MARTIN HENRY STRONG

Real Name: Martin Henry Strong

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Head of Strong Industries (and its subsidiaries Foundations lab, Hannigan Electronics and StrongH.O.L.D.)

Group Membership: Strong Industries (Dr. Crispin, Dr. Emilio Licciardo, presumably others)

Affiliations: Freddy (Frederick), Neurotap (Michelle Balters), Strong Industries (Dr. Emilio Licciardo, presumably others), Verschlagen Industries (Hanna Verschlagen, others), the Vershucts (V-3, V-4); formerly X-Treme (Adam Neramani)

Enemies: Hanrasha (Asahi), X-Force (Boomer/Tabitha Smith, Cable/Nathan Summers, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Domino/Neena Thurman, Feral/Maria Callasantos, Danielle Moonstar, Rictor/Julio Richter, Shatterstar/Gaveedra-Seven, Siryn/Theresa Cassidy, Sunspot/Roberto DaCosta, Warpath/James Proudstar), X-Treme

Known Relatives: Unidentified daughter, son and ex-wife

Aliases: "Marty" (nickname from X-Treme), "Stupid Cueball Piecea' Beef" (insult from Feral)

Base of Operations: Denver, Colorado, USA

First Appearance: X-Force I Annual#2 (1993)

Powers/Abilities: Martin Henry Strong's mutant body originally had arms and legs that resembled fish fins and he had the ability to form a sympathetic symbiosis with any weak-minded sentient form he encountered. He also had a genius intelligence, which he used to design a synthetic body using cybernetic parts to house his true, frail form. This synthetic body was larger than a typical human and superhumanly durable, able to withstand a combined attack from the mutant powers of every X-Force member simultaneously with only minor damage. According to Strong himself, his skin was "impervious to all but an Adamantium knife" yet Feral was able to rend the flesh of Strong's artificial body with her claws, suggesting that Strong oversold his own invulnerability. When damaged, the artificial body could repair itself within moments.

Height: (true form): 4'2"; (in false body): 7'5" (by approximation)
Weight: (true form): 80 lbs.; (in false body): 300 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Hair (although his facial hair was black)

History: (X-Force I Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - A mutant with fish-finned limbs, Martin Henry Strong was cast out from society due to his appearance.

(X-Force I Annual#2 (fb) - BTS/X-Force I 1999 Annual (fb) - BTS) - Unable to walk due to his mutant limbs, Martin Henry Strong spent a decade designing a cybernetic, perfect body that he could attach himself to in order to walk.

(X-Force I Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - Sufficiently disguising his mutant nature, Strong's brilliant mind won him acceptance in society and he opted to find a way to spare other mutants the pain he had previously endured. Founding Strong Industries, a corporate conglomerate that owned Foundations, a genetic research lab in Denver, Colorado, Strong sought to find a way to eliminate the genetic DNA helix that caused mutations, ensuring that no one would ever become a mutant again. Funded by the government agency Project: Wideawake, Martin Strong took out an ad in the Denver, Colorado newspaper offering paid research help for young people with special gifts and abilities. The ad garnered the attention of new mutant Michelle Balters, who ultimately began working for Strong Industries, who provided free room and board in exchange for paying Michelle and other young mutants to be research test subjects. Realizing that he could get his mutant agents to do the dirty work for him through manipulation, Strong played his mutant agents against one another, making them think they had no other choices except the ones Strong himself gave them and promised to give each of them what they needed in exchange for service, promising to pay the medical bills of Michelle's comatose parents. At some point, the partially-amnesiac Adam Neramani agreed to hunt down mutants for Martin Henry Strong in exchange for Strong providing information about Adam's recent past, which Adam had no recollection of. Knowing some of Adam's past, Strong began calling Adam by his true first name.

(X-Force I Annual#2 (fb)) - Strong made Adam a "bloodhound," tasking him with hunting down potential mutants as well as hunting down any mutants that escaped Strong Industries.


(X-Force I Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - Learning of Strong's torturous experimentation on mutants despite being a mutant himself, Cable and his X-Force sent their teammates Cannonball, Siryn and Feral to investigate Strong's Foundations laboratory, with Cannonball and Siryn posing as interns and Feral posing as a mutant seeking to join Strong's organization. Soon realizing someone was investigating him, Strong ordered Michelle Balters (now codenamed Neurotap) to fake an escape from his service then sent his other agent, X-Treme, out to recapture Neurotap in an attempt to flush out whoever was investigating his actions.

