PHAT

Real Name: William Robert Reilly

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: X-Force/X-Statix member;
    former spokesman for Phat No More

Group Membership: X-Force/X-Statix (Anarchist/Tike Alicar, Bloke/Mickey Tork, Dead Girl/Moonbeam, Doop, el Guapo/Robbie Rodriguez, Henrietta Hunter, Mister Sensitive/Guy Smith, the Mysterious Fanboy/Arthur Lundberg, Saint Anna/Anna, the Spike/Darian Elliott, U-Go Girl/Edie Sawyer, Venus Dee Milo/Dee Milo, Vivisector/Myles Alfred)

Affiliations: Lennox Capriati, Victor Filson, Spike Freeman, Sam Geller, Lacuna (Woodstock Schumacker), Julia Roberts, Kevin Smith, Solomon O'Sullivan, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Dr. Brian Swaine, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett), X-Force/X-Statix

Enemies: Diego Ardilles, Agent Wright, the Bad Guy, the Bastronan militia, the Brotherhood (Mike Asher, Chela, Fagin, Hoffman, Marshal, Ms. Fingers, Orwell, Malon Reeves, others), the Bush Rangers (Stanley, Tray, Zippo, others), the CIA Crack Squad, the Coach, Dicky, the Euro-Trash (Blind Ali/Ali Al-Zubaidi, Miz Tree/Makiko Morioka, Oxford Blue/Preston Allen, Surrender Monkey/Brad Bentley, the Wall/Gunter Gross), Graviton (Franklin Hall), Britney Gutman, Mister Code, the Random Killers, Razorhead, Reggie, Smoke, Succubus, John Williams, X-Force (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Domino/Neena Thurman, Meltdown/Tabitha Smith, James Proudstar);
    formerly Arnie Lundberg

Known Relatives: "Pa" Reilly (father), Phatty (daughter), unidentified mother, unidentified sister

Aliases: "Billy Bob," "Billy-Bob," "Da Phat Man," "Jim," "White Boy"

Base of Operations: X-Statix Headquarters, Santa Monica, California, USA;
    formerly the X-Force Building, Santa Monica, California, USA; Jacksonville, Florida, USA

First Appearance: X-Force I#117 (August, 2001)

Powers/Abilities: Phat could produce "subcutaneous gunk" under his skin, allowing his body to grow and expand in size in the area that he produced the gunk in. For example, if he generated gunk within his hand, he would have a giant-sized fist or his overall mass would increase if he generated gunk within his entire body.

    While part of X-Statix, Phat wore a small watch that would beep whenever X-Statix was being called into a new mission. Like the other X-Statix members, he also carried a stash of small pills that affected his liver to sober him up within fifteen seconds, allowing him to go from partying one minute to fighting on a mission the next.

Height: Variable; (normal form) 5'9"
Weight: Variable; (normal form) 177 lbs. (originally 155 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde

History:
(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#8 - Phat entry - BTS) - William "Billy Bob" Robert Reilly was born in Jacksonville, Florida.

(Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men - Phat entry - BTS) - Growing up in Jacksonville, Billy Bob was brought up in a middle-class family.

(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#8 - Phat entry - BTS) - Billy Bob presumably graduated high school.

(X-Force I#117 (fb) - BTS) - Billy Bob Reilly manifested the mutant ability to produce subcutaneous gunk beneath his skin, allowing him to fatten up his body wherever the gunk was produced. Possibly struggling for a time with the weight fluctuations associated with his powers (see comments), Billy Bob eventually gained amazing control over his powers through rigorous training and he began using his abilities to fight alongside unidentified teams on missions such as one where he "fatted" up his arm to push some unidentified money grubbers through the windshield of their car. Adopting the codename of Phat, Billy Bob ultimately proved an invaluable asset to any group he worked with.

(X-Force I#118 (fb) - BTS) - Phat's agent convinced him that he would gain more publicity if he came from a more dysfunctional background.

(X-Force I#117 (fb) - BTS) - Phat concocted a fictional backstory about growing up in a trailer park with an abusive family that he escaped by living on the streets. In preparation for his audition to join the celebrity mutant group X-Force, Phat made a video about his fictional origins to give himself more "street" credibility and in the video, Phat appeared with street thugs and claimed that his mutant powers first manifested as weight fluctuations that were chalked up to the stress and strain of such a hard life (see comments).

(X-Force I#117) - Following the deaths of nearly all of the members of X-Force, the recently-made owner of the team, Spike Freeman, decided to recruit new members to add to the remaining three of U-Go Girl, the Anarchist and Doop. Phat was one recruit, along with Vivisector, Bloke, Saint Anna and the Orphan, chosen to become members of X-Force. Brought to the X-Force Building in California, the new recruits argued with one another, with Phat talking trash to the intellectual Vivisector, who claimed he had no interest in being a part of X-Force. Phat then accompanied the team to a briefing on an upcoming mission to save young Paco Perez from southern Bastrona. Later, during the team's press conference, the militant mutant group that formerly called itself X-Force attacked the team. Phat and Vivisector jumped into battle against James Proudstar, with Phat admitting respect for Vivisector's ability to kick butt despite Vivisector's disinterest in Phat's affirmations, while the other team members fought other classic X-Forcers. Once the fight had been calmed, a bruised Phat joined the rest of his team in returning to their press conference, where the Orphan was announced as X-Force's new team leader.

(X-Force I#119 (fb) - BTS) - At some point following his joining of X-Force, Phat was booked to appear on Larry King's talk show.

(X-Force I#118) - As many other new X-Force members said goodbye to their families, Phat returned to the Oakwood Apartments in Jacksonville, Florida to bid his parents farewell, apologizing for what the media were saying about them due to his false claims suggested by his agent. He shook his dad's hand and asked that they be proud of him before departing. Phat later attended the X-Force mission briefing, during which the team manager Coach revealed X-Force's Bastronan contact Diego Ardilles and suggested they all not get caught since the mission was unofficial. Upon arrival into Bastrona, Billy Bob complained that he was having trouble stopping his expanding gunk following U-Go Girl's teleportation of the team, to which U-Go Girl unceremoniously responded by suggesting either Phat go on a diet or take a plane next time. As the team took in their surroundings, Phat commented on how the "chickens" knew how to shake it and his smiling teammate Bloke replied that the "roosters" could as well, prompting an uneasy look from Phat. After the Orphan met and was betrayed by Diego Ardilles, Phat and the other members of X-Force appeared to rescue the Orphan from the Bastronan militia and Phat, unconcerned about Vivisector's whining that he knew a betrayal was going to happen, crushed some of the militia men with his "fatted" up hands.

    When Bloke was hit while shielding the escaping Diego Ardilles from helicopter fire, U-Go Girl teleported X-Force to a nearby cliff and Phat claimed that their teammate Saint Anna could fix Bloke up. A dying Bloke responded that he was way beyond fixing, further remarking that it would be one less of "his kind" to worry about, and Phat, still trying to keep up his fictional "street cred," tearfully feigned agreement with Bloke's words. Once Bloke was confirmed dead, an angry Phat turned towards Diego and "fatted up" his hands to choke him. The Orphan ordered Billy Bob to put Diego down. Billy Bob did as he was told and released Diego, whom the team discussed killing for his betrayal. The Orphan ultimately opted to have Diego lead them to Paco before they voted whether or not to kill him and when Phat asked about Bloke, the Orphan ordered X-Force member Anarchist to vaporize Bloke's corpse. Still affected by Bloke's death, Phat grimly watched with the rest of X-Force as the Anarchist did as commanded. Diego then led the team to Paco Perez and during the ensuing battle to rescue Paco from the Bastronan government, a portion of the ceiling caved in and Billy Bob "fatted up" once again to stop the ceiling from crushing Paco but the weight soon rendered Phat unconscious.

