X-Force

X-Force was created by illustrator Rob Liefeld after he started penciling The New Mutants (vol. 1) comic book in 1989 with #86. The immense popularity of Liefeld’s art lead to him taking over the writing and drawing duties on the book, which allowed him to introduce Cable and several other new hard-edged characters in 1990 and 1991. With help from writer Fabian Nicieza, who provided the dialogue for Liefeld’s plots, Liefeld transformed the New Mutants into X-Force in The New Mutants (vol. 1) #100, the book's final issue. Liefeld and Nicieza launched X-Force (vol. 1) in August 1991. The book sold a record 5 million copies, and remains the second highest selling comic book of all time, surpassed only by Jim Lee's X-Men book that same summer with 8 million copies. The original line-up of the team included:

• Boom Boom, previous member of the New Mutants and a rebellious teenager who could produce “Time bombs”.
• Cable, originally a mysterious gun-toting anti-hero mutant, later revealed to possess telepathy and telekinesis, although he continued to rely on firearms.
• Cannonball, a Kentuckian and prior member of the New Mutants who flew at jet speeds and projected a force field around himself when flying. Cannonball was the team's second-in-command under Cable.
• Domino, a world-class mercenary who possessed “luck powers,” allowing probability to turn in her favor and who was Cable’s lover. Later, it turned out that this woman was in fact the shapeshifter Copycat who had taken the place of Domino. The real Domino was still just a friend of Cable and had been imprisoned by Copycat's employers. The real Domino joined X-Force some time after her impostor was exposed.
• Feral, a cat-like mutant with claws, fur, and enhanced senses.
• Shatterstar, a sword wielding warrior from Mojo World who possessed superb fighting skills and limited energy-projection abilities.
• Warpath, an Apache who, like his brother, the short-lived X-Man Thunderbird, possessed super strength and speed.

In issue #3, X-Force would be joined by:

• Siryn, the daughter of the Irish X-Man Banshee who inherited her father’s “sonic scream” and ability to fly.

Later, in issue #15, two former New Mutants who had left before the team's evolution into X-Force joined:

• Rictor, a Mexican who produced powerful shockwaves.
• Sunspot, former New Mutant and citizen of Brazil who absorbed and rechanneled solar energy.

Cover to X-Force (vol. 1) #1 (August 1991).

The main opponents of X-Force during its first year were the terrorist Mutant Liberation Front, led by Stryfe, a masked mutant with a mysterious link to Cable. Early issues also featured the wise-cracking mercenary Deadpool, the immortal Externals, and a new version of The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the X-Men’s oldest enemy group.

Propelled by Liefeld's art, X-Force became one of Marvel’s best-selling comic books immediately after its debut. The series rivaled The Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men in popularity, particularly with the adolescent demographic.^{[citation needed]} Toy Biz responded to X-Force's popularity by introducing an X-Force action figure line alongside its X-Men action figure line.

Writer Mark Waid and painter Alex Ross parodied X-Force and other anti-hero groups from the early 1990s in the 1996 DC Comics miniseries Kingdom Come, which portrayed a future where a generation of violent anti-heroes had replaced the familiar DC characters. Their leader Magog bore an intentional resemblance to Shatterstar and Cable.^{[citation needed]}

Liefeld illustrated the series up to #9 and stopped plotting it after #12 as Liefeld had become increasingly frustrated that he did not own the characters he created and that his art was being used on a variety of merchandise while he received little royalties. Along with six other popular Marvel artists, Liefeld left Marvel Comics in 1992 to form Image Comics.

Mid-1990s: Nicieza and Loeb

X-Force continued with Nicieza writing and Greg Capullo illustrating. Nicieza, who also wrote X-Men (vol. 2), helped plot the X-Cutioner's Song storyline that overlapped into most X-Men related books in the fall of 1992. In that story, Stryfe frames Cable for an assassination attempt on the X-Men’s founder Professor X, leading to a clash between the X-Men and X-Force. The crossover boosted Cable's popularity, despite the character's apparent death in X-Force #18, leading to his own solo series being launched in 1993.

