May is Hellfire Club Month! [Archive] - Page 3

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 09:56 AM

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/EmmanuelDaCosta.jpg

Emmanuel DaCosta
- White Rook of Hellfire Club I

(Selene calls him a Rook, and Von Roehm was the Black Rook, so by default…)
First appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4
First Hellfire appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #7
Last appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #98 [poisoned and killed by one of Gideon's operatives]
All Hellfire appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #7-8, 12, 22-23
Powers: none, human

Before his time with the Hellfire Club: Emmanuel Da Costa was a man who had built a financial empire, but began to become estranged from his wife, Nina, and son, Roberto, when he was approached by Sebastian Shaw to join the Hellfire Club. Shaw sent operatives like Axe and Castro to dry and dissuade Nina, and the New Mutants, from going on an expedition in the Amazon to the Maderia (which was the secret mine his fortune was made upon), and come home to be at Emmanuel’s side like “a good wife should”. All the while, though, Da Costa had begun being enticed by Shaw with the women of the Hellfire Club, and whatever services they might provide him. Eventually, Shaw’s assistance with his wife, son, and the New Mutants is enough to compel him to join. Emmanuel informs Roberto of his decision, and it sparks a fight between the two. It’s not hard to understand why, since Donald Pierce and his Hellfire mercenaries tried killing Roberto when he was fourteen, and in the battle that followed, Roberto’s girlfriend, Julia was killed. Regardless, the elder Da Costa goes forth into the ranks of the Hellfire Club as White Rook.

During his time in the Hellfire Club: Emmanuel’s initiation rite was the same night as Selene’s first night as the Black Queen. Immediately upon his entry as White Rook, Sebastian Shaw began pressuring him to also have his son join the Hellfire Club’s ranks. Years go by, and Da Costa’s involvement within the Hellfire Club remains a mystery until his death at the hands of Eve, an assassin who serves him poison coffee upon the orders of the External, Gideon.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/3016/144210-98132-emmanuel-dacosta_large.JPG (http://www.comicvine.com/98132-emmanuel-dacosta/105-144210/)

What did you think of Emmanuel Da Costa? What business deals did he gain through the Hellfire Club? Did his joining effectively end his marriage, permanently?

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 12:41 PM

http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/img/s/Sunspot.jpg

Sunspot (Roberto “Bobby” DaCosta)
– Originally Black Rook of the Hellfire Club IV, briefly Black King of the Hellfire Club V
eventually Lord Imperial of Hellfire Club V
First appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4
First Hellfire IV appearance : X-Force (vol. 1) #94
All Hellfire IV appearances: X-Force (vol. 1) #94, 96-98, Uncanny X-Men # 453, 454, X-Men: Endangered Species #1, X-Men: Legacy #210-211.
Last Appearance: X-Force (vol. 3) #26.
Powers: Absorb sunlight and other sources of heat energy, re-channeling them into concentrated solar energy that he can direct as waves of intense heat, dark plasma blasts, and thermal updrafts that allow him to fly. Sunspot originally metabolized solar energy into an energy charge that increase his strength, endurance, and resilience. He later learned how to focus this charge outwards as concussive blasts, energy shields, and thrust for flight. The many changes to his powers he has experienced at the hands of Cable, Reignfire, and the Damocles Foundation make it unclear as to if he can still access physical power enhancement.

Before His Hellfire Club Initiation:
Roberto da Costa was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is the son of wealthy businessman Emmanuel da Costa and archaeologist Nina da Costa. The relationship between Roberto and his father, for a long time, resembled more closely one of best friends than father and son (the Hellfire Club would put a barrier between them, though). Nonetheless, Emmanuel constantly pushed his son to reach for both his physical and intellectual limits. Thanks to his father's encouragement, Roberto rose to the position of star futbol player at school, and was considered by recruiters for the Brazilian Olympic team. Shortly before what is believed to be his fourteenth birthday (as best can be determined; there are conflicting references) Roberto was playing a soccer game with his team (the Thunderbolts) against their arch-rivals, the Dynamos. Racist members of the Dynamos assaulted Roberto during the game, and in response Roberto took matters into his own hands, initiating a fight on the field. He proceeded to manifest his mutant powers, transforming suddenly into a creature of solid black solar energy. Surprised and terrified, people abandoned the stadium, and only his girlfriend, Juliana Sandoval, refused to abandon him.
Within a matter of days, a mutant-hating faction led by Donald Pierce and employing Hellfire Club mercenaries kidnapped Juliana to lure Roberto into a trap. He engages them, but is eventually defeated. Other young mutants by the name of Karma and Psyche rescue him. In the course of the following battle, against Pierce and his mercenaries, Juliana sacrifices her life for Robert, jumping in front of a bullet for him, and is seemingly lost to him forever.
After the rescue, Roberto joins Karma and Psyche in going after Donald Pierce. The three are joined by Wolfsbane, and after the battle by Sam Guthrie, a.k.a Cannonball, one of Pierce's misguided mutant hirelings, despite initial reservations by the others. Professor Charles Xavier offerd to train the five teenagers in controlling their nascent mutant powers, to which they accept and become the founding members to the group known as the New Mutants, a group of junior X-Men. During their time as teammates on the New Mutants, Roberto and Sam Guthrie would become best friends.
When Cable takes over the New Mutants later, he turns them into the paramilitary group X-Force, Sunspot parts ways with the team for awhile. During this time Sunspot is tutored by Gideon of the Externals, an old business partner of Roberto's father (who has since been killed by one of Gideon’s operatives). Suspecting Sunspot to be a fellow External, Gideon takes Sunspot under his wing, and experiments on him, in an attempt to grant him new powers such as flight and the ability to fire blasts of solar energy. For a time Sunspot was lost in the #space-time continuum after interfering with the teleportation powers of the mutant Locus. During this time, a villain called Reignfire comes onto the scene, showing a remarkable similar appearance to Sunspot. After some time, X-Force would discover that Reignfire was a protoplasmic cellular construct that patterned itself after Roberto after being given access to a cellular sample from him. In effect, Reignfire was just an evil clone of Bobby.
Eventually X-Force would find themselves a separate entity without Cable, and when they started travelling around the country doing their own brand of moral mercenary work and odd jobs, Roberto would briefly have a tryst with Tabitha Smith, aka Meltdown, who was, at the time, his best friend’s girlfriend. In time, Sunspot and Meltdown would separate, and the brief rift that it created between Sam and Bobby would be mended.

Recruitment and time in the Hellfire Club:
Roberto would be approached by members of the Hellfire Club, who would point out that since his father Emmanuel had a seat in the Club so does he, as the seats are inherited genetically. The incarnation of the Hellfire Club, in question, was led by Selene, and also had Hellstorm and Blackheart as key members of its Inner Circle. Blackheart had recovered the soul of his long lost love, Juliana, and Selene promised Roberto that they would use their magicks to resurrect her if he joins. Sunspot agreed, and Selene kept her part of the bargain, but only to a certain extent. She brought back the spirit of Juliana, but inserts it into the body of a comatose girl. Possibly because he felt obliged to fulfill his promise, Roberto decides to stay, becoming Selene's Black Rook. He would meet “Juliana” later on the street, but the two do not seem to be aware of their identities.
After time passed, Roberto next surfaces in the title X-Treme X-Men as the head of the Los Angelese branch of X-Corporation, along with former teammate Magma, and former Hellion, Empath. Roberto's ties to the Hellfire Club are revealed to have not been severed, as Sebastian Shaw approaches, having taken over the position of Hellfire Club's Lord Imperial and wanting Roberto as his Black King. Shaw claims that he is trying to turn the Club into a force of good, so Roberto accepts, though he keeps his involvement with Shaw a secret.Not long after at all, Shaw is injured in battle by Donald Pierce, and his injuries are severe enough to make him incapable of overseeing the Hellfire Club. Roberto again is given a field promotion, going from Black Rook to Black King to Lord Imperial seemingly overnight. At his side for a time was Sage, who left the X-Men to make sure Roberto is not corrupted by the power he wields. She would not remain long, however, soon joining the New Excalibur team.
After the events of M-Day, Cyclops called for the shutting down of all branches of the X-Corporation to better pool the resources of the X-Men. Sunspot returned to the Hellfire Club, but was far from enchanted with being a part of the club, with someone like Sebastian Shaw or several other members always plotting his downfall. He did appreciate the attention he got from some of its female members, like Miss Cabot (X-Men: Legacy #210). Upon the destruction of a device Sebastian Shaw had in the Hellfire Club that would track the energy pulses of Mr. Sinister’s Chronus Device, to indicate when he was searching for a new host body for his consciousness, Roberto was noticeably perturbed with all of Shaw’s secrets, and asked the Inner Circle to prepare nominations for a new member. While many may have wondered if he was referring to deposing Shaw, he may have, in fact, have been foreshadowing his own resignation (X-Men: Legacy #211).

Sunspot’s resignation as Lord Imperial would come shortly thereafter, when former Hellfire Club member Donald Pierce would send a group of New X-Men, including Rockslide, Ink, and Wolfcub, to ambush both him, and his best friend, Cannonball, at the New York City Hellfire Club. The fight would be interrupted by the escaped Magma, and Dust, who would inform them of the treachery of Donald Pierce. The two united teams would battle Donald Pierce, but not before he could kill Wolf Cub (Young X-Men #4-5). In the wake of this incident, Sunspot moved to San Francisco, to live with the X-Men at their new Marin Base, and where he would serve as a mentor to the Young X-Men, leading them into battle against one of Krakoa’s offspring, the Y-Men, and the Neo (Young X-Men #6-12). Roberto would also prove himself again as part of the X-Men’s counter-offensive against the Skrull Empire in San Francisco during the “Secret Invasion” (Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4).

[/B]

Ryan W

05-06-2010, 12:45 PM

Has there already been a "Courtney Ross" aka Opal Lun Sat-Yr-9 entry?

There should be.

please?

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 12:49 PM

With the dissolution of the Young X-Men squad, Sunspot was placed with all of the original New Mutants onto a team of mutants sent to investigate attacks in Westcliffe, Colorado that turned out to be a result of the return of David Haller, Legion. While battling the mentally unstable foe, Sunspot was badly wounded, but the New Mutants managed to bring him back to San Francisco where the X-Club formulated a solution to rid him of his multiple personalities (New Mutants (vol. 3) #1-5).

After the capture of Legion, Sunspot was present at the Marin Base as rioting broke out in San Francisco over Proposition X (Dark Avengers: Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1). For whatever reason, as the New X-Man, Hellion, began to foment his own personal rebellion to protest Proposition X, the former leader of the Hellfire Club joined him, just wreaking havoc in the streets of San Francisco, until Emma Frost’s Dark X-Men team quickly showed up to quash their uprising (Uncanny X-Men #513). Sunspot as arrested with seeming ease by the Dark X-Men, and taken to Alcatraz, where he was to be placed in the Omega Machine to have his powers drained and given to Weapon Omega, however, Emma Frost and Namor led an insurrection amongst her own team, and assisted X-Force in leading a mass escape of all the detainees (Dark Avengers #7-8). Roberto was teleported to the X-Men’s new island home, Utopia, where he was a part of the X-Men’s final battle against Norman Osborn’s Avengers and X-Men, where they declared themselves a sovereign nation (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1).

Shortly after this battle, he proved himself again in combat against the Agents of Atlas, who arrived to attempt to steal Cerebra from the H.A.M.M.E.R. guarded Marin Base (X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1-2). But a bigger test would be coming, in the form of Selene’s army of techno-organic virus-infected thralls. As they invaded Utopia, Roberto and the New Mutants faced the resurrected Cypher, as well as all of the Hellions, returned from their graves. Cypher managed to shake Selene’s influence, and the New Mutants managed to save their old teammate (New Mutants (vol. 3) #6-8).

Since then, Roberto has also been present to help the New Mutants foil attacks by the Savage Land Mutates upon Japanese naval ships (New Mutants (vol. 3) #9-11), and has been vocally critical of Doug Ramsey, not trusting him after his assault on Magma. He was also a part of the New Mutants’ team that was sent in to Cameron Hodge’s base in St. Louis, to assure that the Right could not provide Bastion’s army with reinforcements (X-Men: Second Coming #1, Uncanny X-Men #523, New Mutants (vol. 3) #12, X-Force (vol. 3) #26).

http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/f/fd/Sunspot_003.jpg

What do you think of Sunspot as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you think his pact with Selene and Blackheart is somehow infernal? Do you think he was wrong to leave the club, and place Sebastian Shaw in charge instead?

coveredinbees

05-06-2010, 02:29 PM

I thought he was terrible as a member.

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 02:40 PM

I thought he was terrible as a member.

He seemed like he was just there for the well displayed boobs. That's an agenda, I suppose, but not as awesome as one of world domination.

coveredinbees

05-06-2010, 02:46 PM

He was worthless. He should not have given Shaw power.

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 02:58 PM

He was worthless. He should not have given Shaw power.

Yeah. I don't even like the fact that after like, 20 years of there being the Black King as the head of the Hellfire Club, suddenly we got introduced to one wanker who was "Lord Imperial" who was Shaw's never seen before useless boss. Then he's killed and Shaw finally gets a promotion. Then, Shaw has to go to the hospital because of Donald Pierce, and Sunspot is that SuperS&MClubMaster.

I mean... creating Lord Imperial is only slightly more stupid than say, "White Warrior Princess".

coveredinbees

05-06-2010, 03:00 PM

Why couldn't Sage just make herself Lord Imperial?

worstblogever

05-06-2010, 03:01 PM

Why couldn't Sage just make herself Lord Imperial?

It was beneath her. She was just getting her resume ready to apply to be, "Queen Bitch of the Multiverse" and get that cushy office in the Crystal Palace.

eurazn

05-06-2010, 04:44 PM

It was beneath her. She was just getting her resume ready to apply to be, "Queen Bitch of the Multiverse" and get that cushy office in the Crystal Palace.

I think someone may have lied to her about said cushiness of Crystal Palace wall.

She's going to be jumpstart PISSED when she gets out.

worstblogever

05-07-2010, 12:53 AM

Manuel Alfonzo Rodrigo de la Rocha, Empath – Hellion, Student of the White Queen

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First Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16
All Hellions Appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16-17, Firestar #2, Uncanny X-Men #193, Firestar #3, New Mutants (vol. 1) #26, 28, 38-40, 43, 53-54, 56-57, 62, New Mutants Annual #4, New Mutants (vol. 1) #81, Uncanny X-Men #281
Last Appearance:Uncanny X-Men #524
Powers: Psychic sensitivity allows him to feel the emotional states of others, and then manipulate them to experience any emotions he wishes to project into their minds.

His Life Prior to joining the Hellions:

Empath was the son of an impoverished noble Castillian who could trace their lineage back to the ancient Romans.

His Life with the Hellions:

Empath enrolled at the Massachusetts Academy, and upon the New Mutants’ attempt to break into the school to rescue their kidnapped teammates, Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey, he would move into action as a part of the Hellions. He would use his empathic powers to make Magma hate Cannonball, and attempt to blast him with fire, hitting Empath’s own teammate, Jetstream in the process and nearly sending both he, and Cannonball, into nose dives that could have resulted in Jetstream’s death (New Mutants (vol. 1) #16). When Empath was struck for his actions by Jetstream, since he was willing to sacrifice a teammate to defeat a foe, he responded by calling him a dog, and using his empathic powers on him, as well, forcing Jetstream to beg his forgiveness. Emma Frost entered the room, however, and ordered Miguel to stop. Under his breath, to Jetstream, Empath threatened to use his powers to force him to commit suicide if he ever crossed him again. Emma again demanded Jetstream obey, advising him that he might need his teammates’ help one day, but Miguel believed with his powers, he would always have their allegience, no matter how he treated them. Eventually the New Mutants finally escaped, teleporting away with Magik once she awoke (New Mutants (vol. 1) #17).

Empath continued to prove himself a bit of a low life amongst the Hellions, even for a time showing a bizarre obsession with Emma Frost, and stalking her while she slept at night. Emma, of course, with her telepathy, easily detected his presence, and dealt with him as brusquely as she was accustomed to as the White Queen at the time (revealed in Uncanny X-Men #502).

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The White Queen would continue to grow frustrated with Empath, particularly after he menaced one of her newer prized pupils, Firestar, at the Massachusetts Academy, taunting her through its halls, and at one point, using his powers on Mrs Cohen, the dance instructor, to make her call Firestar a “clumsy oaf“. Firestar, realizing this, retaliated by using her powers to set off the sprinklers and soak Empath and the rest of the Hellions. (Firestar (vol. 1) #2-3).

Without Emma Frost’s knowledge, at one point Thunderbird, Empath, Roulette, and Firestar (who was manipulated into going along with their plan with Empath’s powers) all worked together to kidnap Banshee, and then, using nerve gas, Empath and Roulette worked together to capture Professor X himself so that James Proudstar could get revenge on Xavier for his brother’s death as an X-Man. As the X-Men moved into the military base where Banshee was being held, Empath used his powers on the soldiers, to make them panic more about mutants being inside, and exploit their fear to make them attack. He also made Nightcrawler lose much of his own restraint while he was fighting the soldiers, so that he would feel guilt later for harming innocents. Upon being phased through the floor by Kitty Pryde, however, so that he would face down Wolverine and his claws, Empath fainted, proving his cowardice. Once Proudstar ended up coming to terms with his brother’s death, and decided not to murder Xavier, he and his Massachusetts Academy teammates would return to Snow Valley (Uncanny X-Men #193).

Upon their return, Emma Frost would call Empath in her office outraged over his manipulating of his teammates, especially Firestar, who was her prized student at the time (as a potential assassin, of course). When she told him how much of a disappointment he was, Empath pridefully tried to turn Emma Frost’s hate for him into love. Approaching her, expecting to act on it, he was shocked when Emma Frost and her telepathy managed to overcome it, and she began to choke him, releasing him short of killing him, but instead placing a telepathic block in his mind to prevent him from being able to use his own powers until he had learned his lesson (New Mutants (vol. 1) #26).

Enraged, and blaming Xavier and his students for informing Emma of his “extracurricular” activities, held a meeting at the Hellfire Club with a representative of the underground fighting arena’s “Gladiators”, offering them dossiers on Magma and Sunspot, who he wanted to see killed in the fighting ring to get his vengeance (New Mutants (vol. 1) #28).

Empath, though, would eventually convince Emma Frost to remove the telepathic block upon his powers when it suited her needs. She wished to create feelings of great doubt in Magneto, and exploit them so that he would transfer the New Mutants from Xavier’s School for the Gifted to her own Massachusetts Academy. When discovered on the grounds doing just that by Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander, Empath got rid of the two of them by increasing the underlying feelings of attraction the two had for each other so they would be so deeply in lust that they would spend literally three days aggressively making love to each other, nearly causing both to die from exhaustion (New Mutants (vol. 1) #38).

Upon arriving at the Massachusetts Academy, though, the New Mutants continued to display the lethargy and lack of emotion that had been plaguing them since they were killed and then resurrected by the Beyonder. While this condition seemed like it would be somewhat of a curse, it did prove a temporary blessing for the girls from Xavier’s, who Empath followed into the Girls’ Locker Room in an attempt to manipulate them into appeasing some of his darker appetites. Their emotionless condition rendered them immune to Empath’s powers, and Magik would notify Roulette and Catseye of his actions, who would forcibly remove him from the locker room, depositing him at the feet of the White Queen (New Mutants (vol. 1) #39). When word would come of Magneto’s anger, and the fact that he was heading to Snow Valley to reclaim his students once Empath’s powers wore off, he grew frightened, and began to try and convince the New Mutants that if the Avengers failed to stop Magneto, they might have to fight him (likely just trying to get proxies to fight on his behalf when Magneto would come and make him regret his actions). Instead, the New Mutants opted to leave Massachusetts Academy, and go protect Magneto before the Avengers could harm him too much (New Mutants (vol. 1) #40).

With all the confusion from Empath‘s last time at Xavier‘s, the New Mutants would be shocked to learn what he‘d done to Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander. Tired of Empath‘s sick games, the kids from Xavier‘s snuck out with Ilyana Rasputin‘s teleporting abilities, and kidnapped Empath from his room, bed and all. Over the course of an evening, they frightened him on untold levels, with Magik even briefly making him face down the horrors of Limbo. When the Hellions finally tracked down their abducted teammate, and the New Mutants explained why they did it, Thunderbird himself would punch Empath in the face, warning him that he needed to learn from the experience (New Mutants (vol. 1) #43).

Empath would still not see the error of his ways, though, using his powers to manipulate Doug Ramsey into coldly rejecting, and insulting Tarot when she asked him to dance at a ball both schools attended at the Hellfire Club. Magik, however, could tell he was up to his old tricks, and asked him to dance, somewhat threatening him with another trip to Limbo if he didn‘t watch himself. Later in the evening, after Doug Ramsey struck Roulette, the New Mutants and Hellions would decide to challenge each other to another competition between the two teams to settle their differences (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53). That challenge would be to locate the person who sold a forged statue of Selene to Gerhard van Ostamgen, and the Hellions would find themselves victorious, capturing both Viper and Silver Samurai in the process (New Mutants (vol. 1) #54).

worstblogever

05-07-2010, 01:07 AM

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Empath would use his powers to make Tarot begin to compliment Magma, when his own crush on her would begin to become painfully aware to everyone. Both the Hellions and New Mutants would end up competing to try and recover the mysterious Bird Boy before the other, believing it to be a mutant, with the New Mutants succeeding. That afternoon, however, Magma decided to transfer to the Massachusetts Academy, and most of the Hellions thought it was due Empath's powers affecting her (New Mutants (vol. 1) #56).

Magma began training with the Hellions and it seemed that Empath cared for her as well, as he seemed to refrain from using his powers on her. However, apparently, he was still doing so on a subconscious level, at least, that’s what the White Queen recognized. When Amara received a second letter from her father, demanding her return, Emma Frost ordered Empath to escort her to influence her father into letting her stay at the Massachusetts Academy and also so the Hellfire Club could exploit Nova Roma’s mineralogical wealth. On the way, their plane crashed and Amara and Manuel had to survive in the Amazonian jungle. Along the way, they resolved their feelings for each other, and started a relationship. Empath also encouraged Magma to stand up to her father and not be married against her will (New Mutants (vol. 1) #62). The two continued to bond, even despite having debates about their differing religions, Empath’s in a singular God, and Magma’s in several Roman gods including Hercules (revealed in New Mutants (vol. 1) #81).

Senator Aquilla insisted on Amara meeting with the man he betrothed her to, but when she did, scientists calling themselves the Purifiers, under the command of the High Evolutionary, kidnapped her to uses as a test subject for a device he created that would supposedly remove mutant powers. Empath attempted to stop the kidnapping but failed. Instead, he asked Senator Aquilla to enlist the aid of Emma Frost and Magneto. He contacted the White Queen for help and promised to let Amara stay at the school if she wanted in exchange for their aid. Emma alerted her fellow Hellfire Club colleagues for a rescue mission. It did not matter that it was actually the New Mutants, and not the Hellions who freed Amara, as she was safely returned to Nova Roma and the wedding was called off (New Mutants Annual (vol. 1) #4).

His Life after the Hellions:

Magma decided to remain in Nova Roma with Empath, which turned out to be a fortunate move, as in their absence, the other Hellions were murdered by Trevor Fitzroy and his Sentinels (Uncanny X-Men #281-282). Along with the former Hellions Firestar and Warpath, Cannonball paid them a visit to deliver the sad news. Once there, they found something was not right in Nova Roma. As they investigated, Empath confessed that he had discovered the city of Nova Roma was a lie, the inhabitants were brainwashed kidnapping victims, who had been placed deep in the Amazon by Selene to be part of a society for her to rule over from within, and provide her with a food source with her magics. With Selene gone, however, the spell had begun to fade, and the Nova Romans were all beginning to regain their memories. Empath, however, had found happiness for the first time in his life with Magma, and had used his empathic powers continue the ruse for his own benefit. With the secret out, though, he revealed to Magma that she was actually Alison Crestmere, the daughter of a British diplomat who was stationed in Rio. The other Nova Romans too being told their “true identities”, Empath and “Alison” decided to work together to help the population adjust to life in the 20th century (New Warriors (vol. 1) #31).

Later, both Magma and Empath would become targets of the Upstarts during their Younghunt, when Gamesmaster would set the team of villains upon the surviving members of the Hellions and New Mutants. The Fenris Twins would attack Empath and Magma, but the New Warriors and X-Force would rescue them before any real harm could be done. Magma then decided it was time to search for her parents in England, and thus, broke up with Empath, since the entire romance had begun upon the lie that her life had been (New Warriors (vol. 1) #45-46, X-Force (vol. 1) #32-34).

Meanwhile, the mysterious telepath known as Elias Bogan had undermined the X-Corporation in Los Angeles, making use of his pet telepath. Bogan influenced Empath, who in turn manipulated Sunspot and Magma into kissing and embracing each other, despite no romantic connection between the two, and forcing Empath to watch, in tears. For his assistance, Elias Bogan’s “pet telepath”, Rachel Summers, awarded him his prize, a vial of the drug known as “Kick” (X-Treme X-Men #31-35).

Upon the Scarlet Witch removing the powers of most of the world’s mutants in the Decimation, Empath’s place as part of X-Corporation was no longer needed, with the decision being made that there were too few mutants to warrant an organization specifically catered to them, and it would be too hard to defend any individual X-Corporation Headquarters. As Magma, after watching her lover Antonio die in a volcano before her eyes became distraught, again began to lose control over her powers, causing a threat to the entire countryside in South America of tectonically dangerous proportions, Empath was dispatched to calm her, and return her to the Xavier estate. There all the world’s mutants began to conglomerate, trying to figure out what to do next. The government offices of O.N.E. would soon dispatch Sentinels to watch over the mutants there, as a disputed form of protective custody. Not unlike a prisoner, Empath was forced to live on the grounds (and not even in the mansion, since her control over her powers was a concern that she might burn the whole mansion down), and his attempts to reach out to Amara met with no success, as she outright told him, and everyone she in no way trusted him. Matters did not get much better on the estate, as a contingent of the 198 mutants on the grounds began to rebel against their government protectors, one of them being the mutant Johnny Dee, who had the power to take a DNA sample from another mutant, and create a small voodoo doll of them, which he could use to control their actions. When Magma was a part of the group of mutants under the leadership of the reality warper Absolom Mercator, known as Mr. M., Johnny Dee used his control over several of the mutants there to begin a fight between the X-Men and the 198. During it, Dee made Leech remove Mr. M’s extensive powers, leaving him vulnerable, then controlled Magma, forcing her to use her powers to burn him alive. Magma immediately blamed Empath for her being controlled, though, not realizing Dee’s involvement (X-Men: The 198 #1-5).

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Sometime after this, Empath disappeared for over a year, only to emerge in San Francisco, leading a mutant hate group calling themselves the Hellfire Cult, whose revulsion for mutants was amplified by his empathic powers. As it turned out, he was a pawn of the Red Queen (actually, the disembodied Madelyne Pryor) who he was also apparently in a telepathic sadomasochistic relationship with. Eventually, after the Hellfire Cult continued their attacks upon innocent mutants, including Pixie, who were seeking to live peacefully in San Francisco with the X-Men, at their new Marin Base, the X-Men tracked down their headquarters. Empath was a surprise the X-Men were not ready for inside, and he managed to hold off several veteran X-Men with his powers such as Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler, before finally being taken down by Pixie, riding a moped, and wielding her Soul Dagger. This assault left him somehow blinded (Uncanny X-Men #501-503).

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5VgL6ZXwkaw/SPedohDxmFI/AAAAAAAAIX4/IhsYMCbMbog/s320-R/Uncanny+X-Men+503-7.jpg

The X-Men would place Empath in their brig, until the Red Queen would lead her Sisterhood to attack the X-Men at their Marin Base, using Empath as a conduit for her magic and powers to help her overwhelm everyone there her “inside man”. Of course, Pixie figured this out during the attack, and teleported into Empath’s cell, where she again stabbed him with her Soul Dagger to incapacitate him. The Red Queen, sensing Empath’s role in her assault being negated, abandoned him to the X-Men and fled with the Sisterhood to go to Jean Grey’s supposed grave(Uncanny X-Men #508, 510).

Empath has been transferred from the Marin Base to the X-Brig at Utopia, where he remains under the watchful eye of Danger. He has had brief visits from Magma (New Mutants (vol. 3) #1) and was seen panicked during the attack by Selene’s techno-organic infected thralls (X-Necrosha #1). He is still being held in the X-Brig. (X-Force (vol. 3) #21, Uncanny X-Men #524).

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061201201528/marveldatabase/images/2/20/Empath_005.jpg

worstblogever

05-07-2010, 10:14 AM

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/275/windexi.jpg

Ella the Maid
– Selene’s personal servant

First appearance: X-Man #7
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Man #7, 14-16, 20-21
Last appearance: X-Man #21
Powers: Baseline Human.

Her life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

Her life with the Hellfire Club:
Ella lived to serve Selene, staying with her in Paris, and when the Black Queen discovered Madelyne Pryor had returned from the dead and sensed her power, Ella offered to investigate on her behalf. Selene, however, opted to go in person to talk with her (X-Man #7) . Selene would convince Madelyne to move into her French chateau, where she would spend time in the kitchen with Ella, since she liked to cook. Madelyne would one day cut her hand, and Ella would run to get a bandage for her wound (X-Man #14). Later that night, as Madelyne would take a relaxing bath, Ella would come to give her a towel, and see to her needs, only to discover the wound on her hand had already healed that fast (X-Man #15). Over the following days, Madelyne would convince Ella to show her as much of Selene’s manse as she could while the Black Queen was out of town, with Maddie eventually kicking in a door that Ella advised her against entering. Inside, they discovered a charnel house of desiccated bodies, a host of Selene’s feedings. Just then, Selene returned, fresh off of devouring the life energies of the other Externals, and more powerful than ever (X-Man #16). Selene then began to collect her own followers for the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, including Trevor Fitzroy, who would serve as her Black Rook. Ella would take a plane to Manhattan with her mistress Selene, Pryor, and Fitzroy to meet Sebastian Shaw (X-Man #20). While Madelyne would begin to explore a whole new city, in New York, she would cross paths with Nate Grey, but Ella would do her best to usher Madelyne back to the hotel that Selene was staying in before the two could really reconnect, assuring that Maddie would remain Selene’s own prize to show off (X-Man #21). After this day, however, Ella would not be seen again. It is unknown if she ended up displeasing her mistress Selene and was killed, left her employ, or if she is just in some hidden location set up by the Black Queen, ready to serve her again.

What do you think of Ella the Maid? Do you think she should turn up to help Selene recover after the events of Necrosha? Do you think she ever partied with Friedrich von Roehm, Selene’s other servant?

worstblogever

05-08-2010, 12:00 AM

Lady Jacqueline Falsworth-Chichton, Spitfire
– Member of London Hellfire Club by Birthright

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5648/370838-178170-spitfire.jpg

First Appearance: The Invaders (1975) #7
First Hellfire Appearance: Technichally none. She is the daughter of Union Jack, however, which grants her the right to be a member of the London Hellfire Club through birthright.
Last Appearance: Captain America (vol. 4) #21
Powers: As Spitfire, Jacqueline possessed the ability to run at lightning-fast speeds, with reflexes and agility to match. When she ran, a trail of non-damaging fire appeared behind her. Her skin was also hardened to withstand the rigors of such speed, providing a type of body armor. She has now also demonstrated several vampiric abilities.

Her Biography: During World War II, Jacqueline Falsworth bravely served in Britain’s Home Guard. During an air raid attack on London, she had less to fear from the bombing, however, than from the vampire Baron Blood, who attacked her. She was saved by the android Human Torch, who drove the vampire off. Jacqueline invited the Torch and his team, the Invaders, to dinner at the Falsworth Mansion. Her father, Lord Falsworth, then revealed to family and company that there was one other super-hero in their midst — himself! He told of his career during World War I as Union Jack and volunteered the use of his mansion as a base of operations for the Invaders.

(Hellfire ties: Spitfire’s father, Lord Montgomery Falsworth, was invited to join the London Hellfire Club in 1915 by Sir Henry Manners, and accepted the invitation to infiltrate the club, and its secrets. By birthright, this also gives Spitfire a claim to the clandestine society.)

This did not bode well for the other resident in the mansion, the Lord’s visiting "nephew" (really his brother), John Falsworth, who was secretly Baron Blood and a Nazi sympathizer. He arranged for the capture of Jacqueline and her father by a Nazi spy operation which the Invaders had been fighting, and he again attacked Jacqueline, biting her. The Invaders saved Jacqueline and her father, uncovering the truth about Baron Blood, but Jacqueline had been drained of too much blood. She was rushed to a hospital and received a blood transfusion from the Human Torch, who had developed quite a crush on the young woman. She soon discovered that the transfusion of the Torch's android blood, plus the foreign enzymes introduced into her bloodstream by Baron Blood's bite, combined to give her super-human speed. When the hospital was invaded by a Nazi agent in battle armor, called the Blue Bullet, who was looking for the Invaders, Jacqueline used her new powers to save the weakened Torch and to help the other Invaders defeat the Blue Bullet.

Jacqueline made herself a costume and called herself Spitfire, after the British fighter plane of the same name. She joined the Invaders, soon helping them recover her brother, Brian Falsworth, from behind enemy lines. The Torch’s feelings went unrequited, as Spitfire had developed her own crush on their teammate Captain America. Spitfire and Union Jack would continue to serve with the Invaders whenever they were in the U.K. Spitfire continued adventuring for some time, as the Invaders became the All-Winners Squad. She also joined her brother and the Destroyer in hunting war criminals. By 1951, they reorganized the V-Battalion with other heroes of the time, becoming the organization’s first ruling Penance Council. She left the V-Battalion after her brother died in a car accident, and retired from adventuring shortly thereafter.

During the 1950’s, Spitfire’s super powers had waned significantly and, eventually, completely disappeared. By 1956, Jacqueline married an English nobleman, Lord Crichton. Her husband died sometime after they had a son, Kenneth. She then moved back into Falsworth Manor, to look after her ill father.

In more recent years, Baron Blood returned to haunt Jacqueline and her family, and Lord Falsworth called Captain America for help. Captain America was able to destroy Baron Blood, beheading the vampire with his shield, although Jacqueline's father died of an heart attack during the final confrontation. Captain America was aided in battling the vampire by a friend of Jacqueline's son, Joey Chapman, who assumed the identity of Union Jack to help. Initially, Jacqueline disapproved of Chapman's lower class standing, although she did not stop him from continuing his crime-fighting career, and she eventually grew to accept him as a willing successor to her father and brother's legacy.

Later, Jacqueline was approached by Namorita, who needed help rescuing Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch from the latest incarnation of the Nazi villain, Master Man. Jacqueline was reunited with Captain America and Union Jack. In attempting to rescue their ally, Jacqueline raced in the path of a bullet meant for Namor, discovering the last remnants of her super-speed. She was mortally wounded, but after another emergency blood transfusion from the android Human Torch, Jacqueline's metabolism returned to superhuman levels and her Spitfire powers reactivated. A side effect of her returning powers caused her to become young again, as she reverted to the body of a 16-year old. Jacqueline helped Namor on several occasions with his corporation Oracle, Inc., but eventually returned to her home at Falsworth Manor.

After her son Kenneth became the new Baron Blood and died battling Union Jack, Jacqueline found herself with no living relatives and discovered that she was now aging at twice the normal rate. Determined not to miss anything life offered, she began a romantic relationship with Chapman. Both were recruited into a new version of the Invaders by the Thin Man, hoping to bring down the group Axis Mundi. After this new Invaders subsequently disbanded, she and Chapman amicably ended their relationship, and she even found time to assist Chapman and Captain America in defending London from the Red Skull's latest plot.

After which, Spitfire joined a team of British superheroes under the leadership of Pete Wisdom through the auspices of MI:13. She was a crucial member of Earth’s defense against the Skrulls during their Secret Invasion, although she showed signs of her vampiric nature beginning to manifest years later during this conflict. As a drawback to MI:13‘s victory, several magical entities, particularly demons, were freed in the conflict (Captain Britain and MI:13 #1-4). Soon, her team would gain a new ally, in the vampire hunter Blade, although, upon being introduced to Spitfire, he originally attempted to kill her, as part of his crusade against the undead. The two would come to an understanding, working together to prevent a global takeover by the demon known as Plokta in Birmingham (Captain Britain and MI:13 #5-9). One more threat of supernatural origin would soon surface to threaten England, when the lord of the vampires, Count Dracula, would lead an invasion force against MI:13, seeking to conquer it and make it a new home for the world’s vampires. Spitfire would encounter her own son, now taking up the mantle of Baron Blood, and be entranced by Dracula to apparently join the vampires’ cause. However, at the last moment, she proved her true loyalty to her country, helping defeat Dracula’s invasion fleet before it ever reached mainland Britain (Captain Britain and MI:13 #10-15).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8f/Spitfire_(comics).PNG/250px-Spitfire_(comics).PNG

What do you think of Spitfire? Are you looking forward to seeing MI13 crossing over with the Avengers? Do you think she and Captain Britain should be involved in a London Hellfire Club story together?

worstblogever

05-08-2010, 10:01 AM

Trevor Fitzroy
-White Rook of the Hellfire Club III

http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/images/thumb/5/56/Tvrfitz.jpg/440px-Tvrfitz.jpg

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #281
First Hellfire III appearance: X-Man #17
Last appearance: Bishop: The Last X-Man #14 [died trying to cross a time portal]
All Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Man #17, 20-22, 28, Cable (vol. 2) #51-52, X-Men (vol. 2) #73.
Powers: Drain the life energy from other people upon contact, metabolizing it into different forms of chronal energy, allowing him to freeze people in a moment of time, reverse or accelerate their personal timeframe, and materialize portals that allow travel through time and space.
Equipment: crystal armor with built in weapons, had a set of future Sentinel versions
Fitzroy Facts:
- Fitzroy is from the same future as Bishop, where he was a wanted criminal.
- At the time of his association with the Club, Fitzroy could only open portals through time.
- Originally, Fitzroy was not as blood-thirsty and only drained small portions of other people's life energy to power his portals. As a result, he at first believed his temporal portals to be teleportation portals, since he would only travel at most a few minutes back in time.

His Life Before the Hellfire Club:[/B]
Born 70 years in the future, possibly descended from Sebastian Shaw (an illegimate son of Shaw’s descendant) Fitzroy was originally a freedom fighter, as part of the Summers Rebellion. He was romantically involved with its leader, Ruby Summers. Eventually, the United States government in that future would corner the rebellion, and send in their own assassin, Cortex (apparently a duplicate of Jamie Madrox empowered with various cybernetic enhancements), to quash it. Fitzroy would be killed in this attack, but Ruby Summers would plead with Layla Miller to use her true mutant power, to bring the dead back to life on him. Layla warned Ruby of the consequences, that anyone she brought back in such a manner would not have a true soul, and thus, not much of a conscience. Still, Ruby insisted, and Layla acquiesced, bringing Fitzroy back to life. He attacked Cortex through the weakened boardwalk in Atlantic City, using his life force to open up one of his time portals that both he, and the head of the government forces oppressing mutants, Falcone, would be thrown through, to be trapped. (revealed in X-Factor (vol. 3) #50).

After the rebellion, Fitzroy at some point became distanced from Ruby Summers, and enrolled as a trainee in the X.S.E., but became Bishop's nemesis when he turned out to be a dirty cop without a conscience. Their rivalry was worse when he apparently set up his one time romantic interest, Bishop's sister Shard, to move into an ambush where she would be killed by Emplates. When Fitzroy broke out of XSE HQ and fled to the Twentieth Century, Bishop and his team followed, but Fiztroy escaped. As a member of the Upstarts, Fitzroy killed the young mutants known as the Hellions, whose life-energies he used to bring criminals from his century into ours. In his attack on the Hellions, he badly wounded Emma Frost. His next act as an Upstart would also be against someone with Hellfire Club ties, when he would attack Donald Pierce and his Reavers. He also attempted to kill Forge but the Maker and Mystique held him off until the X-Men could arrive. Soon afterwards, he found young Sienna Blaze, a powerful mutant whom he sponsored for membership in the Upstarts. He said that an older Blaze had told him exactly who she was and where and when to find her; presumably to change her life, or to ensure that history happened the way she remembered it. While Selene may have created the Upstarts competition, she soon loses control of it when in Uncanny X-Men #301, Fitzroy imprisons her in a device called Spooling Chamber, to earn him points in the Upstarts competition, which is now being run exclusively by Gamesmaster. It would be this decision, in particular, that would come back to haunt him later. He then participated in the Younghunt, where he was presumed dead after he tried to drain Cable's life force through his techno-organic arm and was sucked into his own portal. Why the portal didn't drain Fitzroy’s own life force is still unknown.

His Time in the Hellfire Club:
As the Hellfire Club III reformed, and somehow managed to (off panel) supplant Shinobi Shaw’s Hellfire Club II, and Sebastian Shaw apparently took in the young Upstart Trevor Fitzroy to be the new White Rook. Selene, however, is back as Black Queen, and seething at Fitzroy for imprisoning her in the Spooling Chamber. From the Hellfire Club in New York, she sends a somehow resurrected Madelyne Pryor to the London Hellfire Club to attract his attention. Fitzroy falls her charms, but when she rebuffs him, he tries to battle her, instead. Madelyne punched through his bio-mesh armor using telekinetically empowered fists, defeating him. Selene arrives to see the defeated Fitzroy, and uses her sorcery to enthrall him to her will (X-Man #23). He would remain White Rook under her thrall, and would serve the club loyally, including using his temporal powers to determine that a monk from Cable’s future who returned to the past with information about Apocalypse’s secret bases was, in fact, telling the truth. His time with the Club, however, would come to a close when Sebastian Shaw received a mysterious letter at a Hellfire Club party in Rio, and after reading it, told Fitzroy he was accepting the offer in the envelope, and that it would behoove Fitzroy to leave the Hellfire Club as well.

His Life After the Hellfire Club:
Fitzroy found away to again increase his power levels substantially and journeyed to a future timeline in which Earth was reduced to medieval technology levels. There Fitzroy set himself up as the Chronomancer and took over, using time-jumping robots with futuristic weapons to keep control. Then he had Shard brought to that time, where he kept her captive, but before his goons got her, they transported Bishop to Fitzroy's realm as well. Bishop, however, remained on the loose, and Fitzroy began to modify Shard to make her human again. His powers increased dramatically, to the point where he could freeze people in a type of stasis and open many more portals than before. In addition, his energy powered the Chronotroopers and his enitre fortress. In the final battle, Fitzroy used Shard as bait for Bishop, and he captured his rival when Shard betrayed him. Fitzroy tortured Bishop mentally and physically before leaving him to "assume his destiny as Master of Time."

Fitzroy's plan was to become Time itself, a feat so ambitious that Uatu the Watcher himself came to observe. Unfortunately, Bishop had been freed by his companion Link, and arrived to stop Fitzroy from entering the giant portal he had created. A fight ensued, and Fitzroy emerged victorious and headed for the portal again. Bishop, drained of energy had no chance until Shard arrived and turned herself into energy again, forcing Bishop to absorb her and blast her at Fitzroy. Bishop missed, but Fitzroy hesitated enough that Bishop caught him and held him half in, half out of the portal until it closed on itself, cutting Fitzroy in half.

http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/e/e6/White_Rook_%28Trevor_Fitzroy%29_001.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/85/Fitzroy.PNG/250px-Fitzroy.PNG

What did you think of Trevor Fitzroy as a member of the Hellfire Club? Was he a moron for joining a club after screwing over Selene, or what?

Arachne

05-08-2010, 04:48 PM

Interesting, so she's still potentially alive? I'd love to see that explored sometime.

Me, too. If she's alive she was probably the one that inherited Shinobi's property after Sebastian killed him, which could have brought Sebastian back into her life. Poor lady.

coveredinbees

05-08-2010, 04:56 PM

http://i39.tinypic.com/9jkabd.jpg

What do you think of Ella the Maid? Do you think she should turn up to help Selene recover after the events of Necrosha? Do you think she ever partied with Friedrich von Roehm, Selene’s other servant?
She was wonderful. I sure hope so. I do think that.

What did you think of Trevor Fitzroy as a member of the Hellfire Club?
I liked it when Tessa rejected him.

eurazn

05-08-2010, 09:34 PM

Thank you for the Trevor Fitzroy entry, WBE. I had a hard time keeping his chronology (no pun intended) in order.

As far as my general opinion goes, I really hated that whole Upstart storyline. It seemed to go no where and sputtered out toward the end.

Quinnhop

05-08-2010, 09:55 PM

Make threads, dammit!

eurazn

05-08-2010, 10:46 PM

Make threads, dammit!

But ... WBE did make this thread ... are you saying WBE should have his own forum (and multiple threads therein) considering the wealth of knowledge there is to dispense? :biggrin:

worstblogever

05-08-2010, 10:47 PM

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 01:39 AM

Adrienne Frost
– (Self Proclaimed) White Queen of the Hellfire Club IV

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Adriennefrost.jpg

First appearance: Generation X #49
First Hellfire IV appearance: none on panel, her membership is only claimed, never confirmed.
Last appearance: Generation X #70 (shot by Emma Frost, revealed in Generation X #75)
Powers: Psychometric ability enables her to manipulate the mental imprint of another person after taking it from a solid object. This allows her to feel any thoughts or emotions that person had when previously in contact with the item, and allowing her to influence their mind from a distance after the initial contact.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9490/384504-170400-adrienne-frost_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/170400-adrienne-frost/105-384504/)
Her Biography:
Adrienne was the first child born to Hazel and Winston Frost. Siblings Christian, Emma and Cordelia followed. The Frost home was not one of love and kindness but one of mind and power games. She was the perfect child and was the favorite of their cold and emotionless father. From a very young age, Adrienne made it her point of duty to be the dutiful daughter, hoping to gain her father's favor and eventually win all his money and inheritance. Adrienne was a power monger and showed little remorse or emotion when hurting her siblings both emotionally and physically. At an early age Adrienne discovered her mutant ability of Psychometry: the ability to touch an object and instantly know the object's history in terms of events surrounding its past, present, and future owners. Her power revealed to her what she had always known: Winston, her father had little intention of dividing his fortune between all of his children. Instead, he planned to pick the child who he perceived as being able to guide his company into a state of growth and prosperity. This simply reinforced her original beliefs and she became cold and distant to the world, the only people who were worth anything were those she could manipulate in her chess game of power. Her power allowed her to become an 'A' student and excel in all her endeavors. All was going according to plan until her little sister Emma hit puberty.

Adrienne through the use of her power and through careful manipulation had sidetracked all her siblings or so she thought. Cordelia was a drug addict, Christian had no regard for his father's power games and Emma could not measure up to her, or so she thought. She continued on her upward climb of the social ladder, modeling and making various business ventures. Emma however was becoming a wild card in her game as her rebellion against their father lead to Winston developing a profound new interest in her. To demoralize her Adrienne outed Christian, her younger brother, as gay and set things in motion that lead to his attempted suicide. Still Emma was not broken and so Adrienne exposed Emma's kiss with her teacher Ian Kendall which resulted in him being fired. Emma shocked her sister by exposing her posing for a magazine cover without her father's knowledge.

Despite her best laid plans Adrienne had no control over the fact that her father saw Emma as akin to him when he was young. Confident as always, Adrienne gathered with her siblings for her father to reveal who would guide his finances into the next millennium. She was sure she was the one, too sure. Winston started by announcing that he knew that he was wasting his time with Christian, so he focused on the remaining heirs to the throne and how they live up to his expectations. Her father would announce later that Emma would in fact be the one to inherit the family fortune.

In that one instant all her hopes and dreams were shattered, all her years of carefully laid chess work gone. For all intents and purposes she was only second best. While she stood there shocked at what had happened, she didn't get time to scream as three men entered the room to cart off Christian to an asylum. Emma, finally having had enough of her family, decides she wants no part in the family fortune and walks out saying she will make her own way.

Adrienne, crushed by the revelations of being second best, grew to resent her father and dream of how she could one day get even with dear little sister Emma. Over the next few months, she pretended to remain daddy's dutiful daughter while devising how to punish her sister and father. The opportunity presented itself in the form of a video tape of Emma bound and captured by unknown assailants. Through the judicious application of her power, she knew it was a ruse by Emma's captors, further she knew that she could hurt both her father and sister by leaking the tape to the media. The captors would kill Emma anyway and her father who would let Emma die would be forced to "save face" in the public eye once the tape was exposed. She miscalculated, however, and when her father found out he lashed out angrily at her by physically assaulting her.

Realizing that her father had become a hindrance, she waited patiently for a chance to get rid of him. She was present with her family when they posed together for a public plea for the safe return of her sister Emma. During the shoot she had to cover her swollen eye with a pair of glasses. After this it is unknown what happened to her father and mother as Emma escaped and eventually joined the Hellfire Club. She then got married and her husband, Steven, mysteriously died. The insight gleaned from using her Psychometric gift enabled Adrienne to gain a vast personal fortune in the years she and Emma were estranged.

Her sister Emma first approached Adrienne to loan her some money after her Massachusetts Academy had fallen into debt. Initially turning Emma down because of their past stormy history, Adrienne accepted her offer after using her powers to learn that the academy was secretly the home for Generation X. She became co-headmaster of the Massachusetts Academy. For a time it seemed that she had gotten over her past and had become a better person, but all was not as it seemed. She convinced her sister to re-open the school to the public to raise the funds necessary to keep the school open. As a result of the new human student body she gave the Generation-x new uniforms and assignments. The first of these assignments was to retrieve a sword from Madripoor along with Paladin who she shared a past with, both professionally and personally. She sent the students in harms way just so she could recover the sword used to kill her late husband, a husband which she had assassinated. She used her powers to determine if he knew she was the one that had caused his death, revealing that she was no saint.

Her real intentions for accepting Emma's offer to sponsor the school then surfaced, using a combination of her powers and the Danger Room, she trapped Generation X in a simulation recreating Emma's earlier students The Hellions' demise at the hands of Trevor Fitzroy. She had hoped to drive Emma insane by watching another group of her students die. While Emma and Generation X were able to escape this illusion, Adrienne, now calling herself the new White Queen, escaped by using a teleportation device concealed as a necklace around her neck. Adrienne went to London where she successfully embezzled millions from the Hellfire Club of which she claimed to be the White Queen of. (while this must not have been an easy feat it leaves the mystery involved is how she could be the WHITE Queen of that Hellfire Club, since they only have a Red Queen and Black Queen. So, this leaves Adrienne’s true Hellfire Club status in doubt.)

She then began to plot her revenge on Emma by returning to the school demanding that she be reinstalled as headmistress or she would out the school as a mutant sanctuary. She later planted bombs at the school that would kill several students including Synch. Emma later confronted Adrienne and the two fought. When Adrienne made it clear that she intended to escalate the violence and endanger more students, Emma shot her in the heart, putting an end to Adrienne's sordid life and her years of machinations. After she died she made one other appearance, that of a psionic ghost or mental illusion to her sister Emma who was having conflicting emotions about having killed her. In the end however Emma realized she was not sorry that she had killed Adrienne only that she didn't kill her before she could have endangered her students. She has not been seen since.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/29735/679700-emma34_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/emma34/105-679700/)

What do you think of Adrienne Frost? Was she actually a member of any Hellfire Club? Would she have made a good White Queen had she not been shot and killed?

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 08:46 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/84881-132915-cordelia-frost_large.jpg

Cordelia Frost
– Applicant for White Queen of Hellfire Club II

First appearance : Generation X #3
First Hellfire II appearance : Revealed to have made a bid to join in Generation X 1995 Annual
Last appearance: In Continuity, Generation X #61, In flashbacks to years ago, Emma Frost #12.
All Hellfire II appearances: Generation X 1995 Annual
Powers: Empathy, Emotional control, Ability to manifest psionic blasts

Her life before she approached the Hellfire Club:
Cordelia Frost is the younger sister of Emma Frost and Adrienne Frost, as well as being the youngest of the four Frost siblings. She was regarded by her parents as being the "lost" one in the family, and as such she rebelled by dressing in black, having sullen, sulky moods and being argumentative..

Her botched application to the Hellfire Club:
Cordelia, as an adult first made an appearance when she "discovered" Mondo, a mutant who saved her life on Samoa. The two became friends, but Cordelia later would force Mondo under empathic mind-control and try to turn him over to the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle to get herself probationary membership and a chance at White Queen. However, her petition was rejected by Shinobi Shaw, the Black King, and leader of the Hellfire Club at that time. At that moment, a squad of mercenaries burst in and abducted and rescued Mondo (later revealed to be Generation X) and he ended up joining them.

After her attempt to join the Hellfire Club:
After Mondo later seemingly betrayed the team to Black Tom Cassidy, and was himself killed by Bastion, it was later revealed that the "Mondo" who betrayed Generation X was a duplicate created by Black Tom Cassidy, who covertly liberated the original Mondo from the Hellfire Club. Black Tom raised the boy as his own, and then set about exacting revenge on Cordelia for betraying Mondo to the Hellfire Club. Cordelia fled to her elder sister Emma begging for help as Black Tom, Mondo, and the Juggernaut were after her. After a brief battle, the tide turned and the villains fled. During the confusion, Cordelia slipped away. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Cordelia_Frost.jpg

What do you think of Cordelia Frost? Should she have become White Queen of the Hellfire Club II instead of Reeva Payge? What do you think she’s up to now? How do you think she’ll react to the fact that her sister Emma shot her other sister Adrienne?

Jack Flash

05-09-2010, 09:16 AM

#13 Cordy Frost
Real Name: Cordelia Frost
First appearance: Generation X #3
Last appearance: Chronologically Generation X #61; In the past Emma Frost #12
Powers: Cordelia Frost is immune to her sister’s telepathy. She’s psionically powered and allegedly a uber-powerful empath. She’s also got the ability to create powerful psionic blasts!
Status: On the Run!
Creator: Scott Lobdell

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/3848/112231-13129-cordelia-frost_thumb.jpg

Bio:
Cordelia Frost is the youngest of the Frost siblings. Her older sisters Adrienne and Emma are/were both talented and manipulative women who also happened to be powerful psionic mutants. It’s been rumored that Cordy is an empath of the highest order. Cordy first appeared in the pages of Gen X as a high flying debutante. She had been vacationing in Samoa when she’d become in perilous trouble. The manly Mondo saved her. She and the hunky Samoan mutant became friends (With benefits maybe? More like probably!) until her ambition got the best of her and “Whammo!” she caught him in a moment of weakness and psi-blasted him. Cordy burst onto the New England scene as a manipulative vixen angling to get into the inner circle of Shinobi Shaw’s Hell Fire Club. She turned Mondo over to the bisexual greatness that is Shinobi, but he was unimpressed (Likes Twinks I guess). Soon after, Mondo was stolen from her by unknown assailants. What a bummer she lost her meal ticket and her sex toy!

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Later it was shown that Cordy was in trouble for her previous dealings with Mondo and she sought out Emma’s help/protection. She wasn’t exactly forthright with Emma about her and Mondo’s previous dealings. When Mondo, his “Uncle” Black Tom, and Juggy crashed the Gen X pad, the Gen X’rs protected sweet Cordy and bested the villians, but after doing so Emma deduced that Cordy had been less than pristine with Mondo and told her to get out of her sight and not to come back. Cordy has since listened to and followed directions and not been seen again.

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It’s unknown if she knows that her middle sister snuffed out her eldest sister. Cordy is a survivor though and likely has landed on her feet. She was portrayed in the Emma Frost series as the “Lost” sibling and that likely bears true.

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Did you know?: Cordy’s power set is VERY much up in the air. She’s been described as “The Charles Xavier” of Empaths and some bitter interneters have blasted this as fan fiction. Can you believe their nerve? Maybe Brian Cronin should solve this mystery in his Comic Book Legends column! Email him at cronb01@aol.com and convince him to solve this plague of a mystery!

I love how my bios are tinged with bias and dripping with commentary and wbe's are factual to the Nth degree. I dig this thread wbe!

I can't wait for Cordy and Christian to make a play for attention!

eurazn

05-09-2010, 10:23 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9490/384504-170400-adrienne-frost_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/170400-adrienne-frost/105-384504/)

Holding those boobs in place without a nip slip is a mighty secondary mutation. She still deserves a smackdown for what she did to Christian, though.

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 01:26 PM

I love how my bios are tinged with bias and dripping with commentary and wbe's are factual to the Nth degree. I dig this thread wbe!

I can't wait for Cordy and Christian to make a play for attention!

Jed, you remain an inspiration to me, for it was the D-List thread that showed me how it should be done. I'm glad you're digging this!

Holding those boobs in place without a nip slip is a mighty secondary mutation. She still deserves a smackdown for what she did to Christian, though.

I wish Christian Frost would get to do something. Hell, he's the only Frost sibling to not be in the Hellfire Club. It'd be nice to see him get clean and do so.

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 08:22 PM

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Emma Frost
- White Queen of Hellfire Club I
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129
Chronological listing of All Hellfire and Hellions Appearances: Generation X #minus 1, X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, Classic X-Men #7, 34, Uncanny X-Men #129-131, 151-152, X-Force (vol. 1) #87, Firestar #1, Uncanny X-Men #169, Annual #7, #180, New Mutants (vol. 1) #15-16, Uncanny X-Men #182, New Mutants (vol. 1) #17, Firestar #3-4, New Mutants (vol. 1) #26, 38-40, Uncanny X-Men #210, New Mutants (vol. 1) #51, Uncanny X-Men #219, New Mutants (vol. 1) #53-54, 56-57, 62, Annual #4, #69-71, 73-75, Marvel Comics Present #78, X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #33, New Warriors (vol. 1) #5, 8-10, Uncanny X-Men #281
(Also listed are her appearances as the mentor of the Hellions I)
Last Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #524
Powers(While in the Hellfire Club): Telepathic abilities enable her to read and project thoughts, plant illusions in the minds of others, and release her astral form.
Current Powerset: Emma has an arsenal of psionic techniques she can use to subdue her opponents including telepathy, thought projection, psionic force bolts, psionic illusions, mental sedition, induction of mental pain, and astral projection. She also has a secondary mutation which manifests in diamond skin.

http://greghornjudge.com/images/Large/3%20Non%20Elektra%20comics/EmmaFrost-8-x-men-school.jpg
Her Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Emma Frost was born into a wealthy old Boston mercantile family that arrived from England in the 1600s. The second of three daughters, Emma also had an older brother named Christian who had turned to substance abuse as an escape from the drudgery of his life. Unknown to their family or themselves, the three Frost sisters were mutants whose psychic abilities matured upon reaching puberty. When it came time for their father to choose a worthy heir to the family fortune, Christian was automatically dismissed due to his drug problem. Whilst the older sister Adrienne seemed the most obvious choice, the father chose Emma. Surprisingly, she refused, choosing to make her own way through life.

Emma ultimately inherited a good deal of wealth, but most of her large fortune resulted from her professional success. She ascended rapidly to the upper echelon of the business world on the strength of her intelligence, drive, and personal charm, as well as the secret use of her mental powers. Generation X #minus 1 shows Emma Frost using her telepathy to get invited to certain parties, and her willingness to read the other guests' minds she gets enough Wall Street tips to build a fortune. At one of these parties, she first meets Harry Leland and through him she learns about Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club. Also, at some point, the Dark Beast met Emma, and helped her rise to wealth and power, as well as a mentor by providing some scientific help. Eventually, Emma became majority stockholder of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate principally involved in electronics and transportation - both the building of ships and aircraft, and their use for freight and passenger conveyance. Despite her relative youth, she was named chairwoman of the board and chief executive officer of the rechristened Frost International. She also became headmistress and chairwoman of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Academy - a college preparatory school for students in grades seven through twelve located in the Berkshire Mountains in Snow Valley, Massachusetts.

