Adam-X The X-Treme

Real Name: Davan Shakari
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Agent of the Shi’ar Empire (Serving D’Ken), Agent of the Crystal Claws
Citizenship: Shi’ar Citizen
Place of Birth: Unknown location, Shi’ar Empire
Known Relatives: Unnamed Mother, Unnamed Father
Group Affiliation: The Shi’ar Empire, D’Ken, The Crystal Claws
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #97
History: Davan Shakari is a member of the Shi’ar Empire who served D’Ken faithfully. D’Ken had sent Davan to Earth, in hopes of using him to stop Lilandra from reaching the mutant team, the X-Men.

Upon his arrival on Earth, Davan hypnotized Havok (Alex Summers) and Lorna Dane (Polaris) and adopted the identity of Erik the Red (a disguise, previously used by Cyclops). The trio ambushed the X-Men at the airport, but failed to defeat them. Erik the Red quickly fled, with Havok and Polaris and ventured to Muir Island, where Erik the Red used a ray from Shi’ar technology to restore the infant Magneto to his proper age, as well as several members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, hoping that they would provide a distraction to the X-Men. He struck next at Cassidy Keep, by making an alliance with Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy. However, both Black Tom Cassidy and Magneto failed to stop the X-Men.

Erik the Red encountered Firelord and convinced him that the mutant X-Men were seeking to kill him; and Firelord swore to protect him. Again, the X-Men were able to defeat the trap that Erik the Red had laid out; but this time it had provided enough time for Erik the Red to grab Lilandra and escape with her through a star-gate. Jean Grey, better known as Phoenix opened up a similar star-gate and gave chase, where they were then confronted by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. A fight breaks out and reality blinks out for a moment.

The X-Men, now joined by the Starjammers, helped defeat the guardians of the M’Kraan Crystal and Phoenix used her powers to help restore the balance. Unfortunately, D’Ken was driven insane and catatonic due to his exposure to the M’Kraan Crystal energies, and Lilandra, his sister took seat and control of the Shi’ar Empire.

Erik the Red fled to Earth and joined the Shi’ar organization known as the Crystal Claws, which sought to unseat Lilandra from the throne of the Shi’ar Empire. Erik the Red sought out and found Adam-X, the estranged son of D’Ken and a human female (speculated to be Katherine Summers). The Crystal Claws had set up Legacy (son of Mar Vell) to set off a Nega Bomb in the Shi’ar Empire; and once Legacy learned he had been set up, Erik the Red sent Adam to confront Legacy.

Though Adam and Legacy fought, they eventually realized they had both been set up and confronted Erik the Red, who then revealed the truth about Adam’s past – that he was the son of D’Ken and the rightful heir of the Shi’ar Empire. Adam-X, furious at having been played, cut Erik the Red, and used his power at full capacity to cause an immense explosion, seemingly (potentially) killing Erik the Red.

Height: 6’2″
Weight: 180 lbs
Eyes: White
Hair: Black

Powers: Erik the Red possesses standard Shi’ar psychology and has no additional super powers. As a Shi’ar, Erik the Red can lift 1 ton in Earth-like gravity and has a stamina superior to standard humans.

Armor: Using the armor, Davan was highly resistant to physical damage. He was also seen emitted blasts of energy, as well as being able to hypnotize individuals to the point of being brain washed.

Real Name: Martin Henry Strong
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Scientist, Businessman
Citizenship: American Citizen, with no criminal record.
Place of Birth: Unknown, assumed to be somewhere in Colorado (possibly Denver) since that’s where Strong Industries was initially started
Known Relatives: Unnamed Wife (Divorced), Unnamed Daughter, Unnamed Son
Group Affiliation: Strong Industries
First Appearance: X-Force Annual #2
History: Martin Strong was a businessman, who had a much higher than normal intelligence; and for a time, seemed to have everything going for him – until his mutation kicked in. When his mutation became active, the hands and feet of Martin Strong changed to fins, which would have granted him the ability to swim underwater at great speeds. However, for Martin Strong this was not a blessing, but rather a curse. When his wife saw what he had changed into, she immediately took their daughter and son, and fled and filed for a divorce. Martin Strong found that he could no longer walk on his own, because of his mutation, so he used the finances of his business, Strong Industries, to research and develop a way to permanently put an end to the “X” gene which granted Mutant abilities in humans.

Knowing he would need willing test subjects, he placed an ad for “gifted people seeking to be rid of their gifts” – attracting mutants, who felt cursed by their powers; whether it was due to physical defects, similar to what Strong had experienced; or because their powers prevented them from leading a normal life. One of those mutants that would answer the add would be none other than Michelle Balters, who Strong dubbed “Neurotap.”

Using his finances to gather as many genetic scientists as he could, Martin Strong undoubtedly made contact with none other than Nathan Milbury, better known as Mr. Sinister. When another – rather unusual mutant by the name of Adam-X became a part of Martin Strong’s testers, Martin Strong promised to divulge information about Adam’s past, if he helped Strong – information Strong would have never had, if he had not made contact with Nathan Milbury, who had been seen following Adam since his arrival on Earth.

Adam becomes Strong’s enforcer and mutant hound, tracking down mutants and bringing them in for Martin Strong. Despite a romantic relationship that had developed between Adam and Michelle, Michelle fled Martin Strong and Adam was sent to track her down. They encountered X-Force, and eventually teamed up to bring Martin Strong down. They successfully took down Martin Strong, and learned he was wearing a cybernetic body due to his mutation. They also learn that Michelle had double crossed X-Force, in hopes of bringing more mutants in for Martin Strong, because he had been paying the medical bills that kept Michelle’s parents alive. Michelle decides to stay with Martin Strong while the rest of X-Force, and Adam, depart.

Martin Strong’s body is seen later during a mission by Domino and Shatterstar at a company called Hannigan Electronics. Later still, after recovering, Martin Strong severs off his own hands and feet, and uses his empathic ability to unite his body with that of a young, severely autistic boy named Freddy, whose own body has taken on a large, spider-like appearance. Neurotap disapproves of the merging, but Martin Strong assures her that he senses the happiness that Freddy feels with their bodies and minds now linked.

Martin Strong would once again come in contact with several members of X-Force, namely Shatterstar and Rictor. Shatterstar almost kills Martin Strong, had it not been for the arrival of Cannonball, Moonstar and Warpath.

Height: 4’2″ (true form, but 7’5″ cybernetic body, 10’5″ spider-body)
Weight: 80 lbs (true form, but 300lbs cybernetic body, 350lbs in spider-body)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald (though seen with a black goatee)

Powers: The mutation of Martin Strong changed his hands and feet to fins, and gave him gills that granted him to swim underwater at untested speeds, but also granted him the ability to breathe underwater. Another (later known) power, was the ability to form a symbiotic relationship with creatures of lesser intelligence. (Considering Martin Strong’s high intelligence, that left many – but an example is the merge with his body and that of Freddy, the extremely autistic boy with a spider-like body, due to his mutant power).

Personal Note: I find the whole story where Martin Strong merges his body with Freddy’s spider-like body completely out of character. He was far more “human” looking with the finned hands and feet. And he hated that look so much he severed off his own hands and feet – to merge with the body of a spider? Why wouldn’t he just make another cybernetic body for himself? Or basically do anything other than merge with a spider-like body, which most humans find repulsive? You know, the very thing Martin Strong is trying not to be, since it resulted in the loss of his wife and two children who fled.

