1.
Jean Grey
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Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1. Jean Grey is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants and she was born with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Her powers first manifested when she saw her friend being hit by a car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also has to deal with being an Omega-level mutant, Jean Grey experienced a transformation into the Phoenix in the X-Men storyline The Dark Phoenix Saga. She has faced numerous times in the history of the series. Her first death was under her guise as Marvel Girl, when she died and was reborn as Phoenix in The Dark Phoenix Saga and this transformation led to her second death, which was suicide, though not her last. The character was present for much of the X-Mens history, famke Janssen portrayed the character in five installments of the X-Men films. Sophie Turner portrays a version in the 2016 film X-Men. In 2006, IGN rated Jean Grey #6 on their list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years and her Dark Phoenix persona was ranked 9th in IGNs Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time list, the highest rank for a female character. She was ranked third in Comics Buyers Guides 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list, created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, Jean first appeared as Marvel Girl in X-Men #1. The original teams sole female member, Marvel Girl was a part of the team through the series publication. Initially possessing the ability of telekinesis, the character was granted the power of telepathy. She began a relationship with Scott Summers, which persisted as her romantic relationship throughout the X-Men franchise. In an attempt to save her fellow X-Men by piloting their damaged shuttle back to earth, dying but determined to save Scott and her friends, Jeans love pushed her to reach her full potential as a psychic and telekinetic. The ship landed in Jamaica Bay, with the other X-Men unharmed, Jean then surfaced wearing a new green and gold costume and adopted the codename Phoenix, having gained immense powers. Eventually, in a moment of mental clarity, Jean committed suicide to ensure the universes. This storyline is one of the most well-known and heavily referenced in mainstream American superhero comics, when the first trade paperback of The Dark Phoenix Saga was published in 1984, Marvel also published a 48-page special issue titled Phoenix, The Untold Story
2.
Marvel Comics
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Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, an American publisher of comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwides parent company, Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvels modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Most of Marvels fictional characters operate in a reality known as the Marvel Universe. Martin Goodman founded the later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Martin Goodman, a magazine publisher who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. The issue was a success, with it and a second printing the following month selling, combined. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc, Timely had its own staff in place by the following year. It, too, proved a hit, with sales of one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc. beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941, Goodman hired his wifes cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to a number of different titles, Goodmans business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55. As well, some covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12, were labeled A Marvel Magazine many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion and this globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas also published a plethora of childrens and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlos Homer the Happy Ghost, Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. Atlas did not achieve any hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply. During this time, the Comic Code Authority made its debut in September 1954, Wertham published the book Seduction of the Innocent in order to force people to see that comics were impacting American youth. He believed violent comics were causing children to be reckless and were turning them into delinquents, in September 1954, comic book publishers got together to set up their own self-censorship organization—the Comics Magazine Association of America—in order to appease audiences
3.
Uncanny X-Men
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Uncanny X-Men, originally published as The X-Men, is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X-Men, a group of mutants with superhuman abilities led, the title was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, met with a lukewarm reception, and was eventually cancelled in 1970. Interest was rekindled with 1975s Giant-Size X-Men and the debut of a new, initially published bi-monthly, it became a monthly with issue #14. The series was placed firmly in the Marvel Universe, with guest appearances by Namor in #6, the jungle adventure hero Ka-Zar and the Savage Land were introduced in issue #10. Roy Thomas wrote the series from #20 to #44, Thomas and artist Werner Roth created the Banshee in #28. The X-Men #45 featured a crossover with The Avengers #53, after a battle with the Hulk in issue #66, the title ceased publishing original material and featured reprints in issues #67 through #93. X-Men was relaunched in May 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men #1, by Len Wein, the title featured a new, international, team consisting of Cyclops, Banshee, Sunfire and Wolverine, along with new characters Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Thunderbird. The original plan was to continue Giant-Size X-Men as a quarterly, chris Claremonts first issue as writer, #94, had all the original X-Men leave, along with Sunfire, Thunderbird was killed in #95. Moira MacTaggert, an ally of the X-Men, and later to be established as a former fiancée of Xavier. Marvel Girl became the Phoenix in issue #101 and this was followed by the first Shiar space opera story. Cockrum was replaced as penciller by John Byrne as of #108, Byrne became co-plotter, and during his run the series became a monthly title again. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Claremont and Byrnes run on The X-Men second on its list of the Top 10 1970s Marvels. The Dark Phoenix Saga in 1980 led to a change in the line-up of the team, with the death of Phoenix, and Cyclops leaving the team to mourn for her. Comics writers and historians Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson observed that The Dark Phoenix Saga is to Claremont and Byrne what the Galactus Trilogy is to Stan Lee and it is a landmark in Marvel history, showcasing its creators work at the height of their abilities. The new teenage mutant Kitty Pryde was introduced in #129 and joined the X-Men in #139, the Dazzler, a disco-singing, roller-skating mutant, was introduced in #130, but did not join the team, instead headlining her own solo title. Byrne plotted the story wanting to depict the Sentinels as a threat to the existence of the mutant race. Mystiques Brotherhood changed sides and became the government-backed Freedom Force in #199 and their first action was to capture Magneto, who had begun associating with the X-Men during the Secret Wars II crossover. Magneto surrenders himself, but escapes after his trial is abandoned, the Morlocks, a group of disfigured mutants living underneath New York City, were introduced in #169
4.
Stan Lee
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Stan Lee is an American comic-book writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. In addition, he challenged the comics industrys censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation. He was inducted into the book industrys Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994. Lee received a National Medal of Arts in 2008 and his father, trained as a dress cutter, worked only sporadically after the Great Depression, and the family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue, in Washington Heights, Manhattan. When Lee was nearly 9, his sibling, brother Larry Lieber, was born. He said in 2006 that as a child he was influenced by books and movies, by the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in a one-bedroom apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. Lee has described it as an apartment facing out back, with he and his brother sharing a bedroom. Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, in his youth, Lee enjoyed writing, and entertained dreams of one day writing the Great American Novel. He graduated from school early, aged 16½ in 1939. With the help of his uncle Robbie Solomon, Lee became an assistant in 1939 at the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine, Timely, by the 1960s, would evolve into Marvel Comics. Lee, whose cousin Jean was Goodmans wife, was hired by Timely editor Joe Simon. His duties were prosaic at first, in those days dipped the pen in ink, I had to make sure the inkwells were filled, Lee recalled in 2009. I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, Lee later explained in his autobiography and numerous other sources that he had intended to save his given name for more literary work. This initial story also introduced Captain Americas trademark ricocheting shield-toss, which became one of the characters signatures. He graduated from writing filler to actual comics with a feature, Headline Hunter, Foreign Correspondent. Lees first superhero co-creation was the Destroyer, in Mystic Comics #6, other characters he created during this period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comics include Jack Frost, debuting in USA Comics #1, and Father Time, debuting in Captain America Comics #6. When Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left late in 1941, following a dispute with Goodman, Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served in the US in the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment. He was later transferred to the Training Film Division, where he worked writing manuals, training films, and slogans and his military classification, he says, was playwright, he adds that only nine men in the US Army were given that title
5.
Jack Kirby
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Jack Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer, and editor, widely regarded as one of the mediums major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. Kirby grew up in New York City, and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and he entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, during the 1940s, Kirby, generally teamed with Simon, created numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics. After serving in World War II, Kirby produced work for a number of publishers, including DC, Harvey Comics, at Crestwood Publications he and Simon created the genre of romance comics and later founded their own short-lived comic company, Mainline Publications. Ultimately, Kirby found himself at Timelys 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, there, in the 1960s, Kirby and writer-editor Stan Lee co-created many of the companys major characters, including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Hulk. The Lee-Kirby titles garnered high sales and critical acclaim, but in 1970, feeling he had been treated unfairly, at DC, Kirby created his Fourth World saga, which spanned several comics titles. While these series proved unsuccessful and were canceled, the Fourth Worlds New Gods have continued as a significant part of the DC Universe. Kirby returned to Marvel briefly in the mid-to-late 1970s, then ventured into television animation, Kirby was married to Rosalind Roz Goldstein in 1942. They had four children, and remained married until his death from heart failure in 1994, the Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor. Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28,1917, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City and his parents, Rose and Benjamin Kurtzberg, were Austrian Jewish immigrants, and his father earned a living as a garment factory worker. In his youth, Kirby desired to escape his neighborhood and he liked to draw, and sought out places he could learn more about art. He was rejected by the Educational Alliance because he drew too fast with charcoal and he later found an outlet for his skills by drawing cartoons for the newspaper of the Boys Brotherhood Republic, a miniature city on East 3rd Street where street kids ran their own government. At age 14, Kirby enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, I wasnt the kind of student that Pratt was looking for. They wanted people who would work on something forever, I didnt want to work on any project forever. I intended to get things done, Kirby joined the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate in 1936, working there on newspaper comic strips and on single-panel advice cartoons such as Your Health Comes First. He remained until late 1939, when he began working for the animation company Fleischer Studios as an inbetweener on Popeye cartoons. I went from Lincoln to Fleischer, he recalled, from Fleischer I had to get out in a hurry because I couldnt take that kind of thing, describing it as a factory in a sense, like my fathers factory. Around that time, the American comic book industry was booming, Kirby began writing and drawing for the comic-book packager Eisner & Iger, one of a handful of firms creating comics on demand for publishers
6.
Brotherhood of Mutants
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The Brotherhood of Mutants, originally known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, is a fictional supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devoted to mutant superiority over normal humans and they are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men. The groups roster and ideology have varied from incarnation to incarnation and they are almost always at odds with the more peaceful X-Men, though on rare occasions the two sides have allied against a common threat, most notably Apocalypse. The Brotherhood was founded by Magneto and its members were his allies in his early battles with the X-Men during the 1960s. The original Brotherhood ultimately disbanded, with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch going on to members of the Avengers. In 1981, the Brotherhood of Mutants was revived under the leadership of Mystique while the groups most visible incarnation during the early 1990s was led by Toad, with each additional incarnation, the group abandoned its political ideology and regressed to the status of hired goons. Since the end of the 1990s, several incarnations have sought to return to the political roots, the Brotherhood of Mutants has also appeared in several animated series featuring the X-Men and has been Magneto’s group in the recent X-Men film series. The original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, one of the greater ironies of the group has been its use of Evil in its name. When his decision to name the group was brought up in an interview, Stan Lee simply said, since the early 1990s, writers have attempted to explain this away by having Toad describe it as irony, based upon the perceived notion that all mutants are evil. Later writers have opted instead to simply drop Evil from the groups name, many of the groups members have been shown to be past victims of anti-mutant prejudice, which has made the group a haven for many mutants who feel they are outcasts and pariahs. While many of these outcast mutants have willingly embraced the violent aspects of the Brotherhoods ideology, several have ultimately rejected it, the original leader of the team was Magneto, a mutant with the ability to control magnetic fields. It would later be revealed that Magneto was a Holocaust survivor, explaining his distrust of humanity, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are Magnetos children, although at the time of the original Brotherhood all three of them were unaware of it. They had joined after Magneto saved Wanda from a mob who believed she was a Witch after she made a house burst into flame. She joined to repay the debt, and Pietro joined to keep her safe, Time and again, the Brotherhood clashed with the original X-Men team, in their first appearance taking control of a small country with the aid of Mastermind creating an illusion of an army. They captured the Angel and took him to Asteroid M, and they tried to recruit the Sub-Mariner, and then the Blob, but the X-Men succeeded against them. Finally Magneto and Toad were captured by an extraterrestrial being called the Stranger, who they at first believed was a powerful mutant, Mastermind had been turned to a block of solid matter by the Stranger, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the team and later joined the Avengers. The shapeshifting mutant Mystique later organized her own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, members included Pyro, the Blob, Avalanche, Destiny and Rogue. This team later became the core membership of the team called Freedom Force
7.