Emma’s Application to the Hellfire Club, and rise to White Queen:
Emma's continued success made her even more desirable for recruitment by the Hellfire Club, an elite social organization consisting of the world's wealthiest and most powerful figures. When she learned that the club was hiring dancers, she promptly auditioned and used her telepathic talents to enhance her performance in their eyes. Unlike the other females in the Club, Emma was never uncomfortable with the strict dress code that required female members to wear lingerie at all times. She believed her revealing wardrobe to be one of many weapons in her arsenal, one that gave her an instant advantage over men. Frost quickly became an ally of Sebastian Shaw, a member of the club's Council of the Chosen who were secretly conspiring to achieve world domination through economic and political means. At the time, the leaders of the club and council - its foremost Lords Cardinal, whose titles corresponded to the names of chess pieces - were White King Edward Buckman and White Queen Paris Seville.

Buckman threw the council's support behind Project: Armageddon, scientist Steven Lang's program to construct mutant-hunting Sentinel robots. Aware of Shaw's genetic disposition, Buckman told him the initiative's intent was to capture mutants as a means of helping the council attain power. Using her psionic powers, Emma learned that the project's actual purpose was the annihilation of all genetic deviants. The night Shaw's lover, Lourdes Chantel, was murdered by one of the Sentinels, Shaw and Frost staged a coup that saw them seize control of the Council of the Chosen, which they renamed the Inner Circle. Emma was the lynchpin of the coup, using her mental powers to dominate Ned Buckman into shooting the whole of the Council of the Chosen, and then turn his weapon on himself. (Classic X-Men #7) Shaw took the title of Black King, and Frost became the new White Queen.

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 08:27 PM

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h113/stripperrocco/emma_frost.jpg

As White Queen of the Hellfire Club:
Under Shaw and Frost's leadership, mutants dominated the Inner Circle. To strengthen the Club's power base, Emma recruited genetically gifted youngsters and helped them hone their abilities at her school. Most of these students were members of the Hellions, Emma's first mutant super-team. She initially encountered the outlaw band of heroic mutant adventurers known as the X-Men when she unsuccessfully attempted to recruit young Kitty Pryde, the phase-shifting mutant then known as Shadowcat. Subsequently, Emma is present, and trying to help manipulate Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix following her inability to recruit Kitty Pryde. most notably when she was part of the Hellfire Club that tried to corrupt Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix into the club’s Black Queen. For her trouble, Phoenix destroyed a building with Emma in it, incapacitating her beneath the rubble for a time. (Uncanny X-Men #131)
Sebastian Shaw, at one point asking for Emma’s help in recruiting a new White King, asked her to do her best to help coerce Namor into joining the club. Emma managed a suicide attempt, telepathically contacting Namor to rush to her and save her, and in its wake, the two began a brief romance. Shaw, incensed, set Sentinels in his control out to attack the duo in Atlantis, and Namor bore a strong grudge against Shaw. Emma, after the attacked, had her memory of the entire incident erased by Tessa, and it would be years before she would learn of what Shaw had done. (revealed in Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2).
When we next see Emma as a member of the Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-Men #151 and 152), Kitty’s parents decide to pull her out of Xavier’s School, and enroll her at the Massachussets Academy. She apparently achieved this goal by telepathic suggestion on Kitty’s father, Carmen. Furthering this act, she enlists some Sentinels of Sebastian Shaw’s to attack the X-Men while she uses another device to switch minds with Storm. Before the X-Men defeat the Sentinels, Emma, in Storm’s body, surprises them and uses Storm’s weather powers to capture them. Ororo, meanwhile, is in Emma’s body, but she manages to gain an elementary enough mastery of Emma’s psionic powers to escape captivity, free the X-Men, and defeat the White Queen again.
In Uncanny X-Men #169, Emma is ambushed and knocked unconscious by Mastermind. She remains in the Hellfire Club for some time, her health being monitored by Sebastian Shaw. In the X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #7, during their pursuit of the Impossible Man, the X-Men would accidentally break inside and it would be revealed that she was still recovering from this assault for some time.
As the enigmatic Selene joins the Hellfire Club as its Black Queen, Emma is revealed to be back on her feet. But both Emma and Shaw begin to mistrust Selene, and thus, Emma recruits a young mutant named Angelica Jones, who calls herself Firestar, to the Massachussets Academy in the hopes the young girl will become Selene’s assassin. Firestar ends up seeing through her machinations, and leaves the academy rather than become a killer. (Firestar (vol. 1) #3-4)
While Emma would be absent on the night Nimrod killed Friedrich von Roehm and Harry Leland, she would be in attendance the next night when the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club would offer membership to Magneto, in the hopes they could further strengthen the alliance that helped defeat Nimrod a night earlier (Uncanny X-Men #210). Magneto would muse on this decision for some time, before returning to the Hellfire Club to talk to Emma and accept sometime later, despite his being admonished by Havok for doing so (Uncanny X-Men #219). The alliance would also involve fraternization and friendly competition between both the New Mutants, and Frost’s own Hellions at a later time, (New Mutants #53, 54, Annual #4).
Eventually, after Inferno, Emma Frost would also vote with Selene and Magneto to remove Sebastian Shaw from the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, after Shaw challenged Magneto to a duel for not preventing Ilyana Rasputin’s role in causing Inferno. Magneto would become Grey King, but as time went by, a bitter Shaw would continue to manipulate Senator Robert Kelly into putting more government funding into making better Sentinels. While for a brief time, Emma and Selene had a rivalry that may have ruined the lives of several men in and around the Hellfire Club, like Chet Andrews (X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #33), things would take a turn for the worse soon thereafter.
At another Hellfire Club function, the X-Men were to meet with the Hellions when the time-traveling terrorist named Trevor Fitzroy appeared with some of Shaw’s Sentinels under his control. As one of the participants in the Upstarts’ competition, Fitzroy killed Emma’s Hellions, and his brutal assault plunged Emma into a deep coma and brought about the Hellions' untimely demise. (Uncanny X-Men #281). Whilst Emma's consciousness was still active on the material plane, her body was kept in the med-lab at the X-Men's mansion. Seeking to ensure her students' welfare and the school's future, Emma had willed responsibility for the Massachusetts Academy to Professor Charles Xavier, the X-Men's telepathic founder. During her psychic incapacitation, the school was added to the rapidly expanding Xavier Institute. While Emma’s corporeal form was in stasis, a short-circuit in the mansion inadvertently caused her psyche to possess the X-Man named Iceman, whilst his mind was transferred into her body. (Uncanny X-Men #311). Coerced by Professor X, Emma eventually reclaimed her own form. She would resign her membership as White Queen of the Hellfire Club.

http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/3/3b/Emma_Frost_%28White_Queen%29_003.jpg

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 08:34 PM

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Life After the Hellfire Club:
After making a full recovery from her injuries from Fitzroy’s attack, Emma resumed her role as headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. Ably assisted by Sean Cassidy, the sonically empowered former X-Man known as Banshee, she set out to train a new crop of young mutants: Generation X. When the sinking stock market dealt Frost International a major blow, Emma swallowed her pride and sought the help of her older sister, Adrienne, who agreed to support her sibling's flagging financial interests only if she were named co-headmaster. But Adrienne's power play did not wind down when Emma acceded to her request, nor did it end when she supplanted her sister as the Hellfire Club's White Queen. Only after Adrienne telepathically incited a riot at the school did Emma find a way to upset her ascension: the way of the gun. Emma shot and killed her sister, thereby laying claim to Adrienne's inheritance. (Generation X #1-75)

Following the dissolution of Generation X and the closure of the Massachusetts Academy, Emma moved to the island nation of Genosha where she began teaching mutant children again. Soon after, a Sentinel attack wiped out Genosha's entire mutant population. Emma was found by the X-Men alive in the rubble, having undergone a secondary mutagenic change to form her body into diamond that allowed her to survive the onslaught. Following this incident, Emma came to teach at the Xavier Institute, and soon took on the responsibility of personally mentoring the telepathic quintuplets known as the Stepford Cuckoos.

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Emma later counseled her teammate Cyclops following his possession by the eternal mutant warlord Apocalypse. This soon turned into a telepathic affair between the two which was short-lived after Summers' wife, Jean Grey, discovered what was happening.

During the riot at the Xavier Institute, Sophie of the telepathic sisters the Stepford Cuckoos died. The remaining sisters blamed Emma for this and told Jean Grey-Summers of Emma's affair with her husband. When Emma was confronted by Jean, she was forced to relive various moments of her past. Following this confrontation, Emma was shot with a diamond bullet whilst in her diamond form, shattering it. Though she was believed to be dead at first, Emma's consciousness was trapped in her shattered remains. Phoenix discovered this and telekinetically fused Emma's body back together. Upon being reassembled, Emma identified Esme of the Cuckoos as the culprit behind her assassination. However, Esme was working with the X-Man Xorn, and they went on a mass murder spree of humans in New York that would result in the death of Emma’s second Stepford Cuckoo, leaving only three.

Following the death of Jean Grey at the hands of Xorn, Emma has assumed the position of co-headmaster of the Xavier Institute alongside Cyclops, who she officially began a romantic relationship with. In the wake of the Decimation, however, with the majority of the world’s mutants losing their powers, Frost was emotionally rocked when the Purifiers killed a busload of students who had lost their mutant abilities in a rocket attack. She herself was nearly killed by one of the Purifiers, named Mary, with a vibranium dagger, in its wake. The X-Men would even be asked to register with the government as part of the SHRA, with Tony Stark himself arriving at the mansion to try and convince Emma, his old flame to ally with Registration forces, but she refused, on principle.

Emma would be present at Rogue’s familial home in Caldecott, Mississippi, when perhaps the greatest betrayal the X-Men had faced would come to pass. Lady Mastermind, Mystique, and Omega Sentinel (possessed by Malice), all helped the Marauders ambush the team, leaving them for dead in the collapsed rubble of the house after Malice/Karima had shot Emma with a neurotoxin dart. She eventually recovered, but for much of the aftermath of this battle, Emma could only coordinate strategic actions by Cannonball and Iceman via telepathic link. (X-Men (vol. 2) #200-203).

This attack by the Marauders was only their attempt to eliminate all knowledge of future events, by killing time travellers, and taking the senior X-Men off the board while they collected Destiny’s diaries from the mansion. For that knowledge of the future might show that the mutant Messiah, a being capable of potentially reversing the Decimation, was about to be born. The X-Men went to Cooperstown, Alaska to find out what the sudden appearance of a powerful mutant on Cerebra meant, only to discover that both the Marauders and the Purifiers (who knew the event would come to pass with intelligence they had gained earlier from Nimrod) had gotten their first, as well as Cable. The X-Men began their pursuit of this new mystery mutant, seeing it as a possible solution to the Decimation. After a betrayal from within by Bishop, who knocked out Emma and the other psychics with some kind of technological device, she came to, and went into battle with Cerebra to coordinate the X-Men’s attack on Mr. Sinister’s Antarctic base with them. However, she would be distracted by the students from the New X-Men, who would nearly get themselves killed by rushing into the Purifiers’ base in Washington D.C. at that moment, and the psychic shock of their injuries swung the battle in Antarctica back to Mr. Sinister’s favor. The X-Men retreated, and waited to make their next move. Finally, determining that the Marauders had kidnapped the new mutant birth from Cable, and taken it to Muir Island, all of the X-Men, X-Factor, and the newly founded X-Force converged, attempting to rescue it. Emma, for her part in the battle distracted Exodus telepathically so that Dust could neutralize him (Messiah CompleX).

http://www.emmafrostfiles.com/wp-content/gallery/astonishing-x-men/astonishing_x-men_by_john_cassaday.jpg

worstblogever

05-09-2010, 08:38 PM

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With the mansion destroyed, the X-Men took a sabbatical for several months. Scott and Emma went to spend time together in the Savage Land, having the equivalent of double-dates with Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil. But when Scott had Angel begin setting up the X-Men’s new home in San Francisco, purchasing the lands and materials to build the new Marin Base, he, and some of the other X-Men present began to become detached from reality, in almost a time-warp trip back to 1960s San Francisco. Emma Frost and Cyclops immediately left from the Savage Land to investigate, eventually learning that the entire phenomenon was the result of Martinique Wyngarde, the daughter of Mastermind, granting the deepest fantasy to a group of aged hippies who had taken her in. She was defeated, and the city returned to normal (Uncanny X-Men #495-499).

After a brief attack in San Francisco by Magneto (Uncanny X-Men #500), which the X-Men foiled, Emma’s old student, Empath, turned up leading an anti-mutant group known as the Hellfire Cult. What they didn’t realize at the time was Empath was working for a mysterious woman known as the Red Queen. Still, they located the Hellfire Cult’s headquarters, and thanks to Pixie, managed to apprehend Empath (Uncanny X-Men #501-503). Not long thereafter, Emma fought alongside Colossus to stop a figure from his past, a mysterious Russian human slave trader known as the Tattooed Man (Uncanny X-Men #504-507). She began to suspect, however, subtle clues that Cyclops may have been keeping a secret from her, that being that he drafted a new X-Force team. Still, Emma continued to serve as the matriarch of the X-Men in San Francisco, even briefly dying while in psychic combat against the Skrulls’ psychic defense grid during their Secret Invasion, only to be resurrected, and defeat all their assembled telepaths at once with some help from the Stepford Cuckoos (Secret Invasion #1-4).

In the wake of the Secret Invasion, Emma Frost received word to fly to New York to Avengers Tower, summoned by her old Hellfire Club acquaintance, Norman Osborn. Osborn, around a table featuring the likes of Namor, Dr. Doom, Loki, and the Hood, threatened those assembled with the Sentry/Void, if they did not cooperate with his plan to consolidate power throughout the United States and Marvel Universe. Reluctantly, Emma agreed, being promised by Osborn that if she could keep all the mutants quiet in San Francisco, he would leave them be. (Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1). Emma would also reunite with Namor after years apart, and begin to recall their previous relationship, years earlier. She formed a secret alliance with Namor, within Norman Osborn’s Cabal, by giving Namor what he had wanted since he brief flirtation with the Hellfire Club years earlier… Sebastian Shaw’s head. Actually, Emma just created the psionic illusion that she was giving Shaw’s head to the Sub-Mariner. Instead, she took Shaw back to Utopia, where she set to locking him in the Marin Base’s sub-levels, in the brig there (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2).

Unbeknownst to the X-Men, Empath was actually intended to be captured by the Red Queen, to be used as a conduit within the X-Men’s Marin Base to overwhelm everyone present with a combination of magic and psionic powers. Emma herself was ambushed by Lady Mastermind, and placed in a mental prison. Oddly, she seemed to have been helped set free from this prison by Jean Grey, somehow. Emma summarily woke up, and began pummeling Lady Mastermind, who did her best to flee along with the rest of the Red Queen’s Sisterhood, being defeated in their plans to get the Red Queen, actually Madelyne Pryor, a new body (Uncanny X-Men #508-511).

Eventually, Emma and Cyclops nearly broke up, and all the secrets they had been keeping from each other, about X-Force, and Norman’s Cabal came to light. They emerged from this spat, apparently closer than ever (Dark X-Men: The Confession #1).

But, the X-Men’s welcome in San Francisco would soon be worn out. When Proposition X, a law set to take away the civil rights of mutants to marry and/or have children began to be debated about, and protested over in the city, the X-Men took part in the “anti” side of the protests. Simon Trask, a mysterious proponent of the law, met them in the streets, and riots broke out. Emma’s deal with Norman Osborn was now going to come to the fore. Osborn sent in his team of Avengers to quell the violence, and set a curfew in San Francisco. He also had H.A.M.M.E.R. agents begin arresting mutants in the streets. He met with Emma Frost, asking her to lead his own team of mutants, to deal with “mutant problems”, and gave her a roster of Mystique, Dark Beast, Weapon Omega, Daken, Mimic, Namor, Cloak, and Dagger to work with. As the rioting continued, Emma, with news cameras filming, began helping to arrest some of her own charges and X-Men teammates, including Hellion and Sunspot. As she toured Alcatraz prison with Osborn and Dark Beast, she was telepathically contacted by Professor Charles Xavier, who had also been locked up inside. Emma played this information to the test, and seeing the brutality at which the H.A.M.M.E.R. agents handled the prisoners, she bided her time until the moment was right, before with Namor, she betrayed Osborn and led a mass prisoner escape from Alcatraz, taking Cloak and Dagger along with them to the X-Men’s new home, the island Utopia. Osborn, outraged, sent the Dark Avengers and what was left of his own X-Men to the island, and during that battle, Emma managed to telepathically use mental conditioning she’d set inside of the Sentry to neutralize his threat (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, Dark Avengers #7-8, Uncanny X-Men #513-514 Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1).

Now settling into their own sovereign nation, Emma would end up on the “core X-Men” team, in meetings discussing its future, and stabilization, as even Magneto came to join them there. Her encounter with the Sentry left a sliver of his darker half, the Void, in her head, and it took some facilitation from Cyclops, Professor X, and Psylocke to help rid her of it, instead planting it in Cyclops’ consciousness, where he more easily contained it from his experiences with telepathic shielding (Uncanny X-Men #515-519). Eventually, Magneto’s presence would prove to be a boon, as he would return Kitty Pryde to Utopia (Uncanny X-Men #520-522).

Again, however, the fate of Utopia would not be without conflict. Selene would enact a plan to achieve godhood, and as a part of it, she would seek out vengeance upon all who wronged her using her own personal army of techno-organic virus-infected thralls, controlled by her proxy, Eli Bard. Selene made it a point to use even those closest to the X-Men, to make them hesitate in combat against their attackers, sending the resurrected Hellions, Emma’s former students, as well as her longtime colleague, Banshee, to attack her. As the attack continued, and three citizens of Utopia lay dead at the hands of Selene’s own Inner Circle, Emma gave X-Force her own blessing to kill Selene, and anyone working with her, including her own former student, Wither (X-Necrosha #1, X-Force #21-23).

Now, with the mutant messiah, Hope, having returned from the future, Emma has coordinated the X-Men’s rescue attempts telepathically, but not without casualties. She was last seen at the funeral for one of the fallen, the longtime X-Man, Nightcrawler, and confessed at his burial that his was the only chapel she’d ever entered (X-Men: Second Coming #1, New Mutants (vol. 3) #12, X-Men: Legacy #235, X-Force (vol. 3) #25, Uncanny X-Men #523-524)

http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/images/7/77/Frost_head.jpg

What did you think of Emma Frost as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you like her better as a hero, anti-hero, or villain? Would you like to see someone demand her extradition from Utopia to face charges in her sister's murder as a storyline?

eurazn

05-09-2010, 09:28 PM

What did you think of Emma Frost as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you like her better as a hero, anti-hero, or villain? Would you like to see someone demand her extradition from Utopia to face charges in her sister's murder as a storyline?

I loved Emma as an anti-hero circa Morrison's run; she was the perpetual outsider with a bitchy streak. She's lost that edge now, unfortunately. I'm guessing she'll never face extradition (lol) or anything of the sort considering it would call into question her moral right to be a coleader of the X-Men, especially with the "Heroic Age" around the corner.

I remember back when she complained to her Hellfire goons that "those youngsters" (including Cyclops) were more trouble than she thought. Such the cougar.

Raptor

05-10-2010, 12:48 AM

Emma makes a great anti-hero.

I don't really like her as a villain.

I really don't like her as a hero.

I hate her as a housewife.

Justin K.

05-10-2010, 12:50 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9490/384504-170400-adrienne-frost_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/170400-adrienne-frost/105-384504/)

Oh my... :eek:

worstblogever

05-10-2010, 03:07 AM

Dr. Graves
– Employee of Shinobi Shaw and Hellfire Club II

First appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #62.
Last appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #62.
All Hellfire Appearances: X-Force (vol. 1) #62.
Powers: Baseline Human

His Life Before working for the Hellfire Club:
Unknown, had to study science at a university somewhere, even if he was a terrible scientist.

His Time Working for Shinobi Shaw:
Dr. Graves was hired by Shinobi Shaw to invent a machine that would turn mutants into ordinary humans. Shinobi wanted it as a countermeasure in case his father should return, to use it against him. Graves showed little remorse or humanity, actually running several experiments and tests of his machine using Leong and Nga Coy Manh, the brother and sister of the New Mutant Karma, as guinea pigs, despite the fact they were only children.
Dr. Graves’ last test for his machine, was going to be upon Shaw’s own disloyal mercernary guard Clearcut. However, before they began testing on him, the machine confirmed prior to testing that Clearcut was already only a human anyway. As X-Force and Clearcut began to overrun the hidden laboratory, Shinobi Shaw got tired of Dr. Graves’ failures, and used his powers to phase through his throat, and then reform, killing him.

What did you think of Dr. Graves? Was he actually close to making his machine work, or was he just another mad scientist kook who had no idea what he was doing? Would you have liked to see him as a resource of the Hellfire Club more often?

worstblogever

05-10-2010, 03:34 AM

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs40/f/2009/030/5/8/The_Black_Queen_by_AdamHughes.jpg

Phoenix Force
- Black Queen of Hellfire Club I
(this Phoenix was a duplicated body of Jean Grey, with some of her life-force, empowered by the Phoenix Force)
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #101
Last appearance: Really tough call. Let's just say Uncanny X-Men #517 when it flew outta the Stepford Cuckoos.
All Hellfire appearances: Uncanny X-Men #132-134
Powers: Cosmic entity representing the flow of all life in the universe in possession of a human body with psionic abilities, so that she/it has absolute power over thought, can manipulate matter at a molecular scale, fly unaided through outer space, absorb energy on a incalculable level, and open stargates between points in space.

Life Prior to the Hellfire Club (Keep in mind, Jean fans, I’m explaining this as best I can, be kind, and correct me if I’m wrong):
The Phoenix Force is an immortal and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life. Born of the void between states of being, the Phoenix Force is a child of the universe. It is the nexus of all psionic energy which does, has, and ever will exist in all realities of the omniverse, the Guardian of Creation, and a de-facto guardian of the M’Kraan Crystal. The Phoenix is among the most feared beings in the entire existence - having the power to cut and re-grow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely, which is part of the Phoenix's purpose: "The Judgment of the Phoenix", to burn away the obsolete. The Phoenix Force is described as being "the embodiment of the very passion of Creation – the spark that gave life to the Universe, the flame that will ultimately consume it."

During its time as a sentient entity, it traveled the cosmos just like other cosmic beings. At first, the Phoenix Force was a formless mass of energy, but thousands of years ago, it came to Earth, and met a magician named Feron (who worshipped the legendary Phoenix) and his daydream-like visions prompted the Phoenix to adopt the firebird form it has today. He asked the Phoenix to help him by lending its energy to project a stone pillar (which resembled a lighthouse) across the multiverse. The pillar became the lighthouse base for the British super-team Excalibur (a team its future host Rachel Grey/Summers herself would join). Afterwards, Feron was attacked by Necrom in an attempt to steal the power of the Phoenix. Feron, strengthened by the Phoenix Force, was able to fight back but Necrom was able to steal a fraction of the Phoenix's essence forcing it to flee back to space in agonized confusion. The Phoenix Force returned to Earth when it felt the mind of a human transcend the physical realm, a mind that resonated with the Phoenix's energy. A young Jean Grey had telepathically linked her mind to her dying friend, Annie Richards, to keep Annie's soul from moving to the afterlife. In doing so, Jean's mind was being dragged along to the "other side" with Annie. Phoenix lent its energy to break the connection, and kept close watch on young Jean, as it felt a kinship with the young mutant. Years later when Jean was dying on a space shuttle, her mind called out for help and the Phoenix Force answered and saved her, transforming Jean into the Phoenix.

Her time with the Hellfire Club:
As originally written, the Jean Grey incarnation of the Phoenix was not a separate cosmic entity, but Jean herself, having attained her ultimate potential as a psychic, only to become slowly corrupted by the Hellfire Club’s members Mastermind and Emma Frost (Uncanny X-Men #122, 125,126) and brought into the fold of the Club. Mastermind made Jean/Phoenix believe she was daydreaming actual events, and the reality was that she was the paramour of Jason Wyngarde back in 18th century England, at one point kissing Mastermind in a nightclub in front of Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men #130). While prior to her official initiation, Jean/Phoenix would defeat Emma Frost in psychic combat that would cause a building to collapse, and leave the White Queen trapped in its rubble (Uncanny X-Men #131), the worst was still to come.

Mastermind nearly had complete control over the Phoenix, and used her to help the Hellfire Club defeat the X-Men in battle, where the Inner Circle would declare her the new Black Queen (Uncanny X-Men #132). Only because of the apparent death of Cyclops from his confrontation with Mastermind on the Astral Plane and her psychic rapport with him, does Jean/Phoenix become overwhelmed by her enormous power. Jean is driven mad and becomes Dark Phoenix, making Mastermind aware of too much of the cosmos and putting him in a catatonic stupor before leaving the Hellfire Club to again engage the X-Men in conflict.

Her Life after the Hellfire Club:

After facing the X-Men in battle in Central Park, Jean/Dark Phoenix destroyed the D’Bari star system, populated by sentient creatures by eating the sun of that planet's solar system to satisfy her "hunger" (Uncanny X-Men #135). She subsequently died committing suicide on the Blue Area of Earth's moon after battling the Shi’ar Royal Guard in a trial by combat (Uncanny X-Men #137).

.In order to return Jean to the fold several years later, this storyline was retconned to reveal the existence of the cosmic Phoenix Force entity, which had created a duplicate body of Jean, believed itself to be Jean, and acted in her place while the real Jean lay in a coma in the ocean. This let Jean be revived as a member of X-Factor. The extent to which the duplicate and Jean are separate entities depends on who is writing the character(s) at the time.

Part of the Phoenix Force joined with Jean's clone, Madelyne Pryor, until she also committed suicide during “Inferno” and the Phoenix consciousness rejoined with the awakened Jean. Another possessor of the Phoenix Force is Rachel Summers, Jean's daughter from the “Days of Future Past” alternate future. The Phoenix Force accepted her as a host, allowing her to use limited amounts of its immense powers to enhance her own.

During the mini-series X-Men:Phoenix Endsong, the Phoenix Force returned to Earth and resurrected Jean Grey from her grave. Through a number of incidents, including Jean having Wolverine kill her a number of times, Jean trapping herself in a glacier, the Phoenix Force jumping into Emma Frost, and parts of the X-Men being trapped in a Shi'ar-generated event horizon, Jean Grey managed to assert herself and gain control of the Phoenix Force and rescue everyone from the event horizon. Jean then declares that she and the Phoenix force are truly one entity now, have transcended into the White Phoenix of the Crown. Unfortunately, as a result of a Shi'ar attack on the Phoenix Force, it is currently in an incomplete state and Jean must now search out the remaining parts of the Phoenix Force. The consequences of this were partially addressed in X-Men: Phoenix-Warsong in which a small part of the Phoenix Force joined with the Stepford Cuckoos. After nearly losing control to the Phoenix power, the Stepford Cuckoos developed a secondary mutation, in which their hearts turned to diamond and they were able to imprison the piece of the Phoenix Force.

Now here's where it gets interesting. In X-Men: Kingbreaker #4, Rachel Summers was in the middle of fighting Vulcan and some of his new Imperial Guardsmen when the Phoenix Force just up and left her. Then, in Uncanny X-Men #517, the same thing happened to the three surviving Stepford Cuckoos whilst Utopia was under attack from a group of Predator Xs.

Even more intriguing... Hope Summers, the mutant has been shown several times with a certain fiery bird effect glittering behind her eyes. Bears watching.

http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/d/dc/Phoenix_Force_001.jpg

What did you think of Jean Grey/Phoenix Force’s turn as Black Queen of the Hellfire Club? Would you hate it if I neglected to ask you if you hope she comes back? Well, fine. Do you hope Jean Grey/Phoenix comes back?

worstblogever

05-10-2010, 10:59 AM

Sam Guthrie, Cannonball –
(recruit of Donald Pierce)

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/110689-194778-cannonball_super.jpg

First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4
Hellfire Appearances: Debatable, but possibly Marvel Graphic Novel #4.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Hellbound #1.
Powers: generate thermochemical energy as a blast field, which can act as propulsion, bio-kinetic blasts, a protective force shield, and a containment field around his opponent, or absorb kinetic energy to create shockwaves or supercharge the force behind his punches.

His life prior to knowing about the Hellfire Club:
Sam Guthrie was born in Cumberland, Kentucky. As a young boy, he attempted to help out his family, by working in a coal mine, after the death of his father. Given the dangerous nature of this work, Sam found himself trapped in a collapsing mine shaft. While trying to rescue his fellow worker, a friend of his father's who had introduced him to the job, Sam subconsciously activated his mutant ability and used it to escape with him.

His debatable time as a member of the Hellfire Club/Reavers:
This incident led to Sam being found by Donald Pierce, who used him in a plot to attack the New Mutants. At the time, most believe Pierce was on the outs with the Hellfire Club, however, he had several Hellfire Club guards in full uniform with him (many of whom would become the Reavers), and after recruiting Sam, even gave him a Hellfire Club Guard’s uniform. Sam eventually would come to his senses after Pierce ordered him to execute Professor Xavier, Tessa, Moonstar, Rahne, Sunspot, and Karma, and his refusal to do so made Pierce not only terminate his employment, but try to kill him. Thus ended his brief tenure as a Reaver/Hellfire Club Guard.

His Life Since:
Professor Charles Xavier saw the good qualities inside Sam and asked him to join his New Mutants. Cannonball left his large farming family in Kentucky to join the team. In later years, several other Guthrie kids would be revealed to be mutants, including the future X-Man Husk. The New Mutants were granted their own monthly series and Cannonball remained with the team for its entire existence, forming close friendships with his teammates, Sunspot and Wolfsbane. Sam had an ongoing rivalry with Danielle Moonstar as the two acted as the team co-leaders. He also supervised other teammates, including Magik, Karma, Douglas Ramsey, Magma and Warlock.

Cannonball later saves the life of international rockstar Lila Cheney, whom he became romantically involved with. Due to the nature of Lila's career, their relationship went slowly. Cannonball helped lead the team through many adventures, which took them across time and space, from ancient Scotland to other galaxies, even back home to Kentucky. There, he teams up with long-time X-Man Dazzler and his own brother Jay to save Lila's life.

The New Mutants eventually found themselves under the guidance of Magento at the behest of Professor Xavier. Magneto's heavy handed leadership did not sit well with the team, and Cannonball began to display a measure of independence and rebellion against authority. These traits would grow stronger as he matured. For a time they go with Emma Frost, to her Massachusetts Academy. They eventually recover from the trauma, especially after a fight with the Avengers, in which they are forced to rescue Warlock and Magneto. Defying Magneto, the team sneaks out to another Lila Cheney concert. They are swept up in a kidnapping of Lila and dealings with the powerful entity known as Gosamyr. In preventing Gosamyr's relatives from endangering innocent lives, Lila seemingly dies.

Returning to earth, the team caught in the events of Inferno. They team up with the X-Terminators who would eventually merge into their team. They help neutralize the demonic invasion plan by rescuing kidnapped infants high above New York city. One of the new members, Boom Boom, soon became a primary romantic interest. The New Mutants fight the Hellfire Club on the remains of the X-Mansion, formally rejecting Magneto's leadership.

Cannonball and the other New Mutants left the X-Men's supervision and joined forces with the mysterious Cable to become the hard-edged X-Force. Cable named Cannonball Second-In-Command and field leader of the team. It was early during this time that Sam was impaled and killed by the mutant Sauron during a clash with an incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, only a few minutes later, he had healed and returned to life. Cable revealed the he had chosen Sam to lead the New Mutants initially because he suspected Cannonball to be an External - a particularly rare type of mutant who is virtually immortal. Cable had come to train Sam to fight Apocalypse, another External who, in Cable's future time, had conquered the world. Many other Externals, such as Saul and Gideon, also came to believe Sam was one of them. It was also around this time that Sam's sister, Husk, was revealed to have mutant powers. Though Cable did not stay with the team consistently, he and Sam developed a deep father-son type relationship. Cannonball's existence as an External was disputed by Selene, who once claimed that he was not an External. However, she is not a particularly trustworthy source and no alternate explanation has been given for his surviving the wounds Sauron had inflicted. His immortality was recently brought up as the reason he survived 3 gunshot wounds to the chest in New X-Men (vol. 2) #28, so his status as an External hasn't been completely forgotten by Marvel writers.

In the mid 1990s, X-Force re-established ties with the X-Men and Cannonball accepted an offer to join the latter team. Initially, Sam was excited to join the X-Men, this having been his dream since first arriving at Xavier's school. During this time, he was also a supporting character in Wolverine's own comic. Cannonball seemed to regress during this period, acting unsure of himself and his abilities. He played the role of the inexperienced rookie of the X-Men, despite the fact that he had been training under Xavier and Cable for many years and had been the team leader of the New Mutants and X-Force, when their mentors were absent. He privately expressed these doubts to Iceman, causing the veteran X-Man much discomfort. He battled the head of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, Gladiator (Shi'ar) to a standstill, despite being overpowered, thus facing his doubts about his abilities, only to be left behind as the rest of the X-Men were taken into space to save the Shi'ar empire. This led Sam to again question his place on the X-Men.

During his time with X-Men, Cannonball found his relationship with Tabitha strained. It was so strained she turned to Sam's best friend, Sunspot, for "support". Sam returned to the X-Men, for a brief period until he left the team to help his ailing mother. During his time with the X-Men, he also infiltrated the presidential campaign of anti-mutant candidate Graydon Creed, using the alias "Samson Guthry". Despite the rather transparent alias, Sam was able to remain undetected until Creed was assassinated on the eve of the election.

Cannonball rejoined X-Force, now independent of Cable and operating in San Francisco. Cannonball eventually became team leader again, after the injuries sustained by Siryn. The team eventually found a new mentor, by the name of Peter Wisdom, who introduced the team to the world of espionage. During this time, Sam and Tabitha had gotten back together. After Wisdom's alleged death, Sam led the team again and attempted to continue Wisdom's crusade.

After X-Force faked their deaths and dissolved, Cannonball joined several of his former teammates and former members of X-Force and Generation X, in the Paris, France branch, of Professor X's international mutant task force X-Corporation. His time with the X-Corporation wasn't a pleasant one. Enroute to a mission, later found to involve the Weapon Plus program, his teammate Darkstar poked fun at him for eating a sandwich that would have rather distasteful consequences for "everybody who went out without an umbrella in downtown Beauvais." This moment of levity at Cannonball's expense continued to where he whimsically wondered why he didn't give himself the code name "Jet-Ass", but did not last, as on that same mission, Darkstar died. At the funeral of Darkstar, Xavier gave Cannonball a note, with the whereabouts of Lila Cheney. Sam decided to take time away from the X-Corporation, as the strain of his life began to get to him. He worked for a time cleaning up damages to the France-England tunnel, AKA the Chunnel, which was partially destroyed in the very same mission which killed Darkstar.

While away, Sam rekindled his romantic relationship with Lila Cheney for a time. Sam couldn't find peace with his life so he was asked by Storm to join her X-Treme X-Men, a group of X-Men operating outside of Professor X's leadership. For a time, he even was partnered with his old friend Wolverine during an adventure where they pursued long time X-Man foe William Stryker. Sam also found himself having a reunion of sorts with former teammates, Sunspot and Magma.

He and his teammates rejoined the central X-Men, after the events of Planet X. Sam became injured on a mission and once again decided to break for some peace. He used the time to work on his own farm, which he had bought with his X-Corporation paychecks. While on the farm, Sam found himself teaming up again with Cable and reformed X-Force against the threat of the Skornn.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Marfan027can.jpg

worstblogever

05-10-2010, 11:00 AM

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/x-men/images/thumb/a/a5/CannonBall.jpg/300px-CannonBall.jpg

Cannonball was last serving on Rogue's team of X-Men. After defeating the Children of the Vault, Rogue announced the departure of her team from the mansion. Sam explained his personal feelings about leaving to Cyclops, saying that he felt he needed to leave because his brother Jay's death and said that every time he walked through the door, he felt he was stepping on Jay's grave. The team then tried to relocate to Mystique's old home, but were betrayed and attacked by the Marauders. After the surprise blitz, Emma Frost, who lay paralyzed, uploaded everything she picked out of what was at the edges if the Marauder's psi-shielding, and took limited possession over Sam's body, causing him to flee (unwillingly) from the battle with a poisoned Iceman. Aboard the Blackbird, the two were engaged in midair by Sunfire, who crippled the jet. Cannonball manages to escape and battle Shiro, who revealed that he killed Cable. Cannonball shook it off, explaining that it "wouldn't matter who told me that, ah'd still be sayin' 'show me the body.'" He would later try to recover Destiny’s true diaries with Iceman from Flint, Michigan against the whole team of Marauders and Mr. Sinister. Sinister would psionically attempt to mindwipe Cannonball in this conflict, and he would sustain several severe internal injuries right afterwards from blasting around without his blast field fully in place (X-Men (vol. 2) #200-203).

He then returned to his hometown in Kentucky to meet his sister, Paige. He seemed out of sorts, itching for a fight at a local tavern with the Cabot family, who once tried to attack his brothers and sisters, including the late Icarus. After the fight, he quickly left town, unsure of what to do next, but admitting to himself he only feels comfortable anymore when things aren’t calm. His fate, it seems lies with him apparently always living as an adventurer (X-Men: Divided We Stand #1).

At some point, Cannonball was contacted by his old pal, Sunspot, who at the time was serving as the Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club to meet with them. What neither knew, was that they would come under attack from a group of New X-Men, including Rockslide, Wolf Cub, and Ink, who were being manipulated by Donald Pierce, posing as Cyclops, into attacking the original New Mutants. Bobby and Sam were more than holding their own, of course, when they were met by Magma and Dust, who revealed the truth behind “Cyclops” attacks against the team. Cannonball began working together with these younger X-Men to rescue Dani Moonstar, and Blindfold, while capturing Pierce, but not before he murdered Wolf Cub (Young X-Men #3-5).

In the wake of this incident, Cannonball would rejoin the X-Men in San Francisco, turning up in the nick of time to help battle Magneto when he attacked the city as a distraction tactic for the High Evolutionary (Uncanny X-Men #500). He also reunited with Karma and Moonstar, his New Mutants teammates there, and had the opportunity to enjoy the local pub scene with them. At least, he did when he wasn’t putting his foot in his mouth with old racist sayings, or having to bail out to go try and capture Empath (Uncanny X-Men #502-504). Sam did continue to prove himself as a soldier, though, participating in the X-Men’s defeat over an entire legion of Super-Skrulls from the Skrull Invasion fleet during their latest attempt to conquer Earth in San Francisco (Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4).

And, not long thereafter, there was a sighting of Sam’s long lost teammate, Magik, at the X-Men’s Marin Base, leading a rescue team to go to Limbo to attempt to find her, and redeem her. It was successful, and upon Magik’s return, Cannonball made a point of welcoming her to assure she wouldn’t just disappear on them again (X-Infernus #4). This reunion was more than just a gathering of old friends, in Cyclops’ mind, though. He re-commissioned the New Mutants to serve as a whole squad of X-Men, with Cannonball as their leader. While it may not have been pretty, on their first mission together, they managed to discover Legion, in fact not dead, but in fact, alive and wreaking havoc in the town of Westcliffe, Colorado. They brought him back to the Marin Base alive, with no significant casualties. Of course, for being overprotective of the powerless Dani Moonstar, he ended up being punched in the face by her for treating her as such (New Mutants (vol. 3) #1-5).

The X-Men’s time in San Francisco, however, would draw to a close, when rioting would break out over Proposition X. In its wake, Norman Osborn would attempt to begin to arrest whatever mutants he couldn’t manipulate to his own cause to put in the Dark Beast’s Omega Machine. When the X-Men instead freed all of the imprisoned mutants, and fled their Marin Base to create the sovereign island nation of Utopia off San Francisco’s coast, Cannonball would end up taking part in the final battle between the X-Men and Osborn’s combined H.A.M.M.E.R. forces, his Avengers, and his own team of mutants, in which the X-Men emerged victorious (Dark Avengers #8, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1).

Sam tried using some agricultural know-how he picked up in Kentucky to try and cultivate a farm on Utopia, where the X-Men could grow their own fruits and vegetables, drafting whomever he could to help. Of course, he also had to deal with the U.S. Air Force, when Magma and Surge managed to hit a passing jet with their powers, forcing Cannonball into a dogfight (Nation X #3).

But life on the X-Men’s home would not remain peaceful. Selene would soon send her own army of techno-organic virus-infected thralls to attack Utopia, including the resurrected Hellions. In that conflict, Sam would end up on the defensive against his one-time teammate Doug Ramsey, and then as Cypher began to escape Eli Bard’s control, he would have to lead the New Mutants to help protect him (New Mutants (vol. 3) #6-9).

Cannonball also was sent out by Cyclops with some of the New Mutants to prevent attacks by the Savage Land Mutates upon the Japanese Naval fleet, and though Sam was briefly controlled by Worm, Moonstar and Karma were there to assure the conflict ended without major incident (New Mutants (vol. 3) #10). Other than a brief excursion with his teammates to Las Vegas (New Mutants (vol. 3) #11), there wouldn’t be much in the way of fun on the horizon.

There would be Hope. As in, Hope, the Mutant Messiah, arriving back in the present with Sam’s old mentor, Cable. When the Stepford Cuckoos detected them on Cerebra, and soon Cyclops learned they were under attack by forces led by Bastion. He ordered Cannonball and the New Mutants to provide logistic backup, at first having them circle over the Midwest United States in the Blackbird, to await further orders. When Cypher intercepted communications from Bastion’s forces, indicating they had backup awaiting them in St. Louis in the form of a whole legion of soldiers of The Right, led by Cameron Hodge, he opted to make sure they never made it to the front line. The New Mutants tore through their ranks, but in the battle Karma would lose a leg to Hodge, and the maniac would also knock Sam out, before finally being killed by Warlock. The New Mutants evacuated Karma back to Utopia to have her injury treated (X-Men: Second Coming #1, Uncanny X-Men #523, X-Men: Legacy #235, New Mutants (vol. 3) #12, X-Force (vol. 3) #26). Upon his return, Cannonball learned that Magik was MIA, after having been hit by some sort of “Weaponized Ritual” by Bastion’s forces, led by Reverend Stryker, and its effect was that it pulled her into Limbo. He was given the task of leading a rescue team into that realm consisting of himself, Pixie, Trance, Anole, Dazzler, Northstar, and Gambit to rescue her, but immediately upon arriving there, they were all overwhelmed by demonic hordes, sent by a revived N’astirh to capture them (Uncanny X-Men #524, X-Men: Hellbound #1).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/53216/1191297-nm_12_nm_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/nm_12_nm/105-1191297/)

What do you think of Cannonball as a member of the Hellfire Club? Should his brief stint working for Donald Pierce make him a member, like the Marvel Database has him listed as? Or was he just a Reaver recruit? Would he in any way make an interesting member of the Hellfire Club?

worstblogever

05-11-2010, 01:19 AM

http://thebraveandtheblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/pride_28comics29.jpg
Alice and Gene Hayes
– Recruits of the Hellfire Club

(They're the ones in the Pride with the fishnet masks)

First Appearance: Runaways (vol. 1) #1
Hellfire Appearances: Technically None.
Last Appearance: Runaways (vol. 1) #18.
Powers: Telepathic mutants.

His life prior to knowing about the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Their near recruitment into the Hellfire Club:
Emma Frost mentions in Runaways (vol. 3) #10, while Molly Hayes is being shown around the X-Men’s new San Francisco home that Alice and Gene Hayes were once Hellfire Club recruits, but they turned the club’s offer of membership down. Emma hardly considered it a loss, as she considered both monsters, based off their sadistic use of their powers (like Emma's one to talk).

Their Life Outside the Hellfire Club:
Alice and Gene Hayes were a part of another secret society, the Pride, a twelve member group that operated out of Los Angeles. They were often harassed for being mutants by others, and did their best to pose as an unassuming teacher, and speech therapist by day. After the deal was struck with the members of the Pride with the Gibborim to preserve the lives of six chosen people on Earth, they conspired with the Dean family to save themselves, their daughter Molly, and the Deans, hoping to leave the rest of their number trapped at the Gibborim’s mercy. They were ruthless in the use of their powers to defend Pride territory, once slaughtering an entire gang while they forced its leader to watch, and leaving him unable to blink his eyes for seven years afterward. Both were shocked to learn their daughter Molly was a mutant after she ran away, having believed her to be an ordinary human. While in pursuit of their daughter, they once managed to telepathically sedate, and alter the memories of Cloak, and another time, both worked together to assault Gertrude Yorkes. They eventually were killed by the Gibborim, when their children chose to betray the deal they made with them.

What do you think of the Hayes? Did it suck that these to psionic sadists made it past M-Day, only to die at the hands of inter-dimensional hosers like the Giborrim? Would you have rather they continued to plague the Runaways?

eurazn

05-11-2010, 01:42 AM

Cannonball should not be considered part of the Hellfire Club. For God's sake, he's POOR!!!!

worstblogever

05-11-2010, 02:20 AM

Cannonball should not be considered part of the Hellfire Club. For God's sake, he's POOR!!!!

So was Emma, once, when she was a teen runaway.

worstblogever

05-11-2010, 04:59 PM

Baxter
– Hellfire Club Servant
First appearance: X-Men: Legacy #210
Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #210
Last Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #210
Powers: Baseline Human

His life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club: In his lone appearance with the Hellfire Club, Baxter moves into an antechamber of the Hellfire Club to inform Sebastian Shaw that his “device in room seventeen” has had its dials move, and that there had been an accident. Shaw’s apparatus, of course, had detected the activation of Mr. Sinister’s “Chronus Device”.

Polk
– Hellfire Club Guard
Powers: Baseline Human
First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #217.
Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #217.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #217.

His life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club: Polk was a Hellfire Club employee Sebastian Shaw had who was working the door when Skinner, another employee, arrived with a shipment of high-powered rifles and tasers, who was a stickler for procedure, making sure Skinner used the ID palm plate.

Roberto
– Hellfire Club Guard
Powers: Baseline Human
First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #218.
Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #218.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #218.

His life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club: Roberto was a guard employed by Sebastian Shaw on his South American island who was psionically assaulted by Professor Xavier with a memory of his mother punishing him for breaking a window as a child, interrupting a discussion he was having with Skelton about soccer.

Skelton
– Hellfire Club Guard
Powers: Baseline Human
First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #218.
Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #218.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #218.

His life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club: Skelton was a guard employed by Sebastian Shaw on his South American island who was psionically assaulted by Professor Xavier with memories of other children he bullied coming back to turn the tables on him, interrupting a conversation he was having with fellow guard, Roberto, about soccer.

Skinner
– Hellfire Club Guard
Powers: Baseline Human
First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #217.
Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #217.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #217.

His life before the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club: Skinner was a driver for the Hellfire Club tasked with delivering hundreds of high powered rifles and tasers, and argued with Polk, another employee, about using the ID plate to get in. What Polk didn’t know was that Wolverine was on the bottom of his delivery truck, and once he was inside the loading bay, Wolverine hit him over the head with a pulley block, knocking him unconscious.

worstblogever

05-12-2010, 02:36 AM

http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/img/h/Hellstorm.jpg

Daimon Hellstrom
– Former Hellfire Club White King
First appearance : Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #1
All Hellfire IV appearances: Fantastic Four Annual '99
Powers : The Son of Satan, Hellstorm has superhuman strength, agility, and endurance. He can also channel soul-fire through his hands or through his netherandium trident as mystical pyrotechnics that burn the body and soul, or use the soul-fire to heal the bodies of others. He also possesses the ability to teleport across inter-dimensional barriers, and has a wide assortment of magical abilities drawn from his control of a corner of Hell.

His life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Thirty years ago, a number of Hell-Lords acted collectively to create a son via a human woman, who would serve as a living battery drawing in the black energy (sin) of mankind, storing it up as a charge of pure evil. This would give the Hell-Lords the power to break through the walls of reality en masse and lead to an unstoppable assault on man. An early attempt saw Beelzeboul seduce and impregnate Cassandra Dragonmekas, who learned her lover's true identity and banished him from Earth with a magic dagger that foiled their spell. Apparently unknown to the Hell-Lords, the Chapel of Dresden cult sought to create a half-human, half-demon child through which they could rule mankind. Purchasing Victoria Wingate Hellstrom from her Satanist parents, they tattooed her womb with Satanic symbols, enabling her to bear such a child. Kurios came to Earth in human form, and was drawn to and seemed to seduce Victoria. Marrying quickly, they moved to Fire Lake's mansion and Daimon was born there a year later, tended by his father's servants. Despite being weaned on human blood and his pentagram-shaped birthmark, Daimon was more attached to his mother and remained unaware of his father's true nature; but his sister, Satana, born when he was three, was always Daddy's little girl. When Daimon was six, Victoria walked in on an animal sacrifice Satana was performing for her father; she was driven mad and institutionalized upon seeing her husband's true face. Driving out the memory of willingly mothering the Antichrist, Victoria described herself as an innocent victim of Satan in her diary.

Satana was taken to Hell to be raised by Satan while Daimon was raised in an orphanage, having no contact with his father. His addled mother gave him an Ankh chain during a visit, telling him that only it could save him. Daimon studied under Father Raymond Gossett at a Jesuit Monastery for over three years, but he left abruptly before being ordained upon his mother's death and learning of his inheritance of Fire Lake. There he read Victoria's diary, learned of his father's true nature, and heard his father's call and promises of power. Removing his Ankh chain and accessing the mansion's portal to Hell, Daimon confronted Satan, ultimately refusing his father's offer. Daimon stole his father's trident and used it to summon his Demon-Steeds (Amon, Hecate, Set) and chariot, escaping Hell and sealing the portal behind him.

Daimon spent years studying demonology and wallowing in indecision, using the Ankh chain and isolation to moderate the nightly transformations when his demonic Darksoul would gain ascendance. Eventually he began to work as an exorcist, assisting the possessed Linda Littletrees (Witch Woman), which led to an alliance with the Ghost Rider against a Satan who cannot be clearly identified. As the Son of Satan, Daimon thwarted Satan by threatening to shatter his realm. After finding that the Fire Lake opening to Hell had reopened, Daimon traveled to St. Louis' Gateway University at the request of parasychology professor Katherine Reynolds, driving off Ikthalon, the icy demon of stagnation, and his Legions of Boreas. He stayed there for a time, befriending Reynolds and divinity student Byron Hyatt and celebrating his birthday, marked by a battle with his father's agent Baphomet and the merging with his Darksoul, ending his nocturnal transformations and inverting his pentagram.

To end the threat of the fiery serpent Kometes, Daimon traveled back in time to pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis, where he encountered Kamuu and Zartra and the legendary sorceress Zhered-Na, and destroyed Kometes via an encounter with Spyros (Adam K'ad-Mon), the first man on Earth. Working locally and distantly, Daimon exorcised the demon Allatou, one of Satan's court, from the Manners family; destroyed the evil Madame Swabada who resented his fame and used tarot manifestations in a failed effort to slay him; assisted the Defenders against Satannish's human mystic Asmodeus (Charles Benton) and later the Sons of the Serpent; defeated a plot of his father's agent Dryminextes with the aid of the Human Torch; and encountered the enigmatic Father Darklyte and his Legion of Nihilists, the former exploding into a shower of cockroaches at battle's end. Daimon left Gateway, encountering and assisting Satana against Satan's agent Kthara of the Outer Dark, earning Satana's enmity in the process when he unwittingly nearly slew her. Daimon joined the Thing against another plot of Kthara, assisted Ghost Rider against Mephisto, and even joined forces with Satan against the Possessor (Raphael Zoran) who thought to conquer Hell.

Relocating to Washington, D.C.'s District University, Daimon taught parapsychology; defeated Mindstar, who attempted to use him against the Egyptian god Anubis; befriended the bizarre Proffet the Celestial Fool; and became more than friends with wicca Saripha Thames. Summoned to investigate the ditzy psychic Winda Wester, Daimon crossed Hitler's alleged dentist Doctor Reich and corrupt cult-leader Reverend Joon Moon Yuc, leading to Daimon's Darksoul briefly possessing Howard the Duck. Daimon also helped free the vampire hunter Blade from the control of Deacon Frost and participated in the "Defenders for a Day".

Now 27 years old, Daimon joined the Defenders in saving Eternity and the entire universe, opposing the alien Nebulon, as well as the demonic Six-Fingered Hand (Avarrish, Fashima, Hyppokri, Maya, Puishannt, Unnthinnk) who threatened to conquer Earth. The Defenders (including Daimon) teleported across the planet to fight the demons' agents Gargoyle (Isaac Christians) and Hellcat, both of whom were exorcised; the vampire Gordski, whom Daimon exposed to premature daylight via time manipulation; rock singer Asmodeus Jones; a would-be Messiah (David Kessler); and the possessed Man-Thing. Ultimately, the Six-Fingered Hand were revealed to be pawns of the major Hell-Lords, led by Mephisto (who had manipulated them as Maya), Satan, Satannish, and Thog, who threatened to merge Hell and Earth, enabled by the damage to the dimensional walls caused by the threat to Eternity and their multiple teleportations. After a pitched battle between father and son, Daimon agreed to stay in Hell to study under his father, and Satan cancelled the invasion of Earth, leaving the Defenders to wonder if Satan had achieved his true goal after all.

After months of attempting to purge his humanity, Daimon rebelled against and abandoned Satan, who surprisingly expressed pride and revealed his multi-faceted nature. Daimon returned to the Defenders, saving the life of the Beast's girlfriend Vera Cantor, foiling the corrupting spirit within the Resurrection Stone, and fighting the Secret Empire. To save the Valkyrie Brunnhilde's life, he sought the Rose of Purity from the Wasteland Dimension, but found he could not steal the Rose, a god to residents Damask and Zaffer. After aiding the Squadron Supreme on Earth-712 against Null the Living Darkness, Daimon expressed his love for Patsy Walker (Hellcat), who initially rebuffed him. Leaving in a rage, Daimon returned to District University where he found that a demon from Satan's realm had usurped his identity. Daimon defeated the interloper, but left him in peace when Saripha revealed her love for the demon.

Daimon sought solace at Father Gosset's new monastery, but fell into a plot of the Miracle Man, who stole his Darksoul, which was ultimately cast into a serpent that seemed to slither off and die. Seemingly free of his demonic half, Daimon married Patsy, despite interference from the Secret Empire, and they moved out to San Francisco to work as occult investigators. Daimon's pentagram returned soon after and he showed intermittent mystic power, sometimes using the alias Hellstorm and donning a garish costume. He and Patsy joined the Defenders against Minerva Bannister (who sought vampiric immortality); aided the Avengers against Allatou, Master Pandemonium and the Cat People; and helped resolve the dual possession of the Phantom Rider by his uncles, the heroic Carter and the maddened Lincoln.

Meanwhile, the Hellfire Serpent, recipient of Daimon's Darksoul, was used by Terror to empower Mikal Drakonmegas as Hellfire to oppose Beelzeboul. Daimon's powers faded, and he retired, but he soon began to die without his Darksoul. In desperation, Patsy used the Grimorium Verum to summon Satan, who restored Daimon's Darksoul to continue their struggle. Patsy was driven mad upon seeing Daimon's full demonic spirit; he brought her back to Fire Lake where Isaac Christians cared for her. In preparation for the final battle with his father, Daimon took a road trip, defeating Satan's Somnambulist and his pawn Ervil Allred in Nevada, then befriended occult experts Al Shaitan and Avram Siegel. From the witch Lavoisin he learned his birth father's true name - a source of vulnerability to demons - for the price of donating his seed to her. Satan located Daimon's former imposter, sending him to resume the identity and lead the Satanic Black Church. Daimon slew the demon and promised his father their next battle would be their last.

worstblogever

05-12-2010, 02:38 AM

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Severing ties with Doctor Strange, Daimon battled the Black Church's Jack Riley alongside Soulfire, initially intended as Satan's pawn; punished the lethally abusive father of Lisa Beckman; and allied with the Souls of the Damned, spirits from Hell restored to Earth by Satan via misguided would-be faith-healer father Joshua Crow. Daimon successfully fought to bring the few redeemed Souls to Heaven, but was cast down to Hell as punishment. After learning the secrets of Heaven and Hell, Daimon invoked the name and symbols of Marduk Kurios, granting him the power to slay his father. Unexpectedly, the Black Halo of Satanic regency passed to Daimon, making him new Lord of Hell. As Daimon mandated secrecy and pondered these changes, high-ranking demons noticed the laxity and sought to increase their domains, while the forces of a division of Heaven, long-associates and rivals of Kurios, saw this as a chance to win the eternal struggle with Hell. Daimon slew the Armorer, who wore the organs of murdered sorcerers and sought to give Manhattan to the demon Zahgurim as a dowry; along the way, Daimon fell in love with occult terrorist Jaine Cutter, while Patsy regained sanity only to commit suicide under Deathurge's guidance. Working alongside occult network head and Satanist Anton Devine, Daimon and Jaine destroyed the Antimuse Inanna and her Bailiff of Madness; drove mad the angel Tzadqiel; and destroyed Heaven's homonculus agent Stephen Loss, driving his agent Gabriel insane in the process. Daimon had Isaac care for Gabriel, and he learned that Lavoisin was expecting a boy -- a child he knew would be his reborn father, Satan.

Daimon slew Doctor Druid when his powers and motives threatened earthly existence, resurrecting the mutant witch Nekra in the process; warned Wolverine of a mysterious box long thought lost in the nether regions; and assisted the mystically-empowered Punisher against rival Hell-Lord Olivier.

His life with the Hellfire Club:

The academic Alyssa Moy began researching the Hellfire Club, and would be attacked mystically. She went to the Fantasic Four for help, who could find none of their sorcerer allies like Dr. Strange, Agatha Harkness, or Daimon Hellstrom, eventually settling for sorcerers Margali Szardos and Mechamage. Upon investigating the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, they would find Daimon Hellstrom within, and rescue him from rival devil-spawn Blackheart's apparent imprisonment. Hellstrom claimed at this time that he had allegedly gained standing as the White King to Blackheart's Black King of the Hellfire Club in the process under Selene’s new idea for a true “Hellfire” club.

His life after the Hellfire Club:
Daimon manipulated the Thunderbolts into recovering Patsy Walker from Mephisto's Hell. When Satannish united with the extradimensional Dormammu to conquer all of Hell, Hellstorm joined with Mephisto, Pluto, Hela, and Hellcat to foil this plot. Afterwards, perhaps addled by her experiences, Patsy made an odd series of conclusions and claimed that Daimon was the Son of Satannish. Seeking to keep Patsy distant from the horrors of his current life, Daimon took on a malevolent aspect and agreed to her claims, though Mephisto provided her safe transport back to Earth for her help.

Daimon also managed to work with SHIELD’s Howling Commandos, as an undercover agent, to infiltrate the Lords of the Living Lightning, slaying Telesti, but after the battle, complaining that his cover was blown by the Commandos to Agent Clay Quartermain (Howling Commandos #1-6). He also joined Nighthawk’s team of “Last Defenders” (Last Defenders #1-6), that operated outside of the 50 States Initiative for a time. However, truly loyal to no cause, Hellstrom joined back up with the Initiative, under the auspices of A.R.M.O.R. to help defend the Earth from an inter-dimensional zombie invasion, reforming the Midnight Sons in the process. During that invasion, Dormammu took possession of Jennifer Kale, although Daimon managed to exorcise him from her before he could begin to threaten the realm, as well (Marvel Zombies 4, #1-4). Briefly, he was also being sought out by Dr. Strange as a potential candidate to replace him as the Sorcerer Supreme, and for merely being a candidate, he was attacked by the Hood, who was acting as Dormammu’s proxy at the time (New Avengers #52). During the Dark Reign, Hellstrom, joined once more with former girlfriend Jaine Cutter, to rescue the Ghost Rider from Zadkiel's forces, and eventually the Riders united are able to reclaim Heaven, overthrow the renegade Zadkiel, and triumph over the forces Satan unleashed against them (Ghost Rider: Heaven‘s on Fire #1-6).

