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STEVIE HUNTER

Real Name: Stephanie "Stevie" Hunter

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Dance instructor;
formerly physical education instructor at Xavier's, professional ballet dancer

Group Membership: Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters Faculty Staff

Affiliations: Cable (Nathan Askanison Dayspring Summers), Caliban, Valerie Cooper, Dazzler (Alison Blaire), John and Elaine Grey (Jean's parents), Moira MacTaggert, Lilandra Neramani, New Mutants (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Cypher/Douglas "Doug" Ramsey, Karma/Xi'an Coy Manh, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Magma/Amara Aquilla, Mirage/Dani Moonstar, Rictor/Julio Richter, Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa, Warlock, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair), Colonel Michael Rossi, Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Amanda Sefton, Candy Southern, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Starjammers (Ch'od, Cr+eee, Corsair/Christopher Summers, Hepzibah, Raza/Raza Longknife, Sikorski), Team America, X-Factor (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Havok/Alex Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Jean Grey, Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox, Polaris/Lorna Dane, Strong Guy/Guido Carosella, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff), X-Force (Boomer/Tabitha Smith, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Domino/Neena Thurman, Feral/Maria Callasantos, Rictor/Julio Richter, Shatterstar/Gaveedra-Seven, Siryn/Theresa Cassidy-Rourke, Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa, Warpath/James Proudstar), X-Men (Archangel/Warren Worthington III, Banshee/Sean Cassidy, Beast/Hank McCoy, Bishop/Lucas Bishop, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Forge, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Jubilee/Jubilation Lee, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Rogue/Anna Marie, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett)

Enemies: Acolytes, Arcade, Peter Bristow, Colossus (a Shadow King possessed Peter Nicholas), Genoshan Magistrates, Magneto, Miss Locke, Mr. Chambers, Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex), Black King (Sebastian Shaw), Project Wideawake, S'ym, Shadow King, Silver Samurai (Kenuichio Harada), White Queen (Emma Frost), Widgets (Magneto's mindless magnetic servants)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Salem Center, New York

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#139 (November, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Stevie Hunter possesses no superhuman powers, but she is a gifted dancer and teacher.
A former ballerina, she is also trained in physical fitness, revalidation and massage techniques. She has extensive knowledge on the strains placed on developing bodies operating at peak efficiency. After wrecking her right knee in an undisclosed accident, Stevie regained most of her mobility and range as a dancer, although her knee is likely to give out when she overexerts herself. Stevie is a strong, passionate young woman who isn't easily intimidated and doesn't back down from what she believes to be true.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 121 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:

(Uncanny X-Men I#139 (fb) - BTS) - Stevie Hunter performed all across the country as a well known, praised prima ballerina. Kitty Pryde attended one of her performances in Chicago and was hugely impressed.

(Uncanny X-Men I#139 & 165 (fb) - BTS) - Stevie Hunter suffered an unrevealed accident that left her right knee shattered, effectively ending her career as a professional dancer. Doctors were able to fix most of the damage, although the emotional scars were much harder to heal. Still not ready to give up on her lifelong passion, she went through a succesfull revalidation period, regaining her full range of motion and even a limited capacity to dance. She moved to Salem Center where she opened a small dance studio on the first floor of the Comton Building, located at 73 Willingdon Road.

(Uncanny X-Men I#139) - Unaware she was dealing with two mutants, Steve Hunter welcomed Storm and Kitty Pryde to her studio. Kitty and Stevie instantly bonded, especially when Kitty enthusiastically recalled seeing Stevie dance before her accident. The three women spent the rest of the afternoon getting acquainted over a pot of iced herbal tea, despite Storm feeling slightly wary towards Stevie.

(Uncanny X-Men I#140) - Stevie and Kitty were talking after class, waiting outside her studio for Storm to pick up the young girl. When Stevie praised Kitty's achievements and referred to her as "our kitten". Totally oblivious to the fact this didn't sit well with Storm, she even invited the two X-Men to join her for dinner, an offer Storm hastily refused.

(Uncanny X-Men I#145 (fb) ) - Stevie was invited by Kitty to attend a performance of the British Royal Ballet at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Kitty had intended it as a Christmas present for her teacher but caught the flu and was unable to attended. She asked Storm to take her place.