Real Name: Michelle Balters
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Adventurer, former enforcer
Citizenship: American Citizen, with no criminal record.
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois
Known Relatives: Unnamed Mother (Comatose), Unnamed Father (Comatose)
Group Affiliation: Formerly employee of Martin Strong
First Appearance: X-Force Annual #2
History: Michelle grew up in Chicago and had led a normal life, until her teenage years, where she had begun to develop a migraine that would leave her incapacitated, due to the pain. At the age of 16, the source of her migraines made themselves known as her mutant powers suddenly emerged. Her mutant powers work through eye contact; and when eye contact is made she’s able to send a surge of energy through the person’s body.

The type of energy that she sends is unknown; but at the time of her mutant powers manifesting, she’d pleaded with her parents to help her; making eye contact with each of them, and unknowingly sending surges of uncontrolled energy through each of them, which rendered them both comatose.

She ran away from home, and eventually came to Denver, where she found a flying for “people with extraordinary powers.” This led to a facility called Strong Industries, led by Martin Strong. Martin Strong was an intelligent scientist and doctor who was seeking to put an end to the “X” gene that triggered mutations. In hopes of finding a “cure” for her powers, Michelle stayed with Martin Strong, which resulted on her being experimented on, in order to determine what triggers the “X” gene. It’s here she meets Adam-X, whom she becomes romantically involved with, as she learns to control her powers.

One day, she decides to run away from Strong Industries, and Martin Strong, who had used Adam to find, track and take down other mutants, sends Adam to find and bring back Michelle. This leads to an encounter with X-Force. After Adam fights X-Force, who come to Michelle’s rescue, Michelle flees with X-Force, but is tracked down again by Adam. Another fight breaks out between a few members of X-Force and Adam, before things are settled. Michelle explains to them what Martin Strong intends to do, and X-Force agrees that Martin Strong needs to be stopped. Traveling back to Strong Industries and using a ruse to get inside, Michelle betrays Adam and the rest of X-Force, explaining that Strong Industries needed more mutants to run tests on, and this had all been a ruse to capture more mutants. Adam is furious and takes her down, before Martin Strong appears and begins putting up a fight.

Martin Strong is defeated, and revealed to also be a mutant himself, who has aquatic appendages. Martin Strong explains that he had hoped to cure the “X” gene for people, like himself, whose mutant manifestations prevented him from leading a normal life (and led to his wife, fleeing, and taking their two kids). Adam decides to leave Martin Strong, but declines Cable’s offer to join X-Force. Michelle returns to Martin Strong in hopes of one day finding a cure for her powers.

After the events of M-Day, Michelle was seen as one of the mutants who retained their powers. She was also considered as a potential candidate during the Initiative.

Height: 5’4″
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Purple (Brown before mutation)
Hair: Black

Powers: Upon eye contact, Michelle is able to sense, control and generate electrical energy pulses through the nerve fibers within organisms. It’s been shown, however, that full eye contact is not needed in order to emit the energy pulse through an individual’s nerve fibers.

The effect of these nerve energy pulses she creates can cause people to fall unconscious, experience tremendous pain, become paralyzed, loss of memory, senses, reflects, and completely disable their nervous system, putting someone into a completely catatonic state.

In 1993, the editors of Marvel Comics, decided it was time to try something different with their annuals. Previous years had tie ins with other annuals, such as Atlantis Attacks, The Terminus Factor, Return of the Defenders – this time, they wanted to do something that was a common theme, but not all tied together. Executive Editor, Bob Budiansky came up with the idea of 24 annuals, 24 new characters. Mark Gruenwald had opposed the idea, thinking that they’d just be creating 24 new characters who would be a “one and done” type thing and not be used again. He cited Squirrel Girl as an example, as a fun character, but that would never see the light of day besides her single usage because people would laugh at the idea and never appeal to her. (If Mark only knew, that later, in 2005 when Dan Slott put her in Great Lake Avengers that it’d create a ripple affect that would eventually lead to her being in the Avengers, video games, the whole bit!)

Will Murray who created Squirrel Girl in Marvel Super Heroes V2 #8 said:

Actually I created Squirrel Girl in script form without any artist input. Tom Morgan was originally going to draw it, but when he dropped out, I requested Ditko and got him. Ditko did a great job in bringing my baby to life. He invented that knuckle spike. It wasn’t in the script. I based Squirrel Girl ironically enough on a long–ago girlfriend who read comics and was into “critters”—wild animals of all types. Coincidentally, she was a big Ditko fan. I think I got the idea because I had a bunch of squirrels running around my roof and sometimes coming in through my open bedroom window and inspiration struck.

Back to the annuals, the editors devised a plan that would be similar to the introduction of then Captain Marvel (who has since changed her name from Captain Marvel to: Photon, then Pulsar, then Spectrum). At the time, Monica Rambeau had done well for herself, becoming an Avenger in Avengers #227. In her first appearance, in the 1982 The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, the story featured her origin and her first adventure. This is what the editors had wanted to do with these new characters. Give them an origin and have their first adventure take place. This way, any other book can build off of what’s already established and have plot points to work with, rather than just blank slates with cool powers and cool looks being introduced, simply for the sake of introducing them.

All of these annuals would be poly-bagged and have a “collectable” card in them (because back then, collectable cards were still a thing). For the sake of my sanity, I am just going to go down this list alphabetically:

Annex (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #27)

Annex was a soldier during Desert Storm, who was shot through the leg, and was forced to have his leg amputated. He agreed to being a part of a test to allow him to use armor to give him mobility. During the process, his memory was scrambled, and he essentially became a villain, but was redeemed at the end, restoring himself.

In many ways, he’s a lot like Deathlok (or Robocop), and I could see still being used. I could, for example, see him teaming up with Punisher.

The Assassin (Namor, the Sub-Mariner Annual #3)

This is a weird one. I’m not kidding. So, essentially Apocalypse had created The Assassin because he wanted to do some kind of testing on Namor. So he has the Assassin kill a Japanese man of some importance, who Apocalypse then assumes the form of. In this form, he invites Namor over and has The Assassin ambush him; and it’s a pretty equal fight, but the Assassin eventually wins. (This might be difficult to believe when Namor’s gone toe to toe with the Hulk, but it’s comics!) So Apocalypse, in all of eons of wisdom, takes Namor prisoner in a sub, where he breaks free and tears the sub apart. Namor escapes and there’s an explosion, but the Assassin is seen having survived the explosion as well, as she is seen walking on the ocean floor. She’s not, to my knowledge, been seen since.

Bantam (Captain America Annual #12)

This is an unusual story as well. In Captain America, Roberto Velasquez was a boxer who was approached by a man named Armando Aviles who convinced him to visit the Powerbroker. The Powerbroker enhanced his strength and made him bullet proof. In Roberto’s next boxing match, his super strength results in killing his opponent which horrifies him and he swears off boxing. He’s eventually shot and left for dead in a coffin that’s tossed in the swamp by Aviles. He takes this opportunity to break into one of Aviles’ facilities, steal some equipment, and become Bantam, to try and take down Aviles, which he eventually successfully does. He appears in Civil War: Damage Report once, after registering. I am not sure I could see any use left of Bantam, other than the occasional team up with someone like Spider-Man, or someone very street level. If he was redesigned he could be another Luke Cage, since he has super strength and is bullet proof, so there’s hope for him, in the hands of the right creative team.

Bloodwraith (Avengers Annual #22)

Bloodwraith is one of the few character who became a new character, but was actually an existing character. You see, Bloodwraith, whose real name was Sean Dolan, first appeared as Sean Dolan in Black Knight V2 #2, but it was in Avengers Annual #22 where Sean Dolan comes in contact with the Ebony Blade (formerly used by Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, until wanting to be free of the blade’s curse made an energy sword for himself). When Sean touched the Ebony Blade, he became the super villain Blood Wraith and went on to do some pretty vile things. Not only did he once kill Namor (who was restored a short while later after battling evil souls in the blade), but he went to Slorenia, where Ultron had killed hundreds (if not thousands!) of people and absorbed all of their souls. The Avengers would go on to try and fight him, but he proved too powerful, so they just built a wall around him after Scarlet Witch cast a spell that bound him there.