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What do you think about Daimon Hellstrom as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you think would have happened if he remained as White King?

worstblogever

05-12-2010, 11:52 AM

Holocaust
– Agent of Sebastian Shaw and Hellfire Club III
http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/3/39/Holocaust_%28Earth-295%29.jpg
First Appearance: X-Men Alpha
All Hellfire Club Appearances: (not a member, but was recruited to assist Sebastian Shaw in X-Force (vol. 1) #48-50)
Last Appearance: Exiles (vol. 1) #62
Powers and Abilities:
Enhanced strength, endurance, reflexes, and physical invulnerability, direct bio-nuclear microwave blasts, the ability to drain lifeforce from others to charge his phasing and shapeshifting crystalline armor.

His Life Prior on Earth 295:
Holocaust played a significant part in the Age of Apocalypse storyline first called Nemesis, one of the Horsemen, a quartet of villains that enforced Apocalypse's cullings on Marvel Earth-295 (Which the main Marvel Earth is numbered 616). He first appeared as an agent of his father Apocalypse in a human body. Spying on the X-Men’s headquarters on Wundagore Mountain he waited until most of the team left to attack. Scarlet Witch had been left in charge of the facility and the younger students at the school in case the team didn't come back alive. Nemesis fatally wounded Scarlet Witch and killed most of the young students. In revenge, Magneto destroyed his physical form, which was transported to his crystalline armor (both events happened off-panel), which was created by the Dark Beast. Once inside it, he was renamed Holocaust.

The next time that he appeared he was in charge of the Infinites processing plant in Indianapolis. Sabretooth, having a vendetta against Holocaust, convinced Blink to teleport him and Wild Child after the villain.Rogue tried to object but Blink did as she was told. Sabretooth and Holocaust battled exhaustively, but eventually the villain got the upper hand. Chaining Sabretooth to a stone slab and slicing his chest, Holocaust left him for dead. Enraged by Sabretooth's apparent death, Blink attacked Holocaust and seemingly killed him in a vat of acid, but the villain emerged unharmed. The rest of the team came to the rescue and Rogue almost destroyed the villain, but he teleported away before it was too late. He returned to his father, Apocalypse, where he encountered Nate Grey, also known as X-Man. Nate had no interest in fighting anyone other than Apocalypse, and quickly dispatched Holocaust with a massive psionic attack. However, Holocaust recovered soon afterward and again attacked Nate, leaving Magneto to fight Apocalypse alone.

Holocaust and X-Man were evenly matched and fought for quite some time, until Nate used a piece of the M’Kraan Crystal to stab Holocaust in the stomach. The crystal, which is the nexus of all realities, had a unique effect on the two when combined with the energy that escaped from Holocaust's armor, transporting the pair into the 616 Marvel Universe shortly before Bishop apparently prevented the Earth 295 timeline from ever occurring... or so it seemed.

His Days on Earth-616 Before the Hellfire Club: Holocaust wound up floating in space, where his body was taken aboard Magneto's orbiting space station, Avalon. Rusty Collins, at the time one of the Acolytes, was ordered to guard his body, which was thought to be frozen, and his life force was drained by the villain. Holocaust then went on a rampage, fighting Exodus and subsequently destroying the space station. He escaped onto Earth itself, where he would still prove to be a great threat.

Holocaust would land upon an island in the South Seas, where he would kill the entire population there for their life energy, to replace the power supply in his crystalline armor. The first person on Earth to notice the visitor from another reality would be Sebastian Shaw, who was coming out of hiding and attempting to rebuild his Hellfire Club. Holocaust was given ample chance to further recover, on other people by Shaw, and they would then work together to capture X-Force, picking them off one by one, and then have Tessa, Shaw’s assistant, use mind control to pit them against their leader, Cable. Cable would manage to survive this effect, and help his team regain their sense of selves. Shaw and Holocaust would leave the battlefield.

After his time with the Hellfire Club:
Holocaust became the main antagonist of X-Man, who also was transported to Earth-616, and they had several run-ins. In one such incident he was acting as the agent of Onslaught. They battled until Holocaust's armor was broken and he had to flee, but he revealed that he was only sent to gauge X-Man's potential. Now that he had, Onslaught would come for him in person. He would be seen again during Onslaught’s rampage, battling all the assembled Avengers with Onslaught’s emissaries. He would be defeated, however, and not seen again until...
Holocaust was summoned to join the Exiles, and helped them solve the mystery of the Timebrokers/Timebreakers. However, the Timebreakers had recently been enslaved by another Earth’s Hyperion, and the Exiles, with Holocaust, ended up battling the villain. Hyperion proved stronger than Holocaust expected, headbutting him in his crystal armor, and snorting his essence inside his body, instantly metabolizing it and apparently killing him.
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What did you think of Holocaust? Would he have made an interesting rook or bishop in the Hellfire Club?

cbrer

05-12-2010, 03:16 PM

Just out of curiosity, are you going to be counting Emma's imaginary Inner Circle as part of the Hellfire Club?

If so, Cassandra NovaGODDESS for Black Queen!!
And Negasonic Teenage Warhead for Black Rook/Bishop!!!

And I agree with eurazn. Backwater hicks like Cannonball should NOT be included in the Hellfire Club!

worstblogever

05-12-2010, 03:23 PM

worstblogever

05-12-2010, 03:28 PM

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Angelica Jones, Firestar
– Student of the White Queen

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #193
All Hellions Appearances: Firestar (vol. 1) #1-4, Uncanny X-Men #193
Last Appearance: Firestar (vol. 2) #1
Powers and Abilities: Transforms ambient electromagnetic wavelengths into microwaves, which she can manipulate to generate blinding flashes of light, release scorching heat waves, fire pyroplasmic energy blasts, scramble radio signals, and direct beneath herself as thrust allowing her to fly.

Her Life Prior to joining the Massachusetts Academy:

Angelica Jones manifested her mutant microwave energy powers at the age of thirteen, a trauma made worse by the death of her beloved grandmother, Nana. Nana's passing left Angelica alone with her father, construction worker Bart Jones, who loved her but had great difficulty coping with Angelica's mutant nature.

Her Life at the Massachusetts Academy:

Relief for Bart and Angelica arrived in the form of Emma Frost, the headmistress of the prestigious Massachusetts Academy, which recruited Angelica and provided special training for her mutant powers. The naive young girl came to regard Emma as a sort of surrogate mother, but "kindly Miss Frost" was secretly the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, a high-society group covertly devoted to world domination. Frost's students included a mutant team known as the Hellions, but Angelica was trained largely in isolation, her only ward her bodyguard, Randall Chase. What little Angelica did deal with the Hellions, was far from friendly. Roulette often used her bad luck spheres to cause Angelica to have various difficulty in dance class, and Empath would use his powers to make any missteps an outrage in the eyes of Ms. Cohen, Angelica’s dance teacher. Frost hoped to groom Angelica (code-named Firestar) as an assassin, using her isolation and loneliness to better manipulate her into killing Selene for her, and staged accidents, such as the fiery death of Angelica’s pony, Butter Rum, to convince her she had no control over her powers, and to interact with someone could result in their accidental death. This put a stop towards a potential romance Firestar nearly had with Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, when she met him at a school dance that the New Mutants attended (Firestar (vol. 1) #1-3)

At one point, without the White Queen’s knowledge, Firestar was manipulated by Empath with his powers to go along with a plan to help get the Hellion, Thunderbird, his revenge against Professor X and the X-Men, since his brother John died while on a mission for them. Firestar was apprehended by the X-Men, and after Thunderbird talked out his differences with Xavier, she and Empath were both returned to the Massachusetts Academy, and Frost would take her anger out on Empath for nearly risking her prized pupil/pawn (Uncanny X-Men #193).

Of course, plan fell apart when Angelica's bodyguard, Randall Chase, sacrificed his life to expose Frost's treachery to Firestar. Heartbroken, she quit the Academy, threatening Frost with her powers to be left alone (Firestar (vol. 1) #4).

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7131/firestar42.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/firestar42.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Her Life after the Massachusetts Academy:
Angelica moved back home, determined to live a normal life – until Night Thrasher uncovered her secret identity by hacking into the Massachusetts Academy computer system, and pressured her into helping him found the New Warriors. As a mainstay of that super-youth group, Firestar grew into a formidable albeit reluctant champion, and she forged a lasting romance with fellow Warrior Justice. Among the many foes she helped her teammates to defeat, includedTerrax, Midnight’s Fire, Juggernaut (assisting Thor), the Mad Thinker, Primus, Psionex, Star Thief, Stane International’s Mandroids, and Force of Nature (New Warriors (vol. 1) #1-9, Thor (vol. 1) #411-412).

Perhaps one of Angelica’s most personally motivated battles came, though, when the White Queen and the Hellions attacked the New Warriors for hacking into their database, and they intended to challenge the New Warriors to a competition where the winner would keep Firestar as a teammate. In the end, of course, the New Warriors won (New Warriors (vol. 1) #9-10).

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Angelica remained romantically attached to Vance, eventually following him to the legendary Avengers super-team he had long idolized. Shortly before joining the Avengers, Angelica had discovered that the microwave radiation she manipulated was threatening to render her sterile. This problem was supposedly solved by Hank Pym, who created a special suit to siphon off Firestar's excess radiation. Free from one of her greatest fears, Firestar resumed her adventures with renewed zeal. For a time, Firestar and Justice infiltrated the Triune Understanding spiritual movement at the behest of Avengers founder Iron Man. After the Triune's corrupt leadership was exposed and neutralized, the couple helped the Avengers thwart Kang’s attempted conquest of Earth, then opted for Avengers reserve status to devote more time to their personal lives (Avengers (vol. 3) #1-52). During her time as an Avenger, she also ended up bumping into Emma Frost in New York City, and somewhat came to an understanding regarding their darker past together (Generation X #59).
Firestar eventually made some drastic decisions regarding both her personal and super-heroic life. First, she decided to end her engagement with Justice, since she felt that she should explore more of her life and future before marriage (I “Heart” Marvel: Masked Intentions #1). And her second decision was to retire from being a superhero; due to the actions caused by the Super-Human Registration Act, which sparked the Civil War (Civil War: Frontline #2).

What she would not know, however, was that the suit given to her by Hank Pym had not permanently fixed her condition, and she was unwittingly again exposing herself to microwave radiation as she was using her powers for an extended period of time. The side effects, of course, being not just that she was rendered sterile, but that Angelica had given herself malignant breast cancer. She was undergoing chemotherapy, and various cancer treatments that seemed to not be helping slow her inevitable death, when her friend, Patsy Walker, took her old lover Daimon Hellstrom up on an offer to edit her own biography to say more flattering things about him in it, and in exchange, he would use his magics to save Angelica’s life. Upon finding this out, however, Angelica, Monica Rambeau, and the Black Cat all went to Hell to prevent Patsy from making the deal, vowing that Angelica would sooner take her chances against the cancer then let her friend make such a sacrifice. Remarkably, the gamble paid off, and her cancer started to go into remission (Marvel Divas #1-4). Now slowly recovering from her cancer, Angelica has lost her hair, but not her heroic nature (Firestar (vol. 2) #1).

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What do you think of Firestar? Is it kind of sad that her powers won’t let her have babies, since she’d blow them up inside herself like a hot dog in a microwave? Do you like the whole storyline she has going right now where she’s a cancer survivor? Would you like to see her reunite with Emma Frost or James Proudstar again?

worstblogever

05-13-2010, 02:01 AM

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Benazir Kaur
– Black Queen of the Hellfire Club II

First appearance: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3
All Hellfire II appearances: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3
Last Appearance: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3Powers: Manipulates the metabolic systems of other people in order to accelerate bacterium, toxins, or carcinogens within their cells so that they disable her victims from within.

Her Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her Time With the Hellfire Club:
Benazir Kaur was believed to have been the Black Queen of Shinobi Shaw’s second Hellfire Club, that he founded after supposedly killing his father, Sebastian. This second Hellfire Club apparently had the support of Candra, the External, but in what manner is still unclear. Kaur and her Inner Circle attempt to kidnap Storm, and recruit her into the new Hellfire Club’s ranks, the rest of the X-Men arrived and defeated them, including Benazir. She has not been seen since.

What did you think of Benazir Kaur? Was her power as a bio-manipulator interesting enough? Do you think in some way she may be related to Elixir, Plague, or some other mutant with a similar power? Did she deserve more than one appearance?

worstblogever

05-13-2010, 09:37 AM

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Robert Kelly
– Frequent Guest, and possible member of the Hellfire Club
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #135
Last Appearance: X-Men (vol. 2) #108
Powers: Baseline Human

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Obviously, as a member of the Senate, though, Kelly wielded a formidable amount of political power. Unfortunately for mutants, Kelly maintained for years that mutants' very natures make them too dangerous to allow them to run unchecked. His Mutant Registration Act was proposed years ago to force mutants to register themselves (and the natures of their powers) with the government, much as one might register a handgun. It was the Act's proposal that prompted Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to attempt to assassinate him in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, the X-Men had been warned of the attempt by Kate Pryde, a future version of Kitty Pryde who had been sent back in time to stop the murder. Kate also revealed that Kelly's murder in her past made him a martyr, and the government passed the Act and then increased production of mutant-hunting Sentinels to round up dangerous mutants in the “Days of Future Past” storyline. All of this horrible future was caused by Kelly's murder, so the X-Men had to stop it. Unfortunately, while Sprite (Kitty) managed to deflect Destiny’s aim and save Kelly, the incident only fueled his resolve to pass the Registration Act. Kelly also cultivated a relationship with industrialist Sebastian Shaw, who built Sentinels and supported Kelly's plans. Unbeknownst to Kelly, Shaw was himself a mutant.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Over time, it would seem Shaw would get Kelly to more and more associate with the Hellfire Club, a mutant cabal bent on world domination. Kelly’s times as a guest of the Club, and the fact that he actually married one of their staff seem to indicate the possibility he was a member. It was after one of these meetings with Shaw in New York that Kelly's limo got smashed by debris from a fight between the X-Men and the conglomerate of Nimrod and Master Mold. Horribly, while Kelly survived, his wife Sharon died in the wreckage trying to help pry Rogue free. Though with her dying breath she refused to condemn the mutants, who were trying to stop the rampaging machine, Kelly's grief only strengthened his position that mutants were too dangerous to be allowed to run rampant. He became more convinced of the righteousness of his crusade and immediately ordered more Sentinels into production.

After the Hellfire Club, and his marriage:
Later, Kelly supported Bastion’s Operation: Zero Tolerance, but when he realized that Bastion was converting innocent humans into Sentinels and taking away the rights of U.S. citizens (even those who were mutants), he withdrew his support. He then became a target of Bastion's minions, and was forced to call the X-Men (through Professor X) for help. Luckily, Cyclops repsonded to his plea just in time to save his life, and Kelly was able to use his political influence to have S.H.I.E.L.D. shut Bastion down. Kelly didn't change his ultimate position, though, and shortly thereafter declared his candidacy for President of the United States, running on an anti-mutant platform. To be fair, the Senator honestly believed that mutants must be recognized and controlled, or innocent people will be harmed. However, his methods and proposals always seem to scare mutants, who feel that his idea open doors to other actions that would strip them of their rights. Recently, Kelly was alerted to the fact that Mystique was after him again. She had actually been posing as some of his friends and acquaintances to talk to him about his policies. To his credit, the Senator stood his ground and refused to let her obvious threat to his life dissuade him from fighting for what he believes in. When the Brotherhood made its move, Kelly was defended by the X-Men, though it was the dying act of Pyro (blasting Post) that saved his life. Kelly's speeches became more and more tolerant of mutants, trying to downplay the hysteria and hate that his cause had spawned. He even came to understand and respect Cable, who had been inserted into his campaign to protect him. Ironically, though, it was an anti-mutant human who shortly thereafter gunned Kelly down, upset that the candidate had "betrayed" his human brothers by toning down his rhetoric against mutants.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/SharonKelly.jpg

Sharon Kelly
– Member of the Hellfire Club Staff

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #246.
Hellfire Club Appearances: (Technichally, none. Her time as a “maid” at the Hellfire Club is never shown on panel. She does try on her old work uniform, though, when she visits...)
Last Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #247.
Powers: Baseline Human

Her life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her life With the Hellfire Club:
Sharon Kelly was a maid during her time with the Hellfire Club, and would show up on-panel first in Uncanny X-Men #246 as Senator Kelly’s wife, with her past ties to the Hellfire Club revealed. She would die trying to help Rogue from the wreckage of her husband’s limo in Uncanny X-Men #247 when she got blasted by the Master Mold/Nimrod amalgamated Sentinel. Her death would cause her husband to further his policies to control mutants, even if they did try to save her.

What did you think of the Kellys? Would you have liked to see more of Sharon’s history with the Hellfire Club, including how Senator Kelly courted her? Do you think they’re playing “naughty maid” up in the afterlife?

Hindsight lad

05-13-2010, 02:43 PM

Was it ever mentioned what state Kelly represented, or what party he was from? I seem to recall an interview he gave where it was pointed out that except when it came to mutants, Kelly was actually a devoted civil libertarian. Not sure of the issue, somewhere in Cockrum's second run as penciler.

He certainly got a hero's death, though. Full Yitzhak Rabin.

Hindsight lad

worstblogever

05-13-2010, 05:57 PM

King Bedlam (Christopher Aaronson)
– Former Recruit of the White Queen

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/180858-51868-king-bedlam_large.jpg

First Appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #87
All Hellfire Appearances: Technichally, none. He was a recruit of the White Queen who turned down the Massachusetts Academy’s recruitment, although, he apparently was fond of the Hellions’ concept.
Last Appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #90.
Powers: King Bedlam can radiate telepathic static from his mind that shields his thoughts from scanning and manipulation, and can direct the static outwards to disrupt the thought processes of others, causing them to spout random gibberish and lose fine motor control and mental cohesiveness.
Status: Currently de-powered.

Biography:

Shortly after Christopher Aaronson’s sixth birthday, Dabney Saunders, an agent for the NSD, identified him as a mutant, and staged a car accident that would claim the lives of his parents so that the government could potentially take custody of him. All records of his birth and childhood were destroyed. By the time he was thirteen, Christopher had grown tired of being “poked and prodded” by Saunders and the scientist running the project he was a part of, and he used his powers to psionically scramble their minds.He never sought out his brother, Jesse, to join him in his exploits, never knowing that his brother was also a mutant. He then apparently began adventuring, and made enough money to eventually by his own Californian vineyard in Santa Lucia (revealed in X-Force (vol. 1) #87).

During the Massachusetts’ Academy’s time as a front for the Hellfire Club, to train future mutant members under the tutelage of headmistress Emma Frost, their own White Queen, there was a potential student highly recruited by her who rejected the opportunity to join the Hellions named Christopher Aaronson. Not only did he reject her offer, but he abjectly pointed out she was manipulating all her students, but before he left, he met the Hellion known as Tarot, trying to woo her away from the school and to his side from the start. Tarot, believing through her own prescience, and her card readings that she was destined to fall in love with Aaronson and end up by his side, someday, at least, but not that day (revealed in X-Force (vol. 1) #87).

Sometime in the wake of the attack by Trevor Fitzroy upon the Hellfire Club where he killed the Hellions, Aaronson would make good on his promise, finding a badly wounded Tarot, and save her from death’s door, nursing her back to health.Tarot apparently fell in love with him during this time (revealed in X-Force (vol. 1) #88). He also began recruiting other mutants to his cause, including the Chinese techno-organic virus-infected mutant Paradigm, and Switch. In a mocking gesture towards Emma Frost, given what happened to her original students. His overall goal, though, was to locate the secret government facility at Alamogordo and locate its unique prisoner, the Armageddon Man. Once in possession of him, he would threaten to release him unless the government paid an exorbitant ransom to him. Complicating matters was the fact that King Bedlam wanted his own long-lost biological brother, Jesse Aaronson, and X-Force to join him. When they refused, however, his team quickly overwhelmed them, and Paradigm tethered all of X-Force with techno-organic tendrils (X-Force (vol. 1) #88). They then went to the Summerfield Canyon nuclear power plant, looking to awaken the Armageddon Man to cause a great catastrophe. They also kidnapped Senator Owen Danville to assure that their involvement as mutants would besure to make the news. However, due to a distraction from Tarot, Paradigm’s control slipped long enough for Dani Moonstar to free X-Force. Before Christopher could strike her for her betrayal, his own brother, Jesse, stepped in to defend her, getting a smack to the face for his trouble. Before X-Force could begin their rematch with King Bedlam’s Hellions, the Armageddon Man awoke (X-Force (vol. 1) #89). Using a device called the psionic amplifier, which was developed by the British organization Black Air, King Bedlam attempted to control the actions of the Armageddon Man, to cause some storms and earthquakes to prove to the government that his ransom demands were not to be taken lightly. He not only did that, but simultaneously, he began to scramble the minds of all of X-Force. Before his victory was complete his own brother, Jesse used his power to psionically damage or destroy machines to break the psionic amplifier, leaving X-Force to defeat the Armageddon Man while King Bedlam and his New Hellions (save for Magma) all retreated (X-Force (vol. 1) #90).

Time would go by, and nothing would be heard from King Bedlam. That is, until the Decimation hit, when his energy signature was found by SHIELD’s super-computer to be a part of the Collective, confirming that King Bedlam was depowered (revealed in New Avengers #18).

What do you think of King Bedlam? Did you want to see his rivalry with his brother continued? Would you have liked to have seen Emma Frost and Generation X battle him, and his New Hellions, as was foreshadowed in Generation X #60?

Justin K.

05-13-2010, 06:09 PM

What do you think of King Bedlam? Did you want to see his rivalry with his brother continued? Would you have liked to have seen Emma Frost and Generation X battle him, and his New Hellions, as was foreshadowed in Generation X #60?

- I enjoy him very much. Such potential wasted. Must be a family thing...

- I don't necessarily wanna see his rivalry with Jesse continue, but his rivalry with Emma be expanded upon. He took her Hellions names, which did not please her, part of me hopes his depowering is retconned.

- I think a battle between the two teams would have been wonderful. Banshee could have avenged his daughter. Emma and King Bedlam's power counter each other, I would love to see his girl beating powers take on her guy kicking abilities; Move over Banshee.

worstblogever

05-13-2010, 11:12 PM

Kingmaker
– Former Member of the Hellfire Club I

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/Kingmaker.jpg

First Appearance: New X-Men: Hellions #1
All Hellfire Appearances: Technichally, none. He’s only referred to as a former member.
Last Appearance: New X-Men: Hellions #4.
Powers: Apparent Magic-User, specializing in wish fulfillment.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His Life With the Hellfire Club:
Mostly unknown. It’s only known that Emma Frost had him tossed from the Hellfire Club. The reasons remain unclear.

His Life After the Hellfire Club:
The Kingmaker arrived and agreed to grant the Academy X Hellions one wish.. In return, the Hellions were asked to bring the Kingmaker a biological weapon from Genetassist, Inc., which he planned to give to Dr. Octopus. Hellion led the his team on the raid, taking out Diamondback and Paladin in the process, and retrieved the canister. However, Hellion only agreed to give it to the Kingmaker in return for voiding their contracts. When the Kingmaker agreed, Hellion attacked, and with his full squad managed to defeat the villain, in the process also destroying the biological weapon before turning it over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Emma Frost ended up pulling strings to get him out of prison for his crime, in exchange, he had to promise to never mess with any of Emma’s students again.

eurazn

05-14-2010, 12:49 AM

Daimon Hellstrom's origins kinda freak me out. I hate that kind of stuff!

What do you think of the Hayes? Did it suck that these to psionic sadists made it past M-Day, only to die at the hands of inter-dimensional hosers like the Giborrim? Would you have rather they continued to plague the Runaways?

I loved the Hayes and the creepy organization they belonged to. Of course, I also loved the Runaways. I would have preferred that they remained a threat to the kids instead of dying by the Giborrim.

So was Emma, once, when she was a teen runaway.

She was born to a wealthy family, though, so her origins are still pure. Cannonball was born born. Filthy! lol

What did you think of the Kellys? Would you have liked to see more of Sharon’s history with the Hellfire Club, including how Senator Kelly courted her? Do you think they’re playing “naughty maid” up in the afterlife?

Sharon's death was a genuinely sad scene. Even without more of her history being explored, I think the impact was still there.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/wairata/psykelly.jpg

worstblogever

05-14-2010, 08:40 AM

Benedict Kine
– White King of the Hellfire Club II

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/kinebenedicthellfireclub2.jpg

First appearance: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3
All Hellfire II appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) Annual #3, Spider-Man Team-Up #1
Last Appearance: Spider-Man Team-Up #1.
Powers: Take psionic control of another person’s nervous system, allowing him to control their movements or spark individual neural synapses to cause bursts of pain or pleasure.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Benedict Kine only has two real accomplishments with the Hellfire Club, both of them failures. He was first present when Shinobi Shaw tried to force Storm to join his Hellfire Club, and was part of the Inner Circle defeated by the X-Men as a result. His next feat as a member of the Hellfire Club was to challenge Shinobi Shaw for leadership of the club, in a game to see if his White Knights could kidnap J. Jonah Jameson before Shinobi’s Black Knights could stop him. With some inadvertent help from Spider-Man and the X-Men, Shinobi’s last Black Knight defeated the last of Kine’s White Knights, making his bid unsuccessful. Benedict Kine has not appeared since.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/131947-70698-benedict-kine_large.jpg

What did you think of Benedict Kine? Would he have made a good recurring villain, and member of the Hellfire Club? Should he have been retained as White King by Sebastian Shaw after his return to power? Where has he been since his failed attempt to become leader of the Inner Circle?

M.I.Brooks

05-14-2010, 09:14 AM

Benedict Kine
– White King of the Hellfire Club II

Powers: Take psionic control of another person’s nervous system, allowing him to control their movements or spark individual neural synapses to cause bursts of pain or pleasure.

What did you think of Benedict Kine? Would he have made a good recurring villain, and member of the Hellfire Club? Should he have been retained as White King by Sebastian Shaw after his return to power? Where has he been since his failed attempt to become leader of the Inner Circle?

The man had an intersting power set, I'll give him that.

worstblogever

05-14-2010, 09:20 AM

The man had an intersting power set, I'll give him that.

Perfect for a guy who operated in an S&M club bent on world domination, to be sure.

M.I.Brooks

05-14-2010, 09:25 AM

Perfect for a guy who operated in an S&M club bent on world domination, to be sure.

It'd help, yes.

Ryan W

05-14-2010, 09:26 AM

King Maker!

Because everyone forgot about The Power Broker.

worstblogever

05-14-2010, 09:32 AM

King Maker!

Because everyone forgot about The Power Broker.

Not Dan Slott, at least. He used Power Broker as part of Hardball's origin in Avengers: The Initiative.

But other than that, yeah.

worstblogever

05-14-2010, 02:23 PM

Ebony Knights
- Hellfire Club Elite Soldiers

First Appearance: Spider-Man Team-Up #1, Dec. 1995.
Last Appearance: Spider-Man Team-Up #1, Dec. 1995.
Hellfire Club Appearances: Spider-Man Team-Up #1, Dec. 1995.
Powers/ Their time prior to being in the Hellfire Club:

The Ebony Knights are described as “…cybernetic. Not real people. Just copies.”, indicating that they are in fact, artificial constructs, as the X-Men tore through them without any remorse. There were two of them originally, but after they were destroyed, another was shown to be active. They apparently get restored or replaced as needed. They appeared to look like Hand ninjas, possessing the ability to teleport, fire green energy blasts, and several martial arts techniques. They were shown to have some anatomical qualities, though, as one was defeated after being hit by some of Archangel’s neurotoxin coated metal feathers.

Their time in the Hellfire Club:
When an opposing king makes a Rite of Challenge for leadership of the Hellfire Club, they are telepathically summoned to serve them on several missions and trials, with the victorious side determining the future leadership of the Hellfire Club. The Rite of Challenge was meant to determine the Club’s leader, but settle an argument between Kine and Shinobi over how to deal with Jameson, and was suggested by Tessa. The Ebon Knights, in their one appearance, were sent to prevent Benedict Kine’s White Knights from collecting J. Jonah Jameson. The contest would end up seeing interference from both Spider-Man and the X-Men. Initially, the White Knights did have possession of Jameson, but the Ebon Knights managed to teleport him away. Once Spider-Man struck Benedict Kine during this battle, Shinobi Shaw commanded his last remaining Ebon Knight to battle only the White Knights and to spare Spider-Man and the X-Men. That remaining Ebon Knight has not been seen since. (As far as why they are “Ebon” knights and not “Black” Knights to match the Black King, well, apparently someone at Marvel editorial thought more Black Knights would only add to the confusion that characters with the name like Dane Whitman already faced. But how the hell did a chess themed organization whose origins go back to England end up not having Knights sooner? And why not since?)

What did you think of the Ebon Knights? Were they an interesting ace up the sleeves of the Hellfire Club? Or were they a blatant attempt to remind everyone that “Shinobi” Shaw was supposed to be have ties to the Far East? Do they just make you laugh and realize that comic book writers might think, “I know… a robot! No fought robots last month. A ninja! No, that happened in the other book. I know… A ROBOT NINJA!”

White Knights
- Elite Soldiers of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: Spider-Man Team-Up #1
Last Appearance: Spider-Man Team-Up #1
Hellfire Club Appearances: Spider-Man Team-Up #1
Powers: Flight, teleportation, project energy blasts from their staffs, drain Ebon Knights’ energies

Life before they were in the Hellfire Club:
None, apparently. They were described as “…cybernetic. Not real people. Just copies,” leading many readers to believe they were artificial constructs. That, and the X-Men and Spider-Man tore them apart with no remorse.

Time spent with the Hellfire Club:
Benedict Kine summoned them as his representatives in the Rite of Challenge that he made against Shinobi Shaw for leadership of the Hellfire Club. Their goal was to collect J. Jonah Jameson, while Shinobi Shaw’s Ebon Knights were to prevent it. The Rite of Challenge was meant to determine the Hellfire Club’s leader, but settle an argument between Kine and Shinobi over how to deal with Jameson, and was suggested by Tessa. Briefly, they did capture Jameson, but the Ebon Knights teleported the publisher out of their grasp before they could return to the Hellfire Club. They were defeated shortly after Spider-Man noticed a pattern in their teleports… they could only re-appear in an “L” from where they stood, not unlike the chess piece they were designed after. With this weakness exposed, the remaining Ebon Knight, Spider-Man, and the X-Men made short work of the White Knights. None have been seen since.

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/kinebenedicthellfireclub.htm (scroll down to view both the Ebony and White Knights)

What did you think of the White Knights? Would you like to see more of them? Do you think their designer is a moron for limiting their teleportation ability to only allow them to move in an “L” pattern?

worstblogever

05-14-2010, 10:16 PM

http://francemarvel.free.fr/images/encyclopedie/b/bianca_laneige/bianca_laneige.jpg

Bianca La Niege
– Member of the Hellfire Club I

First Appearance: Generation X #40.
Hellfire Club Appearances: None on panel. She does refer to Emma Frost as an old foe of hers from their days in the Hellfire Club together in Generation X #40.
Last Appearance: Generation X #44.
Powers: Bianca was a human mutate with the power of transmutation, which she demonstrated by turning seven aliens into her “Seven Dwarves” to serve her. She may have also had low-level telepathy.

Her life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her life with the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known, except that she and Emma Frost were rivals, and Emma had bought LaNiege Industrial Concepts in a hostile takeover, and it drove Bianca to great levels of obsession. She tried to further develop a device she had to open gateways to other realities, and from them, bring back alien technology she could market and put Frost out of business, in turn. Instead, she was trapped in another dimension, where she endured, as she put it, “unspeakable torture but also gained great power”.

Her life after the Hellfire Club:
By the time Bianca managed to escape the alien dimension in which she was trapped, many years had passed. She used a ship she had designed for travel to locate Emma Frost, to gain her vengeance, with seven aliens she had used her new powers of transmutation to make into her “Seven Dwarves”. She attempted to ambush Emma while she was on a golf course with Generation X, but a psychic wave caused by the Shadow King rendered both her, and Emma’s powers null. Bianca blacked out, and crashed her ship temporarily. While she was unconscious, her dwarves debated killing her, and Emma and her students left the golf course, unaware of the lingering threat. Bianca would come to, chastise her seven underlings, and continue on to the Massachusetts Academy to again attempt to gain revenge against her old rival.

However, once at the school, Bianca and her dwarves accomplished little more than damaging Generation X’s biosphere. Bianca would be beaten by a temporarily de-powered Emma Frost, who wielded frying pans, and finally smashed a watermelon over LaNiege’s head, while her students tangled with the Dwarves, who surrendered when they realized Chamber’s bio-blast was much more powerful than their own plasma cannon.

Emma Frost decided after capturing Bianca and her Dwarves, they would be put to work rebuilding the biosphere they destroyed. In the middle of doing this, however, another strange portal appeared near LaNiege, her lackeys, and the remains of the biosphere into what appeared to be the future. They have not been seen since.

What did you think of Bianca LaNiege? Would you have liked to have seen her Hellfire Club rivalry with Emma Frost in the pages of Emma’s own series? Do you think she will be seen again?

worstblogever

05-15-2010, 10:02 AM

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__T6BfLHtlBc/SwtxKwdh3pI/AAAAAAAACU0/HbyO5cHri3g/s1600/Harry+Leland.jpg

Harry Leland
– Black Bishop of the Hellfire Club I

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129 [silhouette], #132 [fully]
Last appearance: X-Force (vol. 3) #22
All Hellfire Appearances: Generation X #minus1, X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, Classic X-Men #7, Marvel Super Heroes (vol. 2) #11, Uncanny X-Men #129, 132-135, 152, New Mutants (vol. 1) #23, Uncanny X-Men #208-209
Powers: Geometrically increase the mass of any object in his vicinity, weighing it down with enormous gravitational pressure.
Status: Last seen re-animated as a techno-organic virus-infected thrall of Selene. Unknown if he survived her culling to achieve godhood on Genosha.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Little is known of Leland's past before encountering the X-Men, however he did encounter former teammate, Emma Frost before she was inducted into the Hellfire Club. At the time, Emma was homeless and using her powers during a Hellfire Club meeting to gain information about stocks, Leland took an interest in her but tried to recruit too strongly, which made Emma run away. Shortly after, he accompanied Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and his NYPD partner to an incident behind the club which involved Emma. Emma, having met and repaired the fractured mind of the Dark Beast with her powers, mind-wiped all three men into forgetting the incident and that they had ever met (All in Generation X: Minus One). He would be shown later, in Classic X-Men #7, being the one to make the introduction of Emma Frost to Sebastian Shaw.

Later, Leland first encountered the X-Men when the X-Men invaded the New York headquarters of the Hellfire Club. Leland caused Wolverine to become super-heavy with his powers and fall through the floor into a sub-basement (Uncanny X-Men #132).

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/HarryLeland2.jpg

An interesting side note would be Leland’s brief infatuation with Jean Grey as the Hellfire Club’s new Black Queen, to which he even would remark she was more attractive to him than the White Queen, who had just been buried in a cave in a short time earlier! (Way to roll with the punches, Harry.) Oh yeah, and he did so with Cyclops bound, and listening (Uncanny X-Men #133).

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/HarryLeland3.jpg

In the rematch, Wolverine attacked Leland from above. At that moment, Leland foolishly used his mass-increasing powers against his opponent a second time, resulting in Wolverine crashing through the floor again, only this time with Leland beneath him as Wolverine intended (Uncanny X-Men #134). All evidence to the contrary, Leland survived this incident, being carted out of the Hellfire Club badly injured in an ambulance (Uncanny X-Men #135).
Shortly after he attended the ceremony to welcome Emmanuel DaCosta and Selene into the Inner Circle (New Mutants (vol. 1) #23), Leland would battle the X-Men in New York's Central Park with his Hellfire Club allies. Leland used his power to sink Colossus hundreds of feet underground (Uncanny X-Men #208). When Nimrod attacked the assembled mutants, the X-Men and the Club joined forces to battle Nimrod. Against considerable resistance by the robot, Leland increased Nimrod's mass to move it towards the ground and thus become more vulnerable to attack. Overweight and in poor health, the effort caused Leland to have a heart attack. Then, at Storm’s urging, Leland increased the mass of Sebastian Shaw (who had been sent hurtling towards outer space by Nimrod), causing Shaw to crash into Nimrod's body on the ground. Leland succumbed to his heart condition and died (Uncanny X-Men #209).

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/HarryLeland4.jpg
However, when the supervillain Black Talon revived Leland's body, as well as the bodies of three other deceased mutants, as a zombie; his motives for doing such were unspecified. After She-Hulk’s defeat of the Talon and his "X-Humed", Leland was reburied. Precautions were taken to ensure that he never come back, among them filling his mouth with salt and sewing his lips together (Sensational She-Hulk (vol. 1) #35).

Of course, those precautions were apparently far from complete. Harry turned up as a techno-organic virus-infected thrall of Selene, attacking the X-Men at Utopia as part of an army of resurrected mutants. He, in particular, along with Shinobi Shaw, were meant to be the instrument of Selene’s revenge upon Sebastian Shaw, whom Selene felt slighted by during her own time with the Hellfire Club. However, before Harry and Shinobi could execute Sebastian in the X-Brig, its warden, Danger, came back online, and she and Sebastian Shaw managed to fend off their attackers through the rest of the conflict. It is unknown if Harry Leland was one of the mutants teleported back to Genosha to be killed in Selene’s ritual to ascend to godhood, or if he escaped somehow (X-Necrosha #1, X-Force (vol. 3) #21-22).

What did you think of Harry Leland? Was he the perviest of the Hellfire Club, hands down? How involved was he in helping Emma Frost rise to power, and what did he gain from it? Since their powers are so similar, do you think he was Shinobi Shaw’s real father? Do you think he survived Necrosha?

Arachne

05-15-2010, 05:14 PM

Perviest? Compared to Shinobi, not likely. Unless Emma was underage when they first met. There's no evidence that Shinobi goes for minors.

I'd like to see Leland and Shinobi team up to take back their fortunes. Shinobi could use a good mentor (by Hellfire Club standards, Leland's not that bad), and it would make for some interesting scenes if Shinobi really believes Leland is his father.

worstblogever

05-15-2010, 05:20 PM

http://christhilk.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/magneto2.gif

Erik Lensherr (aka Max Eisenhardt), Magneto
– Former White King of the Hellfire Club I

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1
First Hellfire appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210
All Hellfire appearances: Uncanny X-Men #210, New Mutants (vol. 1) #51, Uncanny X-Men #219, New Mutants (vol. 1) #53-54, 61, Annual #4, #69-71, 73-75, Marvel Comics Presents #78, Uncanny X-Men #275.
Last Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #524.
Powers: High electrolyte count in his bloodstream increases his personal bio-magnetic field, which is aligned with Earth’s electromagnetic field to give him total mastery over magnetism, allowing him to (among other things):
- sense nearby metal objects and specific energy signatures
- levitate and manipulate anything containing metal
- release magnetic energy as concessive blasts and protective force fields
- generate intense heat within metal by accelerating the motion of ferrous molecules
- draw forth electrical energy from magnetic fields
- manipulate iron in the bloodstream to cause aneurysms, unconsciousness, or biological ruptures
- increase his power by absorbing electricity or intensely cold temperatures, like a super-conductor.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
After witnessing the brutal murder of his family by the Nazis, the man known as Magnus was sent to the Auschwitz death camp where he served in the Sonderkommando, the squad of Jewish men forced to helped their Nazi masters operate the gas chambers, ovens, and fire pits of the camp. While in Auschwitz, Magnus met a gypsy girl named Magda. Magnus and Magda survived the Holocaust, and later were married. They had a daughter, Anya. Magnus first consciously used his mutant powers when his family was trapped in a burning house. Unable to rescue his daughter from the blaze due to his inexperience, coupled with interference from a mob of angry humans, he angrily unleashed his powers to vengefully slaughter the humans. Terrified, Magda left him, and months later discovered that she was pregnant. Magda presumably died after giving birth to mutant twins at Wundagore Mountain. To shake off his pursuers, Magnus had master forger George Odekirk create the identity of Sinte gypsy Erik Lehnsherr for him. Magnus eventually made his way to Israel where he worked as an orderly in a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. He befriended Charles Xavier, with whom he shared lengthy debates, hypothesizing what would happen if humanity were to be faced with a race of super-powered beings. The pair ultimately revealed their true natures to each other when they prevented Nazi war criminal Baron Wolfgang von Strucker from obtaining a large cache of Nazi gold. Causing a cave-in that seemingly killed Strucker, Magnus realized that his and Xavier’s views on mutant/human relations were incompatible and left with the gold. Fearing another Holocaust, he took an aggressive and lethal stance against humanity. Magnus has often expressed the belief that mutants, whom he calls Homo sapiens superior, will eventually be the dominant life form on the planet, and has wavered between wanting to exist in harmony with humans, wanting a separate homeland for mutants, and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity.

Calling himself Magneto, Magnus banded together a group he dubbed the Brotherhood of Mutants, later referred to as Evil by the media. Among the assembled members were his children, now the mutants Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Magneto soon found himself opposed by Xavier and his own group, the X-Men. After a battle against the X-Men and the Avengers, Magneto was presumed dead, but managed to survive by using his powers to burrow through the ocean floor into a series of caverns that led him to the secluded Antarctic prehistoric jungle of the Savage Land. There, he used his knowledge of genetic engineering to mutate local savages into super-powered beings he dubbed the Savage Land Mutates. Soon after, Magneto was again opposed by the X-Men, and was once more presumed killed in an explosion. Yet again, Magneto survived, finding himself in the Savage Land city known as the Land of the Dead where he discovered a mind-numbing gas that he intended to use against mankind. He projected his astral self to the native peoples, manipulating them into building an airship filled with the gas. His plan was once again foiled by the X-Men, and he fled into the ocean. Rescued by the Mutate Amphibius, Magneto was taken to an island, where Sauron was working on a machine to tap the geothermal energies of the region. Magneto realized that the device could help restore his ailing powers, but was once again opposed by the X-Men and believed dead.

Rescued by Namor the Sub-Mariner, Magneto was taken to Atlantis, where he quickly subjugated the Atlantean army and launched an attack on the surface world. He was opposed by the Fantastic Four, who used a feedback machine to trap him in a cone of his own power. Later freed, Magneto continued his genetic experiments and, using technology abandoned by the Inhumans Phaeder and Maelstrom, he created Alpha, whom he dubbed the Ultimate Mutant. Alpha turned on his creator, however, reducing Magneto and the Brotherhood to infancy. The baby Magneto was transferred to Muir Island, where geneticist Moira MacTaggert attempted to control Magneto's insane rages by manipulating his DNA so that his body would be better able to tolerate his powers. Magneto was later restored to adulthood by the Shi’ar alien Eric the Red, and initially his psychotic and destructive behavior seemed to return when he attacked the new team of X-Men off of Muir Island, and then kidnapped them, holding them prisoner under a volcano in Antarctica. After battling the X-Men in Antarctica, Magneto retreated to Asteroid M, where his mind began to heal, and MacTaggert's genetic changes began to restore his sanity. Magneto next tried to hold the world hostage to force world peace and disarmament, destroying a Russian city after warning the population to evacuate. He also sank a Russian submarine with all hands onboard after the vessel attacked him. The X-Men once more stopped Magneto, but during the battle Magneto almost killed the young mutant Kitty Pryde, an act that shocked him, and forced him to reevaluate his life. Following the inadvertent destruction of Asteroid M by the extraterrestrial Warlock, Magneto crashed to Earth and was rescued from the ocean by fishing boat captain Aletys "Lee" Forrester who took him to an island within the Bermuda Triangle to recuperate. There, Lee experienced Magneto’s human side and the pair had a brief romance. A remorseful Magneto then turned himself over to the World Court to be tried for his crimes, and would have certainly been found guilty if not for the intervention of Fenris, the twin children of Baron Strucker, who sought revenge against Magneto and Xavier for their intervention in their father’s plans years earlier. The courthouse was destroyed, and Magneto and Xavier were left alone as Xavier’s body deteriorated beyond repair. After Xavier’s love Lilandra arrived with the space pirates the Starjammers to heal him with Shi’ar technology, Xavier made Magneto promise to protect their dream and take over as Headmaster of his School. Magneto reluctantly agreed, and came to supervise the fledgling New Mutants team while also joining the X-Men on missions.

worstblogever

05-15-2010, 05:26 PM

http://www.marveldirectory.com/pictures/individuals/m_1d/magneto.gif

His Life With the Hellfire Club:
Seeking an alliance with the Hellfire Club against ever-increasing threats to them both after they worked together to defeat Nimrod (Uncanny X-Men #209), Magneto was offered the role of White King of the Inner Circle (Uncanny X-Men #210). He and the X-Men’s leader Storm, took some time to muse over their offer to join, and did accept (Uncanny X-Men #219) and shared the position of White King within the Club’s Inner Circle.

Magneto would even bring his charges, the New Mutants to the Hellfire Club for a formal party (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53-54), and would consult with its Inner Circle about the threat of Apocalypse (New Mutants (vol. 1) #61) before philosophical differences between Magneto and the Club’s Black King Sebastian Shaw over the events of “Inferno” resulted in Shaw deposed as leader and Magneto assuming the unique position of Grey King (New Mutants (vol. 1) #73-75).

In the Savage Land, Magneto kills Zaladane, concluding a storyline that ran through Uncanny X-Men #269, 274-275. This act causes him to revert back to the "old, villainous" Magneto. He thinks that he only tried to impersonate Xavier and that he had to fail. He leaves, seeking his purpose in liberating mutants from being oppressed by humanity as well as people like Zaladane or the Hellfire Club. Although he does not officially resign, this qualifies as quitting.

Justin K.

05-15-2010, 05:28 PM

What did you think of Bianca LaNiege? Would you have liked to have seen her Hellfire Club rivalry with Emma Frost in the pages of Emma’s own series? Do you think she will be seen again?

- I didn't mind her. I liked her when Emma Frost had less rivals and was a legit threat to her. Emma has enough individual foes anyways.

- See above answer.

- I hope so. I like her look. Give her a more serious story though, turn the dwarf concept into something more twisted the way I see it.

worstblogever

05-15-2010, 05:31 PM

http://www.magnetowasright.com/media/gallery/Out%20of%20Costume/Magneto%20House%20of%20M.jpg

His Life Since the Hellfire Club:
There, he was approached by a group called the Acolytes, who begged him to intervene in the civil war between mutants and humans on the island nation of Genosha. Magneto agreed, and when the X-Men intervened, the Acolytes captured them and they were brought to Asteroid M to be reprogrammed. The process was a failure, however, and during the ensuing battle, Magneto was severely injured. The Acolyte Fabian Cortez, who claimed to be healing Magneto, was actually using his power-amplification ability to mask Magneto’s pain, weakening him in the process. Cortez further betrayed his lord when he triggered the nuclear missiles Magneto had set up around the asteroid. It took all of Magneto's power to keep the base from blowing up, but the damage was too severe. While the X-Men escaped, Magneto and the remaining Acolytes crashed to Earth. Months later, the wreckage was discovered, but Magneto was missing. He later returned, stronger than ever, to a larger, more fanatical following of Acolytes, and co-opted the remains of Graymalkin, the space station belonging to the mutant future soldier Cable, into a new orbital base he called Avalon. When Magneto threatened the Earth once more, Xavier and the X-Men journeyed to Avalon where, after physically pulling all of the Adamantium out of Wolverine's body, his mind was wiped by Xavier and he remained on Avalon in a vegetative state. When a battle between the extra-dimensional Holocaust and the Acolytes’ new leader Exodus destroyed Avalon, then-Acolyte and former X-Man Colossus placed Magneto in an escape pod which crashed to Earth.

For a time it was believed that the man called Joseph was a rejuvenated Magneto, but this theory was disproved when, after the X-Men were returning from an intergalactic mission, Magneto forced their spaceship to crash in Antarctica near his old base and, posing as Erik the Red, placed Gambit on trial for his role in the infamous mutant Morlock Massacre. Upon sentencing Gambit, Magneto destroyed his former base and left, leaving the X-Men to ponder the revelations about Gambit. He then went back into hiding, emerging only briefly to kill the forger Odekirk. After a few more weeks of preparation, Magneto launched his next offensive in the form of an electromagnetic pulse that spread across the globe. This time, he was attacked by Astra, a former member of the original Brotherhood and the creator of Joseph, who was revealed to be a clone created after Astra found and healed Magneto following the fall of Avalon so as to use his DNA. She intended for the clone to kill Magneto, but he proved too resourceful and was only injured while the clone became amnesiac. Astra had Joseph attack Magneto while he was controlling the Earth’s magnetosphere, which severely disrupted Earth’s magnetic field and forced Magneto to fight against becoming pure electromagnetic energy. The intervention of the X-Men distracted him, however, leaving Joseph to fix the magnetosphere. Magneto was briefly subdued by the X-Men as Joseph made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy his template's machines, but before the battle could resume, the United Nations offered Magneto sovereignty over Genosha in return for some security considerations and a promise never to initiate hostilities against the nations of the world. Magneto accepted, but subsequently discovered that his powers were again failing him.

Magneto set about consolidating both his mutant and political power, but faced opposition from the renegade Mutate Zealot, his son Quicksilver, and Rogue. After Magneto defeated Zealot’s forces, Rogue left, and he had his Acolyte Voght manipulate Quicksilver into staying as a member of the cabinet, in the hope that he would at last learn to be a loyal son. Soon after, Magneto was revealed to be a member of the Twelve, a group of mutants supposedly destined to usher in a golden age for mutantkind. He and the others were captured by the eternal mutant Apocalypse, who sought to usurp the power of the Twelve for himself; however, Magneto’s weakness short-circuited the machine. In the ensuing clash, Magneto discovered that he could commandeer the magnetic powers of the mutant heroine Polaris and use them as his own. When Apocalypse was defeated, Magneto returned to Genosha with Polaris, and began teaching her to expand her control, while using her as a front for his own power. Over the next six months, Magneto managed to rebuild much of the war-torn country, but a rebellion in Carrion Cove proved a thorn in his side. The rebels had discovered technology in the city that they felt could not be allowed to fall into Magneto’s hands, namely a genetic manipulation chamber from the process once used to create the Genoshan Mutates which would allow Magneto to restore himself to full power. Though the U.N., rogue Acolytes, Cortez, the Avengers, and Polaris all opposed him, Magneto tore down the city as a distraction to allow him to access the chamber and restore his DNA, making him more powerful than ever before.

With an army of mutants at his disposal following the deadly Legacy Virus being cured, Magneto declared war on mankind. Yet again, Magneto was opposed by the X-Men, and in the ensuing clash he was severely injured by Wolverine. Recuperating, Magneto was powerless to prevent Sentinels controlled by Xavier’s genetic twin Cassandra Nova from decimating the island. Magneto was again believed dead, and after a recording purported to contain his last words was found, mutant supremacist ideals became widespread in the mutant community, with some adoring him as a martyr of the mutant cause. Magneto seemingly returned with a vengeance, infiltrating the Xavier Institute as the mutant healer Xorn, co-opting the Special Class as his new Brotherhood, and launching an attack on Manhattan. Killing Jean Grey before being killed in turn by Wolverine, it was later revealed that this Magneto was an imposter. The true Magneto was still in Genosha, where he joined Xavier in rebuilding the shattered nation. Following the dissolution of the Avengers after the Scarlet Witch suffered an apparent breakdown, Magneto rushed to her aid. When the X-Men and a new Avengers team met to discuss her fate, it seemed as though Magneto coerced her into altering reality, creating a world where mutants were the dominant species and lived openly without fear with himself as ruler. It was later revealed that Magneto's son Quicksilver was the one who actually convinced the Scarlet Witch to alter reality, in an attempt to appease their father, as well as the X-Men and Avengers who threatened to put the Scarlet Witch down. Following the events of "M-Day," Magneto has apparently lost his mutant powers. Rather than kill him, Wolverine decided to let him live the rest of his life as the thing he hates the most... a human.

worstblogever

05-15-2010, 05:38 PM

http://movieoverdose.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/magneto.jpg

Since the “House of M”, Magneto has come out on top with no powers in two separate run-ins with mutants so far. The first, being when he managed to retrieve the diary of the precognitive Morlock, Qwerty, out from under the nose of Masque and his terrorist Morlocks, and the X-Men, having it handed it to him by former Acolyte and current S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sally “Skids” Blevins. (Uncanny X-Men #491) His second encounter would be with his former Acolytes, when he helped revive a comatose Charles Xavier, only to have to fight his onetime trusted disciple Joanna Cargill, Frenzy. He wielded a surgical layer on Frenzy’s eye that went directly to her brain, knocking her out completely (X-Men: Legacy #209-210).

Magneto went unseen for a time, eventually turning up during the six months in between the X-Men to meet with, of all people, the New X-Man Hellion, who petitioned to him to join a new Brotherhood to attack the rest of the X-Men for abandoning him. Magneto, however, refused, telling Julian Keller that he should take the opportunity to live, which is the gift his teachers were trying to give him (X-Men: Divided We Stand #1).

Magneto, then apparently made an alliance with the High Evolutionary, seeking a means that he might reactivate his X-Gene and get his powers back. Part of their bargain was that Magneto would have to distract the X-Men in San Francisco, using a technology-based equivalent of his powers to attack them, as well as a few rewired Sentinels disguised as art to attack them while the High Evolutionary studied the Sleeping Celestial in Golden Gate Park. By the time the X-Men realized the attack’s true nature, and Cannonball had delivered a blow strong enough to make Magneto retreat, they had all the information they needed (Uncanny X-Men #500). Magneto then journeyed into space with the High Evolutionary to study their research, and use it to reestablish his powers. During this time, Magneto would make note of the Breakworld Weapon known as the Retaliator, and acknowledge that while Kitty was trapped in it, he could do nothing to save her at the time (revealed in Uncanny X-Men #522). Instead, he completed his research with the High Evolutionary, regaining his powers (Uncanny X-Men #508).

Magneto would maintain his exile, until shortly after the X-Men had raised Asteroid M, and declared it their own sovereign nation and island home, Utopia. Upon his arrival, he was particularly humble in his dealings with Cyclops, going as far as to remove his helmet, and bend at the knee in his presence. He seemed determined to earn the X-Men’s trust, and to live on Utopia, and oddly, one of the most vocal opponents of his acceptance was Charles Xavier, who just had been assisted by his old friend months earlier in one of his worst crisises. Before a decision could be made, Scalphunter arrived with a plane full of Predator Xs, sent by proxies of John Sublime to attack Utopia. Magneto used his restored powers to skin one of the creatures alive, pulling the metal right off of its body, however, the effort apparently was great enough to cause him to pass out (Uncanny X-Men #515-517). The decision over whether or not to accept Magneto became more or less decided by necessity, when the X-Club discovered that they had not completely assured the buoyancy of Utopia upon raising it, and enlisted Magneto’s help in their research of how to remedy the situation before they took on too much water and their new home sank back into the Paciific (Uncanny X-Men #518). Magneto’s solution, though, when the X-Club were given the more important task of researching who sent the Predator Xs to the island, was to meet with Namor, without Cyclops knowledge, and suggest that he contact his Atlantean people, and petition them to build a massive pillar under Utopia, that they could use for their own new home to live in (Uncanny X-Men #519).

After being granted the right to stay on Utopia, it wouldn’t be long before Magneto would continue to make himself a useful member of mutant society, helping Anole, Rockslide, and Loa rescue Mercury when she managed to be captured by an old security protocol in the bowels of Asteroid M (Nation X #1). He also was willing to jump to the front lines during Selene’s attack on Utopia with her techno-organic thralls, battling all of Warpath’s tribe single-handedly (X-Force (vol. 3) #22). As the attack waned, slightly, he joined an away team led by Nightcrawler to go to Muir Island, based off a prophetic warning given by Destiny to Blindfold. Once there, the X-Men would learn that when she was resurrected, Destiny had inadvertently brought another person who died on Muir back to the realm of the living with her, Proteus. Thus, a battle for survival began between the reality-warping madman and the X-Men there. In the end, Magneto defeated Proteus by using his powers to alter the very energy that made up his form, forcing him to discorpreate (X-Men: Legacy #231-233).

Eventually, Cyclops found out about Magneto's agreement with Namor to build a new Atlantis beneath the X-Men's home. He, of course, was less than enthused about not being consulted when he found out (Uncanny X-Men #520). Magneto, still trying to gain the trust of the X-Men’s leader, and the rest of them by extension, went to Mt. Tamalpais, where he went into a deep meditative trance, attempting to make good on a rescue he put off earlier to that end. At great physical risk, and extreme strain, Magneto managed to find the Retaliator, in space, with Kitty Pryde inside, and began pulling it back to Earth with his powers to free the lost X-Man. While the rest of the X-Men began to realize what he was doing, Magneto finally freed Kitty, although she was stuck in a phased state and unable to speak as a result of her long exposure to the alien properties of the metal in the Retaliator. The stress of this amazing feat put Magneto temporarily in a coma (Uncanny X-Men #521-522).

Finally, Magneto awoke, only to learn that the mutant messiah, Hope, had arrived on Utopia. He immediately tried to talk with her in the medical bay, despite warnings from Cable to leave her be (Uncanny X-Men #524).
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/40/75994-20209-magneto_super.jpg

What did you think of Magneto’s time as the White King of the Hellfire Club? Would you like to see Magneto return to the club, and oppose Sebastian Shaw after rightfully retaking his position?

Justin K.

05-15-2010, 05:54 PM

What did you think of Magneto’s time as the White King of the Hellfire Club? Would you like to see Magneto return to the club, and oppose Sebastian Shaw after rightfully retaking his position?

- Like Emma Frost, I see him joining being a one time thing. It was good for it's time, but I feel like the Club's at a "WTF" stage right now.

- No, otherwise the rest might turn good and join the X-Men on Utopia, like many other minions of his, the Brotherhood being an example. The club is neutered enough already as it is.

Aimee

05-15-2010, 06:06 PM

Speaking of the Hellfire Club, I just made an (Emma) Frost Family Tree: http://www.emmafrostfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/emma_frost_family_tree.jpg

Does anyone have info for Steven, Adrienne's supposed husband?

Hindsight lad

05-15-2010, 06:17 PM

What did you think of Harry Leland? Was he the perviest of the Hellfire Club, hands down? How involved was he in helping Emma Frost rise to power, and what did he gain from it? Since their powers are so similar, do you think he was Shinobi Shaw’s real father? Do you think he survived Necrosha?

The GenX -1 seemed to suggest that Emma made a habit of using her powers to climb the corporate and society ladder, so I don't know if Leland really had a choice in helping her rise in power.

I know Shinobi thought Leland was his father; he suggested as much in the story where he "kills" Sebastian. Since we don't know who Shinbi's mother is, it seems hard to judge if she stepped out on Sebastian or not. Although it also begs the question if Sebastian Shaw has other rogue offspring out in the world.

I wonder if the supernatural nature of his first resurrection will affect the more technological nature of his second in Necrosha. Perhaps he might more free will or durability as a result of Black Talon's voodoo.

Hindsight lad

worstblogever

05-16-2010, 12:31 AM

Fabian Marechal-Jublin, Bevatron
– Hellion, Student of the White Queen

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/6535/376722-188807-bevatron_large.jpg
First Appearance: New Warriors (1st series) #9
Hellions Appearances: New Warriors (1st series) #9-10, Uncanny X-Men #281
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 3) #8
Powers: Increases the personal storage of bioelectricity within his cells and then channels it into radiant discharges of high-voltage energy from his fists.

His Life Prior to the Hellions:
Unknown.

His time as a Hellion:
Bevatron’s time as a Hellion was met with a great amount of difficulty. He was a part of the conflict between the Hellions and the original New Warriors over Firestar, in which the team lost their duel to make her a member. His aim with his bioelectric blasts was terrible, and he was easily sent off the edge of a roof by Angelica, who thankfully saved him from falling to his death (New Warriors (vol. 1) #9-10).

Which isn’t to say that Bevatron got to do much with his new lease on life. When the White Queen attempted to form an alliance with the X-Men, at the first time there was doubt the X-Men would agree, he opted to blast Storm with his electricity powers, managing to stun her before Colossus started grappling with him to prevent any further attacks. However, the threat that night lay not with the X-Men, but with Trevor Fitzroy, who was about to attack the whole club with Sentinels under his command. He was killed, off-panel, during that attack (Uncanny X-Men #281).