(Uncanny X-Men I#145) - Watching the performance with Ororo from Professor Xavier's private box, Stevie commented on the fact it took years of hard work and pain to reach that level of excellence. She also claimed she'd be willing to give her soul to be able to perform like that again. A little while later, the women were surprised by Arcade's aide Miss Locke, who jabbed them with a poisonous needle that knocked them out. Locke abducted Stevie, leaving Storm to rally the X-Men.

(Uncanny X-Men I#146 - BTS) - Stevie was taken to the control room of Arcade's lethal themepark Murderworld. There, she was locked up by Miss Locke and Mr. Chambers in a personal prison cage shaped like a giant present, along with other X-Men associates Candy Southern, Jean Grey's parents, Amanda Sefton, Illyana Rasputin and Moira MacTaggert.

(Uncanny X-Men I#146) - Miss Locke tried to control the damage caused by Polaris when she entered Arcade's Murderworld in search for Stevie and the others. Mocking the villainess, Stevie dared to mouth off against Locke who pulled a gun on her. Calling Locke's bluff, Stevie reasoned she could get away with it because neither of them were of any use dead. Locke begrudgingly agreed and focussed her attention on the monitors, trying to use Murderworld's systems to kill the invaders. This left her totally unaware of the fact Havok (Alex Summers) had snuck into the control room. He took her out and freed Stevie and the others.

(Uncanny X-Men I#148) - Now aware Kitty and Storm were mutants, Stevie wasn't the least deterred when she was invited for a night out. She joined her friends and the visiting Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) as guests of Dazzler (Alison Blaire), who was performing at New York's skyscraper disco Infinity. Their pleasant evening was disrupted by the sudden appearance of the Morlock Caliban, whose mutant tracking senses had homed in on Storm, Kitty and Dazzler. When the security guards proved unable to detain him, Storm, Kitty and Spider-Woman quietly sneaked away and tried to deal with the mystery man. Caliban knocked Spider-Woman straight through the skyscraper window, before abducting Kitty and jumping down the elevator shaft with her. Stevie stood ready to fill in Spider-Woman when she returned to Infinity. Both Storm and Spider-Woman went after Caliban and after rescuing Kitty, they joined Stevie and Dazzler in an after hours drink to discuss this strange sewer dwelling mutant and how they might have overreacted and scared him off needlessly.

(Uncanny X-Men I#152 - BTS) - On the way back from the Hellfire Club controlled Massachusetts Academy to Westchester, Ororo (trapped in Emma Frost's body after Emma had used a mind swapping gun against her in the previous issue) and Kitty were assaulted by the White Queen who used her new weather powers to cause their car to crash. Believing her foes dead, she took off to rejoin the X-Men. Kitty and Ororo had survived in a sewer main however. They decided they needed help and Storm succesfully used Frost's telepathic powers to contact Stevie Hunter, who agreed to help despite being slightly startled by hearing a voice inside her head.

(Uncanny X-Men I#152) - Stevie drove Storm and Kitty in her Saab Turbo past Professor Xavier's school. She noticed the gates were closed and the place looked abandoned, while Storm picked up the thoughts of a squad of mercenaries who were watching them. She urged Stevie to drive them to the Spuytin Devil Cove Lake near the edge of Xavier's estate, so she and Kitty could enter the grounds relatively undetected. Stevie said goodbye to both X-Men, but as she turned to leave, she was surprised to find Sebastian Shaw and the White Queen waiting for her. The two Lords Cardinal forced Stevie to tell them all she knew, before leaving her free to go.

(Uncanny X-Men I#154 (fb) - BTS) - Storm read Cyclops a letter from Kitty, in which the youngest X-Man told she had been practicing her dance moves, determined to get a part in a demonstration Stevie was staging.

(Uncanny X-Men I#165) - Stevie travelled to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to spend an enjoyable summer afternoon by the pool, in the company of Moira MacTaggert and lllyana Rasputin. With the X-Men missing and presumed dead following an outerspace mission, Stevie felt guilty for enjoying herself so much in spite of their absence and the fact their mentor Charles Xavier was depressed and demoralized as a result. Moira agreed with her, reminiscing about the fact Charles was never quite the same after becoming paralyzed. Recalling her ballet accident, Stevie assured Moira she could relate to the professor somewhat, recognizing his innate desire to sacrifice anything in order to return to what she once was. As if on cue, Stevie suffered a painful spasm when she stood up. Teary eyed, she told Moira of the accident and how it left her free to do everything except that which she loved most of all: perform.

