| Longshot | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofExiles #74 byPaul Pelletier | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Longshot #1 (September 1985) |
| Created by | Ann Nocenti (writer) Art Adams (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | No dual identity |
| Species | Artificial Mojoverse lifeform |
| Team affiliations |
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| Abilities |
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Longshot is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, most commonly in association with theX-Men. Created by writerAnn Nocenti and artistArt Adams, he first appeared inLongshot #1 (September 1985), the first issue of a six-issue miniseries that represents the first major work of both Nocenti and Adams.[1] TheLongshot series established Longshot as an amnesiac fugitive from another dimension who discovers that he has a "good luck" power that protects him from harm when his motives are pure. He also discovers that he was a slave who led a rebellion on his dystopian world against his former master and enemy,Mojo.
The character subsequently becomes a recurring fixture in the various X-Men related books, which see him as a member of the X-Men from 1986 to 1989, a member ofTony Bedard andChris Claremont'sExiles teams, and a member of thethird incarnation ofX-Factor from 2008–2013, as well as in his own solo adventures. Later stories establish he is aparadoxical genetically engineered clone of his future son,Shatterstar. Versions of the character have also appeared in theUltimate Marvel line of books, and television and video games.
Ann Nocenti wrote the story for theLongshot limited series. After most of Marvel's artists declined to take on the project, it was offered to aspiring artistArthur Adams, whose samples had been given to editorCarl Potts and Nocenti, his assistant editor, by editorAl Milgrom.[2]
Explaining the concept of the character, which Nocenti borrowed fromexistentialist writers, she states, "Longshot is the idea of stripping someone of everything that they are. I never read comics, so the idea of a hero to me was different. I couldn't think of it in terms of a 'super hero' hero. I thought of it more as a conceptual hero. Not having a comic book background, I tend to come up with the metaphysics before I come up with the characters. I knew that I wanted to deal with the metaphysics ofluck. It was a concept that interested me...what luck is, what probability is, how you could shift probabilities towards yourself. What are the repercussions of that? So, I did a character centered around that idea." Nocenti describes Longshot's state at the beginning of the miniseries by referring to him as "a clean slate. He has no memories, no past, no name, no nothing...In a sense, what I was trying to do was strip someone down to where he had none of the crutches that we normally have. Memory, in a way, is a crutch, or your name, or what you believe you are. So, Longshot's odyssey begins with some very basic questions: Who is he? Why is he here? Ultimately, he goes on a quest for his past and finds it in search of him."[3]
A design for the character of Longshot was put forward byCarl Potts, who outfitted the character in a jumpsuit that Adams thought to be reminiscent of theStarfleet uniforms fromStar Trek: The Motion Picture.[2] Nocenti suggested that Longshot look distinct from other superheroes. She prescribed that he be an alien, have only four fingers on each hand, and has an unusual spine, though this last trait was not mentioned in the comics.[4] Adams created his own design, and wanting to distinguish the character visually, based his mullet haircut on that of musicianLimahl, as no other major Marvel character had such a haircut.[2] Adams, who disliked the practice of having characters produce weapons and other devices from their boots or secret pockets that had never before been established, decided to include some pouches on the character's belt, a practice that influenced the artwork of the founders ofImage Comics.[5] Nocenti came up with the idea of having Longshot's left eye glow when he uses his power for noble causes: "I was living in a loft on 26th and Sixth and we had a one-eyed cat. I'd go out at night and I'd see this one eye [glowing in the dark]."[6]
Longshot debuted in a six-issue, eponymous 1985–1986mini-series. The series established the "Mojoverse", an alien dimension whose residents are addicted to televisedgladiator-like entertainment and ruled by the tyrannical network headMojo. Longshot possessesprobability-altering or "luck" powers, and is an action star who escapes enslavement by Mojo. With no memory of who he is, he embarks on a series of adventures with the people he encounters, among them Ricochet Rita, who Adams modeled after Nocenti.[6] ALongshot ongoing series with Nocenti and Adams as the creative team was announced in 1988. According to Nocenti, "every issue is going to throw him into a completely different universe. So one issue, he's going to enter the world of the dead, and one issue he's going to go into a future world where he meets ageing heroes..."[7] However, the series never materialized.Mephisto was to be the central villain;[7] shortly after the series was cancelled, Nocenti began using Mephisto as a major villain inDaredevil.