(X-Force I#119) - As Saint Anna was shot and the Orphan wracked his brain over how to save Paco from the machinery he had been hooked to, Phat regained consciousness just in time to create a cushion for the falling Saint Anna. He yelled to his teammates that she was still breathing and noted Vivisector's savage cutting down of the Bastronan militia men. Once the Orphan had saved Paco Perez, Phat was teleported away alongside the rest of X-Force and Paco. Upon their arrival elsewhere, X-Force realized they were not in Santa Monica and during the reprieve, Vivisector asked his teammates not to publicly mention his rampage, at which Billy Bob claimed that Vivisector's rampage would be the first thing he would bring up in his upcoming interview with Larry King. The Anarchist quickly ordered the two to stop arguing and when U-Go Girl awoke and realized she had teleported X-Force to her original home, she panicked and immediately teleported X-Force to Sunset Boulevard in California. Upon returning to the X-Force Building, after the Coach revealed to the Orphan that X-Force had been sent to retrieve Paco for his mutant disease-curing body, Phat, the Anarchist and Vivisector came to the Orphan's aid when the Coach unleashed his henchmen Smoke and Succubus against X-Force's disagreeing leader. During the battle, Phat held back Smoke until the Orphan broke the fight up.

(X-Force I#120) - Phat and several other members of X-Force attended a press conference held to explain the deaths of Saint Anna and Bloke and to publicly remind the press that X-Force was still together.

(Thunderbolts I#57) - Phat, along with many other members of X-Force, was among the heroes captured by Graviton in his latest attempt to control the world.

(X-Force I#128 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Phat and Vivisector went out gambling with the Anarchist. Phat ultimately lost all his money on the dice table but the Anarchist kept winning, eventually giving his winnings to an old prostitute and telling her to retire. The Anarchist later explained to Phat and Vivisector that he could use his acidic sweat to affect the way dice fell so they would fall however he wished.

(X-Force I#121) - While other team members viewed video footage of a prospective member of X-Force called the Spike, Billy Bob and Vivisector met with team owner, Spike Freeman, who suggested that the two intentionally cause internal conflict within the team to get more notice from the media and market themselves. Later, after the word "Lacuna" appeared on the wall near the pool at the X-Force Building, the Anarchist consulted Vivisector in the library as to the meaning of the word while Phat hung out nearby. When Vivisector explained that the word could mean "a missing part of someone's life" and the Anarchist, in turn, asked if it was similar to a blank spot, Phat feigned anger and attacked the Anarchist for "dissin' his bro" and "calling him a blank spot," unaware that an approving Spike Freeman was watching the scuffle via hidden cameras.

    The next day, Phat attended an X-Force press conference that was interrupted by the Spike, who spouted racist accusations directed at the Anarchist, nearly causing a fight. Seizing the opportunity to steal the spotlight, Phat and Vivisector attacked the Spike, shouting claims that he had "dissed" their "brother." Later, as Phat and the rest of X-Force relaxed poolside, the Anarchist spoke against the Spike joining X-Force and both Vivisector and Phat taunted the Anarchist, with Phat suggesting the Anarchist was running scared. Angered, the Anarchist projected some of his acidic energy into the pool, burning both of them, but before a fight could break out between the three, a mysterious stranger called herself Lacuna appeared.

(X-Force I#122) - When Lacuna used her powers to steal a Larry King Show script from U-Go Girl for an episode she was to guest host later that night, Vivisector whispered to Billy Bob that the show could be a perfect opportunity to cause more conflict within X-Force. Before the Larry King Show started that night, Phat and Vivisector were outside schmoozing with the ladies as Lacuna entered the television studio. During the show's taping, Billy Bob and Vivisector crashed through the wall drunk and Lacuna saw this as the perfect chance to reveal herself to the public. She traveled between seconds and removed everyone's clothing, prompting Phat to use his powers to cover everyone up. Lacuna then appeared, announced her candidacy for X-Force membership and returned everyone's clothes. Following the Larry King Show disaster, the Anarchist joined Phat and Vivisector at a casino and they later returned to the X-Force Building, where Phat and Vivisector asked the Orphan if he would be reprimanding them for their recent conduct. He replied by giving the two a warning that if they did not fall in line, he would personally tear each a new breathing apparatus. Happy to see their plan to cause internal conflict was working, Phat and Vivisector high-fived. They then joined X-Force at a press conference to announce the addition of the Spike to the team.

(X-Force I#123) - As X-Force finally had some well-deserved relaxation time, Phat flew a remote control UFO around the X-Force Building while other members of the team relaxed in their own way. When Doop popped a pimple in the bathroom, the entirety of X-Force was pulled into a nightmarish dimension apparently housed within Doop. In an effort to retrieve his teammates, Doop entered the dimension by folding in on himself and as he took in his new surroundings, Phat was seen running down an alleyway chased by shadowy figures with glowing yellow eyes. Noticing Phat's likeness in a stained glass window, Doop headed off to save him but was attacked by evil, Doop-like creatures. Fighting them off, Doop smashed through the window and arrived in the alleyway to rescue Phat by shoving him into his mouth. After saving the rest of X-Force and returning them back to their headquarters, Doop looked at the clock and noticed only a second had gone by while Phat and the others did not seem to be aware that anything had taken place at all.

(X-Force I#124) - X-Force, with Phat in tow, returned from a mission through a teleportation doorway created by U-Go Girl. Unfortunately, she accidentally teleported them into the ocean but quickly corrected the problem by teleporting the team into a forest of some sort. Once in the forest, the Anarchist signaled a plane and the team returned to Santa Monica via Federal Express. Back at their headquarters, Phat watched as the rest of the team argued amongst themselves over U-Go Girl's recent lack of ability to teleport correctly.

(The Brotherhood I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Phat aided X-Force into taking down a Japanese mutant terrorist sect.

(The Brotherhood I#9) - Phat was among the X-Force members present at a parade in their honor after they successfully took out a Japanese mutant terrorist sect. When the mutant terrorist Brotherhood attacked X-Force for being "mutant sellouts" due to their popularity with the media, Phat and the others jumped into action. While the others killed members of the Brotherhood, Phat crushed the claw-handed Chela with a "fatted-up" hand. The battle ultimately ended with most of the Brotherhood dead.

(X-Force I#125 (fb)) - X-Force went on a mission to Central America to find and arrest a general wanted for crimes against humanity. Phat and Vivisector isolated themselves to take out some militiamen.

(X-Force I#126 (fb) - BTS) - Phat was convinced to participate in a charade in which both he and Vivisector would "pretend" to be homosexual in an effort to get more public exposure.

(X-Force I#125) - When X-Force returned from the Central American mission, the media blasted them with questions about civilian casualties. After the media blitz, Spike Freeman informed X-Force that they did not own the name X-Force and were going to have to change the team's name for legal reasons. The team also discussed the idea of letting a mutant called Dead Girl join the team. Later, after U-Go Girl, the Orphan and the Anarchist returned from a seemingly fruitless attempt to recruit Dead Girl, Spike Freeman introduced Phat and the rest of X-Force to Agent Wright of the CIA, who claimed he had come to save X-Force from its own leader. During the ensuing scuffle between Agent Wright and the Orphan, Vivisector whispered to Phat that the team should change its name to the X-Foliates. Phat commented that it sounded "too gay" and Vivisector replied by asking if anything could be "too gay." The duo then high-fived, much to the distaste of the Spike. Once the fight between Wright and the Orphan had subsided, Agent Wright continued with a mission briefing during which he informed X-Force that they were to travel to the Mars 2010 Space Station and allow themselves to be captured by the Bush Rangers, a group of mutated former death row inmates who took over the space station. Wright further revealed that, once captured, X-Force were to let the CIA rescue them as part of a ploy to improve the CIA's public image in the wake of their loss of the mutant Paco Perez. The Anarchist immediately refused to go on the mission, suggesting instead that the Orphan alone should go since he had been the one to free Paco, and both Vivisector and Phat also agreed that the Orphan should take the fall for the team.