His time after the Hellions:
Bevatron’s corpse was eventually tracked down by Caliban, and resurrected by Eli Bard, as one of Selene’s techno-organic virus-infected thralls. He, along with the rest of the Hellions, were sent to the X-Men’s home of Utopia as part of Selene’s revenge against Emma Frost and the X-Men (X-Necrosha #1). Bevatron and the rest of the Hellions eventually were asked to hold off on attacking Emma Frost, instead being ordered by Selene to go capture Doug Ramsey, another revived mutant under Selene‘s control who started to find ways to assert his own will over the techno-organic virus that was controlling him. However, the New Mutants managed to rescue their old friend from Bevatron and the Hellions, who were eventually blown off of a tower on Utopia by an explosive charge of some kind deployed by Warlock (New Mutants (vol. 3) #7-8).

http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/bevatron.jpg

What do you think of Bevatron? Do you think he ever actually will achieve any kind of victory in a battle? Do you think he should become an arch-nemesis of Surge, since they have similar powers?

worstblogever

05-16-2010, 01:36 PM

Mercedes
– Member of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #215.
Hellfire Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #215, 217, Wolverine: Origins #29.
Last Appearance: Wolverine: Origins #29.
Powers: Mercedes had some ability to fire a concussive energy blast, but the nature of these powers is unknown.

His/Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her time working for the Hellfire Club:
Mercedes’ role in the Hellfire Club, as well as the origin of her powers is unclear. All that is known, was that she was part of a trio of members, along with Turner Scholl and Castlemere, who were planning a coup against Sebastian Shaw. Instead, while Shaw kidnapped Daken with Miss Sinister, she and her two associates were left at the New York club to battle against Wolverine, who broke in to find his son. While Scholl was quickly dispatched, Castlemere began putting up a fight against Wolverine. When it looked like the odds began to look poor for Castlemere as well, as he grappled Logan, Mercedes opted to go ahead and blast both with her powers to help cover her escape, killing Castlemere and wounding Wolverine temporarily in the process. It is unknown if Mercedes was still at the club a short time later when Selene returned with her own Inner Circle to murder many of the club’s guards and regular attendees.

What did you think of Mercedes? Do you think she escaped the murder spree of Selene’s Inner Circle? Did you like when she betrayed Castlemere?

worstblogever

05-16-2010, 05:10 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Mindmeld0.jpg

Mindmeld
– Hired Mercenary of Shinobi Shaw and Hellfire Club II

First Appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #67.
Hellfire Appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #67. Unknown if Shinobi had plans for Mindmeld within the Inner Circle, however.
Last Appearance: X-Force (vol. 1) #67.
Powers: Mindmeld is a mutant with the ability to displace brain wave patterns of himself or others, to affectively get them to switch bodies.

His/Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His/Her time working for the Hellfire Club:
Along with Clear-Cut, a swordsman, Mindmeld was employed by Shinobi Shaw as a personal bodyguard and protector. Mindmeld had the ability to displace the brain wave patterns of him/herself and others, allowing him to swap bodies with others, or switch two other individuals’ bodies with each other.. He/She has also bragged about switching minds of his enemies with those of animals, such as rats. When X-Force interfered on Shinobi's plans, Mindmeld used his powers to switch the bodies of the X-Force, giving his group the advantage. After Clear-Cut's betrayal, Mindmeld immediately attacked him, placing his mind into his former ally's. He then proceeded to knock himself out, and when he awoke, he found himself in the laboratory of Dr. Graves. Shinobi was willing to test his machine on Clear-Cut, despite still having Mindmeld currently in his body. He eventually returned to his own body, but found an inhibitor collar around his neck, placed by Meltdown, who then proceeded to knock him unconscious. It is unknown if he returned to the service of Shinobi Shaw after he was betrayed, or if he retained his powers after Decimation.

What did you think of Mindmeld? Was his/her power just a generic excuse to have a body-swap? Was it great to see a totally androgynous villain?

Justin K.

05-16-2010, 05:49 PM

Fabian Marechal-Jublin, Bevatron
– Hellion, Student of the White Queen

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/6535/376722-188807-bevatron_large.jpg[/SIZE]

Where is this image from?

worstblogever

05-16-2010, 06:22 PM

Where is this image from?

You know, I'm not sure. It really doesn't look like the same artist who worked on the cover of New Warriors (vol. 1) #10. That was Mark Bagley. But that art... looks very different.
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080815181628/marveldatabase/images/0/06/NewWarriorsV110.jpg

worstblogever

05-16-2010, 11:16 PM

http://www.herospy.com/wp-content/hero%20spy%202006/Comics/Bianchi/st_storm%20final.jpg

Ororo Munroe, Storm
– White King of the Hellfire Club I (title shared with Magneto)
First appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1
First Hellfire appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #51
All Hellfire appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #51
Powers: Did not possesses powers at the time of her alliance with the Club. Normally, she is psychically linked to the weather patterns of Earth, allowing her to sense shifts in her environment and command meteorological energy patterns to:
- raise or lower temperature levels
- direct air currents as hurricane-force winds or to maneuver herself through the sky
- excite electron particles to call down lightning bolts or fire electrical blasts from her fingertips
- summon clouds as fog cover or
- to bring forth precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hail
- and alter her body temperature to compensate for weather conditions.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/StormconceptCockrum.jpg

Her life prior to joining the Hellfire Club:
Ororo Monroe is the descendant of an ancient line of African priestesses, all of whom have white hair, blue eyes, and the potential to wield magic. Her mother, N'dare, was an African princess who married American photojournalist David Monroe and moved with him to Manhattan, where Ororo was born. When Ororo was six months old, she and her parents moved to Cairo, Egypt. Five years later, during the Arab-Israeli conflict, a plane crashed into their home. Ororo's parents were killed, but she survived, buried under rubble near her mother's body. The resultant trauma left Ororo with severe claustrophobia that still affects her today. Ororo managed to escape the rubble of her shattered home with nothing but the tattered clothes on her back and her mother's ancestral ruby. Homeless and orphaned, Ororo was found by a gang of street urchins who took her to their master, Achmed el-Gibar. Achmed trained Ororo in the arts of thievery and she soon became his prize pupil, excelling in picking both pockets and locks. During her time in Cairo, Ororo picked the pocket of an American tourist. The man proved no easy mark, however, as he was Charles Xavier, a powerful mutant telepath who used his abilities to stop the theft. At that moment, Xavier was psionically attacked by another mutant and Ororo used the opportunity to escape. Years later, feeling a strong urge to wander south, Ororo left Cairo. During her travels, Ororo naïvely accepted a ride from a complete stranger and was almost raped by him. Forced to defend herself, Ororo killed the man. From that moment, she swore never to take another human life. Ororo wandered for thousands of miles, almost dying during her trek across the Sahara Desert. Her mutant ability to psionically control the weather emerged soon after, and she was able to use them to rescue T'Challa, a prince of the African nation of Wakanda, from his would-be kidnappers. The pair spent much time together, however T'Challa's duties as a prince prevented them from further exploring their burgeoning mutual attraction. Finally, Ororo reached her ancestors' homeland on the Serengeti Plain in Kenya. She was taken in by an elderly tribal woman named Ainet who taught her to be responsible with her powers. Ororo soon came to be the object of worship of the local tribes who believed her to be a goddess due to her gift. Years later, Ororo was forced to battle the threat of a fellow mutant weather manipulator known as Deluge, who sought revenge against humanity. With the help of several members of the team of mutant heroes known as the X-Men. Deluge was seemingly destroyed and Ororo returned to her life amongst the tribal people. The X-Men subsequently told their founder, Professor Xavier, about Storm but he declined to contact her at this point, not wanting to shock the young woman with the true nature of her powers.

Months later, however, Xavier was left with no choice but to recruit Storm and other mutants from around the world into the X-Men in order to rescue his original students from the threat of the sentient island being known as Krakoa. Xavier explained to Ororo that she was not a "goddess", but a mutant, and as such she had a responsibility to use her abilities to help the world just as she had helped the local tribes. Curious, Ororo accepted Xavier's offer, and was given the codename "Storm". Storm was initially very naïve when it came to the customs of the modern world, but her teammate Jean Grey helped educate her in the ways of society and the pair formed a lasting friendship. Jean was also one of the first X-Men to learn of Storm's claustrophobia after the two women chased a thief into the subway. After serving with the team for many years, Storm was appointed leader of the team following the departure of former leader Cyclops after the apparent death of Jean. Storm was initially unsure about her new role, but with the support of her teammates she soon became a capable leader. When Cyclops eventually returned to the team, Storm found herself doubting her leadership abilities once more after a mission she led went wrong. However, she soon asserted her position, reminding Cyclops that she was now team leader.

Soon after, the X-Men encountered the underground community of mutants known as the Morlocks who had kidnapped one of their former members, Angel. To save her friend, Storm challenged the Morlock leader Callisto to a duel and bested her in hand-to-hand combat. As a result, Storm became leader of the Morlocks and she ordered them to cease their hostilities against the surface-dwelling humans.

When the X-Men later travelled to Japan to attend the wedding of their team member Wolverine, Storm first met the ninja named Yukio. A friend of Wolverine's, Yukio was the most care free spirit that Ororo had ever met and the two became fast friends. Yukio influenced a major rebellious change in Storm's attitude towards life, and she took to wearing leather and shaved her hair into a Mohawk. Storm later had her powers accidentally neutralized by a gun invented by the mutant machinesmith named Forge, who took it upon himself to nurse Storm back to health. During her convalescence, Storm and Forge fell in love but their relationship was cut short after Storm learned Forge had created the device that stripped her of her powers. Storm returned to the X-Men to find herself being challenged to a duel for leadership of the team by Cyclops. Despite her still being powerless, she won and Cyclops quit the team.

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worstblogever

05-16-2010, 11:18 PM

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070817194601/marveldatabase/images/archive/9/97/20090903104632!Ororo_Munroe_%28Earth-7964%29.jpg

Her Time In the Hellfire Club:
Soon after, after a battle in Central Park against Nimrod, the X-Men and the Hellfire Club formed an alliance to combat the growing threats against mutants that saw Storm share the position of White King with a reformed Magneto. The alliance was to be short-lived, however, after Storm decided that in order to safeguard their friends and families from their many enemies, the X-Men must fake their deaths and become an underground proactive strikeforce. Thus, the alliance never truly was utilized by the X-Men.

After her time in the Hellfire Club:
Soon Storm realized that she needed her powers restored and so she sought out Forge for his help. She found Forge's old mentor Nazé instead, who informed her that Forge had been corrupted by his nemesis, the Adversary, and was seeking to destroy the world. Unbeknownst to Storm, the Adversary had actually corrupted Nazé. When Storm finally located Forge, she found him atop a mountain seemingly opening a dimensional portal filled with demons. Storm struck Forge down, and only then realized he had been attempting to close the portal, not open it. The Adversary then trapped Storm and Forge in the other dimension and seized control of Dallas, warping time and space in order to foment chaos on Earth. Storm and Forge spent a year on an alternate Earth, during which time they made peace and admitted their love for one another. Forge used components from his cybernetic leg to fashion a new device that restored Storm's powers which she then used to energize a portal back to their own world. They rejoined the X-Men in time to defeat the Adversary, imprisoning him at the cost of their own lives. However, the Omniversal Guardian named Roma restored the X-Men to life, freeing the Adversary under the notion that there could be no order without chaos.

The X-Men were reformed a short time later into two separate strike teams, with Cyclops and Storm as co-leaders. Forge aided both teams as their resident technician, however this left little time for them to rekindle their relationship. Forge still asked Storm to marry him, but she hesitated on giving a reply. Forge was left thinking she did not truly love him and he left before she could respond with a "yes".

Months later, the eternal mutant Apocalypse made a bid for power by gathering together the Twelve, a group of mutants prophesied to usher in a golden age for their kind that counted Storm amongst their number. Apocalypse was defeated, but not before the ultimate extent of Storm's mutant power was revealed in an alternate future wherein she had evolved into a wholly elemental being.

Not long after, Storm and five of her teammates formed a splinter group of X-Men, cutting all ties with the rest of the team to search for the diaries of the blind mutant seer Destiny that mapped the future of mutants. During her subsequent recuperation, which required her to undertake physical therapy to heal injuries to her back and legs in battle with the inter-dimensional warlord Khan, Storm and her team were asked back to the mansion to rejoin the core X-Men team. Storm declined, however, believing that there was still work for her team to do. During a world summit to address the increasing hostilities between humans and mutants, Storm offered her X-Men team's services to the United Nations as a global mutant police force, the X-Treme Sanctions Executive.

Storm's first mission would be a solo one as she was charged with infiltrating and exposing an underground slave trading network that forced mutants to fight in gladiator-style arenas. Soon after, Storm and her team returned to Westchester to help rebuild the mansion following an attack by Magneto and stayed on to continue their new direction. With the XSE, Ororo and her teammates opposed such threats as the Weaponeers and the extradimensional Fury, as well as aiding the Hellfire Club against an attack by rogue member Donald Pierce.

Ororo also accompanied Havok’s X-Men team to Africa to investigate animal mutations. Alongside the Black Panther, Ororo and the X-Men opposed Genoshan scientist Doctor Paine and the Russian criminal the Red Ghost, after which Ororo opted to leave the X-Men and remain in Africa. Following the restoration of reality after it was warped by the Scarlet Witch, the majority of the world’s mutants lost their powers and Ororo sought to safeguard those mutants remaining in Africa. During her efforts, Ororo was proposed to by the Black Panther. Returning to Wakanda with him, Ororo met his mother and, while contemplating T’Challa’s proposal, learned that her uncle Shetani was responsible for the attacks on African mutants. After confronting him, Ororo met her maternal grandmother and learned more of her family’s history. Subsequently, she accepted T’Challa’s proposal and the pair were married in Wakanda. After their honeymoon, the royal couple embarked on a world tour, meeting with global leaders such as Doctor Doom and Namor the Sub-Mariner before deciding to form a global alliance to oppose the U.S. Superhuman Registration Act. Arriving in the U.S., T’Challa and Ororo sought a meeting with the President; however, Ororo was required to register as a superhuman before the meeting could proceed. Refusing, Ororo was subsequently targeted for arrest, and alongside her husband opposed Sentinels and Iron Man sent to apprehend her. After Iron Man stood down, Ororo and T’Challa opted to remain in the U.S. on a fact-finding mission prior to taking action against the Registration Act.

After the Civil War, Ororo and T’Challa were granted membership in the Fantastic Four while Reed and Sue Richards took a vacation to salvage their marriage, and had many adventures together before Storm returned to the X-Men during “Messiah CompleX” to battle with her old friends against the allied Marauders and Acolytes. Since, she has endured threats to the X-Men such as the Sisterhood’s attack. And in Wakanda, was attacked during the “Secret Invasion” by the Skrulls as well as when she was recently kidnapped by Dr. Doom during a theft of her new home’s vibranium. She is apparently on Utopia during “Second Coming” having been seen on the island during Nightcrawler’s funeral, to pay her respects.
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What did you think of Storm as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you find it ironic that a woman who once held the title of White King now is a Black Queen in Wakanda? Were you hoping Storm would have been involved more with the Hellfire Club?

Category1Games

05-17-2010, 07:36 AM

Where is this image from?

It is from the Marvel VS TCG game - X-Men set: Bevatron (http://category1games.com/main/itemdetail.php?item=3829)

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j23/CategoryOneGames/2647.jpg

worstblogever

05-17-2010, 10:33 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/11352/966940-915214_uncanny_x_men_514_009_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/915214_uncanny_x_men_514_009/105-966940/)

Namor McKenzie, King of Atlantis, aka the Sub-Mariner
– Recruit of the Hellfire Club
First Appearance: Marvel Comics (vol. 1) #1
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 3) #13
Powers: Namor possesses a high level of superhuman strength, enabling him to lift/press up to 100 tons while in contact with water; his strength gradually decreases according to the length of time he is out of water and can eventually dwindle to no more than slightly above human level.
In addition to his great strength, Namor possesses superhuman stamina and durability, a result of his body’s adaptation to underwater pressures. He also possesses superhuman agility, reflexes, and speed, with a maximum swimming speed of roughly sixty miles per hour. Namor is able to fly via the finlike wings on his ankles, and he possesses a telepathic rapport with many, but not all, forms of marine life. Like all Atlanteans, he has a prolonged lifespan and his body is specially developed for underwater conditions, granting him specialized blood circulation to withstand freezing temperatures and highly developed vision to see clearly even in murky ocean depths. This hybrid physiology means he can survive indefinitely underwater or on land (though he would still need occasional contact with water to survive). Namor possesses an empathic bond with his cousin Namorita.
In the past, Namor has demonstrated additional powers similar to the attributes of various forms of sea life, including the electricity-generating capabilities of an electric eel and the radar sense of cavefish; however, he has demonstrated such abilities only sporadically, suggesting that they depend upon some factor of his Atlantean mutant nature that is not yet understood.
When not exposed to water, Namor’s physical attributes gradually decline and can diminish over time to near-human levels, robbing him of his strength and rendering him vulnerable to conventional injuries; renewed exposure to water will immediately restore his abilities. Complete lack of contact with water will prove fatal in about a week’s time. Namor has demonstrated a vulnerability to oxygen imbalance when remaining too long in either water or air, resulting in manic-depressive mood swings; he can prevent this imbalance by dividing his time between the two atmospheres. He has occasionally used scientific or magical means to regulate his oxygen levels.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/35895/900384-namor_the_submariner_1_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/namor_the_submariner_1/105-900384/)

His life before the Hellfire Club:
Namor's father, American seaman Leonard McKenzie, embarked on an expedition to Antarctica in 1920. McKenzie's ship was searching for the Lemurian city rumored to house the mythical Helmet of Power at the behest of one of his passengers, Paul Destine. However, McKenzie distrusted the uses to which Destiny would put the Helmet and caused an avalanche to bury the city. Making his way to safety, McKenzie set explosive charges to break up ice floes in the ship's path, unaware that Atlantis lay beneath the waters.

The city sustained heavy damage, and Atlantean Emperor Thakorr commanded his daughter Fen to investigate the cause of the explosions. Startling McKenzie's crew, the blue-skinned princess wound up staying aboard the ship for several weeks. In a strange twist of fate, Fen and McKenzie quickly fell in love and were married. Thakorr, fearing his daughter had been kidnapped or killed, sent an Atlantean war party to search for her. Thinking her a captive, the Atlanteans slaughtered McKenzie's crew and apparently McKenzie himself. Afterwards, Fen returned with the War party to Atlantis. Nine months later, Namor was born the first known Homo sapien - Homo mermanus hybrid.

The young prince grew up with a short, nasty temper and a hostile attitude toward surface-dwellers, whom he blamed for the near-destruction of Atlantis. When Thakorr discovered men in diving suits near Atlantis, he assumed they were advance scouts for an invasion force causing the fiery Sub-Mariner to launch frequent pre-emptive attacks against humanity, causing untold destruction throughout New York City and leading him into confrontation with the original Human Torch. When Nazi troops attacked Atlantis, however, Namor joined the Allied cause alongside Captain America and his fellow Invaders.

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Atlantis largely avoided the damage sustained by the surface world during World War II, but did fall prey to a series of severe earthquakes at war's end that destroyed much of the fabled city and Namor again was dispatched to New York, where he fell afoul of Paul Destiny, who had finally obtained the Helmet of Power and was causing the quakes. His power destroyed much of Atlantis, killing Thakorr and Fen. Under compulsion of the Helmet, Namor returned to New York with amnesia and became a wandering derelict.
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/11352/296851-97172-namor_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/97172-namor/105-296851/)

Eventually, Johnny Storm, the second Human Torch, discovered Namor in the bowery. Burning away the extra hair and substantial beard Namor had grown, Storm dropped the Atlantean in the harbor. The immersion restored most of Namor's memory. Assuming humans had destroyed Atlantis, Namor rashly invaded New York to avenge the destruction of his homeland. Even after the survivors of the Atlantean civilization welcomed him as their rightful king, he stubbornly spent the next several years warring with the surface world, most often opposed by the Fantastic Four. In the midst of his campaign against humanity, Namor developed an attraction to Susan Storm, the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman. In his regal arrogance, he has courted her for years, seemingly undeterred by Sue's relationship with Mister Fantastic. Though he later realized he couldn't have her, and focused his attentions instead upon his Dorma. Against the surface dwellers, Namor has teamed up with both Doctor Doom and Magneto, though both turned against him once they felt they had the upper hand. With the help of the Fantastic Four, Namor soon defeated both one-time partners.

worstblogever

05-17-2010, 10:36 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/110537-101284-namor_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/101284-namor/105-110537/)

His brief time as a Hellfire Club Recruit:
Sebastian Shaw, after the death of Ned Buckman, sought out a suitable replacement to be the new White King of the Hellfire Club, and dissatisfied with many of the current members of the club, sought out Namor for the position. After Namor haughtily turned him down for the position, Shaw dispatched Emma Frost to coerce the Sub-Mariner into joining, and Emma got his attention by feigning a suicide attempt by drowning to attempt to gain his trust. After Namor rescued her, the two became lovers for a time in Atlantis, an act Sebastian Shaw considered betrayal. Shaw contacted Donald Pierce to dispatch some of the Sentinels which he’d acquired control of to kill the Atlantean monarch. The duo survived, and confronted Shaw about the attack, only to see Tessa successfully mindwipe Emma Frost on Shaw’s behalf, and Namor to leave in disgust, swearing revenge that would apparently not come for years (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/25493/736965-namor4_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/namor4/105-736965/)

After the Hellfire Club:
Eventually, Namor realized he had to put aside his hatred for humanity for the good of his people and banned official acts of war against Homo sapiens. Namor even grudgingly began using his superhuman abilities to defense of the surface world. First and foremost, he was the monarch of Atlantis. As such, he was beholden only to his subjects. The Sub-Mariner was a founding member of the loosely knit group of heroes known as the Defenders, brought together with Doctor Strange and the Hulk when an ultimate computer called the Omegatron threatened Earth. However, a curse forced the original three Defenders and the Silver Surfer to part ways. The condemnation was lifted, but Namor did not return to the Defenders at that time. Even though they had saved the earth many times, Namor viewed his duties with this loose-knit band of Defenders a distraction at best.

In the wake of the Kree/Skrull War, Namor eventually helped found the lluminati, a group of influential super heroes who met secretly to share information and act against threats to Earth, if not the whole cosmos. The meetings were kept secret because demands made by Namor (Illuminati #1-4).

He eventually joined the Avengers, at one point battling Magneto as a member (New Mutants (vol. 1) #40). The team eventually disbanded, due to circumstances beyond their control. He also found himself romantically involved with the super-heroine from Alpha Flight known as Marrina (Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #2-4). Shortly after proposing to her, she encountered the alien race known as the Plodex, of which she was secretly a part of and was only unknowling mimicking Atlantean form (Marvel Team-Up (vol. 1) #7). Horrified by her true nature, she fled from Namor shortly after he proposed to her (Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #14-16). Eventually, she was found and kidnapped by the Atlantean warlord Attuma, who had usurped Namor’s throne, and held her hostage as leverage. After gaining the assistance of the Avengers, he managed to free his fiancée, but she still fled from him as she continued to change into a beastly Plodex (Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #33-36, Avengers (vol. 1) #272). Namor quit the Avengers to locate Marrina, but her old Alpha Flight teammates found her first. Somehow, she had apparently been impregnated by her Plodex mate while a captive of the Master, and had nodules growing on her body that were actually the eggs of her unborn children. Namor still stood by his fiancée, refusing to simply just kill her to eliminate the potential threat that her children could pose. Instead, he still wanted to marry her and raise them, hoping they could be as tame as Marrina was. Even as her Plodex mate arrived to defend her, Marrina’s heart took precedence over her biology, and Namor, Marrina, and Alpha Flight destroyed her potential suitor. The nodules on her body receded, making it appear as though she was only responding to her biological mate, and she reverted to her more humanoid form. She chose to marry Namor, in the wake of that incident (Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #40).

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Namor would soon return to the Avengers to live with them at Avengers Mansion, along with Marrina, after Atlantis would be attacked by the Greek God Neptune himself, over injuries which he blamed on Namor that were inflicted upon Hercules (Avengers (vol. 1) #282, 285). The marriage, and Namor’s happiness were not to last, though, as she soon mutated again into a large Leviathan creature, attacked several ships off the coast of New York, and would give birth to Atlantean/Plodex hybrids. Namor himself would use the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade to put his bride out of her mercy (Avengers (vol .1) #291-293).

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The Illuminati were eventually disbanded after some serious disagreements including Tony Stark launching the Hulk into space, but mainly due to the fact that Iron Man wanted the Illuminati to support the super hero registration act but most of the others, including Namor, disagreed. It would not be the last time they would meet, however (New Avengers: Illuminati #5).

During the conflict over SHRA, known as the Civil War, Namor’s role as Atlantean monarch was challenged by many issues, both personal and political. The first being that Namorita, his distant relative, and one of the Atlantean royal family was one of the New Warriors murdered by Nitro. After sending some of his Atlantean sleeper agents to capture Nitro, in the end Namor would discover their pursuit of Namorita’s murderer would also be shared by Wolverine. At first, Logan did not want to concede that Atlantis should take custody of the villain, and the Sub-Mariner brawled with him, but eventually, Logan conceded, and for his trouble, Namor gave Logan the name of Walter Declun, the Damage Control CEO who gave Nitro MGH to amp up his powers and cause all the civilian casualties that he did (Wolverine (vol. 3) #44-48).

After a brief moment of tension between Tony Stark and Namor, when he was threatening to crush the west coast under a tidal wave, Namor opted not to crush the land-walking people to prove a point to Iron Man, instead humiliating him by negotiating with Henry Hellrung, a member of the Initiative booted out by Stark himself (The Order #6-7). When a large explosion which wiped out an entire city in Kansas. Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately went to the location to find out what happened. Not long after they find a corpse nearby of a normal human man, however gills had been carved into his neck and traces of Atlantean DNA had been found. All blame pointed to the Atlanteans, whose sleeper agents had already been discovered during the Civil War. At the same time in Atlantis, some of the Atlanteans began to question Namor’s allegiance because of his continuous affairs with the world above the sea. Iron Man decided to contact Namor about the attack, but Namor had no knowledge about it and told Iron Man to stay out of it and that he would find the perpetrators himself. Of course Iron Man did not agree, after much deliberation Iron Man decided to send a military force to Atlantis until the situation was resolved. But Namor needed to go the surface to find out what happened for himself, after giving command to his trusty general Argos in his absence. He managed to break through the S.H.I.E.L.D. lines after a short struggle with Iron Man and visited the blast site himself and there he found an Atlantean artifact. He decided he needed help and went to the X-mansion to get it. Here he briefly tussled with Wolverine again, since Logan believed Namor was a terrorist but he was quickly interrupted by Professor X. He helped Namor by locating the splinter cells located on American soil, 12 of which he knew about, but there was one unknown to him. Namor asked Professor X to pin point their location, but Xavier refused to aid him further for some unknown reason at the time. As he left the mansion two Sentinels awaited Namor, again, which he quickly disposed of without taking any damage. In the meantime some of the Atlantean dissuaders began to plot their coup attempt while Namor was away. But Namor's trusty general, Argos, held guard for Namor's return. Venom had received orders as one of the Initiative Thunderbolts to engage Namor, to stop him. As Namor flew by he was shot in the back by a weapon and got into a fight with him. It ended in Namor winning, but not without a cost, Venom had ripped of two ankle wings, so now he had difficulty flying.

worstblogever

05-17-2010, 10:39 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/11352/296907-187117-namor_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/187117-namor/105-296907/)

Namor, sought out Sue Richards for help. When she came to him for aid during the Civil War, Namor answered. Now it was time for her to return the favor, yet she refused which led Namor to believe he had no more allies on the surface world. However, she did give him the Fantasticar to help him in his travel. In the meantime the rogue splinter cell had set up a sort of bomb in a building in Seattle which caused the building to longer have air inside, suffocating the humans inside.* Namor raced towards it in an attempt to stop it, and for the first time he met the rogue splinter cell. This bought the coup leaders in Atlantis the time they needed to attempt to seize power, But Argos, Namor’s general, had found out about it and met them in battle. Namor had already engaged in battle with the splinter cell and found out one of them was his son, Kamar, from a former marriage who was out for revenge. Namor tried to explain to him that he banished him for his own safety, but he wouldn’t listen. After Namor had defeated the splinter cell he took them down to Atlantis and was just in time to stop the coupe there and show who was responsible, his son Kamar. He had also found out that one of the Atlanteans from the splinter cell had siphoned Nitro’s power, the man who killed Namorita in the Civil War. Namor’s city had been compromised and he had enough of the involvement with the humans, he decided to evacuate the city through old tunnels running through the ground, the civilians would live amongst the humans, not in one city anymore. And his army would go with him to a remote location. He made the preparations for the destruction of Atlantis, Namor would use Nitro (whom was still in his jail) to blow up the entire city like a time bomb and chain his son to the throne to die with the Nitro and the city as punishment for his betrayal. The city was evacuated and afterwards blown up and completely destroyed only leaving some wreckage behind, the dead skeleton of Kamar on the throne. At first Iron Man believed this to be Namor but after further research it appeared to be his son. None other body was found in the destroyed city and they could only guess where they had gone to as they found the large tunnels. Atlantis was no more. But Namor and his army found refuge in Latveria, with Dr. Doom for a time (Sub-Mariner (vol. 5) #1-6).

After Tony Stark was publicly shamed, and pursued by federal authorities due to his failure to prevent the Skrull Secret Invasion, Namor was asked by Norman Osborn, now empowered by the government to join his own secret Cabal, to assert power over the globe. Namor at first agreed, although he immediately knew Osborn’s plans were doomed to fail, and quickly made it a point to discreetly ally himself with fellow Cabal members Dr. Doom (who he already owed a debt to for giving refuge to the Atlanteans) and Emma Frost (the latter of whom he met years ago at the Hellfire Club), to be prepared for the inevitable point where they would make their stand against him (Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1). Immediately upon seeing Emma Frost for the first time in years, Namor recounted their past together, restoring Emma’s memories of the incident with Shaw and her romantic liason with the King of Atlantis. She regained Namor’s loyalty by tricking him into thinking she’d murdered Shaw to get him his vengeance, delivering Namor Shaw’s head on a plate. Instead, it was just a psionic illusion, and Emma took Shaw, whom he hid, back to the X-Men’s home in San Francisco, where he was placed into custody into what would become the X-Brig (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2).
The time came, though, as Norman Osborn sought to imprison all mutants that had taken up residence in San Francisco at Alcatraz, where their powers would be drained by H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives and the Omega Machine. While Osborn had asked Namor to be a member of his own team of X-Men under the auspices of H.A.M.M.E.R., at the last moment Emma and Namor betrayed their own team, with Namor assaulting Daken, and defected back to the X-Men, taking Cloak and Dagger with them. Osborn, enraged, attempted to attack the X-Men on their new island home, Utopia with his own remaining mutant team, and the Dark Avengers, only to see Namor hold his own against the Sentry while Emma Frost telepathically used her own intimate knowledge of his psyche to take him out of the fight (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, Dark Avengers #7-8, Uncanny X-Men #513-514, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus).

In the wake of that battle, Namor joined the X-Men, officially, and Osborn attempted to gain his revenge against the Atlantean king by turning loose a clone of Marrina with some shark DNA spliced in against him. She was hunting down and savagely attacking any Atlanteans she found as she made her way through the world’s oceans, eventually tracking a small army of Atlantean refugees to Utopia. The X-Men had Pixie teleport the Atlanteans to safety, and Marrina’s clone focused on her nearest prey, Namor. For the second time, Namor was forced to kill his wife-turned-Leviathan, and to prove a point to Osborn that the slight was not going to go unpunished, Namor took her severed head to Avengers Tower, and threw it through Osborn’s office, pinning him behind his desk with it (Dark Reign: The List- X-Men #1). He also managed to take out another large sea creature to get the X-Men some fish to eat, after Storm challenged his noble sense of nature (Nation X #4). Making himself comfortable at Utopia, Namor’s people began to flock to him, and his most loyal lieutenants were on hand to assist him in defeating a Predator X when they attacked the island (Uncanny X-Men #517). He began moving what remained of the citizens of Atlantis to the isle, having them build a the giant pillar that was being built to support the island of Utopia, to serve as a home that he could provide for them, based off a suggestion given by Magneto (Uncanny X-Men #519-520).

Now, as Bastion’s forces begin to close all exits to Utopia, Namor was asked to stay behind with Rogue (X-Men: Second Coming #1), but when Donald Pierce himself brought the fight to the island, sabotaging all of the jets in Utopia’s Hangar Bay, Namor was one of the first people on scene, ripping off one of his cybernetic limbs, before Cyclops put him down permanently with an optic blast (New Mutants (vol. 3) #13).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/11352/967867-the_list_x_men_p24_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/the_list_x_men_p24/105-967867/)

What do you think of the concept of Namor as a member of the Hellfire Club? Would you like to have seen him involved more with the organization?

worstblogever

05-18-2010, 03:14 AM

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/12413/300px-Norman_Osborn_(Earth-58163).jpg
Norman Osborn (Green Goblin I)
– Member of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: Amazing Spiderman (vol. 1) #14
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) #73, Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2
Last Appearance: Secret Invasion #1.
Powers and Equipment: Norman Osborn draws increased physical power from his "Goblin Formula". It augments his strength, endurance, intelligence, and recuperative abilities. His costume is equipped with electrostatic blasters in his gauntlets, a "bag of tricks" carrying razor bats, pumpkin bombs and ghost heads filled with explosives or noxious gases. His goblin glider enables him to fly.

worstblogever

05-18-2010, 03:15 AM

http://comicrelated.com/graphics/life_doa_temp_clip_image013.jpg

His life before the Hellfire Club:
Norman Osborn was the son of industrialist Ambrose Osborn, born in Hartford, Connecticut. Although he is a brilliant student in the fields of science, his alcoholic father loses control of his company, and turns on his family. Traumatized, the young Osborn kills the family dog, considering it another mouth to feed. In college, wherein he studies chemistry and electricaly engineering, Norman Osborn meets his sweetheart Emily, gets married, and eventually has a son, Harry. In his adulthood, he co-founds a major firm with Dr. Mendell Stromm, Osborn Industries, of which he is owner and president. Osborn finds that Stromm is embezzling from the company and then searches his possessions, discovering an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula. While he is researching his work, Emily becomes ill and dies. This tragedy pushes Osborn to work harder, and he barely has time for Harry. Unbeknownst to Norman, Harry has tampered with the formula beforehand, so when Osborn attempts to create the serum, it turns green and explodes in his face. The accident greatly increases his intelligence and strength, but also drives him insane.
Osborn adopts the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based on a monster he feared in his childhood, with the goal of becoming the boss of the city's organized crime. He intends to cement his position in the city by defeating Spider-Man in order to enhance his reputation. To this end, he creates a personal flying device, which starts in a broomstick-like shape and evolves into his Goblin Glider. He also develops explosive weapons resembling pumpkins, sharp shuriken-like Razor-Bats, and gloves which fire energy blasts from the finger tips. Thus equipped, the Green Goblin then sets out to achieve his twin goals. Osborn hires the Enforcers to kill Spider-Man at a bogus new Mexico movie set. The Enforcers fail, but the Goblin defeats Spider-Man in battle. The Green Goblin later fights Spider-Man and the Human Torch to a standstill. The Green Goblin continues to try to carry out his goals, only to be thwarted at every turn by Spider-Man. Frustrated, the Goblin decides to lie low until he is sure his enemy's guard is down. When he is ready, he arranges to have Spider-Man exposed to a special gas designed to suppress his spider sense. With that done, Goblin shadows him until he learns he was really Peter Parker, a classmate of his son Harry. After capturing him, Osborn in turn reveals his own identity to Peter and rants about his origin and his intentions of killing his greatest enemy, before releasing Peter to do battle. Peter defeats Osborn, who loses his memory and has his costume destroyed by Spider-Man to eliminate this menace.
For a long while, the Goblin personality periodically re-emerges in Osborn to bedevil Spider-Man, only to be forced down in turn when he is defeated. Finally, the Goblin takes control one final time and threatens the love of Spider-Man's life, Gwen Stacy, by kidnapping her and taking her to the top of the George Washington Bridge. During the resulting battle, the Goblin commits one of his most brutal crimes: pushing Gwen from the bridge. Spider-Man's attempt to save her with his webbing catches her ankle, but her neck snaps from the fall. With blood in his eyes, Spider-Man pursues the Green Goblin for revenge but manages to control himself after defeating him in battle. In a final attempt to kill him, the Goblin tries to spear Spider-Man with his remote control glider, only to be himself impaled by the jet-glider's sharp points when Spider-Man avoids the attack. Norman Osborn was presumed dead.
Harry Osborn is later shown to be named owner and president of Osborn Industries. Unknown to Peter, Harry has secretly witnessed their fight. After Spider-Man leaves the scene, Harry removes his father's costume before the authorities arrive. He later bribes the coroner into faking Norman's autopsy so no one will find traces of the Goblin formula in Norman's blood. However Norman's "death" is not what it seems. The Goblin formula has given Norman a healing factor which re-grows his internal organs and reanimates him. Norman wakes up in the morgue and covers his trail by replacing his body with that of a drifter (who he murdered) of the same build and facial features. After arriving in time to watch Harry vow vengeance on Spider-Man, Norman allows the Goblin legacy to pass to his son and escapes unnoticed into Europe. While in Europe Norman takes over an international criminal organization named the Cabal of the Scrier. He sends one of his agents to Peter's professor, Miles Warren, and offers to help him with his cloning project which eventually results in the clones of Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. For seven years, Norman keeps tabs on Peter and watches him from the shadows.
After Harry dies from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum, Norman returns to the States and begins engineering a series of events known as the Clone Saga. He does this in an attempt to drive Peter into despair by convincing him that he is the clone, while the real clone, Ben Reilly, is believed to be the original. After this plot fails, Osborn reveals himself to Peter and subsequently kills Reilly. He also apparently killed Peter's newborn daughter, although the full extent of if or how is unclear to this day. Norman later loses control of the Scriers and creates a smaller organization left over from the cabal called the Order of the Goblin, where he is given the title of "Goblin Lord". Upon his return, Osborn comes up with a carefully contrived story to explain his absence and regains control of his business. For a while, a genetic construct that had once been a human being acts as the fifth Green Goblin following Norman's orders, so that he (Norman) will not be suspected as the Green Goblin (despite having admitted in public that he is Norman Osborn, and while wearing the costume).

He also bought the Daily Bugle so that he can control and edit out any bad publicity, such as the frequent editorials by Ben Urich. Later, when Norman is driven mad by the Order of the Goblin's mystic ceremony going wrong, the genetic construct seeks out Osborn's original formula to stabilize itself and discovers who it truly is. But it is too late, and in front of Spider-Man's eyes, it melted into a puddle of goo and died.

After the fifth Goblin died, the Green Goblin develops a new plan for Spider-Man - he wanted Parker to become his new heir. His first move in this game is drugging Parker into flying around in the Goblin's costume and attacking his friends. Norman then takes Peter to the old Osborn estate to try to convince him to take up Norman's mantle on his own free will. After days of physical and psychological torture, Peter cracked under the stress, but still refuses Norman at the last minute.

Norman's next plan involved using a drunk Flash Thompson, college friend to both his late son Harry and Peter Parker, to drive a truck into Midtown High School, where Peter worked. The accident caused Flash to suffer major brain damage and enraged Peter enough to decide to finish his feud with Norman once and for all. At the end of the fight, which takes place in one of Norman's chemical plants, Spider-Man came close to killing the Goblin, but relented at the last second. Peter told Norman that if he gave in to his hatred for the Goblin, the last piece of Gwen would die, and that he does not need to kill Norman anyway, as simply being himself is punishment enough. Parker leaves, telling Norman that he is tired of fighting him, and declares a truce.

The Green Goblin's true identity is revealed to the public by a dedicated investigation by the Daily Bugle after he murders one of their reporters. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage that spans the length of Manhattan, he is arrested and sent to prison for the first time in the character's 40-year history.

worstblogever

05-18-2010, 03:18 AM

http://betweenthestaples.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/osborn-for-prez.jpg

As expected, however, Osborn did not stay in prison for long. Even behind bars, Osborn masterminded a plot to get Spider-Man himself to help him escape, which the web-slinger ultimately did, as payment for releasing Aunt May from Mac Gargan, The Scorpion, a kidnapper in Osborn's pay; a promise that Osborn later broke. Spider-Man battled with the Sinister Twelve, a group of his greatest enemies led by Osborn as the Green Goblin, who revealed that he had a hand in financing many of these villains' origins. The Goblin slipped away in the heat of the battle and abducts Peter’s wife, Mary Jane Watson, taking her to the George Washington Bridge, where he killed Gwen Stacy, but Spider-Man managed to rescue her.

After escaping to Paris, Osborn was apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and taken into their custody. While in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Osborn watched in shock as Spider-Man publicly revealed his identity as Peter Parker (also confirming Osborn's identity as the Goblin and his role in Gwen's death in the process), railing that Peter "broke the rules!" He is then approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are seeking his aid. The Goblin confronted and attacked Ben Urich in an alley, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nano-machines cause him to stop, involuntarily making him collapse and foam at the mouth.

Later he made a deal with Tony Stark who gave him a serum to override the control nano-machines implanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. Osborn attacked a group of Atlanteans in his Goblin gear, killing and wounding many. Later, when one Atlantean ambassador attempted to give a speech, Norman appeared and shot at him, wounding but not killing him. As he was being taken away by security, Norman said he was 'sick' and is not in control of his actions. While being interrogated by two officers, Norman became increasingly agitated when they questioned who gave Norman access to the press conference and assisted in smuggling a weapon there. At first, Norman became angry, threatening to kill the two officers' families, then he became more and more afraid until Stark arrived at which point Norman begged the officers not to let him go, even promising to reveal all he knows to them.

Norman Osborn was appointed new director of the Thunderbolts and was prescribed medication to stabilize his personality. He remained unbalanced, however, mainly due to the fact that the Thunderbolt, Moonstone, has influenced attendants to switch his medication with placebos on alternate days so as to get him fired and take his place.

As a result of the events of the “One More Day” storyline, the timeline was altered to an undetermined degree so as such Norman's son, Harry, was again alive (having never died) and no-one knew Spider-Man's secret identity.

Captain Marvel, revealed to be a Skrull sleeper agent, attacked Thunderbolts Mountain during Secret Invasion #1, specifically right at Osborn’s office. Osborn, somehow sympathized with his dual identity, and talked this Skrull agent into attacking his own race, and truly being Earth’s defender. He went on to lead the Thunderbolts against the Skrull Invasion fleet, getting a lot of air time as he defended Washinton, D.C., from Skrull attacks, and after winning the battle there, conclusively, he took the Thunderbolts north to participate in the final battle of that conflict in Central Park. He himself, with a laser rifle, fired the blast that hit, and killed the Skrull Queen, Jazinda, and he was declared a national hero (Secret Invasion #1-8, Thunderbolts (vol. 1) #122-125).

Osborn, riding the wave of propaganda following his service against the Skrulls, managed to be given sweeping powers by the government, including being appointed the head of H.A.M.M.E.R., which would be his own corrupt version of S.H.I.E.L.D. He would declare Tony Stark a fugitive, laying the blame for the Skrull Invasion solely at his feet. He took the opportunity to organize The Cabal, a circle of some of the world’s most influential people, to organize a network of complete global empirialism, with Namor and Dr. Doom getting him foreign relations leverage, Loki providing intel into Asgardian affairs (and trying to get the mystic realm taken out of Oklahoma), the Hood helping him organize the criminal element of the globe, and Emma Frost giving him, in theory, control over the world’s mutants (Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1). Over the course of several months, Osborn had his own assembled team of Avengers, the Hood’s criminal contacts, his own Thunderbolts team, and in some instances abroad, Dr. Doom or Loki consolidate power, and anyone who opposed him often had to face the wrath of the empire he quickly built. He had all of the resources a director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would, and his own suit of Stark tech armor, which he wore and would bill himself to the public as the “Iron Patriot”.

Mutants, for the most part, were unaffected at first. However, when rioting broke out in San Francisco over Proposition X, Osborn felt he needed gain more political capitol, and force Cabal member Emma Frost’s hand to quell the violent uprising before it got any worse. His plan was to build a team of mutants to handle what he deemed “mutant problems”, drafting Mystique, Mimic, Dark Beast, Weapon Omega, Cloak, Dagger, Daken, and Namor to serve under Frost. His Dark Avengers quelled the original riot, and his Dark X-Men were to enforce the curfew he put in place after the fact. However, as Frost began to see the inhuman treatment H.A.M.M.E.R.’s security forces, and Osborn’s Avengers were providing for any detainees that were being picked up, she led an insurrection where she would lead a jailbreak of all the mutant detainees out of Alcatraz, and allow her teammates Namor, Cloak, and Dagger to defect to the X-Men, who had left San Francisco to live upon Utopia, an island they created off the coast by raising Asteroid M from the depths. Enraged, Osborn sent his remaining Dark X-Men and the Dark Avengers to the island, but was beaten by the X-Men on national television. He ordered a tactical retreat, and tried to spin the story to his own media contacts that the mutants from San Francisco were forced to retreat, and therefore, he had won the day (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, Dark Avengers #7-8, Uncanny X-Men #513-514, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1).

That would be but one chink in the Iron Patriot’s armor, but far from the last. Osborn would ignore all advisement from his assistant, Victoria Hand, to follow old S.H.I.E.L.D. guidelines to undergo mandatory therapy sessions, and as the stress of his job wore on him, he began to recede back into his Green Goblin persona. Worse, the Norse trickster god, Loki, began to facilitate his regression, all the while trying to get Osborn to attack his home realm of Asgard, so that the Asgardians would be forced to move it from the mortal realm in Oklahoma and return it to another plane of existence. Loki’s plan was to have some villains under Osborn’s control attack the clumsy Asgardian, Volstagg, in Chicago, and in the ensuing battle, accrue civilian casualties to turn the public against Asgard, so that a reason would be given for Osborn to attack it. As the U-Foes carried out this plan, and ended up taking the battle with Volstagg right inside of Soldier Field, killing tens of thousands of innocents, Osborn made his report to the White House and Congress on the incident. When they wanted to investigate the attack further, or plan a strike, if there would be one at all, Osborn went outside the chain of command, and gave the order for all his forces, from H.A.M.M.E.R., to the Dark Avengers, to the Hood’s criminal contacts to strike against Asgard in the town of Broxton, Oklahoma.

This plan completely backfired, when Thor himself returned to Asgard, and appearing to fight by his side was Steve Rogers, back from the grave, along with Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors, and every Avengers team working against Osborn. As the battle reached it’s midway point, the President of the United States, outraged that Osborn had ordered a military action without his sanctioning it, sided with the heroes involved, ending his political reign. In the battle itself, he would have his helmet knocked off, only to reveal he was wearing face paint to appear as the Green Goblin, a fact that was caught on national television, and revealed he was still schizophrenic, and suffering the delusions of his alternate persona. If those two failures weren’t enough, the Sentry, a extremely powerful hero with his own split personality issues, completely snapped, and turned against everyone present after murdering Ares, the Greek God of War, and eventually Loki, while he knocked Asgard itself from the sky. Osborn would eventually be knocked out by Volstagg, who arrived on scene as a fugitive, and placed under arrest by James Barnes, the current Captain America. He was taken to a maximum security facility where he was given an entire floor to himself, and he has begun having even stronger hallucinations of his Green Goblin persona, as if it was his own cell mate (Siege #1-4, Dark Avengers #16).

worstblogever

05-18-2010, 03:20 AM

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/279/8/d/Norman_Osborn_by_Kuroi_Tsuki.jpg

And somewhere in continuity… His life as a member of the Hellfire Club:
Osborn was shown as a member of the Hellfire Club during a flashback in Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2, when he had to be warned by Sebastian Shaw to calm himself, after he nearly began to assault fellow club member Tony Stark, after Stark had drunkenly spilled some liquor on him. He was not seen at any Hellfire Club event until….

In X-Men (vol. 2) #73, when years later at a party in Rio, jokingly asking if this would be the year that the Hellfire Club would finally take over the world.

What do you think of the concept of Norman Osborn as a member of the Hellfire Club? Would you like to see him involved more with the organization?

worstblogever

05-18-2010, 11:41 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/194764-23305-paladin_large.jpg

Paladin
– Mercenary hired by the Hellfire Club III

First Appearance: Daredevil (vol. 1) #150.
Appearances while Employed by the Hellfire Club: Cable (vol. 2) #49.
Last Appearance: Thunderbolts #143.
Powers: Paladin's physical strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and durability are all slightly superhuman. He is also a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, marksman, actor, espionage agent, bodyguard and detective. While he has been written using lethal force, his preferred weapon is his stun gun, which disrupts the nervous system sufficiently to render most people unconscious.

His life prior to the Helfire Club:
He was trained to be one of the world’s best mercenary soldiers, and proves it with the jobs he takes. Paladin once took down Daredevil with a sniper rifle from a helicopter at a great distance. He did so for the FBI, in exchange for getting his record expunged. The hit, while serious, was not fatal, though did lead to Daredevil's arrest. He briefly dated the Wasp at a time when she was separated from Hank Pym, much to the Black Knight’s jealousy, who was also attracted to her.

Paladin has a certain amount of honor. For example, he was once hired by a corrupt government to assist rebels as part of a sting operation. He aided the rebels in a bombing-laying operation at a government facility. When the rebels were caught, his government handler remarked how lucky they were that the bomb had not gone off. Paladin replied, "I'm sorry, that would have been extra," and activated the bomb by remote control while driving away.
He has also been a longtime ally to Silver Sable and her Wild Pack organization, working for pay, of course. He once helps them protect a scientist from a kidnap attempt by the Heroes for Hire, a group he would later join. His main opponent was Misty Knight, who seemed to be an equal match. In the 1990 one-shot The Punisher: No Escape, he was offered 10 million dollars by mobster Vincent Mangano to kill The Punisher. Paladin agreed to this arrangement, but did not succeed, and in the ensuing fight both of his legs were broken by the U.S. Agent.

His Time Working for the Hellfire Club:
Paladin took one job for the Hellfire Club, and it was to prevent Cable from acquiring knowledge about the Hellfire Club’s “Tomorrow Agenda” from one of their members, named Taft, who was staying at a home owned by Donald Pierce in Boston. Cable easily defeated Paladin in combat, and still got what information he needed from Taft. It is unknown if the Hellfire Club still paid Paladin for his failure, or if they ever hired him for mercenary work again.

His Days After the Hellfire Club:
For a time, he also enlisted Generation X into helping him retrieve a sword for Adrienne Frost, the sister of current X-Men member Emma Frost. During this period, the mutant known as Jubilee was strongly attracted to Paladin, but that affection disappeared when Generation X and Paladin later went their separate ways.

Paladin joined, then betrayed the Heroes for Hire, as he only used the Heroes as a means to hunt down Captain America for S.H.I.E.L.D. as part of the Marvel Civil War. He single handedly defeated Captain America and the entire Heroes for Hire team, with the exceptions of Tarantula and Orka, who weren't present when the fight took place, with a special gas weapon that affected the nervous system. He them radioed S.H.I.E.L.D. and told them he had Captain America in custody. However, he did not account for Shang Chi's ability to hold his breath over an extended period (thanks to his martial arts training) and was overpowered by him. Shang-Chi then aided Captain America. Captain America switched costumes with Paladin so S.H.I.E.L.D. took Paladin into custody in his place.

During Norman Osborn’s reign as head of H.A.M.M.E.R., Paladin was drafted onto Osborn’s new team of Thunderbolts, along with Black Widow (actually Romanov, not Belova, as she claimed), Ghost, Headsman, Ant Man, Scourge (actually Nuke), and Mister X. He would regret much of his team’s activities during this time, following orders and accepting his paycheck all the while. However, during the Siege of Asgard, he finally opted to betray whatever loyalties he may have had to Osborn, and rather than following his mission to capture the Spear of Odin, he prevented his own teammates from recovering it, and left the battlefield with the Spear in his own possession (Thunderbolts #143).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/Pladin.jpg/250px-Pladin.jpg

What do you think of Paladin? Would you like to see him hired to do more work for the Hellfire Club?

worstblogever

05-19-2010, 01:07 AM

Ronald Parvenue
– Member of the Hellfire Club

First appearance: X-Men (vol. 2) #29
All Hellfire Club appearances : X-Men (vol. 2) #29
Powers : none, human

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
All that is really known is that Ronald Parvenue was an old friend of Warren Worthington Jr., the father of Warren Worthington III, also known as Archangel of the X-Men. When Archangel came to the New York Hellfire Club, Ronald appeared to know about the Club's Inner Circle, and also that Warren was going to get invited into the circle that night by Shinobi Shaw. He has not been seen since.

What did you think of Ronald Parvenue? Would you have liked to see him interact more with Warren Worthington III?

worstblogever

05-19-2010, 07:58 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/131948-107461-reeva-payge_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/107461-reeva-payge/105-131948/)

Reeva Payge
– White Queen of the Hellfire Club II
First appearance: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3.
All Hellfire II appearances: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3.
Last appearance: X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #3.
Powers: Emit hypersonic frequencies from her vocal chords, destabilizing the fluid in the inner ear in order to cause vertigo, hallucinations, and brain damage in others.

Her Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her Time With the Hellfire Club:
Reeva Payge was believed to have been the White Queen of Shinobi Shaw’s second Hellfire Club, that he founded after supposedly killing his father, Sebastian. This second Hellfire Club apparently had the support of Candra, the External, but in what manner is still unclear. Payge and her Inner Circle attempt to kidnap Storm, and recruit her into the new Hellfire Club’s ranks, the rest of the X-Men arrived and defeated them, including Reeva. She has not been seen since.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/26700/684793-reeva002_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/reeva002/105-684793/)

What did you think of Reeva Payge? Did she deserve more of a chance to develop as a character, with her one appearance? Would she eventually have been as amazing a White Queen as Emma Frost is considered to be by some?

worstblogever

05-19-2010, 04:05 PM

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/GordonPhillips.jpg

Sir Gordon Phillips
– Lord Imperial
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #388
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Treme X-Men #3, Uncanny X-Men #388
Last Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #388
Powers: unknown

His life prior to the Hellfire Club: Unknown.

His Life after the Hellfire Club:
The Lord Imperial apparently overviews all branches of Hellfire Club, however, apparently Phillips had no knowledge about the real activities of Sebastian Shaw and his Inner Circle. A flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3 shows that Gordon Phillips already held the title of Lord Imperial way back before the original Hellfire Club appearances from Uncanny X-Men #129-134. He still was holding that position in Uncanny X-Men #388, meaning, Gordon Phillips was possibly affiliated with every single Hellfire Club incarnation so far.

When Mystique unleashed a new variant of the Legacy Virus that only targeted baseline humans, it was revealed that Gordon Phillips was actually a mutant. He had no idea of it himself, and his abilities, if he had any, are unknown. Gordon Phillips would soon be killed by Sabretooth, who snapped his neck before he could explore his mutant nature. His wife is also dead, as she was killed off panel by the Brotherhood.

What did you think of Sir Gordon Phillips? Do you think it’s sad that he only learned he might have powers right before dying? Do you think he should still be around, trying to avenge the life of his wife? And how did he get to a position ruling over the Hellfire Club when he seemed to never have had a clue what was going on right under his nose in it?

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 01:57 AM

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix5/piercedonald1.jpg

Donald Pierce
- White King of the Hellfire Club I,
White Bishop of the Hellfire Club III

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129[silhouette], #132[full]
All Hellfire Appearances: X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, Marvel Super Heroes (vol. 2) #11, Uncanny X-Men #129, 132-134
Note: Pierce’s position is named in Uncanny X-Men #245, 247, 251 and 252, Generation X #55, and Cable (vol. 1) #50.
- Before Pierce became White King, he might have served as White Bishop in the previous Hellfire Club under Ned Buckman. As the only non–mutant member of Shaw’s Inner Circle, Pierce was likely rewarded with the upgrade to King for introducing Shaw into the Club or him not interfering when Shaw and Frost killed the former Inner Circle.
- Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2, however, has Sebastian Shaw trying to recruit a new White King, and while researching Namor, he consults Pierce to fill
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 3) #13.
Powers: Donald Pierce is a human being augmented by advanced cybernetic components. Originally, Donald had only four cybernetic limbs, but after being assaulted by Sentinels, it is unknown how much of Pierce is still human. He has superhuman strength, reflexes, and agility. Due to his metallic body, Pierce retains a great degree of resistance against physical and biological harm; if he losses a limb in combat, Pierce can regnerate it.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known. Donald Pierce was born into a wealthy family, their fortune made decades ago by Anton Pierce, who capitalized on the trade of cotton, rum, and slaves during the nineteenth century. Donald’s wealth and family name brought him into the Hellfire Club.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Hoping to make a name for himself within the Hellfire Club, Donald tried to seize Albania. It is believed that Donald was confronted by resistance from, most notably, Iron Man and Cable. During a battle with Cable, Pierce had lost several of limbs, necessitating his dependence on prosthetic limbs and beginning his loathing for mutants. Donald would eventually prove his worth as a Hellfire Club member and was soon invited to Sebastian Shaw’s Inner Circle.

As the White Bishop, Pierce participated in the capture of both the X-Men and the manipulation of Jean Grey, who was in fact the Phoenix Force. Pierce and the rest of the Hellfire Club were soon confronted by the Phoenix’s teammates, the X-Men. After the X-Men were captured by the Hellfire Club, early flashes of Donald Pierce’s hatred of mutants were shown when he made it a point to choke an already bound Nightcrawler. The X-Men soon escaped and a battle ensued. Donald barely survived, almost losing a cybernetic limb to the X-Men’s Colossus. He escaped the battle with Shaw through secret passages under their Manhattan townhouse. (Uncanny X-Men #129-134).

With Shaw’s failure, Donald soon challenged him for leadership of the Inner Circle. Pierce kidnapped the mutant Tessa, now Sage. He also captured Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men. Trying to harness the powers of Sage and Xavier, Pierce was confronted by the New Mutants, a new group of young mutants under the tutelage of Xavier, and was defeated before he could accomplish his task. Pierce, because of his treachery, was expelled from the Hellfire Club. (Marvel Graphic Novel #4).

His Life Away From the Hellfire Club:
For this, Donald was sent to a Hellfire installation in the highlands of Kentucky. There, he would live his life in exile. However, Donald was set free by a group of cybernetic mercenaries, the Reavers. Once ordinary men in the service of the Hellfire Club, the Reavers lost their limbs in battle with Wolverine. Donald gave them a new lease on life and offered them his skills in cybernetics.

With his newfound freedom, Donald began plotting revenge on both the X-Men and Wolverine. Going to the outback of Australia, Pierce watched his enemies until Wolverine had been left alone to guard the base. Donald and his Reavers took him by surprise and captured him (Uncanny X-Men #251). Donald then crucified and tortured Wolverine while his Reavers reclaimed their old headquarters. Wolverine soon escaped with the help of Jubilee. After evaluating the possible escape and evasion scenarios, Pierce sent his Reavers to Muir Island, the place he thought Wolverine would go. Donald was confronted, however, by a group of mutants lead by Banshee and Freedom Force. His team was quickly defeated, and Donald barely escaped. (Uncanny X-Men #255)

After the X-Men had abandoned their Outback base, Pierce brought his team there to consolidate their forces and other than briefly capturing Rogue (Uncanny X-Men #261), he accomplished little in this time. Soon, Donald was attacked by a group of Sentinels sent by the Upstart, Trevor Fitzroy. While most of his Reavers died, Donald escaped with help from Gateway, who teleported him to the Hellfire Club in New York. The Sentinels pursued him and destroyed his body. The only remaining piece of him was his head. (Uncanny X-Men #282)

Return to the Hellfire Club:
Sometime later, Donald appeared mysteriously rebuilt. He soon allied himself with Shaw again, who was reforming another incarnation of the Inner Circle. Donald was once again reinstated to his position in the Hellfire Club by Sebastian Shaw on a probationary level, and assigned to head up a secret mission dubbed the “Tomorrow Agenda.” Utilizing the knowledge of a time-displaced being named Ch’Vayre, they were going to harness the power of the immortal mutant, Apocalypse. Their first attempt to harness his power was in London. With the help of Ch’Varyre, the Hellfire Club awakened an agent of Apocalypse called Harbinger, only to be interrupted by Cable. Pierce and the Hellfire agents were attacked by the Harbinger, and, knowing the battle to be fruitless, Pierce escaped, leaving Cable to the mercies of the creature.

