala as someone who is struggling with her faith." Wilson continued, "Her brother is extremely conservative, her mom is paranoid that she's going to touch a boy and get pregnant, and her father wants her to concentrate on her studies and become a doctor."[4] Amanat added,
As much as Islam is a part of Kamala's identity, this book isn't preaching about religion or the Islamic faith in particular. It's about what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self. It's a struggle we've all faced in one form or another, and isn't just particular to Kamala because she's Muslim. Her religion is just one aspect of the many ways she defines herself.[2]
First appearance of Kamala Khan from Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013) by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Scott Hepburn
In the series, Khan takes the name Ms. Marvel from Carol Danvers, who now goes by the alias Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick revealed that Khan actually made a brief appearance in Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013) saying, "Kamala is in the background of a scene in Captain Marvel 14 ... She is very deliberately placed in a position where she sees Carol protecting civilians from Yon-Rogg."[15] According to Wilson, Khan idolizes Carol so when Khan acquires superhuman abilities, she emulates Danvers.[14] "Captain Marvel represents an ideal that Kamala pines for. She's strong, beautiful and doesn't have any of the baggage of being Pakistani and 'different,'"[4] Wilson explained. "Khan is a big comic book fan and after she discovers her superhuman power – being a polymorph and able to lengthen her arms and legs and change her shape – she takes on the name of Ms. Marvel," Amanat elaborated.[16] Khan is one of several characters who discover that they have Inhuman heritage following the "Inhumanity" storyline, in which the Terrigen Mists are released throughout the world and activate dormant Inhuman cells.[17]
In the series' first story arc, Khan faces off against Mr. Edison / the Inventor, an amalgam of man and bird. Wilson created the Inventor to be Khan's first arch rival in order to mirror Khan's own complexity. Wilson characterizes the Inventor, and the overall visual look of the opening story arc as "kooky and almost Miyazaki-esque at times", owing to the art style of illustrator Adrian Alphona, which balances the drama of the threats which Khan faces with the humor of Alphona's "tongue in cheek sight gags." During the storyline, Khan also teams-up with the X-Man Wolverine against the Inventor. Because Wolverine is dealing with the loss of his healing factor during this time, Khan is placed in the position of having to shoulder much of the responsibilities, as Wilson felt this was a role reversal that would subvert reader expectations that Wolverine would take the lead in such a team-up.[18]
At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International, writer Dan Slott announced that Khan would team-up with Spider-Man beginning in The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (October 2014) during the "Spider-Verse" storyline. Slott characterized Khan "the closest character to classic Peter Parker,"[19] explaining, "She's a teenage superhero, juggling her life, making mistakes, trying to do everything right."[20]
Beginning in June 2015, Ms. Marvel tied into the "Secret Wars" crossover event with the "Last Days" storyline, which details Khan's account of the end of the Marvel Universe. Wilson explained, "In the 'Last Days' story arc, Kamala has to grapple with the end of everything she knows, and discover what it means to be a hero when your whole world is on the line."[21] In the storyline, Khan rushes to deal with the threat in Manhattan. However, Wilson revealed, "She will face a very personal enemy as the chaos in Manhattan spills over into Jersey City, and she will be forced to make some very difficult choices. There will also be a very special guest appearance by a superhero Kamala—and the fans—have been waiting to meet for a long time."[22]
In March 2015, Marvel announced that Khan will join the Avengers in All-New All-Different Avengers FCBD (May 2015) by writer Mark Waid and artists Adam Kubert and Mahmud Asrar, which takes place in the aftermath of "Secret Wars".[23] A second volume of Ms. Marvel starring Khan by Wilson, Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa is also debuted following "Secret Wars" as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative.[24] Amanat said,
By the time this new launch comes around, it will have been almost two years since the premiere of Ms. Marvel—and boy, has Kamala Khan been through a lot since then. She's been slowly coming into her own, dealing with the challenges of navigating adulthood and being a super hero. But her training is over now and it's time for the big leagues; the question is can she handle it? ... As much as Kamala has a right to be there—it's still a bit of a culture shock. Dreaming of being an Avenger and then suddenly being one is a lot to take on for someone of her age. So, she'll be a little awestruck, a little overly ambitious.[25]