After the miniseries, Longshot joined the X-Men inUncanny X-Men Annual #10 in 1986, and remained with them untilUncanny X-Men #248 (September 1989). He subsequently made occasional appearances in various Marvel books, such asExiles, the 1997one-shotFools, andX-Factor (vol. 3), a book whose cast he joined in issue #35 (November 2008). He remained a part of that cast until that book's cancellation in 2013.
In November 2013, Marvel premieredLongshot Saves the Marvel Universe, a four-issue miniseries written by Christopher Hastings and illustrated by Jacopo Camagni.[8]
Longshot is an artificially created humanoid life-form, with the ability to defy probability. He is from an alternate dimension known as "Mojoworld" or the "Mojoverse". He is one of many slaves created by genetic engineers in the employ of Mojoworld's masters, the grossly obese, virtually immobile Spineless Ones, who are ruled by the media-obsessed delusional maniacMojo. The head geneticist, Arize, gave Longshot and his other creations (such as the ram-headed Quark) free will and a conscience, hoping that one day they would rise up against their masters. Longshot and many of his fellow slaves rebel against the slave-masters. They undergo a mystical ritual that gives them the power to create good luck for themselves. Despite this power, their masters win the war due to their superior weaponry and the limits of the slaves' luck. Longshot is rendered amnesiac by the Spineless Ones, but he manages to flee from Mojoworld to Earth. A number of Mojo's servants, led by the hound-like Gog and Magog, pursue him, but are stuck between Longshot's world and Earth. Unable to remember his real name, Longshot becomes an adventurer, taking his name after several humans call him Longshot due to his incredible good luck. While recovering, Longshot befriends the human stunt-woman namedRicochet Rita and works as a movie stuntman himself. He also adopts the docile Magog, who he renames "Pup". Finally, Mojo and his assistantSpiral follow Longshot to Earth. Longshot battles Spiral and defeats Mojo with the aid of Ricochet Rita, Quark, andDoctor Strange, who then send Mojo and his minions back to the Mojoverse. Longshot, Quark, and Rita return to the Mojoverse to free the other slaves where they form the Freeman branch.[9]
After an unsuccessful rebellion, a once-again amnesiac Longshot is sent back to Earth by Mojo, where he joins theX-Men.[10] With the X-Men, he battles theJuggernaut and theMarauders.[11][12] Longshot dies with the rest of the X-Men while defeating theAdversary, but is resurrected byRoma soon afterward.[13] Longshot and the X-Men fight theReavers in Australia for the first time.[14] He battles theBrood.[15] With the X-Men, he rescues his captured teammates from the island nation ofGenosha, which usesmutants as a slave caste.[16] He soon becomesDazzler's lover.[17] However, he suffers a severe identity crisis, and eventually leaves the X-Men.[18]
Before long, Longshot is reunited with Dazzler, and is teleported with her to Mojoworld. For a short time, they live in Mojoworld, until they are captured by Mojo.[19] They, with the X-Men and Mojo's temporary successor, "Mojo II: The Sequel", lead a revolt against Mojo. Longshot and Dazzler also learn that Dazzler is pregnant with their child, who was hinted to beShatterstar, the member ofX-Force.[20] The pair also care for theX-Babies, a group of Mojo-manufactured child clones of the X-Men. One of the many X-Babies created is a young version of Longshot.[21] Dazzler's pregnancy was initially suggested to have resulted in amiscarriage.[22] The outcome of Dazzler's pregnancy was resolved many years later in the storyline "The End of X-Factor". Dazzler returned to Earth separately from Longshot suffering from memory loss, believing that Longshot, the X-Babies, and everyone in the rebellion had been killed by Mojo and his followers.[volume & issue needed]
After being "killed" by the Thingy and denied entrance into Heaven, Longshot realizes he has lost his innocence, the main source of his luck power. Ejected from Heaven and the Mojoverse, Longshot is stranded between Baum and Barrie, Kansas, pursued by the vengeful Thingy. When a child who has befriended the broken hero is damaged by the monster, Longshot, helped by a group of mental patients, rediscovers his faith in himself and his own purity despite the suffering of his wife to restore her to health. In the end, the unlikely group sets out for the big city, searching for adventure, secure in their luck and their innocence.[23]
Again suffering from memory loss, Longshot is recruited for theExiles byHeather Hudson to help againstProteus.Mojo claims that he and all the other inhabitants of Mojoworld are "unique" in that there is no parallel counterpart to his realm.[24] This would extend to Longshot, though his status as a unique entity does not affect his membership in the Exiles.Morph reveals that Longshot's abilities cancel Proteus' reality warping powers, making him a perfect candidate for the team. He is brought aboard to replace the deadMimic. Longshot savesBlink from Proteus in2099, and saves Blink, Morph,Sabretooth,Star Brand, Lenore Fenzl, andNightmask from Proteus in theNew Universe Approximation. When the Exiles visit the future, Longshot tries to stopMaestro's rampage and stop Proteus from taking over Maestro's body. The Exiles finally corner Proteus at theHeroes Reborn world, and trap Proteus in Morph's body. With the hunt for Proteus at an end, Longshot remains an Exile to continue fixing damaged realities. During their last mission, Longshot is seemingly brainwashed into attacking Blink byMadame Hydra and theHand. Afterwards, Longshot leaves the Exiles during a mission onEarth-616 where he is re-introduced to Dazzler, whom he has no memory of their time together in Mojoworld.[25]