Hellfire Club (comics)
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The Hellfire Club is a fictional society appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Hellfire Club often comes into confrontation with the mutant superhero team, although the Club appears to merely be an international social club for wealthy elites, its clandestine Inner Circle seeks to influence world events, in accordance with their own agenda. Created by the Uncanny X-Men writer/artist duo of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the name Hellfire Club in fact has a historical precedent, having been a popular name for gentlemens clubs in the 18th century. Additionally, the hierarchy of the Inner Circle is modeled on the pieces of a set, with Black and White sets of Kings, Queens, Bishops. The Hellfire Club and its Inner Circle were introduced in The Dark Phoenix Saga and this incarnation, composed most notably of Black King Sebastian Shaw and White Queen Emma Frost, would remain prominent for many years. After their initial confrontations, the Hellfire Club and the X-Men settled into an uneasy alliance and this eventually changed as endless power struggles perpetuated a series of upheavals within the Inner Circle. The club has appeared in two X-Men animated series, both times being renamed as simply The Inner Circle, due to the hesitations to use the word Hellfire in animated children series. Members of the Hellfire Club appeared in 2011s X-Men, First Class as the villains, led by Sebastian Shaw. In the episode, agents John Steed and Emma Peel attempt to infiltrate a secret society named after the Hellfire Club of the 18th century, whose members of the Inner Circle all wear period costumes. Emma Peels guise as the Queen of Sin, dressed in a leather corset, would be the model for the Clubs Queens. The leader of the club was played by actor Peter Wyngarde. The Hellfire Club counts among its members the most famous, wealthy, membership is passed on to descendants, and can also be earned through wealth or influence. While many accept the invitation simply for the pleasures that the Club offers, others seek wealth, in fact, the purpose of the Hellfire Club is to obtain and exert power through politics and economic influence instead of outward conquest and domination. Since its foundation, the Hellfire Club has been involved in wars, the Club has branches in New York City, London, Hong Kong, and Paris, the various branches are all overseen by the Lord Imperial. Unbeknownst to most members is the Clubs Inner Circle, originally known as the Council of the Chosen, this secret group formed around Edward Ned Buckman, each member assuming the titles of the major chess pieces. As White King, Buckman financed Stephen Langs revived Sentinel program with the assistance of probationary member Sebastian Shaw. Shaw, now Black Bishop, began securing allies within the Club, meeting Harry Leland, Emma Frost, and Donald Pierce, as well as his loyal assistant, Tessa. Buckman, no longer having a use for the dangerously-ambitious Shaw, ordered a Sentinel attack on Shaw and his allies, resulting in the death of Shaws lover, Lourdes Chantel
8.
Supervillain
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A supervillain is a variant of the villainous stock character archetype commonly found in American comic books, sometimes possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero, Supervillains are often used as foils to present a daunting challenge to a superhero. Other traits may include megalomania and possession of considerable resources to further their aims, many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real world dictators, gangsters, and terrorists, with aspirations of world domination or universal leadership. Some notable examples of female supervillains are Catwoman, Mystique, Harley Quinn, Talia al Ghul, Supervillains are sometimes members of supervillain groups, such as the Sinister Six, the Suicide Squad, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Injustice League, and the Masters of Evil. The dictionary definition of supervillain at Wiktionary Media related to Supervillains at Wikimedia Commons
9.
American comic book
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An American comic book is a thin periodical, typically 32-pages, containing primarily comics content. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics and this was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the book industry rapidly expanded, and genres such as horror, crime. The 1950s saw a decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a revival. Since the later 20th century, comic books have gained note as collectable items, Comic shops cater to fans, and particularly valuable issues have fetched in excess of a million dollars. Systems of grading comic books have emerged with plastic sleeves and cardboard backing available to maintain the condition of comic books, standard comics are 6.625 inches ×10.25 inches and about 32 pages long. While comics can be the work of a creator, the labour of making them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a writer and artist, or there may be separate artists for the characters. The process begins with the coming up with an idea or concept, then working it into a plot and story. After the art production, letters are placed on the page, the creative team, the writers and artists, may work with a comic book publisher for help with marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A distributor like Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest in the U. S. helps to distribute the product to retailers. Another part of the involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator. Fan art and letters to the editor were printed in the back of the book until the early 21st century. Comic specialty stores did help encourage several waves of independently-produced comics, the development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the U. S, the Yellow Kid in McFaddens Flats, in 1897. The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes text by E. W. Townsend, measured 5×7 inches. The neologism comic book appears on the back cover, despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Companys Comic Monthly, did not appear until 1922
10.
X-Men
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The X-Men is a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the characters first appeared in The X-Men #1 and they are among the most recognizable and successful intellectual properties of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous books, television shows, films, and video games. The X-Men are mutants, a subspecies of humans who are born with superhuman abilities, the X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and mutants in a world where antimutant bigotry is fierce and widespread. They are led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X and their archenemy is Magneto, a powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields. Professor X and Magneto have opposing views and philosophies regarding the relationship between mutants and humans, Professor X is the founder of Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters at a location commonly called the X-Mansion, which recruits mutants from around the world. Located in Westchester County, New York, the X-Mansion is the home and training site of the X-Men. The founding five members of the X-Men who appear in The X-Men #1 are Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, since then, dozens of mutants from various countries and diverse backgrounds have held membership as X-Men. In 2004, Stan Lee recalled, I couldnt have everybody bitten by a spider or exposed to a gamma ray explosion. And I took the way out. I said to myself, Why dont I just say theyre mutants, in a 1987 interview, Jack Kirby said, The X-Men, I did the natural thing there. What would you do with mutants who were just plain boys and girls, so I gave them a teacher, Professor X. Of course, it was the thing to do, instead of disorienting or alienating people who were different from us, I made the X-Men part of the human race. Possibly, radiation, if it is beneficial, may create mutants that’ll save us instead of doing us harm. I felt that if we train the mutants our way, they’ll help us - and not only help us, and so, we could all live together. Lee devised the title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, The Mutants. Within the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are widely regarded to have named after Professor Xavier himself. Xavier however claims that the name X-Men was never chosen as a tribute to himself, the name is also linked to the X-Gene, an unknown gene that causes the mutant evolution. The original explanation for the name, as provided by Xavier in The X-Men #1, is that mutants possess an extra power, one which ordinary humans do not
11.
Telepathy
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Telepathy is the purported transmission of information from one person to another without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interaction. Telepathy experiments have historically been criticized for lack of proper controls, there is no convincing evidence that telepathy exists, and the topic is generally considered by the scientific community to be pseudoscience. Telepathy is a theme in modern fiction and science fiction, with many extraterrestrials, superheroes. As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena, the modern concept of telepathy emerged in this context. The skeptic Eric Dingwall criticized SPR founding members Frederic W. H. Myers, in the late 19th century the magician Washington Irving Bishop would perform thought reading demonstrations. Bishop claimed no supernatural powers and ascribed his powers to muscular sensitivity, Bishop was investigated by a group of scientists including the editor of the British Medical Journal and the psychologist Francis Galton. Bishop performed several feats such as correctly identifying a selected spot on a table. During the experiment Bishop required physical contact with a subject who knew the correct answer and he would hold the hand or wrist of the helper. The scientists concluded that Bishop was not a telepath but using a highly trained skill to detect ideomotor movements. Another famous thought reader was the magician Stuart Cumberland, Cumberland claimed to possess no genuine psychic ability and his thought reading performances could only be demonstrated by holding the hand of his subject to read their muscular movements. He came into dispute with psychical researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research who were searching for genuine cases of telepathy. Cumberland argued that telepathy and communication with the dead were impossible and that the mind of man can not be read through telepathy. In the late 19th century the Creery Sisters were tested by the Society for Psychical Research, however, during a later experiment they were caught utilizing signal codes and they confessed to fraud. G. A. Smith and myself have been accepted and cited as the evidence of the truth of thought transference. The psychologist Leonard T. Troland had carried out experiments in telepathy at Harvard University which were reported in 1917, the subjects produced below chance expectations. Arthur Conan Doyle and W. T, Stead were duped into believing Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers. Both Doyle and Stead wrote the Zancigs performed telepathy, the results revealed no evidence for telepathy. She attempted to duplicate 290 pictures which were drawn by her husband, Sinclair claimed Mary successfully duplicated 65 of them, with 155 partial successes and 70 failures
12.
The Dark Phoenix Saga
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The Dark Phoenix Saga is an extended X-Men storyline in the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, focusing on Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. It was written by Chris Claremont with art by Dave Cockrum and it is one of the most well-known and heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics, and widely considered a classic. It was adapted for the X-Men animated series, and alluded to in the movie X2, a third movie, X-Men, The Last Stand, released in 2006, contains some elements from the saga. Wolverine and the X-Men adapted the Dark Phoenix Saga at the end of its first season, returning from a mission in space, Jean Grey is exposed to the deadly radiation of a solar flare, and briefly attains her ultimate potential as a telepath and telekinetic. Jean becomes a being of pure thought, and then reforms herself upon return to Earth with the new costume, identity and it is with this incredible power that Jean repairs the fractured MKraan Crystal, but voluntarily restrains her powers afterward in order to keep them under control. Tragically the circuit breakers prevent her from defeating Magneto and start the chain of events leading to Dark Phoenix and her vast potential makes her a target for Mastermind, who is attempting to prove himself in order to join the prestigious Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Under the identity of Jason Wyngarde, he begins to seduce Jean, with the help of a mind-tap device created by the Clubs White Queen, Emma Frost, Mastermind projects his illusions directly into Phoenix mind. Phoenix eventually accepts the Black Queen as her identity, a decadent role that allows her to relish the extremes of human emotion. She helps the Hellfire Club capture the X-Men, and Jeans true love Cyclops faces Mastermind in a psychic duel, when Mastermind kills Cyclops psychic image, it breaks his hold over Jeans psyche and shatters the final barriers on her power. Experiencing this power in its totality overwhelms Jean, and she renames herself Dark Phoenix, enraged at Mastermind, she uses a telepathic illusion to make him experience godhood, driving him insane. However, her power proves to be far more limited than she thought, to recharge, she devours the energy of the nearby DBari star, causing a supernova which kills the entire population of the only civilized planet orbiting the star. A Shiar vessel attacks to prevent her from destroying other stars, Dark Phoenix easily destroys the vessel, but not before they alert the Shiar Empress Lilandra. On Earth, the X-Men are greeted by Avengers member Beast, Dark Phoenix returns to Earth, to her familys home, and finds herself conflicted between her normal feelings for her loved ones and her new destructive impulses as Dark Phoenix. The X-Men attack her but are again defeated and her mentor, Charles Xavier, arrives, and through a vicious psychic duel, he creates a new set of psychic circuit-breakers which reduce her to only her original Marvel Girl powers. This allows Jeans normal personality to reassert control, the Shiar abduct the X-Men, tell them of Dark Phoenix casual genocide, and declare that she must be put to death. Xavier challenges Lilandra to Arinn Haelar, a Shiar duel of honor that cannot be refused, after conferring with the Kree and Skrulls, who privately demand a guaranteed victory for their side in order to proceed with Phoenixs death sentence, Lilandra agrees to Xaviers demand. The next day, the X-Men and the Shiar Imperial Guard are teleported to the Blue Area of the Moon to do battle, the Imperial Guard defeat most of the X-Men, leaving Cyclops and Phoenix alone to make a final stand. When Cyclops is seemingly killed, Jeans panic overrides Xaviers psychic restraints, Lilandra initiates Plan Omega, which would consist of destroying the whole solar system in hopes of eliminating Dark Phoenix in the process
13.