(New Mutants I#1 - BTS) - After assembling a band of young mutant students he dubbed the New Mutants, Professor Charles Xavier sought out Stevie Hunter and offered her a parttime job as the team's physical education teacher. Stevie met the New Mutants and quickly developed an easy going rapport with them.

(New Mutants I#1) - Stevie decided Karma (Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh) was in dire need of a makeover and, with the other New Mutants looking on, washed her hair in preparation for giving her a new haircut. An already ashamed Karma freaked out when Psyche (Danielle Moonstar) accidentally used her psi-powers to manifest the horrors Shan and her family suffered through back in Vietnam. Stevie tried to pull the furious Karma off her teammate, only to get briefly mind controlled by her. A sudden slap in the face from Sunspot startled Shan enough to let go, and she inconsolably fell into Stevie's arms who sent the other New Mutants away.

   A few hours later, Stevie was still worried about Dani and the fact Charles Xavier didn't seem too concerned about the incident with Karma. Figuring they needed a change of pace, Stevie took everyone except the still slightly rattled Dani to the mall in her Saab Turbo.

(New Mutants I#1 - BTS) - Stevie was unaware she was being followed by agent Feduniwicz and his team from Project Wideawake. Calling in to headquarters for instructions, Henry Peter Gyrich ordered them to keep Stevie and the young mutants under surveillance while he made sure additional forces were ready to join them.

(New Mutants I#2 - BTS) - Project Wideawake officials Sebastian Shaw and Henry Peter Gyrich kept monitoring the New Mutants. Initially deciding only a team of agents would be sufficient to deal with the young mutants, Shaw convinced Gyrich to send in the Sentinels the project had built. After learning of Wideawake's plans, Colonel Michael Rossi decided to help out Xavier and his students.

(New Mutants I#2) - Stevie took the New Mutants to see the movie E.T. at the Salem Center Mall. Afterwards, Stevie excused herself to find a pay phone and check in on things at the school (ahhh, the 80s). She was a little worried when no one answered, but didn't have long to ponder this when Air Force intelligence officer Colonel Michael Rossi ambushed her. Rossi dragged the furious Hunter inside a supply closet before telling her she needed his help.

   By the time Stevie and Rossi located the New Mutants, they were already being harrassed by Wideawake agents. A brief scuffle ensued, interrupted by the arrival of a squad of Wideawake Sentinels. Rossi got hit with poison gas during the early moments of the battle, leaving Stevie to tend to the injured colonel while her young charges attempted to fight off the killer robots. After Rossi recovered, he and Stevie rejoined the fight while Stevie wondered to herself what a dancer like her was doing making life or death decisions. Still, she perservered and with help from Rossi and Karma's mind control powers, managed to keep the New Mutants safe.

(New Mutants I#4 - (fb) - BTS) - Despite her new job at Xavier's, Stevie kept her Salem Center dance studio open for business. Over the course of several weeks, she received a string of obscene, sexually explicit phone calls secretly placed by her student Peter Bristow. The young man was in love with her, but unable to deal with these feelings after a lifetime of emotional and physical abuse suffered at the hands of his parents.

(New Mutants I#4) - Concerned for Stevie's well-being when the lewd calls kept coming in, the New Mutants and Professor Xavier actively involved themselves in the search for the unknown pervert. Tracking the source of the call, Stevie and the team discovered their fellow dance studio student Peter was the one stalking her. After learning the truth about the abuse in his past, Stevie held Peter in her arms and wept with him. In the aftermath, Professor Xavier ensured Stevie and the others he would make sure Peter received the care he needed.

(Special Edition: X-Men#1/2) - Stevie attended Kitty Pryde's surprise 14th birthday party, along with the X-Men, New Mutants, Illyana, the Starjammers and princess Lilandra.

(Uncanny X-Men I#168) - Furious at Professor Xavier for demoting her to the New Mutants, Kitty Pryde had trouble concentrating during Stevie Hunter's dance class. When Stevie tried to get her to shape up, Kitty exploded but Hunter's calm demeanor quickly made her realize she was directing her anger towards the wrong person. Stevie convinced Kitty to waste both their time by feeling sorry for herself and to actually fight for her spot on the team. Stevie's stern peptalk motivated Kitty to prove her worth to Xavier and the X-Men.

