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| Joanna Cargill | |
|---|---|
 Frenzy/ Art byHumberto Ramos. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Factor #4 (May 1986) |
| Created by | Bob Layton (writer) Keith Pollard (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Joanna Cargill |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | Acolytes Genoshan Assault X-Men Alliance of Evil Femizons X-Men Jean Grey School X-Factor |
| Notable aliases | Frenzy |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength and durability |
Joanna Cargill, also known asFrenzy, is a fictional character, amutantsuperhuman appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Frenzy first appeared inX-Factor #4 (May 1986) and was created byBob Layton andKeith Pollard. Frenzy is a mutant with the ability of superhuman strength and durability.
Frenzy was initially a member ofsupervillain groups, including theAlliance of Evil and theAcolytes, later becoming asuperhero, joining theX-Men andX-Factor.
Frenzy first appeared inX-Factor #4 (May 1986) as a member of theAlliance of Evil, and was created byBob Layton andKeith Pollard.[1]
Though Joanna Cargill's first and last name have been spelled with variations such as Johanna or Cargil, her name was first mentioned inTheUncanny X-Men #298 as Joanna Cargill. Frenzy should not be confused with another Joanna Cargill, a columnist introduced inMarvel Comics Presents #27.
During a March 2, 2011 Marvel Comics Liveblog, it was revealed that Frenzy was joiningX-Men: Legacy in 2011 as a member of Rogue's team of X-Men, alongside Professor X, Magneto, Legion, and Gambit.[2]
Frenzy was a featured character in the 2024 4-issue limited seriesDead X-Men.[3]
In theFrom the Ashes reboot, Frenzy appeared as a member of the newX-Factor inX-Factor (Vol. 5).[4]
The woman who would one day become the super-powered mutant, Frenzy, began her life as a battered child in an abusive household. Her father, an officer in the Armed Forces, despised her from birth not only because of her gender - he instead doted on his son in whom, according to Cargill, he saw a continuation of the family legacy as soldiers. Additionally, Joanna was born prematurely, and was a sickly, frail child, greatly increasing the financial burdens on the family. Her mother, meanwhile, was thoroughly cowed by her husband's abuse, and did nothing to stop the beatings he would constantly inflict on his daughter for even seemingly minor infractions. One day, not long after his son was killed in action, he took his rage out on his daughter for the death of his son, seemingly wanting to beat her to death. Either her rage or her fear awakened her mutant powers as he beat her savagely, and she unintentionally punched straight through his body with a single blow, killing him instantly. Shocked at what she had done, albeit accidentally, she ran away from home.[5]
Originally a freelance mercenary, Frenzy joins with three other mutants —Tower,Stinger, andTimeshadow — under the employ ofApocalypse, calling themselves theAlliance of Evil. After Tower's failed attempt to kidnap the mutantRusty Collins, Frenzy is sent and put in direct conflict withX-Factor. Frenzy is unable to convince Rusty to join the Alliance, and fled after suffering defeat from X-Factor. The Alliance later reveals they had a power-enhancing accomplice named Michael Nowlan. After he tries to escape from the Alliance, the group threatens to kill Nowlan's girlfriend, Suzy. X-Factor interferes in the Alliance's plans, eventually defeating them and putting them into custody.[6] Frenzy and the others inevitably break out, opposing the Mutant Registration Act, but were defeated byBeast.[7]
After another mission battling theNew Mutants alongside the Alliance, Frenzy is defeated byWarpath.[8]Cable frees Frenzy and questions who had hired her. She admits to being hired byA.I.M. to bodyguard Harness andPiecemeal. Cable then drops Frenzy from the helicopter they were on.[9]
She eventually receives an invitation to joinSuperia'sFemizons and accepted, joining the superhuman women aboard Superia's cruise-ship. She joins in the en masse attack onCaptain America andPaladin, and traveled to Superia's Island to be one of her new Femizons.[10]
Under unknown circumstances, she was once again imprisoned, but was able to break free from theVault and created problems for theAvengers.[11]
