DOMINIC DESFORD
Real Name: Dominic Desford
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Luring X-Factor into Murderworld
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Angel/Archangel (Warren Worthington III), Cressida Desford, Derek Desford, X-Factor (Beast, Iceman)
Enemies: Arcade, Miss Locke, radiation and the cancer caused by it
Known Relatives: Cressida Desford (mother), Derek Desford (father)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Murderworld (in this story)
Formerly: Somewhere in the United States
First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare I#50 (April, 1990)
Powers/Abilities: Dominic possessed wings that gave him the ability of flight.
History: (Marvel Fanfare I#50 (fb)) - Dominic was the first and only son of Cressida and Derek Desford. They were fascinated with mutations and especially with wings and tried to mutate their son by transplanting genetic materials from birds into Dominic. He finally got wings when his father accelerated the process by using radiation. The downside of the experiments was that Derek died of cancer and Dominic got cancer as well. Cressida didn't tell Dominic about his disease. Angel learned about Dominic's disease from a letter by Cressida's doctors and paid Dominic's medical bills since that day while Cressida told Dominic that Angel was his father. The payments stopped when Angel was presumed dead.
(Marvel Fanfare I#50) - Dominic was sent to X-Factor's HQ by his mother and after flying past their window he got their attention. X-Factor members Beast and Iceman followed Dominic right into Murderworld, but Dominic didn't want the men to get hurt and watched them fight off Murderworld's weapon systems. When a laser aimed at Dominic his mother deactivated it which angered Arcade, but Cressida was the paying customer and so Arcade gave her the chance to tell her son over the loudspeaker to get back to the control room, but Dominic wanted to help Beast first. He found Beast, who told him to return to Iceman before he got squashed by the attacking tentacles. On his way back Dominic met his mother and this time he followed her order to return to the control room. From the control room he listened to the conversation between Cressida and the two heroes and Dominic pleaded over the loudspeaker to let the heroes go because they were friends of Angel, who Dominic still believed to be his father. Dominic returned into his mother's arms after the heroes were allowed to leave. When they were gone Cressida told Dominic to put his special jacket back on to hide his wings because nobody should find out that they were real.
Months later Beast and Iceman told Warren about their encounter with Cressida and Dominic. Warren told them Cressida's true history (see flashback above) and told them that he would once again pay Dominic's medical bills until he dies.
Comments: Created by Jo Duffy, Joe Staton & Joe Rubinstein
Why did Warren get letters from Cressida's doctors? I don't get it!
I listed Arcade and Miss Locke as enemies although they weren't harming him, but Dominic thought that Arcade was a bad man and Miss Locke mentioned that she'd like to have Dominic as their target (she hates kids).
Profile by Markus Raymond
CLARIFICATIONS:
Dominic Desford and his family have no known connection to:
(Marvel Fanfare I#50 (fb) ) - When Cressida was still a kid she went to a boarding school across the lake of the private school Warren Worthington III had attended. They liked each other, but Warren, who didn't have his wings yet, couldn't compete with Cressida's love for super heroes. After Warren was transferred to Xavier's school she hardly saw him and over the years their only contact were Christmas and birthday cards until one day Warren got an invitation to Cressida's wedding. Cressida was happy because her husband Derek shared her compassion for mutations. She became pregnant and when Warren's secret identity became public she and her husband began to meet Warren as often as possible. After Dominic's birth they began to experiment on him to give him wings like Warren had. They succeeded and the couple was happier than ever, but Derek died by a cancer caused by the radiation he had used on Dominic, who got cancer as well. Cressida couldn't cope with her loss and thought up a fantasy she took for real that Dominic was born with wings because Warren was his father and even told the story to her son. Meanwhile he paid Dominic's medical bills until he was believed to be died. Cressida was driven over the edge when the payments stopped and Warren became her target for founding the mutant-hunting X-Factor. She hired Arcade to destroy them.
(Marvel Fanfare I#50) - Cressida sent Dominic to X-Factor's HQ to lure the team to Murderworld, but only Iceman and Beast followed Dominic (Warren was still "dead"). She was afraid that her son would get hurt because he was inside Murderworld as well and shut off a laser when it aimed at Dominic. Cressida used a loudspeaker to tell her son to return to the control room, but when he didn't obey her order she went into Murderworld to get him out herself. Cressida found him and sent him to the control room while she told Iceman and Beast her made-up life story and she forgave them when she learned that X-Factor where helping mutants. She told them that Dominic's wings were mechanical and stopped Arcade's assault against the heroes when her son pleaded her to do so. After the heroes were gone she told Dominic to get his special jacket to hide his wings because they were real.
(Marvel Fanfare I#50 (fb) ) - Derek was a brilliant scientist with degrees in genetics and biophysics. He married Cressida and she soon became pregnant. They started meeting Warren after his secret identity as Angel got public and they were fascinated by his wings and the ability to fly. After Dominic's birth Derek tried to give Dominic wings by splicing the genetic material of birds with that of humans. The process worked after using a safe dose of radiation to accelerate it. Derek's assumption about it being a safe dose was proven wrong when he died of cancer.
images:
Marvel Fanfare I#50, p17, pan1 (Dominic Desford body shot)
Marvel Fanfare I#50, p20, pan1 (Dominic Desford head shot)
Marvel Fanfare I#50, p12, pan5 (Cressida Desford)
Marvel Fanfare I#50, p26, pan6 (Derek Desford)
Last updated: 09/18/13
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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