    Ultimately, X-Force took a vote with the Spike and U-Go Girl on the Orphan's side for going into space and Vivisector, Phat and the Anarchist on the side of letting the Orphan go alone. With the vote at a stalemate, new X-Force recruit Dead Girl arrived at the briefing and sided her vote with the Orphan. With the vote settled, Phat and the rest of X-Force suited up and prepared to head into space.

(X-Force I#126) - Phat accompanied the rest of X-Force into space and upon arriving at the Mars 2010 Space Station, U-Go Girl argued with the Anarchist over how close to the Space Station their shuttle needed to be. During their argument, the Spike noticed Vivisector and Billy Bob holding hands. Fed up, the Spike fired one of his spikes, slashing Vivisector's arm and demanding to know what was going on between the two. Despite Phat's reluctance to reveal their apparent homosexuality to X-Force, Vivisector admitted that Phat and himself had feelings for one another. The Spike questioned whether Vivisector and Phat would subsequently be looking out for their teammates over one another and Phat reminded the Spike that no wondered that about the similarly romantically-involved U-Go Girl and the Orphan. The Spike argued that perhaps the team should be concerned about U-Go Girl and the Orphan as well but the arguments were soon broken up when U-Go Girl teleported X-Force aboard the Space Station, where they were "welcomed" by the Bush Rangers, who were posing as the Station's astronauts and claiming to all be big fans of X-Force. After signing several autographs for the supposed astronauts, Phat and the rest of X-Force headed further inside the Space Station, unaware that the Bush Rangers had assumed their true forms to take down X-Force one by one.

(X-Force I#127) - Once the team reorganized following their defeat and capture by the Bush Rangers, the C.I.A. Crack Squad was sent to the Space Station to "rescue" X-Force. As the team prepared for battle once again with the Bush Rangers, Phat questioned Vivisector as to how long they should keep up their supposed charade about being homosexual. Vivisector explained that they should keep it up until they got the recognition they deserved, suggesting that they could later claim it was nothing more than a phase or experimentation. When an unsure Phat remarked that they may have to do...stuff...in public, Vivisector suggested that some displays of affection might aid the supposed charade, to which Phat nervously agreed since they were only apparently pretending. Upon arriving in the Bush Rangers' quarters, the team noticed that all of the Rangers had assumed the form of the seemingly traitorous Spike, each attempting to convince X-Force that they were the real Spike. The team leaped into battle against the Bush Rangers and while Dead Girl fought two Bush Rangers at once using her severed limbs, Phat was hit by a stray spike. Vivisector rushed to Phat's side and the Orphan ordered Vivisector to aid Dead Girl but Vivisector refused. After the Agent Wright and the C.I.A. Crack Squad arrived and attacked X-Force rather than rescuing them, revealing his desire for revenge on X-Force for not turning over Paco Perez, whose powers could have saved his daughter Louise, the Orphan, Doop, U-Go Girl and the Anarchist escaped by teleporting onto a nearby satellite and Vivisector, "the Spike," Dead Girl and a bandaged Phat attacked the Crack Squad. "The Spike" (secretly a disguised Bush Ranger) immediately killed Agent Wright and announced that, with the senior X-Force members spiraling away on the satellite, they were now X-Force. The remaining X-Forcers then departed the Space Station towards Earth, reluctantly leaving behind the four stranded senior X-Force members and the real Spike, who staggered to his feet, insisting he had not betrayed the team.

(X-Force I#128) - Onboard the shuttle, Vivisector tried to help the still-injured Phat, who was failing to heal up his wound using his powers. Vivisector attempted to have Dead Girl use her abilities to stave off Phat's death and when the insistent "Spike" tried to elect a new leader of X-Force, an angry Vivisector threatened him, reminding "the Spike" that U-Go Girl, the Orphan, Doop and the Anarchist were not dead yet and that Phat was fighting for his life. Before a brawl could break out, Phat "fatted up" his hand to separate his two fighting teammates and claimed that his desire to stop hearing the two argue had kickstarted his natural healing processes. The shuttle was then contacted by a smaller shuttle containing three of the senior X-Force members and when the smaller shuttle docked with X-Force's shuttle, the team began to celebrate, only to realize that only Doop and two others could fit inside the small shuttle. Upon seeing the crying Orphan emerge from the smaller shuttle, Phat angrily assumed they had left U-Go Girl behind but U-Go Girl emerged behind the Orphan, revealing that the Anarchist had been left behind on the satellite to die due to a high dice roll. Phat and Vivisector quickly explained to the senior X-Force members that the Anarchist had deliberately chosen to sacrifice himself, as his powers could affect dice rolls, and using their combined powers, X-Force was able to regain control of the satellite and rescue the Anarchist. The reunion was cut short, however, when the real Spike entered the shuttle, bruised and broken. At that point, the fake Spike revealed his ruse and leaped at the real Spike, impaling him with one of his own spikes. The rest of X-Force then chased down the Bush Ranger, who fired a bevy of spikes, one of which hit U-Go Girl. After taking out the fake Spike, the team turned to see U-Go Girl, dying from her injury. The Orphan remained by U-Go Girl's side as she died whispering a new suggestion for the team's name and Phat, Vivisector, the Anarchist, Dead Girl and Doop watched as U-Go Girl's corpse was shot out into space to rest among the stars.

(X-Force I#129) - While the Orphan argued with Spike Freeman over when to publicly confirm U-Go Girl's death and changing the team's name to "X-Statix," Vivisector and Billy Bob discussed their actual budding relationship and U-Go Girl's death while in bed together. The next day, X-Force (including Phat) visited some of the farm teams to look for new recruits to replace the fallen Spike and U-Go Girl. They watched battles between Sycamore, Wash-Out, Lightning Bug, Anti-Matter and Mant. While there, mutant talent agent Solomon O'Sullivan approached the team looking for more clients but the still-mourning Orphan led the team away from O'Sullivan. Moments later, the media bombarded X-Force with questions concerning their new name and U-Go Girl's death and one of the reporters approached Phat to ask about his relationship with Vivisector. Billy Bob grew angry and yelled that he was not gay, tossing the reporter aside as Vivisector watched from afar. Later, Vivisector angrily demanded Phat explain his earlier denial of his homosexuality. Phat attempted to explain how he didn't want everyone knowing about his sexuality and when Vivisector reminded him of the original idea to be homosexual in public for the exposure, Phat argued that it had been the original idea back when they were only pretending to have feelings for one another. The two then turned away from each other in silence. Phat later accompanied the rest of X-Force to the grand opening of the Doop Kiddies Hospital, where the Orphan assured the public that the team was still together with no in-fighting or bad blood. The Orphan then publicly announced the team's new name.

(X-Statix I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Phat signed a deal to produce a line of weight-conscious products called Phat No More.

(X-Statix I#3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Phat used some of his money to buy his family a house and gave them enough money to furnish the home three times over.

(Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (fb)) - After the tabloids went ablaze with talk of the modern romance between Phat and Vivisector, Phat secretly became very unsure of his own sexuality, occasionally dealing with bouts of uncertainty about even what species he was. Concerned about Phat's mental state, Doop secretly harvested enough genetic material from beneath the sleeping Billy Bob's fingernails to genetically engineer an entire family.

(X-Statix I#1) - Unaware that the immensely powerful mutant boy Arnie Lundberg was viewing video footage of X-Force and plotting against the team he blamed for "killing" his "first love" U-Go Girl, Phat accompanied the newly-minted X-Statix team (formerly X-Force) as they participated in staged mission to show off for the media and the group discussed the meaning of the new name. Following the battle, Phat and his teammates showered and discussed visiting their training camp in Nevada. Phat claimed he couldn't visit the camp the next day because he was launching his new Phat No More weight-watching product line. Suddenly, Phat "fatted up" in the shower and yelled that Vivisector was checking him out. Vivisector claimed he was looking for the soap and Phat argued that the soap wasn't kept where Vivisector was looking but before a full-fledged fight could break out, the Orphan got between the two and warned that if they couldn't behave, he would insist on separate shower arrangements. As the Orphan held Phat back, Vivisector remarked that separate arrangements suited him fine as long as Phat was insisting on forcing his supposedly reclaimed heterosexuality down everyone's throats. Later, Phat and the rest of X-Statix relaxed by watching a television show hosted by Solomon O'Sullivan in which mutants competed for a place on a superteam called O-Force.

