GAYLE EDGERTON
Real Name: Gayle Edgerton
Identity/Class: Human (United Kingdom)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: Emplate's Hellions (Bulwark/Oswald Boeglin, D.O.A./George Baker, Emplate/Marius St. Croix, "Mole", Murmur/Allan Rennie, Vincente Cimetta)
Affiliations: Chamber (Jonothon Starsmore), Niles (her butler)
Enemies: Generation X (Banshee/Sean Cassidy, Chamber/Jonothon Starsmore, Husk/Paige Guthrie, Jubilee/Jubilation Lee, M/Claudette & Nicole St. Croix, Penance/Monet St. Croix, Skin/Angelo Espinosa, Synch/Everett Thomas, White Queen/Emma Frost)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Edgerton
family estate, UK
First Appearance: X-Men Prime#1 (July, 1995)
Powers/Abilities: Gayle Edgerton possessed no known superhuman abilities. After getting hit with Chamber's initial, uncontrolled bio-plasmatic energies, she endured unknown injuries that left her confined to a wheelchair. For a brief while, she was afflicted with Emplate's signature hand palm mouths, which allowed her to drain a mutant's energies. Over time, that ability, and the mouths, faded.
Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 126 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
History:
(Weapon X#16 (fb) ) - Wealthy teenage heiress Gayle Edgerton fell head
over heels in love with bad boy musician Jonothon Starsmore. The two
enjoyed a passionate relationship and felt they were destined for one
another. One night, after a performance, Jonothon and Gayle got frisky
in a venue's cloakroom. Just as they were about to become intimate,
Jonothon first manifested his mutant bio-plasma powers. The emergence of
his abilities left Edgerton an invalid while Starsmore was forced to
live with an ever burning furnace of bio-plasma emerging from his chest.
He was so disturbed and disgusted by what he had done that he disappeared.
(X-Men Prime#1 (fb) - BTS) - Gayle, stuck in a
wheelchair following the incident, was frustrated by her fate and the fact
that the man she loved had seemingly spurned her. By that time, Jonothon
had gone to the US to join Generation X, where he had become a target for
Marius St. Croix, better known as Emplate. The mutant bone marrow
craving villain figured Edgerton would be perfect to help him capture
Penance, his former source of sustenance now residing with Gen X.
(X-Men Prime#1) - Emplate arranged to meet with Gayle at
her estate, startling her butler Niles when he showed up at the door.
Gayle herself wasn't impressed by the monstrous looking Marius, even
attacking him with her furnace's white hot poker when he approached her.
Emplate politely laughed off the injury before proposing a partnership
to bring down Jonothon and Generation X.
(Generation X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Emplate promised the vengeful Gayle
that Jonothon would be hers to do with as she wished if she worked with
him. Edgerton happily agreed to this, unaware Emplate had no intention
to honor this deal.
(Generation X#11 - BTS) - Gayle allowed Emplate to use her estate as a
base of operations while they planned for their attack on Generation X.
Over time, it became a refuge of various mutants Emplate had fed off
over the years who in turn had become loyal to him such as Bulwark,
Vincente and Murmur. Gayle herself was also "infected" with Emplate's
touch after he fed on her. That encounter left her with the trademark
"mouths" on the palm of her hands.
(Generation X#12 (fb) - BTS) - When Emplate deemed the
time was ripe to strike, he had Gayle contact Jonothon to arrange a
meeting between the two former lovers in Boston, Massachusetts. It was
no accident that the encounter coincided with a scheduled school trip to
the city. While Jonothon's fellow classmates and Banshee were targeted
by Emplate's followers, Gayle planned to meet her old lover at a
restaurant which she had reserved just for the two of them.
(Generation X#12) - Gayle ordered the staff to show Jonothon to their
table where she told them to leave a picture of the two of them before
the accident. Just as Jonothon was settling in, he spotted the photo and
was instantly reminded of all they had lost. Just then, Gayle arrived in
her wheelchair, making Jonothon feel even more embarrassed and guilty
over what he'd done. Even though Chamber tried to apologize, she used
this distraction to quickly disable him with her Emplate granted palm
mouths (see comments). Some
time later, Gayle and the other "Hellions" were at the Massachusetts
Academy's front lawn where Emplate had the captured Gen X members strung
up to welcome back his wayward sister M.