In March 2016, Marvel announced that Ms. Marvel would tie into the "Civil War II" storyline by releasing a promotional image illustrating a rift between Khan and Danvers.[26] "While "Civil War II" may have initiated this rift, we've known for some time that Kamala would eventually need to separate herself from her idols. Her journey centers around self-discovery and identity, and a part of that exploration includes separating yourself from those you put on pedestals. The rift between Carol and Kamala doesn't really have to do with right and wrong. It has to do with growing up and realizing that you perceive the world differently from even the ones you love," Amanat elaborated.[27]
In July, Marvel announced that Khan will join the Champions, a team of teenage superheroes who split off from the Avengers following the conclusion of "Civil War II". The team, featured in a series by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos, consists of Khan, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Nova (Sam Alexander), Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Viv Vision, and a teenage version of Cyclops. Waid said, "The first three are the kids who quit the Avengers proper. That was an easy get. Those three, in and of themselves, form a nice little subteam. Their dynamic is great. They all show up in each other's books, and even though they have their arguments and stress points, clearly they're good together."[28]
In August, Khan made an appearance in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #10 by writers Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare. In the issue, Khan acts as a mentor to Moon Girl (Lunella Lafayette) who is also a young Inhuman that suddenly came into her powers. Amanat stated that Khan sees much of herself in Lafayette and by teaching her, Khan learns much about herself.[27]
In November, Marvel announced that Khan will join a new incarnation of the Secret Warriors in a series by writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Javier Garron that debuted in May 2017. The team, formed in the wake of the "Inhumans vs X-Men" storyline, also includes Quake, Karnak, Moon Girl, and Devil Dinosaur. Rosenberg stated that there is some conflict and friction amongst the team members explaining, "Ms. Marvel and Quake are really fighting for the soul of the team in a lot of ways, while Moon Girl will continue to really do her own thing. They will all be tested and challenged, they are superheroes after all, but they are going to do things their way."[29]
In March 2017, Marvel announced that Khan would team-up with Danvers in a one-shot issue of the limited anthology series, Generations by Wilson and Paolo Villanelle. Wilson stated that the issue would explore Danvers' and Khan's mentor–student relationship, but "at its heart, [it] is about growing up, and a big part of growing up is discovering that your idols have feet of clay – and forgiving them for their flaws as you gain an adult understanding of your own."[30]
In December, Ms. Marvel began the "Teenage Wasteland" story arc, as part of the Marvel Legacy relaunch. Wilson said, "Since the events of 'Civil War II', there's been friction between Kamala and her mentor, Captain Marvel. In this arc, we're exploring how complicated legacies can be when they're passed from generation to generation ... She's questioning a lot about herself and her mission. Her friends end up stepping into some very important—and unexpected—roles. So in a sense, the arc is really about a bunch of chronically under-estimated teenagers who pull together to fight evil."[31]
Ms. Marvel #31, the 50th issue of Ms. Marvel featuring Khan was released in June 2018. To mark the occasion, Marvel brought in additional collaborators for the issue including writers: G. Willow Wilson, Saladin Ahmed, Rainbow Rowell, and Hasan Minhaj; and artists: Nico Leon, Bob Quinn, Gustavo Duarte, and Elmo Bondoc.[32]
Beginning in March 2019, Khan headlined a new series titled, The Magnificent Ms. Marvel, written by Ahmed and illustrated by Minkyu Jung. Wilson stated that she had been planning her departure from the series for over a year, stating that she originally anticipated that the series would only last for ten issues and was excited by the fact that she had written 60 issues. Ahmed said the new series will have much wider scope, "while still maintaining that intimate tone that people have loved about it."[33]
In July 2020, Marvel announced that Khan would star in an original graphic novel, published in conjunction with Scholastic and aimed at younger readers. The book will be written by author Nadia Shammas. An illustrator has not yet been named.[34