    After X-Statix recruited teleporter Venus Dee Milo, Phat accompanied the rest of X-Statix to a sparsely-attended press conference to announce Venus' membership. When the team learned that the attendance was down due to the announcement of O-Force's first official mission, the Orphan canceled the press conference and the entire team rushed back into their headquarters to watch the mission on television. While watching, Phat commented on how the so-called "stars" being rescued by O-Force had not had any hits in years, prompting the Anarchist to suggest the entire mission was staged.

(History of the Marvel Universe II#5 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly after X-Force became X-Statix, Phat made the cover of "Gymboy" magazine. The Phat issue of "Gymboy," as well as several other magazines featuring his X-Statix teammates, were on display at a newsstand where private investigator Jessica Jones stopped to pick up a newspaper.

(X-Statix I#2) - Phat and the rest of X-Statix found themselves in the middle of a civil war when the Orphan asked Venus to teleport them somewhere quiet. The Orphan ordered Phat to "fat up" and go into action but Phat quickly realized that his powers were not working anymore. Horrified to have become normal, Phat panickly asked his teammates to stop staring at him, as he couldn't help his power malfunction, and he expressed hope that the situation was merely a passing phase. Later that night, Phat discussed his lack of powers with his teammates and Vivisector suspected that Phat's powers were failing because Phat was denying his true self and desires, suggesting that Phat accept who he really was as a solution to the problem. Phat was still present when the Anarchist attempted to apologize for an earlier fight with the Orphan during their civil war mission.

(X-Statix I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Due to his power loss, Phat left X-Statix and returned home.

(X-Statix I#3) - As the Orphan tried to rally the team against the dangerous Arnie Lundberg, whom he suspected was beaming images of U-Go Girl directly into his brain, Vivisector declined to help the Orphan, informing the Orphan of his own plans to get drunk and that Phat had went home. Vivisector then stumbled off, wracking his brain to determine whether both he and Phat were truly gay or not or whether their actions were only the product of an effort to keep the team interesting. When Billy Bob arrived home, he found that his family had moved out of the house he had bought them and into a trailer park, having embraced the fake life story Phat had given the public. He explained how he was trying to help them but his family decided that they enjoyed living in a trailer park better. When the park residents began chiming on the family discussion, Billy Bob asked them to leave since they were on private property but Billy Bob's father instead asked Billy Bob to leave. His mother and sister remarked that Billy Bob's presence only attracted press and crowds and when Billy Bob's sister commented that he no longer belonged with them, Billy Bob reminded them that they were his family, at which point his father replied they were his family, past tense. Depressed, Billy Bob left and went to a local bar, where he spent three hours buying his old friends drinks and confessed that he no longer had his powers. Drunk, his friends then accused Billy Bob of being a rich kid who thought he was better than they were and they beat him up.

(X-Statix I#4) - As the Orphan arrived in the small Minnesota town being controlled by Arnie Lundberg to confront Arnie alone, Billy Bob Reilly returned to X-Statix's Santa Monica headquarters, admitting to Vivisector that he had nowhere else to go. Vivisector asked if Billy Bob had seen the news footage of the Orphan fighting Arnie Lundberg alone but the depressed Billy Bob just asked Vivisector to change the channel, feeling that there wasn't anything he could do to help without his powers. Vivisector and Billy Bob then discussed recent events and came to the conclusion that, while they were both gay, they were not attracted to each other. Comfortable with himself once again, Phat found his powers had returned and he rejoined X-Statix. He and Vivisector then went on live television and publicly announced their homosexuality, prompting an upswing in sales of X-Statix merchandise. Phat then accompanied the rest of X-Statix into Minnesota to rescue the Orphan from Arnie Lundberg. Phat, complete with restored powers, jumped into the fray and began obliterating the zombies Arnie had summoned to attack the Orphan. When the surprised Orphan commented on Phat's returned powers, Billy Bob explained his talk with Vivisector, who further informed the Orphan how he and Phat were not attracted to one another. Phat chimed in that he was more into "bruthas" and when Vivisector admitted his attraction to people more intellectually challenging, an argumentative Phat asked if Vivisector was calling him dumb. Vivisector responding by telling Phat not to be so melodramatic, reminding Phat that they were in the middle of a zombie battle.

    Following Arnie Lundberg's standing down, Phat and the rest of X-Statix looked outside their headquarters to see an adoring public. Discussing how they were popular again after O-Force had failed to defeat Arnie themselves, Phat and X-Statix then began talking about who their next recruit should be, at which point the Orphan nominated Arnie Lundberg.

(X-Statix I#5) - Billy Bob relaxed with the rest of X-Statix as the new recruit Mysterious Fan Boy (Arnie Lundberg) got used to being a member of the team. As the Anarchist asked the group if his costume made his butt look big, commenting that his acidic sweat powers were linked to the muscles in his butt, Phat joked that his mouth must also be linked to those muscles, given the words that typically came out of the Anarchist's mouth. The Anarchist responded by firing a blast of acidic sweat at Phat, who ducked the blast before jumping into a fistfight with his teammate. As the fight continued, with Phat getting hit in the eyes by a blast of acidic sweat, the Orphan assured the Mysterious Fan Boy that X-Statix was a closely knit team who only play fought to keep themselves sharp. When Vivisector remarked on the so-called adoring public secretly hated them and couldn't wait for them to fail, the Mysterious Fan Boy admitted his disappointment and used his powers to close up the throats of Phat and the other X-Statix members, commenting that the rumors about the team being spoiled and ego-driven seemed to be true. The Orphan ended the attack by suggesting X-Statix all go out for lunch and Phat soon joined the team in a bathroom stall, from which Doop produced a short-range signal that blocked Arnie's powers. The group discussed Arnie's membership and the Orphan threatened to break the neck of any X-Statix member who didn't play along with Arnie's ideal vision of what the team should be until the Orphan could figure out what to do with him.

    Later, Billy Bob accompanied X-Statix to the Chimpanzees' Tea Party, an upscale restaurant frequented by celebrities such as Julia Roberts. When Lacuna interrupted the lunch and attempted to get the Mysterious Fan Boy on her television show as a forum to publicly reveal his identity, the Orphan ordered Venus Dee Milo to teleport everyone back to X-Statix headquarters. Back at their HQ, the group enjoyed a pizza together, not noticing that Lacuna had slipped inside the HQ along with Spike Freeman using her ability to travel between seconds. Once inside, she surprised X-Statix by grabbing the Mysterious Fan Bou's mask and revealing his identity to the public. After a media frenzy over the Mysterious Fan Boy's identity, X-Statix decided to go on a mission to prove Arnie Lundberg had changed and was using his powers for good. When dangerous mutant Razorhead escaped a Louisiana prison, X-Statix saw their opportunity and teleported to Louisiana to stop Razorhead. Accompanying the team on the mission, Phat witnessed Razorhead getting blown apart by the Mysterious Fan Boy, who himself succumbed to a heart condition secretly exacerbated by a blackmailed Lacuna. Phat later watched the Mysterious Fan Boy Funeral Special on television with the rest of X-Statix and when the Anarchist suggested that perhaps they were a better team during the few days they were forced to live up to Arnie's expectations, Phat and the others jokingly chided the Anarchist, claiming that they wanted to start insulting one another again.