Mastermind (Martinique Jason)
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Martinique Jason, also known as Mastermind, is a fictional mutant supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Wolverine/Gambit, Victims #1 as a woman in an illusion. She was created by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Martinique has the ability of creating telepathic illusions, a power she shares with Regan and inherited from their father. Martinique Jason is one of the daughters of the illusionist, the original Mastermind and she has an intense hatred for her half-sister, also Lady Mastermind, Regan Wyngarde. She hates her sister for stealing the spotlight, while her sister hates her for being a skank and she teamed up with Arcade to frame Wolverine for several murders in London. One of the victims had been a friend of Gambits, gambit went to London, where he was pitted against Wolverine by Martinique. She eventually turned the tables on Arcade by giving him a recurring nightmare, at this point, she used the alias Martinique Jason. Martinique later joined an incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Mystique and this Brotherhood was involved in another assassination attempt on the Senator Robert Kelly, who at the time was running for the United States presidency. The Brotherhood were defeated by the X-Men and a dying Pyro, during the encounter, she was placed in a coma by Cable. She was later removed from a hospital by Multiple Man, for use in Banshees paramilitary mutant police group, martiniques powers were employed to keep the supervillain members of the group, Blob, Avalanche and Fever Pitch under Banshees control. She was eventually awoken by Mystique, who had infiltrated the group under the disguise of the mutant Surge, the two women then freed the villain members of the X-Corps and used them to lay waste to Paris. They were defeated by the X-Men, after M-Day, Martinique was found amnesiac and catatonic in her costume in the streets of San Francisco. Angel arrives in San Francisco to meet up with the other X-Men there but slipped into the illusion himself although he managed to contact Cyclops, the two come to San Francisco to investigate his disappearance, and end up investigating what happened to San Francisco. Martinique, partying, soon finds out that Emma is trying to get into her head and she defends herself from the psychic probe and literally calls the police. She backtracks the psychic probe to find out that they are the X-Men before quickly remembering all that she had forgotten and she then uses the hippie X-Men, Angel, Iceman, Warpath and Hepzibah to confront the two X-Men. Madelyne and the Sisterhood approach Lady Mastermind, who is at a graveyard mourning her father, when Madelyne makes her offer, Regan draws her gun and threatens to shoot. Madelyne, however, promises to resurrect Regans father, Martinique grudgingly confirms this as true, Regan joins the Sisterhood and together they perform a spell involving Kwannons body and a captive Psylocke, restoring her to her original body. Later she and Chimera attack Cyclops, Dazzler and Northstar while the rest of the Sisterhood attack the X-Men, Mastermind is revealed to have been seriously injured during the battle with the X-Men, but subsequently manages to escape along with the Sisterhood
14.
Lady Mastermind
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Lady Mastermind is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared as Regan Wyngarde in X-Treme X-Men #6 and was created by writer Chris Claremont, Regan Wyngarde is the daughter of Jason Wyngarde, the original Mastermind. Her half-sisters are Martinique Jason, the second Mastermind, who now shares her codename, like her sister and father, Regan possesses the ability to cast telepathic illusions. Although the character appeared as a villain, she would later have a brief stint as an X-Man. A short time after joining, she betrayed the X-Men, Lady Mastermind is one of three daughters of Jason Wyngarde, the original Mastermind. She has a hatred for her half-sister, Martinique. She is hated by her sister for stealing the spotlight, while she hates her sister for being a skank and she was originally involved in a plot created by Sebastian Shaw to have his revenge against Sage and gain control of the Sydney underworld. This plot was created by using Regans telepathic illusionary powers to assassinate Miles Warbeck an Australian underworld crime lord known as Viceroy, in an attempt to make Sage work for Shaw again, Lady Mastermind placed her in a series of illusions. However, with the assistance of Lifeguard, the daughter of Viceroy, Sage was able to break the illusion and reflect Regans powers back against her, Regan is one of few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after M-Day. Cannonball and Iceman find a comatose Regan, along with a partially disassembled Karima Shapandar and it was stated that Regan fell victim to scientists of the Fordyce Clinic who were trying to determine if a person can catch mutation like a disease. Regan finally awakened from her coma after her powers had been hijacked by Serafina. She joins Rogues strike force/field team, but Rogue told Regan that she is wearing the X-Men uniform because she was found with nothing more than a white sheet. Soon afterwards, the team was ambushed by Pandemics forces, which captured Rogue, 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. Mystique, who was teleported by the machine, was not as lucky as she was. Regan and Iceman soon regrouped with Karima Shapandar, and the trio began to search for Pandemic and they find Pandemic and defeat him but Rogue is infected with Strain 88 in the process. The team goes to Cables island utopia of Providence to find a cure for Rogue, while there the island is attacked by an ancient Shiar superweapon known as the Hecatomb, forcing Regan and the rest of the team to fight the psionic horror. The weapon is eventually defeated thanks to Rogues power-absorption abilities, now supercharged due to Strain 88, when Rogues team of X-Men goes to one of Mystiques safe-houses an intruder alarm later goes off
15.
Pixie (X-Men)
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Pixie is a fictional Superhero and mutant appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Her mutation grants her pixie-like eyes, colorful wings that allow her to fly, after a confrontation with the revived former member of the New Mutants, Magik, she gains the ability to use magic and a magical weapon called the Souldagger. Her main use of magic is a massive teleportation spell, which makes her a key asset to various X-Men missions and teams and she was first introduced as a student on the Paragons training squad at the Xavier Institute in New X-Men, vol. 2, later joining the New X-Men team, and later graduating to the Uncanny X-Men team, though only a side character in her initial appearances, she has since become a prominent character in various X-Men titles. Pixie first appeared in New X-Men, Academy X #5 and was created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, Megan Gwynn is a Welsh teenager from a fictional mining town called Abergylid. Her father died in the mine and because of that she develops a fear of it and she would later discover he wasnt really her father, but the villainous Mastermind. Lady Mastermind and Mastermind II are her half-sisters, in her original inception, she had short pink hair, pure black eyes and butterfly-like rainbow wings. After enrolling at Xavier Institute, Pixie is assigned to be part of the Paragons training squad under the tutelage of former New Mutant member Rahne Sinclair and she wears a bicycle helmet during training sessions, due to her uncertainty with flying. During this time, she develops a crush on the X-Man Cyclops and is considered a girl who fits in well with other students. Following the events of House of M, almost all of the Institutes students are depowered, Pixie is one of only twenty-seven students, including her fellow Paragons Trance, Wolf Cub, and Match, not to have lost her mutant abilities. She participates in Emma Frosts battle royal which determines who will train to be an X-Man and she remains at the school, appearing occasionally as a side character. Later, forty-two of Pixies former classmates are killed when their bus is blown up by a missile sent by William Stryker, among the confirmed deaths are Gwynns fellow Paragon, DJ. Pixie, along with Anole, Loa, Wolf Cub, Rockslide, Pixie stays by Blindfolds side during the fight, and Blindfold cautions Pixie and the others that Pixie must not fall to darkness. Pixie uses her powers on-panel for the first time during the fight, after Darkchilde saves the small group, she asks Nastirh to bring Pixie to her, recognizing that Pixies soul is the most innocent and therefore the most powerful in Limbo. His intervention saves her, but leaves the spell unfinished, resulting in the creation of only one Bloodstone, Magik teaches Pixie a teleportation spell and she uses it to teleport herself and her friends to Belasco to prevent him from torturing the rest of the students. Pixie saves the students and ultimately kills Belasco by stabbing him with the Souldagger, Pixie and Anole are then made official members of the New X-Men for their bravery in Limbo at the insistence of Rockslide. Pixie later reveals that Doctor Strange will tutor her in magic when she comes of age and they are confronted by Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers with Hellion receiving a near mortal injury. Greatly outnumbered, Pixie panics and cannot teleport the team out until Rictor, however, Predator X later attacks the Institute, going after the weaker, wounded students in the infirmary
16.
Chris Claremont
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Christopher S. Claremont scripted many classic stories, including The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past, on which he collaborated with John Byrne. He developed the character of Wolverine into a fan favorite, X-Men #1, the 1991 spinoff series premiere that Claremont co-wrote with Jim Lee, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, according to Guinness World Records. In 2015, Claremont and his X-Men collaborator John Byrne were entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, Claremont was born November 25,1950 in London, England, the son of an internist father and a pilot/caterer mother. His family moved to the United States when he was three, and he was raised primarily on Long Island and he read works by science fiction writers such as Robert Heinlein, as well as writers of other genres such as Rudyard Kipling and C. S. Forester. Claremont is Jewish on his mothers side, and lived in a kibbutz in Israel during his youth. Instead, when he began at Bard College, he did so as a political theorist, studying acting and political theory and his first professional sale was a prose story. Thomas later assigned Claremont his first professional scripting assignment, on Daredevil, in 1974, as an entry into regular comics writing, Claremont was given the fledgling title Iron Fist, which teamed him with John Byrne, their second collaboration after Marvel Premiere. Though his acting career did not yield great success, he functioned well at Marvel, one of the first new characters created by Claremont was Madrox the Multiple Man in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4. Claremont approached the job as a actor, developing the characters by examining their motives, desires. This approach drew immediate positive reaction, according to former Marvel editor-in-chief Bob Harras, He lived it and breathed it. He would write whole paragraphs about what people were wearing and he really got into these peoples thoughts, hopes, dreams. Claremont introduced new supporting characters to the X-Men series including Moira MacTaggert in issue #96, Marvel Girl, one of Marvels first female heroes, underwent a huge transformation into the omnipotent Phoenix. Issue #107 saw the introduction of the Starjammers as well as the departure of artist Dave Cockrum, Claremont began his collaboration with artist John Byrne in the following issue. During his 17 years as X-Men writer, Claremont wrote or co-wrote many classic X-Men stories, such as The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past. Comics writers and historians Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson observed that The Dark Phoenix Saga is to Claremont and Byrne what the Galactus Trilogy is to Stan Lee and it is a landmark in Marvel history, showcasing its creators work at the height of their abilities. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Claremont and Byrnes run on The X-Men second on its list of the Top 10 1970s Marvels, Claremont and artist Frank Miller crafted a Wolverine limited series in 1982. With artist Walt Simonson, Claremont produced The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans in 1982, the New Mutants were introduced by Claremont and Bob McLeod in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 and received their own ongoing series soon after. The second X-Men film was based on his X-Men graphic novel God Loves
17.
