| Sarah Knuckey Marrow | |
|---|---|
.webp) Sarah Knuckey / Marrow. Textless variant cover ofRealm of X #1 (August 2023). Art by Karen S. Darboe | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Sarah Knuckey: Cable #15 (September 1994) As Marrow: X-Men Prime (July 1995) |
| Created by | Jeph Loeb (writer) David Brewer (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sarah Knuckey[1] |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | Gene Nation S.H.I.E.L.D. Weapon X Morlocks X-Force X-Men |
| Notable aliases | Marrow, Sarah Rushman[2] |
| Abilities |
|
Sarah Knuckey is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created by writerJeph Loeb and artist David Brewer, the characterfirst appeared inCable #15 (September 1994).[3] Knuckey belongs to the subspecies of humans calledmutants who are born with superhuman abilities.[4] She is known under the codenameMarrow.[5] She is able to make her bones grow out of her skin.[6] These can be removed from her body, providing her with potential knives, clubs, and body armor.[7]
As a child, Knuckey was taken in by theMorlocks, a band of grotesque-looking mutants who hid in tunnels beneathNew York City. As a young adult, she formed the violent splinter cellGene Nation until, under the orders of Morlock leaderCallisto, she joined theX-Men to redeem herself. She made progress controlling her powers and learning amoral code, but eventually fell in with the paramilitary groupWeapon X.
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Sarah Knuckey debuted inCable #15 (September 1994),[8] created by writerJeph Loeb and artist David Brewer.[9] She later appeared asMarrow in the 1995X-Men Primeone-shot. She appeared in the 2000Spidey/Marrow one-shot,[10] the 2006X-Factor series,[11] and the 2019Marauders series.[12]
As a child, Sarah was one of the underground-dwellingMorlocks. During theMutant Massacre that devastated the Morlock community, she witnessed the mauling ofAngel by theMarauders. She was saved byGambit, who was then not yet known by the X-Men. Years later, most of the surviving Morlocks (including Sarah) were apparently killed byMikhail Rasputin, although they were actually brought to another dimension. There, Mikhail had established a citadel for himself on the top of a massive hill. TheSocial Darwinist philosophy of "survival of the fittest" was the only thing which governed the society. If someone could reach the summit of the hill, they were considered "fit" and worthy of being part of Gene Nation.
The former Morlock leaderCallisto cared for Marrow during this period and displayed amaternal attitude towards the young mutant, although the two are not known to be biologically related. When her powers fully manifested, she was forced to "up the hill", becoming more savage and killing her opponents to survive. When she managed to reach the top, Mikhail considered her fit to join his elite fighting teamGene Nation, which eventually became a terrorist group whose mission was to punish humans for their hatred towards mutants.[volume & issue needed]
In that harsh dimension, time passed quickly, and when Marrow and several other members of Gene Nation (of which she had become leader) returned toEarth, they discovered only a few years had passed during their absence. Marrow and the other members of Gene Nation began a homicidal terrorist campaign against surface-dwelling humans. After inconclusive battles with the X-Men andGeneration X, Gene Nation was defeated by the X-Men. Marrow wired a time bomb to her own heart to force the X-ManStorm, who had herself led the Morlocks in the past, to either yield or kill her; Storm tore out Marrow's heart. However, due to Marrow's possession of two hearts to compensate for her random bone growth and superhuman regenerative abilities, she survived. Marrow eventually reunited with Callisto, and while they continued their terrorist activities, Callisto tried to hold back Marrow's more violent ways.[volume & issue needed]
After a battle withCable, Marrow and Callisto returned to seclusion. When Callisto was injured by aPrime Sentinel during the events ofOperation: Zero Tolerance, she directed Marrow to seek the aid of the X-Men. After teaming up withIceman andCecilia Reyes, Marrow went to the Xavier Institute. She joined the X-Men for a time, coming under the mentorship ofWolverine and flirting with her teammateCannonball. When the team came under the attack of theShadow King, Marrow managed to resist when the Shadow King tempted and tortured her in an attempt to gain her loyalty. She also helped Cannonball resist by viciously destroying the illusion of his abusive father. Cannonball was shaken by seeing Marrow slay the illusion of his parent.[volume & issue needed]
