X-Statix
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X-Statix was the name of a fictional team of mutant superheroes in Marvel Comics, specifically designed to be ironic media superstars. The team, created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, first appears in X-Force #116 and originally assumed the moniker X-Force, taking over for the more traditional superhero team after most of them are seemingly killed in an explosion.
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[edit] About the series
In 2001, the X-Men family of titles were being revamped by the newly appointed Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, with the aim to make the titles more critically and commercially successful. Former Vertigo editor Axel Alonso hired writer Peter Milligan, best known for his surreal, post-modernist comics such as Rogan Gosh and Shade, the Changing Man, and Madman artist Mike Allred, as the new creative team for X-Force, starting with issue #116. X-Force prior to Millgan and Allred's first issue was a formulaic superhero title that sold well but rarely had been the critical success Quesada wanted.
From their first issue of X-Force things were changed right away: gone was the previous team and replacing them were characters more like popstars or reality TV contestants than traditional superheroes. The title was laced with Milligan's satirical take on the superhero team as well as well as general cynicism toward the entire genre. Milligan and Allred would regularly play with killing off the title characters: in their first issue they wiped out the entire team with only two exceptions.
This dramatic revision of the series was not universally accepted. Many readers wanted "their" X-Force back, a complaint Milligan later parodied in the pages of the title. However, sales had increased, and the title was receiving mainstream media coverage in the likes of Rolling Stone magazine.
X-Force was cancelled with issue 129 so it could become X-Statix and it restarted from issue 1. X-Statix carried on with the same themes and tone as X-Force but grew increasingly satirical in its targets. In issue 13 Milligan had planned to use Princess Diana in a storyline in X-Statix which featured her returning from the dead as a mutant superhero. News of this leaked out to the media and there followed a series of objections, most notably from the British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail. Quesada and Marvel announced that they would alter the character of Princess Diana, replacing her with a fictional pop star, Henrietta Hunter. Whether Marvel and Milligan intended to do this from the start is unknown, but the effect worked and sales peaked during this time. However this was not to last long; after a story arc pitting X-Statix against The Avengers, low sales prompted cancellation with issue 26 published in 2004. In this last issue Milligan and Allred killed the entire team in one last parody of the superhero genre while tying up the remaining plot threads of the title.
Marvel Comics published X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl in 2006. In the 6 issue mini-series, Dead Girl teams with Doctor Strange to combat a group of villains who have returned from the dead. (The series is written by Milligan, with covers by Allred.) The storyline, which features the return of The Anarchist, The Orphan and U-Go-Girl, parodies the manner in which creators in the industry handle death in comic books (with popular characters often brought back from the dead). The X-books have featured several high-profile resurrections in recent years.
[edit] Detailed roster
The team was a group of colorfully dressed and emotionally immature young mutants put together and marketed to be superstars first by the mysterious Coach and later by media mogul Spike Freeman. Some of the members included:
- Orphan, aka Mister Sensitive, the team's de facto leader, a suicidal mutant with purple skin and two antennae protruding from his forehead who possessed heightened senses, superhuman speed, and the ability to levitate.
- Anarchist, the team's self-proclaimed "token" Black Canadian, whose acid-like sweat enabled him to fire acidic energy bolts. He grew up in Canada.
- U-Go Girl, a blue-skinned, redhead, narcoleptic teleporter who was once romantically linked to Zeitgeist and then to Orphan.
- Phat, an (eventually) openly gay Eminem pastiche who could harden, soften and increase the size of any part of his body by expanding his subcutaneous fat layer.
- Vivisector, a bookish scholar who could transform himself into a wolf-like creature with enhanced senses, speed, agility, and razor sharp fangs and claws, and who briefly became Phat's lover.
- Dead Girl, a literal dead girl who could reform her body and control its parts when dismembered, and could "read" the memories of dead bodies.
- Venus Dee Milo, whose body was made entirely of crackling red energy that allowed her to teleport, project concussive blasts of energy, and heal minor wounds.
- El Guapo, a sexy male mutant with a flying skateboard that had a mind of its own.
- Doop, a green, floating spheroid creature of unknown origins who spoke in a "language" all his own (respresented in text by a special font), and who served as X-Force's cameraman. It was hinted many times that he might have been manipulating the team or that he was trying to control them in some clandestine way but nothing was ever resolved or proven.
