STINGER
Real Name: Wendy Sherman
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Unrevealed;
former criminal
Group Membership: None;
formerly Alliance
of Evil (Frenzy/Joanna Cargill, Timeshadow, Tower/Edward Pasternak)
Affiliations: Absorbing Man (Carl Creel), Azimuth, Boomerang (Frederick Myers), Doctor Nemesis (Dr. James Bradley), Magma (Amara Aquila), Dr. Kavita Rao, Scrambler (Kim Il Sung), Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa), Vindaloo (Venkat Katragadda), X-Ray (James Darnell);
formerly 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), Nimrod Sentinels, Susan Nowlan, Order of X (Monsignor and others), Skids (Sally Blevins), Stryfe, 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)
Known Relatives: Paulie Provenzano (Omerta, husband), unidentified child
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Philadelphia;
formerly Utopia Island, San Francisco;
formerly Apocalypse's
chateau, Southern California;
formerly Los Angeles,
California
First Appearance: X-Factor I#5 (June, 1986)
Powers/Abilities: Stinger has the mutant ability to
generate and discharge bolts of electricity from her hands. The upper
limits and potency of her blasts remains unrevealed, but a single sting
can temporarily stun an adult. When supercharged by the mutant power-amplifier Michael Nowlan, her blasts were strong enough to blow up a
house, though she was unable to control these enhanced abilities. Wendy
hides her insecurities behind the assumed vapid persona of a valley
girl.
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Eyes: White
Hair: Blonde
History:
(X-Factor I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Wendy Sherman was born and raised in
California. After manifesting her mutant powers, she encountered
Apocalypse under unrevealed circumstances. Sensing her potential use to
his cause, he recruited Sherman into the Alliance of Evil, along with
Frenzy, Tower and Timeshadow. Taking the codename Stinger, she and the
others were to subtly promote En Sabah Nur's agenda of the survival of
the fittest by having mutants fight each other. Their abilities received
a frequent boost from Michael Nowlan, a mutant power-amplifier that
Apocalypse had captured and forced to work for him. Nowlan's powers had
an addictive side affect to them, leaving those he'd enhanced to crave
the effects.
(X-Factor I#5) - Stinger and her fellow
Alliance 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 up Stinger and the others which gave them the
upper hand in their fight against X-Factor. Stinger first fought Iceman,
but switched her attention to Angel because she felt he was better
looking. She later used her enhanced powers to fight off Iceman after all,
when he threatened to take down her teammate Tower. However, even her
amplified electrical attacks made her no match for Cyclops' years of
combat experience. He had her and Tower on the ropes before Frenzy knocked
him out. 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. Stinger and the
others tried to escape, only to run into the police who immediately
arrested them.
(X-Factor I#33 (fb) - BTS) - Following their arrest in California, Stinger
and her fellow 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 tempting the team's youthful ward Rusty Collins to consider
joining 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.
Stinger attacked Rictor and Leech, but Skids' force field shielded them.
Wendy was taken out of the fight by Jean Grey who trapped her inside a
telekinetic bubble until she passed out. As soon as X-Factor had dealt
with the other Alliance members, 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. Cable felt they were pretty pathetic altogether.
(New Mutants Annual I#7 - BTS) - Eventually, the Alliance
of Evil 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 the New Mutants.
They vowed to track down the villains.
(New Mutants Annual I#7) - Piecemeal brought Harness and the
Alliance to Niagara Falls. Following protocol, the Alliance scared away
civilians before Piecemeal was forced to "sniff out" the location of the
residual energies. While Piecemeal
and Harness went to work, they were unaware X-Force had arrived to take
down the Alliance. Jumping from their heli, the mutant teens attacked.
Stinger tried to attack Cannonball, unaware he was invulnerable while he
was in flight. Cannonball knocked her out while Warpath made short work
of Frenzy. Even though most of the Alliance was quickly defeated,
X-Force failed to prevent Harness and Piecemeal to escape via the
teleport mechanism in her armor. With only Tower left conscious, Cable
and Domino decided to interrogate the still giant sized mercenary by
pointing their guns at his temples in an attempt to make him talk.
(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. Stinger and the others
were arrested by the local police.
(Nation X#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - After serving a lengthy stint in prison,
Wendy Sherman was released. With only a handful of gene active mutants
left in the world following the Scarlet Witch's global depowering, Wendy
decided she was safest with her own kind. That's why she went to live on
Utopia, the former Asteroid M now floating in San Francisco bay.
However, she had trouble connecting with the other inhabitants of the
island, even getting depressed and anxious over the fact everyone seemed
convinced they were going to die.
(Nation X#1/3) - In need of comfort and support, she reached out to
Iceman who barely recognized her from the time they fought one another.
When she told him of her fears, Drake wasn't sensitive to her
desperation and cracked wise. She stormed off, with tears in her eyes.
The next day, in a bout of sheer desperation, she took Dr. Kavita Rao
hostage, threatening to kill her if she didn't get to speak to Iceman.
At the same time, she used her electrical powers to hold off the likes
of Sunspot, Dr. Nemesis and Magma. When Iceman showed up, they finally
had a heart-to-heart, with Wendy admitting she needed to be assured by a
hero that everything is going to be okay. Shifting to his human form,
Bobby held the sobbing Wendy in his arms and told her just that. Later,
they were seen picknicking together on one of Utopia's makeshift
beaches.
(New Mutants III#14) - When Utopia Island was cut off from the outside
world by Bastion using temporal technology that also drew in lethal
Nimrod Sentinels from the future, Cyclops rallied Stinger and all the
other mutants living on Utopia. Informing them of their current
situation in a rousing speech, Cyclops informed them they all had to
pitch in and fight the incoming robotic hordes or die trying.