(X-Force I Annual#2) - Three weeks later, when X-Treme tracked down and confronted Neurotap, who was rescued by X-Force, he warned that Strong wanted Neurotap to return, explaining that Strong always got what he wanted before promising to renew his search for Neurotap later. When X-Treme escaped in a personal aircraft, X-Force followed, hoping that X-Treme might give them more information on Martin Henry Strong and help take down Strong's torture chambers. As X-Force continued their pursuit, Siryn and Cannonball were still posing as interns within Foundations, a scientific research facility outside Denver, Colorado, where Siryn attempted to learn what was inside the only lab they had yet to visit. Dr. Licciardo informed them that the lab was top secret and wouldn't interest the two interns but eleven hours later, Cannonball and Siryn broke into the off-limits lab and found numerous mutants in stasis tubes, as well as their teammate Feral. The following morning, after Cannonball and Siryn had left Feral behind to keep their cover, the two X-Force members were confronted by Martin Henry Strong himself, who admitted his knowledge of their interference in his research. Revealing themselves, Cannonball and Siryn attacked Strong, who easily shrugged off Siryn's sonic scream and hurled Cannonball by the tie into Siryn, knocking them both down. Admitting that he had physical confrontations, Strong picked Cannonball and informed him that he would enjoy what he was about to do if Cannonball did not talk. Refusing, Cannonball revved up his kinetic blast field, destroying much of the room around him, only to surprisingly find that Martin Strong was not damaged at all. Strong then promised they would talk later after Cannonball awoke and hurled Cannonball hard into the wall, knocking the young mutant unconscious. Strong then ordered his assistant Emilio to place Cannonball and Siryn with the other captive mutants and, after learning that Feral had been moved, tranquilized and awoke, decided to visit Feral in an attempt to learn why the three mutants were trying to disrupt his operations. A short time later, Strong visited Feral and the still-unconscious Cannonball and Siryn, requesting Feral tell him everything he needed to know or risk hurting her teammates. When Feral refused, Strong revealed his knowledge of Feral's past and explained how his attempts to eradicate the mutant gene were an attempt to save mutants for their persecuted life. Continuing, he revealed that his ex-wife had taken his children away from him, afraid that they would become mutants like Strong himself. When Strong got too close to Feral while explaining how hard it was for anyone to know he was a mutant, Feral slashed Strong's chest, revealing that she sensed two separate heartbeats within Strong's body. Feral then demanded to know what Strong was but he only claimed to be mutants' salvation, unaware that X-Force, as well as Neurotap and a reformed X-Treme, were planning to storm the Foundations lab. As part of X-Force's plan, X-Treme used his powers on Boomer and Rictor then carried them into the Foundations lab, claiming he had captured them. Once inside, X-Treme informed Strong that he had failed to retrieve Neurotap, claiming she was aided by X-Force but he had captured Boomer and Rictor. Boomer and Rictor then revealed themselves and attacked Strong alongside X-Treme, who was surprised at X-Treme's betrayal. The rest of X-Force teleported inside the Foundations lab moments later and a battle broke out between the mutants and Strong's guards while Strong himself and Emilio attempted to flee behind a security access door. X-Force followed with help from X-Treme and his security access, soon running right into an ambush from Martin Strong, who punched Cable. Cable immediately retaliated by ordering X-Force to combine their powers against Strong, who shrugged off the attack and admitted his regret at X-Treme's betrayal, claiming that he had always intended to help X-Treme as he had helped Neurotap. Revealing that Strong had used her and an unknowing X-Treme to flush out X-Force, Neurotap attacked X-Force, announcing that Strong had promised to cure Neurotap of being a mutant. Angry that he had been manipulated by Strong, X-Treme ordered Cable to take Strong down and a fight broke out between the two leaders. When Strong bragged that his skin was impervious to all but an Adamantium knife, Cable pulled out his Ionic Molecular Blade and stabbed Strong in the chest, drawing blood and allowing X-Treme to use his "flash-fry" abilities on Strong, whose artificial body exploded, leaving only Strong's fin-limbed true form behind. Weakly revealing that his mind had gotten him accepted into society, Martin Strong explained that not all mutants knew the pain of being an outcast and he had only wished to spare other mutants the pain he had been forced to endure. Cable explained that Strong couldn't decide what others should be but Emilio, with the freed Cannonball, Siryn and Feral, asked Cable not to destroy Foundations, as the lab had done some good work regardless of Strong's ambitions. Cannonball then questioned whether or not X-Force should stop Strong, reminding Cable that while they could stop Strong, the mutants he could potentially save would be lost, while at the same time, Strong could potentially kill mutants if left to his research. After a moment of silence and learning from Emilio that Strong had promised to pay the medical bills of Neurotap's comatose parents to force her servitude, Cable ultimately agreed to allow the Foundations lab to continue their research, warning Martin Strong to fulfill his promise to Neurotap. X-Force and X-Treme then teleported outside, where the mutant group parted ways with X-Treme, who picked up one of Strong's newspaper ads off the ground and pinned it to a tree with one of his blades.