Marrow also participated in the fight against the returningN'Garai, extra-dimensional monsters who were loose on the grounds of the X-Mansion. She saved fellow X-MenCecilia Reyes by impaling one of the creatures threatening her.[volume & issue needed]
Around this time Marrow would confrontSpider-Man, because both were interested in investigating a unique type of kidnapping. Eyewitnesses reported the victims literally dragged into the sewers, something which of course interested Marrow, because of her Morlock heritage. Investigating the disappearances, they discovered them to be the work of the vampire-like being known as Hunger, who was swiftly defeated in a confrontation with Spider-Man.[volume & issue needed]
During an adventure in another dimension, Gambit, unable to control his powers, accidentally injured Marrow. She later traveled to the past with the X-Men, ending up on theSkrull homeworld a short time before the cosmic entity known asGalactus would destroy it. A medical device gave her more control over her powers, giving her a "prettier" appearance. The suspension-properties of a captured Skrull rescue ship allowed her and her fellow X-Men to make the journey back to Earth in real time, without aging at all. Thus, for a while, two Marrows existed in the time stream, one on Earth and one in space.[volume & issue needed]
The change of her features led to major softening of her personality, to the point where she reached out toJubilee following Wolverine's disappearance in the lead up to "The Twelve" storyline. She also tried to cheer up returning X-Man Colossus in a scheme involving his artwork and her storytelling.[volume & issue needed]
Marrow left the X-Men during the six-month gap preceding the "X-Men Revolution", though her reasons for doing so are unclear.[volume & issue needed]
She was next seen brainwashed byS.H.I.E.L.D. under the alias of "Sarah Rushman" used as a sleeper agent. Her mission was to terminate rogueLife Model Decoys. She had a split personality (mutant Marrow and human teenager Sarah) and had to be periodically injected to keep herimplanted memory. With Spider-Man's help (he briefly dated her Sarah personality asMary Jane was believed dead at this point), she freed herself from SHIELD's control by faking a suicide.[2]
Marrow was later recruited by the most recent incarnation ofWeapon X, who again normalized her appearance and her powers. However, she eventually betrayed Weapon X upon discovering their anti-mutant nature. She used the remnants of Cable's Underground to reform the Gene Nation terrorist group and, as their leader, led several terrorist attacks on Weapon X until the rest of the group was slaughtered byAgent Zero. Agent Zero left her alone, not wanting her to become amartyr, but he warned her that he would come after her again after he had hunted down the remaining members of Gene Nation.[volume & issue needed]
Marrow was next seen as a spokeswoman of a band of Morlocks afterM-Day. She gave an interview toSally Floyd for her ex-mutant diaries. Marrow remains underground to protect and give hope to the few mutants who remain and those who fear going to the surface to live normal lives.[volume & issue needed] Mike Marts, editor for the X-Men comic books, confirmed in an interview that although Sarah retains some of the physical attributes of her mutation, her actual mutant powers disappeared during Decimation.[13]
Marrow later turns up as a member of X-Cell, a terrorist group of former mutants believing that M-Day was caused by the U.S. government. As part of X-Cell, Marrow foughtM andSiryn ofX-Factor Investigations and after a turn of events in which she and Callisto learned the truth about who is responsible for M-Day, she turned against X-Cell supporterQuicksilver. Both heavily injured each other with a knife wound during the fight. Afterwards, she and Callisto managed to escape X-Factor and the government through the sewers.[14]
In Feb. 2014, Marrow returns as a member of a new X-Force team, along with a semblance of her powers intact. After some examination from Doctor Nemesis, Marrow is revealed to be not a mutant.[15] It has since been revealed that Marrow wasn't abducted at all. She willingly approached Volga, the one responsible for giving former mutants their powers back, for an experimental procedure to restore her power. At this point Marrow was already pregnant and despite the great risks this posed for her child, she accepted. The procedure was successful, and Marrow's powers were restored at the cost of her child, and she was left for dead in Alexandria during the Alexandria Incident.[16] She was eventually found by Cable, who provided her with an inhibitor collar built byDoctor Nemesis to suppress her memories and control her powers.[17]
