ALLIANCE OF EVIL

Membership: Frenzy (Joanna Cargill), Stinger (Wendy Sherman), Timeshadow, Tower (Edward Pasternak)

Purpose: Mercenaries, Apocalypse's chaos agents

Affiliations: Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), Genetech, Harness (Erica Benson), Michael Nowlan, Piecemeal (Gilbert Benson)

Enemies: Rusty Collins, Freedom Force (Avalanche/Dominic Petros, Blob/Fred J. Dukes, Crimson Commando/Frank Bohannan, Mystique/Raven Darkholme, Pyro/St. John Allerdyce, Spiral/Rita Wayword), Susan Nowlan, Skids (Sally Blevins), X-Factor (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Iceman/Bobby Drake), X-Force (Cable/Nathan Summers, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Boom-Boom/Tabitha Smith, "Domino"/Vanessa Carlyle, Feral/Maria Callasantos, Shatterstar/Gaveedra Seven, Warpath/James Proudstar), X-Terminators (Leech, Artie Maddicks, Wiz Kid/Taki Matsuya)

Base of Operations: Mobile;
                                   formerly Apocalypse's chateau, Southern California

First Appearance: (As a group) X-Factor I#5 (June, 1986)

History:

(X-Factor I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Hoping to accelerate his survival of the fittest beliefs, Apocalypse decided to gather a group of mutants together as his chaos agents. They would go out and fight others, to see who was strong enough to survive what was coming. He eventually located the mutants Frenzy, Stinger, Tower and Timeshadow and brought them to his chateau in Southern California. There, he subjected them to the powers of another captured mutant: junkie Michael Nowlan who could amplify mutant powers, even though his subjects quickly became addicted to the effect. Apocalypse had designed a monitoring device that kept Nowlan in check, though he had frequently attempted escape.

(X-Factor I#4 - BTS) - Apocalypse showed an interest in Artie Maddicks, who'd become X-Factor's most recent ward. He ordered Tower to kidnap the child and bring it to him. In order to do so, Pasternak stalked X-Factor Investigations headquarters until he was spotted and forced to retreat. At the same time, Apocalypse had tasked Frenzy to recruit the runaway pyrokinetic Rusty Collins for the Alliance of Evil. However, X-Factor prevented her from carrying out that mission as well.

(X-Factor I#5) - The Alliance of Evil members tried to stop Michael Nowlan from escaping Apocalypse's chateau. Stinger was so afraid of going into withdrawal again, she tried to destroy the car Nowlan had commandeered to get away. She was stopped by Timeshadow, who promised her they'd find him again. They eventually tracked down Nowlan's ex-wife Susan (who had been contacted by Michael only for her to call the alleged mutant hunters X-Factor on him instead). The Alliance forced Susan to take them to Nowlan's hideout where they arrived just as he was explaining his origins to X-Factor. Because the Alliance threatened to kill Susan, Nowlan agreed to power them up anyway, which gained them the upper hand in their fight against X-Factor. The Alliance took Nowlan and his wife to see Apocalypse in his chateau.

(X-Factor I#6) - Apocalypse was curious to find out why there were unknown mutants with Nowlan when reports stated the mutant hunting X-Factor agents were actually seen going into Nowlan's hideout. He tasked the Alliance to find out the truth. After Tower threatened to kill his ex-wife, Nowlan revealed what he'd learned: X-Factor was little more than a front for a group of mutants to find and rescue members of their own kind. Nowlan then begged to have some drugs, which the Alliance refused because heroin blocked his power-amplifying abilities. Figuring Nowlan might still be holding back information, Stinger suggested they should beat up Susan to get him to talk. Watching Tower and Stinger threaten the woman he loved kicked Nowlan's mutant powers into overdrive, augmenting the Alliance's abilities to levels far beyond their control. Stinger shot out massive bolts of electricity, culminating in an explosion that destroyed a huge part of the chateau.

(X-Factor I#6 - BTS) - Stinger's explosion caught the attention of X-Factor still in the area looking for Nowlan.

