RADIAN

Real Name: Christian Cord

Identity/Class: Human mutant (depowered)

Occupation: Adventurer; former student

Group Membership: New Warriors (Blackwing/Barnell Bohusk, Decibel/Jonothan Starsmore, Longstrike/Christine Cord, Night Thrasher/Donyell Taylor, Renascence/Sofia Mantega, Ripcord/Miranda Leevald, Skybolt/Vincent Stewart, Tempest/Angel Salvadore, Wondra/Jubilation Lee);
formerly Xavier Institute student body, Omega Gang (Glob Herman/Robert Herman, Kid Omega/Quentin Quire, Redneck/Vincent Stewart, Tattoo/Christine Cord)

Affiliations: Aja, Caz, Counter Force (Debrii/Deborah Fields, Justice/Vance Astrovik, Rage/Elvin Haliday, Scarlet Spiders/Michael & Patrick, Slapstick/Steve Harmon), Grace, Night Thrasher of Earth-81156 (Tony Stark), Xavier Institute student body (Stepford Cuckoos (Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe, Sophie Cuckoo), other unidentified students), Special Class (Angel/Angel Salvadore, Basilisk/Mike Columbus, Beak/Barnell Bohusk, Dummy/Dean Boswell, Ernst, No-Girl/Martha Johansson), X-Men (Beast/Henry McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Phoenix/Jean Grey, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett, Xorn/Kuan-Yin Xorn)

Enemies: Alpha Clan, Cape-Killers, Dread Dealers, Detective Harry Givens, Grey Gargoyle (Paul Duval), Iron Man of Earth-81156 (Dwayne Taylor), Machinesmith (Samuel Saxon), Skrulls, Detective Beverly Sykes, U-Men, Zodiac (Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, Virgo)

Known Relatives: Christine Cord (Tattoo/Longstrike, sister)

Aliases: Phaser

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
   formerly abandoned underground Murderworld (New Warriors hideout), New York city;
   formerly Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, New York

First Appearance: New X-Men I#135 (February, 2003)

Powers/Abilities: Before Radian was depowered, he emitted a powerful flash of light capable of blinding foes and sometimes carried a baseball bat. As Phaser, he wore a suit based on Iron Man's repulsor technology, allowing him to shoot powerful pulse blasts from wrist- and chest-mounted generators. The suit also had an intangibility burst based on the Ghost's technology; the suit's other capabilities are unrevealed. Phaser has displayed some gymnastic abilities, and is very agile. Phaser had access to the New Warrior's teleportation devices and vehicular transportation.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:
(New Warriors IV#7 (fb) - BTS) - While growing up Christian and his sister Christine only had each other to depend on.

(New X-Men I#116 - BTS) - Following Professor Charles Xavier (secretly Cassandra Nova switching minds with her twin brother) coming out as a mutant on live TV, the Xavier Institute was opened to the public. Christian and his sister Christine were among the scores of young teenagers that decided to enroll at the Institute. Inspired by his mutation, he took the codename Radian.

(New X-Men I#135 - BTS) - Radian joined Quentin Quire's band of likeminded students along with his sister Tattoo, Redneck and Glob Herman. Calling themselves the Omega Gang. Radian received the same pin-striped outfit as Quire.

(New X-Men I#135) - After putting on the Omega Gang uniform, Tattoo met Radian and the others in Quire's dorm room to prepare their first outing. Quire revealed he had a Kick inhaler, explaining that the drug (hypercortisone D) could boost their powers and give a nice mental high in the process (in reality, Kick was the aerosol form of the sentient bacteria Sublime). Quire took a hit of the addictive substance and then offered it to the others. Charged up and ready to go, Quire told the Omega Gang the dose would last about five hours and would enhance their mutant talents up to five times.

   Now under the influence of Quire and Kick, the Omega Gang decided to go out to Mutant Town to start some trouble. The Omega Gang quickly came across a group of five young human teenagers and instigated a fight to justify using their mutant powers against the powerless humans. The fight quickly escalated and resulted in several deaths. Hopped up on Kick, Radian killed a teenager by generating a blinding flash of white ultraviolet light from his body. In the wake of Omega Gang's assault on Mutant Town, Xavier addressed the entire student body. Survivors had identified the Omega Gang by their outfits, leading Xavier to ban the pin-stripes on campus.

   Later that night Radian and the Omega Gang visited Mutatoo, a tattoo-shop ran by a mutant with several small arms/hands alongside his "normal" arms. All of the Omega Gang members received a special tattoo of the omega sign on their arm, the tattoo-artist was quick to note they were just a bunch of suburban Neo-Nazi frat boys on dope. Taking another hit of Kick, Quire declared they were the "new" X-Men.

