Solicitations[]
#1-12[]
EXCELSIOR #1 *Extra-size First Issue*
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Empire Of The Sun - DNA
'IN THE RED' Part 1 'ECONOMIC SUPERPOWERS'
•The Amaterasu Array: thousands of Hinomaru Corp. satelittes absorbing and converting solar energy into high frequency radio waves to beam to rectifying antennae on Earth which convert them into electricity. The Array's creator is Shiro Yoshida, also known as SUNFIRE, so he knows a thing or two about solar power. Shiro is openly a mutant, part businessman, part socialite, part Japanese national superhero, part environmental activist, and he intends to help change the way many humans view mutants.
•What the world doesn't know is that Sunfire is also Crimson King of the Outer Sphere: mutant royalty who leverage their political, financial, and genetic powers to make the world safer for mutants. And the world needs them now more than ever.
•When one of the Amaterasu earth stations temporarily went gone dark after an uusual energy surge in the solar transfer beam, there was no cause for concern.
•When a memo reassigned Hinomaru Corp.'s top mutant technopaths and technokinetics to that earth station, one or two eyebrows were raised. When a decent chunk of Japan's internet capacity began flowing through that earth station, no one realized since BLACK BOX, FRANCISCO MILAN, HIJAK, and PARADIGM were doing their new jobs. When the previously unknown corporation HEXUS is on the cusp of simultaneous hostile takeovers of Roxxon, Hinomaru, Da Costa International, Alchemax, Brand Corporation, Frost International, and even Stark Industries, the Outer Sphere turn their attention to the problem.
•While Crimson Knight M searches through petabytes of data, her twin and fellow Crimson Knight PENANCE dimensionally shifts from shell location to shell location in search of the Hexus nexus.
•And what corporate takeover is complete without a dinner party? With the heads or representatives of the compannies at stake invited to the roof deck of Madripoor's exclusive Sovereign Hotel, Sunfire and Teresa Cassidy, the Crimson Queen SIRYN, decide to face their adversaries directly. They didn't expect the entire hotel staff and many guests to be techno-organic monstrosities bent on either assimilating them or dismembering them!
•Hack faster, M. Hack faster!
Outer Sphere Profile
SUNFIRE
Name: Shiro Yoshida
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Crimson King), Hinomaru Corp. (C.E.O.)
Powers: •Atomic Flame
•Radiation Absorption
•Flight
•Survival in Space
Intelligence: •••
Strength: ••
Speed: ••••
Durability: •••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: ••••
48 PGs./Rated T+...$4.99
EˣCELSIOR #2
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
'IN THE RED' Part 2 'MARKET PENETRATION'
•The roof deck of Madripoor's exclusive Sovereign Hotel has become a war zone as Outer Sphere Crimson King SUNFIRE and Crimson Queen SIRYN face a techno-organic army composed of hotel staff and guests! Strangely, there are no Hexus Corp. representatives around despite it being their soirée. Luckily, when you have shady executives from shadier businesses like Roxxon, Da Costa International, Alchemax, Brand Corporation, Frost International, and Stark Industries, they bring their own special brand of protection.
•Mandroids! Life Model Decoys! Iron Man drones! Spider Slayers! Attack Flora! Henchmen wielding Kree Universal Beam pistols! Can Siryn channel the Celtic goddess Spéirbhean's healing power through her sonic scream and purge the techno-infection from its victims? She'll take her time, though. A few less hedge fund managers, chief financial officers, private equity brokers, and their ilk can only make the world a better place... and that's what the Outer Sphere is all about.
•Crimson Knight PENANCE phases along with twin and fellow Crimson Knight M into Amaterasu Earth Station X in Fukushima, Japan, the source of Hexus Corp.'s data trail. The congealed mass of technokinetic mutant-machine madness that confronts them is HEXUS, it isn't of this world, and it very much wants all on Earth to part of its business expansion!
Outer Sphere Profile
SIRYN
Name: Theresa Maeve Rourke Cassidy
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Crimson Queen)
Powers: •Sonic Scream
•Flight
•Spéirbhean Magic (Clairaudience, Healing Voice)
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: ••••
Durability: •••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EˣCELSIOR #3 *World War Zemo tie-in*
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Device - Penance
'IN THE RED' Part 3/Finale 'LIQUIDATION'
•Sentient extraterrestrial corporation HEXUS wants to take control of all Earth's wealth before expanding, sending its spores out through the same satellite array it entered. Hexus worked the usual hostile takeover angle in addition to assassination attempts on the competition, and its support and advocation of the ZEMO administration's policies through traditional and social media has reaped huge benefits so far.
•M and twin PENANCE have found the Hexus core: a techno-organic amalgam of several technopathic and technokinetic mutants at an Amaterasu Array earth station! Hexus believes the intruders won't try to physically separate BLACK BOX, FRANCISCO MILAN, HIJAK, and PARADIGM from the hivebody and hivemind but M's telepathic incisions and Penance's razor-sharp excisions soon free them.
