KINSMEN

Membership: Boulder, Dyke, Highlander, Rapscallion, Teleplex, Wee One

Purpose: (Generally): To become Ireland's answer to the Avengers
    (on their first mission): To bring in Banshee (Sean Cassidy) for a much delayed debriefing by the Irish Government

Affiliations: Irish Government, Mr. McFadden

Enemies: Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Siryn (Theresa Rourke Cassidy), Vi-Locks of Earth-8545, Yandroth

Base of Operations: Ireland

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4 (February, 1990)

History:
(Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4 (fb) - BTS) - The Kinsmen were organized by the Irish Government to become Ireland's answer to the Avengers. They thought they were ready for their first mission, so late one night, the team flew in their expensive high-tech helicopter and landed in the area near Cassidy Keep.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4) - The Kinsmen walked to Cassidy Keep and arrived in the early morning hours -- they were being monitored by Mr. McFadden and Teleplex from the observation center in the helicopter. Siryn welcomed the Kinsmen into Cassidy Keep; but she soon noticed their bad intentions when they wanted to know where her father was and attacked her. The Kinsmen tried to beat her with all their powers.

    But a short time later, Highlander came flying through the wall to the outside; the rest of the team followed him after a short and desperate fight against the mutant girl. After she scanned the area with her sonar powers, Siryn took the defeated Kinsmen back to McFadden and Teleplex. Siryn then destroyed their helicopter and left them with some angry words to leave her and her father alone -- she also advised them that the next time they thought of visiting someone in the wee hours of the night, they should call first.

(Civil War: Battle Damage Report#1) - The Kinsmen fought Vi-Locks summoned to Earth by Yandroth. They couldn't prevent that some people were turned into Vi-Locks themselves -- one of those bystanders was the wife of the American hero Lectronn.

Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell and Larry Stroman.

Marvel should bring them back against someone like X-Statix. USE THEM!
    I guess that means that you'd like to see them all die? Everyone dies in X-Statix. Except that Orphan loser...
    --Snood.

X-Statix is history and I'm still waiting for the Kinsmen's return. *sniff* How about a guest appearance in Cable and Deadpool?

They are back in the pages of Civil War: Battle Damage Report in a flashback to Lectronn's past. Seems like they got something to do during Yandroth's attack in Defenders II#1.
--Markus Raymond

...however, the Battle Damage Report didn't specifically mention which individual team members fought the Vi-Locks, so that's why it isn't mentioned in any of their sub-profiles. And although Banshee (Sean Cassidy) is listed as an enemy, he never actually appeared in the first story.--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Markus Raymond. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Kinsmen should not be confused with:

Wee One should not be confused with:

Boulder should not be confused with:

Highlander should not be confused with:

Rapscallion should not be confused with:

Dyke should not be confused with:

Teleplex should not be confused with:

Mr. McFadden should not be confused with:

Wee One

Wee One was a Leprechaun. In the past, he was saved by the man who would become Boulder, and therefore gave him a magic boulder. Wee One was able to fly and used pixie dust to blind his opponents before pounding them. He was the team leader on their first mission. He gave orders to the other members as long as he could. After he attacked Siryn by himself, he received a hard punch on his nose. He was squashed by Boulder's rock and then taken back to McFadden and Teleplex with the other Kinsmen.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Boulder

He saved the life of Wee One at some point in the past. Consequently, he was given a magic boulder by the Leprechaun and became the hero known as Boulder. He was sent after Siryn to keep an eye on her and went flying when he was hit by one of her screams. Later he threw the magic boulder that grew bigger when it rolled away from its master. Siryn interfered with her mutant power and the boulder returned to its master without shrinking, so Boulder and Wee One were squashed by the boulder. Siryn took him back to McFadden and Teleplex with the other Kinsmen.

(Comment: There weren't many good images of Boulder available in this 8-page story; for a better one, see main image.)