(New X-Men I#136 - BTS) - Deciding to take a stance for mutantkind, and do what their teachers and leaders wouldn't, Radian and the Omega Gang hunted down the U-Men, a group of human fanatics harvesting mutants for body parts in order to become a human-mutant hybrid species.

(New X-Men I#136) - Radian and the Omega Gang tracked the U-Men down to their headquarters U-Man Central, which was little more than a garage box. The U-Men were right in the middle of operating on Smitts, one of their own deceased members, when Omega crashed their van into them. Radian watched as Tattoo administered Kick to Redneck and he and Glob Herman killed the last U-Man, though they were all unaware a group of U-Men were about to attack the Special Class near the Institute.

   Quire concluded that the Xavier Institute's open day would be the perfect opportunity for the Omega Gang to announce themselves to the world. High on Kick, they hid in Xavier's private quarters and took the headmaster hostage. Quire ranted and raved to Xavier that humans couldn't be reasoned with and would prefer Magneto's approach. Tattoo then discovered Xavier's secret lab and noted she smelled Kick.

   The following morning while Emma Frost and Beast officially welcomed groups of humans and reporters to Xavier's for the Open Day, Quire appeared from a window. With bloodshot eyes, Quire incited a riot revealing they'd taken Professor X hostage and hijacked the corrupt and reactionary Xavier Institute. Quire went on to demand Year Zero for mutantkind and try humankind for their crimes.

(New X-Men I#137) - The Omega Gang watched Quire from Xavier's study. Unable to use his powers because of a telepathy proof helmet based on Magneto's design, Charles failed to reason with Radian and the others. After taping his mouth shut, Radian joined the gang who were on their way out to confront their teachers and the crowd. After Quire easily dealt with Wolverine, Cyclops used his optic beam to break Redneck's nose who tried to motivate the other students into joining their riot. Tattoo went to help her friend, reminding everyone that it was humans who murdered their icon Jumbo Carnation. Beast stepped in to set the record straight: while a group of humans did rough him up, an autopsy had shown Carnation's death was caused by a self administered Kick overdose. Unwilling to believe his story, Radian used his light blast to blind the teachers while Cyclops used his optic blast to break Radian's leg. Seemingly defeated Radian watched as a burning Glob Herman went after a bus of humans and Quire was defeated by the Stepford Cuckoos as Sophie used Kick herself to stop Quire which ultimately led to her death.

(New X-Men I#138) - While Quire was taken to the infirmary, Wolverine gathered Radian, Tattoo and Redneck in the school's gym. Wolverine explained all of them would do time in a human jail after which Xavier would eventually convince the authorities to hand them back so they could be sent to a third world country to put their revolutionary energy to use helping people who needed it.

(New X-Men I#140 - BTS) - Radian, Tattoo and Redneck were sent to jail.

(House Of M I#8 - BTS) - Following the events of M-Day, Radian was one of the millions of mutants who lost their powers due to the Scarlet Witch's reality altering spell.

(New Avengers I#17 - BTS) - Radian's mutant energies joined with those of many other de-powered mutants, creating the Collective, a massive force presence that ended up killing, among others, most of the members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.

(New Avengers I#18 - BTS) - S.H.I.E.L.D. analyzed the Collective's multiple energy signatures and managed to identify Radian's pattern, along with 50+ other victims of M-Day.

(New Warriors IV#1 - BTS) - At some unrevealed point, Christian and his sister were approached by Donyell Taylor to join his new New Warriors group consisting of depowered mutants. Christian was given a suit based on Iron Man's repulsor technology, allowing him to shoot powerful pulse blasts from wrist- and chest-mounted generators and started operating under the new codename Phaser. He began training with his new teammates as the team slowly made a name for itself by taking down the Grey Gargoyle.

(New Warriors IV#2) - Phaser and the other New Warriors observed from a distance while Night Thrasher showed potential recruit Sofia Mantega around the training room.

(New Warriors IV#3) - Phaser and the New Warriors were training in their makeshift Danger Room against a simulation of the futuristic Sentinel Nimrod. Jubilee chewed them out later for their lack of teamwork, leading Longstrike to sarcastically wonder if she thought they were part of the Fifty State Initiative.

(New Warriors IV#4) - After Night Thrasher single-handedly took down all of the New Warriors within a minute during a training session, he ordered them to engage in a full day's workout and daily double sessions even though the team had plans to hang out. Not too long after that, the Zodiac attacked Downtown New York, forcing the New Warriors to intervene. Phaser witnessed how, while retreating, the Zodiac member Cancer killed his sister.