•In orbit, SUNFIRE's solar plasma obliterates an infected Amaterasu Array satellite, cutting off any interstellar corporate escape. On Earth, SIRYN' healing song restores the absorbed mutants to healthy, wholly organic existence. The Crimson Court have prevailed.
•The rest happened quite organically. Rising dissent against Zemo's totalitarian rule, anti-mutant policies, and general evil turn the public against his administration and Hexus, and they're soon cancelled online! When stock prices plummets, a consortium of Frost Enterprises and Hinomaru Corp. buys 51% of Hexus. Unable to complete its life cycle and spawn off to another world, Hexus is firmly under the control of the Outer Sphere, and its mutant rhetoric will be very different from now on.
•Next issue: The Ebon Court tangles with the Nature Bros.!
Outer Sphere Profiles
PENANCE
Name: Yvette St. Croix
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Crimson Knight)
Powers: •Psionic Energy Absorption
•Invulnerability
•Claws
•Cloaking
•Dimensional Shifting
•Telepathic Resistance
Intelligence: •••
Strength: ••••
Speed: ••[•••••] *Teleportation
Durability: ••••••
Energy Projection: •••
Fighting Skills: ••••
M
Name: Monet St. Croix
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Crimson Knight)
Powers:•Enhanced Intelligence, Senses, Strength, & Durability
•Regenerative Healing Factor
•Flight
•Telepathy
Intelligence: •••••
Strength: •••••
Speed: ••••
Durability: •••••
Energy Projection: •••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EˣCELSIOR #4
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Troye Sivan - Bloom
“ORGANIC GROWTH”
•To celebrate their 125th anniversary, DESTINY suggests she and MYSTIQUE have a romantic getaway. Raven knows Irené too well, and anything the precognitive suggests has ulterior motives.
•Orbia, an African nation known for its oil exports and corruption, hasn't been renowned for its natural beauty or as a vacation spot since the early 20th century. Mystique and Destiny remember how it used to be amidst the present day squalor of the capital city's slums on one side and the extreme opulence of their hotel on the other. Just when Mystique began to believe this really was just a sentimental trip, the first explosion happened.
•The trio attacked the financial district with their unique mutant abilities. The ARMAGEDDON MAN rocked petroleum and forestry company offices with localized earthquakes. HUMUS SAPIEN unmade unnatural things like polymers, concrete, and alloys, fueling his powers by draining the life forces of fleeing executives. BROTHER NATURE raised a forest amidst the crumbling ruins, and summoned animals from near and far to reclaim their territory.
•Amidst the carnage, Mystique laughed and kissed Destiny. What a spectacular way to celebrate their quasquicentennial!
Outer Sphere Profile
DESTINY
Name: Irené Adler
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ebon Queen)
Powers: •Precognition
•Psychometry
Intelligence: ••••
Strength: ••
Speed: ••
Durability: ••
Energy Projection: ••
Fighting Skills: ••
MYSTIQUE
Name: Raven Darkhölme
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ebon Knight)
Powers: •Metamorph
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: ••
Durability: •••
Energy Projection: •
Fighting Skills: •••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EˣCELSIOR #5
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Sevendust - Decay
“DECOMPOSITION”
•After the ARMAGEDDON MAN, HUMUS SAPIEN, and BROTHER NATURE turned the African nation of Orbia's business district into a sprawling nature preserve, they still had to deal with the human population before restoring the entire country to a pristine state. Their solution: a viral hemorrhagic fever called Arcturus!
•As much as DESTINY and MYSTIQUE enjoy a bit of slaughter, they typically draw the line at genocide. And so came the Ebon King of the Outer Sphere to Orbia. BLACK TOM CASSIDY's connection to the Earth was strongest in Ireland but his mutant and druidic talents should stand up to the combined might of the trio Mystique mockingly nicknamed the NATURE BROS. For all their natural abilities, there's something decidedly unnatural influencing the Nature Bros, but can Black Tom sever the connection?
•The true masterminds of the Orbia assault aren't happy with this interference, and they take their jobs as caretakers very seriously. This Outer Sphere is very good. Next time, they'll have to be more careful.
•Back at Cassidy Keep, a forlorn AGATHA HARKNESS asks the Outer Sphere for help against a returning evil. Why aren't her own Agents dealing with it? The Bone Court won't like the answer.
Outer Sphere Profile
BLACK TOM CASSIDY
Name: Thomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ebon King)
Powers: •Concussive Blasts
•Florokinesis
•Cernunnos Magic (Geokinesis, Biokinesis, Zoopathy, Atmokinesis; Regenerative Healing Factor)
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: •••
Durability: •••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EˣCELSIOR #6
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Banshee - Legend Lost
'CÉT-CHATH CONTAE MHAIGH EO'
•As AGATHA HARKNESS predicted, they marched out of the sea and crawled out of the earth around Cassidy Keep. The FOMÓRAIGH, ancient mutants warped by chthonic energies, have awoken from millennia-long slumber intent on retaking Ireland!