(Generation X#13) - Gayle quickly learned Emplate had deceived her
when he lunged towards Chamber for a feeding. She tried to stop him,
reminding St. Croix of their deal, only for the villain to slam her out
of her wheelchair, mocking the startled Edgerton. He briefly fed off her
before tossing the invalid teen aside when D.O.A. pointed out that M had
used the distraction to escape.
(Generation X#13 - BTS) - Before sending his minions Bulwark, Vincente
and Murmur to find M, Emplate had Chamber and Gayle dropped into a
nearby quagmire where they would soon drown in the quicksand.
(Generation X#13) - Stuck with nowhere to go, Chamber and Gayle talked for the first time since the incident. Gayle got the chance to spew all her vitriol over being handicapped and abandoned while Chamber finally had the opportunity to explain what he did.
(Generation X#14) - Still stuck in quicksand, Gayle and
Chamber witnessed a pyrokinetic spectacle that they figured was Jubilee's
doing (it actually was Emplate who
had been goaded to feed off Jubilee, unaware he couldn't control her
volatile powers, leading to an explosion that would free Generation X).
A little while later, Chamber managed to free himself, dragging the paralyzed
Gayle along. When they were both safe, the former lovers shared an emotional
moment with a regretting Gayle wondering why Jonothon could still act so
lovingly towards her after all she'd done.
Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell (writer), Bryan Hitch et al (pencils), Mark Farmer et al (inks).
Gayle Edgerton first debuted in 1995's X-Men
Prime#1, which was co-authored by Scott Lobdell and Fabian
Nicieza. However, because Lobdell was writing Generation
X at the time, it's safe to assume he was the one who came up
with the notion of Gayle.
Gayle always struck me as an interesting character. The guilt trip
Jonothon must have felt for being even indirectly responsible for
crippling someone he loved was a great twist. If nothing else, it would
have fit for Gayle to have popped up when Chamber returned to the UK and
had a very brief, very public fling with popstar Sugar
Kane back in the early days of Joe Casey's Uncanny
X-Men run.
So, how did a wheelchair bound girl with mouths in her hands get her
unconscious date from a Boston restaurant to the front lawn of the
Massachusetts Academy with hours to spare? My guess would be that the
teleporting Hellion Murmur was lurking in the shadows to deliver them both
to the Academy.
A Dr. Edgerton operated on Lockheed in Excalibur I#40. Kitty Pryde tells us that "Brian Braddock says you're the best surgeon in the world". Could she be a relative of Gayle? It's not just the surname that they have in common. Dr. Edgerton was working in the UK, so could very conceivably be a UK citizen. And as a successful surgeon, she may well be quite wealthy. Or perhaps she's from a wealthy family, hence she had the money to go to the best medical schools and become such a great surgeon.
--Changeling
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gayle Edgerton should not be confused with
Niles served as butler to the Edgerton Estate. Despite the fact he seemed thoroughly prepared and equipped for his duties, meeting the mutated energy vampire Emplate left him noticeably flummoxed. At first, he tried to send the unwanted visitor away by claiming Gayle Edgerton wasn't in. However, when Emplate called his bluff and assured him he was going to meet Gayle whether Niles was alive or dead, the butler wasted no time announcing Emplate's arrival to the lady of the house. Gayle had in fact been waiting for Emplate to show.
--X-Men Prime#1
images: (without ads)
Generation X#12, p18, pan3 (main image)
Weapon X#16, p4, pans3&4 (injured by Chamber)
Generation X#13, p5, pans1&2 (fights Emplate)
X-Men Prime#1, p24, pans1,2,3 (Gayle Edgerton's butler Niles meets Emplate)
Appearances:
X-Men Prime#1 (July, 1995) - Scott
Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza (writers), Bryan Hitch et al (pencils),
Mark Farmer et al (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Generation X#12 (February, 1996) - Scott Lobdell
(writer), Tom Grummett (pencils), Mark Buckingham, Mike Sellers, Mark
Morales, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Generation X#13 (March, 1996) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Grummett
(pencils), Mark Buckingham (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Generation X#14 (April, 1996) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Pascual Ferry
(pencils), Mark Buckingham (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Weapon X#16 (January, 2004) - Frank Tieri (writer), Jeff Johnson (pencils), Don Hillsman II (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Last updated: 06/29/15
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