(X-Force I#35 (fb) - BTS) - X-Force's Domino received information from one of her international contacts that several scientific research firms including Hannigan Electronics, a Houston, Texas facility owned by Strong Industries, was awarded a government contract regarding the advancement of self-actualizing computers, which sent a red flag to the mutant group.

(X-Force I#35) - Two weeks later, Domino and her teammate Shatterstar stealthily infiltrated Hannigan Electronics, where Shatterstar accidentally tripped an electronic security beam that opened a hidden laboratory in the facility. Inside the lab, Shatterstar and Domino found Martin Henry Strong, still in the fin-limbed form following his previous battle with X-Force, in a stasis tube. Confirming that Strong was barely alive, Shatterstar deduced that Strong must be in stasis until a new synthetic body could be completed for him. Domino quickly began to suspect that they had visited to correct facility, as the technology to construct Strong's synthetic body would certainly confirm the information she had been previously given. The head of Hannigan's Tomorrow Agenda research team, Dr. Crispin, interrupted the two heroes' investigation, revealing that she had designed a computer chip for Hannigan that was years ahead of its time and admitted that she had no hope of fighting the two X-Force members. Domino confirmed that they were searching for such a computer intelligence chip and following a brief confrontation between Shatterstar and Dr. Crispin, the two heroes returned to X-Force's Camp Verde headquarters with several Hannigan files to inform their teammates of their discovery.





(X-Force I 1999 Annual (fb) - BTS) - Martin Henry Strong, his fish-finned limbs apparently now severed, spent two years searching for a suitable candidate to form his sympathetic symbiosis with in order to become mobile once more. Eventually finding the severely autistic mutant Freddy, whose body had taken an arachnoid form, Strong developed a symbiosis with Freddy, providing Freddy a new sensory awareness while Freddy's form provided Strong mobility. Soon after, the German pharmaceutical company Verschlagen Industries made a research agreement with Martin Henry Strong's StrongH.O.L.D. company. As part of the agreement, they remanded two of their Vershuct experiments into StrongH.O.L.D.'s custody.

(X-Force I 1999 Annual) - Martin Henry Strong had himself lowered into Freddy's carapace, providing sensory input into Freddy via their symbiotic relationship in order to move around. While Neurotap found it disgusting, Strong admitted he could sense Freddy's happiness at the new sensory input, shortly after receiving a communication from Verschlagen Industries' Hanna Verschlagen, who informed Strong that her Mexican facility had experienced an incident and questioned the security at StrongH.O.L.D. Assuring Verschlagen that his security was of the highest caliber, Strong informed Verschlagen that he had assigned an extra level of security to ensure the security of the two Vershucts that Verschlagen Industries had remanded to his custody. Almost immediately upon ending the conversation with Hanna Verschlagen, Martin Strong found his facility under attack from X-Force's Shatterstar, Rictor and the former Vershuct known as Hanrasha. While fighting off numerous monstrous agents of Strong, Hanrasha was warned to ease off the monsters, as they had all been duped into serving Strong. During the ensuing fight, Shatterstar cut off two of Freddy's legs, causing Martin Strong pain due to their symbiosis before putting a sword to Strong's head. Fortunately for Strong, X-Force's Cannonball, Moonstar and Warpath arrived shortly after and prevented Shatterstar from killing Strong. X-Force then explained that Neurotap had contacted X-Force during Hanna Verschlagen's conversation with Martin Strong, worried that things might get out of hand. Sufficiently calmed, Martin Strong confronted Hanrasha and asked if his anger had caused him to lose control of his powers. When Hanrasha insisted that was not the case, Strong revealed to all present that the Vershucts' bodies systematically deteriorated after leaving the Verschlagen Industries facilities and that Hanrasha's had done just that since his escape from Verschlagen's German facility. Martin Strong then revealed the Vershucts known as V-3 and V-4 in stasis tubes, explaining that they were in an induced catatonic state due to their powers breaking down and killing them. Further explaining that all of the Vershucts were bred with a dependency on a neural cortical enzyme to allow Hanna Verschlagen to control them, Martin revealed that Hanrasha's flux in power was due to not having received the enzyme. When Shatterstar and Rictor opted to take the fight directly to Hanna Verschlagen, Martin Strong warned that Verschlagen had plans to use the Vershucts as living batteries to jumpstart her own mutant powers.