•BANSHEE, king of the Bone Court, knows the ley lines converging on his ancestral home are too powerful to let fall into the hands of mythic monsters... but mutants have always been cast as villains. Even as he flies out to parlay with the Fomóraigh leader, Sean Cassidy feels Death's approach.
•What a time for ARCHANGEL to accept EMMA FROST's (DESTINY-suggested) offer to become the Outer Sphere's first Knight Errant!
Outer Sphere Profile
BANSHEE
Name: Sean Cassidy
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Bone King)
Powers: •Sonic Scream
•Flight
•Ben Síde Magic (Death Sense, Death Scream)
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: ••••
Durability: •••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: ••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EˣCELSIOR #7
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Siouxsie And The Banshees - Cities In Dust
“CATH DÉDENACH CONTAE MHAIGH EO”
•The Outer Sphere's duplicating multiple manpower, the JANISSARIES, weren't having much luck against the FOMÓRAIGH even before the invaders' leader opened his one eye and detonated one of Cassidy Keep's outer walls!
•Bone King BANSHEE flies overhead, reluctant to use his Death Scream on the misshapen mythic mutants, but soon he's joined aloft by another harbinger of doom: ARCHANGEL.
•Warren and Bone Queen EMMA FROST have devised a novel business opportunity for the Fomóraigh, one dependent on their acceptance and Bone Knight BLINK's spatial portals raising their sunken cities.
•AGATHA HARKNESS doesn't wait for the resolution. She senses a great disturbance in the magical forces centered in Westchester, New York!
Outer Sphere Profile
BLINK
Name: Clarice Ferguson
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Bone Knight)
Powers: •Spatial Teleportation
•Spatial-Shearing Molecular Disruption
Intelligence: •••
Strength: ••
Speed: ••[•••••] *Teleportation
Durability: ••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
EXCELSIOR #8
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Dropkick Murphys ft. Jaime Wyatt - Bring It Home
'FAUGH A BALLAGH'
•Despite considerable strain, BLINK has raised the main FOMOR city from its prison far beneath the North Atlantic. With their main seat of power restored, will BALOR formalize the treaty he verbally agreed to with the Outer Sphere on behalf of his people?
•It's amazing what a telepath can accomplish but what wonders could a time traveling telepath achieve? EMMA FROST has only just unlocked the Time Diamonds-given ability to speak with her past and future selves; pity LADY KWANNON made Emma return the Time Diamonds to Kwannon's twin island nation of Kaiwann. Emma's using it as best she can at short notice to telepathically scan Balor then negotiate and renegotiate the Fomor Accords to the benefit of herself... and the Outer Sphere, of course.
•Emma soon realizes she's not the only one tampering with time in these negotiations, and the other party's meddling threatens not only the Fomor-Outer Sphere Accords but all local space-time!
Outer Sphere Profile
EMMA FROST
Name: Emma Grace Frost
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Bone Queen)
Powers: •Telepathy
•Temporal Autotelepathy: Communicates with herself up to five minutes in the past or future.
•Diamond Form: Enhanced strength & durability; telepathic immunity
Intelligence: ••••
Strength: ••••
Speed: ••
Durability: •••••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #9
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
X-23 Wraparound Variant by FELIPE MASSAFERA
Theme Song: Matt Maeson - Cut Deep
'DARK OCEAN' Part 1/3 'UPRISING'
•Welcome to Kaiwann! When LADY KWANNON and the Ashen Court of the Outer Sphere escort the Time Diamonds back to their the North Asian home, they encounter protests against her rule. The largely peaceful marches and labour strikes began shortly after Kwannon left to finalize the Outer Sphere, demanding an end to the Kaiwannese monarchy despite Kwannon's position being largely ceremonial.
•Though Kwannon dismisses the protests as a minor annoyance based on imported Western values, Ashen King NIGHTCRAWLER believes there's something more at play. When Kurt runs afoul of the mutant Pan-Asianist secret society called GEN'YŌSHA, can he bamf himself out of danger or will Ashen Knight X-23 have to snikt him out?
Outer Sphere Profile
X-23
Name: Laura Logan
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ashen Knight)
Powers: •Regenerative Healing Factor
•Enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, and reflexes
•Hyper-keen senses
•Two retractable adamantium claws on each hand, and one retractable adamantium claw on each foot
Intelligence: ••
Strength: •••
Speed: ••
Durability: ••••
Energy Projection: •
Fighting Skills: ••••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #10
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Pegboard Nerds - BAMF
'DARK OCEAN' Part 2/3 'FAITH'
•Despite being King of the Outer Sphere's Ashen Court, NIGHTCRAWLER doesn't want praise, much less worship, but he wishes he could get some from the mutant Pan-Asianist secret society holding him at gunpoint. The GEN'YŌSHA want to depose LADY KWANNON as Kaiwann's regent but the anti-monarchial movement is spreading much too slowly for their tastes. They've had to spread something else to help it along.
