BUSH RANGERS

Membership: Stanley, Tray, Zippo, ten unidentified others

Purpose: Formerly to serve the CIA

Aliases: None

Affiliations: None;
    formerly CIA

Enemies:  C.I.A. Crack Squad (Agent Wright, others),  X-Force (The Anarchist/Tike Alicar, Dead Girl/Moonbeam, Doop, Orphan/Guy Smith, Phat/Billy Bob Reilly, the Spike/Darian Elliott, U-Go Girl/Edie Sawyer, Vivisector/Myles Alfred)

Base of Operations: The Mars 2010 Space Station, outer space;
    formerly Texas State Penitentiary, Texas, USA

First Appearance: X-Force I#125 (April, 2002)






History:
(X-Force I#125 (fb)) - Seeking to have a group of mutants under their own control, the CIA staged a fire at Texas State Penitentiary, allowing the public to believe all of the inmates were consumed by the flames while, in truth, the inmates agreed to sign up for a secret experimental procedure that would transform into superhumans. The inmates had their cellular structure altered and some died while others had to be exterminated. The CIA ended up with thirteen survivors, dubbed Bush Rangers, and they began training as the CIA's rapid deployment squad in the Mars 2010 Space Station. Unfortunately for the CIA, the mutations were not as successful on their inmates' brains, allowing most of the Bush Rangers to retain their criminal nature. A year after the Texas State Penitentiary fire, the Bush Rangers took over the Mars 2010 Space Station.

(X-Force I#125 - BTS) - The CIA, hoping to renew their public image in the wake of celebrity mutant group X-Force's team leader Orphan freeing mutant cure-all Paco Perez from government custody, opted to have X-Force go on a mission against the Bush Rangers. Claiming the mission was against hostile aliens, the CIA managed to secure sponsorship for the mission against the Bush Rangers from American-European Pharmaceutical, Inc. and the New-Chem Group and during the subsequent mission briefing to X-Force, Agent Wright of the CIA essentially blackmailed X-Force into going on the Bush Ranger mission by threatening to take X-Force down if they refused. After Wright informed X-Force of the Bush Rangers' origins, he explained that X-Force would publicly go into space to battle "aliens" then feign capture by the Bush Rangers, allowing the CIA to step in and "rescue" X-Force, thereby improving the CIA's public image. Despite some disagreement as to whether they should go on the mission or let their leader Orphan go on the mission alone since he had been the one to free Perez, X-Force ultimately voted to participate in the mission against the Bush Rangers and the team headed into space.

(X-Force I#126) - When X-Force arrived at the Mars 2010 Space Station, they were greeted by the shapeshifting Bush Rangers posing as the deceased crew of the space station, who appeared relieved to see X-Force. Unaware they were being duped, X-Force signed autographs then rushed off to find the Bush Rangers. As X-Force split up to find the Rangers, the Bush Rangers ambushed each of the squads and when a group of Bush Rangers attacked X-Force's Anarchist, Dead Girl and the Spike, they claimed to be on the same side as the Anarchist and the Spike, all mistreated due to the color of their skin. As the Spike was seemingly swayed to the Bush Rangers' side, the Rangers fired on the Anarchist but Dead Girl jumped in front of the blast. Thinking his teammates dead, the Anarchist rushed off to find the rest of X-Force, unaware that another group of Bush Rangers were attacking the Orphan and U-Go Girl. Arriving on the scene as a Bush Ranger, disguised as the Anarchist himself, was about to kill the Orphan, the real Anarchist kicked the fake in the face and destroyed him with a zap of acidic energy.

(X-Force I#127) - As the CIA made their way into space to "rescue" X-Force, the remaining Bush Rangers interrogated the Spike, unsure where the hero's true loyalties laid. After hearing the Spike's reasoning for siding with the Bush Rangers, the Rangers' unconvinced leader Tray ordered the other Bush Rangers to kill the Spike but when the Spike suggested a plan to kill X-Force leader Orphan, take over leadership of X-Force and get the Bush Rangers back to Earth, the Bush Rangers agreed to participate in the Spike's supposed plan. In an effort to test the Spike's loyalties, Tray tried to rile the hero by whispering the crimes he had committed to get imprisoned in the first place. When X-Force later arrived looking for the Spike, they found the Bush Rangers all shapeshifted into the form of the Spike and a fight quickly broke out between X-Force and the Spike-resembling Bush Rangers, during which most of the Bush Rangers were killed or otherwise wounded. Tray, disguising himself as the real Spike and wearing the Spike's space suit, entered the fray to kill the final Bush Rangers, allowing him to infiltrate X-Force as the real Spike was left wounded on the floor in a Bush Ranger uniform. The CIA then arrived on the scene and fired on X-Force, forcing X-Forcers U-Go Girl, Doop, the Anarchist and the Orphan to teleport into a nearby satellite to save their own lives. Tray (still disguised as the Spike) then led the two in taking down the CIA's Crack Squad in retaliation for their attack and Tray himself killed Agent Wright. Thinking their teammates were dead, Vivisector, Phat and the fake Spike boarded a shuttle to leave the Mars 2010 Space Station, not noticing the real Spike getting to his feet and claiming he had only been trying to trick the Bush Rangers by siding with them.