John Byrne (comics)
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John Lindley Byrne is an American comic-book writer and artist. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major superheroes, Byrnes better-known work has been on Marvel Comics’ X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise, the first issue of which featured comics first variant cover. During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and he scripted the first issues of Mike Mignolas Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing. In 2015, Byrne and his X-Men collaborator Chris Claremont were entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, Byrne was born in Walsall, West Midlands, and raised in West Bromwich, England, where he lived with his parents and his maternal grandmother. The Batman story hooked me for life, a couple of years later my family emigrated to Canada and I discovered the vast array of American comics available at the time. His first encounter with Marvel Comics was in 1962 with Stan Lee and he later commented that the book had an edge like nothing DC was putting out at the time. Jack Kirby’s work in particular had a influence on Byrne. Besides Kirby, Byrne was influenced by the style of Neal Adams. In 1970, Byrne enrolled at the Alberta College of Art and he created the superhero parody Gay Guy for the college newspaper, which poked fun at the campus stereotype of homosexuality among art students. Gay Guy is notable for featuring a prototype of the Alpha Flight character Snowbird, while there, he published his first comic book, ACA Comix #1, featuring The Death’s Head Knight. Byrne left the college in 1973 without graduating, a Rog-2000 story written by Stern, with art by Byrne and Layton, had gotten the attention of Charlton Comics editor Nicola Cuti, who extended Byrne an invitation. Written by Cuti, Rog-2000 became one of several alternating backup features in the Charlton Comics superhero series E-Man, while that was Byrnes first published color-comics work, My first professional comic book sale was to Marvel, a short story called Dark Asylum. Which languished in a file somewhere until it was used as filler in Giant-Size Dracula #5. The story was plotted by Tony Isabella and written by David Anthony Kraft, after the Rog-2000 story, Byrne went on to work on the Charlton books Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, Space,1999, and Emergency. And co-created with writer Joe Gill the post-apocalyptic science-fiction series Doomsday +1, Byrne additionally drew a cover for the supernatural anthology The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #54. Byrne said he broke into Marvel comics after writer Chris Claremont. saw my work, when Pat Broderick missed a deadline on the Iron Fist series in Marvel Premiere, John Verpoorten fired him and offered the book to me. I turned around the first script in time to meet the deadline, Byrne soon went on to draw series including The Champions and Marvel Team-Up. Byrne first drew the X-Men in Marvel Team-Up #53, for many issues, he was paired with Claremont, with whom he teamed for some issues of the black-and-white Marvel magazine Marvel Preview featuring Star-Lord
18.
Peter Wyngarde
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Peter Wyngarde is an actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series, Department S and Jason King. Peter Wyngardes date and place of birth, his birth name and he is claimed to be the nephew of French actor/director Louis Jouvet. However, primary sources indicate a different birth name, year of birth. The author J. G. Ballard has written in his memoir and in interviews and private letters that he and this is supported by other sources which show that specifics of Cyril Goldberts early life match the authorised version of Peter Wyngardes life before moving to the UK. This includes the names of his parents and siblings, the location of his upbringing, his internment by the Japanese in Shanghai during World War II, about Wyngardes date of birth there is considerable variation. Different sources quote or suggest 1926,1927,1928,1929,1930 or 1933, J. G. Ballard writes in his autobiography Miracles of Life that Cyril Goldbert, the future Peter Wyngarde. was four years older than me. Ballard was born in November 1930, giving Cyril Goldbert an estimated birth year of 1926 by Ballards judgement, more recently, Peter Wyngarde himself says he was born in 1933 and some sources use this date. Peter Wyngardes father was Henry Peter Goldbert who was British, harry Goldbert was born in present-day Ukraine and raised in Singapore where his mother ran the Singapore public house. He became a naturalised British subject in 1919 and travel records from the show that he was working as Second Chief Engineer in the British Merchant Navy. Wyngardes mother was Marcheritta Goldbert, nee Ahin, later Macauley and she was interviewed in the Straits Times in 1956 about her sons career, by which time she had remarried and was now called Madge Macauley. Wyngarde has claimed in an interview that his mother was a racing driver, the full names of Cyril Golberts younger siblings match Peter Wyngardes purportedly elder siblings, Adolphe Peter Joe Goldbert and Marion Colette Simone Goldbert, later Wells. As for the claim that Wyngarde is Louis Jouvets nephew, Jouvets biography confirms he only had two brothers, neither of whom were related to Cyril Goldberts parents by blood or marriage. The Japanese Army took over Shanghais International Settlement on 8 December 1941 and his younger siblings also had British nationality, but they may have been protected from internment by their mothers Swiss nationality. After internment, Peter Wyngarde sailed from Shanghai to Southampton in December 1945 on the Cunard White Star Line vessel the Arawa, there is no listing of a passenger of that name, but the 18-year old Cyril Goldbert was a passenger. J. G. Ballard was also on board, Goldberts parents had separated, and his father was now based in Liverpool, working as a Second Chief Engineer on ships sailing between Liverpool and North America. After Cyril Goldberts arrival in the UK in 1945 aged 18, the rest of his family also left Shanghai soon afterwards, his two younger siblings left for the UK in 1946, and his mother remarried and moved to Malaysia. In a Q&A on a fan blog in April 2017, Wyngarde said that he studied in the Faculty of Law, in 1946 Peter Wyngarde took his first professional roles in theatre productions. An early success was in the part of Morris Albert in a production of Noel Cowards Present Laughter which opened on 7 August 1947 at the Theatre Royal, from the mid-1950s Wyngarde had roles in feature films, television plays and television series guest appearances
19.
Jason King (TV series)
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Jason King is a British television series screened in the United Kingdom during 1971 and 1972 which was produced by ITC Entertainment. Each episode was one hour in duration, and the series had a season of 26 episodes. As well as its native UK, the series was shown internationally, the series has been released on DVD in Australia, the United States and Germany as well as its native UK. The series featured the adventures of the title character who had first appeared in Department S. In that series he was a dandy and author of a series of adventure novels. In Jason King he had left service to concentrate on writing the adventures of Mark Caine, who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style. None of the regular characters from Department S appeared in this series. The first episode depicted Kings retelling of a Mark Caine novel to a television executive, Kings version showed style and class, while the executives version featured added suspense, more cliches, and had the women in more revealing costumes. In the footage representing both mens vision of the novel adapted for the screen, Mark Caine was portrayed by Wyngarde, the titles of the Mark Caine books consisted of 4 short words, in the manner of some of Ian Flemings James Bond novels. The Mark Caine title mentioned most often in the series was Index Finger Left Hand, subsequent episodes featured Wyngarde playing King trying to write his novels and being hassled by his publisher Nicola Harvester about deadlines. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and like its predecessor was made by Lew Grades ITC Entertainment production company, however, unlike previous ITC series which were shot on 35mm film, Jason King was filmed in 16mm to cut costs. Kings choice of fashion was named by Mike Myers as an inspiration for his movie character Austin Powers. Mastermind had first appeared in the 1960s, but took on the appearance and he is also one of the inspirations for Kim Newmans psychic crime fighter and secret agent Richard Jeperson. Wyngarde is said to have been the inspiration for the character of Fireball in the strip of the name in D. C. Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the Comic Strip Presents episode Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. Wyngarde, interviewed on BBC TV when this episode was transmitted, was flattered by the affectionate parody. In the 1972 Malaysian comedy film Laksamana Do Re Mi, the remark on the villain Menteri Fasolas resemblance to Jason King. Most younger Malaysians have no idea who Jason King is and do not get the 1970s cultural reference, harry Enfields Television Programme in 1992 also featured a sketch called The Playboys which was heavily influenced by Jason King
20.
The Avengers (TV series)
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The Avengers is an espionage British television series created in 1961. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed, Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. Steeds most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, the Avengers ran from 1961 until 1969, screening as one-hour episodes its entire run. The pilot episode, Hot Snow, aired on 7 January 1961, the final episode, Bizarre, aired on 21 May 1969. The Avengers was produced by Associated British Corporation, a contractor within the ITV network, after a merger in July 1968 ABC Television became Thames Television, which continued production of the series although it was still broadcast under the ABC name. By 1969 The Avengers was shown in more than 90 countries, ITV produced a sequel series The New Avengers with Patrick Macnee returning as John Steed, and two new partners. In 2007 The Avengers was ranked #20 on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever, the Avengers was marked by different eras as co-stars came and went. The only constant was John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee, the Associated British Corporation produced a single series of Police Surgeon, in which Ian Hendry played police surgeon Geoffrey Brent, from September through December 1960. While Police Surgeon did not last long, viewers praised Hendry, and ABC Television cast him for their new series, The Avengers, which replaced Police Surgeon in January 1961. The Avengers began with episode Hot Snow, in which medical doctor Dr David Keel investigates the murder of his fiancée, a stranger named John Steed, who was investigating the ring, appeared and together they set out to avenge her death in the first two episodes. Afterwards, Steed asked Keel to partner him as needed to solve crimes, Hendry was considered the star of the new series, receiving top billing over Macnee, and Steed did not appear in two episodes. As the first series of The Avengers progressed, Steeds importance increased, while Steed and Keel used wit while discussing crimes and dangers, the series also depicted the interplay—and often tension—between Keels idealism and Steeds professionalism. The other regular in the first series was Carol Wilson, the nurse, Carol assisted Keel and Steed in cases, and in at least one episode being very much in the thick of the action, but without being part of Steeds inner circle. Hafner had played opposite Hendry as a nurse in one episode of Police Surgeon, the series was shot on 405-line videotape using a multicamera setup. There was little provision for editing and virtually no location footage, as was standard practice at the time, videotapes of early episodes of The Avengers were reused. Keel and Lucy Briggs-Owen as Carol Wilson, production of the first series was cut short by a strike. By the time production could begin on the series, Hendry had quit to pursue a film career. Macnee was promoted to star and Steed became the focus of the series, Dr Martin King, a thinly disguised rewriting of Keel, saw action in only three episodes produced from scripts written for the first series
21.
South America
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South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is the used in nations that speak Romance languages. The reference to South America instead of other regions has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, North America and it includes twelve sovereign states, a part of France, and a non-sovereign area. In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers. Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000, South America ranks fourth in area and fifth in population. Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela. In recent decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the regions GDP and has become a first regional power, most of the population lives near the continents western or eastern coasts while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, the continents cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a long history of colonialism, the majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish. South America occupies the portion of the Americas. The continent is delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate, South Americas major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies and this is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export. South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth, South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a proportion of the Earths species. Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the land area
22.
Scarlet Witch
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Scarlet Witch is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee, the character has since starred in two self-titled limited series with husband the Vision, and has historically been depicted as a regular team member in superhero title The Avengers. Scarlet Witch is initially depicted as a mutant, born with the ability to alter reality in unspecific ways, the character has appeared in other Marvel-endorsed products such as animated films, arcade and video games, television series and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. Scarlet Witch debuted, together with her brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 and they were depicted as reluctant villains, uninterested in Magnetos ideologies. Scarlet Witch is depicted as calm and submissive, as with most female comic characters of the time. Her costume was composed of a bathing suit with straps, opera gloves, short boots, a leotard covering her body, a superhero cape. After several appearances as a villain in issues #5, #6, #7, upon her return to the Avengers she was given a long-running love interest in the form of fellow Avenger the Vision. So they became a pair, for just such practical considerations, the two characters were married in Giant-Size Avengers #4. Thomass successor on The Avengers, Steve Englehart, considerably expanded Scarlet Witchs powers, adding genuine sorcery to her mutant hex power. I could certainly have pushed her more toward the mutant end of the spectrum, the character made occasional guest-appearances in other Marvel titles such as Marvel Team-Up #41–44, and Marvel Fanfare #6. Howell later wrote, penciled, inked, lettered, and colored a Scarlet Witch solo story appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #60–63. A solo limited series, titled Scarlet Witch, ran four issues in 1994, a one-shot titled Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch was published in October 2007 and an Avengers Origins, The Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver one-shot followed in January 2012. Artist George Pérez designed a new costume with a strong Roma influence for the character in 1998 and this design has rarely been used by artists other than Pérez. Alan Davis stated that when he became the artist on The Avengers, I tend to go for simpler, more open lines and dont do lots of detail in rendering. The character played a role in the Avengers Disassembled storyline and related limited series House of M. Don Markstein asserts, The Scarlet Witch is unique among superheroes and her super power is unlike any other—she can alter probability so as to cause mishaps for her foes. In other words, she hexes them, Scarlet Witch is a regular character in Uncanny Avengers, beginning with issue #1. The Axis crossover revealed that Magneto was not her father after all and it also revealed that she was not a mutant, but a common human that received powers with the experiments of the High Evolutionary
23.