•W16, a weaponized strain of homopathogenic fungus C. militaris, can be tweaked to induce specific behaviours in humans. In this case, Gen'yōsha's W16 incites revolution against rulers, eventually resulting in regicide and the deaths of those infected. Pity Kurt's just been outed as king of something.
•Antimonarchist bullets, mutant blasts, brimstone bamfs, and adamantium snikts fly as Ashen Knight X-23 provides a distraction but can they warn Kwannon in time to save her and the thousands becoming increasingly violent and sick?
•And did we mention Gen'yōsha's mutant ninjas? One must never forget mutant ninjas.
Outer Sphere Profile
NIGHTCRAWLER
Name: Kurt Wagner
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ashen King)
Powers: •Teleportation
•Prehensile tail
•Shadow cloaking
•Wallcrawling
•Peak human agility and reflexes
Intelligence: ••
Strength: ••
Speed: ••[•••••] *Teleportation
Durability: ••
Energy Projection: ••
Fighting Skills: ••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #11
Plot by NX01A
Written by BRANDON THOMAS
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Crepa - Psylocke Theme Remix
'DARK OCEAN' Part 3/Finale 'VENUS BUTTERFLY'
•While NIGHTCRAWLER and X-23 battle mutant ninjas loyal to the anti-monarchial GEN'YŌSHA secret society, LADY KWANNON discovers the true instigator of the revolt against her ceremonial rule of Kaiwann.
•Model, psychic, spy... CAPTAIN ELIZABETH BRADDOCK has championed Britain's interests across the glove, including her latest destabilization assignment in Kaiwann. From mentally manipulating the Gen'yōsha Elders to providing a weaponized strain of the psychogenic fungus C. militaris designed to instill hatred for royalty, Betsy thought she'd achieve a largely bloodless coup and leave Kaiwann open to Britain's neo-imperial designs. And she could have gotten away with it, too, if Kwannon hadn't returned home earlier than Betsy's precognitive dreams foretold. Interference from the Time Diamonds, no doubt.
•Sensing that the MI13 agent's telepathy is amplifying the fungal agent's bewitchment of the Kaiwannese, Kwannon must kill Betsy but it won't be easy. Braddock is a Captain of Britain, wearing and enhanced by armour fueled by otherworldly magic. Will Kwannon's own telepathy and mystic Mandarings triumph over the symbol of Britannic empire?
•Next issue: The Outer Sphere enters The Mutant War®!
Outer Sphere Profile
LADY KWANNON (former Lady Mandarin)
Name: Kwannon Kochou
Affiliation: Kaiwann (Ceremonial head of state); Outer Sphere (Ashen Queen)
Powers: •Telepathy
•Psychic Knife: Cuts psychically, allows deep telepathic manipulation of those struck
•Shurayuki: Psychokinetic katana able to cut through most matter
•Mandarings
-Ring Imperial: Causes intense and increasing pain the longer targets refuse to do as she commands
-Bloodgem Ring: Enhanced strength & durability
-Ring of Zona: Cloaking
-Ring of the Nebulas: Amplifies technology, sometimes dangerously
-Sling Ring: Teleportation disks
-Werewolf Ring: Turns the wearer into a werewolf; triggers other lycanthropes to change into or out of their lupine forms
-Ring of the Black Shadow: Casts others into an endless ebon void filled with their nightmares made manifest; teleportation through shadows and this realm
-Serpent Ring: Summons spectral snakes
-Ring of the Abstract: Wearer understands all writing and spoken language
-Ring of Raggadorr: Prismatic energies restrain and crush targets
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: ••[••••• Teleportation]
Durability: ••••
Energy Projection: ••••••
Fighting Skills: ••••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #12 *Double-Size 1st Anniversary Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Anne-Marie x Aitch - Psycho
'BATTLEFRONT: MICRONESIA' Part 1 'ERRANT'
•Welcome new writer PETER DAVID!
•Comatose PROFESSOR X's telepathic distress call has gone out to his allies across the planet: Protect CYCLOPS & PHOENIX! While the Courts of the Outer Sphere break from plotting how best to intervene, Ebon Queen DESTINY quietly recruits Crimson Knight M and Knight Errant ARCHANGEL for what she describes as a mission of utmost importance and utter secrecy.
•In the blink of a teleportation rift, Warren and Monet arrive on Aguiguan, an uninhabited Pacific island on which Destiny's visions revealed a cloaked entrance to the Microverse. What Destiny didn't reveal was who dwelled within.