After X-Cutioner’s Song, X-Force continued under Nicieza and Capullo, and later pencilled Tony Daniel. Having temporarily lost their leader, X-Force attempted to develop an identity of their own. The team gradually developed into a dysfunctional family after Cable's return in #25, and the title regularly combined soap opera plot threads, such as romance and Siryn's alcoholism, with violent action. Nicieza fleshed out previously unknown elements of each character's history, including Siryn's family in Ireland ^[1], Rictor's in Mexico^[2], and Cannonball's in Kentucky^[3], as well as the mysterious origins of Shatterstar.^[4] This period also saw the reintroduction of characters from the group's New Mutants days, such as Rusty and Skids^[5], Danielle Moonstar^[6], and Cypher and Wolfsbane.^[7] A long-simmering sub-plot about Reignfire and the disappearance of Sunspot came to a climax just as the book went on hiatus for the Age of Apocalypse crossover event in 1995.

Cover to X-Force #46 by Adam Pollina, the title's longest-running artist. Depicted: Sunspot, Mimic, Caliban, Cable, and Warpath (partially visible).

Due to falling sales,^{[citation needed]} X-Force emerged from the Age of Apocalypse event with a new creative team of writer Jeph Loeb and illustrator Adam Pollina, who significantly revised the team with issue #43. Loeb introduced new team uniforms, had the team move in with the X-Men at the X-Mansion, and placed emphasis on character-driven stories with fewer fight scenes. Rictor quit the team and Cannonball joined the X-Men. Caliban, a super-strong albino mutant who possessed the mind of a child, joined the team. Loeb's stories included revelations about Shatterstar’s origin and the transformation of Boomer (formerly Boom Boom) into the more aggressive Meltdown. Fan response was generally positive.

Batgirl

From 1967 to 1988 she was the superhero known as Batgirl; since 1988 she has been known as Oracle. Barbara Gordon was the most well-known Batgirl incarnation and mistakenly known as the first and original Batgirl in DC Comics.

History

Batgirl appeared in Detective Comics #359, January 1967 and created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. Batgirl’s alter-ego was Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Police Commissioner James Gordon of Gotham City. She admired superheroes since she was a kid and decided how to become one. Since she was about thirteen years old, she has been skilled in espionage and has always had a photographic memory, which she got by studying maps and statistics. She spent high school and college doing gymnastics, judo and keeping fit. She has a master's degree in Library and Information Systems which makes her extra good at finding information. Her abilities and skills helped her keep on top of things like computers, technology and lead to her concluding day job as a research librarian.

Her first experience as a superhero started as an accident. She had decided to go to the masquerade ball dressed as a female version of Batman, as her idol. The villain, Killer Moth, interrupted the party as Barbara intervened in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne, attracting the attention of Batman and leading to a crime-fighting career. She tried fighting the evil and Batman was not pleased with her donning the cape and cowl and tried to convince her to stop, but she was too headstrong. Batman decided that it was better to train her than watch her inexperience and get killed.

As she had her crimefighting career, she still works in the morning and fights at night. She also had her personal life dating with men and the most popular partner was Jason Bard, a Vietnam veteran and turned private investigator. Her responsibility as Batgirl sometimes puts Barbara at an emotional crossroads. She was raised with respect for law and order as the daughter of the Police Commissioner, but her actions as Batgirl technically label her a vigilante. If Batgirl was ever caught and unmasked, the scandal would certainly destroy Commissioner Gordon's career. Still, Gotham is a city that breeds an extreme kind of criminal and crimefighters are needed to handle situations regular cops can not. Barbara believes the good she does, as Batgirl is worth the potential risk to herself and her father.

In the mid 1970s, Barbara revealed her secret identity to her father, who already had discovered it on his own. They both ran and won an election to the U.S. House of Representatives. She moved to Washington, D.C., and intended to give up her career as a superhero. However, due to the demands and the popularity of Batgirl, she and Superman teamed up, and also with Supergirl and became good friends. Batgirl became one of the main features in the “Batman Family” comic book where she and Dick Grayson as Robin, teamed as the Dynamite Duo. Soon they discovered each other's alternate identities as well. Batwoman also became her partner.