Stranger (comics)
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The Stranger is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Stranger first appeared in X-Men #11 and was created by Stan Lee, the character is a cosmic entity and principally a scientist and surveyor of worlds, first visiting Earth out of curiosity. The same title depicts Magnetos escape and return to Earth using a spaceship he repairs when the Stranger leaves the planet, however, the Stranger recaptures the villain after Professor X telepathically alerts the Stranger. He transports to Earth a machine that increases his power over the Hulk. The character is dissuaded from this course of action by the Hulks alter-ego, however he takes the supervillain Abomination into space with him, thinking him truly evil. In the title the Silver Surfer, the Stranger again attempts to destroy the Earth, after a battle with the Silver Surfer and learning that a human scientist sacrificed himself to defuse the bomb, the Stranger retreats. In the title Fantastic Four the Stranger aids the team against the entity the Overmind, and in Thor watches as the Thunder God battles the characters servant of the time. The title Avengers features a story in which the Toad impersonates the Stranger, the true Stranger encounters the Kree warrior Captain Marvel in the title of the same name, and in Marvel Team-Up encounters the hero Spider-Man when trying to obtain the Soul Gem from Adam Warlock. In the limited series Infinity Gauntlet, the Stranger appears among the gathering of cosmic entities opposing the Titan Thanos, in the limited series Starblast the Stranger is instrumental in merging the New Universe into the Marvel Universe. He next appears in a flashback story in Professor Xavier and the X-Men. He next appears in Marvel Universe, The End, again among the beings opposing Thanos, the Stranger prominently features in the limited series Beyond. Posing as the Beyonder wherein he captures several heroes and villains, the entity also possesses a laboratory world, where items are stored, and beings of interest, referred to as specimens, are kept prisoner for study. Stranger appeared in The Super Hero Squad Show episode The Saga of Beta Ray Bill, there, he confronted both Bill and Thor. Stranger was defeated with the force of Mjolnir and cleaning appliances
24.
Mutant Master
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The characters five-page origin story, I, the Robot, appeared in the science fiction/horror/crime anthology title Menace #11 from Marvel Comics 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. In an alternate reality from mainstream Earth, a newly created robot is programmed by the scientists greedy business manager to murder the scientist. The incomplete robot, however, continues through with his directive to kill the man in the room, the robot then leaves the house, programmed to kill the man in the room. The M-Twins are superheroine mutants who appear in the X-Men family of books, created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, she/they originally was a member of the teenage mutant group Generation X, and have not appeared in the series since Generation X #58. Nicole and Claudette have various abilities, including reading minds, projecting their thoughts into the minds of others. They have also used offensively to limited degrees, such as mind control. The twins are able to merge into various combinations with each other, each resulting fusion generally having a distinct personality. However, the fusions can be undone by considerable trauma, typically a large explosion, angelo Macon is a fictional cyborg appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by John Byrne and Chris Claremont, first appeared in X-Men #133, Macon allegiance was initially with the Hellfire Club. He was a member and fought Wolverine, only to be horribly mauled by him. The Inner Circle transformed him, and his teammates into cyborgs, when Donald Pierce rebelled against the Inner Circle, Pierce took his cyborg men, which included Macon, and formed the Reavers. Macon appears, unnamed in Logan played by Stephen Dunlevy, Madam Slay is a supervillain who first appeared in Jungle Action #18, and was created by Don McGregor and Billy Graham. Madam Slay was a lover and ally of Erik Killmonger, she had the ability to command leopards, the Panther and WKabi had come to investigate the killings, and Madam Slay captured the Panther. The Panther escaped and fought her, until WKabi was able to knock her unconscious, magdalene is a member of the Avengers who first appeared in Avengers #343, and was created by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom Palmer. Magdalene was a member of the Avengers in an alternate timeline, as a result, she joined the Gatherers, a group formed by Proctor, an alternate version of Dane Whitman, known in the Mainstream Marvel Universe as the Black Knight. The purpose of the Gatherers was to destroy every universes version of Sersi, magdelene has superhuman strength and stamina, and is armed with a power-lance which fires energy bolts and can open space warps. Magilla is a member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, Magilla first appeared in The Thing vol.1 #33, and was created by Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson. Sandy Staimaster was given superhuman abilities by the Power Broker and took on the name Magilla as her body was covered in hair
25.
Sentinel (comics)
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The Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men, the Sentinels have been featured in several X-Men video games, and played a large role in the 1990s X-Men animated series. Additionally, a version made a brief appearance in the beginning of the 2006 film, X-Men. They are featured prominently in the 2014 film X-Men, Days of Future Past and also appear at the end of the 2016 film X-Men, in 2009, the Sentinels were ranked by IGN as the 38th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14, according to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate mutants and capture or kill them. Though several types of Sentinels have been introduced, the typical Sentinel is three stories tall, is capable of flight, projects energy blasts, and can detect mutants. Sentinels are designed to hunt mutants who often represent the protagonists of Marvel stories, therefore, while many are capable of tactical thought, only a handful are self-aware. Sentinels are technologically advanced, and have exhibited a variety of abilities. They are armed, capable of flight, and can detect mutants at long range and they possess vast physical strength, and their bodies are highly resistant to damage. Some are able to alter their physical forms or re-assemble and reactivate themselves after they have been destroyed, Some Sentinel variants have the ability to learn from their experiences, developing their defenses during an engagement. Several groups of the robots have been created or led by a single, massive Sentinel, Some sentinels are also equipped with an inconspicuous logic loop in case they should go rogue to convince them that they are mutants as demonstrated in the tri-sentinel. Mark I and Master Mold - Created by Bolivar Trask, Bolivar Trask sacrificed himself to destroy the Master Mold. Mark II - Created by Larry Trask and this model was capable of adapting to and counter-acting super-powers almost instantly. Composite - Created by merging the remaining portions of five Sentinels destroyed by the X-Men and it was destroyed by her when it rebelled against her. Mark III - Created by Stephen Lang and Project, Armageddon, secretly funded by Edward Buckman, x-Sentinels - Created by Stephen Lang. They are androids who were duplicates of the original X-Men, Mark IV - Created by Sebastian Shaw. Mark V - Created by Sebastian Shaw for U. S. governments Project Wideawake, First appeared in New Mutants #2. Mark VI - Created by Shaw Industries for Project, Wideawake, also incorporated parts of Project Nimrod
26.
Blob (comics)
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The Blob is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as an adversary of the X-Men. A mutant originally depicted as a circus freak, the Blob claims to be immovable when he so desires. He possesses an extreme amount of body mass, which grants him superhuman strength. Possessing the mindset of a bully, he uses his powers for petty crime and as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He is one of the most prominent, long-running mutants to be depowered as a result of the Decimation storyline, the Blob appears in the 2009 superhero film X-Men Origins, Wolverine, where he is played by actor Kevin Durand. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #3, born in Lubbock, Texas, Fred J. Dukes starts out as a member of a circus sideshow under the name The Blob. He is detected and contacted by Charles Xavier via Cyclops, who sees his performance and tells him that he is a mutant, at the mansion, the other X-Men dislike Dukes for his obnoxious attitude. Ice-Man uses his power against Dukes to create an ice block round his foot, the Blob refuses Xaviers invitation, saying he is better than the other X-Men. When Xavier tries erasing his mind of what has transpired, the Blob escapes the Mansion despite the efforts of the Beast and uses the sewer to get away without being followed. He tells the manager of the carnival he is taking over, then gathers up the circus members and they attack the mansion, as he plans to get the X-Mens technology. Meanwhile, Xavier works on a device so he can erase the memories of many people, the carnival succeeds in defeating the X-Men despite a warning from Angel. They tie up the X-Men and leave them on the lawn and they then enter the mansion to find the Professor and his technology. Xavier is able to wipe everyones minds after the carnival is stopped by a wall of ice, the mutant Magneto soon seeks out the Blob to recruit him into his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, restoring his memory through a jarring blow to the head. The Blob temporarily accepts the invitation, but leaves when it is revealed that Magneto has no concern for the Blobs safety after he is hit by explosives which were launched at the X-Men. He goes back to the Circus and he teams up with Unus due to the alien Lucifer, who soon becomes his confidant. They disguise themselves as X-Men and commit crimes, the Blob also serves as a member of Factor Three. He briefly works as an operative for the Secret Empire, where he fights the Beast, with the reorganized Brotherhood, the Blob fights Professor X and the Defenders
27.
Beast (comics)
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Beast is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Eventually being referred to simply as Beast, Hank McCoy underwent progressive physiological transformations and these include blue fur, both simian and feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Beasts physical strength and senses increased to greater levels. Despite Hank McCoys inhuman appearance, he is depicted as a brilliant, well-educated man in the arts and sciences and he is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Mens medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute. He is also a mutant political activist, campaigning against societys bigotry, while fighting his own bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant. One of the original X-Men, Beast has appeared regularly in X-Men-related comics since his debut and he has also been a member of the Avengers and Defenders. The character has appeared in media adaptations, including animated TV series. In X2, Steve Bacic portrayed him in a brief cameo in his human appearance, while in X-Men. Nicholas Hoult portrays a version of the character in X-Men. Both Hoult and Grammer reprise their roles in X-Men, Days of Future Past, Hoult also reprised the role in X-Men, Apocalypse. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in X-Men #1, Stan Lee writes in the foreword to X-Men, The Ultimate Guide that he made Beast the most articulate, eloquent, and well-read of the X-Men to contrast with his brutish exterior. Further, the book opines that the Werner Roth-Roy Thomas team garnered admiration for their appealing, Roth, under the alias Jay Gavin, had taken over for Kirby fully by issue #18, and Thomas was a new talent. Beast was given an individualized, colorful new costume, along with the rest of the X-Men by issue #39 in order to new readers. Jim Sterankos tenure, which added exciting art, Roth returned, working with Neal Adams who blended Kirbys style with realism, idealized beauty, in Amazing Adventures #11, written by Gerry Conway, Beast underwent a radical change and mutated into his now familiar furry, blue appearance. The concept originated with Roy Thomas, an effort to make the character more visibly striking, over the next decade he would appear on the roster of several teams in titles ranging from The Avengers to The Defenders to X-Factor. It wasnt until 1991, in X-Factor #70/X-Men #1, that the Beast finally returned to the X-Men. As evidenced on the cover of X-Treme X-Men Vol.1, Chris Claremont. Citing Claremont as inspiration for his run on New X-Men, Morrison explains Beast as a brilliant, hes obviously quite clearly bipolar and swings between manic excitement and ghastly self-doubt
28.