(X-Statix I#6) - After the Orphan left X-Statix out of guilt of his involvement with blackmailing Lacuna into exacerbating the Mysterious Fan Boy's death, Vivisector and Phat appeared on Lacuna's television show to debate with Dead Girl and the Anarchist about whether or not the Orphan should return to the team, arguing in favor of the Orphan's return. Later back at X-Statix HQ, Phat and the others relaxed as Spike Freeman berated them for creating bad publicity surrounding the Orphan's disappearance. Venus Dee Milo shamed Phat and the others, reminding of what the Orphan would have done for them and how they didn't seem care he was gone. Phat suggested to Spike that the team should go on some random mission to improve their falling ratings but Spike informed Phat that might not be possible, as the X-Statix shareholders didn't like that one of the team's members, especially their leader, was running around like a loose cannon. Spike then explained that if the Orphan didn't return to the team soon, the shareholders would demand that X-Statix's next mission would be to eliminate the Orphan. Later, following a theft at mutant leader Professor X's lab, a new supervillain calling himself the Bad Guy appeared and attacked Paramount Studios wearing several costumes stolen from the lab, forcing X-Statix's involvement since much of the public assumed Bad Guy to be a new identity for the missing Orphan. When X-Statix arrived at the Studio lot to stop Bad Guy, only to learn the rampage had moved to Rodeo Drive, X-Statix teleported to Rodeo Drive and, also thinking the Bad Guy was the Orphan, Vivisector and Phat decided to take down the Bad Guy on their own but they were easily trounced until the rest of the team saved them.

(X-Statix I#7) - Phat and Vivisector watched as Venus Dee Milo hesitated to attack the Bad Guy, fearful of harming whom she thought was the Orphan, and Dead Girl ultimately forced the Bad Guy to flee by clawing his face. Afterwards, the Anarchist angrily confronted Venus over her hesitation but Venus' energies exploded outward, knocking back Phat, Vivisector and the Anarchist. Later, as the media speculated crazily over the true identity of the Bad Guy, Lacuna met with Phat and the other members of X-Statix, proposing an alliance so that she might be able to get an exclusive Bad Guy unmasking story for her television show. X-Statix agreed and Phat immediately accompanied them to Century City, where the Bad Guy to destroy a multiplex.

(X-Statix I#8) - After the Orphan rejoined X-Statix under his pre-X-Force codename of Mister Sensitive, Phat attended the X-Statix press conference to announce his return and after the conference, Phat and the others revealed that the Anarchist had been nominated as X-Statix in Mister Sensitive's absence. The next day, Phat joined the team in again battling the Bad Guy, where he was knocked unconscious as Venus Dee Milo teleported the Bad Guy away and defeated him with the help of Dead Girl.

(All-New Doop#4 (fb)) - Following the defeat of a giant monster, Billy Bob joined the rest of X-Statix and a time-displaced U-Go Girl in relaxing in a hot tub. Not long afterwards, still images of Phat and the other members of X-Statix taken from Doop's film reels were used in an art gallery exhibit held by Doop. Following another mission with the time-displaced U-Go Girl, Phat walked off with his bloodied and beaten teammates (see comments).

(X-Statix I#9) - X-Statix, with Phat included, went on a mission to Africa. The team briefly caught their breath following the end of the mission and Venus teleported them all back home. Back at the X-Statix HQ, Phat and the others ate a well-deserved dinner together and Phat later joined the team as they visited the set of the in-production X-Statix movie. While watching the filmed dailies, Phat asked Lennox Capriati, the actor playing him, how the studio managed to get his power so perfect on the big screen and Lennox explained that it was all the magic of cinema and computer-generated special effects. The director then brought the team onto the set itself, where he introduced them to el Guapo, a mutant playing himself in the film. Vivisector and Phat both looked at each other in interest when the director mentioned the things el Guapo could do with his skateboard. A short time later, Mister Sensitive and Phat stage a fight scene recreation for the cameras and as X-Statix subsequently watched the footage, Phat commended Mister Sensitive on his punch, to which Mister Sensitive responded that he had pulled his punch at the last second so as not to hurt Phat. The team briefly discussed the realism in their reenactment vs. the film version.

    Later, after el Guapo aided Mister Sensitive in defeating the insane Sharon Ginsberg on the movie set, Phat met with the rest of the X-Statix to discuss adding el Guapo as their newest member and he gave his support to el Guapo. He later attended the X-Statix press conference to discuss the team's earlier African adventure, where some of the details given to the press were altered using edited video footage.

(X-Men Unlimited I#41/2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Phat, Vivisector, the Anarchist and Mister Sensitive did an unrevealed "something" in San Francisco that wasn't looked upon favorably.

(X-Men Unlimited I#41/2) - Phat and the three other male members of X-Statix ran from a screaming crowd of female fans, briefly hiding in a phone booth before catching a train. Onboard the train, Phat, Vivisector and Mister Sensitive were introduced to the Anarchist's Caucasian foster grandfather and were briefly surprised at his skin color until Phat remembered that the Anarchist had been raised by a Caucasian foster family. X-Statix PR man Victor Filson soon entered and warned Phat and the others not to try any funny business like what had happened in San Francisco. They all agreed and once in their hotel room, Phat announced that he was going to change into his "party threads" and hit the bachelor party occurring in the hotel conference room. Mr. Filson, however, said that he had scheduled an interview with the press and that the foursome were not to leave, except for Vivisector, whom the press weren't interested in. As everyone present suggested reasons for the press not wanting to interview Vivisector, Phat suggested that Vivisector hire an image consultant. Once Filson left, Mister Sensitive announced that he knew of a party being held by a local fan club and the four left the Anarchist's foster grandfather in charge of the hotel room while they subsequently partied the night away. After a while, Mr. Filson discovered them and as they were led outside to the press junket, Billy Bob stopped to pose for press photos using various facial expressions. He also was interviewed, responding to the question of what he called his costume with the name "Joe." After the short stop, the foursome continued behind Mr. Filson towards a scheduled publicity performance until Filson turned his head, at which point the foursome snuck outside. Phat and the others then goofed off outside until a very annoyed mutant-hating groundskeeper ordered them off the grass. As Phat and the others returned to continue up the stairs towards their performance, a fashion designer stopped Phat and tried to get him to become a spokesman for his clothing designs but Phat declined, saying that he only bought the designer's clothing to burn it and that he would only wear it if he were buried in it. He then fistbumped the Anarchist, commended for his snappy comeback. Returning to the their hotel room, Phat, Vivisector and Mister Sensitive realized Vivisector was nowhere to be found. Minutes later, Vivisector returned and the foursome then went on to appear onstage, where they showcased each of their superhuman powers to the approval of screaming female fans. Following the exhibition, Phat and the other male X-Statix members reunited with their female teammates and teleported away.

(Wolverine/Doop#2) - As X-Statix celebrated Doop's return from a solo mission by throwing him a poolside party at their Santa Monica HQ, Venus Dee Milo bounced onto Phat's "fatted up" head while Dead Girl squirted sunscreen on Doop's head.

(X-Statix I#11) - Phat joined the X-Statix team in viewing video footage of el Guapo's defeat of Sharon Ginsberg and discussing whether or not to invite el Guapo to join the team, with Phat noting that el Guapo was no lightweight when he saved Mister Sensitive from Ginsberg. When Spike Freeman referred to el Guapo as the "fresh new face of X-Statix," Phat and the other X-Statix members glared at him, prompting an assurance from Spike that el Guapo would not hamper the existing X-Statix members' Q-ratings at all. Spike then revealed a plan to expose el Guapo to the dangers of being a X-Statix member and Phat subsequently joined the other members of X-Statix at a party to both thank el Guapo for saving Mister Sensitive and officially invite him to join X-Statix. Almost as soon as el Guapo accepted their invitation to join X-Statix, the team each received a communication requiring X-Statix's presence and Spike Freeman announced that the team was needed in Malaysia. El Guapo suggested calling his girlfriend Consuela since they had movie plans that night but Phat and the others glared at him, prompting el Guapo to suggest calling her later. During the Malaysian conflict against a group of militants, el Guapo was injured and, following the mission, Phat's arm was bandaged as the team recovered at their headquarters. After el Guapo was reunited with his board, he fully recovered and Phat listened with the rest of X-Statix as el Guapo explained his strange connection to his skateboard and when Vivisector assured el Guapo he was wanted, Phat quietly warned Vivisector to be careful what he said. El Guapo soon asked how the team managed to become instantly sober when going on missions and Phat and X-Statix replied by revealing a set of pills that affected their livers to sober them up within fifteen seconds.