(X-Force I#128) - As Vivisector and Phat escaped the Space Station in their shuttle, Tray declared that X-Force needed a new leader in the wake of the senior members' deaths. After Vivisector and Phat noticed a small escape shuttle housing U-Go Girl, Doop and the Orphan, they returned to the Mars 2010 Space Station to pick up their missing teammates and rescue the Anarchist, only to be confronted by the real Spike when he stumbled into the room. His ruse exposed, Tray revealed his true nature and a battle broke out during which Tray impaled the real Spike on one of his spikes. The Anarchist responded by hitting Tray with a blast of acidic sweat, prompting Tray to attempt escape by firing spikes wildly, one of which hit U-Go Girl, killing her as well. He was then knocked out when the Orphan kicked him in the face and his final fate was unrevealed as X-Force focused on their deceased teammates.

Comments: Created by Peter Milligan and Michael Allred.

    Although the CIA's stated goal was to create "mutants," the Bush Rangers would strictly be considered mutates, as they were not born with the powers they possessed.

    We don't know what happened to Tray, the final Bush Ranger, the one who killed U-Go Girl and the Spike. We last saw him being knocked out by Orphan but the story then focused on the death of U-Go Girl and the next issue started with the team back in their HQ after returning from space. Perhaps they killed him in cold blood for the murder of their teammates or perhaps they handed him over to the authorities.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Bush Rangers have no known connection to

The X-Force, a.k.a. X-Statix, that the Bush Rangers fought, should not be mistaken for

Stanley

Stanley was among the prisoner volunteers from the Texas State Penitentiary who were transformed into the Bush Ranger mutates. Once the Bush Rangers hijacked the Mars 2010 Space Station, Stanley, along with seven other Bush Rangers, posed as the deceased space station crew to greet the celebrity mutant group X-Force when they arrived to stop the Bush Rangers. Once X-Force split into sub-teams to locate the Bush Rangers and the Spike seemingly turned on his teammates, Stanley was one of the Bush Rangers who interrogated the Spike and he was ordered to take the Spike's giblets when Bush Ranger leader Tray was not convinced by the Spike's story of why he had betrayed X-Force. When Stanley asked where exactly the Spike's giblets were, Tray suggested Stanley use his initiative to make that determination. X-Force later ventured out to find the Spike and Stanley was one of several Bush Rangers who posed as the Spike to distract X-Force. During the subsequent battle with X-Force, Stanley, remarking that he still had no idea what giblets were, prepared to kill the Anarchist with a spike but was killed himself when Tray attempted to trick X-Force into thinking he was the real Spike by entering the fight wearing the real Spike's space suit.

Like all of the Bush Rangers, Stanley displayed the ability to change his shape at will. However, unlike some of the Bush Rangers, Stanley were never shown projecting energy blasts from his hands.



--X-Force I#125 (fb) (unidentified) (#126, #127 (identified)