I believe that’s where he still is (you figure with all that’s happened in the Marvel Universe, that spell might be broke by now, especially after Wanda’s “No More Mutants” that changed the world before being restored). I feel like Bloodwraith would make a good Doctor Strange villain; all mystical and stuff.

The Cadre (Web of Spider-Man Annual #9)

This is another one that sort of goes against the normal rules of these annuals. While this event seemed to be about introducing a single new character, who would have their origin and first adventure in the annual, The Cadre were three new characters. It was two brothers and their sister, which were the byproduct of a Hellbent (essentially like a demon) and a human woman. They were left at a Monastery when they were infants. They went on to appear in a few issues of Marc Spector: Moon Knight, who like the trio, apparently had his own set of “Hellbent” powers that were revealed during this run of his series. I do not believe they’ve been seen since. Without a revamp of their costumes, I am not sure these characters would appear anywhere else other than a Doctor Strange book.

Charon (X-Factor Annual #8)

Charon was a human by the name of Charles Ronalds, who after seeing a Batman and Robin movie with his parents, came out, only to witness his parents being murdered in front of him (by a mutant that looked similar to Random). At school, Guido (later to become Strong Guy) had his mutant power kick in, and Charlie thought how he looked like the mutant that murdered his parents. Charlie dipped into darkness and studied the occult and eventually summoned a demon, much later in life, to deal with Guido. In the end, because of Charon’s anger (and breaking the deal made with the demon), the demon pulled Charon into the depths of Hell. He’s not been seen since. Which I think is a missed opportunity, because during one of Peter David’s runs of X-Factor, he had made Guido the ruler of Hell. Seemed like the perfect chance for a Charon / Guido meeting.

Darkling (New Warriors Annual #3)

Writer Fabian Nicieza was never one to just “make a character for nothing.” Fabian tied in the creation of Darkling, a human by the name of Henrique Manuel Gallante, to the Forces of Darkness, Forces of Light cross over event he had going through the New Warriors title. It turns out that Henrique Manuel Gallante is a mutant who was born with the ability to tap into the Darkforce Dimension. It turns out that he unleashes all of this Darkforce on the city to see why darkness is drawn to him; but not the light. He eventually absorbs it all and disappears into the Darkforce dimension; but would turn up again in New Warriors, this time under the name of Asylum and leading Psionex. He would turn up yet again, as one of the mutants who retained his power after M-Day. And one more time when the Thunderbolts found him in an insane asylum and used him to open the Darkforce Dimension to retrieve Blackout (Marcus Daniels). His current whereabouts are unknown, but he could certainly appear again.

Devourer (Daredevil Annual #9)

When Daredevil attempts to stop some thugs who are robbing a museum, some blood is spilled on an ancient artifact, awakening the Devourer. The Devourer is a Mayan based monster that’s bent on eating flesh to grow stronger. The Devourer is seemingly defeated by Daredevil who used a blade to stab it in the chest, and restoring the man who had been changed into the Devourer. The Devourer appeared again in two issues of Daredevil (#335 and #336) when someone summons up the Devourer. This time Deathlok comes along and uses a futuristic weapon that consumes the Devourer in fire, seemingly destroying it. Again. Granted the mystical nature of the Devourer, I could see it appearing in a Doctor Strange or Defenders kind of title, and could be used as a “one of villain” to rise and be defeated.

Dreamkiller (Darkhawk Annual #2)

Alex Tennyson was a man obsessed with the occult, and wanted the power equal to something like Doctor Strange or Baron Mordo. When a mystical object of power that turned a man into a monster is lost after a fight with Darkhawk and Ghost Rider, Alex finds the man who found it and kills him for it (when the man refuses what Alex is willing to pay). It took awhile but Alex was able to unlock the power of the artifact and turned him into the Dreamkiller. He goes to kill his ex-wife’s husband but is forced to hesitate when his son comes out. Darkhawk arrives but Dreamkiller manages to escape. To my knowledge he’s not appeared again. I could see him and Sleepwalker crossing paths; and maybe enhance his power to allow him to walk in dreams. He has potential to be a villain to be used again.

Empyrean (X-Men Annual #2)

Now here’s a character with an unusual power set. Empyrean absorbs the energy of the pain and suffering emitted around the world and is able to discharge it in the form of an electrical blast, and those struck feel the pain and suffering that had been absorbed. This is a mutant, considering the condition of the world, would constantly be charged with energy. Using his money he bought a small island off of Florida, and the X-Men, being suspicious went to visit and discovered some of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants were there, but before too much happens, Pyro shows up and explains that the island is a haven for mutants, like him, dying of the Legacy Virus. He would appear again in X-Men: Time Gliders, which was a mini comic sold at Hardees, along with X-Men related action figures. In that story, he wants to steal a device Beast created that allows people to travel through time; he seeks to steal it to release the Legacy Virus sooner, so more people and he can absorb their suffering and increase his power. Unfortunately when he finally does steal it and travel back in time, he goes back to the prehistoric age of dinosaurs, when Beast summons the time glider back, without Empyrean on the disc, leaving his fate to be shared with the dinosaurs. It would seem like he’s perished; but this is easily remedied with any time traveler; but even easier, what if he didn’t actually travel back in time, but rather teleported to the Savage Land?

Eradikator 6 (Punisher Annual #6)

I didn’t pick this up, so I am not too familiar with Eradikator 6. All I remember is that it’s a robot, with the typical super strength, super resistant. I believe there’s something in there about an old war buddy of Punisher’s that’s killed or something along those lines; but I might be blurring the lines between one of the other Punisher stories. Over all, seems like a very generic, very un-unique type villain (being a robot is the easiest cop out). So I couldn’t really see it appearing again, unless they were to go the route of Ultron (which maybe is why it’s called Eradikator 6, maybe there were previous versions of it, in the comic, that I am simply not remembering? If that’s the case, at least it has some foundation in previous versions, rather than a one off).

Facethief (Iron Man Annual #14)

The Face Thief is a branch of ancient demons, known as Shinma demons. They take murder the rich and assume their place, using their wealth and power to spread ruin and despair. The Face Thief is unleashed on accident, and the demon assumes the form of a human by the name of Creighton McCall. The Face Thief, in Creighton’s form, then murders Richard Stevenson, his son-in-law. At the funeral, Tony Stark, feeling that the Richard’s death seemed suspicious, used an LMD (Life Model Decoy), because he was suffering from nerve damage from a previous fight. Meredith, the daughter of Creighton tells “Tony Stark” (the LMD) that she feels like her father is a different person and scans from the LMD confirm that the energy signature emanating from Creighton is not normal. Later Meredith gets in a fight with her father and scratches his face, revealing the Face Thief beneath. Kaze, from an order called the Masters of Silence jumps in to help Meredith but dies in the process. Tony Stark unleashes Iron Man and kills Face Thief. But Kaze needs a replacement in the Order of Silence, which Meredith accepts. But that the Face Thieves are demons, this is another potential Doctor Strange/Defenders story just waiting to be told. We basically have a mystical version of the Skrulls.