When she lost on her re-election bid, she then returned to Gotham City and took a social worker job, fighting villains including Lady Snake and the Velvet Tiger. Supergirl also visited Gotham and shared an adventure with her. Batgirl was shot and nearly killed by the Commorant; this caused her to have a serious crisis of faith and she briefly retired her Batgirl career. But after a talk with Batman, she returned to face down and capture the villain, and Batgirl continued to thrive.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths changed DC Universe continuity in a lot of ways. Barbara Gordon was now the daughter of Roger and Thelma and lived in Chicago. Her parents died when she was young, so she moved with the family of her Uncle Jim at Gotham City until the time she doubted that Jim Gordon dated her mother Thelma before she married Roger, and there is a strong chance that Jim Gordon is indeed her biological father, although he is not aware of that. When she became Batgirl, Batman and Robin had much more active role in her trainings.

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel is a Marvel Comics superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan. Carol Danvers is the most well-known Ms. Marvel, although Sharon Ventura also used the code name Ms. Marvel. The super heroine (as Carol Danvers) first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 of March 1968.

In her reign of more than 30 years as a Marvel character, she also uses the codenames Binary and Warbird, and associates with the Avengers and X-Men, but a series of personal tragedies have complicated her career. Carol is a CIA agent and the love interest of the superhero Captain Marvel. She gained her superpowers after her exposure to technology from Marvel’s Kree home world.

In her reign of more than 30 years as a Marvel character, she also uses the codenames Binary and Warbird, and associates with the Avengers and X-Men, but a series of personal tragedies have complicated her career. Carol is a CIA agent and the love interest of the superhero Captain Marvel. She gained her superpowers after her exposure to technology from Marvel’s Kree home world.

Affiliations

Over the years, Carol has found herself a member or ally of various teams and organizations below.

· The Avengers
· The Uncanny X-men
· The Starjammers
· U.S. Air Force

Superpowers and Abilities of Carol Danvers

Ms. Marvel possesses a wide array of superhuman powers. She is an exceptional pilot, and highly experienced in the fields of espionage, military operations and martial arts. She is a talented journalist.

· Ms Marvel had superhuman strength, endurance, invulnerability, the ability to fly and a seventh sense until her powers where stolen by the mutant Rogue

· Binary taps into the energy of a white hole and manipulates the cosmic energy released. This gives her incredible power, superhuman strength, durability, photogenic energy blasts, energy absorption; she can fly and travel at speed faster than light.

· Warbird possesses superhuman strength, a high degree of durability, the ability to emit concussive photon bursts and the power of flight. Also, she can absorb various forms of energy, thus augmenting her other abilities. Carol can also alter her normal clothes into her Warbird costume and vice-versa.

Thor

Thor's father Odin decides his son needs to be taught humility and consequently places Thor (without memories of godhood) into the body and memories of an existing, partially disabled human medical student, Donald Blake. After becoming a doctor and thoroughly believing himself to be the young surgeon Blake, he later discovers Thor's disguised hammer and learns to change back and forth into the Thunder God. The real Blake's persona remains elsewhere until many years later, after Odin becomes satisfied of Thor's humility and lifts the spell, thereby removing the need for a mortal alter ego. The mortal experience, however, shapes Thor into an honorable and courteous individual, who is loyal to all comrades.

Thor #126 (March 1966). Thor battles Hercules on the cover of the first self-titled issue after the retitling of Journey into Mystery. Cover art by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta.

Protector of Midgard

Being the son of the Elder Goddess Gaea, Thor has a natural affinity for Earth and feels obliged to protect the mortals that occupy it. Thor's time on Earth is marked by battles against supervillains, monsters, cosmic beings, and even other gods.