(Marvel Graphic Novel#5) - Stevie Hunter, Illyana and Piotr Rasputin broke up a fight between Kitty Pryde and Danny, a fellow dance academy student who had called her a mutie lover. Piotr's intimidating physique sent Danny running, while Stevie tried to reason with the still furious Kitty. She attempted to calm Kitty by reminding her they were only words. This angered Kitty even more, asking Stevie if she'd still be so tolerant if Danny had called her a "nigger lover". Watching the young girl run off into the night, she told the Rasputins she would deal with Danny and insisted they went after Kitty. As she watched them walk away, the stinging truth of her words brought tears to Stevie's eyes.

(New Mutants I#5) - Stevie Hunter accompanied the New Mutants to a local carnival, where they encountered the unlimited class motorcyclist band Team America who were contracted to perform there. After allowing the young mutants to hound the team for autographs, Stevie took them to see Team America perform. Halfway through the show, Viper sent in her henchmen and the Silver Samurai to capture the cyclists. The New Mutants interfered, with Stevie staying on the sidelines and looking after Karma when she got hit. While protecting Shan, she was briefly threatened by the Silver Samurai before Cannonball dispatched him. In the end, the Samurai and Viper's men abducted Dani Moonstar before departing to parts unknown.

   Stevie took the remaining New Mutants back home to Xavier's, where the Professor, Colonel Rossi and Lilandra tried to locate the missing Dani. Hoping to get some answers, Xavier used Cerebro in everyone's presence. The display of power scared Stevie a little when she realized how much the Professor reminded her of the "demon", from Fantasia's "Night On Bald Mountain". It also made her wonder how anyone could wield such great power without getting corrupted by it.

(Uncanny X-Men I#177) - Unable to reconcile herself with Storm's decision to radically alter her appearance, Kitty admitted to Stevie she suspected the changes were more than skin deep. She feared the Ororo she knew and loved didn't exist anymore. Ororo overheard the conversation and offered that maybe Kitty thought she was turning into a monster. When the young X-Man didn't deny this and used her phasing powers to brusquely walk away, Stevie tried to console Storm. However, Ororo admitted to the startled dance instructor that Kitty's fears might actually be well founded.

(New Mutants I#13) - Stevie was introduced to the newest New Mutant Magma, during a barbecue thrown in her honor. She later complimented the girl on her skills during dance class at her New Salem studio. This prompted Rahne Sinclair to act out and draw the attention away from Magma and she decided to perform a dance move and end by shifting into her wolf form in plain view. Stevie was visibly annoyed at this careless action.

   Later that day, Stevie operated the Danger Room consoles during Magma's first training session. Stevie couldn't help but think that Magma and Kitty Pryde were very much alike, both girls being so very insecure about themselves and their place among their peers, while they really had no reason to worry.

(New Mutants I#14) - Hoping to cheer up Professor Xavier after the departure of his ladylove Lilandra, the New Mutants and Illyana Rasputin decide to throw a surprise party for him. Figuring they could get everything they need in town after dance class, the team managed to persuade Stevie Hunter into driving them to the mall.

(New Mutants I#14 - BTS) - With both the X-Men and the New Mutants away, Charles Xavier was home alone when Belasco's former servant S'ym showed up, looking for Illyana Rasputin. Unaffected by Xavier's mindblast, the Otherplace demon knocked the Professor out and waited around for Illyana's return.

(New Mutants I#14) - Unaware of S'ym's presence, Stevie and the New Mutants returned home. Not wanting the Professor to prematurely learn of their surprise party, the team sent in Illyana first (her mind had proven impossible for Xavier to read). As soon as she entered the mansion, S'ym grabbed her. The shock of seeing the demonic tormentor from her childhood spent in Otherplace caused her to instinctively use her light circles to teleport Stevie and her friends to Otherplace.

(Magik: Storm & Illyana#3) - The light circle took Stevie and the New Mutants to Otherplace, where they briefly encountered a much younger, past version of Illyana who was still trapped there, forced to spend her childhood surviving in Belasco's brutal realm.

(New Mutants I#14) - Before S'ym choked the air out of her, Illyana managed to summon the New Mutants and Stevie to her side in the mansion. While the team attempted to force the powerful demon to release their friend, Dani Moonstar called up S'ym's biggest fear which turned out to be both Belasco and Illyana in her Darkchylde persona. Scared out of his wits, S'ym dropped Illyana and ran off. Stevie took the opportunity to drag the still unconscious girl away. She decided to take a magna-car to the X-Men's hangar complex, figuring they'd be safe there.