Pierce and Shaw moved on to the Swiss Alps. There they uncovered an ancient stronghold that once belonged to Apocalypse. After escaping a siege by the stronghold’s defenses, Piece was again confronted by Cable. Pierce and Cable fought as the stronghold began to self-destruct. As Shaw escaped, Pierce tried to follow. Shaw made it clear that Pierce’s failure in the Tomorrow Agenda had lost him his reinstatement into the Inner Circle, and he left Pierce to die as the mountain exploded (Cable (vol. 2) #50).

Last desperate attempt for power:
Recently, Donald showed up again to challenge Shaw, who was then reconstructing the Lord Cardinals in an attempt to usurp him completely. While Pierce gravely injured Sebastian Shaw enough that he had to resign as Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club. After battling the combined efforts of both the X-Men and Sebastian Shaw, Donald was defeated, being decapitated in the process when Shaw punched his head clean off his shoulders. (Uncanny X-Men #454)

His loss of near all humanity:
Pierce was jailed by his own nephew, after several attempts at attacking the Academy X students with the Reavers (New Mutants (vol. 2) #5-6, 13). Somehow, he ended up not in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but turned up in Prague, where he was kidnapped by the Purifiers and taken to a secret location and infused with the Techno-Organic virus, against his will, by Bastion (X-Force (vol.3) #3). Apparently, this was a part of Bastion’s plan to place a mole within the X-Men’s custody to spy on them for him. For Pierce began impersonating Cyclops, and gain the trust of a group of New X-Men, while the X-Men had all gone their separate ways for months following the battle against the Acolytes and Marauders. Wolf Cub, Rockslide, Dust, and a new mysterious ally of Pierce’s named Ink were tasked with capturing the original New Mutants for Pierce, who planned on executing them after the fact. Instead, two mutants unknown to Pierce, Graymalkin and Cipher, helped the truth come to light, and Pierce was captured, but not before he murdered Wolf Cub (Young X-Men #1-5).

He was kept locked in the new X-Men’s base in San Francisco after this conflict, where other than a few visits from Dust, he was left alone. What the X-Men didn’t know, was that he was spying on them from within their brig, both at the Marin Base, and after they moved to Utopia, and that Bastion knew everything Pierce knew. This included all of the mutants residing on Utopia, and that the mutant messiah had arrived back in the present with Cable. While Pierce was supposedly being rehabilitated in a virtual realty simulator created by the X-Brig’s warden, Danger, he in fact was plotting with Bastion to make his move. Finally, he escaped from his bonds to sabotage Cerebra, and moved through the ducts on Utopia to the Hangar Bay, where he detonated all of the Blackbirds on site, effectively cutting off the last means of escape the X-Men might attempt. As Namor, Magma, X-23, and Cyclops entered the hangar, Pierce knew his time was up. Magma melted his cybernetic feet to the floor, Namor ripped one of his arms off, X-23 slashed him badly, and in the middle of his last words, a hate filled speech about wiping out all mutants, Cyclops interrupted him to blast him to the smallest of pieces (X-Men: Second Coming #1, Uncanny X-Men #524, New Mutants (vol. 3) #13).

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What do you think of Donald Pierce? Do you prefer him in the Hellfire Club, as a Reaver, or as a Techno-Organic underling of Bastion? What do you think it would take to actually kill him?

Justin K.

05-20-2010, 02:06 AM

What do you think of Donald Pierce? Do you prefer him in the Hellfire Club, as a Reaver, or as a Techno-Organic underling of Bastion? What do you think it would take to actually kill him?

- I enjoy his villainy a great amount.

- Reaver.

- Giant magnet? Not that I'd endorse it...

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 08:35 AM

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James Proudstar, Warpath
– Hellion, student of the White Queen

First appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16
All Hellions Appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16-17, Firestar (vol. 1) #2, Uncanny X-Men #193, Firestar (vol. 1) #3, New Mutants (vol. 1) #39, 43, 53-54, 56-57, 62, 99
Last appearance: X-Force (vol. 3) #25.
Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes, heightened sensory perceptions, and is invulnerable to most forms of physical injury.

His Life Prior to the Hellions:
Born in Camp Verde, Arizona, James Proudstar is the second and youngest son of Neal and Maria Proudstar. Growing up on the Apache reservation, James spent his childhood at the Proudstar Ranch with his parents, grandfather and elder brother, John. Both brothers would eventually develop mutant powers due to their mother's exposure to nuclear fallout after a nearby government test. James idolized his older brother, especially after he left for a two-year tour of duty with the US Marines. Around the time John returned from service, Maria Proudstar was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a terminal form of cancer, by Doctor Edwin Martynec. When John's reporter friend, Michael Whitecloud, alerted him that something was amiss with the medical testing, John agreed to help investigate Martynec and the Arroyo Medical Laboratory running the labwork. Looking for adventure, James stowed away in his brother's pickup truck and the three of them infiltrated Arroyo to look for evidence. It turned out that Martynec had been doctoring lab results in order to secure test subjects for his own illegal research in genetic enhancement. The doctor turned out to be a wolfman creature himself, but, thanks to his blossoming mutant powers, John was able to hold his own with Martynec long enough to get the others to safety. Doctor Martynec blew up the Arroyo lab's to cover his escape, and John and James were able to confirm that their mother was actually in perfect health. (X-Force: Minus One)

Some years later, John Proudstar was recruited by Charles Xavier to help saving the original X-Men from the island monster, Krakoa, and he ended up staying on with the team as Thunderbird. Tragically, though, Thunderbird was killed on his second mission, while trying to prevent the escape of crimelord Count Nefaria. The X-Men brought his body back to Camp Verde for burial, but it was stolen by James, who took it out into the desert for a proper Apache warrior's funeral pyre. In his grief, James blamed Charles Xavier for his brother's death and vowed to get even with the X-Men’s leader one day. (Classic X-Men #3)

His life with the Hellions:

This self-delusion was nurtured by Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, who had detected James' own developing mutant powers. In order to train to become like his brother and to seek revenge on his and the Hellfire Club's common enemy, Xavier, James agreed to join Frost's mutant students, the Hellions, as Thunderbird II. He seemed to be relatively well focused in his vendetta, though, for in the Hellions' first encounter with Xavier's younger students, the New Mutants, Thunderbird displayed no real hostility towards them. James actually proved to be the voice of reason among many of the more hot-headed Hellions, and distinguished himself as the appointed leader of the group. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #16-17)

His hatred for the X-Men had not diminished, however, and sometime later he dressed up in his brother's costume and kidnapped the retired X-Man, Banshee, to lead the team into a trap. Alerting the X-Men that Banshee was being held inside Cheyenne Mountain, Proudstar was forcing them to break federal law to enter the NORAD military base (where John was killed) and find Banshee. In his revenge against the X-Men, Thunderbird also received some unwelcome help from his fellow Hellfire trainees Empath, Roulette and Firestar. The X-Men would have infiltrated Cheyenne Mountain successfully if not for the Hellions alerting NORAD to the heroes' presence and stirring up trouble. Confronting Wolverine in single combat, Thunderbird had the chance to leave the weakened Logan and an unconscious Shadowcat to die from nerve gas NORAD was pumping into the room, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he even risked his own life to drag them both free of the gas and administer an antidote. He even became furious at Empath and Roulette's intended "help," when innocent people got in harm's way during the fiasco. Conflicted over his own goals, James rushed to the Blackbird outside NORAD to kill Charles Xavier and avenge his brother, but ultimately found that he could not. He made peace with Xavier, who then offered him to stay at his mansion, but James decided otherwise. He realized that he needed to step out of his brother’s shadow and find his own path. For better or worse, returning to the Massachusetts Academy and continuing his training under the White Queen, was a necessary step towards that goal. (Uncanny X-Men #193)

Despite his choice of allies, James continued to demonstrate that he was a good and honorable man. When certain events led to the New Mutants being temporarily enrolled in the Massachusetts Academy, Thunderbird welcomed them with open arms and no trace of hostility over past encounters. Later, after Empath used his powers to psychologically torture two of their friends, the New Mutants kidnapped him to punish him for his actions. James insisted on taking care of his own people and rounded up the other, somewhat reluctant Hellions to rescue their least pleasant member. The New Mutants agreed to turn Empath back over to Thunderbird when confronted, and Proudstar personally decked Empath for his actions, promising to keep him in line. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #39, 43)

As time passed, the New Mutants and Hellions became closer after Magneto joined the Inner Circle and forged a truce between Xavier's people and the Hellfire Club. Thunderbird developed a bond with his fellow leader, the Cheyenne New Mutant, Mirage aka Dani Moonstar, and there were hints that their mutual admiration might've evolved into something more, in time. However, they were only granted a few private moments, as the duties to their teams kept them on opposing sides more often them not. For every moment they nearly would kiss in a Hellfire Club Ball, they’d oppose each other in a challenge over catching Viper, or Bird Boy. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53-54, 56)

As things turned out, though, Proudstar was becoming more and more disenchanted with his life as a Hellion, and longed to return home to Arizona. He parted ways with the Hellions and went back to living with his family on the Camp Verde reservation. He was approached by the New Mutants' new leader, Cable, to join the group, but initially turned down the offer. Arriving back home from that meeting, however, James found his entire reservation devastated, his family, friends and entire tribe massacred to the last man. His only clue to the attack was a discarded mask from one of the Hellfire Club guards, leading him to blame Emma Frost and her organization. After burying all the residents of the camp, including his own family, James traveled to Xavier's school and agreed to join the New Mutants and fight for Cable’s cause in exchange for his assistance in taking revenge for the murders of his people. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #99-100)

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 08:42 AM

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His Life After the Hellions:

Shortly after his arrival, the New Mutants became X-Force, and James took the new codename of Warpath. Although he had been leader of the Hellions before, he had no problems to accept following the orders of Cable or Domino, and he got along with the rest of the team rather well. X-Force business kept Warpath from pursuing his personal quest for a few months, but he never forgot his anger and his need to get even with the murderer of his tribesmen. All the while, James’ strength levels were still increasing, in one occasion he even managed to stand his ground going a few rounds toe to toe with the Juggernaut. (X-Force (vol. 1) #3-6)

With their old headquarters devastated following an encounter with Weapon Prime, Warpath offered to let the team use the abandoned Camp Verde reservation as a base of operations. As they had no other options, X-Force accepted and relocated to Arizona. (X-Force (vol. 1) #14-15)

It wasn't until the X-Men temporarily incarcerated the entire X-Force team at the mansion (over a misunderstanding, them believing Cable to have assassinated Professor Xavier) that James learned that the fledgling Upstarts had assassinated and incapacitated the entire old guard of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, including Fitzroy putting Emma Frost in a coma and murdering nearly all of the remaining Hellions, Jimmy's old teammates. With his revenge now a moot point, Warpath continued to serve with X-Force to give his life some meaning and he accompanied Cannonball and Firestar to Nova Roma, to inform Magma and Empath of the Hellions‘ fate. (X-Men (vol. 2) #17, New Warriors (vol. 1) #31)

Afterwards, X-Force decided to move on and find themselves a new purpose. However, before they left the mansion, James convinced Siryn to make a copy of the X-Men’s database to help the team getting started again. Warpath had no such quarrels stealing from the X-Men, where he was concerned they had never given him much. First, they had cost him his brother, and now they had locked him up. Besides, he reasoned, the ends would justify the means and the copied data would surely help X-Force to catch some bad guys. Unbeknownst to James, Xavier telepathically noticed the theft, but didn’t do anything about it. (X-Force (vol. 1) #19)

Warpath had another reason for staying with X-Force - him developing romantic feelings for a Theresa Rourke Cassidy, aka Siryn. He would make her a few compliments every now and then, and was rather protective of her. As such, he noticed that she began drinking more and more, but Proudstar found himself still caring for her in this state, getting her to bed after a binge and cleaning her up. The only other person on the team to recognize was Cable and, upon his advice, James ultimately confronted Theresa with her alcoholism and his feelings for her, even though it meant risking to ruin any chance he might have had with her. At first, Siryn didn’t want to hear anything of it, but eventually she admitted her problem and Warpath provided her a shoulder to cry on. (X-Force (vol. 1) #21, 26, 29-30)

Wanting to reconnect with herself, Theresa felt that a visit to Cassidy Keep in her native Ireland was in order, and she asked James to come along. However, during the first two weeks of their stay, Siryn’s alcohol problem increased. Only after Warpath got in contact with the Juggernaut to bring Theresa together with her "uncle," Black Tom Cassidy, and the two of them seemed to find peace with each other, did Siryn get a handle on her drinking. Theresa still wanted to remain "just friends" with James, though, and while he was willing to accept the situation, his heart was still broken. (X-Force (vol. 1) #31)

After their return, X-Force got involved in the Younghunt, a competition of the Upstarts with all former members of the Hellions and the New Mutants being their targets. In the aftermath of this conflict, Magma ended her long relationship with Empath because of the way he had manipulated her. Though he never liked him that much, Warpath felt obliged to offer his former teammate a spot among X-Force and to help him get over the break-up, but arrogantly Empath declined. (X-Force (vol. 1) #34)

Some time later, it was discovered that Professor, the computer program running Cable’s equipment, had gained full sentience and built itself a body out of spare machine part. However, as his presence began screwing up Cable’s techno-organic body parts, it was decided that Prosh, as he called himself by then, needed to leave Earth. Though capable of designing himself a spaceship, Prosh needed to absorb a lot of mass to do so. Warpath had no objection for him to use the remains of Camp Verde, in fact he found it rather symbolic for some new life to grow out of the ashes of the reservation. He only asked for Prosh to leave alone the tribe’s ancient burial ground; the rest of Camp Verde was for him to use. Naturally, this also forced X-Force to relocate to another headquarters. (X-Force (vol. 1) #39)

A couple of weeks after Emma Frost awoke from her coma and began teaching Generation X at the Massachusetts Academy, Warpath went to confront her about the massacre at Camp Verde. She revealed to him what James had already known deep down inside his heart - she was not responsible for the attack on his people. They had a long discussion about how Jimmy needed to find his place in the world. Emma pointed out that Warpath wasn't really committed to Cable's view of the future and his unrequited love for Siryn was hardly a reason to stick around on the team. She also mentioned how he originally left the Hellions because he had no longer wanted to grow up like his brother, yet today he was still copying his brother's appearance, wearing a variation of his costume and generally living in his shadow. Although James pointed out that Emma should listen to her own advice, after all she too was repeating her past mistakes, he couldn’t deny the truth behind her words. (X-Force (vol. 1) #42)

Warpath began making changes in his life, starting with a new buzzcut and a change of wardrobe. Cable was on a similar line of reasoning at the time for the entire team, deciding to move X-Force into Xavier's Mansion alongside the X-Men, make them wear costumes all patterned in the same colors and push them to explore their powers and create new boundaries for themselves. In Warpath's case, Cable had James begin practicing with a bo staff as a personal weapon for combat, something which he wasn’t too fond of. (X-Force (vol. 1) #44)

James was worried sick when Siryn went missing, though actually she had only been sent away by Cable on an undercover mission. When she returned a few days later, Warpath was at first overjoyed to see her, but as she gave him a cold shoulder, not even bothering to explain where she had been, he was rather let down. (X-Force (vol. 1) #47)

An encounter with Mimic led Warpath to explore his powers in ways he hadn't conceived of before. When duplicating his abilities, Mimic cried out in pain, asking how James could stand the increased sensory input. Up until this point, Warpath had never been aware of his heightened senses, a trait that his late brother possessed, as he had always relied on his strength. Jimmy soon began demonstrating superhuman running speed and highly developed senses. (X-Force (vol. 1) #46, 51)

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 08:46 AM

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Around this time, Jimmy had his first encounter with a mysterious woman known as Risque. Receiving an anonymous message to rendezvous through the National Council of Indian Affairs, Warpath was casually assaulted by the beautiful young woman before she snuck a kiss and vanished back into the night. When he was injured a few days later battling the immortal Selene, Risque came to his rescue and whisked him away to recuperate at her home in South Beach, Florida. For some weeks, James reveled in a life of no responsibilities, growing closer to Risque while truly relaxing for probably the first time since his brother died. He even got a large tattoo of the Thunderbird symbol etched onto his back. To James, it seemed like Risque was the opposite of Siryn in every way. (X-Force (vol. 1) #51, 53, 55-56)

Returning to the mansion after receiving word on the Onslaught crisis in New York, Warpath and Risque got involved in a conflict with Sinister and later Onslaught himself, alongside the rest of X-Force. Risque disappeared during these events, leaving Jimmy truly upset and at a loss trying to find her. Ironically, it was only after she began feeling jealous of Jimmy's connection with Risque that Siryn finally began to develop romantic feelings of her own for James. (X-Force (vol. 1) #57-59)

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While on a mission in Latveria, a gypsy prescient fainted after touching Warpath, predicting a dark turmoil in his future. At the time, James was unsure what to make of her vision, but his life would indeed turn upside before long. (X-Force (1st series) #63)

Days later, Risque returned to his life and revealed her true purpose -- acquiring Proudstar in order to repay a debt to the man known as Sledge. She had developed true feelings for Jimmy in their time together, though, forcing Sledge to send his agents, Mimic and Blob, after the pair. After a brief conflict, Warpath and Risque subdued their attackers, however she then reluctantly drugged James and brought him to Detroit to complete her assignment. (X-Force (vol. 1) #65)
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When he awoke, Sledge offered Proudstar a deal -- in exchange for a favor, Sledge would give Jimmy the whereabouts of Michael Whitecloud, a member of Warpath's tribe who apparently survived the Camp Verde massacre and had information about the true attackers. By the time X-Force had tracked Risque down and pressed James‘ whereabouts from her, James had already agreed to the deal, and the "favor" required him to traverse an inter-dimensional void in order to recover the Vanisher, an associate of Sledge's who was lost some time ago. (X-Force (vol. 1) #66, 68)

While X-Force returned home, Warpath was given a special suit that would allow him to navigate through the void, his heightened senses being needed to deal with the sensory input. After a brief encounter with homicidal extra-dimensional prairie dogs, Warpath succeeded in bringing back Vanisher and getting the information from Sledge. (X-Force (vol. 1) #69-71)

In his absence, though, X-Force had broken ties with Cable and the X-Men. After picking him up in Detroit, Warpath and the remaining members of the team began a road-trip to Nebraska, where Sledge's information said he would find Whitecloud. When their car broke down and they ran out of money, Warpath and Siryn separated from the others, continuing on to meet Michael. In Nebraska, they found the Apache perpetually drunk and living in a tenement building. Michael Whitecloud explained to Jimmy how one of his sources had information on illegal genetic experimentation under the name Project: Stepladder. Michael's investigations got too close to the truth, and an extermination team wiped out Camp Verde in order to kill him and his source, and destroy any evidence of Stepladder's misdoings. Only by a stroke of luck, Whitecloud escaped the massacre and had been on the run for the last few years. However, he had apparently not been completely successful in evading capture. After telling James where to find another set of his notes he had hidden, Whitecloud attempted to name the monster behind Stepladder, only to have his head explode from the effort. Stepladder had apparently implanted a failsafe in Michael's brain at some point to prevent him from revealing too much. (X-Force (vol. 1) #72)

Tracking down the notes, Warpath and Siryn were assaulted by Edwin Martynec, the psychotic doctor who years ago was poisoning Jimmy's mother as part of his own experiments. Capturing the mutants, Martynec explained how Cable's arch-nemesis, Stryfe, was actually behind Project: Stepladder, and by extension the massacre at Camp Verde. Michael Whitecloud had been tagged and released in the event that he had hidden more evidence and eventually tried to lead others to it. Eventually, the two mutants broke free and managed to defeat Martynec, though not after he injected Warpath an amphetamine compound that sent him into cardiac arrest.

Even in the afterlife, James was disturbed. His spirit was snatched away by Stryfe to some netherrealm ruled by Blackheart. Stryfe wanted to trade in Warpath’s soul in exchange for his own freedom but, before the deal was made, the rest of X-Force arrived, Moonstar’s status as a Valkyrie having given her the means to follow James. However, though not even they could defeat Stryfe, seeing his friends in peril, Warpath gathered all of his strength and anger and managed to overcome the villain. As Siryn had applied CPR to James‘ body for the entire time that the battle lasted, there were no after-effects to his “death“ when his spirit reunited with his physical self. Afterwards, Warpath called up Emma Frost and had her arrange for Whitecloud's notes to get to the proper authorities, and ensure that Project: Stepladder was dismantled and the people involved brought to justice. (X-Force (vol. 1) #73-74) This adventure seemed to clear the air between James and Theresa, as from then on they both seemed comfortable with each other as best friends, without any unresolved romantic tension.

The mystery regarding the Camp Verde massacre finally solved, James was ready to move on, though he confided in Moonstar that he was a little bit afraid of forgetting his friends and family. Every day his memories of them seemed to fade a bit more. Dani helped him by using her mental powers to reach out into James‘ head and recreate an illusionary scenario of his family for him. Interacting with his late brother and mother, James realized that all the time he had been obsessed by the way they died, when actually the way they lived was much more important. (X-Force (1st series) #75)

After their teammate, Sunspot, got his assets unfrozen, X-Force ended their time on the road and permanently took up residence at a warehouse in San Francisco, California. Sometime after setting up their new home, James had a startling encounter with Tarot, one of his old teammates from the Hellions who was supposed to be dead. Her mysterious warnings about the future were an omen, as X-Force came into conflict with a new group of Hellions, whom Tarot was somewhat reluctantly working with. Two other former friends, Magma and Feral, were also working with the Hellions. Tarot's lover and team leader, King Bedlam, had a plan to use a mutant known as the Armageddon Man to blackmail the US government for a large sum of money. X-Force successfully routed the Hellions and got the Armageddon Man back into stasis, but not before Feral lashed out at Siryn, severing her vocal chords with her claws. After the doctors told her she may never speak again, Theresa decided to take some time off to herself, in order to cope with her loss. As she went, she left Jimmy a note thanking him for his friendship and letting him know that his influence was the only thing which kept her from going back to the bottle. (X-Force (vol. 1) #87-91)

A few months later, Warpath was reunited with Risque, but it happened in the middle of a crisis. X-Force were busy fighting the Demon Bear and, while it was obvious that Risque still had feelings for James, there was no time for them to discuss things through. (X-Force (vol. 1) #99-100) Whether James and Risque sorted things out after the fight has yet to be revealed, but whatever decision they reached, she did not stay with him in San Francisco.

Only days later, the High Evolutionary unleashed a reverse-mutagen wave over the entire world, completely robbing every mutant on Earth of their powers. Though the effect was eventually reversed, X-Force was left feeling particularly vulnerable after Cannonball nearly lost his life when the wave swept over the Earth. (X-Force (vol. 1) #101)

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 08:55 AM

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Feeling as if they had been adrift without a purpose in life for too long, Cannonball and Jesse Bedlam contacted former intelligence agent and Excalibur member Pete Wisdom, who they had recently gone on a mission with in Genosha. Wisdom offered to turn X-Force back into an elite strike force, seeking out and putting a stop to covert evils committed on mutants in the "shadow worlds" of international intelligence fields. Proudstar, Cannonball, Bedlam and Meltdown agreed to work with Pete under this new parameter, and he began training them in new tactical skills and uses for the mutant powers. It seems the activation and removal of the High Evolutionary's effect had "rebooted" the genetic codes of mutantkind, allowing some of X-Force to access aspects of their mutation that were previously unknown to them. In Jimmy's case, it turned out that he had apparently been limiting himself to the abilities of his late brother but, under Wisdom’s training, his strength level apparently increased to some degree and he developed the power to fly under his own command. (X-Force (1st series) #106-109)

After uncovering a deep-rooted Russian conspiracy, X-Force faked their own deaths to go underground and anonymously take out anti-mutant organizations and targets. They were successful for a few months before they were found again, only to fake their deaths once more. The team’s undercover status turned out to be a weakness, though, for some new organization consisting of mutants that wanted to get rich and famous thought the name up for grabs. After buying legal rights to use “X-Force“ as their name, this group went public and soon became popular. By the time the original X-Force learned of this, coming out of hiding and confronting the new guys about the name and violating the original concept behind the team, it was already too late. Apparently, the original X-Force disbanded after this, retreating from their recent hardcore offensive stance on mutant issues. (X-Force (vol. 1) #113, 115, 117)

James was next seen accompanying Siryn to the funeral of her friend Deadpool (who was resurrected shortly afterwards). Afterwards, both of them joined the newly formed X-Corporation, an extension of Xavier’s X-Men with offices all over the world. For some reason, Theresa and James ended up in different branches. While she became a member of the European branch stationed in Paris, Warpath was in Mumbai, India, helping to run the X-Corporation office in that area. (Deadpool (vol. 2) #61, New X-Men (vol. 1) #133).

More recently, Warpath was recruited away from his X-Corp duties by Cable, in order to deal with the coming menace of the Skornn. This reformed X-Force squad confronted the Skornn in brutal combat in New York City, and only succeeded in driving it off through Cable's self-sacrifice. (X-Force (vol. 2) #2-3)

Eventually, Warpath was asked to join a team of X-Men, led by Charles Xavier, to head into Shi’ar space to pursue Gabriel Summers, Vulcan, who was revealed to have not been killed on Krakoa years earlier, as Xavier had feared. Instead, Vulcan had developed vast levels of power, and proved himself a threat to the entire Shi’ar Empire. As part of this team, Warpath and his team failed to prevent Vulcan from killing Emperor D’Ken, as well as Corsair. He and most of his team ended up back on Earth, with the Starjammer known as Hepzibah. (Uncanny X-Men #475-486). He then ended up finding word that his old teammate, Caliban, as well as the Morlock known as Leech, were coming under attack at the hands of Masque, and a new group of Morlock terrorists underneath New York City, and with Storm, Caliban, and Hepzibah, made his way into the Morlock Tunnels to stop Masque’s inhuman actions. During this mission, he became romantically involved with Hepzibah, now Corsair’s widow (Uncanny X-Men #487-491).

Their physical relationship, however, would begin to have to endure many changes quickly, as soon thereafter the Mutant Messiah was born in Cooperstown, Alaska. A night for the two together in bed was interrupted when the O.N.E. Sentinels overlooking the Xavier Mansion were corrupted with Nano-Sentinels, and began to attack the inhabitants inside. Warpath, throwing on a pair of pajama bottoms, joined the fray against the Sentinels with his vibranium knives. Immediately following this attack, Warpath was commissioned by Cyclops to be a part of a new X-Force squad, led by Wolverine, to track down Cable, who had taken custody of the Mutant Messiah and was on the run (Uncanny X-Men #493). Tracking Cable from Cooperstown, Alaska, into the wilderness, Warpath would arrive with X-Force to prevent Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers from slaughtering both Cable and the Mutant Messiah. In this battle, Warpath was nearly shot in the back by one of the Reavers, but Caliban dove in the path of the bullets, sacrificing himself for James. Warpath, enraged, threw one of his vibranium daggers through the skull of the Reaver who killed Caliban. Monet St. Croix tried to console James while he was first grieving, but to no avail (X-Factor (vol. 3) #26, New X-Men (vol. 2) #45). Warpath continued to track Cable, to both Forge’s Aerie (Uncanny X-Men #494), and finally to Muir Island, where he participated in the massive conflict between the allied Marauders and Acolytes, Predator X, and the combined might of X-Factor, the X-Men, and X-Force (X-Factor (vol. 3) #27, New X-Men (vol. 2) #46, X-Men (vol. 2) #207). After all was said and done, Warpath buried Caliban with the other members of his tribe in Arizona (revealed in X-Force (vol. 3) #1).

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 08:59 AM

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With the X-Men separating for different parts of the globe after the Cable’s escape to the future, Cyclops would continue utilizing the X-Force squad, under the command of Wolverine, to perform black ops missions to terminate threats to mutants. Their first target would be Mathew Risman, who proved himself to be far more of a threat, by the villains he helped bring back to the fore, than could have been imagined. While hunting Risman, to assassinate him, X-Force was faced with the kidnapping and brainwashing of Wolfsbane, the second amputation of Warren Worthington’s wings, the creation of the Choir, the reanimation of Bastion, and the resurrection of several of the X-Men’s deadliest enemies by them all using the techno-organic virus. As they finally closed in on the Purifiers headquarters, in Chicago, Risman would instead by killed by Eli Bard, an ancient lover of Selene who was searching for a way to win himself back into her favor. Eli Bard would then nearly kill X-23, but a last second intervention by Warpath would save her life. Eli Bard seemed to indicate as he escaped, though, that he’d slain several other members of Warpath’s tribe in the past for this slight, a foreshadowing of things to come (X-Force (vol. 3) 1-6).

As the X-Men settled into their new home, Warpath would at first be one of a group of X-Men affected by the powers of Martinique Wyngarde, only to be snapped out of it when she was defeated by Cyclops and Emma Frost (Uncanny X-Men #495-499). As a member of X-Force, he would also participate in the X-Men’s defense of San Francisco from the Skrull Invasion fleet (Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4), and their brief capture of Bishop, for Cyclops (Cable (vol. 2) #6). He expressed some concern over Proposition X, when it was first put forth to the public (Uncanny X-Men #509), and his feelings about the issue would certainly come up again.

Conflicted over his clandestine missions with X-Force, Warpath took a leave of absence to return to Camp Verde, where he would pay his respects to both Caliban and his brother John again. As he arrived at the site, though, he was ambushed by a Demon Bear, which he began to battle in vain. Before the Demon Bear could finish him, however, Ghost Rider arrived to take him to safety, and instruct him on the ancient ways of his people, the Ghost Dance, and how it could be used to assault the supernatural. Both returned to battle the Demon Bear again, and during the fight, rather than kill it, Warpath noticed it had a mysterious magical dagger piercing its side, which he pulled out. The dagger had been used to corrupt various animal totems and spirits, creating the Demon Bear from their supernaturally twisted forms. For freeing them, rather than just killing them, they rewarded Proudstar with the knowledge that his tribe, his brother, and Caliban’s bodies had been scavenged from the site by Eli Bard, who also used black magic to create the Demon Bear (X-Force (vol. 3) #7-11).

Warpath also proved himself a good friend and ally to Domino, when she learned the Red Hulk’s identity, and most of X-Force turned out to defend her from him (Hulk (vol. 3) #14-15).

The X-Men’s home in San Francisco became an afterthought, as riots soon broke out over Proposition X. After Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. came to the area, and began incarcerating mutants at Alcatraz for a crime as slight as “breaking curfew”, X-Force would eventually be called in by Cyclops to execute a jailbreak, and deliver the mutant prisoners to their ne w home, the island that would come to be known as Utopia (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, Uncanny X-Men #514, Dark Avengers #8).

Shortly thereafter, when Scalphunter would be forced to fly a plane of Predator Xs to Utopia, to attack the X-Men, Warpath would end up killing one alongside Wolverine, and Dazzler (Uncanny X-Men #517). He would also manage to wound Emplate with one of his daggers, when that villain would reappear to attack the X-Men on Utopia (X-Men: Legacy Annual #1, X-Men: Legacy #230).

Eli Bard would have to wait, however, as X-Force soon faced the threat of Bastion’s own forces in the form of the Leper Queen, who had begun kidnapping surviving mutants, and injecting them with a weaponized, fast-acting form of the Legacy Virus that killed mutants in great explosive representations of their powers. Beautiful Dreamer managed to make a large group of people forget how to breathe, and Fever Pitch burned a whole anti-mutant protest alive, as they died. The point of the plan was to convince the public that mutants were a great threat again, and it seemed to be working. There would, however, be a mission that could take priority, and interrupt this one at any moment, that being that X-Force was waiting to be sent into the future to recover Hope, the Mutant Messiah, and return her home. X-Force attempted to save Fever Pitch’s live just before he died of the Legacy Virus, but failed. The stakes were raised when the Leper Queen and the Sapien League kidnapped Hellion, Surge, and Warpath’s former X-Force teammate, Boom Boom. While they managed to save Boom Boom from being injected with the Legacy Virus, they were sent into the future by Cyclops before they could fully complete their mission, putting all three mutants’ lives in the present at risk. (X-Force (vol. 3) #12-13).

Arriving in the timeline ruled by Stryfe, X-Force were almost instantly placed under attack by the megalomaniacal futuristic despot. Warpath and Hope were taken prisoner, with the former being tortured by some of the worst pain-inducing devices Stryfe could concoct. In the end, however, the villain was defeated, but X-Force was forced to return to the present empty-handed, without Cable and Hope (X-Force/Cable: Messiah War #1, Cable (vol. 2) #13-15, X-Force (vol. 3) #14-16). He arrived back in the present just after X-23 had saved the life of Boom Boom, and was abducted by agents of H.A.M.M.E.R., working with the Facility. Some of the agents were preparing to incarcerate, and based off their conversation, take some sexual liberties with a still-drugged Boom Boom, when Warpath found her, and as such, he brutally murdered both with his knife to protect his old teammate and return her home (X-Force (vol. 3) #17-18). X-23, however, would be tracked back to the Facility, and rescued by Wolverine and Domino while Warpath returned with Warren Worthington III to Colorado, where at his Aerie, they found an unconscious Wolfsbane (X-Force (vol. 3) #19-20).

Returning with Wolfsbane back to Utopia, Warren and James were shocked to discover a legion of mutants resurrected with the techno-organic virus by Eli Bard for Selene, attacking. Among those who Warpath was forced to face included Pyro, Berzerker, Scaleface, and his old flame, Risque. Not long after he made his way inside Utopia, the second wave of the attack hit, when Selene’s own Inner Circle, including Eli Bard himself arrive on the island to assure that the ritual dagger Warpath had found in the Demon Bear months earlier could be recovered, to be used as part of plan to help Selene achieve godhood. Warpath was teleported with Selene’s Inner Circle to Genosha, where he found see his revived friend, Caliban, as well as his own brother, John, the original Thunderbird, back from the dead. Before Selene could complete her ritual, Thunderbird instructed Warpath of Selene’s plan, and how to stop her. However, the techno-organic virus had sapped his free will, and he could not just let Warpath leave. James would have to put his own brother back in the grave to gain his freedom. Just as he delivered the killing blow, the Vanisher arrived on behalf of X-Force to rescue James, who again recovered the mystic dagger, and was taken back to the rest of X-Force. Proudstar began preparing the entire team for the Ghost Dance, as he had been taught by Ghost Rider, and was instructed to do by Thunderbird. X-Force took the fight to Selene, who due to the magicks of the Ghost Dance, could not affect her foes mystically. After a heated struggle, Warpath buried Selene’s dagger in her own heart, apparently committing deicide. After this battle, Wolverine debriefed Cyclops and informed him of Warpath’s decision to resign from the team. (X-Necrosha #1, X-Force (vol. 3) #21-25).

Since then, Warpath has been showed to guard over the X-Men’s food reserves on Utopia, and he has had to brawl Loa, Rockslide, and Match to defend it (Nation X #3).

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What do you think of Warpath? What do you think is next for him now that he’s left X-Force? Would you like if he guest-starred in New Mutants, as a romantic interest for Moonstar again? Would you like to see him have to face down the resurrected Hellions?

baltiroo

05-20-2010, 09:20 AM

What do you think of Warpath? What do you think is next for him now that he’s left X-Force? Would you like if he guest-starred in New Mutants, as a romantic interest for Moonstar again? Would you like to see him have to face down the resurrected Hellions?

I have always like Jimmy and really am excited about the next phase of his X-life. While I wouldn't be opposed to he and Moonstar dating, I would want resolution to his relationship with Hepzibah. I would love to see him face the Hellions!

BTW. Thanks for making all these entries. I have really enjoyed reading them.

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 06:22 PM

I have always like Jimmy and really am excited about the next phase of his X-life. While I wouldn't be opposed to he and Moonstar dating, I would want resolution to his relationship with Hepzibah. I would love to see him face the Hellions!

BTW. Thanks for making all these entries. I have really enjoyed reading them.

Thanks. Hearing that makes it worth the work.

worstblogever

05-20-2010, 06:34 PM

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Madelyne Pryor
- Black Rook of the Hellfire Club III

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #168
Apparently Died in: X-Factor (vol. 1) #38
Resurrected: X-Man #5
First Hellfire III appearance: X-Man #7
All Hellfire III appearances: X-Man #7, 13-17, 20-23, Annual '96, #24-25, 28, 30, Cable #50
Last appearance: Uncanny X-Men #211
Powers: Exists as a being of pure psionic energy funneled through the to create a pseudo-organic body. Her physical form acts only as flesh and blood; Madelyne could not easily suffer injuries, and these injuries healed phenomenally fast. She also possessed telepathic, psychokinetic, and teleportational abilities.

Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
The original Madelyne Pryor, introduced as a Jean Grey look-a-like, was in fact a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister who could only acquire a small blood and tissue sample from the original Jean Grey prior to her being recruited by Professor Xavier to his school. Years later, when the clone was already beyond puberty, Mr. Sinister was disappointed that it did not manifest any mutant talents. Then, on the day that Phoenix II died on the moon, the Force keyed the stolen fragments of Jean Grey to her genetic structure were sent back to Earth. By accident, they entered the clone, and Sinister watched in awe as his creation burst out of her incubator, surrounded by a bird of fire and shouting the name Scott, before passing out. Finally, his plans bore fruit and, after naming the clone Madelyne Pryor, he created a false background for her. Being a pilot and the sole survivor of a plan crash should explain the resonance memories of fire and flight. Sinister then programmed her to fall in love with Scott Summers, Cyclops, (an easy task as both Jean and Phoenix had already loved the man) and placed her at his grandparents’ airline in Alaska, knowing that they would meet sooner or later. (revealed in Uncanny X-Men #241, X-Factor (vol. 1) #38)

A few months later, Corsair (Christopher Summers) returned from outer space and took his sons, Scott and Alex, to their grandparents in Alaska for the first time. The old couple had sent Madelyne to pick them up and all three men did not believe their eyes, as their pilot looked exactly like the (supposedly) deceased Jean Grey. (Uncanny X-Men #168) Soon, Scott started to notice little oddities, like Madelyne being able to guess his favorite breakfast or the plane crash having been on exactly the same day that Phoenix died on the moon, and he suspected that she was a reincarnation of Phoenix. Scott introduced his lover to the X-Men while attending Wolverine’s wedding in Japan and, of course, they too noticed the uncanny resemblance. (Uncanny X-Men #172-173) Madelyne and Scott finally got married and held a big party at the Xavier estate. Among the wedding guests were Scott’s grandparents from Alaska, the Starjammers and, of course, the X-Men. (Uncanny X-Men #174-175) During their honeymoon in the Caribbean, the happy couple was almost eaten by a shark and a giant squid. This prompted Scott to chose retirement, realizing he wanted to be happy and have a family, without having to wonder about the endless battles of the X-Men or the Starjammers. (Uncanny X-Men #176) After saying goodbye to Corsair and his crew, the couple moved to Anchorage, the place where they had first met, and they started to work as pilots for the airline owned by Scott’s grandparents. Before long, Professor X would encounter Scott and Maddie, and determine that she was already pregnant in Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #2.

Some weeks later, Moira MacTaggert contacted Cyclops, as she was concerned about Professor Xavier‘s condition. His bad health endangered his life and Madelyne understood that Scott needed to check on him (Uncanny X-Men #197) but, when he did not come back, she followed to Westchester, as she did want her husband to be present when their baby was born. With the X-Men, it‘s one crisis after the other and, while both the X-Men and New Mutants were busy in Asgard and afterwards had to stay in Paris for Magneto’s trial, Madelyne was alone in the mansion as she went into labor. Upon the team’s return she had already given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Instead of apologizing and making up with his wife, Cyclops was more concerned about the X-Men’s fate, as, in the meantime, Xavier had been forced to leave Earth because of his health. He wanted to lead the team again, but Storm thought that his responsibilities were to Maddie, so she dueled him for leadership, despite being powerless. Even though Madelyne knew it would break his heart, she wished Scott to lose and she might have subconsciously influenced the duel’s outcome in Storm’s favor. (Uncanny X-Men #200-201).

Scott and Madelyne returned to Anchorage, but there was some tension between them. Scott kept brooding and refused to talk about his problems. Not before long, he received a phone call from Warren Worthington, with astounding news - Jean Grey had been found alive at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Scott immediately started packing, not filling his wife in on what he had just learned. He departed, despite Maddie saying that, if he left her again, he should not even bother to come back. Madelyne had no idea that Scott helped found X-Factor, a group pretending to be mutant hunters, only to secretly help and train them. Some time later, when Scott tried to call Maddie from New York, the phone number was no longer working. (X-Factor (vol. 1) #1-2)

As soon as Sinister became aware of Jean Grey being alive, he knew he had to act fast. Once the two women met, Jean‘s telepathy would have surely recognized Madelyne not as a mere look-a-like but as her identical clone. He decided to erase all official records of Madelyne and the baby and ordered the Marauders to kill her and kidnap the boy. After a pilot job to San Francisco, she was attacked by them and forced to hand over the baby. She then was shot multiple times and left for dead. However, she was not dead and was found and taken to a hospital as a “Jane Doe.“ Though the doctors thought she was a goner, Madelyne pulled through and awoke months later from a coma. (X-Factor (vol. 1) #38, Uncanny X-Men #206, 215). Neither the hospital staff nor the police believed Maddie‘s story of a stolen baby, as there existed no documents about the woman giving birth or her existence at all. Having nowhere else to turn, Maddie called the X-Men, who arrived right as the Marauders tried to murder her again, having been alerted to her being alive by the police searching records for her. The X-Men managed to protect her and Havok, especially, swore that he would stand by Maddie’s side to make up for his brother’s mistake. With the Marauders hot on their trail Madelyne, like Dazzler, had to stay with the team. (Uncanny X-Men #221-224)

Shortly afterwards, the X-Men battled the Adversary in Dallas. To seal the portal to his dimension with a magical spell, Forge needed the essences of nine souls – the problem being that only eight X-Men were there. Madelyne opted to be the missing piece and the group was transformed into pure energy. The entire incident was recorded by a film team and reporter Neal Conan provided Madelyne with the chance to say goodbye to her loved ones. As everything was broadcasted live on national TV, X-Factor watched and heard Madelyne‘s final moments. Her last words were addressed to Scott, telling him to find their missing son. Unknown to the world, Roma resurrected the X-Men shortly afterwards, providing them with a new chance at life. They decided to go underground and keep their rebirth secret, wanting to use this new status to their advantage. (Uncanny X-Men #227, X-Factor (vol. 1) #27)

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worstblogever

05-20-2010, 06:38 PM

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Setting up headquarters in a former Reavers base in the Australian Outback, Madelyne pulled her weight with the team by mastering the cyborgs’ magnificent computer system. Also, she designed an eight-pointed star as the X-Men‘s new logo. They could leave it behind like Zorro his “Z“ without exposing them to be still alive. While the team was away on a mission, Madelyne watched the news, as she suddenly saw an interview with X-Factor’s Cyclops and Marvel Girl. Finally, she learned the reason for why Scott had abandoned her and, angrily, she smashed the screen with her fist. The resulting explosion rendered her unconscious. (Uncanny X-Men #230, 232)

Gateway found her and one of his dreamtime probes revealed that Madelyne feared to lose her identity. Scott had only married her for her resemblance to Jean and, once she miraculously returned, he took away everything she held dear to give it to the other woman. The Limbo demon S’ym invaded the dream sequence, offering Maddie to become more than she was and receive the chance to hurt her husband back. He showed her images of a girl, a pilot, a woman and a demon and, thinking it to be not real, she chose the latter. Sym then pointed his finger into her chest and she was infected with the demon’s magic. (Uncanny X-Men #233-234)

Both having been abandoned by their lovers, Havok found himself more and more attracted to Madelyne, who secretly had bargained with the Limbo demon N’astirh, who promised he would be able to locate the missing baby. While Alex and Maddie were happily dancing in the famous Rainbow Room, the Empire State Building started to transform. Demons were influencing the city; the start of Inferno. She distracted Havok so that he would not notice and, right after returning to Australia, she had Gateway once more teleport her to New York. At the grave of Jean Grey, Madelyne transformed into the Goblyn Queen and, suddenly, was met by John and Elaine Grey, who thought her to be their resurrected daughter. Angrily, Maddie turned them into demon pets and then investigated a tip from N’astirh about the baby’s location. The demon took her to the orphanage in Nebraska, where she was captured and shackled by Mr. Sinister. The villain then finally revealed her origin and that her sole purpose had been to function as broodmare for the Summers baby. Sinister underestimated the powers that Madelyne had developed, thanks to the demon magic, and she busted lose. N'astirh brought her the baby, wanting her to sacrifice it to empower the demon rule on Earth on a permanent basis. Madelyne agreed, knowing that little Christopher‘s death would hurt the two men she hated most: Sinister and Cyclops. When X-Factor opposed her, Madelyne arranged that that they would run into the X-Men and, right in time, she changed back to “plain“ Maddie and claimed that Cyclops had wanted to steal her son. In the following battle between the two hero teams, Madelyne slipped away, taking Havok with her, after upgrading him to become her Goblyn Prince. Shortly after they had left, most of the heroes came to their senses and agreed that they needed to stop the demons. Working together, they defeated N’astirh and, elsewhere in the city, Illyana Rasputin sacrificed her magic might to suck all other demons back to Limbo, leaving only the Goblyn Queen behind. Easier said than done, as she managed to seal herself and Jean Grey in a near impenetrable telekinetic bubble. Madelyne hated Jean so much that she killed herself and forced Jean into a mental bond to die with her. To survive, Jean was forced to re-integrate the portions of soul, essence and life-force of herself that had gone from Phoenix II to Maddie. Along with it, she also received the memories of both individuals. (Uncanny X-Men #241-243, X-Factor (vol. 1) #37-38) After mourning, the heroes battled Mr. Sinister, the villain who was responsible for the whole mess.

Years later, just after the end of the “Age of Apocalypse”, When Nate Grey (X-Man) arrived on our world from the Age of Apocalypse he accidentally revived Madelyne in an effort to find his own world’s mother, Jean Grey of Earth-295. He subconsciously wished for someone who could be of aid and his incredible powers and gave Madelyne a new body to host her remnant psionic energies, although some of her memories were scrambled or lost (X-Man #5). (Note: Writer Stephen Grant has been quoted on some Message Boards with “Madelyne“ having been impersonated by the evil alternate Queen Jean he wrote, ever since #5. However this contradicts even his own writing in X-Man #67, where the evil Queen Jean says: “I replaced your Maddie several months ago.“ This quote clearly points at an undocumented exchange having taken place. When asked about this contradiction, Grant replied that only the facts written in the book count, while what he was talking about on the internet was what he would have liked to be the case had he been given full free reign. Besides Queen Jean being “Maddie“ since X-Man #5, he had planned to reveal that she actually was Jean / Dark Phoenix having blasted herself out of this reality in Uncanny X-Men #137 – however this too never made it into the issues.)

Her Life with the Hellfire Club:
Almost completely amnesiac, Madelyne remembered only her hatred for Sinister and had some flashbacks of a group called X-Men. However, she couldn’t make any sense of it. In Paris, she was lured away from Nate and followed the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, Selene to her apartment. (X-Man #5-7) Selene slowly influenced Madelyne and used her to gain Trevor Fitzroy‘s attention. Telekinetically enforcing her punches in the following fight, Madelyne easily penetrated Fitzroy’s armor, who was then easy prey for Selene. (X-Man #16-17). Selene and her companions traveled to New York and met with Sebastian Shaw and Tessa, suggesting a revival of the Inner Circle. Selene presented Madelyne as Black Rook and both Shaw and Tessa were stunned to see the woman responsible for Inferno to be under Selene's influence. They had her prove her worth in a battle against the London Club's Red Rook Scribe. Not only did she easily win, she also pulled out the parasite Mountjoy out of the woman‘s body. (X-Man #22-23).

One night long after she was named Black Rook, Tessa wanted to probe Madelyne's mind, but was discovered by her prey. Madelyne angrily defeated Tessa and proved to be telepathic too, making her forget the whole incident; yet the intrusion served a purpose - Madelyne's memory was restored. (X-Man Annual ‘96) Now clearly remembering her past, Madelyne washed off Selene's manipulation. She searched for X-Man but met Threnody instead. Angered to hear from the death-energy feeding mutant that she, even though she was walking around and breathing, was still dead, she killed Threnody. She then found Nate where she first met him, in the Swiss Alps, but he was with Jean. In a battle, Nate chose Jean over her. X-Man and Jean discovered that Madelyne was a psionic ghost, subconsciously given form by Nate. He tried to end the argument by re-absorbing her, only to find that he couldn’t, as she was now independent. Madelyne escaped back to Sebastian Shaw and shared an intimate night with him. (X-Man #24-25). Much to the concern of Selene and Tessa, Madelyne and Shaw grew close, demonstrating their intimacy even in public, during a Hellfire Club ball. (X-Man #28) Yet, when a Hellfire Club operation in the Swiss Alps was opposed by Cable, Maddie switched sides. She gave her son hints about the villain’s location (Cable (vol. 2) #50) and, afterwards, quit the Inner Circle.

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worstblogever

05-20-2010, 06:41 PM

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The Remainder of her life After the Hellfire Club:
Some weeks later, Madelyne showed up at X-Man’s side again, now also being able to teleport. She aided him in battle against the Great Beasts, showing that she would be there for him, even against his will. (X-Man #39-41) At first, he was not fond of her company but, when the Psi-War, a battle between Psylocke and the Shadow King, caused a temporary worldwide blackout of psionic abilities, he welcomed her assistance. Their relationship developed, having aspects of friendship, love and family connection to equal parts. (X-Man #44) When Nate was attacked by Strikesquad: Gauntlet, a group of operatives wearing psi-shielded armor, Madelyne would battle along side him, and would end up buried alive. 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. (X-Man #52)

About half a year later, X-Man was again accompanied by “Maddie,“ but it turned out to be an evil Jean Grey from an alternate timeline. She claimed that she took advantage of Madelyne’s weakened state and assassinated her to take her place. Her own explanation was “I replaced your Maddie several months ago.“ (X-Man #67)

While the Twelve were held captive by Apocalypse, Cable and Cyclops encountered Maddie’s psionic ghost on the astral plane, making up with her. At the time, she apparently no longer possessed her vast abilities. (Cable (vol. 2) #76)

That may have been a ruse, as years later, a mysterious woman known as the Red Queen appeared in San Francisco, at first recruiting Martinique Wyndgarde to her side (Uncanny X-Men #499), before lording over Empath in a sadomasochistic relationship, domineering him into starting the Hellfire Cult, a mutant hate group that began assaulting the mutant population of the city. In reality, the Red Queen was Madelyne, and she had no physical body. This did not prevent her from telepathically stimulating Empath, to be loyal to her, nor did it stop her from having a telepathic fling with Cyclops, who just assumed it was Emma Frost, while the X-Men were raiding the Hellfire Cult’s base (Uncanny X-Men #501-503).

The Hellfire Cult, however, was just a gambit in a larger plan. She continued recruiting operatives to her cause, first finding her way to Madripoor, where she talked Chimera into becoming a member of her Sisterhood (Uncanny X-Men #503). She then went into the Mojoverse, to the Body Shoppe, where she convinced Lady Deathstrike and Spiral to join her (Uncanny X-Men #504). At some point, she also managed to get Lady Mastermind to join her team, in spite of her rival sister being a member, and united, the group travelled to Tokyo to steal Betsy Braddock’s original body from Kwannon’s grave, right out from under Domino’s nose, and take it back to the Red Queen to reanimate, and make into their new unwilling slave (Uncanny X-Men #508). Now confident in her assembled Sisterhood, Maddie ordered them to strike, using the captive Empath, in the X-Men’s brig, as the channeling point for several telepathic and magical powers, to knock out the whole of the X-Men’s Marin Base, and begin their attack. She accompanied her team specifically to Wolverine’s room, in search of a lock of Jean Grey’s hair he was keeping (Uncanny X-Men #509). Just when her plan seemed to be working, though, Pixie arrived and assaulted Empath with her Soul Dagger, waking up most of the X-Men who had been telepathically subdued. Taking the lock of Jean’s hair, she had Spiral teleport the Sisterhood away (Uncanny X-Men #510). Ordering the Mastermind sisters to stay behind to battle the X-Men at their San Francisco headquarters with the revived Psylocke, Madelyne teleported ahead with Spiral and Chimera to Westchester, New York. Using magic to find the gravesite of Jean Grey, Madelyne hoped to repeat the ritual that reanimated Kwannon’s body, with the difference being that this time, she intended to possess Jean’s, and thus control the powers of the Phoenix. The X-Men teleported in, themselves, and the battle was joined. Madelyne, ignoring Cyclops’ warnings, attempted to merge with the body of Jean. However, this only caused her psionic form to cease to exist, as the body was not Jean’s, but that of another woman buried nearby that Domino had arrived hours earlier. Madelyne has not been seen since (Uncanny X-Men #511).

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What do you think of Madelyne Pryor? Did you like her as a member of the Hellfire Club? Did you love her Goblyn Queen outfit? And, were you really weirded out by her relationship with her “son”, Nate Grey? Did she set records for the most blatant BDSM reference in the history of the X-Men during “SFX”?

worstblogever

05-21-2010, 01:52 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/1012/83438-85609-red-lotus_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/85609-red-lotus/105-83438/)

Red Lotus aka Paul Hark
– Infiltrator of the Hellfire Club V

First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #5.
All Hellfire Club Appearances: (If an actual member) Uncanny X-Men #453-454
Last Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #454
Powers: Red Lotus is a superhuman martial artist who possesses enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, agility, dexterity, coordination, balance, and endurance. The source of his powers, however, is still unknown.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known, except that Red Lotus is the heir apparent to the Sydney Chinese Triad, which was run by his grandfather, who was known as Father Gow. When Gow was murdered, Red Lotus was led to believe that the culprit was Gambit by the Examiner, who wanted to gain control of the Triad for himself.

Red Lotus at first worked against the Hellfire Club, assisted the X-Treme X-Men team against Sebastian Shaw and Lady Mastermind after the truth was revealed, and later helped them while they were trying to repel an inter-dimensional invasion in Madripoor.

His time with the Hellfire Club:
After the invasion on Madripoor, Paul became an ally to Viper and joined her undercover as a member of the Hellfire Club, infiltrating it, and hoping to shut down their mutant slave ring. He seemed like he was about to share a romantic moment with Rachel Summers, when he was almost murdered by Selene, but Marvel Girl was able to save him. He was last seen still as an ally to Courtney Ross, Viper, Sunspot and their new Hellfire Club, and was saved by Rachel Summers from Selene while there, making out with Rachel whilst the two endured her life-draining powers.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5648/280974-154320-red-lotus_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/154320-red-lotus/105-280974/)

What did you think of Red Lotus? Did he not channel Inigo Montoya with that speech about killing his grandfather? Did you think he could have proven a romantic interest for Rachel Summers? Will he ever be seen in a comic again?

worstblogever

05-21-2010, 09:52 AM

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Claudine Renko aka Miss Sinister
– Associate of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: X-Men: Legacy #214.
All Hellfire Club Appearances: (If an actual member) X-Men: Legacy #214, 217,218, X-Men: Original Sin, Wolverine: Origins #29-30.
Last Appearance: Wolverine: Origins #30
Powers: Miss Sinister is somehow related to Mister Sinister, and has telepathic abilities and a healing factor, similar to her namesake. The exact origins of her powers remain unknown.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9241/592960-00cover4_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/00cover4/105-592960/)

Her life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown. Claudine turned up around the same time that Sebastian Shaw, Gambit, and Charles Xavier destroyed Mister Sinister’s “Chronus Device”, which assured that his psyche would not be able to take genetic control over one of his pre-chosen hosts. Also, around this same time Amanda Mueller aka Black Womb disappeared, but it is unknown if Miss Sinister’s appearance is a coincidence related to either event, or completely independent of both.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/38185/845773-miss_sinister___claudine_renko_5_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/miss_sinister___claudine_renko_5/105-845773/)

Her time with the Hellfire Club:
Miss Sinister formed an alliance with Sebastian Shaw, after meeting him at the Hellfire Club in the wake of Shaw destroying the Cronus Device. (X-Men: Legacy #214). Both sought to find Wolverine’s son, Daken, and make him the Hellfire Club’s most elite assassin. At first, Claudine seemed able to coerce Daken by wining and seducing him. When she discovered a psionic trap in Daken’s mind, left by Romulus, she advised Shaw that they should let Professor Xavier arrive, and attempt to enter his mind first and spring it, and then she could mentally dominate Daken from there. As he began to suspect her intentions were far from innocent, she was forced to outright psionically blast him, and knock him out to continue their plan. Xavier and Wolverine, as planned, arrived at Shaw’s Panamanian island and attempted to rescue Daken. Miss Sinister allowed Xavier to best her in psionic combat to let the trap in Daken’s mind knock him out, instead. However, before she could assert her will over Daken he stabbed her in the torso, forcing her to retreat from the island in one of Shaw’s boats (X-Men: Original Sin #1, Wolverine: Origins #29-30, X-Men: Legacy #217-218)

What did you think of Miss Sinister? Do you love her wardrobe? Do you like how she constantly seems to be boozing it up? What do you think her actual origin is?

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/25807/611444-prv1382_pg5_super.jpg

eurazn

05-22-2010, 12:26 AM

Miss Sinister is such a guilty pleasure. I can't wait to see her booze it up again soon.

Also, [old] X-Force Warpath looks like he belongs on Jersey Shore.

Justin K.

05-22-2010, 12:31 AM

Also, [old] X-Force Warpath looks like he belongs on Jersey Shore.

X-Force Warpath is the best Warpath. So much fun...

eurazn

05-22-2010, 12:42 AM

X-Force Warpath is the best Warpath. So much fun...

It's just his look I'm referring to. 'Roided upper torso, smarmy facial hair ... lol.

worstblogever

05-22-2010, 11:06 AM

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070107192750/marveldatabase/images/0/03/Mister_Rutledge_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Rutledge
– Butler for the London Hellfire Club

First Appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
All Hellfire Club Appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
Last Appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
Powers: Rutledge claimed his family had a genetic disposition towards having an eidetic memory.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Nothing is known.

His Time With the Hellfire Club:
It’s certain that Rutledge has worked for the London Hellfire Club for many years. He escorted Brian Braddock to his quarters, and while doing so, admitted that he used to attend his father, Sir James Braddock, many years earlier. The intricacies of Rutledge’s involvement with the London Hellfire Club, however, ended there. It’s unknown of what became of him after the demon that was kept beneath London was released by the London Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle. Until we hear otherwise, he’s still the reason why people say, “The butler did it”.

What did you think of Rutledge? Did you think he was a terribly underused character who deserved more of a chance to shine? Do you think he will ever be able to challenge the Avengers’ butler, Jarvis, for the title of the Best Damn Butler in Marvel-616?

worstblogever

05-22-2010, 11:10 AM

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061107143906/marveldatabase/images/b/bf/Oliver_Ryland_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Oliver Ryland
– Member of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #41
All Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Treme X-Men #41
Last Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #41
Powers: Unknown.

Life before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Life with the Hellfire Club:
Oliver Ryland was the pawn, and protégé of Elias Bogan. He was a superb gambler, and Bogan decided to challenge Sebastian Shaw to play Oliver at cards. The stakes were that if Shaw one, he got Bogan’s fortune. If Bogan one, he got Emma Frost. With some help from Tessa, Sebastian Shaw managed to come out victorious. Oliver Ryland’s fate, after this card game, however, is unknown.