Thor's principal foe is his adopted brother Loki, who has hated Thor since childhood. Although a master of magic, Loki usually avoids direct confrontations for fear of angering Odin. He is discreetly responsible for the creation and awakening of three of Thor's principal foes: the Absorbing Man;^[7] the Wrecker,^[8] and the Destroyer.^[9] On one noteworthy occasion, Loki's tactics are accidentally beneficial - although successful in using the Hulk to draw Thor into battle, it results in the formation of the superhero team the Avengers, of which Thor is a founding and longstanding member.^[10]

Thor's mortal foes include the Radioactive Man;^[11] Grey Gargoyle;^[12] and Wrecking Crew.^[13] Thor's Asgardian foes include the Storm^[14] and Frost Giants;^[15] the Enchanters Three;^[16]Mangog;^[17] the Midgard Serpent,^[18] the Enchantress and Executioner^[19] and the fire-demon Surtur.^[20] Thor has also faced a number of mystical and cosmic foes, such as Mephisto,^[21] Thanos, ^[22] the God Eater,^[23] the Dark Gods,^[24] the Shi'ar Praetor Gladiator,^[25] and the god-slayer Desak.^[26] Thor also encountered the Fourth Celestial Host when it arrives to judge Earth. ^[27]

The Reigning

When Thor decides to intervene in the affairs of Earth, it has major repercussions. ^[28] After reluctantly assuming the throne of Asgard, Thor sees mortals at their worst and reshapes the world in his image. A nightmarish future follows as Thor and the Asgardians conquer Earth and slay or imprison those who oppose them, including a young religious mutant called Davis; Zarrko the Tomorrow Man; Perrikus of the Dark Gods; the U.S. Government, and even his fellow Avengers. He marries Amora (the Enchantress), and has a son, Magni. Wracked with guilt, Thor is eventually drawn into a final battle with Tarene and a Desak-occupied Destroyer in a time travel bid to undo what he has done.

When the timeline is reset, Loki revives Surtur, who forges new uru hammers for Loki's Storm Giant followers and begins Ragnarök, "the twilight of the gods". Thor learns that the Ragnarok cycle is the result of self-styled "gods to the gods" known as Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, who feed on the cycle. Thor confronts the Norns (Fates), breaking the Ragnarok cycle, and then enters a stasis, sleeping "the sleep of the gods." With his fate unknown to the Avengers, he is believed to be missing in action.^[29]

Thor's hammer Mjolnir is found on Earth and put under U.S. Army protection. Sometime later, the supervillain Doctor Doom is escaping from Hell as Mjolnir falls through that dimensional plane, and tries unsuccessfully to claim the hammer, which eventually comes into the possession of a man carrying a bag with the initials "D.B".^[30] During a battle in the superhero "Civil War" between pro- and anti-Superhuman Registration factions, Thor apparently appears and kills the superhero Goliath.^[31] This "Thor" is later revealed to be a fusion of cloning technology and cybernetics created by scientists Reed Richards and Henry Pym, and is destroyed by the anti-registration superhero Hercules.^[32]

Thor #55 (July 2000). Cover art by Tom Raney.

New beginning

Donald Blake, upon touching the hammer Mjolnir, is transported to the void of non-existence in which Thor now resides. Blake explains that when Odin originally removed the Blake persona from Thor,^[33] Blake was consigned to the void that Thor now inhabits. When Thor entered that void, Blake was suddenly restored to being, in New York City. Blake convinces Thor to wield Mjolnir once more, return to Earth, and renew the dual identity with Blake. Blake also reveals that Thor's fellow Asgardians are actually not dead but hidden on Earth.^[34]

Thor rebuilds Asgard in Oklahoma, paying for the land with Asgardian treasure.^[35] He then learns of the events of the superhero-registration "Civil War" and is angered that Tony Stark (Iron Man) and others used his DNA to create a Thor clone. Stark, in response, suggests Asgard may be considered a foreign embassy, with diplomatic immunity granted to its inhabitants. Thor then begins searching for his fellow Asgardians,^[36] and although successfully restoring them all (with the exception of Sif who is trapped in an old woman's body), does not attempt to find his father, Odin. He eventually finds his father in Valhalla, waging constant battle with the fire demon Surtur. There Odin advises his son that Thor must lead the Asgardians.^[37]