The Flame (Thor Annual #18)

This is a tragic tale of a Light Elf from Asgard named Hrinmeer, who was born of his mother, a Light Elf named Aeltri, when a Fire Demon named Skulveig had raped her. The fire demon hated Hrinmeer’s face, and forced him to wear a helmet. He grew up lonely and in verbally abused relationship with his “father.” He eventually grew tired of it and killed his demonic father and took his sword, and adopted the name “The Flame.” He rode through villages killing and murdering which caught the attention and ire of Odin, who dispatched Thor to take care of it. When Thor knocked off the Flame’s helmet, he was astonished to see an attractive young elf beneath the mask. Thor tried to talk to the Flame, but the Flame would not have any of it, and Thor eventually knocked him into a volcano and believed him to be dead; however, being part fire demon made him immune to fire, and he eventually clawed his way out of the volcano. Loki was there to greet him when he came out. The story continues in Thor Annual #19, a year later, where Loki and Pluto use The Flame to try and destroy Thor, but he’s defeated. He appears one more time in Thor #82, but is defeated and his own sword plunged through his chest, seemingly killing him.

It’s comics, it’s mystical, and with Pluto having used him as an ally, who knows if The Flame is truly dead. Seems like the type of villain that could easily pop up again from time to time.

Hitmaker (Wonder Man Annual #2)

That’s right, Wonder Man had his own series in the 90’s. Hitmaker is Orlando Sinclair, who grew up in the ghetto, but distanced himself from that life. His brother, Mariano however, was knee deep in it. Orlando tried to make it big using his natural talents and hoped to make it in Hollywood one day. While he suffered rejection over his natural talents, his brother was using the gang life to enhance his own life, and living quite nicely. An opposing gang recognized Orlando, and to get back at Mariano, shot Orlando in the back, paralyzing him. Mariano told Orlando that he and his gang had an exo-skeleton suit that would allow him to walk again; and give him enhanced powers, but if he used it, he would also be the gang’s hitman. Orlando agreed, and as soon as he was in the exo-skeleton suit, he left his life behind and went for Hollywood where he was hired on for a movie; but then told to confront Wonder Man. A fight breaks out, a bazooka fires and Wonder Man is forced to take Hitmaker to the hospital where he discovers that outside of the suit, Orlando is paralyzed. They eventually team up to go after the gangsters, but Hitmaker stops Wonder Man from arresting his brother, allowing him to escape. He is mentioned in the Civil War: Battle Damage Report where he’s considered for an Initiative recruit. He seems like a character that could appear in a Marvel Team Up kind of book with someone like Spider-Man.

Irish Wolf Hound (Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #3)

This isn’t the Guardians of the Galaxy everyone is currently familiar with. There was a Guardians of the Galaxy for many, many, many, many years in comics that composed of a different team entirely, and were from the future (31st Century). In this Guardians of the Galaxy, the Celtic god, Cuchulain surfaces when – in the world the Guardians came from – Earth was seized by aliens, where many heroes perished. Shamrock fled to Ireland, and Doctor Strange sensed Cuchulain and released him to protect her. He would appear again in that run of Guardians of the Galaxy in issues #51, 52, and 53, where he is recruited by the Guardians to assist them in helping free their companion Charlie-27. Since he comes from an alternate reality, and that version of the Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t appear really anymore in the regular Marvel Universe, I can’t see him appearing again (unless they unleash him in modern 616 Marvel for some reason).

Khaos (Excalibur Annual #1)

Khaos is a Dark Elf from a plane known as Irth (yes, pronounced Earth). In this plane he was born a Dark Elf, but adopted by Fair Elves. He was a strong and skilled warrior, a great tactician and used techno-mancy (technology and magic) and had two swords that had magical energies, and carried a talisman, that looks like a money with its arms folded across its chest, and has metallic wings similar to Archangel. On his world he was fighting an opposing force, a man named Ghath, who was defeated and banished. Ghath landed on Earth and was still able to send waves of energy to disrupt Irth. Khaos decided to track him down and put an end to it. He teams up with Excalibur who chases Ghath back to Irth, where Khaos beheads him. Khaos ends up stuck on Earth, and is offered a position on Excalibur by Cerise, but he declines, explaining he would like to find his way back to Irth, and find a way to undo Ghath’s spell that prevents his return. As someone who loved Walt Simonson’s Malekith, his dark elf appearance appeals to me. Since he was stuck on Earth, stands to reason who could still be there. He could team up with Doctor Strange (or Defenders) in hopes of using Strange’s magical abilities to break the barrier and return him to Irth.

Kyllian (Doctor Strange Annual #3)

Kyllian works for a local drug lord, and doesn’t have much to do with his life. His sister is a prostitute and when he tries to get her out, she’s shot. He lashes out when he gains magical tattoos that grant him a connection with a Celtic god; it’s revealed to be three people (a female, a male, and a humanoid deer). They explains that he is their instrument of Justice, and that he must strike out at the people – like those that killed his sister. He decides to go after the crime boss, but Strange tracks him down and learns of his connection to the gods, and offers to train him. Kyllian learns the origin of his powers, of how some druids, being abused by Romans called upon the gods to extract revenge. I think the character could easily be used again, in either the pages of Doctor Strange (or Defenders) – that keeps happening, or possibly The Punisher (or even Avengers), who see this mystical being killing (less than favorable people and extracting said justice), and come head to head, until it’s all sorted out (and Kyllian can keep teleporting away to kill another day).

Lazarus (The Incredible Hulk Annual #19)

Todd Hunter was the owner of a technology company and was betrayed by his wife, Rosalind and her lover, Cameron and left for dead. Todd developed telekentic abilities and used his own technology to create a uniform and adopted the name Lazarus. As Lazarus he did extract his revenge on Cameron, by killing him. After Cameron’s death, Rosalind Hunter turned herself over to the police. Lazarus would then see his son being harassed by criminals about owing money, and would come up against the Hulk again. He was later considered as a potential recruit for the Initiative, despite his handling of Cameron. Considering he’s just a guy in armor, and still out free, I could see him popping up again from time to time, extracting revenge against criminal warlords. Something about his costume does, however, sort of remind me of Deadshot from Suicide Squad.

Legacy (Silver Surfer Annual #6)

This one makes me mad. Not that he was created, but that he was eventually killed. Granted, it’s Marvel Comics, so it’s probably a matter of time until his death is undone. But essentially, Elysius, the former love of Mar-Vell, who was missing him, sampled his DNA after his death and used it to artificially impregnate her, eventually giving birth to Genis-Vell. Genis adopted the name Legacy and took on the Nega-Bands, formerly worn by his “father” Mar-Vell. He would go on to appear frequently, even having his own series, appearing in Avengers Forever, and appearing in Thunderbolts. His look was updated from his long haired pony tail to a “celestial” like body after merging with Rick Jones, which also awakened his latent Cosmic Awareness. Marvel had done what they intended to do; created an interesting character with so much potential. However, things went south as they turned him insane, and he created a new reality, where his mother did the same thing with Mar-Vell’s genetic sample, this time giving birth to a female named Phyla. This is where the story turns so messy I can’t even begin to explain it. He eventually ends up with the Thunderbolts where Zemo says that he’s too dangerous to the universe, and uses the Moonstones to rip his body apart and send them to different corners of the universe. Granted, this could easily be undone with the energy finding itself and reconstructing Genis’ body. But they did so much damage to the character when they turned him insane, that’s simply beyond devastating. It’s like killing Wolverine and bringing him back with like fiery claws or something…

Night Terror (Ghost Rider V3 Annual #1)

Night Terror was a human named Carl Blake. One day he awoke with loss of his memories and his vamparic nature. He discovered that he could absorb the memories of those whose blood he drank, giving him a unique spin on vampires. Later, while serving Varne (one of the members of the Cult of Darkholders), Night Terror is seemingly slain by Blade, and Varne assumes Night Terror’s body, leaving his fate seemingly open. This is definitely a character that could appear in Ghost Rider, Doctor Stranger, Defenders, or any other mystically themed title over at Marvel. Instead of throwing out there, a random Vampire, make one of them Night Terror. (I actually also like the code name, seems very fitting; and the memory absorption is a cool touch).