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Highlander

Highlander seemed to be an intelligent mass of Irish soil and his grammar wasn't the best ("You me escape not!"). He attacked Siryn by the order of Wee One, and her scream sent him flying through the wall of Cassidy Keep; he fell back to the ground near the helicopter's landing spot, where he was crumbled to pieces. When McFadden checked on him. Highlander wanted to retire after the fight.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Rapscallion

Rapscallion was the cruelest bouncer in Ireland. After Highlander was defeated, Rapscallion grabbed Siryn by the throat to prevent her from screaming, but she used a double kick to beat him. Later Siryn took him back to McFadden and Teleplex with the other Kinsmen.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Dyke

Dyke was the last Nereid, a water nymph, and was all that stood between this dimension and one made of water. She was able to turn her body into water and used it to drown her opponents. She tried her tactic against Siryn and spoke arrogantly all the time. But Siryn screamed in the water, and when the bubble with the scream in it hit Dyke, she was out of the game. Later Siryn took her back to McFadden and Teleplex with the other Kinsmen.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Teleplex

Teleplex had the mutant power to monitor situations from every angle and project it on video screens, but he needed a lot of concentration to do this. He stayed behind in the helicopter's observation center with Mr.McFadden and showed him the events that happened in Cassidy Keep. For a short time, he couldn't come up with any pictures after Siryn used her scream against Boulder. When he was online again, Teleplex and McFadden saw Highlander come crashing down outside. Teleplex left the helicopter when he saw that Siryn was coming for them. He mentioned that at least their high-tech helicopter stayed whole, shortly before Siryn destroyed it.

(Comment: There may be some significance to Teleplex's oddly-shaped and colored word balloons, but it was never explained.)

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Mr. McFadden

Mr. McFadden was the man behind the Kinsmen for Ireland's government (the Irish Gyrich). He was unsure about the abilities of the team. When he saw Siryn, he immediately thought about canceling the mission, but he didn't. With the help of Teleplex, McFadden watched the fight between the Kinsmen and Siryn, and he ran outside when Highlander came crashing down only meters away from them -- McFadden spoke to the crumbled Highlander, who wanted to retire. Siryn brought the rest of the defeated Kinsmen to McFadden, and he cried after the expensive high-tech helicopter was destroyed.

(Comment: His face wasn't red [that's just the lighting in the observation center], but this was the best picture of him. Outside the helicopter, it was seen that he was white and his hair even whiter.)

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

Kinsmen's helicopter

An aircraft used by the Kinsmen, it transported the team to Cassidy Keep. The high-tech helicopter was said to cost millions (as per Mr. McFadden); it contained an observation center filled with video screens, on which Teleplex used his mutant power to project distant images for Mr. McFadden. Any other special capabilities of this aircraft are unrevealed.

After she defeated the Kinsmen, Siryn used her sonic scream to destroy the helicopter by making it explode (much to Mr. McFadden's chagrin); it is unrevealed if this aircraft was ever replaced.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4

images: (without ads)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p1, pan3 (main image - Kinsmen)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p8, pan3 (Siryn returns defeated Kinsmen to Mr. McFadden and Teleplex (foreground))
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p2, pan6 (Wee One)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p4 pan1 (Wee One hurls pixie dust at Siryn)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p3, pan1 (Boulder, sent flying by Siryn's scream)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p7, pan1 (Boulder sends his boulder after Siryn)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p3, pan4 (Highlander)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p4, pan5 (Highlander attacks Siryn)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p4, pan4 (Rapscallion)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p5, pan6 (Rapscallion chokes Siryn)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p4, pan4 (Dyke)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p6, pan4 (Dyke attacks Siryn)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p3, pan3 (Teleplex, in helicopter's observation center)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p8, pan2 (Teleplex)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p5, pan2 (Mr. McFadden)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p2, pan1 (Kinsmen's helicopter, landed near Cassidy Keep)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p2, pan4 (Mr. McFadden and Teleplex in helicopter's observation center)
Marvel Comics Presents I#43/4, p8, pan5 (Siryn blasts Kinsmen's helicopter; Mr. McFadden, Teleplex (foreground))

Appearances:
Marvel Comics Presents I#43 (February, 1990) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Larry Stroman (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Civil War: Battle Damage Report#1 (2007) - Lectronn profile

First Posted: 01/18/2004
Last updated: 03/17/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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