Freedom Force is the name of two fictional teams appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics.
The original version first appeared inUncanny X-Men #199 (November 1985) and was created byChris Claremont andJohn Romita Jr.[1] Freedom Force was asupervillain team, though they occasionally acted in a heroic capacity as well. It was a government-sponsored team composed mainly ofMystique's version ofBrotherhood of Evil Mutants. They mostly interacted with theX-Men,X-Factor, andNew Mutants, but also repeatedly met theAvengers.
The second team first appeared inAvengers: The Initiative #12 (June 2007) and were created byDan Slott,Christos Gage, andSteve Uy. It was set up asMontana'sFifty State Initiative superteam.
| Freedom Force | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #199 (November 1985) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont (writer) John Romita, Jr. (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Various |
| Member(s) | Avalanche Blob Valerie Cooper (government liaison) Crimson Commando Destiny Mystique (leader) Pyro Spider-Woman Spiral Stonewall Super Sabre |
Whenmutant and human relationships worsen,Mystique decides that it has become too dangerous for theBrotherhood of Evil Mutants to continue their current path. She offers the group's services toValerie Cooper, a United StatesNational Security Advisor, in exchange for fullpardons. Cooper sees a great opportunity in Mystique's offer, but wants the team to prove their loyalty first by arresting the original group's founderMagneto. The team accepts, and is renamed "Freedom Force" withSpiral added to the team. They attack Magneto at a remembrance ceremony forthe Holocaust. Though they meet a decisive defeat at the hands of theX-Men, Magneto decides to surrender himself to Freedom Force.[2]
On their next mission,Spider-Woman is added to the team's line-up. When the Avengers are framed by their embittered former memberQuicksilver, the U.S. government sends Freedom Force to arrest the Avengers, which they do successfully. Disillusioned and disgusted by her team's actions, as well as her own in helping them, Spider-Woman infiltrates the prison where the Avengers are being held, and helps free them. She then leaves Freedom Force permanently. Another three members are added:Crimson Commando,Stonewall, andSuper Sabre, allWorld War II veterans who decided to take justice in their own hands and hunt down and execute criminals. When they targetedStorm, they were defeated and turned themselves in. It was thought that the former heroes could be redeemed and they were offered a position on Freedom Force.
Over the next few months, they are given many unpopular tasks, such as enforcing theMutant Registration Act, arresting the outlaw X-Men, and saving the people ofDallas from anattack by an evil god. Freedom Force clashes withX-Factor and theNew Mutants when they learn that Freedom Force is helping the U.S. government forcibly recruit young mutants and potential mutants for training and eventual government service.[3] Freedom Force also assists in apprehending the mutant terroristsResistants.[4]
Freedom Force also participates in other missions of a more general nature, including the rescue of SenatorRobert Kelly from a South American drug syndicate that had kidnapped during a diplomatic visit,[5] as well as helping to contain a jailbreak at theVault whenTruman Marsh was warden.[6]
The team begin to fall apart after the mutantForge asks them to protectMuir Island against theReavers. During this mission, Stonewall and Destiny are killed, and Avalanche is severely injured. The death of Destiny especially hits Mystique hard and the team fights theAvengers without her leadership. Shortly after the battle at Muir Island, Cooper is possessed by theShadow King and ordered to kill Mystique; Cooper resists the Shadow King's influence and seriously injures herself rather than commit murder. Mystique then assumes Val's identity, passing Cooper's injured body as her own corpse, and later aids the X-Men and X-Factor as a "mole" among the Shadow King's servants.
Without Mystique, the remaining Freedom Force members are sent on a disastrous mission inKuwait during the firstGulf War, in which Super Sabre is killed and Crimson Commando severely injured. To save Crimson Commando's life, Avalanche leaves Pyro and Blob stranded in enemy territory. Avalanche and Crimson Commando, now a cyborg, continue to work for the US government, apparently as covert operations agents. The team is soon replaced by the government teamX-Factor, also under Val Cooper's supervision.
| Freedom Force | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Avengers: The Initiative #12 (June 2007) |
| Created by | Dan Slott Christos N. Gage Steve Uy |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Montana |
| Member(s) | Challenger (leader) Cloud 9 Equinox Spinner Think Tank |
After thesuperhuman "Civil War", registered superheroes were teamed up and assigned to a state,Montana'sFifty State Initiative team is Freedom Force.
This Freedom Force team consists ofCloud 9, Think Tank,Equinox and Spinner, led by the Golden Age heroChallenger.[7]
During theSecret Invasion storyline, Equinox is revealed to be aSkrull infiltrator and is killed by Cloud 9.[8] Spinner dies soon after while trying to destroy a Skrull weapon system.[9]
During theDark Reign storyline, new Initiative leaderNorman Osborn orders Freedom Force to attack theHeavy Hitters after they secede from the Initiative. He feels he can trust the team to follow orders due both to Equinox's criminal past and to Challenger coming from a time where authority is to be respected and obeyed without question. They help the other Initiative teams to defeat and capture the Heavy Hitters' leader,Prodigy.[10]
During theSiege of Asgard,Steve Rogers reports that Challenger refused to take part in the attack onAsgard.[11]
During theFear Itself storyline, the Freedom Force members appear at a meeting held by Prodigy regarding magical hammers that have crashed into the Earth. Among them is also Spinner, who is inexplicably shown alive.[12]
Marvel Comics abandoned the Freedom Force trademark in the 1990s and it was eventually re-registered by computer game developerIrrational Games, which used it as the name of anunrelated team.
Anundead version of Freedom Force appears in theMarvel Zombies universe, consisting of Mystique, Pyro, and Avalanche.[13]
| Founders | |
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| Government Team | |
| X-Factor Investigations | |
| Serval | |
| Supporting | |
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