Nocturne (Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #13)

She’s another one that technically made an appearance (as her normal self), previously in The Spectacular Spider-Man #190. She was a police officer named Angela Cairn, who had been the only survivor of an attack by the villain Vermin. She was later drawn to several mutilation killings which reminded her of the Vermin attack, and was captured and brought to Baron Zemo, who experimented her and left her for dead. However, she did not die; she became a mute, and gained bat-like wings as a result of the experiment (her hair also turned white as a result of the experiments). Spider-Man found and fought her, believing she was the Mutilation Killer; but they found the actual killer and she refrained from killing him, allowing him to be taken by the authorities. She would later befriend Puma and stay with him, until the duo encountered Spider-Man, and a fight broke out. Nocturne got between them and stopped them, sharing their pain which shocked Puma to his human form. She departed for parts unknown. Unfortunately, there’s several characters in the Marvel Universe named Nocturne, so while I enjoy this character, I’d have her return with a different name, and perhaps the ability to speak telepathically to remove the limitation of never exchanging dialogue; maybe a name like Melody or Euphony.

Phalanx (Punisher: War Zone Annual #1)

Phalanx was actually Cord Mather who made a living designing armor. The one he would take for himself was one that was capable of withstanding bullets of various calibers. Unfortunately for Cord Mather his life as a hero would not be one that lasted too long. He appeared again in Punisher #103 then in #104, sacrificed his life by diving on a live grenade while in his armor. Unfortunately the armor was not able to withstand the explosion of the grenade and his life as a hero came to a quick and tragic end. Because he was a human using a suit of armor and didn’t do too much, and didn’t offer much in his scant few appearances, there would definitely be no reason to resurrect this character.

Raptor (Avengers West Coast Annual #8)

Raptor is a timid human named Gary Wilton, Jr. In times of fear or excitement, Gary’s form changes into a humanoid eagle covered in tan feathers. His wings sprout from his back, are pure white (similar to Angel). His hands turn into clawed talons, as do his feet. He possesses super strength, durability and the keen senses of avian birds of prey. As it turns out before being born, there was indication that Gary Wilton, Jr. would be born with defects, so his father injected his wife with chemicals that should correct the defect. Unfortunately, Gary, Sr. was killed in a major automobile accident, which left his mother giving birth to Gary, Jr. alone; and she became extremely protective of him. His mother remarried another man (Roger Morely, owner of Daedalus Airlines) who was verbally abusive to the timid Gary, Jr. in hopes of “toughening him up.” At the age of 20, Gary was walking through the city and witness a gang hit, and fled from them, and during his fear, turned into Raptor, a result of the chemicals that he had injected him while still in his mother’s uterus. He would eventually encounter Ultron and Alkhema and assist the Avengers West Coast in defeating them. Years later when the Super Hero Registration was enacted, Raptor tried to flee to France but was stopped by Peregrine and the French Military.

Raptor is someone that’s just begging to be used again. I see so much potential in his use. Definitely someone I see appearing frequently in the pages of Spider-Man, as someone who is finally accepting they’re a hero, and just learning the ropes. Treat him the same way Cloak & Dagger were.

Tracer (Deathlok V2 Annual #2)

Tracer is Richard Bloom, the son of David Bloom, owner of Bloom Industries, a tech company. Richard’s father, David was killed when he was caught in the crossfire between two superheroes (though the heroes are not named). Richard saved a portion of the telephone that was used during the fight, in hopes of identifying the hand prints on it, to see who he could extract his revenge on. Richard hired scientists who felt the same way about superheroes, who then worked to give him implants, that would allow him to adjust his body depending on who he was planning on facing. He faced off against Spider-Man and failed and created the Tracer armor and faced off against Deathlok, until learning that Deathlok was a human trapped inside the machinery. Richard provided Deathlok with the technology to repair himself and return to his family. Chameleon would then manipulate Tracer later to attack Spider-Man; but once the ruse was discovered, he stopped and provided Spider-Man with the information he had on Chameleon.

It would be nice for someone to conclude the story behind the death of Richard Bloom’s father somehow. Would be a one shot possibly, as a guest appearance, when he finally discovers who it is and goes to kill them; and Spider-Man stops him, talks reason into him, Richard forgives whoever it is, and then gets rid of the Tracer armor, now at peace with himself.

Wildstreak (Fantastic Four Annual #26)

Apparently people being paralyzed and using exo-skeleton armor was a theme for these 1993 annuals. Wildstreak is Tamika Bowden, daughter of Dennis Bowden who had been a Hydra weapons maker, who retired to focus on his family. When Tamika was in high school, she had the opportunity to become a gymnast of great caliber. However, a gang lord attempted to recruit Dennis to make weapons for them; but he declined, so the gang leader arranged for an accident to happen to Tamika which would leave her paralyzed from the waist down, thus destroying her dreams of becoming a gymnast. With her father’s help, she was able to walk again using the armor he designed, and she adopted the name Wildstreak. Together they decide to go after Big John Buscelli, the drug lord who arranged for Tamika’s accident. He is, however not at the meeting (but she meets up with Thing and Psi-Lord) and fight the villain Dreadface. She later teams up with with Thunderstrike in an attempt to save a boy she once had a crush on, but the boy is executed by Sangre. Later, when the Super Human Registration Act is enforced, she refuses to sign in and is arrested by Spider-Man and Iron Man.

X-Cutioner (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

Carl Denti was an FBI agent whose partner, Fred Duncan, had worked closely with Charles Xavier in handling alien equipment and weapons the X-Men gathered. Carl took over after Fred’s apparent demise, but Carl decided that mutants were getting away with doing things and not being held responsible. He decided to take the law into his hands, using alien equipment to track down mutants and villains in general, who were not being held accountable. His first victim would be the mutant Tower, formerly from the Alliance of Evil. He then next attempted to kill the comatosed Emma Frost in X-Mansion, but was stopped by Cyclops and Cable. He would escape and continue his attacks on such mutants as Skin, Rogue, Nate Grey, Gambit, among others. During a fight with Gambit and Rogue, X-Cutioner’s mask was melted, blinding and deafening him; at which point he saw two figures approaching and assumed it was Gambit and Rogue and fired full blast. He realized moments later, he had killed his own agents. He later gave up the X-Cutioner guise and returned to the FBI, and was assigned to protect Gambit’s life. He did so, and now has been a firm part of the FBI. Someone else appeared to use his X-Cutioner armor to attack later; and even later, Jack Monroe, better known as Nomad, used the X-Cutioner armor and weapons to attack Baron Zemo. Jack Monroe would later be murdered by the Winter Soldier, who shot him in the back. I could see someone using his armor from time to time to extract vengeance (for whatever their reason) on Mutant Kind.

X-Treme (X-Force Annual #2)

Adam was someone who didn’t know much about his past. He worked for Martin Strong, tracking down mutants, discovering that Martin Strong was trying to “cure” the Mutant Gene. He would come in contact with Cable and X-Force and fight them, before teaming up. He would go on to be kidnapped by Arcade, who was hired by Milbury to test Adam. Defeating Arcade, Adam chases down the Milbury connection (which is Mr. Sinister). He then comes in contact with Captain Marvel (Legacy, yes the same one on this list), and during a fight with Eric the Red, learns that Adam is the son of D’Ken and meant to rule on the Shi’ar throne. He goes on to save Phillip Summers (the grandfather of Scott Summers) and has a great story with him, with more hints of a connection between him and the Summers. Adam was intended to be the “3rd Summers Brother” (which Fabian wrote in X-Men, and also wrote the X-Force Annual and the Captain Marvel books). He was going to be a “Summers” in name only; as he was intended to be the product of D’Ken and Katherine Summers. This was sadly retconned, and they created a fiasco with Vulcan.