What did you think of Oliver Ryland? Did he have any real powers? Should he have expected Tessa to obviously stack the deck in Shaw’s favor?

worstblogever

05-23-2010, 01:00 AM

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Sage AKA Tessa
- Hellfire Club Member

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #132
All Hellfire Appearances: X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, Classic X-Men #6-7, X-Treme X-Men #3, Marvel Super Heroes (vol. 2) #11, Uncanny X-Men #132, 151, 169, 182, 189, Marvel Graphic Novel #4, New Mutants (vol. 1) #23, Uncanny X-Men #208-210, New Mutants (vol. 1) #51, 53-54, 61, Uncanny X-Men #245, X-Men (vol. 2) #29, Spider-Man Team-Up #1, X-Force (vol. 1) #49-50, X-Man #15, 20-23, Annual '96, #24, 28
Last Appearance: Exiles (vol. 3) #6
Powers: Sage is a mutant who possesses a cyberpathic mind that functions like a computer with unlimited storage capacity. Sage is able to record and analyze vast amounts of data, including the entire genetic code of another living being, and can also calculate complex statistics in mere seconds. Sage’s memory is kinetic in nature, allowing her to instantly recall specific information with incredible speed and accuracy. Sage also possesses the ability of total recall, as her mind stores everything that she sees and experiences. As such, Sage is able to track the probability of an event by piecing together stored data. Like a computer, Sage is able to perform multiple tasks at once by allocating a partition of her brain to each task. For example, Sage can use her mind to replay a movie she had watched previously, play a game of Internet chess, and focus on battling an opponent without any one task distracting her from another. After analyzing the DNA of another superhuman mutant, Sage is able to selectively evolve their existing genetic traits as well as catalyze the untapped genetic potential of latent mutants. Once begun, the procedure is irreversible and can often result in unpredictable side effects. Sage can also sense the presence of the mutant gene in others who are in close proximity to herself, and can reflect mental attacks - be they psionic or cybernetic in origin - back on their originators. Sage also once possessed low-level telepathic abilities that allowed her to read minds, communicate with others over a distance, project her astral form, manipulate the minds of others, and create realistic mental illusions.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/4226/174387-135011-sage_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/135011-sage/105-174387/)

Her life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Little is known of the life of the woman known as Tessa except that she had lived in a small village in the Balkan region of Europe whilst still a young girl, and that she had spent time in a harem under unrevealed circumstances. Just prior to her teenage years, Tessa found herself caught up in the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. She was forced to learn to fight to survive encounters with both soldiers and local bandits, and took weapons and equipment from the bodies of fallen combatants. One day, Tessa felt herself compelled to enter a cave in the nearby Hindu Kush mountain range. There, she found the powerful telepathic mutant named Charles Xavier, who had been trapped under a massive stone block by the alien being named Lucifer. Initially wary of him, Tessa rescued the critically injured mutant but soon after they encountered a United Nations aid convoy being attacked by bandits. Tessa drove off the attackers and then avenged the death of one young U.N. worker by brutally murdering the bandit that had raped and killed her.

Years later, Xavier recruited Tessa at the same time that he formed his original team of teenage mutant students he called the X-Men. Xavier
kept Tessa's presence at his mansion a secret as he intended to utilize her own mutant telepathic talents as a spy in his fight for peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans. Her first mission for him… well… would be her only one, apparently.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/11768/381397-117266-sage_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/117266-sage/105-381397/)

Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
Tessa's first mission was to infiltrate the organization for the rich and powerful known as the Hellfire Club and to gain the trust of Sebastian Shaw, leader of the Club's Inner Circle at its New York branch. For years, Tessa acted as Shaw's familiar, advising and counselling him in both his legitimate and illegal business practices, all the while apparently gathering information for Xavier.

Shaw found Tessa's ability to function as a living computer invaluable and kept her in his employ for many years, even during the time he was deposed as leader of the Club. She was present during the club’s capture of all the X-Men, and their recruitment of Jean Grey as Black Queen (Uncanny X-Men #132), and on the occasion that Emma Frost used a device to switch bodies and powers with Storm (Uncanny X-Men #151), Selene’s joining as Black Queen (Uncanny X-Men #189), and the night that Nimrod would kill Friedrich von Roehm and Harry Leland (Uncanny X-Men #208-210).

Sometime during Sebastian Shaw’s first reign as Black King, Tessa ran afoul of one of the Club’s regular and valued patrons, a reclusive billionaire named Elias Bogan. Shaw had made a wager with Bogan during a game of cards whereupon if Shaw lost, Bogan would win the Club's then-White Queen, the telepathic mutant Emma Frost. Bogan had never lost a game before, but with Tessa’s help Shaw won the bet. Bogan honoured the wager, but knew who was truly responsible for his defeat and exacted his revenge on Tessa.

Early in Tessa’s time with the Club, its renegade White Bishop, Donald Pierce, attempted a coup of the Club's leadership. Pierce kidnapped Tessa, believing that without her Shaw's position could more easily be compromised. She was rescued by Xavier and his team of New Mutants and, upon her return to the Club, Pierce was expelled (Marvel Graphic Novel #4). Tessa would also interact a great deal with the New Mutants and Hellions, being present at several of the former teams’ visits to the club, during Magneto’s reign as White King, and his time as headmaster of Xavier’s School for the Gifted. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #51-54).

More interesting, would be that after Shinobi Shaw would apparently kill his father and take the title of Black King of the Hellfire Club, is that Tessa would remain as his assistant, instead of Sebastian’s. (X-Men (vol. 2) #29, Spider-Man Team-Up #1). Whether or not she was doing so under the orders of Xavier, Sebastian Shaw, or her own free will has yet to be determined.

Upon Shaw’s return to power, however, Tessa was found right by his side when he tried to recruit Holocaust to stop X-Force (X-Force (vol. 1) #48-50), and as Selene brought Madelyne Pryor into the Hellfire Club as her new Black Rook and inadvertently into Sebastian Shaw’s bed. (X-Man #15,20-23, 25)

Of course, sometimes old grudges do come to bear, and Elias Bogan would finally return to extract his revenge on Tessa, capturing her and branding her face with facial tattoos. Tessa would be rescued by the X-Man Storm, after Sebastian Shaw refused to give Bogan back his fortune as Tessa’s ransom. When Shaw left her to such a fate, it was enough to make her leave the Hellfire Club.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/224218-70134-sage_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/70134-sage/105-224218/)

worstblogever

05-23-2010, 01:02 AM

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Her Life After the Hellfire Club:
Tessa soon affiliated herself with the X-Men, acting as part of their support crew. In order to shield herself from detection by Bogan, Tessa consciously shut down her telepathic abilities, relying solely on her computer-like mind to assist her new teammates.

When Senator Robert Kelly announced his intention to run for the Presidency on an anti-mutant platform, Tessa met with him to persuade him otherwise by convincing him that his actions were no different to those of the mutant terrorist Magneto. Kelly was not so easily swayed, however, and it wasn’t until a mutant sacrificed his life to save Kelly that he realized his folly.

Soon after, Tessa was given the codename Sage by Storm who recruited her into a splinter group of X-Treme X-Men who set out to search for the diaries of the blind mutant seer named Destiny that predicted the future of mutantkind. On the new team's first mission, Tessa was instrumental in saving the life of her teammate the Beast after he was badly wounded encounter with the self-professed enhanced human named Vargas (X-Treme X-Men #2). Sage used a heretofore-unseen ability to advance the Beast's evolution to its next stage, healing him of his injuries and activating his latent secondary mutation. Eventually learning of Tessa's deception, Shaw allied himself with Lady Mastermind, the daughter of former Hellfire Club member Jason Wyngarde, to exact revenge on his former assistant. Lady Mastermind trapped Tessa in a convincing illusion, making her believe that she was once again Shaw's assistant back in the Hellfire Club. Tessa was freed thanks to the efforts of Heather Cameron, an Australian mutant with the ability to manifest various super-human powers depending on what the current situation called for, and the X-Men defeated Shaw once more. Tessa later catalyzed the latent mutant powers of Heather’s brother Davis, who subsequently joined the X-Treme X-Men as Slipstream, as well as evolving her teammate Rogue's mutant ability to grant her control over the manifestation of the powers and abilities she has absorbed over the years.

Tessa often used her computer-like mind to assist her teammate Bishop in his activities as a homicide detective, such as when they were called upon to investigate the attempted murder of Emma Frost, now a member of the X-Men and an instructor at Xavier’s school. Later, when the X-Treme team encountered Bogan once more after a murder at his Alaskan estate (X-Treme X-Men #21), Sage and Bishop were called in to investigate. A young mutant named Jeffrey Garrett was wanted for questioning after Bogan had his family killed and, in retaliation, he teleported Bogan's associates onto the nearby glacier where they froze to death. Garrett fled to the Xavier Institute where he came under the protection of Frost. However, Bogan had secretly possessed the young boy and when Frost scanned his mind, Bogan took possession of her. Sage and Bishop followed the trail to the mansion where Bogan captured them, but the timely arrival of Storm allowed them to escape and defeat the villain.

Bogan returned to plague the X-Treme X-Men soon after when he captured and mentally enslaved Bishop, hoping to use him as a weapon against his teammates. With the aid of several of their former allies the X-Men were able to rescue Bishop, which allowed Sage to defeat Bogan once and for all. (X-Treme X-Men #45) Sage then accompanied her teammates back to New York to assist in the rebuilding of the mansion following an attack by Magneto, after which they rejoined the core X-Men team.

Sage then joined a new incarnation of the British super-team Excalibur, and helped the team defeat plots by both Albion, and a group of X-Men from a world where they were overtaken by the Shadow King before finding herself battling alongside both her teammates, and the Exiles, visitors from other realities, against the combined threat of Mad Jim Jaspers, the Fury, and Merlyn. At the end of this conflict, Sage acquired the knowledge of the goddess Roma, and joined the Exiles in their Crystal Palace, to help save entire worlds within the Multiverse. The near-omniscience of Roma, however, left Sage trying to cope with many visions that to her, seemed real (New Excalibur #1-24, X-Men: Die By the Sword #1-5).

While the other Exiles went on missions, Sage largely remained back at their base of operations, fighting the effects of Roma's memories and Diana Fox tenaciously every day until she would drop from exhaustion. She refused to lose possession of her mind, body, and soul. For a while she managed to calm down the phantoms, however, Diana Fox remained an aggressive presence in Sage's mind, fighting her for control. While diverting her focus to analyze Cat’s uncontrolled ability to "cascade" through different alternate versions of herself, and Cat's empathic connection to the Crystal Palace, the phantoms in Sage's mind broke free from their mental prison. Sage decided to confront them and Diana Fox once and for all. During her struggle she bonded with Cat, who had been trying to find a way to heal the dying Multiverse. Sage told Cat that she was probably too close to the situation and that it was time for a fresh mind and a new perspective. She sent Cat away to join the rest of the team and prepared to find answers, just as her Diana Fox persona showed up, wanting to fight. Sage and Diana fought each other but neither yielded; they were too evenly matched and equally stubborn. And, as long as they fought each other, they could not defeat the phantoms. The women decide to team up against a greater threat: the return of Merlin. During battles, Sage and Diana got a better understanding of each other and their motives. Merlin almost killed Sage, and knowing that she could never find answers the way Sage could to the collapsing of the Multiverse, Diana decided to sacrifice herself to revive Sage for the greater good. Sage reabsorbed Diana and destroyed the evil version of Merlyn. Sage then followed her instincts and merged with the Crystal Palace, an act which stabilized the Multiverse. This fate was intended for Cat, but she was too young and too scared; she couldn't handle it. From now on when the New Exiles communicate with the Crystal Palace, they were not addressing a computer, they're talking to a living being: Sage. (New Exiles #1-18).

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With the exceptions of Psylocke (who was recently returned to the mainstream Marvel Earth by Madelyne Pryor) and Morph (now acting as the Timebroker for the newest Exiles team), it is unknown what happened to Sage or her team of Exiles, save that she, and the rest of the team were seen in the wall of the Crystal Palace. She seemed to have been permanently absorbed and rendered comatose along with her Exiles team, somehow, and if she can be revived, separated, or if she is going to be seen again remains unknown (Exiles (vol. 3) #6).

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What did you think of Tessa? Did you think it strange that in all her service to Sebastian Shaw, she was never given the title of Black Bishop or Black Rook? What do you think of Sage since she has left the Hellfire Club? Do you think she will ever cease go become part of a piece of inter-dimensional masonry, and return to the mainstream Marvel Universe?

M.I.Brooks

05-23-2010, 05:53 AM

I've been waiting for this one. :smile:

I've always thought of Sage as an interesting character and this is just from reading one or comics she's been in. Her powers are really interesting, varied and highly debated (or confused, which ever you prefer).

I do hope we get to see her in comics again in the future.

worstblogever

05-23-2010, 01:52 PM

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Opal Lun Sat-Yr-9 AKA Courtney Ross
– White Queen of the Hellfire Club V

First Appearance: Captain Britain (vol. 2) #2.
All Hellfire Club Appearances: Uncanny X-Men #449, 452-454, Excalibur (vol. 2) #11-13.
Last Appearance: X-Men: Die By the Sword #5.
Powers: The ability to channel psychic power through her eyes that force those of weak wills to submit to her every desire.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070814104118/marveldatabase/images/thumb/9/95/Excalibur_Vol_1_9_page_-_Sat-Yr-9_%28Earth-794%29.jpg/180px-Excalibur_Vol_1_9_page_-_Sat-Yr-9_%28Earth-794%29.jpg

Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Opal Lun Sat-Yr-9 was a dictator who ruled Earth-794 with her lover and slave, Kaptain Briton. When he fled from her, and traveled to Earth-616 where he knew he had an identical looking counterpart, Brian Braddock as Earth-616’s Captain Britain, she sent armored troops to retrieve him. They mistakenly attacked Captain Britain twice, but were repelled on each occasion, the first time by Britain and his ally Meggan, the second by Britain's sister Betsy Braddock. Sat-Yr-9 next hired the inter-dimensional mercenary group, the Technet, but Briton swapped places with Britain, and the Technet took the wrong man back to Earth-794. Britain later convinced the Technet of their error, but Sat-Yr-9 tried to stop them departing with him; the Technet slaughtered her soldiers, and the already psychotic Sat-Yr-9 became completely unhinged. After they departed, she started slaughtering her subjects, leading to her world’s people revolting, overthrowing her, and imprisoning her when Roma sent Captain UK on a mission to capture her. And all the while Captain Britain was on Earth-794, Kaptain Briton was on Earth-616, only to be killed by Betsy Braddock when he tried to rape her.

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Escaping to Earth-616 through a dimension gateway that had accidentally been opened by an unassuming civilian on Earth-616, Sat-Yr-9 killed her alternate reality counterpart, a businesswoman named Courtney Ross, and assumed her identity. Coincidentally, Ross was Captain Britain's ex-girlfriend. As Ross, she tried to create a rift between Captain Britain and his current girlfriend Meggan as a way of getting at least a doppleganger of her old lover, Kaptain Briton, back.

Sat-Yr-9 also knew about Jamie Braddock’s reality warping powers before anyone else including himself did (since she presumably knew about the reality warping powers of Jamie's alternate reality counterpart in her timeline of origin) and arranged things so that Jamie's powers would be unlocked, at the expense of driving him insane. She had intended to use Jamie and his great powers as a living weapon against difficult adversaries. She used Jamie's powers to change her right-hand man, Nigel Frobisher, into a duplicate of the London Crime Vixen, while changing Vixen herself into a fox. With Frobisher as Vixen, Sat-Yr-9 took over the Vixen's crime syndicate.

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With her powerbase built, she briefly made overtures towards corrupting a young Kitty Pryde, before she finally attacked Excalibur, revealing her true identity to them. She tried to enslave Captain Britain, against Frobisher's advice. Frobisher rebelled and was killed by her. Excalibur managed to defeat Jamie, and Sat-Yr-9 and her troops were forced to flee. Captain Britain swore to avenge Courtney's death, but was unable to track Sat-Yr-9 down.

Her Life as a Member of the Hellfire Club:
After surviving an attempt on her life by Viper, Courtney Ross made her an offer instead to join her when she would be inducted into a new Hellfire Club as its White Queen, to serve as her self-proclaimed "White Princess" and bodyguard. She did face a challenge from a former White Queen, Emma Frost, for the title of a game of “high-card”, but when Emma drew a joker, the wild card, it ended in a draw. Sat-Yr-9 was present during the attack on the Hellfire Club by its former White King, Donald Pierce, and managed to survive unscathed. She was seen later trying to gain a strangehold on Genosha during its rebuilding process after the Sentinel attack, but may have abandoned the endeavor in light of M-Day.

She has been seen publicly appearing in London as Courtney Ross again, trying to convince Captain Britain that she somehow is the real Courtney Ross. So far Captain Britain remains unconvinced, but he hasn't moved against her as of yet. She was last seen leaving the battle between the Exiles and New Excalibur with Albion, possibly forming either an alliance, or romance with him.

What do you think of Opal Lun Sat-Yr-9? Do you think the idea of a “White Warrior Princess” is a good one that she had? Will she ever prove to be as formidable a White Queen as Emma Frost?

worstblogever

05-23-2010, 09:15 PM

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Turner Scholl
-Hellfire Club Member

First appearance: X-Men: Legacy #215
All Appearances: X-Men: Legacy #215, 217, Wolverine: Origins #29
Last Appearance: Wolverine: Origins #29
Powers: Through unknown means, Turner Scholl had the power to transform into a human/lion hybrid.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His Time in the Hellfire Club:
Turner Scholl had a brief time in the Hellfire Club, in which he attempted to poison his fellow member, Castlemere’s wine, and for his trouble, was nearly killed. Sebastian Shaw, however, demanded Castlemere cease his attack. This hardly endeared Scholl to Shaw, however, as he began plotting a coup against him with both Mercedes and Castlemere. Before he could really attempt anything, however, Wolverine broke into the Hellfire Club, seeking out Daken, and Scholl attempted to attack Logan himself. He quickly ended up stabbed through the skull, however, dying on the spot.

What did you think of Turner Scholl? Was he just a cowardly lion? Or was he a true badass that never got a chance to shine?

worstblogever

05-24-2010, 07:51 AM

Scribe (Jane Hampshire)/Mountjoy
– Red Rook of the London Hellfire Club

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First appearance: Mountjoy in Bishop: The Mountjoy Crisis #1, Scribe in Excalibur (vol. 1) #96
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96, 98-100
Last Appearance: X-Man # 23
Powers: Mountjoy has a “basilisk field” that dampens the reflex action of others, physically merge with others and take over their bodies and powers, absorb human forms into himself for sustenance, while Scribe has augmented strength, agility, reflexes, and a phasing power that allows her to assume an ephemeral state.

His and her life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Nothing is known about Scribe’s life prior to her joining the London Hellfire Club. Mountjoy is a mutant from the future timeline of Bishop, of the X-Men, who was trained by the Emplates to merge with another person’s body in order to feed. Mountjoy would escape his future when he went through one of Trevor Fitzroy’s time portals while hiding inside the body of Bantam, who he was discreetly feeding on at the time. He then left Bantam after his arrival in the present day Marvel-616. Afterwards, when Fitzroy was presumed dead, Mountjoy hunted down Bantam because he was the only one who knew of Mountjoy’s presence, and by doing so, he could move unchecked in the past. Chasing Bantam, Mountjoy encountered Bishop, whose sister Shard recognized him, having once captured and imprisoned Mountjoy in their future. Mountjoy defeated Bishop while merging with Storm and using her as a hostage. Mountjoy then released Storm and escaped. Later, Mountjoy was found by Bishop at a NYPD Station. While chasing each other downtown, Mountjoy ambushed and absorbed Bishop. Arriving at the Xavier Mansion in Bishop’s body, Mountjoy divested Bishop and went after the other X-Men. He found and absorbed Archangel, Gambit, and Psylocke. Mountjoy was then lured into the Danger Room by Shard. Inside the Danger Room, Mountjoy fought off Bishop with powers from the three X-Men he absorbed. Not knowing the Shard was a hologram, Mountjoy tried to absorb her as well, but couldn’t. Shard held Mountjoy in place as Bishop fired an energy blast at him. The blast forced Mountjoy to let go of Archangel, Gambit and Psylocke, and he was defeated.

Their Time Together (literally) in the London Hellfire Club:
Mountjoy would later escape and infiltrate the Inner Circle of the London Hellfire Club, and merge inside the Circle’s recorder and Red Rook, Scribe. Brian Braddock was sent by Shinobi Shaw to find Mountjoy. Mountjoy, hiding in Scribe’s body, would confide in Braddock and pose as his ally during most of Braddock’s initial days of joining the club. (Excalibur (vol.1) #96-99) When the Inner Circle’s plans were revealed to harness the power of the demon beneath London, and Braddock donned his Captain Britain costume, Mountjoy and the Black Queen Ms. Steed attacked him in tandem. After Steed was defeated, Mountjoy tried to escape. Captain Britain caught up with him and knocked him out. Mountjoy and the Inner Circle were then put in jail. (Excalibur (vol. 1) #100)

Not long after, Mountjoy, still in Scribe’s body, was bailed out of jail by Sebastian Shaw as he began to reform a new Hellfire Club, having regained the title of Black King from his son Shinobi. Taken to Liberty Island, Mountjoy was put in a duel against Madelyne Pryor. Using Scribe’s powers, Mountjoy nearly defeated Madelyne and closed in for the kill. Madelyne then reached inside Scribe and pulled out Mountjoy, defeating him. (X-Man #23)Mountjoy's current whereabouts are unknown. But it's known that he retained his mutant powers after the Decimation, since he was from an alternate timeline. Scribe’s fate, however, remains a mystery.

What did you think of Mountjoy? Did you feel that he could have been a villain to plague the X-Men and Marvel Universe for years to come?
What did you think of Scribe? Was her powerset, and her design intriguing, or dull? Would you have liked to see her support Captain Britain in the Hellfire Club? How did her array of powers still end up just making her worthy of being the London Hellfire Club’s stenographer?

worstblogever

05-24-2010, 12:18 PM

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Selene
- Black Queen of the Hellfire Club I, III, IV, V

First appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #9
All Hellfire Appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #22, Uncanny X-Men #189, New Mutants (vol. 1) #23, Firestar #3-4, Uncanny X-Men #207-210, New Mutants (vol. 1) #51, 53-54, 61, Annual #4, #70-71, 73-75, Marvel Comics Presents #78, X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #33, Uncanny X-Men #283,X-Man #7, 13, 16-17, 20-23, 28, Fantastic Four Annual '99, X-Force #94, 96-99, Uncanny X-Men #452-454
Last Appearance: X-Force (vol. 3) #25.
Powers : Superhuman strength, speed, endurance and reaction time, telekinetic powers allows her to create fire and manipulate the molecules of inanimate objects, induce a momentary hypnotic trance in the minds of others, and retains her youth and beauty for centuries by draining the life energy from others. A partial absorption gives her a level of hypnotic control over her victims.
She has displayed the following powers:
- total control of inanimate objects (her mutant power – or at least one of them)
- limited telepathy
- telekinesis
- hypnosis
- stealing life energy to keep herself young and powerful, an ability, she claims, she can pass on to others
- diverse magical powers / ability to work spells, such as stealing and devouring souls (similar to a succubus)
- as an External, Selene is apparently impossible to kill by mundane means.

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Her life before the Hellfire Club:

Selene was revealed to have been an old enemy of Kulan Gath, a sorcerer who was active during the Hyperborian Age (before any recorded civilizations) and is known to have faced both Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja. In fact, Sonja reportedly managed to kill Kulan Gath and his spirit would not manifest again until the modern era. Selene, though, was active at least as early as the Hyperborian age. It is said when earliest man existed that Selene was already old, and if this is true, she may even be older than En Sabah Nur, Apocalyspe. (revealed in Uncanny X-Men #190-191).

She even lived in the Roman Republic, and it was in the city of Rome itself where she sought to cast a ritual to kill every living being in the city, and ascend to godhood. To do so, she needed an accomplice, a senator named Eliphas who was disenchanted with his wife, and much of Rome after being cuckolded and disgraced. Using her feminine wiles to entice him to aid her, Eliphas began to help Selene prepare the ritual, but his own conscience betrayed him. After he warned a young girl of the doom that was to come, agents of the republic rooted out Eliphas’ plot, and captured both he, and Selene before the final ritual could be performed. Both were sentenced to be burned at the stake, but before they were killed, Selene broke free, saving them both. She did, however, curse Eliphas to live for all time, without her, in agony, allowing him to be buried alive because their capture meant they lost the ritual dagger, which was made from the bone of Selene’s own mother, a sorceress in her own right (revealed in X-Force (vol. 3) #11).

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Xavier’s younger students, the New Mutants, once accompanied Sunspot’s mother, an archeologist, on a trip through the Amazonian rainforest and stumbled across an outpost of ancient pre-Augustan Rome – Nova Roma. The New Romans’ ancestors had feared (quite rightly) that, with the death of Julius Caesar, the republic of Rome would be doomed and give way to an Empire and had therefore fled Rome to eventually found a city built on the old ideals in the rainforest. They were joined by descendants of the ancient Inca Indians. The two cultures shared an uneasy coexistence in this city state. Introduced as the obedient but dangerous wife of the ambitious Senator Gallio in ancient Nova Roma, who schemed to overthrow the republic in favor of a tyranny (with him as ruler, naturally). Selene addressed her husband as “Roman“ at one point, and other hints were given that she was Inca or of mixed heritage. Selene supported her husband’s schemes while, at the same time, as the “Black Priestess,“ being the secret object of devotion of a secret death cult that abducted young girls in the city-state and threw them into the lava pits as a sacrifice to Selene. It was part of her scheme as an energy vampire, feeding on others’ life forces and using these sacrifices as a cover to keep up her youth and vigor. As well, she displayed the ability to control inanimate objects and hypnotic control of others. In the present day, Selene came into conflict with the New Mutants when she took prisoner their new friend, Amara Aquila, daughter of her husband’s political rival, Senator Lucius Aquila. Selene had already been responsible for the death of Amara’s mother and now wanted to take Amara’s life as well, while at the same time intending to make Danielle Moonstar, the first other mutant she was aware of (or so she claimed), her apprentice. Selene threatened to make Moonstar a life-force energy vampire like herself as well. The scheme failed, as her attempt to murder Amara actually served to ignite the girl’s latent mutant power and Amara and the other New Mutants fought Selene, seemingly killing her, by throwing her into a lava pit and then burying her under an avalanche. They believed this to be the end of Selene, but they were very much mistaken.

Taking along Amara, they left for New York, not realizing their paths would cross again. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #9-11) It would eventually come to light that Nova Roma was NOT an Roman colony. As it turned out, it was little more than an amusement park for Selene. Nostalgic for the glory that was Rome, several (unspecified, though probably not more than ten years) years before the meeting with New Mutants, Selene had kidnapped a few hundreds (or thousands of people) and brainwashed them into believing they were offsprings of ancient Rome. Then, she herself had entered her “artifical” world, enjoying that simpler time and culture. After she left, the spell, slowly, very slowly started to fade. (New Warriors (vol. 1) #31)

After the New Mutants left Nova Roma, believing Selene slain, Selene, possibly because her cult and life in Nova Roma was destroyed, and partially because she was just curious about the world, followed to New York. There, she ran into the Juggernaut and went on a date with him, intending to steal his life-force. It would have been fascinating to see which of the two villains would have been in for the ruder surprise eventually, but their date was broken up, when Colossus accidentally shoved Juggernaut (the X-Men coincidentally being in the same bar), resulting in a brawl. Juggernaut’s date was forgotten in the fisticuffs, and she would never get around to absorbing his energies. (Uncanny X-Men #183)

Selene kept on prowling New York until running across the newly arrived Rachel Summers. Sensing the immense power potential in Rachel, Selene decided to make the young girl her disciple, whether she was willing or not. After a first attempt to seduce her to the dark side failed, Selene followed Rachel and murdered the man who had taken her in. Selene’s power and psychic influence proved too much for Rachel in her weakened state and it was only the interference of the X-Men, as well as Professor Xavier, who mentally attacked Selene, that made the energy vampire flee and give up her claim on Rachel. (Uncanny X-Men #184)

Instead, Selene approached Friedrich von Roehm, owner of an exclusive Park Avenue store. Von Roehm was the current hereditary high priest to one of the cults devoted to Selene. She reminded him of her duty to her, telling him that she was in need of an appropriate residence and a powerbase to bring certain plans to fruition. Von Roehm had the perfect idea…

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/seleneblackqueen1.jpg

worstblogever

05-24-2010, 12:25 PM

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Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
Von Roehm forged credentials and a false background for his goddess, Selene, and had her apply for the title of Black Queen in the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle. Selene auditioned to Sebastian Shaw, already not-too-subtly showing that she would not be satisfied with a subservient role.

Selene was followed to the Club by Rachel Summers and Amara (still not aware of the truth about herself and Nova Roma at the time) both of whom had a bone to pick with Selene, but to no avail – she easily surprised and beat the two girls. While they eventually shook off her mind control, it took the united threat of the X-Men to prevent a crisis between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club. The X-Men and their charges left Selene, unharmed, remained at the Hellfire Club. (Uncanny X-Men #189)

Sebastian Shaw and his partners (among them, Tessa and Emma Frost, the White Queen) were not at all happy with Selene’s presence, but had little choice but to accept her as the new Black Queen, even though she barely made a secret out of her own desire for leadership. Despite some half-hearted attempts to get rid of Selene, such as Frost trying to groom the innocent but powerful mutant Firestar into an assassin, who was to take out Selene, the Black Queen remained scheming, and her rivals still were unsure… what were her goals? (New Mutants (vol. 1) #23, Firestar (vol. 1) #3-4)

Soon, the wizard Kulan Gath would remake all of Manhattan into the Hyperborian age (a spell that would have eventually claimed the entire world) Selene was only too happy to play both heroes and Gath’s troops against each other, intending in the end to use Gath’s master spell for herself. Fortunately, the timeline was restored thanks to Dr. Strange and the X-Men. (Uncanny X-Men #190-191).

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Rachel Summers, now more secure in her power as Phoenix, snuck into the Hellfire Club and tried to assassinate the Black Queen, only to be violently stopped at the last moment by her own teammate, Wolverine, who was afraid of her going down the same road as her mother, Jean Grey, ending up as Dark Phoenix. Selene called in the rest of the Inner Circle and demanded they hunt Phoenix down for the offense. They did and ended up fighting the X-Men, until both groups had to combine their forces to survive against the threat of the mutant-killing robot, Nimrod, a temporary alliance which led to more cooperation between the Club and the X-teams. (Uncanny X-Men #207-209)

For some time, Selene continued working together with the Inner Circle which slowly drifted apart. Von Roehm and Leland had died in battle with Nimrod, Shaw was voted out by his ambitious peers, Magneto followed other interests, leaving only Frost and Selene. Despite the new status quo Selene did more or else nothing of consequence during that time. At one point she tried to seduce the Hulk (in his nasty no-nonsense Mr. Fixit persona) but had to realize that there was a foe who could resist both her wiles and her power (Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 1) #78). She also managed to run afoul of the heroine known as Spitfire while seeking out a victim to drain the energy from on a trip to England (Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 1) #89).

Even while remaining Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, Selene joined up with the mysterious omnipath known as the Gamesmaster and both of them intended to forge the next generation of the Hellfire Club – the Upstarts – towards a secret goal only they were aware of. The Upstarts apparently had to prove themselves by dispatching of former Hellfire Club members. Shinobi Shaw seemingly killed his father Sebastian, whereas Trevor Fitzroy tried to dispose of the White Queen and murdered most of the Hellions. The plan backfired, at least for Selene, as one of the Upstarts – the future criminal Fitzroy – captured her and placed her in a molecular ”spooler“ – an exotic form of torture to gain the attention of the Gamesmaster. (Uncanny X-Men #301) Forgotten, Selene remained a prisoner of this device of torture devising a complicated plan to escape – by forcing Amanda Sefton to save her, intending first for the young sorceress and then her lover Nightcrawler to take her place in the torture device. Her plan backfired: not only did both heroes escape unscathed, but Selene had left the device to soon before its spooling cycle was completed, and now seemed victim to wounds that refused to heal. (Excalibur (vol. 1) Annual #2)

Selene eventually recovered in Paris where new arrivals Nate Grey and his companion, the miraculously resurrected Madelyne Pryor, came to her attention. Selene set out to recruit Madelyne: whether she saw her as easy pickings due to her amnesy and her previous corruption (thanks to the demons S’ym and N’astirh) or whether she was interested in her slumbering power (similar to the one of Rachel Summers whom she had also attempted to once recruit), either way, Selene offered Madelyne answers and power and Madelyne accepted. (X-Man #7).

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While Madelyne remained as a guest in Selene’s home, the energy vampire put the next part of her plan to regain a powerbase into motion, by attacking the immortal mutants, her fellow Externals, while before she had only disdained them, not even bothering to come to their meetings, she was now killing them all and absorbing their powerful life energies for herself. Besides herself, that left one last External named Candra and Apocalypse as the only known immortal mutants. Candra soon perished in a battle against the X-Men, and as even Selene (like the other Externals before) acknowledged, Apocalypse was a number too big for her as she clearly feared him. (X-Force (vol. 1) #52-54)

Selene then sent Madelyne on a mission to find Trevor Fitzroy the former Upstart who had tortured her in front of the Gamesmaster. Madelyne did so and Selene got her vengeance on Fitzroy in an apparently gruesome manner that occurred off-panel. However, surprisingly, she let him live, but dominated him into working for her. (X-Man #16-17, 20) Given the rising anti-mutant sentiment in the world, she wanted to re-establish the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle as a powerbase. Apparently seeking strength in numbers Madelyne and Fitzroy were to be her candidates, her Black and White Rook respectively. Selene suggested this to her equal number, the recovered Sebastian Shaw, the Black King. He and his assistant Tessa were less than pleased to have Selene in their lives again, but finally gave in to her logic, accepting her and her candidates, after Madelyne had proven herself. (X-Man #21-23).

However unexpected to both sides it was Selene’s protégé Madelyne who soon grew closer to Shaw and started an affair with him much to the displeasure of Selene and Tessa who feared an alliance of the two. (X-Man #28) The plot wasn’t followed upon and eventually the Club fell apart again: Madelyne left to return to Nate’s life again (and eventually died), Pierce was thrown out, Fitzroy left for the future, and Shaw left after receiving a mysterious letter. With all of them gone, the Hellfire Club was just where Selene wanted it – in her hands.

Selene eventually put the “Hellfire” back into Hellfire Club. With Shaw out of the picture she planned to shape the Inner Circle after her own dreams and started an alliance with the demon Blackheart, son of Mephisto. Using the Hellfire Club as a base, Blackheart intended to carve his own hell empire – on Earth. The two abducted and imprisoned Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan (and ruler of a hell dimension at the time) and attempted to kill Margali Szardos, another sorceress powerful enough to disturb their plans. Selene stole the souls of people, meaning they were replaced by demons. When a friend of the Reed Richards, Alyssa Moy, investigated the Hellfire Club, she too became a victim of Selene. The Fantastic Four investigated and while they managed to free Margali from jail they fell prey to the same soul-corrupting virus that afflicted Alyssa. With the help of Margali and a mysterious armoured sorceress named Mecha-mage the Fantastic Four infiltrated the Hellfire Club on its Halloween celebration. Selene had intended for the numerous guests, most of whom were evil anyway, to become slaves of her consort Blackheart. However the heroes prevented this from coming to pass, freed Hellstrom and managed to banish Blackheart (and Selene for some time) to the lower levels of the Club Building. (Fantastic Four Annual ’99).

Selene however found a loophole to free herself of that entrapment if not her consort. Only a short time before she had crossed swords with X-Force at an alternative rock festival, where the X-Forcers were hanging out. She planned to get the power of an Asgardian runestaff for herself, which could only be freed from its encasing at a certain constellation and with the blood of an Asgardian. With her not daring to approach Thor, she simply took the blood of Dani Moonstar, an adopted Asgardian of sorts thanks to her Valkyrie status. Thanks to X-Force’s intervention the spell went awry, the awesome energy of the runestaff wasted in animating a metal statue (the symbol of the festival) instead. Moonstar managed to rattle and chase Selene away with an image of her greatest fear: turning physically old with her powers deserting her. (X-Force (vol. 1) #75)

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worstblogever

05-24-2010, 12:26 PM

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Having established her leadership of the Hellfire Club Selene went on another recruiting mission. She approached Roberto daCosta, the X-Force member known as Sunspot, who had just been deported from the United States. After playing damsel in distress to gain his interest she asked for his help in stopping the Damocles Foundation (an organization X-Force had several times ran afoul of) from reviving the unimaginable power of a Celestial construct. Of course, in the confusion that ensued as Roberto and Selene were captured and the rest of X-Force joined the fight, Selene, being Selene, made a bid to control the construct herself, once more prevented by Dani Moonstar. Angrily Selene knocked out all of X-Force promising revenge on them and Moonstar in particular.

Back at the Club, Selene let all the X-Forcers live through nightmare scenarios, save for Sunspot whom she still wanted to recruit and seduce to her side and Dani whom she gave to Blackheart as she deemed her too dangerous at her current power level. She was particularly interested in Roberto, because, as she claimed, she and his father had been at odds, when they were together in the Inner Circle and turning his only son into her lackey was her form of revenge against the dead Emmanuel daCosta. (however presumably she saw more potential in Roberto) Sunspot refused to fall for her enticements and eventually broke the other X-Forcers, including Dani, out, but Selene then, having failed to seduce him with the promise of power, or even the opportunity to use the Club as a platform to do good finally played one card he couldn’t ignore. She revealed that Roberto’s first love Juliana Sandoval who had sacrificed her life for him hadn’t been meant to die back then and that Selene could put her soul into the body of another comatose girl to give her a second chance at life. Feeling he had no choice, Roberto agreed to become Selene’s Black Rook. (X-Force (vol. 1) #96-98)

Selene appeared next when the X-Men were drawn to the Hellfire Club in the hopes of rescuing Sage from it, only to hear from Sunspot that its current incarnation, with Courtney Ross, Viper, Sebastian Shaw and himself was supposedly legitimate, and without sinister purposes. No sooner did they declare this that simultaneously Donald Pierce attacked, while Selene tried to settle her own personal vendetta against Rachel Summers, nearly absorbing the life energies of both her, and Red Lotus in the process. It was apparently Rachel’s connection to the Phoenix Force that helped her fend off this attempt, and Selene retreated, for the time being. (Uncanny X-Men #452-454)

Her last appearance revealed her to be a withered old woman living homeless in New York City, giving advice to a runaway mutant from the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Kevin Ford aka Wither. She was trying to manipulate him into using his powers more recklessly, goading him into attacking police officers who came into their alley and shot Selene as the suspect in murders, not wanting to end up drained like her victims. After Wither killed the two officers, Selene embraced the young man, revealing her more youthful form, kissing him, and offering herself to him as her queen (New X-Men (vol. 2) #32). Selene continued to manipulate the youth, eventually goading him into willingly killing for her, gaining herself a loyal lethal protector. She also went around the world to locate and recruit some of the world’s most lethal mutants to her cause, particularly those who had reason to hate the X-Men, including Clarice Ferguson (Blink-616), Lois London (Mortis), and Suvik Senyaka. Eventually, this group migrated with her to New Orleans, waiting for a moment to strike and help get the Black Queen her revenge against those who had wronged her (Necrosha: The Gathering #1).

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The means to gain her revenge would come from an unexpected source. Eliphas, her old proxy from Ancient Rome would arrive, calling himself Eli Bard, and bring with him all of the tribe of John Proudstar, including Thunderbird I, as well as Caliban. All of these people, had been killed, but Eliphas had resurrected them with the techno-organic virus, and, as he suggested to Selene, they could use Caliban to track down other dead mutants, and revive them as well, to build her an army of techno-organic virus–infected thralls. Because of this amazing gift, and the potential it posed, Selene forgave Eliphas for failing her ages ago (X-Force (vol. 3) #11). Building her army took time, but Selene made sure to send her people to gain someone with the means to bypass the X-Men’s security system, in Doug Ramsey, and also had Destiny revived, to find out if her plan would work, and if this would finally be the time she achieved godhood (X-Force (vol. 3) #19).

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Selene would execute her plan for vengeance upon all who opposed her, sending her Inner Circle to attack the Hellfire Club in New York City, and to murder everyone inside. She then turned her attentions to the X-Men’s new home, Utopia, having Blink teleport her techno-organic virus-infected thralls there, and begin attacking its residents en masse. That served as an excellent diversion to her true plan, to have Eliphas resurrect millions of mutants who had been slaughtered in Genosha, to quickly build her a palace, and to serve as the sacrificial lambs in her ritual to achieve godhood. When she would remind Eliphas that she required the ritual dagger to complete the ritual, he panicked, knowing that he’d lost it earlier to create a Demon Bear to attack Warpath. He tried to get Blink to help him retrieve it for her, in secret, but Blink instead immediately reported his deception to Selene. Seething, she sent her Inner Circle to Utopia, as well, to recover the blade and kidnap Warpath. Upon its return, she grew tired of the way Eliphas seemed to jealously covet her, and threaten her consort, Wither, so she stabbed him with the very dagger he’d just helped her retrieve, finally killing him after nearly two millennia. Selene and her followers then continued with the ritual, and as it was completed, the Vanisher arrived to save Warpath, and steal the ritual dagger. Her goal was finally achieved, though. Selene absorbed the life force of all of the revived followers she had on Genosha, including anyone Blink could deliver back to her from Utopia. Her might was enough that it left most of the world’s sorcerers immobilized, unable to intervene to stop her. X-Force, however, was in Genosha, and with Warpath reunited with his teammates, he instructed them on how to perform the Ghost Dance, to be able to still strike at Selene. As she used her vast powers to try and fight them all off, Warpath buried Selene’s own dagger in her chest, and it apparently served to be enough to kill a god, as she apparently died on the spot (X-Necrosha #1, X-Men: Legacy #231, X-Force #21-25).

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6049/xforce25legioncps029.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/i/xforce25legioncps029.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

What do you think of Selene? What did you think of her own incarnation of the “Hellfire” Club? Do you think she will ever be back, and if she is, will she have the might of a god? Do you think her Inner Circle should find Ella the Maid, and plan her resurrection?

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 01:44 AM

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Paris Seville
- White Queen of the Hellfire Club (version 0)
First appearance: Classic X-Men #7
Last appearance: Classic X-Men #7
All appearances: Classic X-Men #7
Powers: Baseline human

Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
Paris Seville was a human member of the Hellfire Club, and Ned Buckman’s White Queen. The night the human Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club tried to kill several of its mutant members, failing to kill Emma Frost and Harry Leland, but succeeding in killing Lourdes Chantel would be her only night of note with the organization. Upon Emma Frost’s return with Sebastian Shaw, Emma would use her powers to take mental control of Ned Buckman, and make him gun down Paris, and all the assembled Council of the Chosen.

What did you think of Paris Seville? Was she an intriguing White Queen? Would you like to see Emma Frost reflect upon her death, and taking her place?

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 07:26 AM

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Sebatian Shaw
- Black King of the Hellfire Club I, III, V
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129 [silhouette], #130 [fully]
All Hellfire appearances: X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, Classic X-Men #6-7, X-Treme X-Men #3, Marvel Super Heroes (vol. 2) #11, Uncanny X-Men #129-130, 132-135, 151-152, 169, New Mutants (vol. 1) #7-8, Uncanny X-Men Annual #7, New Mutants (vol. 1) #12, Uncanny X-Men #182, New Mutants (vol. 1) #17, Firestar #2, New Mutants (vol. 1) #22, Uncanny X-Men #189, New Mutants (vol. 1) #23, Firestar #3-4, Uncanny X-Men #208-210, New Mutants (vol. 1) #51, 53-54, 61, Annual #4, #70-71, 73-75, X-Force (vol. 1) #48-50, Excalibur (vol. 1) #96, X-Man #15, 20-25, X-Men (vol. 2) #61, 63-64, Cable #44, X-Man #28, Cable #50-53, X-Men (vol. 2) #71, 73, X-51 #0-7, X-Treme X-Men #6-9, New X-Men (vol. 1) #139. 142, Weapon X (vol. 2) #20, Uncanny X-Men #449, 453-454, X-Men: Endangered Species #1, X-Men: Legacy #210-214, Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2
Last Appearance: X-Men: Endangered Species #1, X-Men: Legacy #210.
Powers: Absorbs kinetic energy or electricity into his body, immunizing him to most forms of physical injury while converting it into raw power that increases his strength and resilience. His body has an upper limit of energy it can metabolize, sending him into a coma if it is surpassed.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Sebastian Shaw was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At some point during his childhood, his father, indebted to a mysterious Dr. Milbury (actually Mr. Sinister), allowed the doctor to place a hidden genome sequence in Shaw’s DNA, which would only be able to be fully activated upon the death of Mr. Sinister, and if Sebastian was not in the presence of a machine his father created, known as the Cronus device (revealed in X-Men: Legacy #210-213) His power first manifested shortly after he was accepted to engineering school (Speculated to be Carnegie Mellon University) and his father, Jacob Shaw , died, after he contracted an incurable disease shortly thereafter. He devoted himself to his studies and created Shaw Industries, becoming a billionaire by age 40.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Shaw became engaged to a woman named Lourdes Chantel (Hellfire Club #4), a mutant teleporter, and was soon initiated into the Hellfire Club thanks to his vast fortune along with Warren Worthington, Jr. (father of Archangel), Howard Stark (father of Iron Man) and Sir James Braddock (father of Captain Britain and Psylocke), having caught the attention of then White King of Hellfire Club's New York Branch, Ned Buckman. Shaw became part of the Council of the Chosen earning the rank of Black Bishop. Both Lourdes and Shaw’s assistant, Tessa, did not trust Buckman and feared Shaw's ambition and the nature of Hellfire Club would corrupt him.

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When Lourdes was killed by Sentinels sent to kill Emma Frost and Harry Leland in battle, Shaw would seek to take revenge on Ned Buckman, the White King of the Council, for pressuring Shaw to increase funding to Steven Lang's Project: Armageddon and its Sentinels under the pretense that they were to capture and study mutants, he executed a coup, using Emma Frost's telepathy to make Buckman kill all the Council of the Chosen, including his own White Queen, Paris Seville, and then himself. Shaw proclaimed himself Black King, remade the Council of the Chosen into his Inner Circle and gathered Emma Frost, Harry Leland and the human cyborg Donald Pierce as the Lords Cardinal of Hellfire Club. (Classic X-Men #6-7) At Shaw's side still was Tessa, who, unbeknownst to him, was a spy working for Charles Xavier.

As the leader of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, Shaw started plans to dominate the world through force, money and power. His connections to top officials of corporations and government, acquired via the Club and through his position as CEO of Shaw Industries, made him a powerful enemy. Ironically, Shaw was for years a major supporter and builder of Sentinels, figuring that it's better to be in control of them than not. This activity brought him into frequent contact with the major players of Project: Wideawake, Senator Robert Kelly and Henry Peter Gyrich, to whom he appeared to be an anti-mutant human bigot.

With the death of his fiancée, Lourdes, Shaw began a romantic relationship with Emma Frost, the new White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Ned Buckman’s death left a void in the role of White King, and Shaw sought out a suitable replacement for his old rival. He was dissatisfied with many of the current members of the club, including Tony Stark and Norman Osborn. Instead, he sought out Namor for the position. After Namor haughtily turned him down, Shaw dispatched his own lover, Emma Frost to coerce the Sub-Mariner into joining, and Emma got his attention by feigning a suicide attempt by drowning to attempt to gain his trust. After Namor rescued her, the two became lovers for a time in Atlantis, an act Sebastian Shaw considered betrayal. Shaw contacted Donald Pierce to dispatch some of the Sentinels which he’d acquired control of to kill the Atlantean monarch. The duo survived, and confronted Shaw about the attack, only to see Tessa successfully mindwipe Emma Frost on Shaw’s behalf, and Namor to leave in disgust, swearing revenge that would apparently not come for years (revealed in Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/8134/207035-51514-sebastian-shaw_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/51514-sebastian-shaw/105-207035/)

Shaw was a key part of the corruption of the Phoenix entity into the Dark Phoenix by the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-Men #129-135). This battle was Shaw's and the Hellfire Club's first encounter (and, soon, first battle) with the X-Men, but certainly not their last. He also helped lead the attack by the Inner Circle upon the X-Men where he sent Sentinels to the Xavier School for Gifted Mutants, and Emma Frost would use a device to switch bodies and powers with Storm (Uncanny X-Men #151-152).

Shaw’s dealings with those associated with Xavier’s school would branch farther out, as he would recruit Emmanuel DaCosta, the father of one of the New Mutants, Sunspot to the Inner Circle, sending mercenaries into the Amazon to stop Nina Da Costa from succeeding in her expedition to find Nova Roma and return her to her estranged husband. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #7,8,12) Shaw would also take the application to the Hellfire Club of Selene after she encased him in stone to demonstrate a sample of her power (Uncanny X-Men #189). Shaw, mistrusting Selene from the start, would work with Emma Frost to find a potential assassins to eliminate her before her initiation (Firestar (vol. 1) #2-4) before reluctantly bringing both Selene, and DaCosta into its ranks on the same night. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #22-23).

Not long after, the Hellfire Club would find themselves in battle with the X-Men only to be interrupted and face the threat of Nimrod, a Sentinel from the future, Shaw was thrown into the upper atmosphere by the Sentinel, then caught by Harry Leland's power and slammed at phenomenal speed into Nimrod to finally defeat the threat (Uncanny X-Men #208-209). After the battle, the Hellfire Club and the X-Men became allies of sorts, and as a result, Magneto would be offered the position of White King by Shaw and the Inner Circle (Uncanny X-Men #210), which he would finally accept and serve as White King, sharing the title with Storm.

For a time, this partnership with the X-Men would see visits to the Hellfire Club by the New Mutants (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53,54, 61), but would still not take well to Magneto’s presence in the Inner Circle. Angered when one of Magneto’s students, Magik, would be instrumental in bringing about Inferno, and having to battle the demond hordes unleashed during it (New Mutants (vol. 1) #70-71, 73) and as a result, Shaw confronted him about it, first, in a men’s room (really), and then in front of the New Mutants amongst the wreckage of the Xavier Mansion. With both declaring the other unfit to lead the Hellfire Club, a challenge for leadership would be made, and Magneto would defeat Shaw, and then gain the support of both Emma Frost and Selene to vote him out of his title of Black King. (New Mutants (vol. 1) #75).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/31499/770589-sebastian_shaw_00_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/sebastian_shaw_00/105-770589/)

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 07:34 AM

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His time exiled from the Hellfire Club:

Shaw would also be present during another appearance of Nimrod, and the second time he attacked both he, and the X-Men, Nimrod killed Sharon Kelly, the wife of Senator Robert Kelly, in the crossfire. Kelly would promise that Shaw Industries would be given more government funding to create more Sentinels and avenge his wife. (Uncanny X-Men #246-247).

Months later, Sebastian Shaw saw his fortune and financial ties usurped by his son, Shinobi Shaw, and tried to physically confront him, only to have Shinobi phase his hand into his father's chest to induce a coronary. Sebastian was then supposedly blown up in his Swiss Mountain chalet by a bomb set by his son to further eliminate his father (X-Factor (vol. 1) #67). Shinobi shortly became the new Black King of Hellfire Club for a time.

However, Shaw survived, albeit with a scar on his face crossing his left eye, and would take time to recover from his injuries. Shaw's first move upon recovery from the bomb was to contact the mutant named Holocasut, who had crossed over from the “Age of Apocalypse" timeline. In exchange for a new armored containment suit, Holocaust agreed to help Shaw capture X-Force, which he did with ease. Shaw then had Tessa telepathically brainwash X-Force to hunt down Cable, but Cable used his own emergent telepathy to break the conditioning and free his team. Shaw's relationship with Holocaust declined soon after (X-Force (vol. 1) #48-50).

Through associations with the British intelligence agency Black Air and their agent, Scratch (Excalibur (vol. 1) #96). Shaw's more recent exploits included vying for control of the Elixir Vitae, thought to be a cure for the Legacy Virus to use it as a way to control, and or profit from both mutant and humans afflicted with the disease. Shaw would fail to recover the Elixir Vitae out from under the noses of both the Kingpin, Shang Chi, and the X-Men (X-Men (vol. 2) #61, 63-64).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/190471-75404-sebastian-shaw_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/75404-sebastian-shaw/105-190471/)

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 07:35 AM

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His return to the Hellfire Club:
While he searched for the Elixir, Sebastian Shaw also managed to overthrow his son Shinobi, and his allies, and replace them with himself as Black King with an all new Inner Circle. Among its members was a new Black Rook, a resurrected Madelyne Pryor, or at least, a psionic construct of her subconsciously created by X-Man. As the new Hellfire Club began plotting again, Shaw found himself involved with the Black Rook romantically, and his longtime assistant Tessa, and Selene both opposed the relationship. Madelyne, in her short time as Shaw’s paramour, would remove the scar he got from Shinobi’s attack on him (X-Man #15, 20-25, 28).

Shaw would then begin preparations for the “Tomorrow Agenda”, contacting longtime associate Donald Pierce to prepare an old Hellfire Club project that was attempting to exploit the resources of the ancient mutant Apocalypse. His attempts to do so, however, would be foiled on two occasions by the time-displaced mutant Cable (Cable (vol. 2) #44, 50-53).

Shaw apparently would broker some still unknown bargain with a mysterious creature calling itself Wraith, who had the power to manipulate time (X-Men (vol. 2) #71,73) before putting all efforts toward hunting down and capturing X-51, the Machine Man, which was funded by Shaw Industries (X-51 #0-7). Then, Shaw was possibly ousted from his position as Black King by Selene, who installed the demon Blackheart in his place. This arrangement did not last long, as Selene and Blackheart were defeated and Shaw has since returned to power. (Fantastic Four Annual ’99).

At some point, Shaw’s assistant Tessa would be kidnapped by a former rival of his, Elias Bogan. Shaw refused to pay the ransom, and after Tessa was rescued by the X-Men’s Storm, she joined his longtime enemies. In an act of vengeance, he attempted to use Lady Mastermind to control Tessa (now called "Sage") and Storm’s team of X-Men (in X-Treme X-Men), who were searching for Destiny's prophetic diaries. (X-Treme X-Men #6-9) Then, after Professor X was "outed" as a mutant, Shaw apparently returned to his capitalist roots and converted the NY branch of the Hellfire Club into a strip club, which was in fact a safe haven for mutants regardless of affiliation. Using telepathic strippers, Shaw gleaned secrets from the minds of his patrons, who come in just to have a good decadent time. Thanks to the aid of his employees, Shaw pretended to be a telepath himself. (X-Men (vol. 2) #139, 142).

After a few months, though, Shaw made a play to become the new Lord Imperial of the entire Club worldwide, and invited Sage to help him. Shaw also invited Courtney Ross (who as actually her evil counterpart Sat-yr-9 and Sunspot to join him as the White Queen and Black King. All three accepted, but Sage effectively betrayed Shaw when she didn't warn him that Pierce might try to assassinate him. Shaw met with the X-Men, claiming to be somewhat reformed, just before Pierce's attack. He was then wounded by Pierce, but remained strong enough to literally knock Pierce's head off his body. However, he was too hurt to maintain his Club position and was replaced by Sunspot as Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club. (Uncanny X-Men #449, 453-454).

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worstblogever

05-25-2010, 07:36 AM

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Shaw appeared incognito (with an image-inducer) at the funeral for the mutant boy named Landru. When confronted by Professor X, he merely stated that he was paying his respects. Xavier overhears his thoughts of a possible coup against Sunspot during the service, but when Shaw noticed him watching, he quickly activated a Psi-Shield to hide his thoughts (X-Men: Endangered Species #1).

Months later, still bristling at the thought of being outranked by Sunspot, Shaw was contacted at the New York City Hellfire Club by a servant named Baxter, who reported to him that a machine in room 17 had measured an unknown energy signature, and whenever it did, Shaw was to be notified. He asked Baxter to seal the room, keep it as quiet as possible, and bring him a file marked, “Coronus” (X-Men: Legacy #210). When Sunspot learned of the deaths of two people in the club, he was furious, questioning Shaw about the nature of the device, and demanding he learn of its true nature. Tired of Shaw’s secrets, and scheming, Sunspot would resign as Lord Imperial in the wake of this incident (X-Men: Legacy #211). He traced the source of the energy wave that caused the disruption in his father’s machine to Los Cruces, New Mexico, near the Alamogordo Project, using his cell phone to report his findings to the Hellfire Club in New York. However, things grew even more complicated as he learned that both Professor Xavier and Gambit were also in New Mexico, investigating as well (X-Men: Legacy #212). Sebastian would track Gambit and Xavier, before seeing a group of assassins arrive to attempt to kill them both. Shaw aided Gambit, preventing him from being killed to learn more of his presence there, and when he found out that he was on the same assassination list as Xavier, he formed a truce with the duo, to find out who contracted the hit on them. After dispatching the assassins, and noticing Xavier was kidnapped, Shaw revealed the true nature of the Cronus Device to Gambit, and they both followed the trail left by the Assassins Guild operatives into Alamogordo. Arriving there, Shaw attempted to physically destroy the machine, only to be blasted back by its safeguards. Both he and Gambit were taken prisoner by Amanda Mueller, who was attempting to force Mr. Sinister’s essence into her, so she could gain his powers (X-Men: Legacy #213). Both Shaw and Gambit were taken prisoner by Mueller, as Sinister’s essence began to take control of Xavier to battle with Amanda Mueller. Both Shaw and Gambit escaped, and worked together to destroy the Cronus Device, with Gambit using his powers to charge up Sebastian to amazing levels of physical power to manage to destroy the machine. With Xavier managing to curtail Sinister’s possession, Sebastian left the duo in peace. When the dust settled from the whole affair, and Shaw arrived back at the Hellfire Club in New York, he would meet a new and mysterious ally, who called herself Miss Sinister (X-Men: Legacy #214).

Shaw and Miss Sinister formed an alliance. Both sought to find Wolverine’s son, Daken, and make him the Hellfire Club’s most elite assassin. Shaw also figured that by kidnapping Daken, and making it apparent the Hellfire Club was responsible, that Wolverine would recklessly attack the New York headquarters, and potentially kill several rivals of his there, including Mercedes, Castlemere, and Turner Scholl. At first, Claudine seemed able to coerce the somewhat amnesiac Daken by wining and seducing him. When she discovered a psionic trap in Daken’s mind, left by Romulus, she advised Shaw that they should let Professor Xavier arrive, and attempt to enter his mind first and spring it, and then she could mentally dominate Daken from there. As Daken began to suspect her intentions were far from innocent, she was forced to outright psionically blast him, and knock him out to continue their plan. Xavier and Wolverine, as planned, arrived at Shaw’s Panamanian island, and Shaw brawled with Wolverine, wrestling him to the ground and nearly bending his adamantium spine, with strength he absorbed from an explosion. Logan eventually escaped his grasp, and hit the lights, realizing the fight may have simply been a stalling tactic. Miss Sinister allowed Xavier to best her in psionic combat to let the trap in Daken’s mind knock him out, instead. With Xavier unconscious, and the trap removed, Sebastian came in to discover Xavier prone on the floor, and tried killing him by crushing his head with a rock as he was trying to psionically walk Daken and Wolverine through memories of their past. Before he could give Professor Xavier a coup de grace, Daken awoke, stabbed him in the back, and kicked him out the window overlooking the ocean below. He was presumably picked up in the boat by Miss Sinister, and the duo fled the island (X-Men: Original Sin #1, Wolverine: Origins #29-30, X-Men: Legacy #217-218).