Thor later rescues and heals ally Beta Ray Bill, who after being given Mjolnir aids Thor in a battle against an invading force of alien Skrulls.^[38] Thor also participates in the final battle against the Skrull forces, and is forced to sacrifice Avenger ally the Wasp. ^[39]

Shadow Cat

Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde was born in Deerfield, Illinois to Carmen and Theresa Pryde. Of Jewish descent, her paternal grandfather, Samuel Prydeman, was held in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Kitty started to have headaches at age thirteen, headaches which signaled the emergence of her mutant powers. She was approached by both the X-Men's Charles Xavier and the Hellfire Club's White Queen, Emma Frost, both of whom hoped to recruit her for their respective causes. Kitty was unnerved by Frost, observing that the White Queen had looked at her as if she were "something good to eat." She got along better with Xavier and the three X-Men who escorted him to his meeting with her and her parents, becoming fast friends with Ororo Munroe. Ororo told Kitty who she really was and about the X-Men, which made the teenager even more enthusiastic about attending Xavier's school.

Their conversation was cut short, however, when they (along with Wolverine and Colossus) were attacked by armored mercenaries in the employ of Frost and the Hellfire Club. The X-Men defeated their assailants, but were subdued by the White Queen's telepathic powers immediately after. In the confusion, Kitty had become separated from the X-Men and therefore was not captured along with them.^[4] She managed to contact Cyclops, Phoenix, and Nightcrawler.^[5] With the help of Dazzler and Pryde, those X-Men rescued their teammates and Xavier (who had also been captured) from the Hellfire Club.^[6]

The White Queen appeared to perish in the battle, which meant she was no longer competing with Xavier for the approval of Kitty's parents. Unfortunately, Kitty's parents hadn't heard from her in more than a day, because during that time she was first being pursued by the Hellfire Club's men and then working with the X-Men to save their friends. All they knew was that Kitty had left with Xavier's "students" to get a soda, there had been reports that the soda shop had been blown up, and that Kitty had been missing since. Understandably, they were angry at Xavier when he finally returned with Kitty in tow. At first, it seemed like there was no chance of Kitty being allowed to attend the school and join the X-Men. Phoenix then decided to use her considerable telepathic power to erase the memories of Kitty's parents and plant false ones, resulting in a complete shift in their attitude towards Xavier. Questions concerning the morality of tampering with minds in such a fashion aside, Kitty was then allowed to enroll at Xavier's school with her parents' blessing. She was the youngest person to join the X-Men up to that point.

Joining the X-Men

Shadowcat as member of Excalibur with Lockheed and Widget. Art by Alan Davis

Kitty joined the X-Men,^[7] and assumed the costumed identity of Sprite. ^[8] Early in her career as an X-Man, Kitty's adult self from an alternate future took possession of her body in the present to help X-Men thwart the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.^[9] Kitty then single-handedly defeated a N'Garai demon.^[10] Kitty also briefly attended the White Queen's Massachusetts Academy.^[11]

During her teen years, Kitty fostered a number of close relationships with others at the school and in the X-Men. She developed a crush on Colossus and became close friends with his little sister Illyana Rasputin. Initially uneasy around Nightcrawler and other mutants with physical deformities, Kitty finally overcame her fears and became close friends with him. Kitty also befriended Lockheed, a highly intelligent alien resembling a dragon,^[12] who followed her home after a mission in outer space.^[13] Lockheed is extremely loyal to Kitty, and the two of them share a psychic bond. Wolverine became something of a mentor to Kitty despite his usually gruff personality. Storm came to view Kitty as the daughter she never had.