Frenzy eventually found acceptance underMagneto's teachings, joining the ranks of the second incarnation of theAcolytes. As was common among the Acolytes, she relinquished her codename, preferring to be called by her last name, Cargill. Their first mission was to capture a child with latent mutant powers from Our Mother of the Sacred Heart, a school. During the mission, Cargill killedSharon Friedlander, and with her teammatesUnuscione and theKleinstocks, battled the goldX-Men team. Having history withGambit (they met and clashed during a mission when they were mercenaries-for-hire), she immediately went after him andBishop. However, Gambit was able to defeat her by hitting her with a kinetically charged tire.[12] (The hinted relationship between Cargill and Gambit was supposedly going to be elaborated on inFabian Nicieza'sGambit series, but it was canceled before he could get around to it.[citation needed]) The Acolytes were able to retreat, but fought the X-Men once again later that week. There, Cargill battledIceman, commenting on how she has changed since her days with the Alliance of Evil, but Iceman was able to knock her unconscious using his newly acquired ice powers.[13] Later, Cargill attempted to murder SenatorRobert Kelly, but was electrocuted byWolfsbane.[14]
After Magneto was revealed to be alive, Cargill was among the Acolytes who quickly turned onFabian Cortez and joined Magneto in his mutant sanctuary,Avalon.[15] While on a mission to recruit mutants to their cause, Cargill, along withMilan and Unuscione, found the young, meek boyNeophyte. After his betrayal of the Acolytes, Cargill was quick to vote guilty at his trial.[16] During the Fall of Avalon, Cargill allied herself with long-time enemyCyclops in order to survive, and she and her fellow Acolytes were able to escape the destroyed space station in time. They crash landed inAustralia but were given to the authorities.[17]
The Acolytes escaped prison and found the remains of Avalon, worshiping it and the return of Magneto.[18]Exodus eventually took over leadership of the Acolytes, and Cargill participated in the attack onMount Wundagore, theHigh Evolutionary's base of operations.[19]
After the Acolytes disbanded, Cargill became the ambassador ofGenosha to theUnited Nations and served as Magneto's right-hand woman.[20] When the Avengers infiltrated Genosha, Cargill attackedShe-Hulk with a punch that sent She-Hulk flying. After confrontingQuicksilver over his choices with his father, Cargill was defeated byScarlet Witch. Later, Cargill appeared on television, ordering that every country pledge loyalty to Magneto in order to be given some autonomy. She was eventually captured by the government in an attempt to find out more of Magneto's plans, but she refused to speak.Jean Grey freed Cargill and mind-controlled her. Cargill's knowledge of Genosha helped the X-Men find Magneto's base. The inexperienced X-Men attacked but were quickly defeated. Cargill was used against her will to battle Magneto, but she was ultimately constrained with a metal pillar. After Magneto's defeat, Cargill was freed from her mind-control, where she immediately left theX-Mansion.[21][22]
Frenzy is one of the few mutants left afterM-Day. She resurfaces alongsideRandom andTempo as part of a new team of Acolytes led byExodus. During their first mission, she is sent to distract the X-Men with Tempo, and succeeds in defeatingRogue. She is defeated by the combined effort ofMystique,Northstar, andAurora by being thrown out of theS.H.I.E.L.D.Helicarrier.[23]
She regrouped with Exodus as he pledged his allegiance toMister Sinister, and attacked the X-Mansion with her teammates in search of theDestiny Diaries. After discovering the copies in the mansion were fake, Frenzy and the Acolytes battledShadowcat,Colossus, and theNew X-Men. Frenzy, disgusted withHellion's disrespect, immediately defeated him, and later battledX-23, who was able to draw blood from Frenzy's steel-hard skin. The Acolytes defeated the X-Men and returned to Mr. Sinister, with their mission being a failure.[24]
DuringMessiah Complex, Frenzy joined in the battle against the X-Teams, most often battling Colossus.[25]
After the events of Messiah Complex, she escaped with the other Acolytes andProfessor X's body, taking him to an unknown part of the world. Frenzy in particular did not want anything to do with Professor Xavier, and instead wished to kill him. After arguing with her fellow Acolytes over the matter, Frenzy confronted Xavier,Omega Sentinel, and a depowered Magneto, and attacked, severely damaging Omega Sentinel. She was stopped by Magneto, who used a surgical laser on Frenzy's eye to fry her brain. While Xavier thought she was dead, Magneto revealed she is most likely alive. Exodus, upon learning of this, swore to destroy Magneto.[26]
When Xavier returned to the Acolytes' headquarters, he brought Frenzy out of her coma, claiming her "friends missed her." She immediately attempted to kill Xavier, but Xavier warned her if she touched him she would sleep for another year. After Exodus decided to disband the Acolytes, Frenzy angrily deemed him and the other Acolytes cowards, believing them to be giving up simply because the odds were against them. She and Unuscione were the only Acolytes to oppose the notion of disbanding.[27]