   However, S'ym pursued them relentlessly and all seemed lost when Stevie's knee gave out after a bad fall. By then, Illyana had revived enough to use her magic powers to beat S'ym into submission. While Stevie looked on dumbstruck, Illyana spared the demon's life in exchange for his allegiance. She then teleported him back to Otherplace, after which she magically erased Stevie's memories of the events. Hours later, the X-Men returned home just as Stevie and the others were in the middle of their surprise party. In the end, Professor Xavier surprised everyone when he got up from his wheelchair and danced with Illyana, revealing he had finally overcome the psychosomatic pain that prevented him from using his legs.

(New Mutants Annual I#1) - Stevie oversaw Dani Moonstar's daily physical therapy designed to help her recover from the severe injuries she sustained fighting the Demon Bear. When Dani overexerted herself and pulled a muscle, Stevie remained a stern taskmaster and wryly offered to help the girl in the whirlpool so the water would mask her tears. Dani then confided to Stevie how hopeless she felt over the fact it was taking so long for her body to recover and asked Stevie how she dealt with these emotions after her accident. All Stevie could advise her was to take it one day at a time and not keep her frustrations bottled up inside.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#8) - Stevie attended an outdoor cookout with the X-Men and the New Mutants. After an evening of sharing ghost stories and tall tales around the campfire, Professor Xavier was about to end the festivities when Illyana offered to tell one final story intended to cheer up her friend Kitty Pryde. Wolverine bet Stevie five dollars that Illyana's story would fail to make Kitty laugh. Stevie accepted the bet and happily paid up when Kitty didn't so much as crack a smile, figuring Illyana's imaginative story was well worth it. She then accepted Wolverine's offer to walk her home with a knowing glance. The two locked arms and walked off (see comments)

(New Mutants I#38 - BTS) - Getting killed and resurrected by the Beyonder left the New Mutants severly traumatized, lackluster and emotionally closed off. This frustrated their new headmaster Magneto to no end, seeing as he had no idea what was wrong with them. He received a visit from Emma Frost who offered to take the New Mutants to the Massachusetts Academy for treatment. He rejected her offer outright, but as Emma left she ordered her student Empath to subtly manipulate Magneto's emotional state from a safe distance. When Xavier support staff Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander caught him in the act, Empath disposed of them by using his powers to turn them into sex crazed maniacs who could only think of ravishing one another.

(New Mutants I#38) - When Magneto witnessed how poorly and uncaring Magma, Wolfsbane, Illyana and Cypher behaved during Stevie's dance class, he chewed them out for not executing their assignments to the very best of their abilities. Annoyed, Illyana teleported away while the others resumed their practice, as uninspired and lifeless as before. Stevie chided Magneto for his outburst, telling him it had no effect at all before kindly showing him the door. After this latest failure, and fuelled by Empath's manipulations, Magneto became convinced it was for the best if Emma Frost took the New Mutants after all. All but Dani Moonstar and Warlock accepted and transfered.

(New Mutants I#39) - Dani decided to return home to her parents in Colorado. Stevie saw her off and promised to look after Magneto. Their goodbyes were interrupted by Warlock, who was worried he couldn't find Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander on the grounds. They showed up several days later, exhausted and near death, after the effects of Empath's powers wore off. Stevie and Magneto took them to the infirmary and after hearing their story, Magneto finally realized Empath was behind this. The enraged master of magnetism partly vented his frustration in the Danger Room, reshaping a solid block of steel into the heads of Empath and Emma Frost while explaining to Stevie how he had been played by them.

(New Mutants I#43) - Stevie greeted Sunspot who returned to Xavier's after an extended vacation. Finding he had forgotten much of his dance training, Stevie assured him and the others she was planning to whip them back into shape. Sunspot grew incensed when Stevie told him what Empath had done to Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander. He swore to pay the Hellion back in kind.

(New Mutants I#48) - An unsuspecting Stevie was detained by Magneto's widgets, remote controlled robots designed to assist him in the maintenance, surveillance and defense of the school. Stevie was not amused at being manhandled by what she deemed midget monstrosities and reminded Magneto she was a faculty member long before he ever showed up.