Kitty was later assigned to the New Mutants,^[14] a team of younger mutants established in the absence of the X-Men while they were in outer space. Kitty convinced Professor Xavier to allow her to remain a full member of the X-Men on the basis of her high intelligence, maturity, and the fact that she was already a fully-trained member of the team. Kitty was later abducted by the Morlocks and nearly forced to wed Caliban.^[15] She was then abducted by the White Queen, but rescued by the New Mutants.^[16]

During this time, Kitty began to "date" Colossus, but this did not last long. Colossus developed feelings for an alien woman named Zsaji whom he met on the Beyonder's planet in the first Secret Wars. Colossus' feelings toward Zsaji were primarily a side effect of her own unique healing abilities, which she had used on him after he became injured. Regardless, Colossus' feelings were real and he returned to Earth consumed with grief after Zsaji's death. He admitted to Kitty that he loved Zsaji, which hurt her deeply and ended the budding romantic relationship.^[17] Kitty had made good friends with a local boy from Salem Central named Doug Ramsey around this time, but her feelings for him never went as deep as his for her, and they never actually dated, though they remained close, even more so after Doug's status as a mutant was revealed and he joined the New Mutants under the codename Cypher. They remained friends until his death some time later.

Excalibur

Kitty Pryde as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D

Among the others injured and brought to Muir Isle were Colossus and Nightcrawler, although Colossus left the United Kingdom shortly after being released from MacTaggert's care to join the rest of the X-Men on their mission to battle the Adversary. The X-Men sacrificed their lives to defeat the Adversary, and the battle was televised and broadcast across the world. The X-Men were resurrected later, unknown to the world at large, but chose to keep a low profile and perpetuate the belief that they were still dead. This strategy was enforced to more effectively fight their enemies. This meant avoiding contact with friends and family, including Kitty. Thinking the X-Men were dead, Kitty and Nightcrawler joined Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, and Meggan to form the Britain-based team Excalibur.^[21] For a brief time, Kitty studied at St. Searle's school for girls in Britain.^[22] During her time with Excalibur, Kitty developed a crush on Professor Alistaire Stuart which went unreciprocated since Alistaire was attracted to Rachel. Later, she was romantically involved with former Black Air agent Pete Wisdom, but they ended their relationship a short time before Excalibur disbanded.

After Excalibur's dissolution, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus return to the X-Men. While returning, they faced a group of imposters following Cerebro, in the guise of Professor X. While tracking Mystique, she stumbles onto prophetic diaries that belonged to Irene Adler, a precognitive. During the six-month gap, Kitty visited Genosha. Whatever she experienced there is unknown (although presumably connected to her father, living on Genosha at the time), but it had a profound effect on her. She cut her hair and began to act rebelliously, also using one of Wolverine's bone claws broken off during battle as a weapon. Kitty remained with the X-Men for a while before leaving after the apparent death of Colossus. Trying to give herself a normal life, she attended the University of Chicago. During this time, her father was killed when Cassandra Nova’s Sentinels destroyed Genosha. Kitty later finds a recording of his death due to exploring footage of the attack. She is also kidnapped by William Stryker, but the X-Treme X-Men team helped her escape and she assisted them on several missions.

The New Mutants

By the early 1980s, Uncanny X-Men (under the authorship of Chris Claremont) had become one of the comic book industry's most successful titles, prompting Marvel to launch The New Mutants, the first of several X-Men spin-offs.

The New Mutants were teenaged students of Professor Charles Xavier, much like the original X-Men, who had since grown into adulthood. These students, however, rather resembled the "All-New, All-Different X-Men" in terms of ethnic diversity. The original team consisted of:

• Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh), a 19 year-old Vietnamese girl and the team's original leader, who could mentally possess other people's bodies.

• Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie), a mild-mannered Kentuckian and eventual co-leader after Karma's "death", who became nigh-invulnerable when rocketing through the air.

• Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a Scot who could transform into a wolf-like creature.

• Psyche (Danielle Moonstar, also called Mirage and Moonstar), a Cheyenne and eventual co-leader after Karma's "death", who could create visual empathic three-dimensional illusions.

• Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), a Brazilian who gained superhuman strength fueled by sunlight and could store solar energy in his body to use his super strength during the night.

The team debuted in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (1982), which continued a plotline from Uncanny X-Men. The group was formed by Professor X when he was under the control of the menacing alien race the Brood. The youths were intended to be hosts for Brood embryos, but the X-Men returned and set matters straight. The five youngsters remained at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to learn to control their powers.