I believe, with Lilandra’s death, and Gladiator sitting on the Shi’ar throne, right now is the perfect time to bring Adam back; would he even want to sit on the throne? Would someone like Gladiator of the Imperial Guard, who has sworn to serve the throne, actually serve a “half breed”? There’s so much potential to be unlocked.

So why all of this? Because so many people disregard a bunch of these characters as forgettable. Remember when Rocket Raccoon was forgettable? Groot? Starlord? These characters were introduced many years ago; then Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning took these unusual characters and made a comic book series called The Guardians of the Galaxy (of the current timeline). James Gunn and Disney decided it was a fun comic and made a movie based off of these odd ball characters that shot them into fame.

It just takes a writer and the right things, for even the most unusual, forgettable and laughable characters to suddenly be in the spotlight.

Everyone’s familiar with what Adam-X looks like (or if you’re on this site, you do – otherwise, you have some pretty horrible google results!)

Adam-X has been a favorite of mine since his creation. Initially it was because he looked “cool” and the fact that he had taken down, not just Cable (who I admit to never really being a fan of), but the rest of X-Force too, which is no easy task.

Now you’re thinking, “What do you mean he looks cool?” Keep in mind, he came out in 1993 (X-Force Annual #2) along with a metric ton of new characters that Marvel released with these annuals (some were heroes, some were villains). At the time, I was 23. I was (still am) into heavy metal, so the long hair appealed to me, as a rocker.

These days, the over abundance of blades might be a bit much in today’s market. (But then again, you might have heard Wolverine not only has Adamantium claws; but now they’re fiery hot, admanatium claws… yeah, like that’s not excessive either… But that’s neither here not there, let’s focus on Adam). On a thread on the CBR forums, and recently on Twitter, while discussing Adam-X, I said I’d redesign him but not change too much and used the first image to give an idea.

Essentially, I’d remove his shoulder blades, his arm blades, his leg blades, the spikes on his leg, and his waist blades. I’d leave the blades on the top of his gloves (as he could use those to backhand someone during a melee fight to cut them), and leave a knife on his boot, and his two traditional axe like weapons that strap to his back.

People asked if I’d leave the long hair and the backwards baseball cap, and the answer to both, was, “Sure, why not?”

The way I see it is, Adam doesn’t come from Earth, he doesn’t really adjust to Earth customs. So the long hair doesn’t seem unusual to him, if he comes from a planet where warriors had long hair. The backwards hat, it can come or go; but for all the people that make fun of it, I wear a backwards hat very frequently and have not seen anyone come up to me and mock me for it. (I’d welcome them to!)

So simply removing the abundance of blades, I think, would assist in making Adam a more viable character in today’s comic market.

Article I wrote, originally published here: https://theunspokendecade.com/2015/06/02/things-just-got-x-treme/

Things Just Got – X-TREME!
Written by: Sir Tawmis

Allow me a moment to talk about X-Treme, or as I like to call him, simply Adam-X. While I talk about him and his origin – I will also highlight some of the things that put Adam-X at the top of my favorite character list – of all comic book characters.

First, I admit. I am a sucker for the obscure characters. I think a lot of that has to do with, deep down inside, I am a writer yearning to flesh out characters who are just begging to have their origins explored – then unleash that untapped potential!

There are few characters that have more potential to be an amazing character than Adam-X.

The character known as X-Treme was created by Fabian Nicieza and Jeff Johnson, and he first appeared in X-Force Annual #2 (October 1993).

When Adam-X appeared, he was the embodiment of a lot of what the 90’s comics represented – he had long hair, backwards hat, blades on his shoulder, wrists and hips. He was a character with a mysterious background, and a lethal hunter. Now, I am not a Child of the 90’s – I consider myself a Child of the 80’s – but I actually liked how Adam-X looked when he first appeared. (Granted, in hindsight, a little less blades on the shoulder and belt/waist might make him marketable in a more modern comic book market, but still!)

In his appearance, Adam-X is hunting down a friend named Michelle Balters (who also happens to be a mutant by the name of Neurotap). X-Force, led by Cable, arrive at the scene and attempt to take down Adam-X. However, Adam-X is easily able to defeat all of the members of X-Force by cutting them, then igniting the electrolytes in their blood.

This is one of the things that really made me like Adam-X. Don’t get me wrong. I was reading and collecting X-Force (and enjoying it!), but I was not a fan of Cable. (Still not a fan of Cable actually…). Come to think of it, overall I am not a fan of time displaced characters (such as Cable, Stryfe, Phoenix {Rachel Summers}, etc.)

So when Cable gets taken down – and not by a team – but a single individual – along with the rest of X-Force? That added so many marks on the “Positives” side of the character, that perhaps, to this very day, that’s why Adam-X remains my favorite character.

Naturally, Adam-X eventually teams up with X-Force, and together, they discover that Adam-X’s employer, Martin Strong is a little shady. And in “natural comic book team up fashion”, Adam-X and X-Force take down Martin Strong.

By the end of the issue, Adam-X is offered a position to join X-Force, but he declines the offer, explaining he wants to find more clues to his past.

It wasn’t long before Adam-X would encounter one of the members of X-Force again. As luck would have it, Adam-X found himself being abducted and dragged into MurderWorld, where he was forced to fight Shatterstar, from X-Force. The two were equally matched, forced to fight to save a woman’s life. However, it finally came down to the two heroes teaming up and realizing the only way out of this was to fight the one behind it all – Arcade himself!

Together, Adam-X and Shatterstar were able to infiltrate Arcade’s hideout in MurderWorld. Arcade quickly (in order to preserve his own life), gave up the information as to who had hired him to abduct them and put them against each other.

As it turns out, someone by the name of Mr. Milbury had wanted Adam-X to be tested, and what better warrior that was evenly matched with Adam-X’s skill than X-Force’s Shatterstar. (Well, if you’re an avid read of the X-Men books, you know Mr. Milbury is an alias for none other than the most sinister of X-Men villains – Mr. Sinister himself!) But what interest would Mr. Sinister have in Adam-X? We’re getting to that, don’t you worry! This entire fight takes place in X-Force #30 – and if you enjoy a good fight between two heroes, pretty evenly matched, I’d recommend picking this up.

The next time Adam-X appears is in X-Men #39, when he witnesses a plane crash in Canada. He rushes to the site of the plane crash and pulls out the pilot, who just so happens to be Phillip Summers, the grandfather of Scott Summers and Alex Summers (better known as Cyclops and Havok, respectively). Adam-X manages to use his power of igniting electrolytes to keep Phillip Summers warm throughout the night as the freezing temperatures continued to plummet. Fashioning a gurney, Adam-X pulls Phillip across the frozen tundra and gets him to a hospital where Scott and Jean rush to the hospital to check on Scott’s grandfather. Adam-X is there and asks Jean Grey to share his memories with Phillip – allowing him to vicariously live through Adam-X’s memories.

Unbeknownst to Adam-X, Scott, Jean – they’re being watched on a monitor, by someone with a red glove (later to be revealed as Erik the Red). Even stranger – Erik the Red is being watched because he is watching over Adam-X, by none other than Mister Sinister.

After Jean links the mind of Adam-X and Phillip Summers, there’s a narrator’s note of: Scott can’t help but feel that his fractured family lines have been made stronger because of this near-tragedy. Little does he know how terrifyingly right he is.

Now this would tie to X-Men #23, when Sinister had told Cyclops: “… but I care enough to wish you and your brothers to be protected from this illness.”

