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| Harry Leland | |
|---|---|
 Harry Leland inThe Uncanny X-Men #132 Art byJohn Byrne | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Uncanny X-Men #132 (April 1980) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont John Byrne |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Harold Leland |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | Hellfire Club |
| Notable aliases | Black Bishop |
| Abilities | Able to increase mass |
Harry Leland, also known as theBlack Bishop, is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character has been depicted as an adversary of theX-Men.
Leland possesses themutant ability to increase the mass of an object or person, making it extremely heavy. Thanks to his allegiance toSebastian Shaw, he attained the rank of Black Bishop of the Lords Cardinal of the New York branch ofThe Hellfire Club, an exclusivesecret society bent on world domination. In civilian life, he was a corporate lawyer.
Created by writerChris Claremont and artist/co-writerJohn Byrne, Leland first appeared inTheUncanny X-Men #132 (April 1980).
Artist John Byrne based Leland's appearance on actor-directorOrson Welles, and the name refers to two characters in Welles' films: Harry Lime fromThe Third Man, and Jed Leland fromCitizen Kane.[1]
The character subsequently appears inThe Uncanny X-Men #132-135 (April–July 1980), #152 (Dec. 1981), and #208–209 (August–September 1986), in which he died. Leland made subsequent posthumous appearances inClassic X-Men #7 (March 1987),The Sensational She-Hulk #34–35 (Dec. 1991–Jan. 1992),Marvel Super-Heroes #11 (Oct. 1992),Generation X #-1 (July 1997),X-Men: Hellfire Club #4 (April 2000),X-Men Unlimited #6 (Feb. 2005), andHouse of M: Avengers#5 (2008).
Little is known of Leland's past before encountering the X-Men, although he did encounter former teammate,Emma Frost, before she was inducted into the Hellfire Club. At the time, Emma was homeless and using her powers during a Hellfire Club meeting to gain information about stocks. Leland takes an interest in her but comes on too strongly, and Emma runs away. Shortly after, he accompaniesSean Cassidy and his NYPD partner to an incident behind the club which involves Emma. Emma, having met and repaired the fractured mind of theDark Beast with her powers, mind-wipes all three men into forgetting the incident and that they had ever met.[2]
Leland encounters the X-Men when they invade the New York headquarters of the Hellfire Club. Leland causesWolverine to become increasingly heavy until he falls through the floor into a sub-basement. In the rematch, Wolverine attacks Leland from above. Leland panics and uses his mass-increasing powers, resulting in Wolverine crashing through the floor again, this time with Leland beneath him. Leland is hospitalized as a result.[3] When the Hellfire Club again captures the X-Men weeks later, Leland takes revenge by using his power on Wolverine until his heart gives out, though his rival's death proves to be a temporary state induced byAmanda Sefton.[4]
Alongside the Hellfire Club, Leland battles the X-Men in New York'sCentral Park. WhenNimrod attacks the assembled mutants, the X-Men and the Club join forces to battle Nimrod. Leland increases Nimrod's mass to make it more vulnerable to attack. Overweight and in poor health, the effort triggers a heart attack. AtStorm's urging, Leland increases the mass of Sebastian Shaw (who had been sent hurtling towards outer space), causing Shaw to crash into Nimrod. Leland succumbs to his heart condition and dies.[5]
The supervillainBlack Talon revives Leland's body as a zombie,[6] and sets him and other undead mutants (Changeling,Living Diamond, andScaleface) againstShe-Hulk. She defeats them, and Leland is reburied, with precautions are taken to ensure that he never will come back, among them filling his mouth with salt and sewing his lips together.[7]
Despite the precautions made to prevent Leland's body from coming back as a zombie, the psychic vampireSelene revives Leland with the use of a modified version of the Transmode virus during theNecrosha storyline.[volume & issue needed]
Leland is sent to Utopia withShinobi Shaw, who was revived by the same means, to kill Sebastian Shaw,Donald Pierce, Emma Frost,Magma and the X-Men.[volume & issue needed]
Under the X-Men 2019 reboot ofDawn of X andReign of X, Leland is resurrected to provide the new mutant island nation of Krakoa with an ambassador in the United Nations. It is also revealed that he is in fact Shinobi Shaw's biological father.[8]
Leland possesses the ability to increase the mass of an object or person within 350 feet (110 m) of him, without affecting its size at all, making it increasingly heavy. Though he can only increase mass up to roughly 20kilograms per second, there is seemingly no limit to the total mass he can add to a person or object. Leland's power can affect both people and inanimate objects, but active resistance by the subject makes it more difficult to assert Leland's power. Leland is overweight and in poor health, and thus he is a poor hand-to-hand combatant.
In an alternate universe depicted in "House of M", Harry Leland is the Commissioner of the NYPD.[9]
Harry Leland, among other members of the Hellfire Club, was originally planned to appear inDark Phoenix, but was ultimately cut from the film.[10]