    Later that night, Phat was walking the halls when he spotted Vivisector listening at el Guapo's door. When Vivisector raved about el Guapo's innocence compared to the rest of X-Statix, Phat warned Vivisector to be careful of making a fool out of himself. An angry Vivisector yelled at Phat, only to realize he was acting foolish due to his attraction to el Guapo and Vivisector asked Phat to knock him unconscious if he started doing anything embarrassing, to which Phat agreed to do so. Phat later joined X-Statix at a party, where el Guapo attacked Doop for filming him cheating on his girlfriend. That night, Phat and Vivisector again walked past el Guapo's room, overhearing sounds of anger and apology. Not long after, Phat accompanied X-Statix on a red carpet walk as the announcement of el Guapo's X-Statix membership was made public.

(X-Statix I#12) - Phat accompanied X-Statix on a mission to the India/Pakistan border. Once the team returned, they watched on television as Dead Girl, away on her first modeling gig, was attacked by protesters who felt that she was setting a bad image for young women. Later, after a young girl named Britney Gutman, daughter of X-Statix mortician Brad Gutman, went on a shooting spree, Phat and X-Statix were called in to stop Britney. After Britney was shot by a sniper, Dead Girl learned of Brad Gutman's disturbing abuse of the corpses he worked with and she killed him, presenting his heart to a shocked Phat and the rest of her X-Statix teammates. Following Dead Girl's revelation of Brad's activities, the team teleported back to the India/Pakistan border, where Dead Girl spoke to the corpses to determine if any were US citizens linked to domestic terrorism.

(X-Statix I#14 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Phat purchased two Ferraris, one Porsche and a ranch in Aspen.

(X-Statix I#13) - Phat joined the other X-Statix members in discussing their upcoming mission to retrieve the formerly deceased popstar Henrietta Hunter from the country of Europa. Despite opposition from Mister Sensitive and the Anarchist, Venus Dee Milo teleported the team to Europa, where they were immediately attacked by soldiers. During the battle, Phat crushed many of the soldiers opposing them with a giant "fatted up" fist and once the soldiers were killed, Henrietta Hunter awoke on a morgue slab and was teleported back to X-Statix HQ with the team. Almost as soon as they returned, Phat witnessed Mister Sensitive argue with Spike Freeman about having to babysit the "spoiled little rich girl" Henrietta. Shortly thereafter, Professor X concluded that Henrietta was a mutant with empathic abilities, prompting Billy Bob to ask how empathy would help them if they had to fight the Hulk. Phat's insensitive remarks caused an emotional Henrietta to admit she didn't know how her powers could help them and when Henrietta stormed off in tears, Phat sarcastically asked for a saucer of milk for "the diva." Later, after Spike Freeman publicly announced Henrietta Hunter's membership into X-Statix on television and that he controlled what X-Statix did or did not do, Phat witnessed Venus Dee Milo threaten to drop Spike from high above X-Statix headquarters for his remarks. Phat later accompanied X-Statix to a New York celebration of Henrietta's X-Statix membership and as the team was walking down the red carpet, a mutant called the Wall grabbed Henrietta and took off down the street. Having watched the events from afar through his camera, Spider-Man leaped onto the scene, teaming with X-Statix to rescue Henrietta.

(X-Statix I#14) - A fierce battle broke out between X-Statix, Spider-Man and the Wall and his teammates, a group calling itself the Euro-Trash. During the battle, Phat tried to crush Euro-Trash member Oxford Blue with his fat while Dead Girl kicked Surrender Monkey in the head. Once Mister Sensitive rescued Henrietta from the Wall, Spider-Man announced that he would take over from there, prompting an angry Phat to knock the perceived spotlight-stealing Spider-Man aside with a "fatted up" fist. While Spider-Man argued with X-Statix, Surrender Monkey announced that it was a great time for the Euro-Trash to retreat and the Euro-Trash snatched up Henrietta again, escaping into the nearby X-Statix Megastore. Realizing they could be running into a trap, the Anarchist suggested leaving Henrietta behind rather than have the cameras film them failing to rescue Henrietta and Phat suggested the team return to their headquarters to watch television instead. Venus Dee Milo agreed and teleported the team back to their HQ to decide what to do next. Mister Sensitive argued that X-Statix should rescue Henrietta, as she believed the team could be more than just media celebrities, but the discussion was soon interrupted when Doop entered and played a recording in which Spike Freeman bragged about having arranged Henrietta's kidnapping with Europan government agents Dicky and Reggie and how the "washed up" X-Statix would be able to save Henrietta. Determined to prove Spike wrong and rebel against his plans, X-Statix eventually to save Henrietta from the Euro-Trash. Venus Dee Milo teleported Phat and the rest of X-Statix into the X-Statix Megastore where the Euro-Trash was holding Henrietta hostage. While his teammates battled the other Euro-Trash members, Phat used his powers to crush Oxford Blue. After the battle, Phat attended a X-Statix press conference, where Henrietta announced her plans to use X-Statix to help charities and design the team new costumes. Phat later joined X-Statix at their HQ, where the team watched Henrietta's charitable activities on television and Spike Freeman informed them that Henrietta's popularity had put her on a track to become X-Statix's new team leader. Shocked, the team decided that Henrietta Hunter had to die...again.

(X-Statix I#15) - In the X-Statix HQ, Vivisector informed the team of a mysterious sniper killing random citizens in the streets and suggested the situation might be something X-Statix should handle. Unsure if they should deal with the sniper, X-Statix was also reminded by Spike Freeman that they still had to find a way to rid themselves of Henrietta Hunter, unaware that Lacuna was traveling in between seconds inside their headquarters. Opting to deal with Henrietta before dealing with the scheming Spike Freeman, X-Statix teleported aboard Henrietta's yacht and Phat knocked a boat worker overboard in order to have a private word with Henrietta. Lacuna followed X-Statix onto the yacht and revealed herself by explaining to Henrietta that X-Statix was there to kill her. When Henrietta asked why the team wanted to kill her, the Anarchist proclaimed Henrietta to be annoying, Dead Girl proclaimed Henrietta to be interfering and  Phat proclaimed her to be Caucasian. Henrietta suggested they wanted to kill her because she was more popular than they were, to which the Anarchist also agreed was a reason. After a speech from Lacuna about what Henrietta represented, the team decided not to kill Henrietta and afterwards went on a mission to Afghanistan to rescue a reality show cast and crew from terrorist Taliban fighters. During the battle, Vivisector remarked that if the mission was actually a part of the reality show, he was going to get a new agent, prompting Phat to ask if Vivisector was still with I.C.M. Dodging missiles, Phat and the Anarchist both claimed to be typecast by their agents but when a missile was fired at Henrietta, Phat leaped in front o fher, deflecting the missile into a trench by "fatting up." Unfortunately, the trench housed el Guapo, whose legs were blown off by the exploding missile blast. Following the mission, Billy Bob received a harsh chewing out for his actions by the Anarchist, who felt Phat should have risked his life to save X-Statix member el Guapo rather than the popular Henrietta. When Phat apologized for injuring el Guapo, Vivisector angrily berating Phat for costing el Guapo his looks, at which point Phat argued that perhaps Vivisector would no longer follow el Guapo around like a lovesick dog. A fight nearly broke out between Vivisector and Phat for Phat's remarks but the two were separated by Mister Sensitive, who warned that Henrietta's popularity threatened to tear X-Statix apart. Later, as the random sniper killings continued, Phat attended a X-Statix press conference, where team leader Henrietta Hunter announced X-Statix's plan to stop the random killings.