(Uncanny X-Men I#270) - Stevie, Forge and Banshee monitored a Danger Room session between Jean Grey and Storm, designed to discover the range of Ororo's powers after her body was reverted to that of a 12 year old. Forge and Banshee seemed most pleased when Storm was able to manifest the full range of her powers, but Stevie noted Ororo was pushing herself beyond what her developing body could handle. Noticing the young mutant was running on fumes, Stevie cancelled the session just as Storm's powers did give out in mid-air. Jean caught her old friend, even as Stevie started lecturing Storm on the potentially mortal danger she risked by continuing on this course. Their discussion was cut short by Cable and the New Mutants, who broke down the Danger Room doors declaring it was their time to practice.

   Storm and Stevie later caught up on Xavier's grounds, discussing the recent events the X-Men and New Mutants had lived through. In light of all that had happened, Storm openly wondered if it wasn't time for her to step down as leader. Before Stevie could respond, they were attacked by a group of Genoshan Magistrates. Stevie picked up Storm and desperately dashed to get reinforcements. Her knee gave out just as she reached the hatch to the mansion's subbasement. Storm made sure Stevie was safe by scrambling the hatch's locking mechanism before joining the New Mutants in their fight against the Genoshans. Furious at Storm for locking the exit closest to the altercation, Cable ordered Stevie to call in X-Factor before rushing off with the others to join the battle. However, the Genoshans teleported Storm and the others away before they could reach them.

(New Mutants I#95) - Stevie informed Cable, Forge, Gambit and Sunspot she had contacted X-Factor and that they would be joining them shortly.

(Uncanny X-Men I#277) - Hurrying home in a rainstorm, Stevie Hunter was knocked off her feet by a Shadow King possessed Colossus. The malevolent psychic entity wanted her to give him the access codes to Xavier's security systems.

(Uncanny X-Men I#278 - BTS) - Somehow managing to hold off Colossus long enough to reach her trusty Saab Turbo, Stevie made her way towards Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters while her super strong assailant chased her relentlessly.

(Uncanny X-Men I#278) - Stevie almost hit Charles Xavier with her car when she tried to shake off Colossus who had finally caught up with her and had climbed on the roof. She intentionally crashed her vehicle, but was thrown clear. Moments after Xavier made sure she was okay, the Shadow King made his presence known to both of them. Delighted to see his old enemy in the flesh, the King ordered Colossus to first kill Stevie as punishment for her defiance and then to tear apart Xavier.

(Uncanny X-Men I#279) - Charles and Stevie ran for their lives trying to escape the mind controlled Colossus. Xavier led Hunter to one of the mansion's subbasement entry hatches, hoping the defense systems could handle Piotr. When that failed, Xavier lured him to the Danger Room where Stevie suggested they had no choice but to kill Colossus. Refusing to give up on his former student, Charles tried a non-lethal approach first, only to have Colossus jump up and smash his way into the control booth. He grabbed Stevie by the neck, planning to snap it like a twig. Xavier saved her by using his telepathy to forcibly restore Piotr Rasputin's original persona, thereby banishing the King's influence.

(Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue) - Steve Hunter choreographed in the the stunt flying exhibition during the Maria Stark Foundation's Super Olympics.

(X-Men II#14) - While visiting the critically injured Charles Xavier in the X-Men's medical bay, Stevie Hunter and Valerie Cooper were ambushed by Mr. Sinister. The villain held the women hostage, even as Bishop and Jubilee rushed to their aid. Sinister announced he had come to bury Xavier.

(X-Force I#16) - Stevie and Valerie were rescued when Bishop decided the best course of action in dealing with the hostage situation was shooting Mr. Sinister through the head. Easily surviving the future X-Man's rifle blast, Sinister let both women go. As he vanished, he told Bishop how pleased he was to finally meet an X-Man he deemed worthy of today's world.

(X-Force I#17) - Stevie tended to the wounded members of the X-Men, X-Factor and X-Force after they returned from their raid on the Mutant Liberation Front. Stevie told Havok most of them were suffering concussions but were otherwise stable. She was concerned about the damage to Rogue's eyes after MLF member Strobe blinded her.

(X-Force I#19) - Stevie consoled Sunspot who was having trouble coping with his new powers and recent mistakes. When he asked her who he was going to be after Gideon's manipulations and what he was supposed to do, his former dance teacher hugged him and admitted she really didn't know what was going to happen to him or any of her old students.