Alpha the Ultimate Mutant
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Alpha the Ultimate Mutant is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Alpha the Ultimate Mutant first appeared in The Defenders #15–16, and was created by Len Wein, the character subsequently appears in Quasar #14–15. Alpha the Ultimate Mutant received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A–Z #1, Alpha is a being artificially created by Magneto, a prominent mutant in the Marvel Universe. Following an epic battle with the Avengers, Magneto is imprisoned in the center of Earth, Magneto manages to escape and propels himself towards the surface. On the way, he finds the ruins of a long-lost technologically advanced civilization in New Mexico. Using the machinery and books he finds among the ruins, he began bio-engineering the ultimate mutant, Professor X telepathically detects that Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are active in the area of the Carlsbad Caverns, and he summons the Defenders to launch an attack against them. Magneto and the Brotherhood manage to repel the Defenders for enough time to allow the engineering of Alpha to be completed, Alpha emerges as an oversized humanoid of subhuman intelligence. Initially he is capable of creating force fields as a reflex. However, each time he uses his powers, Alphas cranium widens, Magneto has Alpha teleport him and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to the United Nations headquarters. When his demands for world rulership are turned down, Magneto orders Alpha to telekinetically lift the Secretariat Building, persuaded by Professor X, he telepathically probes both the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Defenders in order to discover which team was evil. Understanding that Magneto had fooled him into committing malicious acts, Alpha punishes his erstwhile allies by regressing them to infancy and he also restores the United Nations building complex and erases the event from the minds of all onlookers. Finally, declaring himself too evolved to remain on Earth, Alpha transforms himself to a streak of light, Quasar briefly glimpses Alpha, first on the Strangers Labworld, and then during his journeys in the cosmos. From what Quasar saw, Alpha seems to be paired with another highly evolved humanoid named Futurist and he possesses telekinetic powers which are enough to lift a 50-story skyscraper and the surrounding land into the air. His powers are not without limits and are weaker than those of the Stranger. Alpha the Ultimate Mutant originally had a form which likely possessed great strength. Within a few hours, Alphas cranium and brain grew in size, Alpha the Ultimate Mutant stands at 10 feet tall, although he can alter his form at will. Alpha the Ultimate Mutant was seen in the X-Men theme where he was charging towards the X-Men with the mutants on Magnetos side. He later appeared in the episode Beyond Good and Evil Pt.4, Alpha the Ultimate Mutant at the Marvel Universe wiki Alpha the Ultimate Mutant at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe Alpha the Ultimate Mutant at Marvel Wiki
29.
Defenders (comics)
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The Defenders is a set of fictional superhero groups with fluctuating membership appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are usually presented as a non-team of individualistic outsiders who, the team often battles mystic and supernatural threats. Its original incarnation was led by Doctor Strange and included Hulk, Namor and they first appeared as the Defenders in Marvel Feature #1. The group had a rotating line-up from 1972 until 1986, with Dr, the publication was retitled near the end of the run as The New Defenders but featured none of the original members and only Valkyrie, the Beast and the Gargoyle of the former long-term members. The concept was modified in the 1993–95 series Secret Defenders, in which Dr. Strange assembled different teams for each individual mission, the original team was reunited in a short-lived 2001 series by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen. In 2005 Marvel published a miniseries featuring the classic line-up by J. M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen. In December 2011 writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson launched a Defenders series with a mixture of classic and new members, which lasted for 12 issues. A TV miniseries titled The Defenders is scheduled to premiere in 2017 on Netflix, with the team consisting of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, the origin of the Defenders lies in two crossover story arcs by Roy Thomas prior to the official founding of the team. The first, in Doctor Strange #183, Sub-Mariner #22, and The Incredible Hulk #126 occurred when the Dr. Strange series was canceled and the storyline was completed in another series. Dr. Strange teams with Sub-Mariner then the Hulk to protect the Earth from invasion by Lovecraftian interplanar beings known as the Undying Ones and their leader, barbara Norriss, later the host of the Valkyrie, first appears in this story. The Defenders first appeared as a feature in Marvel Feature #1, due to the popularity of their tryout in Marvel Feature, Marvel soon began publishing The Defenders. Valkyrie was introduced to the team in issue #4, writer Steve Englehart has stated that he added the Valkyrie to the Defenders to provide some texture to the group. Englehart wrote The Avengers–Defenders War crossover in The Avengers #116–118 and The Defenders #9–11, len Wein briefly wrote the series and introduced such characters as Alpha the Ultimate Mutant and the Wrecking Crew. He later became the editor for several issues, Steve Gerber first worked on the characters in Giant-Size Defenders #3 and became the writer of the main title with issue #20 the following month. He wrote the series until issue #41, part of Gerbers oeuvre was reviving forgotten characters, he brought back three pre-Marvel characters, the Headmen, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Defenders met Gerbers Howard the Duck in Marvel Treasury Edition #12, in 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Gerber and Sal Buscemas run on The Defenders first on its list of the Top 10 1970s Marvels. David Anthony Krafts run as writer included The Scorpio Saga and the Xenogenesis, Kraft later recalled that reactions to the storys off-beat humor were polarized, readers were either wildly enthusiastic or absolutely and very utterly appalled. Kraft and artist Ed Hannigan explained some of the Valykries backstory in The Defenders #66–68, steven Grant wrote a conclusion to Steve Gerbers Omega the Unknown series in two issues of The Defenders, at the end of which most of the original series characters were killed
30.
Emma Frost
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Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129, and was created by writer Chris Claremont, Frost belongs to a subspecies of humanity called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She is a telepath with a well-noted, dry wit. The character appears in many adaptations of the X-Men properties, such as games, animated programs. January Jones portrayed Emma Frost in the 2011 film X-Men, First Class, other portrayals of the character include actress Finola Hughes in the 1996 film Generation X. From her initial appearance as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost first appeared in the famous storyline The Dark Phoenix Saga, in Uncanny X-Men #129. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, Emma Frost was specifically inspired by Emma Peel, played by actress Diana Rigg, who famously dons a provocative corset, collar, and boots and becomes the Queen of Sin. After The Dark Phoenix saga, Emma Frost frequently appeared in storylines in Uncanny X-Men. In March 1986, Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire, and Steve Leialoha were the team for the four issue Firestar miniseries. This series showcased Frost as the villain as she attempted to turn Angelica Jones into her own personal weapon. This led to her becoming a character of the spin-off series Generation X which began in November 1994 under the creative eyes of Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo. The series ended after over 75 issues with Brian Wood, Ron Lim, Sandu Florea, the series offered glimpses into her past before her days in the Hellfire Club, as well as introducing her sisters Adrienne and Cordelia. After the series ended and all the X-Titles were revamped, in 2001 Frost appeared in New X-Men as a teacher for the mutant population of Genosha, which was then controlled by Magneto. After a Sentinel strike leveled the island nation, the X-Men found Frost amidst the rubble with a mutation which hardened her skin to a diamond-like density. Using Frost as a character was suggested to writer Grant Morrison on his website by a fan, while Morrison initially had no plans to use her, the death of the character Colossus left Morrison with an opening. He created Emmas secondary mutation – a super strong diamond form – as a replacement for Colossus powers and this would lead to her instigating an affair with fellow X-Man Cyclops, who was having marital difficulties with Jean Grey. This series also provided further glimpses into her past, introducing her father Winston Frost, in August 2003, writer Karl Bollers penned an ongoing series showcasing her origins titled Emma Frost. The series, which lasted for 18 issues, began during her days as a school student
31.
Cyclops (comics)
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Cyclops is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the comic book The X-Men #1, Cyclops is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Cyclops can emit beams of energy from his eyes. He cannot control the beams without the aid of special eyewear which he must wear at all times. He is typically considered the first of the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes who fight for peace and equality between mutants and humans, and one of the teams primary leaders. One of Marvels most prominent characters, Cyclops was rated #1 on IGN. coms list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years in 2006, and the 39th in their 2011 list of Top 100 Comic Book Heroes. In 2008, Wizard Magazine also ranked Cyclops the 106th in their list of the 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time, in a 2011 poll, readers of Comic Book Resources voted Cyclops as 9th in the ranking of 2011 Top Marvel Characters. James Marsden has portrayed Cyclops in the first three and the seventh X-Men films, while in the 2009 prequel film, X-Men Origins, Wolverine, in 2016s X-Men, Apocalypse, he is portrayed by Tye Sheridan. Cyclops first appeared in X-Men #1 and he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and has been a mainstay character of the X-Men series. Lee said that Cyclops and the Beast were his two favorite X-Men, elaborating that I love tortured heroes – and he was tortured because he couldnt control his power, originally dubbed Slim Summers, by X-Men #3 his name was changed to Scott, with Slim becoming a nickname. Scott is the first of the X-Men recruited by Professor X, Xavier hand-picks Scott to lead his X-Men, Xavier views Scott as one of his most prized pupils, their relationship exhibits father/son qualities. Dave Cockrum created the Starjammers, including Corsair, and convinced X-Men writer Chris Claremont to use the characters for this series, in order to provide a plausible excuse for the Starjammers to make repeat appearances in X-Men, they decided to make Corsair the father of Cyclops. Summers remained a member of the team up through Uncanny X-Men #138, after departing the main cast, he was a recurring character in the series until Uncanny X-Men #201, after which he was featured in the launch of a new series by Marvel. This new series, X-Factor, launched in 1986 and starred the original X-Men team of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, Scott stayed with the X-Factor title through X-Factor #70. In October 1991, Summers returns to the X-Men to launch X-Men #1 and this series was the second of two X-Men titles and featured Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Psylocke, Rogue, and the Beast as Blue team. Cyclops has recently featured in another title launch with the second introduction of a new X-Men series Astonishing X-Men. Astonishing X-Men features Cyclops, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Colossus, Emma Frost, throughout this time, Cyclops continued to make appearances in Uncanny X-Men Marvel has also used Cyclops to launch variant series of X-Men titles most notably Ultimate X-Men and New X-Men. In 1991, writer Brian K. Vaughan worked on the self-titled series Cyclops #1–4, in 2000, Joseph Harris wrote the four-issue run titled X-Men, The Search for Cyclops that dealt with Cyclopss return after merging with Apocalypse in the events of the Twelve from Uncanny X-Men #377
32.
Astral plane
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The astral plane, also called the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical, medieval, oriental, and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions. In the late 19th and early 20th century the term was popularised by Theosophy, some writers conflate this realm with heaven or paradise or union with God itself, and others do not. P. Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi, The astral universe, is hundreds of times larger than the material universe. Many astral planets, teeming with astral beings, when Alice Bailey writes of seeing Masters. Work with Christ and the hierarchy, she refers to a vision she had of the unseen astral realm that these. Christ being in that realm, it is hard to construe it as a non-heaven, plato and Aristotle taught that the stars were composed of a type of matter different from the four earthly elements - a fifth, ethereal element or quintessence. In the astral mysticism of the world the human psyche was composed of the same material. In his commentaries on Platos Timaeus, Proclus wrote, Man is a little world, for, just like the Whole, he possesses both mind and reason, both a divine and a mortal body. He is also divided up according to the universe, such doctrines were commonplace in mystery-schools and Hermetic and gnostic sects throughout the Roman Empire and influenced the early Christian church. Among Muslims the astral world-view was soon rendered orthodox by Quranic references to the Prophets ascent through the seven heavens, scholars took up the Greek Neoplatonist accounts as well as similar material in Hindu and Zoroastrian texts. The expositions of Ibn Sina, the Brotherhood of Purity and others, by the 14th century Dante was describing his own imaginary journey through the astral spheres of Paradise. Throughout the Renaissance, philosophers, Paracelsians, Rosicrucians and alchemists continued to discuss the nature of the astral world intermediate between earth and the divine, once the telescope established that no spiritual heaven was visible around the solar system, the idea was superseded in mainstream science. According to occult teachings the astral plane can be visited consciously through astral projection, meditation and mantra, near death experience, lucid dreaming, individuals that are trained in the use of the astral vehicle can separate their consciousness in the astral vehicle from the physical body at will. In early theosophical literature the term astral may refer to the aether, later theosophical authors such as Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater make the astral finer than the etheric plane but denser than the mental plane. According to Max Heindels Rosicrucian writings, desire-stuff may be described as a type of force-matter, in incessant motion, the desire world is also said to be the abode of the dead for some time subsequent to death. It is also the home of the archangels, in the higher regions of the desire world thoughts take a definite form and color perceptible to all, all is light and there is but one long day. In his book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda provides details about the astral planes learned from his guru, Yogananda claims that nearly all individuals enter the astral planes after death. There they work out the seeds of past karma through astral incarnations, once an individual has attained the meditative state of nirvikalpa samadhi in an earthy or astral incarnation, the soul may progress upward to the illumined astral planet of Hiranyaloka
33.