(New Warriors IV#5) - Following Longstrike's death, the two teams hacked into each other, with Taurus grabbing Ripcord's cables to smack her into her teammate Decibel. When depowered mutant Sofia Mantega intervened, she caused a momentarily chance for the New Warriors to regroup, but this window of opportunity was lost when she was mortally wounded. Night Thrasher decided to a strategic retreat, even as the Zodiac left. In the aftermath, back at NW-headquarters, Phaser blamed his sister's death on Thrasher who proceeded to disband the team.

(New Warriors IV#6) - After Night Thrasher made his decision to break up the New Warriors, Phaser watched as Ripcord spent some alone time in the team's virtual reality simulator fighting the Asgardian Destroyer. Phaser soon joined up with the others when the banged up Sofia Mantega came to visit, indirectly shaming Night Thrasher about his decree the Warriors wouldn't continue. When Wondra (Jubilation Lee) announced the team'd soldier on even without him, Thrasher rethought his decision. Elated, the New Warriors told Sofia who they really were. All while Phaser didn't seem to happy to continue on as Phaser.

(New Warriors IV#7) - Phaser, along with most of the other New Warriors, failed Wondra's assignment to take apart and reassemble the equipment that gave them their powers in the dark. Although complaining the group continued to keep practicing. Sometime later Tempest invited Phaser to join them for a home cooked meal, noting it would take his mind off things. Still grieving Phaser told Tempest off, noting he didn't want to take his mind off his sister and pushed Tempest away.

(New Warriors IV#9) - Ripcord helped the New Warriors bring in the Alpha Clan, a band of villains occupying the no. 12 spot on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most wanted list.

(New Warriors IV#10) - After an intense training session during which they fought Ultron and a Kree Sentry amongst others, the New Warriors' field leader Wondra finally confronted Night Thrasher about the fact he was still keeping his identity and his mission a secret while he was also gone for about half the time. Demanding answers, Wondra got her wish and Phaser and the others assembled in Thrasher's study where he revealed the Transmap, a device that tracked transhuman activity on a global level. The machine can actively predict if and how a target is going to be a problem and right now, the cybernetic supervillain Machinesmith was a big threat according to the Map. Annoyed at being misled, Wondra initially quit but decided against it when she heard testimonials on Night Thrasher from the others.

(New Warriors IV#11) - Using the Transmap's data, the New Warriors ambushed Machinesmith in his lair who proceeded to make short work of the neophyte heroes. During the battle a cave-in separated the team in two, leaving Phaser, Skybolt, Decibel and Tempest locked in with Machinesmith. Thrasher and those still free decided to regroup and leave his team behind.

(New Warriors IV#12) - Even as Machinesmith proceeded to fight Phaser's team, the other New Warriors returned to headquarters. There, Ripcord had to break up a fight between Blackwing and Night Thrasher over his decision to leave. When Sofia Mantega (now known as Renascence) arrived to see what the commotion was about, she was shocked to hear about Thrasher's decision. Joined by the team's supporting staff, the remaining Warriors headed back to Machinesmith's lair. Back in Machinesmith's lair, Phaser's team decided to strategize and collected all of their remaining tech to create as many weapons as they could. Machinesmith, attacked anew as a giant mechanical snake but the Warriors were able to freeze him briefly allowing them to get away. Creating a new body for himself Machinesmith easily caught up and grabbed Tempest with a mechanical tendril.

(New Warriors IV#13) - Facing imminent death, Skybolt and Phaser leaped towards Machinesmith but were easily cast aside after which Decibel was severely injured by the machination. However, at the final moment the group was saved by the remaining members of the New Warriors who'd come to save them. Collected, the New Warriors not only defeated Machinesmith but destroyed his lair. However, once home, Wondra forced Night Thrasher to reveal the truth: Machinesmith posed no specific or imminent threat and the Transmap was merely a ruse. Phaser and his teammates were shocked to hear Thrasher admit this, before he took off.

(New Warriors IV#14) - Enjoying lunch at a local diner while off duty, the New Warriors were surprised to witness scores of Skrull ships appearing over Manhattan. They were then teleported to New Warriors headquarters by Night Thrasher to stay put until they figured out more information about the exact nature of the Skrulls' presence. He then took off on his own, expecting the others to stay behind. However, they'd rigged a tracking device and followed their mysterious leader, fighting off one of the enhanced Skrull warriors along the way. The New Warriors traced Thrasher to one of his safe houses in the Appalachian Mountains where, as fate would have it, a contingent of Initiative heroes formerly connected to the New Warriors were already waiting for Night Thrasher.