Tray

Tray was among the prisoner volunteers from Texas State Penitentiary who were transformed into the Bush Ranger mutates. Once the Bush Rangers hijacked the Mars 2010 Space Station, Tray essentially took over leading the Bush Rangers and when the celebrity mutant group X-Force arrived on the Space Station and split up to find the Bush Rangers, Tray was part of a small group of Bush Rangers that ambushed the Anarchist, Spike and Dead Girl. After seemingly convincing the Spike to side with the Bush Rangers, Tray, Zippo and one other Bush Rangers fired on the Anarchist and Dead Girl jumped in the way of the blast. He was later seen leading the interrogation of the Spike and was unconvinced that the Spike had truly betrayed X-Force. When the Spike attempted to convince the Bush Rangers of his seeming betrayal by suggesting a plan to kill the Orphan and assume leadership of X-Force himself, Tray liked the idea but tried to test the Spike's loyalties by whispering the crimes he had committed to get on the Texas Death Row to rile the Spike up. Before the Spike's plan could be put into space, Tray attacked the Spike and swapped outfits with him and shortly after, X-Force arrived, looking for the Spike. Finding all of the Bush Rangers resembling the Spike, X-Force was drawn into a fierce battle against the Bush Rangers and as the battle progressed, Tray entered the fray wearing the real Spike's space suit and posing as the hero, sealing his ruse by murdering his own teammate Stanley. The CIA soon arrived to "rescue" X-Force but they instead attacked the team, forcing U-Go Girl, Doop, the Anarchist and the Orphan to teleport into a nearby satellite to save their own lives. Taking advantage of the situation, Tray (still posing as the real Spike) led the remaining X-Forcers Vivisector and Phat into taking down the CIA Crack Squad and Tray personally murdered the CIA's Agent Wright himself. Leading Vivisector and Phat into thinking their teammates had been killed, Tray slowly attempted to assume leadership of X-Force but when Vivisector and Phat located a small escape shuttle housing Doop, U-Go Girl and the Orphan, they returned to the Mars 2010 Space Station to retrieve their teammates. After they subsequently rescued the Anarchist as well, the real Spike stumbled into the room and Tray revealed his ruse, attacking and killing the real Spike. The Anarchist then blasted Tray, prompting him to attempt escape by firing spikes wildly. When one of the stray spikes hit U-Go Girl, ultimately killing her as well, Tray was knocked out by a kick to the face by the Orphan.

Tray, like all of the Bush Rangers, possessed the ability to change his shape at will. He could also project energy blasts from his hands.

To be clear, Tray was the Bush Ranger seen with the afro-style hair-do (see images#2-3 above).

--X-Force I#125 (fb) (unidentified) (#126, #127 (identified), #128,

Zippo

Zippo was among the prisoner volunteers from the Texas State Penitentiary who were transformed into the Bush Ranger mutates. Once the Bush Rangers hijacked the Mars 2010 Space Station and the celebrity mutant group X-Force arrived to stop the Bush Rangers, Zippo was alongside Tray and another Bush Ranger who ambushed the Anarchist, the Spike and Dead Girl. After the Spike seemingly betrayed his teammates to the Bush Rangers, Zippo and the other Bush Rangers fired on the Anarchist but Dead Girl intercepted the blasts. Zippo was later seen interrogating the Spike alongside Tray, Stanley and other Bush Rangers and when Tray was unconvinced by the Spike's reasoning for seemingly betraying his teammates, Zippo was ordered to take the Spike's kidneys. Before the Bush Rangers could kill the Spike, however, the Spike convinced them to go along with a plan to kill the Orphan and allow the Spike to assume leadership of X-Force and get the Bush Rangers back to Earth. As part of the plan, Zippo posed as the Spike along with all of the remaining Bush Rangers and when X-Force showed up looking for the Spike, a fierce battle ensued. During the battle, Zippo was either killed or otherwise wounded.

Like all of the Bush Rangers, Zippo could change his shape at will. He could also project energy blasts from his hands.

It's unclear what Zippo's final fate was. He was among the Bush Rangers posing as the Spike and battled X-Force but it was unrevealed if Zippo was among the Bush Rangers killed during that battle or if he was one of the ones that was merely wounded. As all of the Bush Rangers in that battle resembled the Spike, there's really no clear way to tell (Stanley was the only Bush Ranger to shift back into his true form during the fight). Perhaps someday, Tray and the remaining Bush Rangers will show up again to get revenge on X-Statix (formerly X-Force).

--X-Force I#125 (fb) (unidentified) (#126, #127 (identified),

images: (without ads)
X-Force I#126, p10, pan3 (Bush Rangers, main image)
X-Force I#127, p5, pan4 (Bush Rangers with captive Spike)
X-Force I#125, p16, pan5 (Bush Rangers, pre-transformation)
X-Force I#126, p9, pan2 (Bush Rangers posing as astronauts)
X-Force I#126, p18, pan2 (a Bush Ranger disguised as the Anarchist)
X-Force I#127, p8, pan1 (Bush Rangers disguised as the Spike)
X-Force I#127, p5, pan1 (Stanley)
X-Force I#128, p16, pan1 (Tray)
X-Force I#126, p14, pan1 (Zippo)

Appearances:
X-Force I#125-128 (April 2002-July 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)

First Posted: 11/12/2004
Last updated: 11/29/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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