•Welcome to the Den of the PSYCHO-MEN! The CONTROLLER, PROFESSOR POWER, PSYCHO-MAN himself, and a regenerating PSI-BORG (thought killed by Professor X in Uncanny ⨂-Men #59) welcome M and Archangel with all the psychic and physical firepower they have, including a strange mutant telepath. M deduces that the bioware attached to the young woman's body allows the fearsome foursome to control her, so, against Archangel's loud protests, M proceeds to grab and rip it off. What happens when M touches ROGUE, however, is most unexpected and unforeseen... by all except Destiny, of course.
Outer Sphere Profile
ROGUE
Name: Anna Marie Darkhölme
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Knight Errant)
Powers: •Tactile Memory/Personality/Power/Life Force Absorption
•Psionic Shields: Even the most powerful telepaths have great difficulty reading her thoughts.
{Permanently Absorbed Powers: •Enhanced Intelligence, Senses, Strength, Durability - M
•Flight - M
•Regenerative Healing Factor - Mystique
•7th Sense - Destiny: Random premonitions of danger.}
Intelligence: ••••
Strength: •••••
Speed: ••••
Durability: •••••
Energy Projection: ••
Fighting Skills: ••••
64 PGs./Rated T+...$5.99
#13-24[]
E⨂CELSIOR #13 *Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Darklight - The Last Archangel
'BATTLEFRONT: MICRONESIA' Part 2 'B̑͊ͬͮ̇E̻̟̤̓ ̪̣̝͙̈͒̐͛Ṉ̪̦̪̲̊̍O̗̲̝͔̔̀̏ͮ̾T͎ ͈Aͤ̈́̅F̥̠̥ͭ̿͊ͦ̌R͋À̲̓̋̚Ĭ̻̣̺̂̽D́'
•In the Den of the PSYCHO-MEN, ARCHANGEL defends unconscious M and ROGUE against the CONTROLLER, PROFESSOR POWER, PSYCHO-MAN, and PSI-BORG! Since Warren literally shed his techno-organic murder drone personality, he's back to feathery wings plus an unexpected evolution of his natural mutant powers. As the Psycho-Men feel their life forces leave their bodies, they fight back physically and psychically against an angel who has been through several baptisms of fire, an angel who can go toe to toe and mind to mind with them. Will the Psycho-Men survive the rapture?
•With her plan to have her adopted daughter Rogue permanently absorb M's versatile abilities complete, Outer Sphere Ebon Queen DESTINY turns her extraordinary prescience to the ongoing mutant war. Her vision fails beyond her next possible move: the exceedingly dangerous task of directing the rage of MAGNETO and the instability of the SCARLET WITCH at APOCALYPSE's Russia! En Sabah Nur's sights are set on CYCLOPS & PHOENIX's unborn child, and his HORSEMEN will try taking out the X-Men's most powerful allies first: the Outer Sphere! In saving her own skin and MYSTIQUE's, Destiny hopes to save the present from the dark future she sees burning just beyond the horizon.
•While Destiny makes her plans secretly, the other Courts make their plans openly. A strike team consisting of BANSHEE, LADY KWANNON, NIGHTCRAWLER, and X-23 will escort Cyclops & Phoenix to Cassidy Keep where the combined Outer Sphere will protect them. A good plan but a temporal blind spot may keep Destiny from seeing what lies between the strike team and their targets.
Outer Sphere Profile
ARCHANGEL
Name: Warren Worthington III
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Knight Errant)
Powers: •Winged Flight: Feathered wings with a 16 feet wingspan allow flight at 200 mph (322 kph) at altitudes up to 40,000 feet (12.2 km) above sea level.
•Enhanced Strength, Speed, Durability, Stamina
•Life Factor: Heals himself and nearby targets; resurrects the recently deceased.
•Death Factor: Weakens nearby targets with variable severity. Normal humans can be incapacitated or killed within seconds.
•Hypnotic Charm: Exerts subtle influence over sentient minds, compelling them to believe what he says and agree with his suggestions.
•Self-Sustenance: No need to breathe or eat.
•Psionic Resistance: Highly honed anti-telepathic defenses.
Intelligence: •••
Strength: •••
Speed: •••
Durability: ••••
Energy Projection: ••••
Fighting Skills: ••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #14 *Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Sting - Russians
'BATTLEFRONT: АРХАНГЕЛЬСК' Part 3 'СЪ НАМИ БОГЪ'
•Outer Sphere Ebon Queen DESTINY promised MAGNETO a chance to free his children, POLARIS and QUICKSILVER, from APOCALYPSE's control. What Destiny didn't say was that this chance in the Russian port city of Arkangelsk would pit Magneto's BROTHERHOOD against EN SABAH NUR and all four CELESTIAL-enhanced HORSEMEN!