The series was originally written by Claremont and illustrated by McLeod, the team's co-creators, but McLeod soon passed artistic duties onto Sal Buscema. Claremont gave the series an oddly dark tone, which was heightened with the arrival of artist Bill Sienkiewicz. In addition to very serious depictions of teenage angst and growing pains, the series featured themes of mysticism and psychic boundaries. The New Mutants also encountered a secret society called the Hellfire Club, and began a rivalry with their young apprentices, the Hellions.

The New Mutants initially had a semi-antagonistic relationship with the youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, sparked by Professor X's decision to "demote" Kitty to the junior team after its establishment. Though Kitty ultimately proved herself to Xavier and remained an X-Man, she held a grudge against the New Mutants nonetheless, dubbing them "X-Babies"; the New Mutants, blameless in Xavier's decision and resenting Kitty's attitude, responded in kind. The animosity softened after the team attempted to rescue Kitty from the Hellfire Club's White Queen Emma Frost, and furthermore after Kitty's friends Illyana Rasputin and Doug Ramsey joined the team (see below).

The New Mutants (vol. 1) #11, featuring Magma. Art by Walt Simonson.

After the apparent death of Karma, Cannonball and Danii Moonstar were appointed co-leaders. New recruits included:

• Magma (Amara Aquila/Alison Crestmere), a fiercely-tempered native of a secret Roman society in the Amazon who could control lava.

• Magik (Illyana Rasputin), the sister of the Russian X-Man Colossus and long-time resident of the X-Mansion, an accomplished mystic who could open "teleportation discs" allowing travel to Limbo and from there any point on Earth.

• Warlock, an extraterrestrial of the techno-organic race known as the Technarchy.

• Cypher (Douglas Ramsey), a shy boy who could learn any language at an exponential pace.

In 1986, Professor X was written out of the series. Before he left he made the X-Men's one-time nemesis, Magneto, headmaster of his school. Not trusted by his students, Magneto struggled in his new role and eventually joined the Hellfire Club.

In 1987, the series was turned over to writer Louise Simonson and illustrator Bret Blevins. Simonson's run was controversial^{[citation needed]}, as Magma was written out of the book, Cypher was killed off, new characters Bird-Brain and Gosamyr were added to the team, and Magik was de-aged back to childhood. Simonson also folded the X-Terminators, a group of young wards from X-Factor, into the New Mutants.

The X-Terminators added to the team were:

• Rictor (Julio Richter), a young Mexican who could create shock waves.

• Rusty Collins, a pyrokinetic wanted by the U.S. Government.

• Skids (Sally Blevins), a former Morlock who could project a force field around her body.

• Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith), a teen runaway who could create “plasma bombs.”

In 1989, Simonson crafted a saga in which the team journeyed to Asgard, the home of the gods of Norse mythology. The storyline wrote Dani Moonstar out of the series, as she joined the Norse pantheon as one of the Valkyrie

The New Mutants (vol. 1) #100, featuring the debut of X-Force. Art by Rob Liefeld.

Sales of the series had slumped for several years, but took a sharp upturn after Rob Liefeld took over the penciling and co-plotting chores at the end of 1989.^{[citation needed]} A new mentor for the group, the mysterious mercenary Cable, was introduced, further helping sales. Over the next year, several longtime team members were written out or killed off. When Rob Liefeld, providing ploting and pencils, and Fabian Nicieza, who wrote dialogue based on Liefeld's plots, took over as writers of the final three issues of the series, they included several harder-edged characters:

• Domino, Cable's pale-skinned, black-garbed mercenary lover.

• Shatterstar, a swashbuckling warrior from another dimension.

• Warpath (James Proudstar), the younger brother of slain X-Man Thunderbird and a former Hellion, an Apache who possessed super strength and speed,

• Feral (Maria Callasantos), who possessed a bestial temperament and appearance.

The New Mutants was cancelled in 1991 with issue #100, but the new platoon-like team formed by Cable continued in X-Force, a successful series (whose first issue sold approximately one million copies)^{[citation needed]} that would continue until 2002, and feature a variety of the former New Mutants cast.