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An unnamed assassin was marked for death after his part in a failed political coup. After blowing up a squad of enemy soldiers, he decides to run for his life. Passed out in the snow after four days of fleeing, he was rescued by a troop of Japanese macaques. The monkeys allowed the assassin into their clan, with the exception of a lone monkey. The man knew that he would be hunted so he trained daily using snowmen as training dummies. Quietly, the monkey that distrusted him watched, and eventually picked up on the fighter's skills. The assassin's health began to fail, and as the tribe of monkeys tried to save him, the lone monkey objected, eventually fighting the rest of the group with his newfound skills. Because of the violence he displayed, the monkey was banished from his clan. However, on his own, he saw a group of men on their way to kill the assassin. He tried to run back and warn his tribe, but it was too late - the assassin had been killed as well as the rest of the monkeys. Furious at his clan's slaughter, the monkey picked up extra guns from a bag and proceeded to kill the entire group of men. Determined to avenge his fallen tribe, the monkey now dedicated his life to killing assassins - under the alias of Hit-Monkey.[10]
In Deadpool #19, Spider-Man finds a local shop owner brutally murdered. Having seen Deadpool in New York earlier, Spider-Man suspects he is the killer, and fights and catches him. However, Deadpool claims he has an alibi. After examining the crime scene, Deadpool says that only one assassin could have pulled off a job so flawlessly: Hit-Monkey. Deadpool and Spider-Man team up to catch Hit-Monkey, who is known for killing other assassins. Because of this, they realize that Deadpool is likely on Hit-Monkey's hit list.[11] Spider-Man reluctantly teams up with Deadpool, and after some dirty cops are killed by Hit-Monkey, Spider-Man is followed by Hit-Monkey in order to kill Deadpool. Hit-Monkey accidentally shoots Spider-Man in the fight and seemingly feels bad about it, showing that he is not just a ruthless killer, but a killer of known assassins. Trying to capitalize on this moment, Deadpool attempts to kill Hit-Monkey, but fails and is shot several times. Hit-Monkey leaves him for dead, apparently not knowing about Deadpool's healing factor.[12] Deadpool then pretends to be Spider-Man and fakes his death. At "Spider-Man's" funeral, Hit-Monkey comes to pay his respect, thinking he killed him. However, Deadpool jumps out of the casket in order to kill Hit-Monkey. Spider-Man renders both fighters' guns unusable so they can't kill each other without blowing themselves up as well. Deadpool doesn't care and pulls the trigger, seemingly killing Hit-Monkey but surviving due to his healing factor.[13] Nevertheless, Spider-Man reveals that Hit-Monkey did survive or, at least, that his body was not found. Hit-Monkey later returns for a short cameo.[14]
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Hit-Monkey appears as a member of S.T.A.K.E.'s Howling Commandos.[15]
Hit-Monkey later joins up with Domino's incarnation of the Mercs for Money.[16]
Hit-Monkey was seen with the Howling Commandos at the time when they help Old Man Logan rescue Jubilee from Dracula.[17]
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The Hamburglar is a McDonaldland character who features in McDonald's commercials. He is a close friend of Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and Birdie. Even though he has always attempted (and failed) to hoard all the hamburgers in McDonaldland for himself, he has always been looked upon as a valued member of the McDonaldland community.
Hamburglar was voiced by Howard Morris in most commercials, Charlie Adler in some 1980s commercials and "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald"; and Carl W. Wolfe in some 1990s commercials. He was portrayed by Tommy Vicini from 1992-2003 after brief stints in the 1980s sharing the role with 20 year veteran Frankie Delfino (1971-1991).
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Melissa Gold was a troubled runaway from an alcoholic father and incarcerated mother. In order to survive on the streets, Melissa developed a hard edge to her personality, referring to herself as "Mimi".[3] She was eventually imprisoned, where she met Poundcakes, a female wrestler who invited her to join the Grapplers under the name Screaming Mimi, alongside Titania and Letha.[citation needed] The Grapplers became renowned for their colorful personalities and ringside antics, but the wrestling federation denied them the opportunity to make the amount of money their male counterparts made. Instead, the group agreed to earn supplementary income by performing a covert operation for the Roxxon Oil Company. Roxxon gave the Grapplers special paraphernalia to assist them in their mission; Mimi received an apparatus that converted her voice to high-frequency sonics for various effects. The Grapplers tested these powers by fighting Thundra in a wrestling ring.[4] On their mission, Thundra led them into Project Pegasus to smuggle in the Nth Projector for Roxxon. The mission failed when they were defeated by the heroes Quasar and Giant-Man.[5] The Grapplers were tried and jailed for their misdeeds. Alongside the Grapplers, she victimized Dazzler while she was in Ryker's Island prison with them.