Rogue (comics)
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Rogue is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. She debuted in Avengers Annual #10 as a villain but then soon joined the X-Men. Rogue is part of a subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities, Rogue has the involuntary ability to absorb and sometimes also remove the memories, physical strength, and superpowers of anyone she touches. Therefore, Rogue considers her powers a curse, for most of her life, she limited her physical contact with others, including her on-off love interest, Gambit, but, after many years, Rogue finally gained full control over her mutant ability. Hailing from the fictional Caldecott County, Mississippi, Rogue is the X-Mens self-described southern belle, a runaway, she was adopted by Mystique of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and grew up as a villain. After Rogue permanently absorbs Ms. Marvels psyche and Kree powers, she reforms and turns to the X-Men, Rogues real name and early history were not revealed until nearly 20 years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series and her name was revealed as Anna Marie, although her surname is still unknown. She has sometimes adopted the name Raven, which is the first name of her foster mother Mystique, Rogue has been one of the most prominent members of the X-Men since the 1980s. She was ranked tenth in Comics Buyers Guides 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list, Rogue has been featured in most of the X-Men animated series, and various video games. In the X-Men film series, she is portrayed by Anna Paquin and her visual cue is often the white streak that runs through her hair. Rogues first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10 and she made her first X-Book appearance in Uncanny X-Men #158 and joined the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #171. Rogue has also had two miniseries and one ongoing title, Rogues real name and early history were not revealed until more than 20 years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series, begun in September 2004 and this resulted in Rodis version of Rogues origins inadvertently conflicting with earlier information. Rogue is a character in Uncanny Avengers, beginning with issue #1. Her parents, Owen and Priscilla, married early in their relationship and lived in a hippie commune in Caldecott County. Born as Anna Marie, she enjoyed the attentions of her Aunt Carrie. Anna Marie was raised speaking colloquial English and French, common to the Mississippi bayou area, the communes failed attempt to use Native American mysticism to reach the Far Banks resulted in Priscillas disappearance. Carrie took over Annas care, and in her grief at the loss of her sister, was a strict, Anna Marie was a rebellious child and, at some point, the exact event or reasons still unclear, she ran away from home as a young teenager
34.
Ms. Marvel
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Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was conceived as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. Marvel title gain their powers through Kree technology or genetics, Marvel has published four ongoing comic series titled Ms. Marvel, with the first two starring Carol Danvers, and the third and fourth starring Kamala Khan. As Ms. Marvel, Danvers becomes a mainstay of the superhero team, Danvers goes on to use the codenames Binary and Warbird. In July 2012, Danvers assumes the mantle Captain Marvel in honor of its dead, original holder, Mar-Vell, after Captain America tells her that Mar-Vell would want her to have it. In The Thing #35, Ventura volunteered for Power Brokers experiment to receive superpowers in order to join the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation with The Thing, taking the name Ms. Marvel. Dr. Karla Sofen, the villain known as Moonstone, first appeared as the gun moll of Doctor Faustus, in Captain America #192 by Marv Wolfman. In The Incredible Hulk #228, Sofen becomes the psychiatrist of the villain Moonstone, Sofen tricks Bloch into giving her the meteorite that empowers him, and she adopts both the name and abilities of Moonstone. During the Dark Reign storyline, Sofen joins Norman Osborns group of Avengers, known as the Dark Avengers, as the doppelganger of the previous Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers. Sofen becomes the character of the Ms. Marvel series beginning in issue #38 until Danvers takes the title back in issue #47. Kamala Khan, created by Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson, Khan first appeared in Captain Marvel #17 and is a 16-year-old Pakistani-American from Jersey City, New Jersey, who idolizes Carol Danvers. Khan was given her own Ms. Marvel series, which premiered in February 2014, the first collected volume of this series, Ms. Marvel Volume 1, No Normal, won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story
35.
Mystique (comics)
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Mystique is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in the comic book Ms. Marvel #16, Mystique is a member of a subspecies of humanity known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Mystique is a shapeshifter who can mimic the appearance and voice of any person with exquisite precision and she is typically portrayed as a foe of the X-Men. Throughout most of her history, Mystique has been a supervillain, founding her own Brotherhood of Mutants and she has commented that she is over 100 years old. Mystique is the mother of the villain Graydon Creed, the X-Men hero Nightcrawler and she is forced to abandon Nightcrawler, but raises Rogue for a number of years, and the two women have mixed feelings towards one another. In 2009, Mystique was ranked as IGNs 18th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time, Mystique was created by artist David Cockrum. Chris Claremont saw Cockrums design, dubbed the character Mystique, and, with Cockrums permission and her earliest meeting with her lover Destiny occurred around the dawn of the 20th century. While in her Raven persona, Mystique adopts the identity of deceased German secret agent Leni Zauber, both Leni and Victor Creed, a. k. a. Sabretooth, had been assigned with the assassination of a scientist in East Berlin, Mystique completes the mission in place of Leni, and then she and Victor have to hide in a safe location for a while. They become lovers, but she fakes her death in order to leave him. The result of this affair is reportedly the birth of Graydon Creed. A number of stories report that soon after his birth, Mystique gives him up for adoption, others depict Mystique making arrangements for him from a distance. Raven keeps track of his activities until he reaches adolescence, despite being the child of two mutants, Graydon is not a mutant himself. Mystique is disappointed and soon abandons him, Graydon grows to hate his parents, and eventually extends his hatred to all mutants. He becomes leader of the mutant-hating organization Friends of Humanity, at the height of his political ascension, Grayden is assassinated by an unknown shooter. The shooter is revealed to be a time traveling version of Mystique as part of a convoluted time paradox involving Jean Grey, Iceman, Toad. Still masquerading as Raven, Mystique is married to Baron Christian Wagner, older sources give his name as Count Eric Wagner and he proves to be a loving husband, but disappointing as a lover. His infertility adds to their marital problems, Mystique starts using her shapeshifting powers in order to secretly have sexual encounters with others
36.
Wolverine (character)
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Wolverine is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly in association with the X-Men. He is a mutant who possesses animal-keen senses, enhanced capabilities, powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor. Wolverine has been depicted variously as a member of the X-Men, Alpha Flight, the character first appeared in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk #180, with his first full appearance in #181. He was created by writer Len Wein and Marvel art director John Romita, Sr. who designed the character, as a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular X-Men franchise, and has been featured in his own solo comic since 1988. Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas asked writer Len Wein to devise a character specifically named Wolverine, John Romita, Sr. designed the first Wolverine costume, and believes he introduced the retractable claws, saying, When I make a design, I want it to be practical and functional. I thought, If a man has claws like that, how does he scratch his nose or tie his shoelaces, Wolverine first appeared in the final teaser panel of The Incredible Hulk #180 written by Wein and penciled by Herb Trimpe. The character then appeared in a number of advertisements in various Marvel Comics publications before making his first major appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 again by the Wein–Trimpe team. In 2009, Trimpe said he distinctly remembers Romitas sketch and that, The way I see it, sewed the monster together and I shocked it to life. It was just one of secondary or tertiary characters, actually. We did characters in The Hulk all the time that were in issues, though often credited as co-creator, Trimpe adamantly denies having had any role in Wolverines creation. The characters introduction was ambiguous, revealing little beyond his being an agent of the Canadian government. In these appearances, he does not retract his claws, although Wein stated they had always envisioned as retractable. He appears briefly in the finale to this story in The Incredible Hulk #182, Wolverines next appearance was in 1975s Giant-Size X-Men #1, written by Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum, in which Wolverine is recruited for a new squad. Gil Kane illustrated the artwork but incorrectly drew Wolverines mask with larger headpieces. Dave Cockrum liked Kanes accidental alteration and incorporated it into his own artwork for the actual story, Cockrum was also the first artist to draw Wolverine without his mask, and the distinctive hairstyle became a trademark of the character. A revival of X-Men followed, beginning with X-Men #94, drawn by Cockrum, in X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine is initially overshadowed by the other characters, although he does create tension in the team as he is attracted to Cyclops girlfriend, Jean Grey. Byrne modeled his rendition of Wolverine on actor Paul D’Amato, who played Dr. Hook in the 1977 sports film Slap Shot, Byrne also created Alpha Flight, a group of Canadian superheroes who try to recapture Wolverine due to the expense their government incurred training him. Later stories gradually establish Wolverines murky past and unstable nature, which he battles to keep in check, Byrne also designed a new brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, but retained the distinctive Cockrum cowl
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Mariko Yashida
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Mariko Yashida is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She was portrayed by Tao Okamoto in the 2013 film, The Wolverine, created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #118. Mariko was the daughter of Shingen Yashida, the half-sister of Kenuichio Harada/Silver Samurai, and cousin of Sunfire and Sunpyre, upon her fathers death, she became head of his Yakuza crime family, Clan Yashida. She first met the X-Men when they returned from a sojourn in the Savage Land and were asked to help Japan, at that time she encountered Wolverine in a private moment, which developed into a mutual attraction. Afterwards, Mariko would frequently visit the United States to see Wolverine and this also had the intended effect of deepening Marikos disgust for Logan upon witnessing him going berserk in battle. However, Mariko soon realized that her father was evil and was shaming her family with his sinister schemes, in doing so, Logan was convinced that Mariko would be honorbound to kill him for that and was prepared to die at her hands rather than harm her in self-defense. However, Mariko explained her opinion of her father and presented the family katana to him as a token of her approval of him as a warrior who is properly entitled to it. At this, Mariko happily became Logans fiancee, but their wedding was halted by the supervillain Mastermind, when the control was lifted, Wolverine and Mariko resumed their romantic relationship after a period of separation, but have not reconsidered marriage. Mariko also refused any closer engagement with him until she had dealt with her fathers criminal legacy, the X-Men returned from the first Secret Wars and accidentally ending up in Japan, fighting a dragon their companion Lockheed had brought along. During the chaos, a girl named Amiko Kobayashi loses her mother when a collapsing building crushes her. Dying, the woman begs Wolverine to take care of her daughter, since Wolverine could not take care of her himself, he chose to place Amiko in Marikos care, whom the girl soon adopted as a surrogate mother. Amiko and Mariko were at one point targeted by Ogun, one of Wolverines old enemies, Mariko was poisoned with tetrodotoxin from a blowfish by an assassin named Reiko, in the hire of her rival Matsuo Tsurayaba. She asked Wolverine to kill her to avoid a painful death, Wolverine killed her and vowed to avenge Mariko by yearly severing parts of Matsuos body on the anniversary of her death. Phaedra, an agent of the Hand, resurrected Shingen and stole a piece of Wolverines soul to torture him, Wolverine made a deal with Azrael, the Angel of Death, where he would kill Phaedra to stop her resurrecting the dead if Azrael would heal his soul. Phaedra attempted to convince Wolverine to spare her life by offering to resurrect Mariko, many years later, Wolverine was captured by the Devil and taken to Hell. In order to have Wolverine comply with his demands, the lord of Hell had Marikos soul brought to him, Wolverine, however, was eventually rescued by his old friend from Alpha Flight, Puck, and his own father. In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Mariko was a member of the Human High Council, while not engaged to Logan, Mariko was his former lover and she birthed him a daughter, Kirika, who is an amalgam of X-23 and her 616 daughter Amiko Kobayashi. Mariko participates in an attempt to bomb forces of Apocalypse based in North America, in an alternate universe, Mariko was Sunfire and became a member of the Exiles from issue #2 until her death in issue #37 of their ongoing series