Frenzy is seen along withNekra in the riots in San Francisco byKarma, who tells them to behave.Ms. Marvel arrives and blasts Nekra and Frenzy, taking them out.[28] After this she moves along with many other mutants to the island of Utopia. During the final fight against theDark Avengers, Frenzy teams up with Nekra andBling! against Ms. Marvel.[29] Frenzy was later one of the mutants, who were rallied by Cyclops to fight against the attackingNimrods.[30]
Following the end ofAge of X, an alternate timeline in which she was married to Cyclops, Joanna had trouble adjusting back to normal life, as her experiences as a more heroic figure have had a profound effect on her. She confronted Cyclops about the time they shared together in the fictitious universe, but he rejected her; despite this, she refused to have her memory wiped of the experience unlike many other citizens of Utopia. Frenzy then starts dressing as her Age of X counterpart and decides that she wants to become an X-Man.[31][32][33]
Joining Rogue's squad of X-Men, Frenzy assists in tracking down Legion's escaped personalities. Under the influence of Susan in Sunshine; Frenzy and Gambit share a kiss.[34] After bringing together all of Legion's rogue personalities, Frenzy accompanies Rogue, Gambit and Magneto into space to rescue Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl.[35]
Following the X-Men's Schism, Frenzy decided to leave Utopia alongsideWolverine and other former X-Men to re-open the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning. Her reasons for leaving were based on her love for Cyclops,[36] not wanting to fall back into old habits and to make a positive change in her life. Before departing Utopia, she assists Rogue and a few other X-Men in savingAriel.[37]
Frenzy allied herself with Wolverine's team in the initial fight between the Avengers and X-Men. Choosing to stay with the Students of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Frenzy was soon drawn into the conflict when a team Avengers consisting of She-Hulk,Falcon andMoon Knight were sent to watch over the Mutants. This soon escalated into a fight between the two teams. When the Phoenix Five returned to Earth to remake the Earth into their own Utopia, Frenzy assisted them in helping to dismantle a Militia force in Narobia.[38]
Following the release of theTerrigen Mist clouds on Earth and their threat to mutants, Frenzy chose to ally herself withCrystal and her team ofInhumans.[39] Working as a covert agent of the Inhumans she helped to save countless mutants in danger of being killed by the Terrigen Clouds.[40]
In the new status quo for mutants postHouse of X and Powers of X, Professor X and Magneto invite all mutants to live on Krakoa and welcome even former enemies into their fold. Frenzy is seen amongst the crowd of villainous mutants that arrive on Krakoa via portal.[41]
Some time later, she joins the newly reinstatedS.W.O.R.D. satellite (postX of Swords) as Intergalactic Ambassador.[42]
Frenzy was included in the third annual vote to join the X-Men.[43] In a twist, all options were added into a new incarnation of the X-Men, only to be killed by Nimrod at theHellfire Gala. The team (consisting ofDazzler,Jubilee,Prodigy andCannonball) are resurrected and guided in a hunt for a version ofMoira X in the Moira Engine.
Frenzy is amutant who possesses steel-hard skin that makes her resistant to most forms of conventional physical injury, as well as temperature extremes. She has been shown to merely shrug off being covered in flames and is also highly resistant to microwave radiation, though adamantium has been shown to puncture her skin after an encounter with X-23. Frenzy also possesses superhuman strength, approximately on par withSpider-Man.[44] In later appearances, she has been depicted as strong enough to battle characters likeRogue, andShe-Hulk.[45]
In the 2011 "Age of X" storyline, Joanna was captured after various attacks against anti-mutant groups and is incarcerated on Ryker's Island. She is later freed by Cyclops, who later marries her.[31]
In 2006, Cargill appears in theMarvel Zombies miniseries, along with some of her fellowAcolytes (Fabian Cortez, Scanner, Lisa Hendricks, Reynolds, Burns) andForge as the few survivors hiding in Asteroid M from the hordes of zombies on Earth. She and the others make a few trips down to Earth in order to gather intelligence.[46]
In theDays of Future Now storyline, Cargill appears as a member ofGene Nation.[47]
Cargill appears in two issues ofWhat If. The first depicts her as a member of the X-Men, but she eventually splits off with other villains such asToad,Unus the Untouchable, andPyro.[48] Another has her fleeing for her life after confrontingApocalypse's Horseman of Death,Archangel, who thinks she is unworthy of living.[49]
Cargill also appears inX-Men: The End as a member of the X-Men who battle theSkrulls that took the forms ofGenesis,Stryfe, and theGoblin Queen. She was one of the few survivors after the X-Mansion had been destroyed.[50]
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| Government Team | |
| X-Factor Investigations | |
| Serval | |
| Supporting | |
| Enemies | |
| Publications | |
