With Friends... Or Liberation Fronts... Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

I'm sure some of you reading this blog took people into your social circles at various points of your life that... weren't exactly the best of people.  That's not to say they were bad influences, or terrible people, but they certainly didn't assist your personal standings, any.  Maybe it was because you were kind-hearted, and wanted to assist someone that felt like they were in need.  Or it could be the suspect case I have for today's topic, which is you associate yourself with general losers in life because they're easy to order around, and they flock to you like grossly overweight people in scooters do to the Pop-Tart section of Wal-Mart.  (SERIOUSLY!  Just check that section of the cereal aisle next time you're there, and see what I mean!)

Stryfe showed up the same time Cable did in "New Mutants #87".  He emerged into the world as the brain child of Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld.  ... And don't even dare imagine that coupling, you dirty bird!  His look was INSANELY early 90's, all pointy armor and such, but he helped usher in the new era of threats for the next generation of mutants.  It's also no coincidence that he showed up exactly the same time as did Nathan Summers; they did share a legit kinship!

When Nate was infected by a techno-organic virus as a baby, Cyclops and Jean Grey surrendered him to a time-traveler name Askani to help him find a cure.  The religious order DID eventually find a cure for Nate, but still leaving traces of techno-organics in his system.  (Hence the metal arm and all...)  But as we all do when we create a piece of software... or blog... we want a personal copy in case the original goes bottom-up.  Nate was cloned into an all-human copy, and that all-human copy was kidnapped by Apocalypse, who raised the child with intent to eventually take over his body.  Clones, however, make bad choices for host bodies, and thus rejected, Stryfe gets a REAL mad-on for his "family" lineage.  And in the process, becomes a megalomaniacal would-be conqueror.  And he DOESN'T do too shabby of the job in the future, until Cable raises a resistance against Stryfe's armies.  But it's in the past that Stryfe has some... er... difficulties with creating a realistically threatening group of followers.  Maybe he just sucked at selecting participants, but I present to you the Mutant Liberation Front.

Some of the members were also introduced in the same issue of "New Mutants #87", as this splash will illustrate, and with each picture, I'll give you a tour of just who these desperate hangers-on were:

• Wildside: The guy with Wolverine's haircut, and the massive red cape.  He'll be showing up in another FFF entry in a few weeks, but the gist of him is... eh... he has savagery powers.  Hell, I don't think he did anything more in his appearances that just hack and slash at people.
• Fourarm:  Can you believe HE was part of the initial press of "X-Force" action figures?  HIM?!?  Sigh... Anyways, the dude with four arms is obviously our namesake.
• Reaper: Kind of a dull riff on Gambit, who can charge energy through the scythe he carries.  And he also possesses a ridiculous head of hair.
• Strobe: Who doesn't love redheads?  She's bringing up the rear in this group shot, and her power is projection of a heat aura which can be used to melt incoming objects or project heat beams, or even be used for personal flight.
• Thumbelina:  I guess even Stryfe cared about short "big" women that weren't glamorous enough for regular teams.  So, her power is to ape the Atom or Shrinking Violet... and shrink.  Hello human Shrinkidink!

 

• Dragoness: Green slinky bodysuit, possessing dragon wings and a stylized Cyclops visor.  Snazzy!
• Kamikaze: He was just "there" for most of his appearances, but according to what I just read, he can "excite the molecules of anything he touches".  ... Take that description wherever you want...
• Rusty: WHA?!?  You may be wondering why such regulars to X-Factor and New Mutants like Rusty and Skids... and who chooses the mutant codename of "SKIDS"... are part of a terrorist team.  Well, when the MLF were introduced in their first New Mutants issue, they were directed to rescue Rusty and Skids from jail, so they could be brainwashed and added to the ranks.  Rusty's power was to manipulate fire... which I'm sure drove Pyro insane with cries of gimmick infringement.
• Zero: Zero is actually an anomaly of the team, in that it is actually not a mutant AT ALL!  Nope, it's an android that has the ability to serve as a group teleporter by opening up rifts in reality.

So what exactly did the MLF really achieve in their greater "career"?  Well... They did manage to make a few successful strike runs for Stryfe for various targets.  (None so terribly huge.)  They also did take a major part in the "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover.  I seem to recall a good cross section of the team DIED in that crossover, along with the "Cable: Blood and Metal" two-parter.  After Stryfe was defeated at the end of "X-Cutioner's Song", a HUGE no-namer named Reignfyre led the team, and also picked up two former members of the New Mutants and X-Force: the former being Moonstar and the latter being Feral.  And I remember no more of that iterations' adventures up until a VERY limited span version showed up in the second regular "Punisher" series, led by... ironically enough... the character X-Cutioner, who HUNTED MUTANTS.  ... Real smart move, guys.

But while Stryfe had such lofty beginnings, I do believe time travel did lead to some lost mojo, and it resulted in a group that... let's face it... even Magneto at his most WICKED would say, "Sorry, but Toad was more effective than the entire lot of you".  But for the 90's, Stryfe's motley group of super-powered schmucks did achieve SOME moments of fame, due to being involved with superstar creators, and mega crossover events.  Not too bad for the guys the underdogs considered beneath them!