(Uncanny X-Men I#300) - Moments before the X-Men were storming the French monastery of Mont Saint Francis to free Moira McTaggert from the Acolytes, Colossus called Stevie Hunter at Xavier's. He wanted to know the latest on his sister Illyana's mysterious condition (which proved to be the early stages of Stryfe's Legacy Virus). Stevie informed him the ailing infant's cough was breaking and she was resting as comfortably as possible, even though her fever kept climbing.

(Uncanny X-Men I#304) - Stevie Hunter attended the funeral of Illyana Rasputin and witnessed how Magneto and his Acolytes unceremoniously disrupted the proceedings.

(Uncanny X-Men I#308) - Stevie Hunter attended the X-Men's annual Thanksgiving day celebration and rejoiced along with everyone else when Scott Summers and Jean Grey announced they were getting married.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#18 - (fb) BTS) - After learning his friends the X-Men harbored his greatest enemy Sabretooth, the simple minded Morlock Caliban decided to kidnap Jubilee when she was visiting Stevie Hunter's dance studio in Salem Center. Caliban snatched Jubilee away as soon as Stevie briefly stepped out to run an errand. When she returned, she found Caliban had left a poorly written note promising "Jubly" would "dy" if Sabretooth wasn't delivered to him.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#18) - Stevie rushed to Xavier's to hand the X-Men the note, feeling this whole situation was her fault for leaving Jubilee alone in her studio. Jean and Professor Xavier assured her she was not to blame. In fact if she had been there, Stevie might have been abducted instead of Jubilee.

(X-Men II#30) - Stevie attended the wedding of Scott & Jean Summers.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austen (inks).

For a character that hasn't been seen in close to two decades, Stevie Hunter sure leaves an impressive legacy with (minor) supporting roles in most of the X-Men's big events of the 80s and 90s. I actually would love to see her return, especially considering Wolverine has a whole new school of students in dire need of some ballerina style grace and tough love. Introducing her anywhere within the X-universe shouldn't be that difficult, after all she has potentially met everyone friendly with the X-Men or their extended family on numerous occassions (weddings, funerals, holidays).

It's interesting to note that Claremont had Stevie in a bathing suit for at least a third of her appearances, even when the story itself didn't necessarily call for her parading around half naked. Guess a bit of cheesecake never hurt anyone. Especially when drawn by the likes of Jim Lee who thoroughly modernized Stevie for the 1990s, radically changing her hair and adding the (sometimes) rose tinted round glasses.

What never changed, however, was Stevie's bum knee that always acted up at the most inopportune times. You'd think that with all that advanced Shi'ar (medical) technology available at the mansion, she could have had it permanently fixed or even replaced by a bionic limb a la Misty Knight. It's also a tad ironic the New Mutants were initially led by a man in a wheelchair and a dance instructor always a single misstep away from being equally crippled. All this makes seeing both Stevie and Charles run from Colossus during the Shadow King crisis all the more noteworthy.

It's never been officially confirmed, but for my money Wolverine and Stevie spent the night together at the end of Uncanny X-Men Annual I#8. It would fit with Logan's later established penchant for no strings attached flings.

Stevie Hunter received small profiles in Marvel Encyclopedia: X-Men, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12 and the Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe Master Edition#31 (the latter two as part of the X-Men supporting cast).

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Stevie Hunter has no known connections to

Stevie's Saab Turbo should not be confused with:

Stevie Hunter's Saab Turbo

Stevie Hunter drove a purple Saab Turbo (license plate MPC 327, most likely a 900-model built circa 1980). The car had a sunroof, seated four (or 6 teenagers with a little shoving) and carried a 197 horsepower turbo injection engine under the hood. Stevie first used her car in service of the X-Men when she escorted Kitty Pryde and Storm (stuck in Emma Frost's body at the time) back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. After dropping off her passengers, Stevie was surprised by Sebastian Shaw who turned the Saab over to prevent her from escaping. The car suffered no serious damage. Stevie continued to use it, mostly to drive around the New Mutants and taking them to see a movie at the mall. There, it survived the widespread destruction the New Mutants caused while fighting Project Wideawake's Sentinels. Stevie next used her car to quickly reach the phone booth her stalker Peter Bristow was crank calling her from. She also got behind the wheel of her Saab to ferry the New Mutants to a local carnival where they met Team America. Later still, Illyana briefly teleported Stevie, her car and the New Mutants to Otherplace before her light circle delivered everyone and the Saab to the living area of Xavier's school. There, the car miraculously came out of the New Mutants' fight against S'ym without so much as a scratch, despite being a few feet away from an active volcanic geyser. Stevie last used her trusty 900 Turbo to escape from a Shadow King controlled Colossus. When he finally caught up with her and jumped on the roof, Stevie crashed her car, foolishly hoping it might injure or stun her assailant. It only made him madder.