(X-Factor I#6) - With Stinger, Tower and Timeshadow unable to stop Nowlan, it was up to Frenzy to knock him out. Before the fighting mad mutant could do so, Apocalypse arrived from his underground labs to stop the fighting. He had Nowlan placed in the monitor machine he'd been using to control his powers. With the situation once again under control, Apocalypse retreated to his lab with Nowlan. Though he wasn't pleased with the Alliance, he did commend them for furthering his goals through their continued reign of destruction. Later that night, Stinger and the others caught Jean Grey and Angel sneaking up on the chateau. Wendy tried to blast Jean Grey into submission, but she was able to quickly erect a telekinetic force field to protect herself. While Beast snuck inside to free Nowlan, the other X-Factor members engaged the Alliance. The fight was interrupted by Apocalypse who emerged from his labs with Nowlan hooked up to the machine, Susan by his side. Apocalypse forced Nowlan to juice up the Alliance, but when Susan got injured during the fight he got so riled up he broke free from the device's control and started amplifying everyone's powers before dying in the process. Without Nowlan, Apocalypse no longer had an interest in both the Alliance and X-Factor. He departed, telling his former lackeys they should not try to find him anymore. Feeling they couldn't turn in fellow mutants, X-Factor allowed the Alliance to go free. They tried to escape, only to run into the police who immediately arrested them.

(X-Factor I#33 (fb) - BTS) - Following their arrest in California, all the Alliance members were imprisoned. They were eventually transferred to a facility in the state of New York.

(X-Factor I#33) - Infuriated by the news of the passing of the Mutant Registration Act, the Alliance of Evil broke out of prison and went to New York City to violently protest the act. They ran across TV reporter Trish Tilby and her crew who were reporting on the many unexplained freak incidents plaguing Manhattan (a result of the limbo demons' growing influence). Timeshadow quickly captured Trish, handing the microphone to Frenzy who live on the air explained the Alliance's goal and challenged their old enemies X-Factor to come and fight them. The Alliance learned from a passersby that some members of X-Factor were shopping for clothes nearby, leading Tower to throw a car through the store window to announce their presence. Stinger briefly fought Iceman until she was confronted by Rictor who held her at bay with his vibro powers. The Alliance nevertheless held their own against X-Factor, even once again trying to tempt the team's youthful ward Rusty Collins to join them since he was already on the run from the law. The tides turned when Cyclops and a newly mutated Beast arrived on the scene. The empowered Beast proved crucial in handing the Alliance a swift and resounding defeat. As soon as X-Factor had dealt with the villains, they were surprised by the arrival of Freedom Force, who had come to take the villains into custody.

(New Mutants Annual I#7 (fb) - BTS) - The Alliance's exploits were noticed by both Cerebro and the time traveling mutant mercenary Cable who analyzed the threat levels of the individual members. He rated Stinger a mere 3, while her teammates Frenzy and Tower had scores of 6 and 7 respectively. Timeshadow failed to register on Cerebro's monitor for some reason, though Cable felt they were pretty pathetic altogether.

(New Mutants Annual I#7 - BTS) - Eventually, the Alliance of Evil (except for Timeshadow) was hired by Genetech (secretly working for AIM) to assist on a special project. They were tasked to protect the mother and son team of Harness and Piecemeal who were traveling around the world to absorb the residual energies that once made up the mutant reality warper Proteus.

(New Mutants Annual I#7) - Piecemeal's senses eventually led Harness and the Alliance to the Saint Simons Academy in Vermont. While mother and son remained in the Alliance's helicopter, parked on the grounds, Tower, Stinger and Frenzy dealt with both the cops and the X-Terminators who had been enrolled at the academy. During the fight, Frenzy ordered Stinger to take down the power dampener Leech from a safe distance with her blasts. Tower smashed Wiz Kid's attack craft while Frenzy knocked out Artie Maddicks. After Piecemeal had absorbed the Proteus energies present, the Alliance continued on.

(New Mutants Annual I#7 - BTS) - The Alliance's attack on the X-Terminators caught the attention of X-Force and their mentor Cable. They vowed to track down the villains.

(New Mutants Annual I#7 - BTS) - Scared for his life, Tower told the mutant team all he knew about who had hired the Alliance. This led X-Force to investigate Genetech headquarters. All the Alliance members were arrested and taken to jail.

Comments: Created by Bob Layton (writer), Jackson Guice (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks)

The Alliance of Evil, despite having a cool name, didn't really amount to much. Frenzy went on to join the Acolytes and turned out to be a pretty interesting character in recent years. Stinger disappeared for almost 20 years only to show up as one of the mutants on Utopia who still had her powers. Poor Tower was put out to pasture by the X-Cutioner and briefly revived during the Necrosha storyline. And Timeshadow? Well, even Fabian Nicieza who wrote the Alliance of Evil's last appearance doesn't remember what happened to him. But if you want to read about a villain and his power to call up future selves, look no further than Alpha Flight's Flashback.