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Madelyne Pryor
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Madelyne Maddie Jennifer Pryor-Summers is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily featured off-and-on as an antagonist of the X-Men. She and Cyclops are the parents of Nathan Summers and her biography has been rendered particularly complicated because of the many retcons involved in the publication history of both her character and that of Jean Grey. Madelynes hairstyle design was modeled off the books editor at the time, Claremont named the character after Steeleye Span singer Maddy Prior. Claremont had already created a character named Maddy Pryor, a girl that appeared very briefly in Avengers Annual #10. According to Claremont, the link between Madelyne Pryor and Jean Grey was entirely the product of Mastermind. Masterminds plan fails, and Madelyne and Cyclops are married shortly after, Claremont had conceived Madelyne as a device to write Scott Summers out of the X-Men and have him retire happily ever after with Madelyne and their child. This deeply compromised the character of Cyclops and left room for Madelyne. Marvel avoided addressing these problems, instead resorting to a deus ex machina, in the 1989 Inferno crossover, and the relationship was summed up by the moment when Scott says, Are you Jean. That was in Uncanny X-Men #174, because her whole desire was to be deeply loved for herself not to be loved as the evocation of her boyfriends dead romantic lover and sweetheart. I mean, its a classical theme and you can go back to a whole host of 1930s films, 1940s, Hitchcock films—but it all got invalidated by the resurrection of Jean Grey in X-Factor #1. The original plotline was that Scott marries Madelyne, they have their child, they go off to Alaska, he goes to work for his grandparents and he comes back on special occasions, for special fights, but he has a life. He has grown out of the monastery, he is in the world now. He has maybe more than one child and its a metaphor for us all. Scott was going to move on, Jean was dead get on with your life. And it was close to a happy ending and they lived happily ever after, and it was to create the impression that maybe if you came back in ten years, other X-Men would have grown up and out, too. Would Kitty stay with the team forever, because that way we could evolve them into new directions, we could bring in new characters. There would be a sense of renewal, and growth. Then, unfortunately, Jean was resurrected, Scott dumps his wife and kid, so it not only destroys Scotts character as a hero and as a decent human being it creates an untenable structural situation, what do we do with Madelyne and the kid
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Phoenix Force (comics)
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The Phoenix Force is a fictional entity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The entity has bonded with other characters, and often used the alias Phoenix, the Phoenix Force is famous for its central role in The Dark Phoenix Saga storyline, and is frequently linked to Jean Grey. In 2009, Jean Grey as the Dark Phoenix was ranked as IGNs 9th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time, wizard list of Top 100 villains ranked the Dark Phoenix as 38th. The Phoenix first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #101 in the guise of Jean Grey, the Phoenix Force is an immortal and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life and passion. 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 multiverse, the Guardian of Creation, and of the dangerously powerful MKraan Crystal. The Phoenix Force is described as being the embodiment of the passion of Creation – the spark that gave life to the Universe. During its time as a sentient and nameless entity, it traveled the cosmos just like other cosmic beings and he asked the Phoenix to help him by lending its energy to project a stone pillar across the multiverse. The pillar became the base for the British super-team Excalibur. 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, 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 Forces energy. A young Jean Grey had telepathically linked her mind to her friend, Annie Richardson. In doing so, Jeans mind was being dragged along to the side with Annie. Phoenix lent its energy to break the connection, and kept watch on young Jean. Years later when Jean was dying on a shuttle, her mind called out for help. The Phoenix remained with the X-Men for only a short time and she prevented the complete destruction of the universe by repairing the damaged energy matrix at the core of the MKraan Crystal. During a skirmish with the X-Mens first and most deadly foe, Magneto, Phoenix and Beast were separated from the other X-Men, Phoenix went on a European vacation to gather herself in this new, lonely world. In Greece, Phoenix met a young and handsome man named Nikos, who is revealed to be Mastermind
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Rachel Summers
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Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Rachel was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, in her first appearance, the characters surname was not revealed, later publications and retcons further expanded her backstory to involve central characters of mainstream continuity. Rachel Summers inherited her mothers vast telepathic and telekinetic talents and she also inherited her mothers original code names Phoenix and Marvel Girl. Although the character is considered unique to the Marvel Comics multiverse, her name has been used to designate the mother of Marvel characters Hyperstorm, Rachel first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #141 and has since been affiliated with several comic book superhero teams including the X-Men and Excalibur. Rachel Anne Summers comes from an alternate future Earth known as Earth-811, Rachel was abducted by operatives working for Ahab, who used drugs and hypnotherapy to turn Rachel into a Hound, a mutant who tracks down other mutants. She fulfilled her duties, but her psychic powers linked her to her victims, fueling her grief and despair until she attacked Ahab, in return, he sent her to the mutant concentration camps. There, she befriended the surviving mutant rebels, including Wolverine, Magneto, Colossus, Storm, Kate Pryde, and her lover, Rachel managed to send Kates consciousness into the past to her younger self to prevent the assassination, but it did not change their time. Rachel sent her astral form into the past to find out why, on the way back, she encountered the disembodied Phoenix Force and it followed her to her present. Rachel passed out from the strain of astral projection and the Phoenix Force revealed itself to Kate, when Rachel and Kate broke into Project, Nimrod on a suicide mission to destroy a new model of Sentinel, they became trapped. When Kate spoke the words Dark Phoenix, the Phoenix Force ripped Rachel from her timeline and this was a past where she learned Jean Grey was dead and that her father was married to someone else. Rachel had a membership in the X-Men before finding a Shiar holoempathic crystal at her grandparents home. The crystal was imprinted with a portion of Rachels mothers essence inside it as a tribute to the family shortly after Jean Greys death, after Rachel took a vow to remember her mother with the uniform and name of Phoenix, the Phoenix Force fully bonded with her. She was granted access to its power on a cosmic magnitude, soon after, the grudge which she had begun with Selene boiled over when Rachel secretly invaded the Hellfire Club. Selene proved to be no match for Rachels newly increased powers, mortally injured, Rachel was lured into Spirals Body Shoppe. Shortly thereafter, Rachel escaped from the reality of Mojoworld. Rachel has once been cited having a flashback to her there where she is held in chains. The three former X-Men were joined by Captain Britain and Meggan and founded the British superhero team Excalibur, while part of the team, she discovered that this universes version of her mother, Jean Grey, was alive. She attempted to bond with Jean, but Jean, upon discovering Rachel was the present host for the Phoenix, Jean still resented the Phoenix Force for stealing a portion of her life
41.
Excalibur (comics)
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Excalibur is a fictional superhero group appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as an offshoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom, conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition, also known as Excalibur, The Sword is Drawn. The first Excalibur consisted of the British superhero Captain Britain, his lover Meggan, an eponymous Excalibur series featuring the team lasted from 1988 until 1998. Originally, the series involved cross-dimensional travel that incorporated as elements of Captain Britain’s mythos as it did the X-Men’s. Captain Britain reformed Excalibur to defend London in a series entitled New Excalibur, although written by Claremont with the same title, it had no connection to the superhero team. Excaliburs original creative team, writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the X-Men are a group of mutants—evolved human beings born with extraordinary powers—who use their abilities to defend a society that hates and fears them. Claremont had authored their series since 1976, guiding them to tremendous success, Phoenix - A telekinetic and telepathic young woman from a dystopian future. She plays host to the Phoenix Force, a cosmic entity which once posed as her mother. Shadowcat - A teenage computer expert with the ability to phase through solid objects, lockheed - A small extraterrestrial dragon kept as Kittys pet. A Marvel UK property, co-created by Claremont in 1976, alcoholic Captain Britain is a protector of Great Britain, endowed with powers by the legendary wizard. Excalibur, which also featured shapeshifter Meggan, first gathered together in Excalibur Special Edition #1 and were featured in a monthly Excalibur series. With the help of a manic, dimension-hopping robot named Widget and he also added several new members, including the mystic Feron, the warrior Kylun, and the alien Cerise, and also introduced the size-shifter Micromax. In a jarring transition, Captain Britain was lost off-panel, Meggan was suddenly catatonic from losing Captain Britain, Phoenix was disposed of to bring in Britannic. Nightcrawlers former lover, the mystic Amanda Sefton, also joined the team, Ellis made Wisdom the romantic interest of the much younger Shadowcat. At the insistence of Marvel editors, Ellis also added Wolfsbane, a Scottish werewolf-like young woman from the New Mutants, and Colossus, sales fell and Marvel canceled the series, partially so Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Colossus could return to the X-Men. The series ended with issue #125, featuring the wedding of Meggan, the solicited cover to issue #1 featured a new costume for Captain Britain, different from the one he actually received in the comic, and the cover was unused. In 2004, Marvel Comics launched a new ongoing series titled Excalibur, other cast members included Callisto, another mutant leader and former member of the Morlocks, and newcomers such as Wicked, Freakshow, Shola Inkosi, and Karima Shapandar. Archangel and Husk also appeared in the series, the grouping never laid claim to the name Excalibur, despite the title of the series
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Sentry (Robert Reynolds)
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The Sentry is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in The Sentry #1 and was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, Jenkins conceived of the character a guardian type, with a watchtower, and came up with the name Sentry. Veitch also suggested that due to some event, all recollection of the Sentry would have been removed from everyones memory. Jenkins pitched the concept to Marvel Knights editor Joe Quesada, Quesada decided to commission a miniseries written by Jenkins with art by Jae Lee, with whom Jenkins had previously worked on an Inhumans miniseries. The Sentry was first introduced in his eponymous Marvel Knights 2000 miniseries written by Paul Jenkins with art by Jae Lee. The miniseries ran for five issues and then segued directly into a series of flashback one-shots in which the Sentry teamed up with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Angel of the X-Men, and the Hulk. These one-shots led up to The Sentry vs. the Void, in 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis reused the Sentry by making him a member of the New Avengers. The Sentry played a role in the first arc, Breakout. Also in 2005, the Sentry received another miniseries, written by Paul Jenkins and drawn by John Romita, Jr. which ran for eight issues. The Sentry appeared in The Mighty Avengers as a member of team, and later in Dark Avengers in a similar capacity. He appeared as a character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 until the time of his death in the Siege limited series. Middle aged, overweight Bob Reynolds remembers that he is the Sentry, realizing that his archenemy the Void is returning, Reynolds seeks out several prominent Marvel characters to warn them and to discover why no one remembers the Sentry. The characters memories of the Sentry and the Void resurface when Reynolds talks with them, the Sentry had taught Angel how to conquer his fear of falling. Peter Parkers photograph of the Sentry earned him a Pulitzer Prize, the Hulk had never forgotten the Sentry, whom he called Golden Man. Under the Sentrys influence, the Hulk had been a force for good which had redeemed his violent actions, Reed Richards remembered the Sentry was his best friend and that the Fantastic Four had teamed up with him on many adventures. Meanwhile, the public gradually came to remember the Sentry, as did Reynolds old sidekick, Billy Turner. However, in the panels of the final one shot, its left ambiguous as to whether or not Reynolds actually remembers who he is despite Richards. Reynolds reappears inside the prison the Raft, voluntarily imprisoned for murdering his wife