After failing to rekindle his relationship with Dazzler due to the loss of his memories, Longshot shows up in Detroit after reading an article about his supposed appearance there during the events of "Secret Invasion", thanks to aSkrull impostor. After a small fight withStrong Guy, he helpsX-Factor find out what happened toDarwin and his father, leading them to the Karma Project. During that time, he is seen commenting that women are too friendly towards him, and reveals that his memory losses are so severe that he no longer understands his powers.[26]
InX-Factor #47, it is once more hinted that Longshot and Shatterstar are related.[27] It is not until a one-shot issue during the finalX-Factor story arc, "The End of X-Factor", that their connection is explained. AfterRictor and Shatterstar are transported into Mojoworld's past, they and the audience learn that Shatterstar is the only Mojoworld rebel who was not created by Arize the Creator, as he in fact mysteriously appeared from the sky one day. Arize used Shatterstar's genetic material to create Longshot, making Shatterstar the father of Longshot genetically. Mojo later attacks Arize's sanctuary, so Shatterstar time-teleports himself and Rictor to a time in Mojoworld's history when Dazzler and Longshot are married and fighting a war against Mojo. Dazzler, pregnant with Longshot's child, goes into labor, and gives birth to a young Shatterstar, who Shatterstar explains to Rictor he will deliver to the future of Mojoworld to be raised by the people that raised him, but not before he erases Dazzler and Longshot's memories of their having a child.[28]
During the "Age of Revelation" storyline, Mojo was displeased with the titular storyline being behind the cancellation of some shows. In need of a new show,Major Domo called Longshot's agent Spiral if Longshot will star in a new Mojoverse show. Spiral tells Major Domo that Longshot will only take the offer if he has a pay increase. This leads to Mojo, Major Domo, and theX-Babies creating a new show calledLongshots with the Age of Revelation versions ofBishop,Hellcat,Kraven the Hunter,Rhino, andWonder Man. Mojo was unaware that Longshot and Spiral were in the audience.[29] With Longshot displeased thatLongshots is a hit, Spiral tells him that they will have to wait for the Longshots to screw up or guide them into the right direction. After Hellcat and Wonder Man were the only survivors in fighting theTechnarchy to get into a power plant and find aCelestial inside, Mojo has Major Domo call up Spiral to tell her that they will accept Longhorn's pay increase.[30]
Longshot was created throughgenetic engineering by Arize. Longshot has hollow bones and each of his hands hasthree fingers with an opposable thumb. His skin is like leather,[31] and he has two hearts.[32] He is acrobatic at a superhuman level (including his speed, agility, dexterity, flexibility, reflexes/reactions, coordination, and balance), being able to evade blows bySpider-Man.[33][34] He also has advanced healing abilities. InLongshot #3, these abilities automatically healed him following several hits with high-powered laser beams and falling out of the sky and impacting abarn when his jetpack malfunctioned.[31][35]
Ann Nocenti, who co-created Longshot, says of his primary superhuman trait, "Longshot has access to probabilities and luck. He'slucky, he's miraculous in a way...he was born with this talent to have access to being lucky, and the problem is that he finds out that there's a flip side to luck. There are repercussions. If you pull probabilities towards yourself, you're probably taking them away from other people, so it's actually something that he shouldn't even be doing."[3] His genetic engineering was augmented using magic to give him superhuman abilities including the ability to alter probability fields usingpsionic means to bolster his activities with "good luck", meaning extremely unlikely events happen in his favor. This power operates even without Longshot consciously willing it, and is tied into the positive aspects of his personality: should he attempt to use his powers for a selfish or evil act, or should lose hope, his powers will fail to function or even backfire, giving him bad luck.[31] Echoing Nocenti's words on the adverse side effects of his powers, Longshot's luck is fickle by nature, and can backfire when he overuses it, causing an equal and opposite effect of "bad luck" which can affect himself or others.[36][37]
Longshot is able to read "psychic imprints" when people leave them on objects they handle, allowing him to read the thoughts that individual experienced while in contact with the object, which is a phenomenon calledpsychometry.[32] He is also able to read a person's future in this manner.[36] Longshot is also able to telepathically "read" recent memories of people through physical contact with them.[35] Nocenti elaborates on the psychometry thus: "If you picked up a hammer and used it to bang nails every day and Longshot went to read it, he may not read much of it, but if it was used to kill somebody, that would leave a bigger psychic imprint, even if somebody held an object and cried over it, he would feel that too. If someone's emotional or intense enough around an object, they'll imprint it stronger, so he can read that."[3]
A recurring aspect of stories he appeared in was the strong, spontaneous attraction that women exhibited to him, a trait with which he was genetically engineered.[26]
Longshot carries several small, cleaver-like blades that he stores in a bandolier, which he can throw with superhuman accuracy or just using his luck powers in some cases. He is highly skilled in using other types of weaponry that are bladed. During his X-Men years, Longshot also carried a folding grappling hook and rope either carried looped around one shoulder or stored in his shoulder bag, and a set of throwing spikes which produced net-like wires between them to restrain a target.