•SABRETOOTH's healing factor is pushed to the limit by QUICKSILVER's plagues even as the speedster flays skin from bone with every hypersonic touch. Can the brilliantly perverse mind of BEAST and the unstable psionic mind of TYPHOID MARY cure this PESTILENCE before Sabretooth goes extinct?
•As the COLOSSUS of WAR flexes on the mutant-Eternal hybrid AXE (Last seen during Deviants vs X-Men!), the SCARLET WITCH tries to undo cosmic chains binding POLARIS/DEATH and HAVOK/FAMINE to Apocalypse's will with her most powerful and dangerous hex bolts!
•Apocalypse himself faces Magneto in what turns out to be more chess than epic mutant brawl. En Sabah Nur wants something from Eric, something the immortal lost long ago on the spot where X-Isle now lies, and he's willing to trade Erik's children to get it back.
Mutant Profile
SCARLET WITCH
Name: Wanda Lehnsherr
Affiliation: The Brotherhood
Powers: •Hex Bolts: Sub-molecular quantum disturbances alter probabilities to manifest unlikely events, whether random or specific.
•Psionic Resistance: Highly honed anti-telepathic defenses.
Intelligence: •••
Strength: ••
Speed: ••[••••• Teleportation]
Durability: ••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: •••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #15 *Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Metallica - Creeping Death
'BATTLEFRONT: CASSIDY KEEP' Part 4 'HOLOCAUST'
•MAGNETO and APOCALYPSE have reached a deal. In exchange for access to whatever lies beneath X-Isle, En Sabah Nur will free Erik's children and the other HORSEMEN.
•DESTINY's plan to divert Apocalypse's rage away from her and Mystique (and the Outer Sphere, of course) worked but she didn't count on his twin brother filling the void. Cassidy Keep's considerable psionic, electromagnetic, and magic shields fall to the SPHINX!
•While Crimson King SUNFIRE faces the nuclear flames of HOLOCAUST, Bone Queen EMMA FROST and Crimson Knight PENANCE spar with the bloodthirsty POGG UR-POGG!
•Ebon Queen Destiny and Ebon Knight Mystique try to force Bone Knight BLINK to spatially teleport them to safety but the massive fists of the giant LIVING MONOLITH collapse the eastern wing of Cassidy Keep around them!
•Crimson Queen SIRYN and Ebon King BLACK TOM channel their Gaelic gods and mutant powers against the Ka Stone and mutant powers of the Sphinx coupled with the Scepter of Ka and millennia of magic possessed by his immortal love, CARTOUCHE!
•If the group sent to retrieve CYCLOPS & PHOENIX succeed, will there be a safe haven to return to?
Mutant Profile
THE NA'ARN
SPHINX (Anath-Na Mut)
Powers: Elemental Manipulation (Mutant command over earth, wind, fire, and water); Ka Stone (Immortality, Invulnerability, and Limited Reality Warping)
Intelligence: 6 | Strength: 6 | Speed: 6/7 (Teleportation) | Durability: 6 | Energy Projection: 6 | Fighting Skills: 6
CARTOUCHE (Meryet Karim)
Powers: Serial Reincarnation; Sceptre of Ka (Energy Blasts, Force Fields, Size Alteration, Teleportation)
Intelligence: 2 | Strength: 2/5 (Size Increase) | Speed: 2/7 (Teleportation) | Durability: 4 | Energy Projection: 5 | Fighting Skills: 4
HOLOCAUST (?)
Powers: Life-Force Absorption; Bio-Energy Body; Plasma Blasts; Crystalline Armour
Intelligence: 2 | Strength: 4 | Speed: 3 | Durability: 5 | Energy Projection: 5 | Fighting Skills: 4
LIVING MONOLITH (Ahmet Abdol)
Powers: Cosmic Radiation Absorption; Size Alteration (Increase); Enhanced Strength & Durability; Force Blasts
Intelligence: 2 | Strength: 5 | Speed: 3 | Durability: 5 | Energy Projection: 3 | Fighting Skills: 3
POGG UR-POGG (Pogg Ur-Pogg)
Powers: Crystalline Crocodilian Bio-Armour, Mystic Sword also called Pogg Ur-Pogg
Intelligence: 2 | Strength: 5 | Speed: 3 | Durability: 6 | Energy Projection: 1 | Fighting Skills: 6
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #16 *Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Ava Max - Weapons
'BATTLEFRONT: CASSIDY KEEP' Part 5 'REINFORCEMENTS'
•Amidst the desolation that once was Cassidy Keep, Bone King BANSHEE and Ashen Queen LADY KWANNON face the still-standing enemies who shattered the OUTER SPHERE. The battle cost them dearly and they look worse for wear but they will capture CYCLOPS & PHOENIX's unborn child! Perhaps the arrival of Knight Errant ARCHANGEL, Crimson Knight M, and ROGUE will tip the scales.