Fabian Nicieza was laying down the ground work to make Adam-X related to the Summers family. As a matter of fact – Well, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me show you more of that ground work that Fabian had created to make this work.

Adam-X’s tie to the Summers family continues next in the pages of Captain Marvel, which stars Legacy (the 90’s version of Captain Marvel and the “genetic son” of Mar Vell). Once again, the typical hero fighting hero is how the issue begins – with Adam-X, being mind-controlled by Erik the Red to attack Legacy. Adam-X manages to become free of Erik the Red’s control, but still finds the urge to fight Captain Marvel.

Eventually, Adam-X and Legacy team up and go after Erik the Red. Fighting through the Sidri (which appeared in Uncanny X-Men #154), Adam-X and Legacy manage to find Erik the Red who takes a moment to monologue about Adam-X’s true destiny:

You have been dubbed the Forsaken One, Adam – but that was a mistake on the Majestor’s part, those many years ago. Truly had you been rightfully admitted into the family, we would not be in this predicament today… I am talking about your destiny here… and that is something obviously enough by the intricate plans of the Crystal Claws which should not be rushed! Empress Lilandra sits on the throne this day only because Majestor D’Ken was driven mad by his experiences inside the M’Krann Crystal! She was not meant to guide the Imperium. You see Adam, YOURS is the destiny of power – for you were bred to introduce a HYBRID of specific genetic potential into the Shi’ar monarchy! Adam-X, you were born to rule the Shi’ar Imperium! Who else should be the heir to the throne of the Imperium but you – the only living child of Majestor D’Ken!

So, let me just put it out there. As a huge fan of the (old) Uncanny X-Men, I can’t put into words how much I love the Shi’ar. So now, here’s this character – that I am already digging for quite a few reasons – and now they’re telling me he’s related to someone of the Shi’ar Empire – and not just someone – but to D’Ken himself!

And note, it says that he’s a Hybrid. So this is where the idea that D’Ken (either through genetic or other more vile ways), had a child with Katherine Summers, who had been abducted by the Shi’ar, as revealed in Uncanny X-Men #156 when Corsair explained:

“… until a teleport beam yanked us aboard the starship. It was a Shi’ar scouting mission. To them, Anne and I were zoo-logical specimens, representing the HIGHER ORDERS OF LIFE ON EARTH. We were separated. On the Imperial Throne World, I escaped the slave pens and set out to find her. She was with the Emperor [D’Ken]. My mistake then was in trying not to kill him with my bare hands instead of shooting him down where he stood. Guards came to his rescue, they wanted to execute me on the spot, but D’Ken had other ideas…”

Fabian, unfortunately departed the X-Books before he could complete the story. When asked, Fabian said:

“The character [X-Treme] WAS created to be the 3rd brother, but once I left the x-books, the following writers/editors chose to ignore the sub-plot(which is their call to make). the good news is that no writer/editor contradicted the storyline plans I had, so maybe someday I could still pick it up.”

 Unfortunately, as fate would have it, in 2006, Ed Brubaker introduced “a mutant that would shake the foundation of the X-Men” – none other than Gabriel Summers, better known as the mutant, Vulcan.

Vulcan was introduced in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 which essentially rewrote a large portion of the “Bible” of X-Men comic books – it rewrote Giant Size X-Men #1, stating that after Cyclops and his team had been defeated by Krakoa – Professor Xavier sent in Gabriel’s team – which consisted of himself, Petra, Darwin, and Sway – all of whom, save Gabriel were killed.

And then that’s when Cyclops came back and the new X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Thunderbird, Banshee, Sunfire, Nightcrawler and Colossus) were formed to save the original X-Men. Now, in order to make this work – one would ask themselves – “How come no one ever mentioned Gabriel before?”

The answer. Mind blowing (literally!). Apparently, so driven by guilt and shame of sending Gabriel’s team to the slaughter (though it was revealed later that Darwin survived), Professor Xavier erased everyone’s mind who knew anything about Gabriel – and the other members of the team. Now, let’s bring this into scope a little. Erase every single person’s memory who knew about Gabriel (or any of the other members of his team). This would include Scott’s parents, brother (Alex), their grandparents, friends, teachers – the scope is mind-blowingly massive – and he would have had to done this for each of the members who perished from Gabriel’s team.

To this very day, I try to figure out – what the editors were thinking. Here, we have Adam-X, already being eluded to being related to the Summers family. Over there, we have Gabriel, who we have to rewrite Giant Size X-Men #1 and come up with this whole ploy that Professor Xavier has wiped out the memory of everyone who knew Gabriel. (Makes you wonder why he never wiped out the memory of anyone who knew John Proudstar, when Thunderbird died so soon after the Krakoa incident fighting Count Nefaria)!

Years would go by before Adam-X would appear again, unfortunately. Marvel had shuffled him away for a number of reasons – one of them being that they were worried that fans would become “confused” because at the time there was an X-Treme X-Men being published monthly. (Because fans wouldn’t be confused by the ten other “X” books and Avengers books being published monthly apparently… the fans could figure that out, but apparently couldn’t figure out why a character named X-Treme wasn’t in X-Treme X-Men… because… that rational of thinking sounds logical). It’s because of this, that I refer to X-Treme as Adam-X instead.

When he next appears, it’s in Uncanny X-Men #513 / Dark Avengers #7 (in 2009). He’s joined several other mutants (Hellion, Match, Lorelei, Avalance, Meld and Sunspot) in an attempt to over throw Norman Osborn who is essentially running everything. Norman Osborn sends his “Dark X-Men” after the small team of resistance – which consists of Cloak, Dagger, Weapon Omega, Namor, Mimic, and Daken.

While I was thankful to see Adam-X surface again, I cringed at the dialogue he was given, as he was essentially written as over the top parody of himself (and all things 1990). It’s painfully clear that Adam-X was added just to mock himself. But again, at least it was nice to know he wasn’t completely forgotten.

He’d appear one more time, in Uncanny X-Men #542 (October 2011) during the time that the Norse God of Fear grants incredible powers to a number of super powered beings – one of them being Juggernaut. Cyclops calls on Adam-X, who appears (back to his original attire) to try and stop Juggernaut.

Several others attempt to stop Juggernaut before Adam-X arrives. Avalanche attempts to separate the road; but Juggernaut continues to walk. A mutant named Face, blasts him with his ‘annihilation beam’ which proves ineffective; Pixie attempts to teleport Juggernaut away, but it’s ineffective; Rogue attempts to absorb his powers and render him unconscious; she is instead, rendered unconscious and rescued by Magneto. Mercury tries to fill his lungs; but she’s expelled, when she realized she was being dissolved while inside Juggernaut; Pyslocke tries her psychic blades, but they too, prove ineffective. Adam-X is the only one, who proves effective in doing anything to Juggernaut; he manages to ignite his blood, however, the downside is that Juggernaut, for fifteen minutes burns anything he touches.

I had hoped, if the latest Cyclops series had continued (which had the time misplaced Scott Summers traveling around with the now living Corsair) – that somewhere in their space adventures, the writer would bring in Adam-X and perhaps elude again, to the family connection (and perhaps have a Shi’ar adventure).

Such was not my luck. I look forward to Adam-X appearing again. I’m hopeful that one day, someone will write him again – and develop him as Fabian had intended. After all, while everyone debated who the third Summers brother was – Sinister had said brothers – never indicating just how many “brothers” he had meant. So it still stands to reason that Adam-X could be connected to Katherine Summers and D’Ken. It’s already official that he’s connected to D’Ken as Marvel now officially names his real name as “Adam Neramani.”

Until then. I will continue to fight for Adam-X.