(Heroic Age: X-Men#1 - BTS) - When he took over as head of SHIELD,
Steve Rogers reviewed and analyzed the X-Men along with their various
associates and enemies. In Stinger's case, he noted that he trusted
Cyclops would keep her in check.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb)) - Stinger joined a supervillain support group where he met other superhuman criminals Scrambler (Kim Il Sung), Azimuth, Vindaloo (Venkat Katragadda) and X-Ray (James Darnell).
(Deadpool v Gambit#3) - Scrambler hosted a BBQ-party for his friends: several well-known superhuman criminals like Absorbing Man, Azimuth, Boomerang, Scalphunter, Stinger, Vindaloo and X-Ray. During the party Deadpool and Gambit showed up to get Scrambler. However, seeing the heroes the other superhuman criminals immediately engaged the heroes providing Scrambler with an opportunity to flee the scene. Gambit and Deadpool were unable to follow Scrambler when Fat Cobra suddenly appeared.
(Cable IV#2 - BTS) - Stinger met and fell in love with depowered mutant, Omerta (Paulie Provenzano). The duo moved to the suburbs in Philadelphia where they had a child.
(Marauders I#8 - BTS) - News of Stinger's pregnancy traveled fast as Mister Sinister gossiped about the news in Bar Sinister noting that if the kid turned out to be interesting she had to bring him by Krakoa.
(Cable IV#2 - BTS) - Learning mutantkind had established a sovereign mutant island nation on Krakoa, the couple regularly discussed whether or not to move to Krakoa. While Stinger was in favor of moving, Omerta opposed for a variety of reasons.
(Cable IV#2) - Once again arguing whether or not to move to Krakoa, Omerta feared they would renounce their citizenship upon leaving, noting he wondered why the mutants would even have him after losing his mutant gifts. The duo, however, were unaware their baby was kidnapped right from under their noses by the Order of X, who were send to kidnap ten mutant babies for the evil Stryfe. Believing their argument had awoken the baby the couple made their way upstair, discovering their baby had been kidnapped.
(Cable IV#2 - BTS) - Distraught, the duo sought out media attention which lead the Daily Bugle to publish an article title "Mutie cutie stolen!". The news also made its way to Krakoa, peaking young Cable's interest. Accompanied by Esme Cuckoo, Cable set out to locate the missing mutant baby.
(Cable IV#7 - BTS) - Cable, assisted by Rachel Summers successfully saved five babies from the Order of X, amongst them Omerta and Stinger's baby.
Comments: Created by Bob Layton, Jackson Guice, Joe Rubinstein.
Stinger is one of those quintessential bit players from the 80s that
have popped up over the years in minor roles or cameos. I always felt
she could have worked as a member of X-Force, she's basically Boom-Boom
with lightning powers. And hey, if her former Alliance of Evil teammate
Frenzy could cut it as an X-Man, why not Wendy?
The Alliance of Evil was addicted to the
effects of Michael Nowlan's power amplification. When he died, they
were carted off to jail where, presumably, they went through one heck
of a withdrawal.
Stinger's full name was established in Nation X#1.
Stinger, as part of the Alliance of Evil, received a profile in the
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update 89#1.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Stinger should not be confused with:
- Stinger, Golden Age Angel foe--Marvel Super Heroes III#7/2
- Stinger,
attempted to capture Avengers--Avengers I#179
- Stinger,
(Blowden Reese), Genetix member--Codename: Genetix#1
- Stinger,
clone of Ant-Man (Lang), Strike Force One--Heroes for Hire I#12
- Stinger (Cassie Lang) of Earth-982--Spider-Girl I#1
- Or any other "Stinger" characters
baby
The infant child of mutant couple Stinger and Omerta raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. From birth it became clear the child was a mutant with cat/snake-like eyes.
The baby was kidnapped by the Order of X on orders of the evil Stryfe for unrevealed reasons and kept by Monsignor with four other unidentified mutant babies. Cable, assisted by Rachel Summers successfully saved the five babies from the Order of X, amongst them Omerta and Stinger's baby.
--Cable IV#2 (Cable IV#7
images: (without ads)
Nation X#1, p21, pan3 (main image)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update 89#1,p3, pan3
(Handbook 89)
X-Factor I#5, p19, pans2-3 (stinging Iceman's ego)
New Mutants Annual I#7, p11, pan2 (deemed a class 3 threat by Cable)
Cable IV#2, p2, pan2 (Daily Bugle article)
Cable IV#7, p7, pan1 (baby)
Appearances:
X-Factor I#5 (June, 1986) - Bob Layton (writer), Jackson Guice (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#6 (July, 1986) - Louise Simonson (writer), Jackson Guice (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#33 (October, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
New Mutants Annual I#7 (August, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Guang Yap (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Nation X#1 (February, 2010) - Chris Yost (writer), Michele Bertilorenzi (pencils & inks), Joe Quesada (editor)
New Mutants III#14 (August, 2010) - Zeb Wells (writer), Ibraim Roberson, Lan Medina & Nathan Fox (pencils & inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Heroic Age: X-Men#1 (February 2011) - Michael Hoskin (headwriter/coordinator), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Deadpool v Gambit I#3 (October, 2016) - Ben Acker, Ben Blacker (writers), Danilo Beyruth (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Heather Antos (editors)
Deadpool v Gambit I#4 (October, 2016) - Ben Acker (writer), Danilo Beyruth (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Heather Antos (editors)
Marauders I#8 (February, 2020) - Gerry Duggan (writer), Stefano Caselli (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Chris Robinson (editors)
Cable IV#2 (July, 2020) - Gerry Duggan (writer), Phil Noto (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Annalise Bissa (editors)
First Posted: 03/09/2016
Last updated: 04/25/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are
™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If
you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special thanks to www.g-mart.com
for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back
to Characters