[6] When the Grapplers were finally paroled, they discovered that the women's wrestling movement had lost its momentum without them, so they continued to perform crimes to support themselves and working as professional criminals. Alongside the Grapplers, Mimi attempted to attack the Thing while he was in the hospital, and battled Captain America.[7] Later, the Grapplers set their sights on a women's division of the superpowered Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Their manager, Auntie Freeze, arranged for the women to augment their natural abilities with artificial powers created by the agency Power Broker, Inc. While the other Grapplers received superhuman strength, Mimi instead had her vocal enhancements internalized as a throat implant.[volume & issue needed] (It was believed that Mimi had also gained superhuman strength, however by her own account to Mach-1 it was only the other Grapplers that were augmented.[8]) The all-new Grapplers made a legitimate professional comeback that proved short-lived. When Titania was murdered by the vigilante Scourge, Mimi was among the female wrestlers of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation who participated in a mass attack upon the Thing, blaming him for Titania's death.[9] After Letha was later also killed by Scourge,[10] the Grapplers broke up.[volume & issue needed]
Mimi was later contacted by the criminal Baron Helmut Zemo to join his version of the Masters of Evil. Her first assignment was to help bust the female Yellowjacket out of prison, but Mimi was captured in the subsequent battle with the Wasp, Black Knight, and Paladin. She was bound and gagged and arrested.[11] Later, she formed a romantic and criminal partnership with the similarly-empowered Angar the Screamer, at one point battling the Avengers Hawkeye and Mockingbird. The pair impersonated Hawkeye and Mockingbird, but battled them and were defeated.[12] Mimi was also seen among the various female superhumans aboard Superia's cruiseship, where she battled Captain America and Paladin.[13] Angar was eventually mortally wounded by a gunshot during a robbery attempt that went sour, and died in Mimi's arms after they escaped. Mad with grief, Mimi screamed, burning out her power. Immediately afterward, she was contacted by Baron Zemo once more, and she accepted his offer to join a formative Masters of Evil. Zemo allowed Mimi to be nursed back to health, and his accomplice, the Fixer, gave her new powers via a voice-augmenting harness and high-tech implants in her neck based on technology from the villain Klaw. With her newly transformed powers, she resumed the use of her given name Melissa, and adopted the identity of Songbird as a member of the Thunderbolts, a new Masters of Evil group posing as superheroes to win the world's trust while secretly plotting world conquest under Zemo's direction.[14] However, Melissa and most of the other Thunderbolts grew to like their heroic roles. In particular, Melissa began to truly grow into her own and even began a romance with her teammate Abner Jenkins, alias MACH-1, formerly the Beetle. Ultimately, the Thunderbolts turned against Zemo, foiling his attempt at world domination and rescuing the Avengers in the process. Melissa continued to serve with the team, who operated as a team of outlaw superheroes.[volume & issue needed]
Melissa stayed with the Thunderbolts through different incarnations after this, and rose to second-in-command under Hawkeye and eventually ran the team herself. Her sonic equipment was replaced several times, both by criminal organizations and by S.H.I.E.L.D.
During the superhero "Civil War" event the Thunderbolts, including Melissa, were approached by the government to catch supervillains and rehabilitate them.[volume & issue needed]
Having turned up alive after his apparent death, Lemuel Dorcas developed an obsession for Songbird where he kidnapped her and repaired her vocal cords as he intends to make Songbird his slave. However, Songbird was able to escape from Doctor Dorcas's clutches, as with the surgery restoring her persuasive powers as well, she turned Doctor Dorcas's henchmen against him.[15]
During the "Secret Invasion" event, Songbird was attacked by a Skrull who not only had her powers, but also had the powers of Atlas and the rest of the original Thunderbolts.[16] The Thunderbolts save her by causing this Skrull to merge into a nearby building, killing him.[17]
During the "Dark Reign" event, Norman Osborn orders Melissa killed by other members of the Thunderbolts team, forcing her to go into hiding for a time.[18] She gathers allies to resist Osborn.[19]
After the "Siege" event and Osborn's subsequent downfall, Songbird has taken a position at "the Raft", as the prison's female warden. Songbird has joined the new Thunderbolts team, led by Luke Cage in large part to keep a close eye over Moonstone (whom Cage has offered a chance for freedom in exchange for her serving on the team). When Songbird objects to Moonstone's inclusion on the team due to her history of manipulation and deceit, Cage counters that Songbird herself used to be regarded the same way and that she should give Moonstone the same chances she was given by others
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