Sebastian returned to New York City, where he would be called to a rendezvous with his old lover, Emma Frost at the Hellfire Club. She was making good on her half of a bargain with Namor, her counterpart in Norman Osborn’s Cabal, to deliver Shaw’s head to him, as Namor still bore a grudge for Shaw sending Sentinels to attack Atlantis years earlier. Instead, Emma chose to present Namor with the psionic illusion of Sebastian’s head, and she took the real Shaw with her back to San Francisco, to be locked inside the X-Men’s brig for “crimes against all mutants”, a reference to his funding of the Sentinels, which went on to slaughter most of the populace of Genosha (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2). Kept in a cell with power dampeners, to prevent him from pounding on the walls to charge up his kinetic abilities, Emma Frost promised he’d remain hidden from Namor, but assured him that his crimes would not go unpunished. She then made him relive the psychic impression of the deaths of all sixteen million mutants killed on Genosha, wracking him with forced guilt (Uncanny X-Men #507). He eventually would receive a jailer with a bit more of a rehabilitative nature, when Danger would arrive, and put him into a virtual reality environment (Uncanny X-Men #515).

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When Selene would attack Utopia, however, where Shaw and the other prisoners of the X-Brig were being held, Danger would be temporarily taken offline. Out of the virtual reality environment, Sebastian knew something was wrong, and he and his fellow inmates Empath, Donald Pierce, and the Tattooed Man were quickly confronted by two of the techno-organic virus infected thralls of Selene. Both knew Sebastian in life, his Black Bishop, Harry Leland, as well as his own son, Shinobi Shaw, who Sebastian had apparently killed himself. Before they could follow with Selene’s order to kill Sebastian, as part of her revenge against those who opposed her, Danger awoke, and fought side by side with her prisoner, protecting him from being killed until Selene’s attack ended (X-Necrosha #1, X-Force (vol. 3) #21-22).

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Sebastian Shaw remains a prisoner in the virtual reality X-Brig, being watched over by Danger, at this time (New Mutants (vol. 3) #12, Uncanny X-Men #524).

What do you think of Sebastian Shaw? Do you think he will eventually break free and rebuild the Hellfire Club? Does he have good taste in women? What do you think will happen to him when Namor learns he’s still alive, and on Utopia?

Dizzy D

05-25-2010, 09:40 AM

Hey, good memories. Did you also resurrect the sexual kinks of the Hellfire Club-thread?

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 09:44 AM

Hey, good memories. Did you also resurrect the sexual kinks of the Hellfire Club-thread?

I was very tempted, but really didn't think I had enough new folks to justify it.

That, and I was damned near out of creative fetishes to name. All that was left was stuff like farting on cakes (I'm looking at you, Castlemere.)

worstblogever

05-25-2010, 10:22 AM

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Shinobi Shaw
– Black King of the Hellfire Club II

First appearance: X-Factor (vol. 1) #67
First Hellfire II appearance: X-Men (vol. 2) #29
All Hellfire II appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) #29, X-Men (vol. 2) Annual #3, Generation X Annual '95, Spider-Man Team-Up #1, Excalibur (vol. 1) #96, X-Force (vol. 1) #62
Powers: Manipulate the density of his molecular structure, increasing his strength and durability, shifting into an intangible state in order to pass through solid objects, or an inter-phasing touch that enables him to remove parts of an object from the whole and scramble the operation of living beings or mechanical objects.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/39189/1025907-shinobi_shaw_pics__1__large.jpeg (http://www.comicvine.com/shinobi_shaw_pics__1_/105-1025907/)

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Shinobi is thought to be the son of Sebastian Shaw, the leader of the Hellfire Club, although, Shinobi himself has been somewhat uncertain about this as his power to manipulate density is more like the former Black Bishop of the Club, Harry Leland. Shaw once attempted to kill his father (X-Factor (vol. 1 #67), and initially believed himself successful (though his father would resurface later).

His life With the Hellfire Club:
Shinobi was briefly able to take control of the Hellfire Club, assuming the mantle of Black King. Enjoying the luxury of the position, he was attended by many beautiful scantily clad female and male servants. His penchant for eliminating mutants in positions of power, though, was still far from over.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/Mississippienne/shinobi.jpg

Shinobi was a member of the Upstarts, a group made up of Siena Blaze, Graydon Creed , Fabian Cortez, Trevor Fitzroy, and probationary members Andreas and Andrea Strucker (of Fenris). They were manipulated by the Gamemaster and originally Selene (whom the group quickly turned against). The group participated in an elaborate game, wherein they would hunt and kill assigned mutant targets for points. During one of these games, the Upstarts targeted the surviving members of the New Mutants and the Hellions (Uncanny X-Men #281-283, 299, 301). This would result in the death of most of the Hellions, causing much guilt for the White Queen, Emma Frost, who would leave the Hellfire Club in the attack’s wake. Shinobi would attempt to solidify his fortunes with the crime lords of Japan (X-Men (vol. 2) #21-23), only to find the X-Men almost immediately breathing down his neck.

Eventually, though, the game on the side Shinobi was playing with the Upstarts would come to an end, as the combined efforts of both X-Force, and the New Warriors would cause the ground to disband, and their game to end without a winner (X-Force (vol. 1) #32-33, New Warriors (vol. 1) #35-36).

Now focused solely on the Hellfire Club, and eager to return the Inner Circle to its former glory, Shaw approached Elisabeth Braddock and Warren Worthington, attempting to convince them to follow in their fathers’ footsteps and become a part of the Hellfire Club, joining him in the Inner Circle. Both X-Men refused, however (X-Men (vol. 2) #29). Shinobi would still try and recall any member of the X-Men with ties to the Inner Circle back into its ranks, leading his own new Inner Circle against the X-Men in an attempt to brainwash Storm into rejoining the organization. (X-Men Annual #3) In an ironic twist, though, when Emma Frost’s sister Cordelia tried to earn a position within the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle by delivering the mutant Mondo to them, they denied her, and turned her away. (Generation X Annual ’95.) Shinobi would then have to worry more about threats from within, as Benedict Kine challenged him for leadership of the Hellfire Club, and when Shinobi’s Ebony Knights almost lost to the White Knights of Kine in it, it was only the coincidental intervention of Spider-Man and the X-Men that prevented him from losing control over the Inner Circle. (Spider-Man Team-Up #1).

Later, he worked with both Spiral and Mindmeld as they had Dr. Graves experimenting on Karma's siblings to try and find a way to remove the mutant gene. However, his personal assassin Clear-Cut betrayed him and aided X-Force in defeating him. (X-Force (vol. 1) #62).

His life since the Hellffire Club:
After his father returned to power, reclaiming his throne from Shinobi as Black King, the younger Shaw disappeared, and his whereabouts are unknown to this day. In the recent X-Men: 198 Files, Shaw was confirmed as being one of a handful of mutants who retained their powers following the Decimation. At some point after this, however, his father had him killed (revealed in X-Necrosha #1).

Shinobi’s corpse, however, was apparently found by Caliban and Eli Bard, because he turned up as a techno-organic virus-infected thrall of Selene, attacking the X-Men at Utopia as part of an army of resurrected mutants. He, in particular, along with Harry Leland, were meant to be the instrument of Selene’s revenge upon Sebastian Shaw, whom Selene felt slighted by during her own time with the Hellfire Club. However, before Harry and Shinobi could execute Sebastian in the X-Brig, its warden, Danger, came back online, and she and Sebastian Shaw managed to fend off their attackers through the rest of the conflict. It is unknown if Shinobi Shaw was one of the mutants teleported back to Genosha to be killed in Selene’s ritual to ascend to godhood, or if he escaped somehow (X-Necrosha #1, X-Force (vol. 3) #21-22).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/39189/1058085-shinobi_shaw_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/shinobi_shaw/105-1058085/)

What did you think of Shinobi Shaw? Was his time as Black King of the Hellfire Club cut miserably short? Do you think he and Harry Leland should re-start the Hellfire Club? Or is he just going to be hot-tubbing with ladies, and androgynous bodyguards somewhere?

Arachne

05-25-2010, 10:21 PM

Shinobi <3<3<3

I would like to see him team up with Leland, although maybe not to restart the Hellfire Club specifically. I wouldn't mind seeing him seek refuge with the X-men after Sebastian gets loose, either. I think he'd make a great foil for the X-force/New Mutants characters.

worstblogever

05-26-2010, 12:55 AM

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Sharon Smith, Catseye[/SIZE]
– Hellion, student of the White Queen

First appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16
Hellions appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16-17, Firestar (vol. 1)#2-3, New Mutants (vol. 1) #39, 43, 53-54, 56-57, 62, New Warriors (vol. 1) #9-10, Uncanny X-Men #281
Last appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #8
Powers: Transmorph with lavender hair, cat-like eyes, a prehensile tail and the ability to assume feline forms, changing into a common housecat or a panther creature with heightened animal strength, speed, agility, reflexes, senses, and razor sharp claws.

http://www.marveldirectory.com/pictures/individuals/c_1d/catseye.gif

Her Life Prior to the Hellions:
Most mutants manifest their abilities at puberty. Sadly, this was not the case for the young mutant known as Catseye. She manifested her ability to turn into a cat as an infant and was abandoned by her parents. Remaining in her feline form, she was raised by stray cats on the streets of Boston, and became quite feral. Emma Frost discovered her and recruited her into the Hellions, giving her the human name Sharon Smith, and code-naming her Catseye.

Naive and something of a free spirit, many of Sharon's teammates saw only her youth and comparative lack of sophistication. Emma Frost, however, knew that Sharon's personality belied a ferocious intelligence. Sharon was capable of total recall from her photographic memory and instinctively knew when she was being lied to. Under Emma's guidance, Sharon progressed from total illiteracy to upper grade school reading levels in less than a year. Because of her feral upbringing, Sharon retained several feline qualities while in human form, as she had been forced to provide for herself since infancy. She much preferred to remain in her cat or were-cat form, finding her human form ugly and ungraceful. When she was in human form, she almost always kept her tail in full sight, perhaps as an act of identity.

Her Time as one of the Hellions:

Catseye was on campus when the New Mutants tried infiltrating the Academy as part of a rescue attempt for Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey, and she attacked both Moonstar and Magik, being struck by the latter with her Soul Sword. As Tarot, at her side, helped her begin to get the upper hand, and the White Queen arrived to assist her, Ilyana and Dani fled from them (New Mutants (vol. 1) #16). When Magik and Moonstar finally did return to teleport their captive teammates to safety, Catseye oddly assisted Wolfsbane in aiding her escape, and offering her friendship to her. She asked Rahne to stay, but she refused. Rahne asked her if she wanted to come to Xavier’s, but she refused in kind, considering the Massachusetts Academy to be “happyplace” (New Mutants (vol. 1) #17).

Sharon would soon meet the mutant girl known as Firestar while she was briefly attending the Academy. At one point after a training exercise where the Hellions disappointed Emma Frost, she and her teammates were psionically mind-blasted by the White Queen for their lackluster effort, even though Catseye insisted she was trying her hardest. (Firestar (vol. 1) #2).

Emma Frost would make her second attempt at forcing the New Mutants to join her school, having Empath use his powers to coerce Magneto into transferring them to the Massachusetts Academy. The New Mutants, at the time, were despondent and lethargic after their death and rebirth at the hands of the Beyonder. Catseye would prove to be protective of Wolfsbane, seeing her as a kindred spirit, during this time. She made it a point of chasing Empath out of the girls’ locker room when he came in to use his powers on the girls, and often went on midnight runs with Rahne. The New Mutants would eventually snap out of their trancelike state and leave the Academy to help rescue Magneto from the Avengers, who the White Queen had manipulated into trying to arrest the (at the time) reformed villain (New Mutants (vol. 1) #39-40).

After learning of what Empath had done to Magneto, as well as Tom Corsi and Sharon Friendlander, the New Mutants were incensed, and looking to get even. It would be Catseye who would detect their abduction of Empath, with her increased senses, and help the Hellions track him down. After the kids from Xavier’s harassed Empath for an evening, with Magik even briefly threatening him with the forces of Limbo, the Hellions finally caught up to confront them. The New Mutants, finding they did not have the stomach for revenge, returned Empath without a fight (New Mutants (vol. 1) #43).

The school rivals would cross paths again when the New Mutants were invited along with the Hellions to a ball at the Hellfire Club, of which Magneto was the White King at the time. Together, Catseye and Wolfsbane would discover Doug drunk, and in bed with her own teammate, Roulette (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53). The situation would soon dissolve into a big argument, when Cypher would slap Roulette, and the two teams would try to settle their differences by discovering who had sold Gerhard Van Ostamgen a fake statue of Selene. The Hellions would capture Viper and the Silver Samurai, and win (New Mutants (vol. 1) #54).

When the Hellions were given a weekend off from the Massachusetts Academy to go to the Hellfire Club again in New York, the Hellions snuck out in an attempt to recover the mysterious “Bird Boy”, having already seen a news story that showed the New Mutants were trying to recover it. Upon engaging the New Mutants over the creature, Magma nearly sent the Hellions tumbling to their deaths when she destroyed the airship they were flying in, but Roulette tossed a timely good luck disc that allowed Catseye to land on a hotel awning. Eventually, the New Mutants would be teleported away by Magik, with the Bird Boy (New Mutants (vol. 1) #56).

Shortly thereafter, Magma left Xavier’s to join the Hellions at the Massachusetts Academy, and upon her arrival, Catseye and the rest of the Hellions tested her in a training exercise, all ganging up on her at once. In that exercise, Catseye tried to engage Magma hand to hand while she was ablaze, and had to be flown away before she could lunge in and burn herself badly (New Mutants (vol. 1) #62).

Tarot would also be present when the White Queen would send the Hellions, now with Beef and Bevatron, into battle against the New Warriors. She had the misfortune to have one of Roulette’s bad luck spheres fall at her own feet, causing the floor to crumble beneath her feet during the original ambush. She turned the focus of her fury on Firestar, who she called “Firehair”, and was fought off at first by Night Thrasher. However, hi s comeuppance would not be far along, because as the two teams paired off against one another in one on one matchups to decide a game to see if Firestar would rejoin her old team, or remain with her new one, Catseye had Night Thrasher as an opponent again, and soundly beat him, knocking him out. In the end, though, the Hellions lost (New Warriors (vol. 1) #10).

Soon, the members of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle were being murdered one by one leaving only a few members left, including Donald Pierce (the White Rook) and Emma Frost. Fearing for her life, the White Queen would throw a ball and invite the X-Men. Her intentions were to use the ball as a means to ease tension between the two separate mutant factions (the X-Men and the Hellfire Club). Her thoughts were that if another faction had the capacity to attack the Hellfire Club, and be as successful as they were, the X-Men couldn't be far from the next target. This of course, couldn't have been more true. Near the end of the night Emma would call a closed meeting with her and her Hellions and Storm and the X-Men’s Gold Team. The Hellions had little interest in an alliance, and were eager to battle the X-Men, with Catseye ready to battle Iceman, before being told to stop by Jean Grey, who knew there was a potential assassin in the building. Trevor Fitzroy, and his Sentinels, began their attack, with Catseye being blasted out of the window, and she apparently didn’t land on her feet, dying in the process (Uncanny X-Men #281).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/1005082-catseye5_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/catseye5/105-1005082/)

worstblogever

05-26-2010, 12:57 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/1041718-catseye18_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/catseye18/105-1041718/)

Her Life after the Hellions:

Catseye would end up being one of the many mutants whose remains were located by Caliban, on behalf of Selene, and returned to life from the grave with the techno-organic virus by Eli Bard. They were part of the attack force unleashed upon Utopia, and they actually had attacked Emma Frost, blaming her for their deaths (X-Necrosha #1). However, as Doug Ramsey, their fellow techno-organic thrall began to override the control held over him by Eli Bard and Selene, Catseye and the Hellions were instead sent by Selene to retrieve him. While in pursuit, Jetstream managed to be caught in an automatic door on Utopia, cutting him in half. As the techno-organic virus regenerated his lost limbs, Catseye compulsively licked his wounds, much to his chagrin. The Hellions continued their pursuit of Doug Ramsey, eventually being confronted by the New Mutants and their returned teammate, Warlock, on Utopia’s roof. Warlock, a techno-organic being himself, deployed some sort of attack that appeared to blow the Hellions clear off the roof. Whether or not they survived the explosion, or if they were teleported back to Genosha by Blink to be consumed by Selene in the ritual she cast to achieve godhood is unknown (New Mutants (vol. 3) #7-8).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/33603/1072138-prv4104_pg5_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/prv4104_pg5/105-1072138/)
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/33603/1072139-prv4104_pg5d_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/prv4104_pg5d/105-1072139/)

What did you think of Catseye? Do you think it's strange that she's a feral cat-girl, like Feral, but is much better about controlling her temper? Do you want to see her have an awkward reunion with Wolfsbane?

worstblogever

05-26-2010, 06:19 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/84895-23767-candy-southern_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/23767-candy-southern/105-84895/)

Candace “Candy“ Southern
– Hellfire Club Member

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #31
All Hellfire Club appearances: none on panel, membership was mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #132
Last Appearance: X-Factor (vol. 1) #34
Powers: none, human

Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
Candy Southern’s family is very rich, apparently her parents were members of the Hellfire Club before her. However, while in some early issues of Uncanny X-Men, when the team finds out Angel and Candy were members already, they seem pretty sure there’s nothing sinister about the organization.

Her Life Outside of the Hellfire Club:
Candy was a childhood friend of Warren Worthington III. She reunited with Warren and first met the X-Men at Bobby Drake’s 18th birthday party. Candy and Warren then began dating. During this time, Candy learned of Warren's superhero identity. After Warren's second superhero team, the Champions of Los Angeles disbanded, Candy and Warren began living together. Warren later joined the Defenders, and Candy began working for the team in a supporting role. She was subsequently named the leader of the Defenders in non-combat contexts. After Warren joined X-Factor, though, his relationship with Candy became strained. Candy broke up with Warren and left her job with Worthington Industries because she mistakenly believes Warren was having an affair with his X-Factor teammate Jean Grey.

Candy was later kidnapped and killed by Cameron Hodge, a former friend of Warren and Candy who had betrayed X-Factor as part of an anti-mutant plot. (X-Factor (vol. 1) #34).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5599/144869-145049-candy-southern_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/145049-candy-southern/105-144869/)

What did you think of Candy Southern? Would you liked to have known more of her past attendance to the Hellfire Club, or the nature of her parents’ involvement?

worstblogever

05-26-2010, 01:23 PM

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Howard Stark
– Member of the Hellfire Club
First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #28
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men: Hellfire Club #4
Last Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #28
Powers: Baseline Human

His life, and time with the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known about Stark’s time with the Hellfire Club, except that he was once a guest during Sebastian Shaw’s earliest days with the club, during Ned Buckman’s reign as White King. What is known, is that Howard Stark was on of the biggest industrialists of the United States. He invented much of the military’s technology that was used during World War II. This type of influence alone is what probably made him a desirable member of the club.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/TonyStark.jpg

Anthony Stark (Iron Man)
– Hellfire Club Member
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) #73, X-Men Annual (vol. 3) #2
Last Appearance: Avengers (vol. 4) #1.
Powers: none, human
Equipment :
Iron Man wears a suit of armor made of an iron composite poly-alloy held together by powerful magnetic fields that increases his physical strength and durability, is equipped with pulse bolts, decelerative / concussive / penetrative repulsor rays, sonic wave emitters, a uni-beam that can emit electromagnetism as various spectra of light, infrared heat beams, magnetic fields that act as tractor beams, and an electromagnetic pulse, energy converters that can absorb various forces directed against him and convert them into useable power or rechanneled bursts through his uni-beam, and liquid oxygen boot rockets.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/19940/739716-tonystark_07_super.jpg

His life outside the Hellfire Club:
A youthful prodigy, Tony Stark entered MIT at a young age and graduated with top honors. Soon afterwards, he inherited the family company, Stark Industries, following the death of his parents. Based upon his own cutting-edge designs, the company flourished, and he quickly amassed a considerable fortune.

While visiting a war zone (originally Vietnam, although later stories placed it in the context of the first Gulf War), Stark was wounded and captured. Pressed into service designing weapons for the enemy, he secretly worked to design a suit of power armor, which provided him with enhanced strength while also serving to keep him alive, protecting him from the shrapnel that had lodged in his heart. Escaping his captors, Stark made it back to American lines, rescuing a wounded US Air Force pilot, Jim Rhodes, along the way.

After returning to the States, Stark began to improve his armor designs, setting up the Iron Man alter-ego as his bodyguard while he began his career as a superhero. A founding member of the Avengers, Stark provided much of the material and technical support for the group, concealing his dual role as a member of the group even from the others. As time went by, however, Stark's personal life began to threaten his career as Iron Man. A dependency on alcohol led to difficulties maintaining his business interests, problems exacerbated by attacks from business rivals Justin Hammer and Obadiah Stane. Eventually, Stane's actions led Stark to fall deeper into alcoholism, and he actually loses his company; at the same time, James Rhodes, now a long-time friend, takes over the role of Iron Man. Eventually, Stark was able to regain both his corporation and fortune, along with the use of the Iron Man identity, replacing a mentally unstable Rhodes and defeating Stane in combat.

Having sworn to leave the business of arms manufacture, Stark moved proactively against uses of his armor technology for aggressive purposes, disarming both heroes and villains, and going so far as to oppose government and law enforcement groups. Later, following health problems, he faked his own death and placed himself in suspended animation, while Rhodes again took the Iron Man role, this time in the armored suit known as War Machine. Although Stark did eventually recover, his deception alienated him from Rhodes.

Following a conflict with his own temporarily sentient armor, Stark's heart was replaced with an artificial organ, fixing many of his health problems, but leading him to require periodic charging, just as in the earliest days of his armored breastplate. Later on, he publicly revealed his identity as Iron Man, and accepted a position as Secretary of Defense, a role he fulfilled through the events leading up to the Avengers being disbanded. In the meantime, a self-administered exposure to the techno-organic Extremis virus led to new abilities whereby he could carry certain portions of his armor control systems within his body, allowing him to control his suit remotely and interface with other electronic information systems, as well as increasing his reaction time and own ability to heal.

Stark headed the government project to instate the Super-human Registration Act, leading to conflicts with several of his past allies. The pro-Registration side ultimately triumphed in this struggle, and Stark was elevated to director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and head of the Initiative Project, dedicated to creating a roster of different super-hero teams, each serving as a government-trained and -licensed superhuman police force on a state-by-state basis.

Stark’s own decision to send the Hulk into space as part of the Illuminati would lead to the cause of “World War Hulk”, and he would have to pit every resource he had into trying to bring the gamma-irradiated monster down, even after himself being taken captive by the Hulk’s Warbound. But what Stark did not realize, however, is that the Skrull Empire had already infiltrated virtually every Initiative team he set up, including planting operatives on his Avengers team. He was caught off guard, in the Savage Land with a trap laid by the Skrulls, and rendered virtually immobile when his armor was corrupted at the start of their attack. While he was sidelined, the Skrull Invasion began, and Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts assets were publicly the most acknowledged for heroism during the brief conflict, and Stark’s on profiteering on all the Stark technologies he sold after the “Civil War” up to that point, that was hacked and neutralized by the Skrulls became public knowledge. Stark effectively went from being Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to a fugitive, after he refused to turn over all his resources to Osborn, as well as the secret identities of all the heroes who registered with the government, as per the SHRA. Instead, Stark uploaded all of the information about the Initiative to his brain, where Osborn could not steal it.

On the fun, and being hunted by his former flame, Madame Masque, Stark slowly began to lose intelligence, and brain function, as having too much data in his mind was causing the Extremis virus in him to fail, and affecting his mental faculties. This eventually put him into a coma, and he literally had to have the registration data downloaded from his mind, and a previously saved “file” of his memories, which he made prior to injecting himself with Extremis uploaded back in. Effectively, a “system reboot”. After fighting off an attack from one of his chief enemies, Ghost, Stark helped Thor defend his home, Asgard, during “Siege”. In its wake, he began Stark Industries anew, calling the company Stark Reliant. However, he began to read news clippings of what had happened after his last “file save”, while he was injected with Extremis, and was shocked to learn about much of his actions during the conflict leading up to superhero registration, as well as after.

Stark has since been asked to rejoin the Avengers by the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve Rogers, and accepted.

His Time with the Hellfire Club: Tony Stark been seen at two Hellfire Club functions, one in a flashback from years earlier that was also attended by Namor and Norman Osborn where he spilled liquor on the latter, and that of the party in Rio where he was flirting with Psylocke in front of her boyfriend at the time, Warren Worthington III. He had seemingly nothing to do with the meeting between Sebastian Shaw and the “Wraith” who crashed the party. (X-Men (vol. 2) #73).

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/8083/iron%20man.jpg

What do you think of Tony Stark as a member of the Hellfire Club? Would you like to see him, as Director of SHIELD, investigate the club more thoroughly? Do you believe his previous encounter with Emma Frost that was alluded to during Civil War took place within the confines of the Hellfire Club?

worstblogever

05-27-2010, 01:18 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9490/224130-179825-roulette_large.JPG (http://www.comicvine.com/179825-roulette/105-224130/)

Jennifer Stavros, Roulette
– Hellion, Student of the White Queen

First appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16
All Hellions appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #16-17, Firestar #2, Uncanny X-Men #193, Firestar #3-4, New Mutants (vol. 1) #39, 43, 53-54, 56-57, 62, New Warriors (1st series) #9-10, Uncanny X-Men #281
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 3) #8
Powers: Warps probability fields to increase the likelihood of different events, either through physical contact with the object she wishes to manipulate or by projecting her power into red energy disks that cause “good luck” and black energy disks that cause “bad luck”.

Her Life Before the Hellions:

Prior to Jennifer Stavros' birth her family, grandparents and father, came to America. They emigrated from Greece wanting to find a better way of living for their family. They would find New Jersey and this is where they decided to plant their roots and where they make their home, specifically Atlantic City. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey many years later, she would be the youngest of 6 children. She had 4 older brothers and one older sister. To support his family Mr. Stavros, Jennifer's father, worked at a casino as a cards dealer. It’s presumed that the family was raised by just their father. Raising 6 kids on one salary meant working lots of hours. Jennifer found herself alone a lot of the time. Jennifer was a very mischievous child. Jennifer enjoyed playing others like a game causing them grief. She loved to manipulate other as well, usually by flirting and using her looks. She was always around trouble but never involved in it. She always seemed to find a way to entertain her self by persuading others to do things for her, or by pitting others against each other. She would eventually find herself involved with a local gang. Although on the exterior she had the beauty of a model on the inside she resembled more of a criminal.

Jennifer's world would go through a tailspin when her mutant powers emerged though. All through-out Jennifer's life, and that of her siblings, they grew up around games of chance. This may have subconsciously influenced her emerging mutant powers. It's suspected that Jennifer ran away from home when her mutant powers first manifested. Finding that her mutant powers allowed her to control and create good or bad luck would only increase the amount of bad things she did while with her gang. She quickly began committing many criminal acts and was wanted by the law. Luckily for her, her mutant powers registered on the White Queen's "Mutivac" and she would quickly arrive to "rescue" Jennifer from police who had just caught up with her. Jennifer would be offered the chance to go with Emma, attend her academy and become one of her Hellions. Jennifer would accept and as a result would be saving her life from a life on the streets or worse. She left New Jersey and never looked back.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/51983/987246-roulette_0_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/roulette_0/105-987246/)

worstblogever

05-27-2010, 01:41 AM

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Her Life With the Hellions:

Jennifer was brought to the Massachusetts Academy by Emma Frost to train as one of her mutant students, the Hellions. She was on campus when the New Mutants tried infiltrating the Academy as part of a rescue attempt for Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey, and she attacked Wolfsbane and Sunspot, causing the former to have a whole row of shelves to collapse on her, and the latter to get a pinched nerve in his back (New Mutants (vol. 1) #16). The Hellions ended up promising the New Mutants their freedom if Cannonball could beat Jetstream in a flying duel, and even though Sam won, the White Queen arrived and fused to honor the agreement. Magik and Moonstar finally did return to teleport their captive teammates to safety (New Mutants (vol. 1) #17).

Jennifer would meet the mutant girl known as Firestar while she was attending the Academy. After a training exercise where the Hellions particularly disappointed Emma Frost, she and her teammates were psionically mind-blasted by the White Queen for their lackluster effort (Firestar (vol. 1) #2). She later used one of her bad-luck discs to cause Firestar to trip and fall in dance class, while Empath made Ms. Cohen, the instructor, ream out Angelica for it. Firestar, in response to the duo’s antics, used her powers to discreetly set off the sprinkler system, soaking them both (Firestar (vol. 1) #3).

Without Emma Frost’s knowledge, at one point Thunderbird, Empath, Roulette, and Firestar (who was manipulated into going along with their plan with Empath’s powers) worked together to kidnap Banshee, and then, using nerve gas, Empath and Roulette captured Professor X himself so that James Proudstar could get revenge on Xavier for his brother’s death as an X-Man. As the X-Men moved into the military base where Banshee was being held, Nightcrawler teleported to Roulette, and teleported away with her, causing her to faint from not being familiar with the experience. Once Proudstar ended up coming to terms with his brother’s death, and decided not to murder Xavier, he and his Massachusetts Academy teammates would be returned to Snow Valley (Uncanny X-Men #193).

Emma Frost would make her second attempt at forcing the New Mutants to join her school, after having Empath use his powers to coerce Magneto into transferring them to her school. The New Mutants, at the time, were lethargic after their death and rebirth at the hands of the Beyonder. Roulette would end up defending her former rivals, by helping chase Empath out of the girls’ locker room, and making him slip on a dry floor with a bad luck disc. The New Mutants would eventually snap out of their trancelike state and leave the Massachusetts Academy to help rescue Magneto from the Avengers, who the White Queen had manipulated into trying to arrest the (at the time) reformed villain (New Mutants (vol. 1) #39-40).

After learning of what Empath had done to Magneto, Tom Corsi and Sharon Friendlander, the New Mutants were incensed, and looking to get even. It would be Catseye who would detect their abduction of Empath, with her increased senses, and help the Hellions track him down. After the kids from Xavier’s harassed Empath for an evening, with Magik even briefly threatening him with the forces of Limbo, the Hellions finally caught up to them to confront them. The New Mutants, discovering they did not have the stomach for vengeance, returned their teammate without a fight (New Mutants (vol. 1) #43).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5599/176762-59530-roulette_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/59530-roulette/105-176762/)

The school rivals would cross paths again a short time later when the New Mutants were invited along with the Hellions to a ball at the Hellfire Club, of which Magneto was the White King at the time. During an evening when Doug Ramsey had too much to drink, Roulette would do her best to try and make an impression on him, promising to front him the money to participate in a high stakes poker game. Partly due to her use of her “good luck” discs, which he was unaware of at the time, Cypher won handily. She then tried to take him off to an upstairs bedroom, likely to fool around with him as a way of making her teammate, Tarot (who asked Doug to dance earlier in the evening and was turned down), jealous. Wolfsbane and Catseye would find the two in bed, and before long, Thunderbird and Moonstar would come along to collect the obviously drunk Doug. Suspecting the likelihood that Roulette helped him cheat to win downstairs, Cypher slapped Roulette, and Thunderbird immediately demanded an apology (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5599/176764-164169-roulette_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/164169-roulette/105-176764/)

The situation would soon dissolve into a big argument, with, and the two teams trying to settle their differences by discovering who had sold Gerhard Van Ostamgen a fake statue of Selene. The Hellions would capture Viper and the Silver Samurai, and win (New Mutants (vol. 1) #54).

During a time when the Hellions were given a weekend off from the Massachusetts Academy to go to the Hellfire Club again in New York, Hellions sneak out of the Hellfire Club, with Roulette distracting one of the staff butlers by throwing a bad luck disc at him, and making him drop an entire tray of dishes. The Hellions’ goal was to attempt to recover the mysterious “Bird Boy”, having already seen a news story that showed the New Mutants were trying to recover it, as well. Upon engaging the New Mutants over the creature, Magma nearly sent the Hellions tumbling to their deaths when she destroyed the airship they were flying in, but Roulette tossed a timely good luck disc that allowed Catseye to land on an awning. Eventually, the New Mutants would be teleported away by Magik, with the Bird Boy (New Mutants (vol. 1) #56).

Shortly thereafter, Magma ended up leaving Xavier’s to join the Hellions at the Massachusetts Academy, and upon her arrival, Roulette and the rest of the Hellions tested her in a training exercise, all ganging up on her at once. In that exercise, Jennifer tried to make Magma trip, but had little luck (New Mutants (vol. 1) #62).

Tarot would also be present when the White Queen would send the Hellions, now with Beef and Bevatron, into battle against the New Warriors. She was knocked off her feet by Silhouette, causing one of her black bad luck spheres to fall at Catseye’s feet, causing the floor to crumble beneath her feet. When the rest of the New Warriors would arrive, and the dispute over Firestar was decided to be settled by a series of five duels between members of the respective teams, Roulette had to face off against the vastly powerful Speedball. In spite what appeared to be an incredible mismatch, Roulette used her powers to their fullest and defeated Speedball soundly. In the end, though, the Hellions lost the competition anyway (New Warriors (vol. 1) #10).

Though all this would be for naught during one fateful night. The members of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle were being murdered one by one leaving only a few members left, including Donald Pierce (the White Rook) and Emma Frost(the White Queen). Fearing for her life, the White Queen would throw a ball and invite the X-Men. Her intentions were to use the ball as a means to ease tension between the two separate mutant factions (the X-Men and the Hellfire Club). Early in the evening, Roulette was flirting with Iceman, but towards the end of the night Emma would call a closed meeting with her and her Hellions and Storm and the X-Men’s Gold Team where things would get a little more heated between the two groups of mutants. The Hellions seemed to have little interest in an alliance, and were eager to battle the X-Men. When warned psionically of an ambush by Jean Grey, Roulette began yelling for her to “get out of her head”. But Jean knew there was a potential assassin in the building. Trevor Fitzroy, and his Sentinels, soon attacked, and in the massacre, Roulette was killed (Uncanny X-Men #281).

Her Life After the Hellions:

Roulette was one of the many mutants whose remains were located by Caliban, on behalf of Selene, and returned to life from the grave with the techno-organic virus by Eli Bard. They were part of an attack force unleashed upon Utopia, and they attacked Emma Frost, blaming her for their deaths (X-Necrosha #1). However, as Doug Ramsey, their fellow techno-organic thrall began to override the control held over him by Eli Bard and Selene, Roulette and the Hellions were instead sent by Selene to retrieve him. The Hellions continued their pursuit of Doug Ramsey, eventually being confronted by the New Mutants and their returned teammate, Warlock, on Utopia’s roof. Warlock, a techno-organic being himself, deployed some sort of attack that appeared to blow the Hellions off the roof. Whether or not they survived the explosion, or if they were teleported back to Genosha by Blink to be consumed by Selene in the ritual she cast to achieve godhood is unknown (New Mutants (vol. 3) #7-8).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/36156/1041753-roulette_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/roulette/105-1041753/)

What did you think of Roulette? Do you like the fact that she’s a villainess who loves to flirt with friend and foe (especially foe)? Do you think she was “lucky” enough to survive Necrosha?

worstblogever

05-27-2010, 09:37 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9345/402544-167207-steed.jpg

Ms. Steed
– Black Queen of the London Hellfire Club

First appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-100
Last Appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #100
Powers: Materialize psionic skinning” blades, which can trigger or disable specific areas of the human brain to cause paralysis, severe pain, muscular spasms, brain damage, or send her victims into a coma.
Fact : In the Age of Apocalypse Ms. Steed had a counterpart called Damask, she appeared in X-Calibre #1-4.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/82/MsSteed2.jpg/200px-MsSteed2.jpg

Her Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
Ms. Steed appears as part of the Inner Circle of the London Hellfire Club, and is present when Brian Braddock applies to the club as its Black Bishop. Upon Brian’s admission to the club, she brings him up to date on much of the Club’s business. (Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-98. As the London Inner Circle attempted to harness the power of a demon beneath the city, though, they would lose control over the creature and watch helpless as it began to drive many of its citizens mad, including their own Black King. As the Black King savagely tried to attack Ms. Steed in a mad frenzy, she killed him in self-defense. In the chaos, she and Scribe/Mountjoy would try to work together to incapacitate and posess the body of Brian Braddock, but much to her chagrin, Ms. Steed would learn that her psionic skinning blades would bounce of Captain Britain’s force field. He would quickly knock her out, and leave her to be arrested by the London police. She is supposedly still incarcerated (Excalibur (vol. 1) #99-100).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/36156/1059906-ms.steed.jpg

What did you think of Ms. Steed? Did she never get to display the potential she showed in her few appearances in the Age of Apocalypse in her five appearances in Marvel-616? Do you think she retained her powers after M-Day, and if she did, do you think she will be seen again?

Justin K.

05-27-2010, 09:14 PM

After reading back, I realized Ms. Steed would be a perfect partner for Arcade, she could be the new Ms. Locke. She can fund him, he has an assistant, and best of all, if he were to go insane again, she wouldn't let herself get cut up, but shred his mind itself, give him a taste of his own medicine. I see a potential Hellfire pairing. :P

Siena Blaze

05-27-2010, 09:19 PM

What did you think of Catseye? Do you think it's strange that she's a feral cat-girl, like Feral, but is much better about controlling her temper? Do you want to see her have an awkward reunion with Wolfsbane?

I like Catseye. Cute lavender hair. She's way prettier than Wolfsbane and a billion times more interesting. But Feral's my fav of the 3.

eurazn

05-27-2010, 10:29 PM

I loved Shinobi! He pioneered the whole duplicitous bisexual schtick before Daken was a blip on the writer radar.

Also, eurasians/hapas FTW!

worstblogever

05-27-2010, 10:29 PM

I loved Shinobi! He pioneered the whole duplicitous bisexual schtick before Daken was a blip on the writer radar.

Also, eurasians/hapas FTW!

And the outrageous hair, too.

eurazn

05-27-2010, 10:31 PM

And the outrageous hair, too.

YES!

P.S. Loved his hair in Necrosha. It was so Takeshi Kaneshiro (http://morier.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/2_takeshi_kaneshiro_55.jpg)! <3

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/39189/1058085-shinobi_shaw_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/shinobi_shaw/105-1058085/) http://morier.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/2_takeshi_kaneshiro_55.jpg

Justin K.

05-27-2010, 10:31 PM

And the outrageous hair, too.

If Shinobi didn't have bad hair, I'd like him more.

worstblogever

05-27-2010, 10:32 PM

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070107192558/marveldatabase/images/2/21/Conrad_Strathdee_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Conrad Strathdee
- Red Bishop of the London Hellfire Club
First appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
Last Appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #97
Powers: none, human
Fact: His name is never mentioned on-panel, and was only found on www.marveldatabase.com

His life before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His life with the London Hellfire Club:
Conrad seemed to have it as he wanted it, as sole bishop of London’s Inner Circle, as its Red Bishop. Then one day, Brian Braddock showed up, and under the dominion of James Braddock Sr.’s former membership in the Hellfire Club, was going to apply to be Black Bishop. As the other members of the Inner Circle were about to grant the request, Conrad challenged Brian Braddock to a duel for the sole bishopric in London’s Inner Circle. And… well… he pretty much got one-punched out of the gig in a most embarrassing fashion. He hasn’t been seen since.

What did you think of London’s Red Bishop? Did he have the worst showing of any Hellfire Club member ever? Do you think he’s sitting somewhere, plotting revenge against Brian Braddock?

worstblogever

05-28-2010, 12:56 AM

Margali Szardos
– Red Queen of the London Hellfire Club

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/14487/743885-margaliredqueen_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/margaliredqueen/105-743885/)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 1) #4
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-97, 99-100
Last Appearance: Nightcrawler (vol. 2) #11.
Powers: Margali is a sorceress of the Winding Way whose power waxes and wanes over time. At her peak she can summon such powers as teleportation, illusion casting, shape changing, mystical force bolts, hypnotism, and the manipulation of other magical forces.

Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Margali Szardos' past is as much of an enigma as she is. She was supposedly born in Paris, France and taught magic by her mother, but she has yet to reveal her true origins. Margali's particular discipline of magic is called “The Winding Way.” Once having been married, Szardos has two children: Stefan and Jimaine (AKA Amanda Sefton). She supposedly had an affair with the demonic mutant Azazel who, at the time, had also seduced Mystique who was then posing as the wife of Baron Christian Wagner. The Baron, who was infertile, suspected his wife of infidelity and, when the pain of childbirth caused Mystique to shift back to her natural form and deliver a devilish-looking child, the locals rose up against mother and son. Mystique fled, throwing the child over a waterfall where he was later found and adopted by Margali. Whether she knew the child's origins or not, she raised the boy as her own.

Working at Der Jahrmarkt as a fortune-teller to cover her tracks, Margali discovered that the Demon Belasco was sowing seeds of destruction into the Earth. She tricked her daughter into staying with her in Der Jahrmarkt by killing Sabu, Jimaine and Kurt's trapeze mentor. A day after Sabu's death, Kurt left Der Jahrmarkt to start a new life with the X-Men. Jimaine followed him to America and changed her name to Amanda Sefton, taking a job as a flight attendant (Excalibur (vol. 1): Minus One). She and Kurt have since had an on-again, off-again relationship. Years later Margali learned that Kurt had accidentally killed Stefan, breaking his neck while trying to subdue him from attacking a group of half-human creatures that meant him no harm. Too deep in grief to question why, Margali exiled Nightcrawler's soul to a dimension resembling "Dante's Inferno." With help from Jimaine and Doctor Strange, Kurt was exonerated. (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 1) #4).

During Margali's time of weakness on The Winding Way, she was captured by the demon D'Spayre. After being rescued by Jimaine and Nightcrawler (Excalibur (vol. 1) #76-77), Margali began her quest to take possession of a magical weapon called the Soulsword. Margali tricked her daughter once again by giving her a warning about a sorcerer called Gravemoss who was trying to kill all above him on The Winding Way. Amanda travelled to Muir Island and found that Gravemoss had possessed Kurt. After defeating Gravemoss, Amanda gave her mother the Soulsword and Margali used it to kill all the other sorcerers stationed above her (Excalibur (vol. 1) #83-85).

Her Life With the Hellfire Club:
In a plan to harness the power of a demon under London, Margali joined the U.K branch of the Hellfire Club and kidnapped the mutant hybrid Douglock. The demon proved too strong for her, however, and without the intervention of Excalibur, and her daughter Amanda Sefton, all of London would have been driven mad and killed each other. After this incident, Margali disappeared, and the London Inner Circle was incarcerated. (Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-100).

Her Life After the Hellfire Club:
Margali resurfaced, apparently captured by Belasco. With her last bit of magic she swapped souls with her daughter (Excalibur (vol. 1) #102, 108). Margali's soul, now in Amanda's body, took Nightcrawler to Limbo where they were able to rescue her body, Amanda’s soul and defeat Belasco. After the battle, Nightcrawler returned to the X-Men and Margali left Amanda to rule Limbo for a time (X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #19).

Briefly, Margali appeared as a sorcerous ally of the Fantastic Four, working against the Hellfire Club that Selene was building that featured herself, Blackheart, and Daimon Hellstrom (Fantastic Four Annual ’99). Margali has reappeared recently to find Nightmare torturing her daughter. Nightmare was under control of a demon called Hive who was looking for the Soulsword. Nightcrawler was able to defeat Hive with the help of Margali, Jimaine and Nightmare. During the battle Margali revealed that Nightcrawler possessed the Soulsword (Nightcrawler (vol. 2) #11).

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061120132932/marveldatabase/images/thumb/e/ec/Margali_Szardos_(Earth-616).jpg/200px-Margali_Szardos_(Earth-616).jpg

What do you think of Margali Szardos? Did you like her as a member of the Hellfire Club? Do you want to see her show up and magically put the smackdown on the X-Men because of Nightcrawler’s death?

worstblogever

05-28-2010, 04:06 AM

This next guy... I don't know why they made him a member, at all, from a creative standpoint. It went nowhere, and kind of made it weird why he had to hack into Emma Frost's computer systems because he was researching Firestar. He could've used his club connections.

worstblogever

05-28-2010, 04:07 AM

http://www.newkadia.com/Covers/L/N/Night%20Thrasher%20Four%20Control/nightthrasherfourcontrol1.jpg
Dwayne Taylor (Night Trasher I)
-Hellfire Club Member

First Appearance: Thor (vol. 1) #411
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) #29, X-Force #32
Last Appearance: Civil War #1.
Powers: Night Thrasher has a pseudo-mystical mutation drawn from the Pact which gives him psionic protection that shields his thoughts from detection and manipulation. He carries throwing darts and grappling wire, but used to wear a full body armor. The hydraulic armor protected him from harm and contained retractable blades in each arm, escrima sticks, chameleon imaging, a computer terminal, truncheon launchers, a skateboard with a retractable razor edge, smoke pellets, incendiary caps, magnesium flares, ball bearings, spur jacks, pepper spray, garrote wire, machine gun rounds, an Uzi 9mm, infrared and telescopic scanners, sonic enhancers, megaphones, and an internal air supply.

His life before the Hellfire Club:
Dwayne Taylor grew up believing his rich parents were killed by criminals for some unexplained reason. Taylor's guardians, the ex-military sergeant Chord (a friend of his father's) and the elderly martial arts master Tai, supported Taylor's vow to make all criminals pay for their actions, helping him create the identity of Night Thrasher.

Taylor trained hard to be a skilled fighter. On his first outing, he met Midnight's Fire and Silhouette. These two superhumans were taking out criminals by gaining their confidence and then busting them. Giving his name as Night Thrasher, Taylor joined them on their crusade. One night, while Silhouette was infiltrating a gunrunning operation, the police accidentally came upon them. Scared that the police were fixing to shoot his sister, Midnight's Fire started to throw a blade at them. Taylor stopped him before he had a chance to throw it, and a gun battle erupted. Silhouette was hit and badly injured in the spine. Taylor, who had fallen in love with Silhouette, was heartbroken, as was Midnight's Fire. Midnight's Fire swore to get revenge on Taylor someday. Taylor left them, believing that Silhouette was dead.

Realizing that he needed more of an edge, Taylor trained even harder. Using his parent's Taylor Foundation, Taylor had Chord provide him with a state-of-the-art headquarters, training facilities, and computer support systems. He also had developed specialized armor and weaponry. Taylor then decided to create a special team so he would have some backup. He recruited several young heroes and formed the New Warriors.

Shortly after they formed the team, Midnight's Fire made an appearance and tried to frame Taylor with the murder of two policemen. In a final battle with Midnight's Fire, Taylor overcame his fear of his nemesis and beat him in a battle. Taylor then discovered that Silhouette was still alive but crippled. She renounced her brother's actions, turning him in to the police and joining Taylor in the New Warriors.

After the Warriors thwarted a plot by the criminal scientists of A.I.M., Taylor discovered a link between A.I.M.'s benefactors and the Taylor Foundation. With some investigation, he discovered dozens of illegal operations and shady business practices performed by the Foundation, linking them with criminal industrialist Gideon and the Japanese Yakuza syndicate, among others. Taylor used the Warriors to seek out the truth in confronting the Yakuza, but the team balked at making a deal with criminals. Taylor refused to budge, and the argument led him to quit the New Warriors.

Taylor was then approached by the criminal team Folding Circle, of which Midnight's Fire was a part, since they promised to lead him to the truth of his past. In doing so, it was revealed that Taylor's father, while in Vietnam, was captured by Tai, who was a powerful sorcerer guarding an ancient temple. Tai had coerced Taylor's father and others in his military unit, including Chord, to have children with the women of the temple, in order that their children would later be sacrificed in the temple's mystic well of dimensional energies and thereby give Tai even greater power. Chord and Taylor's father tried to thwart this plot, and Chord was thus mystically ensorcelled to kill Taylor's parents. The Folding Circle was comprised of the children of Tai's prophecy, but it was assembling its members too early for Tai's wishes. The New Warriors, investigating Night Thrasher's activities, tracked the Circle to the Vietnamese temple, where they joined Folding Circle in a climatic battle with Tai. Ultimately, Tai was seemingly slain by the very energies she tried to master.

His Time with the Hellflire Club:
It seems as though Dwayne Taylor was recruited into the Hellfire Club for his connections to the Taylor Foundation by Shinobi Shaw, as he was present at the Hellfire Club’s headquarters when Warren Worthington III arrived to also find out as much as he could about Shinobi’s request to join (X-Men (vol. 2) #29). However, Dwayne would not exploit his prior knowledge of Shinobi Shaw during the New Warrior’s battle alongside X-Force against the Upstarts (New Warriors (vol. 1) #45-56, X-Force #32,33).

His Life after his time at the Hellfire Club:
Taylor rejoined the New Warriors and served with them for a long tenure. He left the team eventually, rededicating himself to his role as chairman of the Taylor Foundation, although he would team up with them when the need arose. Later, Taylor decided to give up adventuring altogether, becoming a full-time director of the Taylor Foundation. He believed that true battles for justice would be fought in the boardrooms. He moved to the Seattle branch of the Foundation, seemingly disbanding the New Warriors.

Over time, however, the New Warriors reassembled without Taylor's help. Even so, as the Warriors continued to use equipment and facilities associated with the Taylor Foundation, he was able to monitor the new version of the team. He even rejoined them briefly against the assassin Junzo Muto and agents of the Hand. (New Warriors (vol. 2) #7-10)

More recently, the Taylor Foundation suffered a massive downfall when its funding of cancer research banked on the efforts of Zachary Smith. Smith’s cure was revealed to be nothing more than his mutant son’s subconscious help. The Foundation’s stock tanked and Smith abandoned his son, but Dwayne Taylor stepped in to adopt the young mutant, now Microbe. However, it would require more creative solutions to save the Foundation. Night Thrasher made a deal with shady television executive Ashley Brothers to avoid bankruptcy, but this also forced the New Warriors into a unique re-branding as a reality-TV show. Hoping to make the best of the situation, the team hit the road to become heroes for the common man throughout small-town America (New Warriors (vol. 3) 1-4).

The Warriors enjoyed mixed success and popularity, but the show was officially cancelled and bankruptcy proceedings were initiated. Even so, the Warriors were able to return and continue their reality-TV efforts. However, when they hoped to boost the ratings for their show by apprehending a quartet of villains holed up in Stamford, Connecticut, tragedy struck. During the battle, Nitro used his power to cause a massive explosion. It killed Night Thrasher, the New Warriors, and almost everyone in the vicinity. (Civil War #1)

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/226482-131016-night-thrasher_super.jpg

What do you think of Dwayne Taylor as a member of the Hellfire Club? Would you have liked to see him exploit the club as a resource? Would you like to see his brother, as Night Thrasher II, try to join the club and use its influence to his own benefit?

worstblogever

05-28-2010, 08:37 AM

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070107170730/marveldatabase/images/5/50/Quentin_Templeton_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Quentin Templeton
- Black King of the London Hellfire Club
First appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-97, 99-100
Last appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #100
Powers: Baseline Human
Fact: Templeton’s name was never given on panel, and only appears on his profile at www.marveldatabase.com

His Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His Life With the Hellfire Club:
All that is known about Quentin Templeton’s time with the Hellfire Club is he was part of London’s Inner Circle, who plotted to have Black Air kidnap Douglock and use him as a conduit to a demon trapped below the city of London, as a means for their Red Queen, Margali Szardos, to harness its power for them to control. (Excalibur #96-97). However, their plan didn’t work out as they designed it. The demon would overpower the Red Queen, and begin driving people all over London mad, including apparently the Black King himself. He attacked the Black Queen, Ms. Steed, and she shot him in self defense (Excalibur (vol. 1) #100).

What did you think of the Black King of the London Hellfire Club? Do you think he would have gone to jail with the rest of the London Inner Circle had he survived? What do you think he would have done if his plan worked?

worstblogever

05-28-2010, 10:48 PM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/3016/143500-139191-gerhard-van-ostamgen_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/139191-gerhard-van-ostamgen/105-143500/)

Gerhard Van Ostamgen
– Hellfire Club Member

First Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #53
All Hellfire Club appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #53
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #53
Powers: none, human

His life before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His life with the Hellfire Club:
Gerhard Von Ostamgen tried to elevate himself to the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle by buying an ancient statue of the Goddess Selene. Both Selene and the New Mutant Magma (who thought the statue was of her ancestor), discovered the statue to be a fake. It was revealed that Magma's family in Nova Roma had the real statue. Gerhard was obviously denied his pretty meek attempt to gain entry to the Inner Circle. He has never been shown on-panel since.

What did you think of Gerhard van Ostamgen? Do you think Selene would have promoted him onto the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club if the statue was real?

Justin K.

05-28-2010, 10:49 PM

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070107170730/marveldatabase/images/5/50/Quentin_Templeton_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

He looks so... intriguing.

Arachne

05-28-2010, 11:10 PM

I loved Shinobi! He pioneered the whole duplicitous bisexual schtick before Daken was a blip on the writer radar.

Also, eurasians/hapas FTW!

Very true. I've decided the reason I like Daken so much is because he's like a strange cross between Shinobi and Shatterstar.

pariah-1972

05-29-2010, 12:10 AM

I wish someone would bring back the Hellfire club we haven't seen them in ages.
:frown:

Justin K.

05-29-2010, 12:40 AM

I wish someone would bring back the Hellfire club we haven't seen them in ages.
:frown:

I assume the Hellfire Cult just doesn't feel the same? Though now would seem like the right time for things to reform, with the Heroic Age coming up. Though the X-Men's involvement and plans remain to be forseen, a throwback to some classic villains, or in this case, a classic concept with many old members dead, seems like a good idea. Vampires? Another Love Triangle? Pass!

pariah-1972

05-29-2010, 01:25 AM

I assume the Hellfire Cult just doesn't feel the same? Though now would seem like the right time for things to reform, with the Heroic Age coming up. Though the X-Men's involvement and plans remain to be forseen, a throwback to some classic villains, or in this case, a classic concept with many old members dead, seems like a good idea. Vampires? Another Love Triangle? Pass!It certainly didn't feel or look the same.

worstblogever

05-29-2010, 07:47 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/25807/1039666-tumblr_krttk6azud1qzs9o3_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/tumblr_krttk6azud1qzs9o3/105-1039666/)

Viper aka Madame Hydra
–White Warrior Princess(?) of the Hellfire Club V

First Appearance: Captain America (vol. 1) #158
Hellfire Club Appearances: Uncanny X-Men #449, 452-454, Excalibur (vol. 2) #11-13
Last Appearance: Invincible Iron Man Annual #1

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6e/Madame_Hydra_Viper.JPG

Her Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
It is known that Madame Hydra was orphaned as a child in Eastern Europe (believed to be Hungary) and that part of her face was scarred at one time, but this is obviously no longer the case. She rose through the ranks of HYDRA and frequently came into conflict with Captain America and the organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. At one point, she severed ties with HYDRA, and helped Jordan Stryke, a supervillain codenamed Viper, escape custody in Virginia, only to proceed in assassinating him and usurping his moniker (Captain America (vol. 1) #180). The previous Viper was the founder and leader of the elite criminal underworld through sheer ruthlessness, treachery, and the cunning of her black heart. She then re-appeared as not just a member of Hydra, but its leader under the codename Madame Hydra and also began associating with a group known as the Serpent Squad. Later, in one of her many terrorist acts, she would try to gain control of the similarly themed organization called the Serpent Society, attempting to assassinate its leader Sidewinder, but she was betrayed by Cobra and arrested by Captain America.

Madame Hydra is a professional terrorist and has her own organization. She has come into conflict with many superheroes and supervillains over the years. Her nihilism and tendency to spread death around her has made it hard for other villains to associate with her. She was for a time, romantically linked to the Red Skull, but the relationship ended when the Skull found out Viper was using his resources to finance massacres with no apparent financial benefit for either of them.

Madame Hydra also had a point where she claimed to be Merriem Drew. Drew was the mother of Spider-Woman and was considered deceased since 1931. Soon it would be revealed Merriem had become allied to the demon Cthon in return for unnatural longevity. However, later it would be determined that Cthon had actually granted Viper false memories of mothering Jessica Drew as part of a plan to place both women under his control as one of the other clauses of her diabolic pact. Whether Viper actually has extraordinary longevity or not was left uncertain. (Spider-Woman (vol. 1) #42-44).

Madame Hydra has also had many conflicts with the X-Men. She first came into contact with them upon trying to assassinate Mariko Yashida on behalf of her ally and presumed lover Silver Samurai by knocking out, binding, and gagging Mariko's friend Toni, and tried to poison the team while disguised as her. She once nearly killed X-Men members Rogue and Storm on two separate occasions (with Storm being nearly killed by Viper during the invasion of Khan). She also faced the New Mutants and was considered responsible for the demise of Karma for a while (Karma was actually only wounded and was abducted by the Shadow King for his own reasons). (New Mutants (vol. 1) #5-6). She had some odd interest in the Hellfire Club as well at this time, selling Gerhard van Ostamgen a fake ancient statue of Selene. She was, however, caught doing so and left for authorities by the Hellions and New Mutants (New Mutants (vol. 1) #53-54).

Viper eventually black-mailed Wolverine into marrying her, forcing him to honor a debt to her made years earlier. She did so as a means to secure her criminal empire in Madripoor (Wolverine (vol. 2) #125). Although this was a marriage of convenience, she did request to consummate the arrangement. Sometime later, her body was briefly inhabited by the spirit of Ogun, and Wolverine mortally wounded her as a means of driving the spirit from her dying body. In return for seeking medical attention to save her life, Wolverine demanded a divorce (Wolverine (vol. 2) #167-169).

Viper also had a plot hatched to launch a nuclear missle at London (Uncanny X-Men #448-449) but was foiled by the X-Men. Still, Viper met with Courtney Ross in the city, who had an interesting offer to make her…

Her life with the Hellfire Club:
She became a member of the Hellfire Club, being hired in as Sat-Yr-9’s personal bodyguard, and was named her White Warrior Princess. No one ever seemed to question why there was a princess, when it was never on a chess board, though. After dabbling in the machinations of the Hellfire Club with Sat-Yr-9, Viper managed to survive an attempt on her life, and those of the new Inner Circle by Donald Pierce (Uncanny X-Men #452-454). She began to look into running Genosha during its rebuilding phase with her White Queen. (Excalibur (vol. 2) #11-13).

Her Activities away from the Hellfire Club:
Viper began to suspect that within certain sects of Hydra, as well as the Hand, were being manipulated by an outside entity sabotaging its operations from within, one of the first people to suspect the impending Skrull invasion. She was briefly apprehended by the Avengers, but managed to escape out of the Quinjet as it flew over the Pacific (New Avengers #9). Viper also used her various political connections to establish herself as the leader of Madripoor, and then using the nation's resources to support global terrorism via HYDRA. She was recently overthrown by new S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark and Tyger Tyger, the latter of whom usurped her position as ruler of Madripoor after the S.H.I.E.L.D. backed coup (Invincible Iron Man Annual #1). With her hold over Madripoor broken, she returned to the country just once, to attempt to get Jessica Drew to rejoin HYDRA, after helping her execute a jailbreak, and gunning down several Madripoor policemen (Spider-Woman (vol. 3) #2-4).