Real Name: Adam Neramani
Aliases: X-Treme
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Adventurer, former enforcer
Citizenship: Citizen of the Shi’ar Empire.
Place of Birth: Ch’ylaritha
Known Relatives: D’Ken (supposed father, deceased), Unknown Mother (Unknown) Assumed: Philip Summers (grandfather), Deborah Summers (grandmother), Katherine Anne Summers (mother, deceased), D’Ken (father, deceased), Lilandra Nermani (Aunt), Cal’Syee Nermani (Deathbird Aunt), Scott Summers (Cyclops, half brother), Alexander Summers (Havok, half brother), Gabriel Summers (Vulcan, half brother), Jean Grey-Summers (Phoenix, sister-in-law, deceased), Madelyne Pryor-Summers (ex-sister-in-law, deceased), Nathan Christopher Summers (Cable, nephew), Aliya Jenskot (niece-in-law, deceased), Tyler Dayspring (Genesis, grandnephew, deceased), Stryfe (clone nephew, deceased), Rachel Summers (Marvel Girl, alternate timeline niece)
Group Affiliation: Formerly employee of Martin Strong
First Appearance: X-Force Annual #2
History: The complete truth to Adam-X’s past still remains clouded in mystery.

Adam-X was unsure of who he was and where he was from. He was taken in by Martin Strong to work for Strong Industries. He had developed a friendship with Michelle Balters (Neurotap), but was later forced to track her down, when she decided to flee from Strong Industries. X-Force arrived on the scene and assumed that Adam-X was the one to be taken down. Under Cable’s command, the members of X-Force made a valiant attempt at bringing Adam-X down, but in the end failed. Adam-X was forced to down the members of X-Force by using his powers to ignite the electrolytes in their bloodstream. In the confusion, Michelle Balters had managed to escape.

It would not be much longer until Adam-X and the members of X-Force would run into one another yet again. After another brief battle, Adam-X and the members of Cable’s X-Force temporarily joined forces to return to a plant just outside Denver to take down Martin Strong, the owner of Strong Industries.

With Martin Strong’s defeat, Adam-X declines membership to X-Force, choosing instead to seek out the pieces to his past and uncover more about himself.

In the Artic, Adam-X witnesses the crashing of Phillip Summer’s plane. Within minutes, he manages to cover over six miles, reaching Phillip Summers, the grandfather of Scott and Alex Summers.

When the plane explodes, knocking both Adam-X and Phillips Summers over, Adam-X manages to twist and turn, using his body to take the blunt of the blast, as well as the landing. Believing that there is nothing to be done, Phillip Summers encourages Adam-X to save himself. However, Adam-X refuses and uses his powers to ignite the electrolytes in Phillip Summer’s bloodstream to keep him warm, until the morning sun rises.

Adam-X manages to get Phillip to a hospital where he is greeted by Jean Grey and Scott Summers. Adam-X asks Jean to peak in his mind and share the visuals he has there to give to Phillip. In those thoughts, he shares a memory of boarding a Shi’ar Kjeth’ya Scout Craft.

Adam-X would next encounter Legacy, the son of Captain Marvel. Under the influence of Eric the Red’s mind control, Adam-X attacks Legacy; but with his help is able to break free of Eric the Red’s mental hold.

Together, Legacy and Adam-X track down Eric the Red. It’s there that Eric the Red explains that Adam-X is dubbed “The Forsaken One” and that he is a hybrid of specific genetic potential into the Shi’ar monarchy – and that Adam-X was born to rule the Shi’ar throne as the only living child of Majestor D’Ken.

Eric the Red explains that Katherine Summers was not immediately killed by D’Ken. He had been fond of Katherine and kept her as a consort, while Christopher Summers Corsair was sent into the slave pens. For a time, D’Ken used Katherine as his pleasure maid, until one day Christopher escaped from the pits and made his way to the palace, where he was recaptured. As punishment, it was there that D’Ken made Christopher watch as he killed Katherine Summers.

Adam-X appears after a long time off the radar, at the Gene Pool Bar among a few others. With him are Julian Keller – better known as “Hellion”; Ben Hammil – better known as “Match”; Lorelei Travis; Dominikos Ioannis Petrakis – better known as “Avalanche”; Jeremiah Muldoon – better known as “Meld”; Roberto Da Costa – better known as “Sunspot.” They’re gathered to fight and put an end to Normon Osborn’s presence in San Francisco – which is supposedly a haven for all Mutants. They decide to make their stand at Union Square Park.

Despite claiming that causing a massive explosion and fight would be a bad idea – because as mutants, they’re considered evolved and should act as such – it doesn’t take long till the anger takes over and Hellion lights up most of Union Square Park. Normon Osborn’s “Dark X-Men” – which consists of Cloak, Dagger, Weapon Omega, Namor, Mimic, Wolverine II (Daken) respond to the threat and arrive at Union Square Park by teleporting through Cloak.

White Queen defeats Hellion with a mental blast, while Cloak manages to envelope Lorelei. Dagger attempts to take out Adam-X, but he blocks her daggers of light with his sword. Mimic tries to take out Match by freezing him, but fails. Weapon Omega successfully takes out Meld. White Queen manages to save Avalache’s life when Wolverine II tries to kill him.Namor knocks out Sunspot, and the last one defeated is Dagger, when she kicks him into Cloak’s shadows.

They are then brought to Alcatraz, where Normon Osborn has set up base. Cyclops arrives and tells Osborn to surrender. But of course, Osborn refuses and swears he will see Cyclops dead. Emma Frost demands that the prisoners be protected and that she be shown what Normon Osborn plans on doing with the mutant prisoners.

Adam-X surfaces again to help stop Juggernaut, who has been enhanced by the Norse God of Fear. Several others attempt to stop Juggernaut before Adam-X arrives. Avalanche attempts to separate the road; but Juggernaut continues to walk. A mutant named Face, blasts him with his ‘annihilation beam’ which proves ineffective; Pixie attempts to teleport Juggernaut away, but it’s ineffective; Rogue attempts to absorb his powers and render him unconscious; she is instead, rendered unconscious and rescued by Magneto. Mercury tries to fill his lungs; but she’s expelled, whens he realized she was being dissolved while inside Juggernaut; Pyslocke tries her psychic blades, but they too, prove ineffective. Adam-X is the only one, who proves effective in doing anything to Juggernaut; he manages to ignite his blood, however, the downside is that Juggernaut, for fifteen minutes burns anything he touches.

Height: 6’1
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Powers: X-Treme is a Shi’ar/Mutant Hybrid that is capable of igniting the electrolytes present in the bloodstream, causing the person to burn from the inside out. This has often been referred to as Haemopyrokinesis.

X-Treme possesses exceptional control of his power; able to incinerate objects, or simply use the power to create a warming sensation. In order to ignite the electrolytes, X-Treme has used blades to cut the flesh and oxygenate the blood. Whether this is necessary or simply makes the power more effective, remains unknown.

In addition to his mutant powers, being a Shi’ar hybrid gives him additional powers. His agility, reflexes and endurance are all well over the most peak humans, matching that of Steven Rogers (Captain America). His agility enhanced his speed, which allows him to cover several miles in mere minutes. His strength is also above normal, peak human condition (allowing Adam to lift over 500lbs). His vision is as sharp as an eagle’s, allowing him to see objects more than a mile away with perfect clarity.

He’s also displaced enhanced healing capabilities, regenerating faster than normal humans.

Accessories: X-Treme wields two cybernetic, retractable blocking blades on each hand, forged of an unknown Shi’ar metal.

Note: Adam throws razor-blade like weapons to cut his enemies, and allow him to use his powers. These blades are noted as “Thet’je Spikes.” It’s unknown if “Thet’je” is a form of weapon, or if it’s the metal that the spikes (and perhaps Adam’s claws) are made of.