Comments: Created by Fabian Nicieza, Tony Daniel, Mark Pennington, Bob Wiacek, Brad Vancata, Keith Williams and Kevin Conrad.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Martin Henry Strong has no KNOWN connections to:

Dr. Crispin has no KNOWN connections to:
 Freddy has no KNOWN connections to:
 Dr. Emilio Licciardo has no KNOWN connections to:
Dr. Crispin

Dr. Crispin was a scientist working for Martin Henry Strong at his Hannigan Electronics company, where she was working on a program to create a sentient computer system. When Domino and Shatterstar secretly raided the facility, Dr. Crispin confronted them and, rather than fight a battle she knew she would lose, she freely offered the computer chip she was working on to the two mutants. Bragging about the groundbreaking work she had done on government orders, Dr. Crispin remarked to Shatterstar that perhaps the government would not be so keen to create mutant-hunting weapons if mutants would stop giving the government reasons to fear them.










--X-Force I#35
Freddy

The young mutant named Frederick (Freddy for short) was severely autistic and when he manifested his mutant powers, his entire body was altered, resembling an arachnid. After two years of searching, Martin Henry Strong located Freddy and used his own mutant powers to develop a sympathetic symbiosis with the autistic mutant. Experiencing new sensory input due to his symbiosis with Martin Strong, Freddy willingly allowed his spider-like body to act as a vehicle of locomotion for the paraplegic Strong.

Freddy's body resembled a spider with multiple leg-like bones protruding from his body and his internal organs protected by a hard carapace.










--X-Force I 1999 Annual

Dr. Emilio Licciardo

 Dr. Emilio Licciardo was an employee of Martin Henry Strong who was based out of the Foundations laboratory run by Strong. During Cannonball and Siryn's undercover internship at Foundations, Dr. Licciardo took a liking to Siryn, unaware the duo was spying on Martin Henry Strong. Later, after Strong discovered X-Force's ruse, Dr. Licciardo assisted with the captive X-Force members and after the rest of X-Force raided Foundations to rescue their teammates, Dr. Licciardo pleaded that X-Force leave Foundations intact, as he insisted they had done good work even if Strong himself had ulterior motives.






--X-Force I Annual#2

images: (without ads)
X-Force I 1999 Annual, p18, splash page (Martin Henry Strong, true form w/finned limbs severed, main image, & Freddy image)
X-Force I 1999 Annual, p25, pan4 (Martin Henry Strong, headshot)
X-Force I Annual#2, p24, pan5 (Martin Henry Strong in synthetic body with normal clothes)
X-Force I Annual#2, p27, pan4 (Martin Henry Strong in synthetic body, headshot)
X-Force I Annual#2, p29, pan1 (Martin Henry Strong in synthetic body with blue costume & Dr. Emilio Licciardo)
X-Force I Annual#2, p40-41, pan8 (Martin Henry Strong in synthetic body with ambush costume)
X-Force I Annual#2, p46, pan2 (Martin Henry Strong, true form)
X-Force I 1999 Annual, p19, pan2 (Martin Henry Strong, true form riding within Freddy)
X-Force I#35, p4, pan4 (Dr. Crispin)
X-Force I Annual#2, p29, pan1 (Dr. Emilio Licciardo)

Appearances:
X-Force I Annual#2 (1993) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Tony Daniel (pencils), Mark Pennington, Bob Wiacek, Brad Vancata, Keith Williams, Kevin Conrad (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Force I#35 (June, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Tony Daniel (pencils), Jon Holdredge, Harry Candelario, Kevin Conrad, Dan Green, Keith Champagne, Joe Rubinstein (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Force I 1999 Annual (1999) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Chris Renaud, Ken Lashley (pencils), Rod Ramos, Scott Elmer, Rich Perrotta (inks), Jason Liebig (editor)

Last updated: 03/24/17

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