•Rogue flexes the powers she inadvertently and permanently copied from M as she punches the LIVING MONOLITH into the Atlantic! HOLOCAUST's life-force absorption is no match for Archangel's death factor and M's supersonic blows! And the SPHINX's Ka Stone, already running dangerously low on power after battling Gaelic god-empowered Crimson Queen SIRYN and Ebon King BLACK TOM, is no match for Banshee's similarly enhanced death wail and the might of Kwannon's enigmatc ten rings! Will the Sphinx teleport his Na'arn forces away with the last of his power or risk his immortality in one last grab at Phoenix?
•Meanwhile in Alaska... Ebon Knight NIGHTCRAWLER and Ashen Knight X-23 battle alongside WOLVERINE and STORM against the last of the MARAUDERS! Without Phoenix's telepathic shields, SINISTRA, MIMIC, and SAURON might have mentally melted them but something else is protecting their minds.
•A space-time rift soon deposits the source: as a redheaded woman burns Sauron with psychic flame, and a brown and white-haired man blasts Mimic with a handheld particle canon before stabbing Sinistra in the brain with a psi-sword! ASKANI and CABLE, barely out of their teens but loaded for broke, wanted to arrive five minutes earlier to stop Scott and Jean from going to Cassidy Keep but taking out a Chilean post-human breeding program took longer than expected.
•And the cold intelligence which has tracked Scott and Jean for the past weeks finds two other appealing targets.
•Continued in UNCANNY X-MEN #65!
Mutant Profile
Name: CABLE (?)
Powers: Technopathy & Technokinesis; Advanced Weaponry (Psimitar, techno-organic arm, bodyslide space/time transporter, force fields, innumerable guns and explosives); Telepathic Bond with Askani.
Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 2/7 (Teleportation) | Durability: 3 | Energy Projection: 4 | Fighting Skills: 5
Name: ASKANI (?)
Powers: Pyrokinesis; Flight; Chrono-Skimming (Scans space/time); Chrono-Shielding (Protects herself and others against temporal changes); Telepathic Bond with Cable.
Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 4 | Durability: 2 | Energy Projection: 5 | Fighting Skills: 4
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #17 *Mutant War Tie-In!*
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Melissa Etheridge - Ruins
'BATTLEFRONT: CASSIDY KEEP' Part 6 'MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION'
•After the SPHINX teleported his Na'arn forces away with the last of his power, Bone King BANSHEE and Ashen Queen LADY KWANNON quickly assess how badly the OUTER SPHERE has been decimated.
•Cassidy Keep is in ruins. Crimson Queen SIRYN and Ebon King BLACK TOM have ascended to recover from the Ka Stone's deicidic assault in the realms of their respective patron gods, Spéirbhean and Cernunnos. Bone Knight BLINK is found barely alive under the east wing's rubble while Ebon Queen DESTINY and Ebon Knight MYSTIQUE are nowhere to be found. Crimson King SUNFIRE's radiation burns HOLOCAUST's nuclear flames are severe, while Bone Queen EMMA FROST and Crimson Knight PENANCE have cracks throughout their diamond and ruby bodies.
•ROGUE touches and surprisingly non-lethally copies Knight Errant ARCHANGEL's life factor, letting them both heal the wounded.
•The psychic cries for help ringing in CYCLOPS and PHOENIX's minds come from thousands of miles away and within Jean. The baby needs help. No, the babies need help! Jean's having twins! Unfortunately, the twins' future selves are about to be murdered by avatars of a coming machine dominion bent on eradicating mutants as part of their takeover of Earth!
•Leaving the wounded to be healed by Archangel and Rogue, Kwannon teleports Cyclops, Phoenix, Banshee, and Crimson Knight M back to Alaska for the final confrontation with an inescapable fate!
•To be concluded in UNCANNY X-MEN #66!
Outer Sphere Profile
<<OUTER SPHERE UNDER RECONSTRUCTION>>
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #18
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Ava Max - Kings & Queens
“PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MÊME CHOSE”
•Cassidy Keep is in such ruin after the SPHINX's assault that even its magical leprechauns have trouble beginning the rebuilding. The OUTER SPHERE is in much the same position with several members gravely wounded, but is now the time for a mutant quartet to arrive bearing gifts?
•MAGNETO, the SCARLET WITCH, POLARIS, and QUICKSILVER offer X-Isle as the Outer Sphere's new home in exchange for control of one of its Courts. Can EMMA FROST, BANSHEE, ARCHANGEL, and a greatly weakened LADY KWANNON afford to turn down their offer?
•ROGUE is quick to bring her lover to her side but what role will the charming GAMBIT play in the upper echelons of mutantdom? Better hide the silver.
•PENANCE frets as M's mood swings continue after Rogue accidentally duplicated her powers. In addition to getting most of M's abilities, Rogue also got control over her memory and life-absorbing touch. In the midst of her mania, M starts screaming for her brother. Much to Penance's shock, M doesn't mean their marrow-sucking older brother EMPLATE!