She soon fled into the arms of her old lover, the Silver Samurai, but her stay would be short. (Secret Warriors #2) Viper left him to rejoin Baron von Strucker on the ruling council of HYDRA, which oddly had a new woman on it, calling herself Madame Hydra (secretly Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, wearing an elaborate tentacle headdress and elaborate HYDRA robes). Not long thereafter, Viper is kidnapped by the mysterious Leviathan group, who have some mysterious affiliation with HYDRA, who were determined to find out the location of a mysterious box that both she and Madame Hydra procured from the Yashidas. Madame Hydra (Contessa) arrived at the Leviathan headquarters and offered the box to its leader, to Viper's dismay. Madame Hydra (Contessa) then shot Viper to death. However, when HYDRA arrived, the member of its ruling council known as the Hive resurrected her with some of his biological parasites, leaving her with an odd squid-like creature atop her head, and she began calling herself Madame Hydra again (Secret Warriors #12-15).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5586/1210053-mh6_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/mh6/105-1210053/)

What did you think of Viper as a member of the Hellfire Club? Was there any odder concept than a Warrior White Princess? Do you think she was truly granted longevity by Cthon? What do you think of her new mysterious and monstrous resurrection by the Hive?

worstblogever

05-29-2010, 07:14 PM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/135080-155696-friedrich-von-roehm_large.jpg

Friedrich von Roehm
- Black Rook of the Hellfire Club I
First appearance: New Mutants (vol. 1) #22
Last appearance: Uncanny X-Men #209 [killed by Nimrod]
All Hellfire appearances: New Mutants (vol. 1) #22, Uncanny X-Men #189, 207-209
Powers: At first none, baseline human. However, Selene had magically altered his bloodline so that she could activate a mental cue to transform his skills and behavior into a semi-lycanthropic state, giving him heightened strength, agility, and reflexes, animal-like senses, and clawed talons on his fingers.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known about Friedrich Von Roehm’s early life. Apparentally German by birth, Friedrich Von Roehm operated an exclusive jewelry shop on New York City's Park Avenue. One day, he is visited by a mysterious dark haired, veiled woman, who imperially tells von Roehm that he is to dismiss the staff for the day as she wants to talk to him. Von Roehm is at first angry about her arrogance and about to throw her out until she calmly shows him a gem, asking him to appraise it. The gem is unique, she adds, and at a certain angle a face can be seen. The gem shows her face, which von Roehm recognizes as that of Selene. Von Roehm kneels down and prostrates himself before her. He is the high priest of a sect worshipping Selene, that has existed for more than two thousand years. Selene tells him that she needs both a residence and a power base. Von Roehm has the ideal solution – the Hellfire Club (New Mutants (vol. 1) #22).

His Life With the Hellfire Club: Not long thereafter, von Roehm arrived at the Hellfire Club with Selene, and presented her to Sebastian Shaw, informing him that she would like to apply to be the new Black Queen (Uncanny X-Men #189). Von Roehm would apparently (off panel) be named Selene’s Black Rook.

When next seen, he would be telepathically commanded by Rachel Summers to lead her to Selene’s location at the Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-Men #207). Selene survived Rachel’s attack, and when the Hellfire Club decided to hunt her down for the transgression on Selene’s behalf, used powers to mentally trigger Von Roehm's hereditary lycanthropy and sent him in pursuit of Rachel Summers, using heightened senses to track her down (Uncanny X-Men #208). When Nimrod intervened to attack the X-Men and the Club simultaneously, Storm proposed an alliance to battle Nimrod. Von Roehm rejected this proposal and lunged to attack the X-Men. It would be the last thing he did, as he was then disintegrated by Nimrod before he could get his claws into any of the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #209).

What did you think of Friedrich von Roehm? Was he a compelling character? Was the revealing nature of his lycanthopy a condition he already had, or was it completely manufactured by Selene? Does he not have the coolest facial hair ever? Would you have liked to seen him use his skills as a jeweler to compliment his swarthy look with some “bling”?

Justin K.

05-29-2010, 07:15 PM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/135080-155696-friedrich-von-roehm_large.jpg[/SIZE]

His bulge is sticking out further than his gut.
Is that normal for someone like him?

eurazn

05-29-2010, 11:47 PM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/25807/1039666-tumblr_krttk6azud1qzs9o3_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/tumblr_krttk6azud1qzs9o3/105-1039666/)

This is a beautiful image!

But ... how many green-haired women ARE there, exactly?

The squid on top of her head now is gross. Not sure how useful it is either. The concept of a "White Warrior Princess" was indeed odd; I wonder why they couldn't have just made her a rook?

worstblogever

05-30-2010, 12:47 AM

This is a beautiful image!

But ... how many green-haired women ARE there, exactly?

The squid on top of her head now is gross. Not sure how useful it is either. The concept of a "White Warrior Princess" was indeed odd; I wonder why they couldn't have just made her a rook?

Maleev, man. He's amazing.

A lot. More than you'd think.

And... I think before penning "Chasing Hellfire", Chris Claremont must have been watching a Xena: Warrior Princess marathon. And may have seen the lesbian scenes between Xena and Gabrielle, I'd wager.

worstblogever

05-30-2010, 01:20 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/142386-150847-warhawk_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/150847-warhawk/105-142386/)

Warhawk- Mercenary Employee of the Hellfire ClubFirst Appearance: Marvel Premiere #23
All Hellfire Club Appearances: technichally none, but he was in their employ in Uncanny X-Men #110.
Last Appearance: Wolverine (vol. 3) #30
Powers: Bulletproof skin, as well as superhuman strength.

His life prior to the Hellfire Club:
Warhawk was a master assassin used by the C.I.A. in Vietnam who later went insane, being convinced that everyone in New York was secretly a part of the Viet Cong. As a result he encountered Iron Fist, who tried to take the madman down, only to eventually see him swept out to sea (Marvel Premiere #23). He also was later hired by Atom Smasher’s brother, to kill the original Atom Smasher (Black Goliath #2-3), a mission on which he succeeded.

His time working for the Hellfire Club:
Warhawk’s mind was given some semblance of sanity by Emma Frost’s telepathic assistance, and he was hired by the Hellfire Club to deliver a device into the Xavier Mansion computer system that would help them spy on the X-Men. Arriving at the door of the mansion, the door was answered by Moira MacTaggart, who Warhawk shot with a tranquilizer dart, and entered the building to bug the computers, and then return to the grounds. Once there, he fired two more tranq darts into Jean Grey and Professor X, respectively, and went back inside, to the control room of the Danger Room before the rest of the X-Men could start their training session. Warhawk was attempting to kill the X-Men using their own training system, or at the very least give the Hellfire Club some idea of their enemies’ capabilities, when Cyclops ordered Nightcrawler to teleport Wolverine to the control room from inside the Danger Room, where Warhawk was confronted, defeated, and arrested, but no interrogation or mental probe could reveal who hired him (Uncanny X-Men #110).

Since leaving the employ of the Hellfire Club:
Warhawk would repeatedly battle Iron Fist, until it eventually was revealed that his powers were transferred to him in a military experiment similar to the one that granted Luke Cage his powers (Power Man and Iron Fist #83), however, he would again be defeated by the hero and taken to prison. Years later, he would be revealed to be undergoing treatments by scientist named Dr. Ryking, to give him an even more volatile form. The U.S. military sent another hired mercenary, Maverick, to kill Ryking before he could perfect the process. Warhawk battled Maverick, still needing Ryking to finish stabilizing the procedure. Still, when his armored form was pierced by Maverick’s bolt gun, Warhawk exploded, seemingly killing him (X-Men (vol. 2) #10-11).

Warhawk would later turn up, alive and in prison, and be pardoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in exchange for hiring him to be part of the mercenary team of criminals they were putting together to try to subdue Wolverine, who had been brainwashed into being an agent for Hydra. He was last seen assaulting a AIM facility working on developing the Null Android from technology stolen from Reed Richards (Wolverine (vol. 3) #30).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5586/670977-wh5_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/wh5/105-670977/)

What do you think of Warhawk? Do you think their needs to be a meeting between Emma Frost and Warhawk where they discuss when she helped put his mind back together? Do you think Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club should hire him again, considering he did the job for them like asked?

worstblogever

05-30-2010, 07:56 AM

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070628010337/marveldatabase/images/b/bf/Alan_Wilson_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Alan Wilson
- Red King of the London Hellfire Club
First appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96
All London Hellfire appearances: Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-97, 99-100
Last Appearance: Excalibur (vol. 1) #100
Powers: A swordsman, unknown if mutant or not
Fact: His name was never mentioned on-panel, and is only in Marvel Atlas #1.

His Life Before the Hellfire Club:
Unknown.

His Life With the Hellfire Club:
All that is known about Quentin Templeton’s time with the Hellfire Club is he was part of London’s Inner Circle, who plotted to have Black Air kidnap Douglock and use him as a conduit to a demon trapped below the city of London, as a means for their Red Queen, Margali Szardos, to harness its power for them to control (Excalibur (vol. 1) #96-97). However, their plan didn’t work out as they designed it. The demon would overpower the Red Queen, and begin driving people all over London mad, possibly including himself. As London began to burn, he encountered Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Wolfsbane entering the London Hellfire Club mansion to rescue their teammate, and threatened them with his sword. Nightcrawler fought him one-on-one in a swordfight, easily besting him, and leaving him to be taken into custody by London police. (Excalibur (vol. 1) #99-100).

What did you think of the Red King of London? Do you think he had any mutant powers, or was just a decent swordsman? Do you hope he ever gets out of prison to try and get revenge on those who incarcerated him?

worstblogever

05-30-2010, 09:43 AM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/BeefC.jpg

Buford Wilson, Beef
- Hellion, student of Emma Frost

First appearance: New Warriors (vol. 1) #9
All Hellions appearances: New Warriors (vol. 1) #9-10, Uncanny X-Men #281
Last Appearance: New Mutants (vol. 3) #8.
Powers: Augmented muscle mass gives him superhuman size, strength, endurance and resistance to physical injury.

His Life Before the Hellions:
Unknown.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/51983/987264-beef_mxm_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/beef_mxm/105-987264/)

His time as a Hellion:
Beef’s time as a Hellion was far from a string of successes. He was a part of the conflict between the Hellions and the original New Warriors over Firestar, in which the team tried ambushing the New Warriors at their headquarters at first. In that initial attack, Silhouette managed to hit Roulette and make her drop a bad luck disc near the floor where he and Catseye were standing, sending both tumbling through as it collapsed. He managed to climb out, and help force Night Thrasher’s surrender, threatening to crush the skull of the fallen Silhouette, who had already been knocked out by that point by Bevatron. The rest of the New Warriors soon arrived to answer Night Thrasher’s distress call, and Speedball would come smashing through the window, crashing into Beef, staggering him. Namorita then flew in and started assaulting Beef, as well. He responded by backhanding her, sending her flying into a sink, which backfired since as an Atlantean, getting her wet only increased her strength, giving her the might to punch him out (New Warriors (vol. 1) #10).

Things wouldn’t get much better for Buford after that. When the White Queen attempted to form an alliance with the X-Men at the Hellfire Club, he spent most of the night trying to pick a fight with Colossus, eventually grappling with him when the Russian came to Storm’s aid after Bevatron blasted her. However, the threat that night lay not with the X-Men, but with Trevor Fitzroy, who was about to attack the whole club with Sentinels under his command. Beef was the first to die, having his life energies absorbed before his body was thrown out the window to impact on the street dozens of feet below, killing him (Uncanny X-Men #281).

His time after the Hellions:
Beef’s corpse was eventually tracked down by Caliban, and resurrected by Eli Bard, as one of Selene’s techno-organic virus-infected thralls. He, along with the rest of the Hellions, were sent to the X-Men’s home of Utopia as part of Selene’s revenge against Emma Frost and the X-Men (X-Necrosha #1). Beef and the rest of the Hellions eventually were asked to hold off on attacking Emma Frost, instead being ordered by Selene to go capture Doug Ramsey, another revived mutant under Selene‘s control who started to find ways to assert his own will over the techno-organic virus that was controlling him. However, the New Mutants managed to rescue their old friend from Beef and the Hellions, who were eventually blown off of a tower on Utopia by an explosive charge of some kind deployed by Warlock (New Mutants (vol. 3) #7-8).

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/36156/1044857-beef_zombie_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/beef_zombie/105-1044857/)

What did you think of Beef? Would it be slightly ironic if he was a vegetarian? Do you wonder why nobody acted shocked when Fitzroy murdered him first, instead casually making jokes about Fitzroy?

Justin K.

05-30-2010, 06:16 PM

Do you wonder why nobody acted shocked when Fitzroy murdered him first, instead casually making jokes about Fitzroy?

Didn't he murder Jetstream first?

worstblogever

05-30-2010, 11:42 PM

Didn't he murder Jetstream first?

Whoop. You're right.

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 02:14 AM

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/surrealmonkey_wedding/worstblogever/WorthingtonJr.jpg

Warren K. Worthington Jr.
– Member of the Hellfire Club
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #17
Last Appearance: Ka-Zar (vol. 1) #2
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4, X-Men (vol. 2) #29, Logan: Shadow Society #1
Powers: None, human.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Warren K. Worthington Jr. was born into wealth with Worthington Industries, and inherited his fortune from Warren Worthington Sr.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060601223015/marveldatabase/images/5/57/Warrenworthingtonjr_01.JPG

His Life as a Hellfire Club Member:
Warren Worthington Jr. was shown to join the Hellfire Club with Sebastian Shaw, Howard Stark, and James Braddock Sr. (X-Men: The Hellfire Club #4). Sebastian Shaw never thought that Warren had what it took to be in the Inner Circle, but he hoped that his son Warren Kenneth Worthington III would become a valuable asset one day. In fact, it has been revealed that Warren Worthington III did take his son to the Hellfire Club with him when he was still a boy (Logan: Shadow Society #1).

Warren K. Worthington Jr was the father the X-Man Angel. Worthington Jr and his wife Kathryn were unaware that their son was a mutant. During a visit to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Warren and Kathryn happened to bump into Magneto, the X-Men villain who had taken over the school at the time. Magneto used his powers to put the Worthingtons in a trance. They slept the day away while the X-Men defeated Magneto. Professor Xavier erased their memories of the encounter and they went on finish their visit to the school, still blissfully unaware (Uncanny X-Men #17-18).

He was killed by his own brother, Burtram (Dazzler I) who hired goons to kill him rather than report his jewel thefts (Ka-Zar (vol. 2) #2).

What did you think of Warren Worthington Jr.? Was he clueless for being part of a secret society and bringing his son to it? Or was he clueless for not noticing his kid had a set of damned wings popping out of his back?

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 02:20 AM

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061125184150/marveldatabase/images/1/1c/Warren_Worthington_III_%28Earth-616%29.jpg

Warren Kenneth Worthington III (Archangel)
-Member of the Hellfire Club

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1
All Hellfire Club appearances: X-Men (vol. 2) #29, X-Men (vol. 2) #73
Last Appearance: X-Force (vol. 3) #3
Powers: aerodynamic physiology gives him peak human strength, speed, aerial agility, endurance, reflexes, eyesight, and hearing, a hollow bone structure, zero body fat, and large feathered wings extending from his shoulder blades that enable him to fly and serve as solar collectors to heat his body

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:
Warren was at the club as a kid, and was set to inherit his membership in the Hellfire Club from his father (first mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #132). In fact, apparently his father and Sebastian Shaw would talk business, and Warren would be left to play with Shinobi Shaw at the time (revealed in several flashbacks through the years, like Hellfire Club #4, and X-Men (vol. 2) #29). Still, as a child, he scared his parents to death as he kept climbing on trees and the mansion’s roof, apparently unafraid of any height. Later, the Worthingtons sent him to a private school in New York, where he met his roommate and best friend, Cameron Hodge. Warren pulled top marks in everything and was also a good athlete – it seemed that he had everything.

However, one day, two small growths began to emerge on Warren's back. It wasn't long before they grew into full-fledged, angel-like, feathered wings. Warren knew that he could not allow anybody to find out about them, so he made himself the most hated kid at school, until he was ordered to move into a separate and lonely room. Warren confided only in the family’s private medic, Dr. Stuart, who advised him to keep the wings secret, even from his parents. The wings grew bigger each day and Warren was both exited and yet also concerned, as it got more difficult to hide them. One night, there was a fire in the school’s dorm. Warren tried to run out but when he found the staircase already on fire he had no other option than to jump out of a window, hoping that the wings would slow his fall. Much to his own surprise, he found that he could use them for flying. As there were still some kids trapped in the building. Warren disguised himself with a wig and a nightshirt to look like a true angel while saving those left in the dorm (his backstory, revealed in X-Men (vol. 1) #54, Angel: Revelations #1-4).

Electrified by this rescue, Warren designed a bright costume for himself and became a local super hero known as the Avenging Angel, using a gun with gas-filled bullets to stun his opponents. His short-lived exploits brought him to the attentions of Professor Charles Xavier and his rapidly forming X-Men; Scott Summers, Cyclops, and Bobby Drake, Iceman. Since he had still a lot to learn, he accepted Xavier’s offer and joined the X-Men (revealed in backstory in X-Men (vol. 1) #55-56). Along with Hank McCoy, Beast and Jean Grey, Marvel Girl, the team was complete and soon they made their public debut battling Magneto (X-Men (vol. 1) #1). Among the X-Men, Angel battled such foes as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Juggernaut and Lucifer. Almost from the day that Jean had joined the team, Warren showed a personal interest in Jean, and, with his self-confidence, he usually was more up front compared to the other X-Men when it came asking Jean if she wanted a ride to the train station or spending an afternoon together. Jean did like him as a friend, but secretly loved Scott and tried to invite him along (X-Men (vol. 1) #3, 14). The love triangle climaxed when Cyclops accidentally injured the Angel during a battle and Warren accused him of having it done on purpose to have Jean for himself (X-Men (vol. 1) #26). Yet, the next day, Warren apologized, saying that he was delirious and, soon afterwards, gave up on Jean, realizing that she cared for Scott more than for him. Instead, he began to date Candy Southern, an old friend from his prep school days, after they accidentally met again in one of New York’s many night clubs (X-Men (vol. 1) #31).

During a battle with Grotesk, the Subhuman, Xavier was apparently killed, saving his students (actually it was the Changeling posing as Xavier), and FBI agent Fred Duncan ordered the X-Men to disband (X-Men (vol. 1) #42, 46). Warren returned to his parents and secretly sneaked out at night to continue to fight crime as the Angel. He also kept seeing Candy and, during one of their dates, masked men broke into the Worthington House and killed Warren’s father, on the order of the villain called Dazzler (NOT Alison Blaire). Angel took it very hard and blamed himself and his love for Candy for the murder, thinking that, had he been at home, he might have prevented his father’s death. When he investigated the Dazzler’s organization, he was blackmailed by the villain who was holding Candy Southern hostage (planning to use her to ensure Warren’s cooperation). The Dazzler was curious who the superhero trying to interfere with his plans was and forced Warren to take off his mask. When he saw it was Warren, the Dazzler too revealed his identity – he was none other than his uncle Burtram Worthington. Burt had used Worthington Industries as a cover for his diamond smuggling syndicate, and when Warren’s father found he saw no other way than to kill him. In the following battle, Candy Southern learned of Warren’s secret too and the Dazzler apparently died when he fell from a great height (Ka-Zar (vol. 1) #2-3, Marvel Tales #30) Before long, the X-Men reunited and continue to fight for Xavier’s dream, including a journey into the Savage Land. Upon their return, Candy told Warren that his Uncle Burt was not only alive, but planning to marry Kathryn Worthington and lay claim on the family fortune. Angel and the X-Men came into conflict with Dazzler and the Worthington's mutant-hating family doctor. However, there was the problem of Kathryn not knowing about her son being a mutant and, since she had a weak heart, Warren did not want to endanger her with such distressing news. Finally, the X-Men succeeded in foiling the duo's plans to pilfer the fortune, but only after Kathryn died of the long-term effects of a poison the doctor had been administering to her (X-Men Hidden Years #14-15).

Reunited, the X-Men continued to fight crime until they were captured by Krakoa, the Living Island, who then let Cyclops go to bring other mutants to him. He and Xavier gathered together the second generation of international X-Men and this new team succeeded in rescuing the X-Men from Krakoa. Afterwards, the original X-Men, including Angel, left to allow Xavier and Cyclops to train the new team (X-Men Giant Size #1). Angel and Iceman were planning on starting their college careers, but were roped into a conflict with the Olympian Gods. As a result, the two of them helped form a Los Angeles based team called the Champions along with Hercules, Black Widow and the original Ghost Rider. Warren adopted a new costume that no longer contained a face mask. With his parents gone, Warren no longer felt the need to protect his civilian identity (Champions #1). Even more importantly, Warren was given full control of his family's assets and financial interests after long legal issues with some distant relatives who had sued him, as they pretended that the Worthingtons would have left Warren out of their will, had they known of his mutant powers. Unfortunately, the Champions were a mismatched group from the start and it wasn't long before that team went belly-up. All other members walked out on Warren and he was left behind to close the headquarters (Spectacular Spiderman (vol. 1) #17).

Angel and Candy Southern moved to Colorado to a mountain chalet he called "Angel's Aerie." When the X-Men encountered the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, they came to Warren for help, as he had inherited membership in the Club from his father. Warren arranged some invitations for one of the Club’s parties and, while the team went to New York to check out the Hellfire Club, he remained behind with Professor Xavier. Sensing that Xavier was not comfortable with Cyclops and the X-Men acting very independent from him, Angel listened to Xavier’s concerns (X-Men (vol. 1) #132-133). Mastermind’s manipulation caused Phoenix’s change into the cosmic powered Dark Phoenix and, soaring through the universe, she destroyed an entire solar system. The Shi’Ar demanded her death and Warren battled alongside the X-men when they dueled the Imperial Guard over Phoenix’ fate. When all X-Men were defeated, Jean committed suicide, as she already felt Dark Phoenix gaining control again.

Since Cyclops left the X-Men to grieve, Angel came back to the team so that they weren't left shorthanded. However, Warren’s long time without training had taken it’s toll and, in a Danger Room session, he nearly caused Nightcrawler to receive massive injuries (X-Men (vol. 1) #137-139). Over time, his skills returned and he came to be a good advisor to Xavier. He got along well with most of the new X-Men, save Wolverine. After a few run-ins with him, Warren finally quit the team, because he no longer could stand Wolverine's savage attitude (Uncanny X-Men #148).

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 02:26 AM

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Without warning he and Candy were ambushed in their penthouse in Manhattan and Warren was taken into the sewers below the city one night. In old subway tunnels beneath the city, the X-Men encountered a large community of ugly mutants called Morlocks. Callisto, their leader, considered Warren the most beautiful man alive and wanted to marry him. The X-Men were outnumbered and there was only one chance to rescue their former teammate. Storm dared Callisto to a one-on-one duel and, by stabbing her in the heart, she assumed leadership of the Morlocks. She then cut Warren loose from his restraints and the team immediately headed for the surface (Uncanny X-Men #169-170).

Angel would join his former teammates, Iceman and the Beast, in reforming the Defenders as a permanent team, along with Valkyrie, the Gargoyle and Moondragon (Defenders (vol. 1) #125). Months later, however, Moondragon lost her inner struggle with a mystic entity known as the Dragon of the Moon and was taken over by it. Driven to doing evil, Moondragon lashed out at her former teammates with her mental powers. Since she never liked the way Warren had looked at her (though she herself had telepathically caused him to feel attracted to her), she decided to remove his sight before escaping to whereabouts unknown (Defenders (vol. 1) #143-144). In the following weeks, Warren had his eyes examined by many doctors but nobody could help--he was blind. This also meant that he could not fly anymore, at least not alone. In several occasions, his teammate, Cloud, accompanied him in mist form and helped him navigate (Defenders (vol. 1) #146). Finally, Moondragon returned to finish what she had started – the destruction of the Defenders. She placed the three former X-Men in situations where they had to rescue friends and loved ones, keeping them away from the fight. Cruelly, she even restored Warren’s sight, only the first thing he saw was his love Candy Southern upside down, with a knife slowly cutting her throat. While the three mutants succeeded in their tests, the other Defenders sacrificed their lives to defeat Moondragon. Their ally, Interloper, could use his powers as an Eternal to stop the Dragon of the Moon, but he needed extra lifeforce to completely destroy it. When Beast, Angel and Iceman returned to the scene, they found both their allies and their enemy had been turned to dust (Defenders (vol. 1) #152).

A short time later, after the Enclave upset a psionic cocoon at the bottom of the Hudson River, the Avengers found it and brought it to their mansion to examine, and have Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four to determine what the object was. Richards accidentally opened the cocoon, releasing the real Jean Grey from a comatose state she had been put in when Phoenix took over her life. They called Angel and he brought her up to speed with the world. Jean was shocked at the state of mutant affairs, as well as the fact that the X-Men had accepted Magneto as a member, and wanted to do something about it. Warren agreed and convinced Iceman and Beast to join their new X-Factor team. To lead them, they recruited Cyclops, who was shocked to see Jean because, in her absence, he had married a woman named Madelyne Pryor and had a son named Nathan. Still, Cyclops left his wife to return to his true love. Warren and his old friend, Cameron Hodge, came up with the idea behind X-Factor, which was to pose as mutant hunting humans to police evil mutants and recruit innocent mutants to help them learn how to use their powers. They also worked as mutant freedom fighters in disguise, as a team known as the X-Terminators (X-Factor (vol. 1) #1).

X-Factor survived through various battles with the likes of Tower, Apocalypse and Freedom Force. When Jean found out about Cyclops's wife, Madelyne Pryor, she turned to Angel for comfort, straining his friendship with Scott. When Candy Southern came looking for her lover, concerned with affairs at Worthington Enterprises, which she was governing in his absence, she caught Warren and Jean in an intimating pose. Angrily, Candy walked away. Jean told Warren to go after her but, since the team was busy with rescuing the Morlocks from getting slaughtered in the tunnels below New York, he refused. Hodge, meanwhile, had secretly become a rabid mutant hater over the years and was using X-Factor as part of a plot to destroy Angel and all other mutants. Since X-Factor's stated public goal was to track down and capture mutants, Hodge used them to fuel the public's hatred of Homo Superior (X-Factor (vol. 1) #10).

During the Mutant Massacre, Artie Maddicks became lost in the tunnels and, while the rest of X-Factor was treating to some wounded Morlocks, Angel alone searched for the little boy. He found him, but they were attacked by a trio of Marauders. Although he knew that, in the tunnels, he had no real chance to fight, as the limited space hindered his wings, Angel told the boy to run while he kept the villains busy. He lost the fight and the Marauder known as Harpoon pinned Angel to a wall by his wings, severely damaging them. Blockbuster continued the job started by ripping out many feathers and giving Warren a heavy beating. More dead than alive, Angel was found by Thor, who drove off the Marauders and returned Warren to his teammates (Thor (vol. 1) #373-374).

When Angel was brought to the hospital, Hodge planted false evidence that showed that amputation was the only way to save him. With Warren having no living relatives, the matter was brought to court and it was decided that the wings had to come off, despite the objections of his teammates. Also, since Angel's injuries were so public, it blew their cover as mutant hunters. Hodge convinced Angel to turn over all of his assets to X-Factor in case he died, with Cameron as the beneficiary. He thought Warren would try suicide after the loss of his wings and he had control over X-Factor's assets, which he used to fund his own agency, the Right, a group of fanatic mutant haters. Distraught after the amputation, Angel escaped from the hospital and went to his private helicopter to "fly one last time!" In midair, his jet exploded, apparently completing his suicide mission (X-Factor (vol. 1) #14-15).

While Hodge was taking over X-Factor, Warren was, in fact, still alive. At the moment of the plane's explosion, he was teleported away by the immortal mutant, Apocalypse. By implanting some of his own shapeshifting techno-organic cells in Angel's body, Apocalypse turned Warren's skin blue and caused him to grow a new, bio-metallic set of wings from his back. These new wings could retract into his back, as well as fire "feather fletchettes," wing darts that paralyzed the nervous system of whoever they hit. Due to brainwashing and his own distraught feelings, Warren was convinced by Apocalypse to become his winged Angel of Death. Along with the anorexic child, Famine, the former Morlock, Pestilence, and the ex-soldier War, they were the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. After X-Factor finally defeated Hodge's Right organization, Apocalypse struck. Death willingly fought his former friends until he was tricked into believing he had killed Iceman. This shocked him back to his senses and he turned against Apocalypse. While most of X-Factor escaped after defeating the Horsemen, their new member, Caliban, took Warren's place in Apocalypse’s group (X-Factor (vol. 1) #18-19, 21-25).

Death wouldn't retake his place in X-Factor, however, as he wanted to hunt down and kill Cameron Hodge, who was still on the loose, for all he had done to his family. On his quest to find Hodge, Death found that Hodge had kidnapped Candy Southern. In the final battle between the two, Hodge killed Candy and, in retaliation, Death sliced Hodge's head of with his wings (X-Factor (vol. 1) #34).

Days later, when the Inferno struck, Death returned to fight alongside X-Factor. After helping to win the battles against S'ym, Nastir'h, the Goblin Queen, Sinister and the Marauders, Warren came back to the team and, after finding the new alias Dark Angel not very fitting, he adopted Archangel as his new moniker (X-Factor (vol. 1) #36, Uncanny X-Men #243). Archangel kept brooding about the changes Apocalypse made to his body and was lost in his self-pity. When the Morlocks were brought into an uprising against mankind and the X-Men went into the tunnels beneath the city, Archangel returned to the spot where he was crucified by the Marauders and lost his original wings. Jean Grey helped to open his eyes to the truth and Warren came to terms with his fate. He even accepted that the wings were actually not acting of their own or a so called “blood lust,” but Warren’s own repressed violent tendencies. Slowly, Archangel came back from the edge of the abyss where he had been living since Apocalypse's machinations (Uncanny X-Men #289-293).

When he and Jean Grey later went up to his Colorado Aerie, they found Candy Southern there, apparently alive and well, on the anniversary of her apparent murder. She told the story of how Hodge's agents in the Right somehow kept her alive after her "death" and then sedated her, doing some surgery to her body. Before Archangel and Jean could decipher whether this truly was Candy or not, Cameron Hodge attacked. He explained that he and Candy were both from the same "stock," techno-organic Phalanx creatures with the brain wave implants of their original bodies. After a short battle of wills and might, the Phalanx Candy sacrificed herself to destroy Hodge, though at least she and Warren were able to make a proper goodbye this time (Uncanny X-Men #306).

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 03:39 AM

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His recruitment by the Hellfire Club to join the Inner Circle:
Shortly before the wedding of Jean Grey and Scott Summers, Archangel received an invitation from the Hellfire Club and Psylocke, who had inherited membership to the Club’s british branch, agreed to accompany him. Turned out that Shinobi Shaw was restarting the Inner Circle and he wanted Warren to take part in it, but Warren refused and the two X-Men battled their way out. Yet, the experience showed them that they had very similar histories. Both were heirs to wealthy families, had been famous (he as a playboy, she as a supermodel) and as had been manipulated by their enemies so much that they felt like strangers, even to themselves. After first sparks of attraction, they started dating and soon found themselves in love with each other (X-Men (vol. 2) #29, Uncanny X-Men #319).

Back to the X-Men:
Archangel's relationship with Psylocke continued well until Sabretooth, for a time, the mansion's prisoner, broke free and eviscerated Betsy with his claws, hospitalizing her. Archangel and the rest of the original X-Men were able to track down and capture Sabretooth, and Warren got in a couple of good hits himself, but his left wing was nearly shattered by Creed's savage attacks (Uncanny X-Men #328, Sabretooth: In the Red Zone). In order to be more available reserves to the X-Men, Archangel and Psylocke moved to Warren's Soho loft to be closer to the mansion in case of emergencies. Warren's injuries began to take on strange side-effects, however. Archangel's wings began to crack more and finally shattered, revealing his original, feathered wings underneath. Apparently, they had grown back inside the metallic shell (Uncanny X-Men #338).

An Evening in Rio:
Warren and Betsy were revealed to be at a Hellfire Club function taking place in Rio, and Warren watched as Tony Stark boldly floated with Psylocke, right in front of him. This time, his Hellfire Club visit was under the dominion of Sebastian Shaw, who took no other action against Worthington (X-Men (vol. 2) #73).

And, back to the X-Men again:
Months later, Archangel received word that one of the old Champscrafts from the Champions team had been appropriated by the Avenger, Hawkeye. Warren ended up fighting Hawkeye's new team, the Thunderbolts, and later aiding them in battle with Graviton (Thunderbolts #27-30).

Archangel, during “The Twelve”, experienced a metamorphosis of his own from his close contact to Apocalypse's handiwork. Warren gained an enormous amount of life energy that shaped itself into a new pair of wings. Archangel would release all of his new power into the paralyzed form of Abraham Lincoln Kieros, the former Horseman known as War. Warren lost his new powers, but Kieros had regained mobility in his limbs (Wolverine (vol. 2) #146-147).

Warren and Betsy began to drift apart, particularly as Psylocke became attracted to her new teammate, Neal Shaara, Thunderbird III. Their attraction developed to such degree that they did not even care to hide their flirtation in front of Warren. Finally, he called it quits on Christmas, explaining the break-up with having reached a dead-end in their relationship and the two of them simply having drifted apart over the course of their hectic lives (X-Men (vol. 2) #109).

Checking the company‘s finances from time to time, Warren found out that some his money was being used to fund the X-Ranch, a mutant brothel, but before the X-Men could properly investigate the X-Ranch was burned down by the Church of Humanity. Only one member, who called herself Stacy X survived and was taken in by the X-Men. Warren took her under his wing, trying to make her understand what the X-Men‘s purpose was. He even took her with him when he was provided the chance to speak for mutant rights in front of the G8 nations (Uncanny X-Men #402). Warren's intentions were entirely platonic, however, and he didn't respond when Stacy developed feelings for him. Warren’s body underwent certain changes as a result of a developing secondary mutation when, during a battle with Black Tom Cassidy, the villain drained Warren of his life energies. His skin reverted back to its original pink hue and he began to recuperate from injuries at an accelerated rate. Returning to Westchester from this adventure, Warren was overly welcomed by Paige Guthrie, aka Husk, who had recently moved to the mansion and apparently had a crush on him. Stacy X sensed the growing attraction between the pair and, acting rather jealous, tried her best to embarrass Paige, but it only served Warren further neglecting her so that she eventually quit the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #411-413, 422).

Warren was initially very reluctant to push forward with seeing Paige romantically, due in part to his role as field leader, the huge age gap between them, and her ex-boyfriend, Chamber, who was also living in the mansion part-time. Despite all of these obstacles, however, Archangel and Husk grew closer together and began officially dating (Uncanny X-Men #421-424). Warren and Paige took an extended leave of absence, and Archangel launched a charity called "Mutantes Sans Frontières" in Zanzibar, (a reference to Doctors Without Borders), where he then proceeded to help stop a coup with the aid of Professor X's newest charges from nearby Genosha. In "Excalibur," Warren met up again with Callisto. As Paige reminded Warren of his history with Callisto, Viper attacked. Warren and Callisto then managed to defeat Viper together.

As the Decimation, it appeared that Angel had lost his X-gene, as his wings had shrunken and shriveled into a useless state following the events of House of M. However, it was revealed that Warren had managed to fake losing his mutant abilities in order to lure out The Ghoul, a deranged serial killer who uses his retained mutant powers to murder ex-mutants. Shortly after this, Warren became estranged from Paige, possibly in light of her brother’s death at the mansion at the hands of Reverend Stryker (New X-Men (vol. 2) #32).

Archangel joined with fellow former Champions member Hercules, along with Namora, and Amadeus Cho to attempt to calm down The Hulk in the Incredible Hulk (vol. 3) #107. In their attempts to help save New York City from the destruction, they form a new team of superheroes, called the Renegades. Angel also rejoined the X-Men during “Messiah CompleX”, battling the Acolytes and Marauders with the X-Men.

Warren ended up as one of many people in San Francisco afflicted by the illusions of Martinique Wyngarde, at the time believing himself to be living in the late 1960s until Cyclops and Emma Frost defeated her, and the illusion passed. As it did, he managed to save the life of Sadie Sinclair, who just so happened to be the mayor of San Francisco (Uncanny X-Men #495-499). Not long after this, he was assisting X-Force from his Aerie in Colorado when an apparently brainwashed Wolfsbane brutally attacked him, and again amputated his wings. Attempts by Elixir to get them to grow back were unsuccessful, and due to the still latent presence of Apocalypse’s genetic tampering in Warren, he instead regenerated his metal wings, and again his skin turned blue, seemingly reverting him into his Archangel persona. Enraged about Wolfsbane having “stolen” his wings, he could sense them, and tracked them back to the Purifiers base, slaughtering them by the dozens, and killing several members of the group, calling themselves the Choir who had grafted wings similar to Warren’s onto themselves (X-Force (vol. 3) #2-6).

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 03:46 AM

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In the wake of that incident, Warren would again return to his feathered wings and flesh-toned skin, but in times of stress and anger, he would transform back into his Archangel form, not unlike Jekyll and Hyde. He tried his best to maintain this secret from the main X-Men, as they set up their new home in San Francisco, and he continued to gain them the public support of Sadie Sinclair. When Magneto made his return in the city, attacking the X-Men at an art gallery they were at with Sentinels, he would lure some of their number, and then transform into Archangel, and destroy them, not allowing the public or many of his X-Men teammates to know of his transformation. Warren also managed to keep his persona a secret during the defense of San Francisco against the Skrull Invasion fleet (Secret Invasion #2-4). Warren was also a part of a team of X-Men that ended up allying themselves with the Eternal known as Icarus against a team of Eternals led by Druig (Eternals (vol. 3) #7-9). The people of San Francisco would prove grateful to the X-Men in light of their protection, with the secret of X-Force and Warren being kept from the public, as well as most of the X-Men.

X-Force, though, would continue to study Warren’s condition, as well as Wolfsbane’s, and find that whenever she saw Warren’s wings, she was conditioned to attack. Soon they would be called on their next mission, to locate the Vanisher, who had attempted to steal a vial of the Legacy Virus from one of Mr. Sinister’s abandoned labs. As it turned out, the Vanisher had fled the lab, after encountering clones of the Marauders in it. After having Elixir give the Vanisher a brain tumor, to assure he would cooperate, X-Force had him return them to the scene of his attempted theft, where they battled the poorly created Marauder clones, and nearly found the advanced strain of Legacy Virus. What they didn’t expect, was an ambush from members of the Right, who were also attempting to recover the virus to weaponize, and use against mutants. X-Force managed to fend off their onslaught, and prevent the virus from falling into their hands. At least, from that one lab (X-Force (vol. 1) #7-10). Upon returning to Angel’s Aerie, they met with Warpath, who found out the origin of the enigma they encountered at the Purifiers’ base, Eli Bard (X-Force (vol. 3) #11).

The Beast would soon reach out to Warren, asking him for his help in recruiting a team of elite scientists, with whom he would work on finding a cure for the Decimation. They first sought out Dr. Nemesis, in Argentina, enduring a brief assassination attempt on him by the Futurfuhrer’s Genetikorps before he would join them (Uncanny X-Men #504). They then travelled north to Canada, where they would seek out Madison Jeffries from exile in an old military base, where his robotic constructs had begun trying to kill him (Uncanny X-Men #505). This quartet then flew across the Pacific to an island off the coast of mainland Japan, where they sought out Dr. Takiguchi, and had to fight mutated crab creatures, and Warren ended up having to kill a giant Godzilla-like lizard that he created called Leviathan by flying in its mouth and out the back of its head. Of course, in doing so, the Beast learned of his secret, that he was transforming into his Archangel persona again (Uncanny X-Men #506-507). Hank tried to get Warren into his lab for some tests to try and understand what had happened (Uncanny X-Men #508-509).

Soon the mysterious Red Hulk would be seen transforming by Domino, whom he hunted to try and hide his secret. She called on Warren, X-Force, and Deadpool to help battle the mysterious gamma-irradiated creature to aid her, and it turned out he wasn’t alone. Red Hulk had an entire team of super-humans, called Code Red that included Crimson Dynamo, whom Archangel was knocked out by, when he ejected his suit and left a self-destruct code to take out Warren (Hulk (vol. 2) #14-17).

While X-Force had succeeded in preventing Bastion’s forces from acquiring a strand of the Legacy Virus from one of Mr. Sinister’s abandoned labs in Japan, they would still find other labs with strands in them, and use them in their plans to eliminate all mutants. They found a way to weaponize the virus, by injecting it into captured mutants, who would die from the rapidly-acting strains of it. In the disease’s final stage, the mutant infected would die by using their powers to cataclysmic, large-scale effect. After the death of the Morlock known as Beautiful Dreamer, X-Force were sent to investigate, and Warren and X-23 were sent to Providence, Rhode Island, one of many possible targets of the Sapien League. Once there, they saw the mutant known as Fever Pitch, already infected, and could do nothing to stop him from exploding in a huge fireball, and killing several humans present, further making the public reputation of mutants worse. X-Force’s leads got hotter, when the Sapien League also kidnapped Meltdown, Hellion, and Surge right out from under the X-Men’s noses in San Francisco, and planned on using them in an attack on the United Nations. X-Force arrived to stop the Leper Queen, who sent Surge and Hellion to the U.N., already injected with the virus, but stayed behind with Meltdown in a hostage situation. Before X-Force could save Tabby, they were sent into the future via a time-travelling device reverse-engineered from Bishop, to attempt to find Cable and the Mutant Messiah (X-Force (vol. 3) #12-13).

The timeline that X-Force would arrive during, was that of the reign of the despot known as Stryfe. Immediately upon appearing there, Warren would be compelled to leave the rest of X-Force, and fly off into the mountainous environs there, where he would find the hibernation chamber of a futuristic Apocalypse. Stryfe and Bishop had already found the ancient mutant overlord in a weakened state, and left him near death. Now, En Sabah Nur begged his old servant, Archangel, to end his suffering. Warren, through sheer will, managed to resist his command, and for sparing his life, Apocalypse chose to ally himself with Warren and X-Force against Stryfe, seeing them as the means with which to reclaim his throne. Archangel flew Apocalypse to Ship, where he recharged his frail form, and aided X-Force in defeating Stryfe. Apocalypse himself picked up Hope, declaring her a suitable host for his energies, but Warren stated the ancient mutant madman owed him a debt, for saving his life, and to let her go. Honoring it, Apocalypse let Hope go without a fight. Cable took Hope into the future, before all of X-Force were sent back into the past, without Hope (X-Force/Cable: Messiah War #1, Cable #13-15, X-Force (vol. 3) #14-16). Immediately upon arriving back in the present day, Warren, as Archangel, flew to the rescue of Surge and Hellion, using his razored wings to render their Sapien League captors to pieces, and Elixir managed to reach the duo to cure them of the Legacy Virus before they were killed by their powers (X-Force (vol. 3) #17-18).

Returning to San Francisco, Warren would agree to accompany the X-Club on another trip through time, in this instance a journey to San Francisco in 1906 to try and find the parents of Dr. Nemesis, two of the first known parents of a mutant born in the world. While trying to get blood samples from the Bradleys to study, they and the X-Club ran afoul of a Victorian incarnation of the Hellfire Club operating in San Francisco, who used an invention stolen from Dr. Nemesis’ father to power the earliest known Sentinel robot. Warren managed to help destroy it, but in the process, Dr. Nemesis’ father was killed. After acquiring the blood samples they had come for, the X-Club buried them in Golden Gate Park, only to discover that their location was where the Dreaming Celestial was standing, when they arrived in the present (Uncanny X-Men #512).

X-Force’s time home would not remain peaceful for long, as riots in San Francisco would break out due to Proposition X. Norman Osborn would bring H.A.M.M.E.R. to San Francisco to quell the uprising, and began having his Dark Avengers and his own team of mutants, the Dark X-Men, arrest anyone violating curfew to be locked in Alcatraz. Soon, Cyclops had Archangel and X-Force teleport inside the prison, and lead a mass jailbreak, attacking his forces there, before teleporting back to their new island home of Utopia. When Osborn’s forces came to the island, Warren would grab Bullseye, and fly him off the island back to the mainland where they would do battle (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, Dark Avengers #8, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1). Because of his public defeat on the island, and Namor’s betrayal, Osborn would go on to unleash a mutated version of Namor’s Plodex wife, Marrina, upon Utopia, and Angel would join in the efforts to stop her (Dark Reign: The List- X-Men #1).

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 03:48 AM

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Warren was on Utopia upon the arrival of X-Factor (Nation X: X-Factor #1), and when the Agents of Atlas attempted to steal Cerebra from Marin Industries, just after the X-Men left the island, Warren would be one of many mutants who would work together to track them back to Atlas’ base, and attempt to recover it (X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1-2). He also would be one of the first responders when Emplate would arrive at Utopia and begin attacking Madison Jeffries (X-Men: Legacy Annual #1), and would be present to discuss the planning for how to recover Bling, after she was kidnapped by the villain (X-Men: Legacy #228).

Sadly, the X-Men were met with the passing of the first citizen of Utopia, the human member of the X-Club known as Dr. Takaguchi. Warren attended the funeral of one of his comrades from the group (Uncanny X-Men #515). The funeral soon had a surprise, when Magneto himself arrived on the island (Uncanny X-Men #516). After an attack by Predator Xs flown in by Scalphunter, Warren and the X-Club had to go to Magneto and ask him to help prevent Utopia from capsizing back beneath the ocean floor (Uncanny X-Men #518-519).

Angel would return to his Aerie with Warpath, sometime later, only to discover Wolfsbane, who had been missing since the team’s trip to Japan. She was with the Asgardian Wolf Prince known as Hrimhari, unconscious. Worried about her condition, Warren and Warpath rushed them back to Utopia, so the X-Club might be able to study her condition (X-Force (vol. 3) #20). Upon arriving late in the night, however, something was very wrong. Utopia was under attack by the techno-organic virus-infected thralls of Selene, and Warren had to battle a resurrected Pyro, Berzerker, and Scaleface along the island’s shore. As he worked his way towards the inner part of the island, he and X-Force would end up seeing Warpath kidnapped by Selene’s Inner Circle, and have to depart for Genosha to try and stop her from completing a magic ritual to achieve godhood. When the Vanisher teleported them there, they faced down an army of millions of resurrected Genoshans, and were too late to stop Selene. However, the Vanisher did manage to rescue Warpath, who procured Selene’s ritual dagger. Warpath performed his Apache tribe’s “Ghost Dance”, and together, X-Force managed to defeat not only Selene’s Inner Circle, but Warpath buried the ritual dagger in her chest, apparently killing her (X-Necrosha #1, New Mutants (vol. 3) #7, X-Force (vol. 3) #21-25).

Warren also assisted the X-Club, relaying messages to Cyclops when they noticed Magneto meditating for some unknown purpose, and made sure to let Cyclops know it was the Breakworld weapon known as the Retaliator, headed back to Earth with Kitty Pryde still alive inside (Uncanny X-Men #521-522).

But most recently, the return of the Mutant Messiah, Hope, to the present has placed Angel and the X-Men in dire danger, yet again. After doing their best to find Hope and Cable, fleeing the forces of Bastion across the country, where both Nightcrawler and Psylocke learned of Warren’s regression into being Archangel again (X-Men: Second Coming #1, New Mutants (vol. 3) #12, X-Men: Legacy #235, X-Force (vol. 3) #26), X-Force got Hope home, but not withoutfacing casualties to many of Utopia’s resident teleporters along the way. The X-Men held funeral services for some of those killed in Hope’s rescue, but soon found themselves trapped within a force-field sphere around their entire home, and at its center, a portal to the “Days of Future Past” timeline, with an army of Nimrods ready to strike from the other side of it, and exterminate them all at Bastion’s command (Uncanny X-Men #524, X-Men: Legacy #236, X-Force (vol. 3) #27).

What do you think of Warren Worthington III? Doe he have like the LONGEST profile of this whole month? Would you like to see him exploit his Hellfire Club connections more often? What do you think will happen to him regarding his dual personalities?

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 08:00 AM

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Jason Wyngarde / Mastermind –
Probational member (likely planned to be White Bishop)

First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #3
First Hellfire appearance: Uncanny X-Men #122
Last appearance: Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 1) #17 [succumbs to the Legacy virus]
All Hellfire Appearances: Classic X-Men #24, Uncanny X-Men #122, 125-126, 129, Classic X-Men #34, Uncanny X-Men #129-130, 132-134
Powers: Mastermind's mutant powers are of illusion casting. He can psionically cause other people to see, hear, touch, smell, and/or taste things that don't exist. For this to work, these people have to be within a range of his powers. He is capable of affecting even telepaths as powerful as Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, although he required an amplifying device to manipulate Dark Phoenix.
Note: Although Mastermind’s membership depended on his success to lure Phoenix into the Inner Circle, he was already referred to as a member of the Hellfire Club in Uncanny X-Men #130, 132 and 134.

His Life Prior to the Hellfire Club:

Nothing is known of Jason Wyngarde's life before joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, save that at some point, he apparently fathered three illegitimate daughters, Martinique, Regan and Pixie (with the faerie Mrs. Gwynn).

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With Mastermind's help, the Brotherhood was able to take over a South American country, with an illusion of thousands of soldiers (Uncanny X-Men #4-5). After the Brotherhood's defeat by the X-Men, the group attempted to lure the Stranger to their cause. The Stranger, being an enigmatic cosmic entity, instead of a mutant, turned Mastermind into stone for a time (Uncanny X-Men #11). After the spell wore off, Jason joined Factor Three, an organization that attempted to take over the world. Factor Three eventually disbanded when their leader turned out to be an alien, instead of a mutant. Former members of Factor Three, Blob and Unus, joined with Jason to reform the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, only to end up captured for a time by Sentinels (Uncanny X-Men #59).

This new Brotherhood, however, was looking for new recruits. Mastermind attempted to recruit Beast to his group, but ultimately failed (Amazing Adventures #12-13).Magneto returned to the group to resume his leadership and created Alpha, the ultimate mutant. This new creation of Magneto's turned the entire team into infants, including his master, though (Defenders (vol. 1) #15-16). When the X-Men would next encounter Jason Wyndgarde, however, he’d have some interesting allies…

His Life With the Hellfire Club:
Eventually somehow restored to adulthood, Jason Wyngarde became involved with the Hellfire Club, who were determined to recruit Phoenix as their Black Queen. They offered him probationary membership, contingent on him delivering Jean Grey to them. Mastermind set to using his powers to trick her, first studying her psyche under the guise of a young Greek man named Nikos (revealed in Classic X-Men #24) while Phoenix believed the X-Men to be dead. Still trailing her all the way to Muir Island, he approached Jean Grey in Scotland, under the name of Jason Wyngarde, and flirted with her in a pub. Jean was attracted to him in his illusory disguise (Uncanny X-Men #122). Later, he would start using his powers to convince her she was actually in the 18th Century, and it would only be an interruption by Lorna Dane that would make Jean snap out of it (Uncanny X-Men #125). As Jean awoke, her Phoenix powers still fluctuating, she would refer to Cyclops as “Jason”, before Mastermind would put her into another illusion, where she would participate in a formal hunt. Toward the end of the illusion, she would realize she was hunting another man (Uncanny X-Men #126). Jean caught a plane to fly back to America, the Hellfire Club presumably providing a jet that would fly parallel to Jean’s. From wihin the other jet, Mastermind used his powers to make Jean again experience an illusion of the 18th Century, and that she was traveling on a boat to America to marry her beloved, Jason Wyngarde.

Upon arriving back in America, it would be revealed that in between manipulating Jean, Wyngarde was making himself at home withing the Hellfire Club’s confines, even playing a unique game of chess with Emma Frost (Classic X-Men #34). As the X-Men were attempting to recruit both Dazzler, and Kitty Pryde, the Hellfire Club would hinder their efforts, and all the while, Mastermind would use the opportunity to further confuse Jean. He would create the illusion that Jean married Jason Wyngarde in the 18th Century, and in the illusion, Sebastian Shaw would be the vicar (Uncanny X-Men #129-130). When the X-Men would confront the Hellfire Club in their New York mansion, Mastermind would deliver what he thought was would be checkmate of the battle, using his illusion to convince Jean that the Hellfire Club were her allies, and she truly was in the 18th Century, and should serve as the Black Queen of the Inner Circle (Uncanny X-Men #132). Cyclops attempted to reach Jean through their mental bond, only to discover that Mastermind could reach him with his powers through it as well. Using them, Mastermind would defeat Cyclops’ astral form, nearly killing him (Uncanny X-Men #133). Apparently killing Cyclops, however, would backfire on Wyngarde, as it would cause Phoenix to realize his manipulation, and turn on him. Phoenix would have her revenge on him, by in a moment making him cosmically aware of more than a human mind can handle, driving him mad (Uncanny X-Men #134). While his manipulations would bring about the change to create Dark Phoenix, Mastermind would flee the Hellfire Club, never to return to its ranks.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/26874/1183445-revenge_large.jpg (http://www.comicvine.com/revenge/105-1183445/)

His Life After the Hellfire Club:
Unaware that he is trapped in his own illusions. In them, he Mastermind believes to defeat the X-Men, the Avengers and every major villain only to be welcomed back into the Hellfire Club with open arms. However, he actually beats a drunken man and scares some people in a bar, before the police takes him to a mental asylum (X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #33).

Mastermind gets better in time and starts on a personal revenge mission against anyone who had ever caused him pain, including Emma Frost (Uncanny X-Men #169), and Mystique (Uncanny X-Men #170). He gave the final nudge to Rogue towards leaving Mystique for the X-Men through subtly manipulating Rogue's rapidly deteriorating mental state, while at the same time inflicting nightmares on Mystique. Then, Mastermind turned his attention to the X-Men. He interfered with wedding of Wolverine and Mariko Yashida (Uncanny X-Men #173), making Mariko delay it by telling Logan she was not worthy. Before the confusion could be settled, Mariko would be killed by the Yakuza with blowfish toxin. Not much later, Mastermind would convince Cyclops that Madelyne Pryor was a reincarnated Phoenix, trying to drive them apart as well. Cyclops uncovered Mastermind's plot and defeated Mastermind in a battle in the X-Mansion in which he had used illusion to manipulate the other X-Men into attacking Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men #174-175).

Mastermind appeared as well, in an as of now, unknown point in continuity that implied that he, on orders of the United States military, was responsible for the creation of the Void, the murderous and all-powerful counterpart of the super-hero Sentry (flashback in New Avengers #10).

Mastermind later died of the Legacy Virus, but before he succumbed, he asked Jean Grey's forgiveness for what he had done to her, unaware she had never truly been Phoenix. Nevertheless, she did forgive him, and he died at peace (Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 1) #17).

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What did you think of Mastermind? Would he have made a good White Bishop? Was his death scene a touching sign of repentance? Do either of his daughters have the right to claim membership based off of birthright?

worstblogever

05-31-2010, 01:37 PM

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Regan Wyngarde, Lady Mastermind
– Hellfire Club Member, or Mercenary

First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6
All Hellfire Club Appearances: X-Treme X-Men #6-9
Last Appearance: X-Factor (vol. 3) #27
Powers: Telepathically scan the minds of others and implant multi-sensory illusions based on their thoughts directly into their minds.

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Her Life before the Hellfire Club:
Not much is known, except that her father Jason Wyngarde didn’t stick around to raise her, and Regan was likely quite the handful for her single mother.

Her life with the Hellfire Club:
Regan was brought in to the Hellfire Club for a time by Sebastian Shaw, killing the Austrailian crmielord named Viceroy, and was part of a scheme to kidnap Sage and use Regan’s illusory powers to convince her to join the Hellfire Club again. She battled Storm’s X-Men team, eventually beating defeated by both Sage and Lifeguard, and Regan’s defeat left her in a vegetative state (X-Treme X-Men #6-9).

Her Life after the Hellfire Club:
Regan was one of few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after the Decimation. Cannonball and Iceman found a comatose Regan, along with a partially disassembled Karima Shandipar, who both fell victim to scientists of the Fordyce Clinic who were trying to determine if a person could catch mutation like a disease (X-Men (vol. 2) #188). They took her back to the Xavier Mansion to keep under observation, and see if she would ever wake up. Regan finally awoke from her coma after her powers had been temporarily hijacked by Serafina, and helped the X-Men defeat her, and the Children of the Vault, as they attacked the mansion (X-Men (vol. 2) #189-193). She was granted a place on Rogue’s tactical strike force team, but was being monitored closely, based off of her past transgressions against the X-Men in Austrailia. Considering the strike team also had Mystique and Sabretooth on it, she was probably the least of their concerns. Soon afterwards, the team was ambushed by Pandemic's forces, which captured Rogue and teleported to an unknown location. Eventually, Karima Shapandar was able to restart the teleportation device, but things did not go exactly as planned. Regan was teleported up high into the air and fell from an enormous height. Luckily, Iceman managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Regan and Iceman soon regrouped with Karima Shapandar, and the trio began to search for Pandemic. They find Pandemic and defeat him but he infects Rogue with the Strain 88 virus before they can stop him (X-Men (vol. 2) #194-196). Regan went with the team to Cable’s island utopia of Providence to find a cure for Rogue. While there the island was attacked by an ancient Shi’ar superweapon known as the Hetacomb, forcing Regan and the rest of the team to fight the psionic horror. The weapon is eventually defeated thanks to Rogue's power-absorption abilities, now supercharged due to Strain 88 (X-Men (vol. 2) #199).

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When Rogue's team of X-Men went to one of Mystique's safe-houses to discuss Rogue being afflicted by both Strain 88 and the Hecatomb, an intruder alarm eventually was sounded. Initially confused by the seemingly invisible nature of their opponents, the X-Men were caught off guard when Regan revealed she was aiding them, and dropped her illusionary cloak to reveal the Marauders (X-Men (vol. 2) #200). Lady Mastermind was a double-agent for the Marauders for some time, but it is unsure as to when she joined Mister Sinister's service, or why. Regan later fought alongside the other Marauders in Flint, Michigan, against Iceman and Cannonball, as both sides try to obtain the diaries of the late pre-cognitive mutant, Destiny (X-Men (vol. 2) #201-204).

Along with fellow Marauders Sunfire, Gambit, Prism, Blockbuster, Malice (in Karima Shandipar’s body) and Scalphunter, Regan travels to Cooperstown, Alaska to find the first mutant birth since M-Day, but instead come across the Purifiers who are also after the child and they fight a climactic battle, leaving the town in flames, with few survivors (X-Men: Messiah Complex #1).

The next time Regan was seen was when the X-Men sent a strike force to confront the Marauders. Working with Malice, she disguised an unconscious Scrambler as Angel and Malice dropped him on Wolverine, who thought he was catching Warren. This temporarily canceled out his healing factor. Malice said the illusion was courtesy of Regan and she boasted of how she is a retired X-Man. Nightcrawler teleported in and kicked her in the head knocking her out (New X-Men (vol. 2) #44).

When the X-Men, X-Factor and newly formed X-Force arrived on Muir Island later, however, to reclaim the mutant birth from the Marauders, Lady Mastermind attempted to again cast an illusion to conceal the Marauders. However, Wolverine’s enhanced senses somehow picked up her scent and he fatally (seemingly, anyway) stabbed her in the chest. However, time would reveal that Regan either survived this wound, or somehow created an illusion of her death to cover her escape (X-Factor (vol. 3) #27, New X-Men (vol. 2) #46).

Regan eventually re-surfaced in Tokyo, where she and the Sisterhood stole the original body of Betsy Braddock from Kwannon’s grave, in order to resurrect Psylocke to use against the X-Men. She and the sisterhood would go on to ambush the X-Men in their home at the Marin Base, in order to steal a lock of Jean Grey’s hair. In the ambush, she managed to temporarily overcome the psionic powers of Emma Frost, placing her in a psionic illusion that she was bound and gagged, and unable to escape. However, with some help from the Phoenix, Emma eventually did save herself, and turned into her diamond form, which she used to begin pummeling Regan. Spiral teleported her to their base of operations in San Francisco, and there, the X-Men eventually followed, forcing yet another retreat. Across the country, Madelyne Pryor would be defeated at Jean Grey’s gravesite, and the Sisterhood would mostly dissolve, save for the reunited Mastermind sisters (Uncanny X-Men #508-511).

Which, the two would eventually learn, they were not the only offspring of Jason Wyngarde. They had another half sister, in the X-Men’s Pixie. As part of a sense of revenge, they, along with Pixie’s faerie mother, Mrs. Gwynn, menaced the X-Men with their illusions again, at the same time the demon Saturnine made his play to bring Pixie to his side. In the end, when their presence was detected, Pixie showed her half-siblings mercy, and used her powers as a sorcerer to teleport them to an unknown safe location, rather than relegate them to the X-Brig (X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #1-4).

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What did you think of Regan Wyngarde? Would you like to have seen her involved more with the Hellfire Club? Do you wish she was on the X-Men for longer before betraying them? Do you think she will continue to team up with her sister, Martinique, against her other sister, Pixie?