--Uncanny X-Men I#152 (Uncanny X-Men I#152, New Mutants I#1-2, New Mutants I#4, New Mutants I#5 - BTS, New Mutants I#15, Magik I#3, Uncanny X-Men I#278-279





images: (without ads)
New Mutants I#43, p6, pan3 (main image, with Sunspot (left)
Uncanny X-Men I#139, p9, pan4 (first appearance)
Uncanny X-Men I#165, p5, pan1&2 (knee revisited)
Uncanny X-Men I#168, p7, pan3 (Stevie and Kitty fight)
New Mutants I#13, p17, pan1 (teaches new mutants to dance)
New Mutants I#14, p17, pan2 (hunted by S'ym)
Uncanny X-Men Annual 8, p39, pan3 (with Wolverine)
New Mutants I#48, p8, pan1 (caught by Magneto's widgets)
Uncanny X-Men I#279, p3, pan3&4 (with Xavier)
New Mutants I#43, p20, pan2 (Saab 900 Turbo)

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#139 (November, 1980) - Chris Claremont, John Byrne (writers), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#140 (December, 1980) - Chris Claremont, John Byrne (writers), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#145 (May, 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones, Danny Fingeroth (editors)
Uncanny X-Men I#146 (June, 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones, Danny Fingeroth (editors)
Uncanny X-Men I#148 (June, 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones, Danny Fingeroth (editors)
Uncanny X-Men I#152 (December, 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Bob McLeod (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#154 (February, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (artist), Bob Wiacek & Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#165 (January, 1983) - Chris Claremont (writer), Paul Smith (artist), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#1 (March, 1983) -Chris Claremont (writer), Bob McLeod (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#2 (April, 1983) -Chris Claremont (writer), Bob McLeod (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#4 (June, 1983) -Chris Claremont (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Special Edition: X-Men#1/2 (February, 1983) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Hilary Barta (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#168 (April, 1983) - Chris Claremont (writer), Paul Smith (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Marvel Graphic Novel#5 (November, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer), Brent Eric Anderson (pencils and inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#5 (July, 1983) - Chris Claremont (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#177 (January, 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), John Romita Sr. (inks), Eliot Brown (editor)
New Mutants I#13 (March, 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Tom Mandrake (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#14 (April, 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Tom Mandrake (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Magik I#3 (February, 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants Annual I#1 (November 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), Bob McLeod (pencils & inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men Annual I#8 (September 1984) - Chris Claremont (writer), Steve Leialoha (pencils & inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
New Mutants I#38 (April, 1986) - Chris Claremont (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
New Mutants I#39 (May, 1986) - Chris Claremont (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Dell Barras (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
New Mutants I#43 (September, 1986) - Chris Claremont (writer), Steve Purcell (pencils), Whilce Portacio (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
New Mutants I#48 (February, 1987) - Chris Claremont (writer), Jackson Guice (pencils), P. Craig Russell (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#270 (November, 1990) Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Lee (pencils), Art Thibert & Scott Williams (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
New Mutants I#95 (November, 1990) - Louise Simonson (writer), Rob Liefeld & co (pencils), Joe Rubinstein & co (ink), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#277 (June, 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Lee (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#278 (July 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Paul Smith (pencils), Hilary Barta (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#279 (August 1991) - Chris Claremont & Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue (1991)
X-Men II#14 (November, 1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Mark Pennington (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Force I#16 (November 1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Force I#17 (December 1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Force I#19 (February, 1993) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#300 (May, 1993) - Scott Lobdell (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#308 (January, 1994) - Scott Lobdell (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Dan Green & Al Vey (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men Annual I#18 (July, 1994) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Ian Churchill (pencils), Hilary Barta & Bud Larosa (inks), Lisa Patrick (editor)
X-Men II#30 (March, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)

First Posted: 06/11/2013
Last updated: 05/14/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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