In theSecret Empire storyline, Marrow is affiliated with New Tian and fights along other mutants.[18] Afterwards, Sarah joins Magneto's new Brotherhood of Mutants. She and others under his service attack an anti-mutant rally in Washington DC.[19] Some time later she appears at a self-help group therapy session for mutants who suffered from debilitating appearances due to their abilities.[20]
After a massive reality distorting event caused byX-Man had left much of the mutant population decimated once again, Marrow and a couple of other mutants work withEmma Frost as debutantes in her new Hellfire Club.[21] But they are soon beset by the O.N.E., now under command of the bigoted and corrupt Robert Callahan as part of his campaign of registering, incarcerating and modifying mutants for the purpose of exterminating other mutants. The duplicitous director coerces the Black King into tracking other mutants for his minions to round up in his government sanctioned facilities while under threat of execution. But Emma works with Marrow the others to contact the last remaining X-Men to deal with the O.N.E.[22]
Somewhere later down the line; after the new mutant nation ofKrakoa was established and declared its independence upon the world stage,Professor X offers amnesty to all of mutant kind in the form of an invite to their personal island nation.[23] Even the more socially abrasive amongst Homo Superior are welcomed amongst their growing numbers, as Marrow could be seen amongst an enclave of villainous mutants who accepted his summons. She is now a duly recognized citizen of the mutant nation.[24]
Sarah Knuckey possesses the ability to enhance the growth of her skeletal structure.[25] She uses her power in many ways, including the creation of knuckle guards,spears, and projectile spikes.[26] She also has a healing factor and enhanced immune system, much in the same vein asWolverine since every time a bone is ripped out a wound which remains closes itself soon after. Her bones seem to be much more durable than normal; she had easily survived heavy hits in multiple areas of her body.Flag-Smasher hit her twice on the head with his mace without much damage, andSabretooth likewise threw her against a wall without harm. Knuckey also jumped off theBrooklyn Bridge twice (something that would have resulted in death or at least crippling injuries) without any major damage, being able to walk away from the scene. She possesses two hearts to compensate for her random bone growth as well, so whenStorm ripped one out she was able to survive.[27]
Knuckey is also more agile and stronger than the average woman in her age group and physical condition, and has excellent tracking skills.
Darren Franich ofEntertainment Weekly stated Sarah Knuckey embodies "superhero body horror at its finest," saying Swiss artistHans Ruedi Giger would have appreciated the character.[28] Deirdre Kaye ofScary Mommy called Sarah Knuckey a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.[29] Amer Sawan ofComic Book Resources noted the similarities between the powers of Sarah Knuckey and the newly-acquired abilities ofCaptain Boomerang fromDC Comics.[30]
Sarah Knuckey placed 8th in a popularity contest held by Marvel Comics in 2021,[31] which served to determine who would be the final member of a new X-Men team that would debut during theHellfire Gala storyline.[32]
An alternate universe variant of Sarah Knuckey / Marrow from Earth-295 makes a cameo appearance inX-Men: Age of Apocalypse #2 as a member of the Morlocks.[33]
An alternate universe variant of Sarah Knuckey / Marrow from Earth-58163 appears in "House of M: Masters of Evil" #4 as a member of the Red Guard who is later killed bythe Hood.[34]
An alternate universe variant of Sarah Knuckey / Marrow from Earth-11326 appears in "Age of X: Universe" #1.[35]
An alternate universe variant of Sarah Knuckey / Marrow from Earth-1610 appears inUltimate X-Men #47, in which she is killed byMister Sinister.[36]
Marrow makes a cameo appearance inDeadpool as a patient of an underground facility called theWorkshop.[40][41]
In 1995,Toy Biz released a Marrowaction figure as part of the "X-Men Generation X" line.[44][45]
In 2025,Hasbro released a Marrow figure in their "Marvel Legends" Line as part of theNemesis Build-a-Figure wave
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