(X-Statix I#16) - As the random killings continued, Phat and the rest of X-Statix modeled new costumes designed by Henrietta Hunter on Lacuna's television show. Following the show, Henrietta and X-Statix, back in their normal costumes, randomly teleported around the country in a vain attempt to find the one responsible for the random killings. Ultimately realizing the chances of finding the killers at random were futile, X-Statix eventually decided to return to their headquarters and throw darts at a giant map of the USA to help determine where they should search next. Phat and the others later watched TV news reports about the Random Killers, unaware that the organizers of the Euro-Trash were supplying Lacuna with incriminating documents on Spike Freeman that tied him to a number of terrorist activities. Lacuna informed Mister Sensitive of the documents and he confronted Freeman alongside Phat and the rest of X-Statix. Defiantly pointing out that the documents implicated many of X-Statix as well and gloating that if he was brought down, the team would be too, Spike Freeman expressed no worries about the documents. When he implicated that he might arrange to have Lacuna killed by the Random Killers to keep her from releasing the documents, Mister Sensitive kicked Spike in the head so hard that it broke his neck, much to the absolute shock of Phat and the other X-Statix members.

(X-Statix I#17) - After Lacuna was shot by one of the Random Killers, X-Statix decided to obtain the documents incriminating both Spike Freeman and several of themselves and Phat suggested they simply ask Lacuna's parents the names of Lacuna's lawyers. Mister Sensitive opted for a different approach and after he learned the names of the lawyers by using his sensitivity to sense a reaction to the name from the comatose Lacuna, Phat accompanied X-Statix to the law firm of Williams, Williams and Williams, where they began destroying documents. Lawyer John Williams soon entered the room and produced copies of the documents, gloating that X-Statix was screwed. Reluctantly returning to their headquarters, Phat and the rest of the team watched as the documents were publicly revealed on television and they discussed what to do going forward. When Mister Sensitive suggested they do something spectacular to win back the American people, Phat questioned what they could do as the news reported on the continuing killings and the killers' leader, Mister Code. Upon seeing the reports, X-Statix realized they needed to stop Mister Code to redeem themselves. After learning from Dead Girl's communication with Spike Freeman's corpse that Spike had previous financial connections to Mister Code, X-Statix teleported into the center of Mister Code's suburban headquarters and during the subsequent battle, Venus Dee Milo was knocked out and Henrietta Hunter got her neck broken by Mister Code. As the battle against the Random Killers continued, Mister Sensitive levitated himself and Mister Code high above the battlefield and dropped Mister Code, killing him. When Phat and the rest of X-Statix approached Mister Code's corpse, Mister Sensitive removed his mask, triggering an explosive device within Mister Code's body.

(X-Statix I#18 (fb) - BTS) - Phat jumped onto the exploding Mister Code and "fatted up" so quickly that it cracked his bones. Despite this, he wrapped his "fatted up" flesh around the explosion over and over again, ultimately muffling the explosion, sacrificing his own life to save his teammates.

(X-Statix I#18) - When the smoke had cleared, X-Statix stood in shock at Phat, whose powers had shielded the rest of the team from an explosion that had also blown off one of Phat's feet. Mourning the loss of their long time teammate, X-Statix surveyed the damage, noting that both Mister Code and Henrietta Hunter had perished in the battle. As the media paid special attention to the deaths of Phat and Henrietta, whose record company released a posthumous single, X-Statix held a televised funeral for their comrade-in-arms, Phat, whose "fatted up" corpse had to be buried in a gigantic coffin. The funeral sparked conflicting protests over Phat's death, with some protesters proclaiming him a gay icon and others claiming him as an activist for the fat. Later, after people who sang Henrietta Hunter's posthumous single were mysteriously dying, including X-Statix member el Guapo, X-Statix decided to investigate by having Dead Girl sing Henrietta's music single. Despite her own protests, Dead Girl nonetheless agreed to go through with it, only to be hit from above by Phat's missing foot returning to Earth.

(X-Statix I#20 - BTS) - As he introduced himself to Myles Alfred (formerly Vivisector), Raju, a student of Myles' professor father, expressed his sympathy for the recent loss of Phat.

(Giant-Size X-Statix#1 - BTS) - Not long after Phat's death, the harvested genetic material from Phat was used to engineer a child and not long after, the female child was born and began exhibiting the same powers as Phat during grade school. Years following the death of Phat, Dead Girl returned to Earth from her own supposed death and attempted to reunite X-Statix to stop an impending threat. Upon hearing Dead Girl's plan to reunite X-Statix, Mister Sensitive, who had also somehow returned to life following his own death, asked if Dead Girl planned to reunite the secretly retired Vivisector and himself with former members U-Go Girl, the Anarchist, el Guapo and Phat but Dead Girl replied by confirming that they were dead. Mister Sensitive then asked that, if he could come back from the dead, why couldn't Phat and the others and Dead Girl responded by stating they did not have time to discuss such complexities.

(Marvel's Voices: Pride I#1 - BTS) - While making a recording of LGBTQ+ history within the superhuman community for preservation purposes, former mutant Prodigy noted Phat, Vivisector and their former X-Force teammate Bloke as some of the many in the superhuman community that followed in the footsteps of the mutant Northstar's public reveal of his homosexuality.

(The X-Cellent I#4 - BTS) - When Mister Sensitive discovered a romantic tryst between new X-Statix members Gone Gal and the A, he warned that romantic relationships within the team were bad for discipline, at which point Gone Gal reminded Mister Sensitive that he never had a problem with Vivisector and Phat's past relationship. Mister Sensitive claimed that if he had broken them up back in the day, he would've been called homophobic.

Comments: Created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred.

    Phat claimed a background of living on the streets in X-Force#117 and faked a video to back this up. While we saw the video, we didn't see him taping it, hence it being listed as a BTS flashback (the video was the flashback, his taping it was BTS). This was shown to be fake in the next issue, when it became clear he had a good relationship with his suburban family. How much of the information in the flashback was accurate is thus in doubt, and as such is not included in the history above. Some of the events depicted could have still have happened, such as him blaming his weight fluctuations on stress. For completeness, it is listed below, but remember, take it with a pinch of salt.

    (X-Force#117 (fb)) - As a young boy, Billy Bob Reilly grew up in a trailer park with his alcoholic mother and abusive father. To escape his roots, Billy Bob turned to the streets and as his powers emerged, he chalked them up to weight fluctuations caused by extreme stress and strain. Eventually, tests proved that he was a mutant and after rigorous training, Billy Bob developed amazing control of his special abilities.

    Phat appeared on the cover of X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl#1 with the following then-deceased characters, who may or may not need to be considered affiliations in the afterlife (considering that Phat was not actually in the issue at all): the Ancient One (though this might've been a fake), Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo), Basilisk (Basil Elks), Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Cypher (Doug Ramsey), Destiny (Irene Adler), Lady Dorma, Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) (who was not deceased at the time but was on the cover with Phat), Green Goblin (Harry Osborn or perhaps Bart Hamilton since Harry was later resurrected/retconned alive by the demon Mephisto), Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank), Mockingbird (the Skrull impostor H'rpra), Nova (Frankie Raye), the Pitiful One, Captain George Stacy, Gwen Stacy, Synch (Everett Thomas), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Union Jack (Lord James Montgomery Falsworth), Whiplash (Mark Scarlotti), the Wraith (Brian DeWolff) and Yellowjacket (Rita Demara).