- Bloke, a mutant with the ability to change the color of his skin, like a chameleon; certain color changes would enhance his strength. He revealed himself to be gay shortly before his death, although his first appearance was laden with blatant references to his homosexuality (for example: originally being from San Francisco and having a penchant for musical theatre).
- Saint Anna, an Irish-Argentinian mutant with the ability to levitate and control the motion of objects as well as physically and mentally heal others.
- Henrietta Hunter, an inexplicably reanimated woman with enhanced physical abilities and empathy. Originally intended to be Princess Diana.
- Spike, a controversial African-American character who made fun of Anarchist for being white inside, even though his skin is black. He is capable of extending thin spikes from his body or launching them as projectiles.
- Mysterious Fan Boy, the self-proclaimed greatest fan of X-Statix, he basically blackmailed his way into gaining team membership. When Orphan had had enough of him, he conscripted long-time ally Lacuna to inject him with a serum that would stop his heart. He had limited reality warping powers and some of the acts he performed were: illusion casting, animating dead bodies, rearranging items on a molecular level, creating explosions, and healing injuries.
[edit] Mentors
- Coach, manipulative mentor of the team when it was still named X-Force. He has only one arm and red eyes. He was once called "The Arm" but it was never fully explained why. He had the second X-Force eradicated to start a new one. He had X-Statix capture a young mutant named Paco Perez to sell to Pharmaceutical companies but Orphan interjected and sent the boy away. He then tried to have Orphan killed but was eventually killed by a gunshot from U-Go Girl.
- Spike Freeman, considered a cross between Bill Gates and Satan, with his look patterned on Rob Liefeld. He assisted the team by auditioning new members and by doing the team's public relations. He died after he was kicked in the head by Orphan after he pushed the fact that U-Go Girl had her own illegal activities while in X-Force.
[edit] Allies
- Lacuna, a young girl named Woodstock who set out to prove that she was worthy of membership into the then X-force by playing pranks on the members with the help of her powers. Even though she was more than capable, Orphan rejected her but on occasion would call upon her for help. When Orphan finally came to her to offer her membership, she declined, preferring instead to take up a spot as a talk show host where she would expose the secrets of the stars. Her powers allow her to walk between the moments of time while everything else remains still.
- Professor X, mentor of the X-Men who assisted X-Statix on certain occasions. He constructed special suits to accommodate Orphan and Venus Dee Milo's mutations.
- Wolverine, an old friend of Doop who aided Orphan in taking down Coach and his back-up team. Wolverine also accompanied Doop in searching for the Pink Mink.
[edit] X-Force
In Milligan and Allred's first issue of X-Force, nearly the entire team was killed off in an incident called the Boyz 'R Us massacre. This precursory team, of which only U-Go Girl and Anarchist survived, also included:
- Zeitgeist, the team leader who could vomit an acidic ooze from his mouth. He conspired with Coach to have his teammates killed in the Boys R Us massacre, but he was caught in the crossfire and killed as well. He previously had a one night stand with U-Go Girl.
- Battering Ram, who had superhuman strength, and durability as well as a thick skull which sported two ram-like horns and purple skin.
- Gin Genie, who could direct seismic energy from her body but only when she had consumed alcohol.
- La Nuit, a Frenchman who could generate a cloak of dark energy around him that would disperse light and control objects.
- Plazm, a living, lighter than air, liquid man who could control metabolic functions upon contact with another or through a spray from his hands.
- Sluk, who has a face composed of tentacles.
[edit] Trade paperbacks
- X-Force vol. 1: New Directions, (Marvel, 2001; collects issues #116-120)
- X-Force vol. 2: The Final Chapter, (Marvel, 2002; issues #121-129)
- X-Statix vol. 1: Good Omens, (Marvel, 2003; issues #1-5)
- X-Statix vol. 2: Good Guys & Bad Guys, (Marvel, 2003; issues #6-10)
- X-Statix vol. 3: Back From the Dead, (Marvel, 2004; issues #11-18)
- X-Statix vol. 4: X-Statix vs. The Avengers, (Marvel, 2004; issues #19-26)
[edit] Trivia
- In X-Statix #3, the names on the tombstones concide with the names of characters from the TV show The Simpsons (Wiggum, Terwilliger, Simpson, Flanders, Burns, etc.).
[edit] External links
- Milligan discusses using Princess Diana in X-Statix
- The X-Titles revamp as disscussed in The Comics Journal #262
- The Zeitgeist Fan site