Longshot is proficient in the use of jetpacks for flight, the use of handhelddirected-energy weapons,[31] andhang gliders.[37]
In 2014, Darren Franich ofEntertainment Weekly ranked Longshot 31st in his "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list. Franich praised the concept of Longshot, comparing the Mojoverse toRunning Man andMad Max; however, he believed that Longshot became less interesting as a character after joining the X-Men.[38]
In the alternate reality future seen at the end of the 1992 "Shattershot" storyline (which ran through the 1992annuals of the X-Men-related titles), a mysterious hooded figure appears in the background when the former slaves and the Spineless Ones finally make peace, and observes the events of the story. At the end of the story, this individual is revealed to be an older version of Longshot.[39]
An alternate universe version of Longshot from Earth-1610 appears in theUltimate Marvel imprint. This version is amutant namedArthur Centino and a resident ofGenosha. Centino is accused of murdering Lord Joseph Scheele, a Genoshan politician; as punishment, he is sentenced to forced participation in areality show onKrakoa where he will be hunted for sport. The show is run byMojo Adams and Longshot's latest opponent isArcade. The X-Men journey to the island Longshot is on, assuming he is innocent and was framed and thus offer to help him. During the course of their time together, Longshot spends time charmingColossus.[40]
It is later discovered that Longshot is guilty. He had stumbled upon his girlfriendSpiral with Scheele and killed him in a fit of rage. Later, Longshot is in theSavage Land foraging for food when he runs into theUltimates'Scarlet Witch, who captures him and has him imprisoned in their Triskelion base. Longshot later successfully escapes from the Triskelion. During the escape, he seemingly killsLady Deathstrike, saving the lives of two of the X-Men who had freed him before. One of the others who escaped isMagneto, who admits that he had tipped the authorities onto Longshot's location in the first place, as part of Magneto's own escape plan; Magneto wanted Longshot and his luck power present as an "edge" to guarantee success as a member of theBrotherhood of Mutant Supremacy.[41]
When Longshot is last seen, the death ofCharles Xavier is announced, the news reaches "Somewhere Else," apparently Magneto's latest stronghold. Longshot is seen, still bearded from his time on the run, seated at Magneto's right hand side, suggesting that he holds special favor with him.[42]
During theUltimatum storyline, it is revealed that Longshot was killed under orders fromMagneto.[43]
An alternate universe version of Longshot fromEarth-6160 makes a minor appearance inUltimate Spider-Man: Incursion as a prisoner ofEmmanuel da Costa.[44]
Longshot appears inX-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Rod Wilson.[45]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-Men: Longshot | Longshot #1-6 | November 2008 | 978-0785130918 |
| Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe | Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe #1-4 | June 2014 | 978-0785190127 |
There's a special kind of comic book character who has an incredible amount of potential that never gets tapped, but the mere promise of that potential makes them fascinating. Cue Longshot, a revolutionary from a dystopian nether-world that's basically Running Man Beyond Thunderdome. Engineered to be a slave, became a revolutionary, has "good luck" powers that actually kind of make sense. Then he became an X-Man and mostly stopped being interesting for decades thereafter.
| Founders | |
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| Government Team | |
| X-Factor Investigations | |
| Serval | |
| Supporting | |
| Enemies | |
| Publications | |