    Phat is seen in several flashbacks to Doop's time with X-Statix in All-New Doop#4. However, many of these flashbacks don't seem to make sense in the continuity of the team and were a bit of a stretch to explain. For example, the first flashback shows X-Statix battling a giant monster and while Phat is not in that particular flashback, we see the Orphan/Mister Sensitive, Vivisector, Venus Dee Milo, the Anarchist and U-Go Girl, all flying. For starters, none of those X-Force/X-Statix could outright fly and at best, the Orphan could levitate slightly off the ground and both Venus and U-Go Girl could hover briefly in a teleportational field but again, none could outright fly. Another issue with that particular flashback is that Venus Dee Milo and U-Go Girl were seen fighting side-by-side despite Venus having not even joining X-Statix until after U-Go Girl's death. The next flashback shows Phat, Vivisector, the Anarchist, the Orphan/Mister Sensitive, Venus Dee Milo and U-Go Girl all sharing a hot tub together while Doop films the scene. Again, Venus and U-Go Girl are together in the same place despite Venus not joining X-Statix until after U-Go Girl's death. The next flashback shows X-Statix at a press conference with again, both U-Go Girl and Venus Dee Milo present at the same time. One of the other flashbacks is seemingly meant to show the end of the X-Statix team and it shows a bloodied X-Statix (comprised of U-Go Girl, the Anarchist, Vivisector, Phat, the Orphan/Mister Sensitive and Venus Dee Milo) all walking off into the distance. Given that most of X-Statix died in their final mission, this must be a flashback to the end of an earlier mission perhaps one that signaled the beginning of the end of X-Statix. This could somewhat place the flashbacks in All-New Doop#4 as occurring at some point after X-Statix I#8 but before Phat's death in X-Statix I#18, which would work because Dead Girl got a sense of dread about the future of the team in X-Statix I#8 when the Anarchist took up leadership of the team. So that explains the timing amd placement continuity-wise of the flashbacks in All-New Doop#4 BUT that still doesn't really explain how U-Go Girl could be there when she was already dead. The All-New Doop mini-series establishes that Doop can travel through and pull others into the realm of Marginalia, where time flows much differently than on Earth, so U-Go Girl's presence in those flashbacks could potentially be explained by saying that at some point prior to her actual death, U-Go Girl was pulled into Marginalia by Doop and she sort of vacationed there for a time, popping out of the realm at various points in her own future following her death to assist her teammates before eventually returning to Marginalia and emerging back in her own time, where she ultimately died. For the record, the flashbacks in All-New Doop#4 somewhat support this theory, as they mention that some of the X-Statix members may not have died but rather, faked their own deaths to retire to Marginalia, where they could live amongst those thought dead, imaginary beings and beings who never truly existed. The mention of living among the dead is the part that I feel somewhat supports the theory that U-Go Girl lived in Marginalia for a time, popping in and out of the Earth realm to interact with those who thought she died (as she had actually died in their past). U-Go Girl's later appearances in the afterlife in Incredible Hercules and the X-Statix Presents Dead Girl mini-series confirm that U-Go Girl did eventually and truly die, the same Dead Girl mini-series confirms that Mister Sensitive also died (since he was in the afterlife) and the later Giant-Size X-Statix#1 confirms that both the Anarchist and Phat also truly died (despite the Anarchist also appearing in All-New Doop...he must've also vacationed in Marginalia for a time alongside U-Go Girl). Therefore, it seems as if Vivisector was the only member of X-Statix who faked his death and retired to Marginalia for a time. Venus was thought to have died but the two X-Cellent mini-series establishes that while she did explode, she survived as dispersed molecules until she was brought back together by a restored Zeitgeist.

    The story in X-Men Unlimited I#41 is a not-so-thinly-veiled parody of the Beatles movie, "A Hard Day's Night," with Phat, Vivisector, the Anarchist and Mister Sensitive playing the role of the four Beatles. Phat was essentially in the George Harrison role. Also, I would like to point out that I placed the X-Men Unlimited I#41 story chronologically after the events in X-Statix#9. At first, I couldn't decide where to place it because the actual X-Men Unlimited issue was from March 2003. The X-Statix issue from March 2003 was part of "Moons of Venus" storyline (#7 specifically). The Orphan was a member of X-Statix in the X-Men Unlimited story so it had to have taken place after #8, which was when he rejoined the team. In #9, Solomon O'Sullivan mentions that Sharon Ginsberg's surgery took place through the night, meaning that #9 takes place the day after the events in #8. Since the X-Men Unlimited story could not have taken place between the span of a single night, I placed the story chronologically after #9, even though the story was published two months prior to X-Statix I#9.

    Phat's original weight in the Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men was 155 lbs. but his later OHotMU entry in 2006 stated his weight as 177 lbs. His origin in X-Force I#117 mentioned that he suffered from weight fluctuations due to his powers so perhaps his normal form fluctuates between 155-177 lbs.

    Phat appears on a variant cover of Giant-Size X-Statix#1 as a zombie but there have been no stories showing Phat had become a zombie after his death. I think this can be chalked up as simply being art piece that used zombification as a metaphor for the various deaths of X-Statix's former members.

    Phat appears on a variant cover of X-Cellent I#3 but does not appear in the actual issue itself. The colors of his costume appeared to be reversed in the image (see image above the Henrietta Hunter-designed costume), with the gray at the top of his hoodie & purple on the bottom.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Phat should be distinguished from:

• Fatbat of Earth-96201 - Kingpin/Morbius composite being--Toy Biz Arachniphobia toyline unused sketch
  
• Fat Boy - vampire--Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1
• Fatboys - New York club of skateboarders--Longshot I#4
• Fat Fillmore - friend of Calvin--Li'l Kids I#11
  
• Fat Freddie - owner of pool hall--Hulk Comic (UK)#5
• Fat Man (Lee Portman) - Old West criminal--Kid Colt I#117
• "Fat Man" - cocaine drug smuggler/dealer, hired assassins to kill Martin & Swifty--Defenders I#133
  
• Phastos - Eternal weapons master--Eternals II#1
• Phatty - Phat's genetically-engineered daughter, X-Statix member--Giant-Size X-Statix#1
  
• Teena the Fat Lady (Mary Swenson) - Circus of Crime member--Incredible Hulk I#3
• or any other "Phat" characters
  

"Pa" Reilly

Appearances:
X-Force I#117-119 (August-October, 2001) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Thunderbolts I#57 (October, 2001) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
X-Force I#120-123 (November, 2001-February, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#124 (March, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Darwyn Cooke (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
The Brotherhood I#9 (March, 2002) - X (writer), Sean Phillips (pencils), Kent Williams (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Force I#125-129 (April-August, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#1-4 (September-December, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#5 (January, 2003) - Peter Milligan (writer), Paul Pope (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#6-9 (February-May, 2003) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Men Unlimited I#41 (March, 2003) - Mike Allred (writer), Nick Derington (artist), C.B. Cebulski (editor)
Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men (2003) - Syd Barney-Hawke (writer), Eric J. Moreels (writer, researcher), Mark D. Beazley, Jeff Youngquist (editors)
Wolverine/Doop#2 (July, 2003) - Peter Milligan (writer), Darwyn Cooke (pencils), J. Bone (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#11-13 (August - October, 2003) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (pencils, inks on #11, 13), Philip Bond (inks, #12), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#14-18 (November, 2003-March, 2004) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (pencils), J. Bone (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#20 (May, 2004) - Peter Milligan (writer), Nick Dragotta (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#8 (2006) - Jeff Christiansen (head writer, coordinator), Sean McQuaid, Stuart Vandal, Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Mark O'English, Chris Biggs, Eric J. Moreels, Mike Fichera, Al Sjoerdsma, Barry Reese, Chad Anderson, Madison Carter, Anthony Flamini, Richard Green (writers), Mike Allred (Phat entry art), Pond Scum (art reconstruction), Jeff Youngquist, Jennifer Grunwald (editors)
All-New Doop#4 (September, 2014) - Peter Milligan (writer), Federico Santagati, David LaFuente (art), Nick Lowe (editor)
Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (September, 2019) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc" Allred (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
History of the Marvel Universe II#5 (January, 2020) - Mark Waid (writer), Javier Rodriguez (pencils, colors), Alvaro Lopez (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel's Voices: Pride I#1 (August, 2021) - "Introduction" story - Luciano Vecchio (writer, artist), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
X-Cellent I#4 (July, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc" Allred (artist), Darren Shan (editor)

First posted: 09/24/2004
Last updated: 10/26/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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