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #19
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: Duran Duran - Electric Barbarella
“KWANNON AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS” Part 1/2 'REVANCHE'
•Pskov, Apocalypse's Russia... With her Ten Rings destroyed in battle against the godlike SPHINX, LADY KWANNON barely survived the Mutant War. She should be in bed recovering but the Outer Sphere is at its weakest, so many of its members decimated in the genetic conflict, and MAGNETO and his House of M demanding a place among them. She tells herself she must pull her weight. Kwannon's natural beta level telepathy and high level ninja skill get her into APOCALYPSE's Russia seemingly undetected, then within the walls of the medieval Pskov Krom citadel.
•She once wielded the Ten Rings of Kaiwann but Kaiwannese legends point to other sets of rings scattered across the planet. Before she can see if the legends are true, myth meets machine.
•After her own disastrous encounter with Lady Kwannon, CAPTAIN ELIZABETH BRADDOCK'S critically injured body was salvaged, and her alpha level telepathic brain and nervous system transplanted into a Synthezoid shell. Even coupled with the Captain Britain wards lingering on her consciousness, this new armoured body wouldn't have stood a chance against Kwannon's Ten Rings. Kwannon doesn't have the Ten Rings anymore, and PSILOK wants more than just Kwannon's fingers.
Outer Sphere Profile
PSILOK
Name: Captain Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock
Affiliation: MI13, Captain Britain Corps
Powers: •Telepathy: Alpha Level mental manipulation.
•Synthezoid Physiology: Superhuman Strength, Durability, Stamina, Speed, Reflexes, Senses.
-Psyber-Optic Fibres: Extendable optic bio-filaments reach into computers or brains and, coupled with her telepathy, reprogram them.
-Battle Precognition: Predictive algorithms account for numerous variables before and during a physical or intellectual fight.
-Wrist-Mounted Ruby Lasers.
Intelligence: ••••[•• *Battle Precognition]
Strength: •••••
Speed: •••
Durability: •••••
Energy Projection: •••••
Fighting Skills: ••••[•• *Battle Precognition]
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99
E⨂CELSIOR #20
Plot by NX01A
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by JESÚS SAÍZ
Theme Song: The Vapors - Turning Japanese
'KWANNON AND THE LEGEND OF THE ⨂-RINGS' Part 2/Finale 'GODDESSES OF MERCY'
•Pskov, Apocalypse's Russia... LADY KWANNON, already injured during the Mutant War, is no match for the mental and metallic might of PSILOK! As CAPTAIN ELIZABETH BRADDOCK's new Synthezoid body threatens to bring down the medieval Pskov Krom citadel around them, Kwannon desperately needs a miracle. Who usually brings about a miracle?
•Feathers fly as ARCHANGEL crashes through a stained glass window to engage Psilok while Kwannon completes an ancient Kaiwannese riddle and gets her hands (fingers, really) on another set of ten rings! It's Round 3, and the fists of fury are flying!
•X-Isle, 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W... MAGNETO promised a new headquarters for the Outer Sphere but none expected the X-CATHEDRAL! Raised by the combined power of Magneto, his children, and X-Isle's resident demon-mutant hybrids, the edifice hums with profane power. What better place to worship Earth's new gods?
Outer Sphere Profile
LADY KWANNON (former Lady Mandarin)
Name: Kanon Kochou
Affiliation: Outer Sphere (Ashen Queen), Kaiwann (Ceremonial Head of State)
Powers: •Telepathy: Beta Level mental manipulation enhanced to Alpha Level.
•Psi-Sais & Psi-Stars: Melee or ranged psionic weapons able to damage both matter and minds.
•Shurayuki: Arcane katana sharp enough to cut through magic and magical beings.
•⨂-Rings
-ᚻᚱᛁᚾᚷᛁᚳᚻᚪᛏᛏᚫ (I Am Called Ring) [Limited wish fulfillment/reality manipulation with results usually twisted by Ring's mischievous personality.]
-Draupnir [Enhances wearer's powers and talents.]
-Ring of Gyges [Invisibility; Hypnotic Charm.]
-Ruler's Ring [Subjects must follow orders or feel increasingly lethal pain.]
-Seal of Solomon [Summons and commands demons from various Hell Realms; communication with animals.]
-Thráin's Bane [Enhanced strength, durability, regeneration, and stamina.]
-Vilya [Intangibility, Flight via butterfly-like energy wings.]
-Nenya [Force Field Generation.]
-Narya [Magic Resistance.]
-Ring of Mind Shielding [Impenetrable Psyche.]
Intelligence: ••••
Strength: ••••
Speed: ••••[•••] *Teleportation
Durability: ••••
Energy Projection: ••••••
Fighting Skills: ••••••
32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99