(New Warriors IV#15) - The two bands of heroes fought, with Slapstick giving Phaser a hard time until Night Thrasher put an end to the confrontation by revealing he was Donyell Taylor, the former mutant New Warrior called Bandit, also known as Dwayne Taylor's younger brother. He went on to say the only reason he came to the safe house was to access information that could tell him where S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping his brother's body. Both bands of heroes teamed up, when Justice revealed the remains of the original Night Thrasher and the others were stored on the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. When they approached, the heroes realized it was under attack from Skrulls. Both teams went onboard to fight off the Super-Skrulls invading the flying fortress. While Phaser and the others held off the Skrulls until S.H.I.E.L.D. could bring in reinforcements, Night Thrasher and Justice retrieved the bodies of all the New Warriors killed during the Stamford incident. The heroes departed and, the following day, gave their fallen comrades a proper burial.

(New Warriors IV#16) - Holographically disguised as a little girl Ripcord infiltrated the Dread Dealers, whose leader Starion trusted her enough to take her in. After he gave her an apple Ripcord revealed herself and aided the New Warriors in taking down the Dread Dealers by using Pym Particles to shrink them down and imprison them in a small globe. Shortly after the New Warriors were assaulted by a squadron of elite S.H.I.E.L.D. Cape-Killers led by Detectives Beverly Sykes and Harry Givens. Ripcord and Skybolt were seemingly killed during this when they were caught in the explosion of a Cape-Killer's damaged energy backpack. On Thrasher's command Phaser quickly activated their teleportation device, returning them home. Once home the Warriors once again confronted Thrasher about his true mission after which Caz revealed to have hacked Thrasher's computer learning he was building a time machine to rescue his brother. Although shocked, Phaser and Blackwing still sided with Thrasher. Not long after Detectives Sykes, Givens and the Cape-Killers breached the New Warriors' base. In a desperate attempt to escape Phaser and the Warriors jumped into the time machine, followed by Sykes. However, the Warriors didn't find themselves in the past but in a dystopian future of Earth-81156 where Dwayne Taylor wasn't killed in the Stamford explosion, and instead took control of the Initiative from Stark, sending both heroes and villains to another universe using the Nth Projector.

(New Warriors IV#17) - Having accidentally arrived in the dystopian Iron Man-ruled alternate future the New Warriors and Detective Sykes discussed their next move. Insisting this reality was proof they had to succeed their mission and rescue the old New Warrior, Night Thrasher once again got into a discussion with the others and decided to leave and search for his brother by himself. Phaser and the others then decided to find a way home, noticing a peaceful protest demanding Night Thrasher's capture after which propaganda was broadcasted. Enraged, Wondra convinced the team to act but where then halted by a high-tech squadron of police officers who arrived to place them under arrest for possessing illegal technology. Phaser and the others quickly changed from their disguises and fought back only to be overpowered by the police. However, just before the New Warriors could be killed that Earth's Night Thrasher (Tony Stark) arrived to save them.

(New Warriors IV#18) - Phaser and the New Warriors watched as the dystopian Night Thrasher defeated the high-tech squadron of police officers after which they followed him to his hidden base. Night Thrasher revealed how Iron Man had come to rule the world immediately before revealing himself to be Tony Stark. Unbeknownst to the New Warriors their Night Thrasher succeeded in finding his dystopian brother as he'd become Iron Man.

(New Warriors IV#19) - After revealing how Tony Stark ended up as his reality's Night Thrasher, the New Warriors decided to help him break into Iron Man's headquarters to destroy his oppressive technology and return to their own reality. The following morning the New Warriors successfully managed to break into Iron Man's high-tech facility, and after fighting a large army of guards reached Iron Man's laboratory. However, just then the group was met by their reality's Night Thrasher and the dystopian Iron Man who'd seemingly joined forces.

(New Warriors IV#20) - Phaser and the New Warriors found themselves imprisoned where the dystopian Iron Man and Night Thrasher came to check on them. Night Thrasher revealed that he would banish them to the Nth Dimension on his brother's orders. However, not long after Night Thrasher changed his mind, seeing the dystopian Iron Man torture Stark. Fearing the worst, the New Warriors were surprised when Night Thrasher came to free them and made their way towards the time machine all whilst battling the Guardsmen. When the New Warriors arrived at the time machine, Night Thrasher revealed he would stay behind to fight his brother, whom he eventually killed. Reunited in the lab, the New Warriors successfully released the imprisoned heroes from the Nth Dimension, and jumped through the active time-machine. Safely returned to their own dimension the New Warriors decided to disband.

Comments: Created by Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils), Tim Townsend (inks).

New X-Men I#140 revealed Redneck had been sent to NY State Maximum Security Penitentiary. Tattoo and Radian were presumably sent to the same prison.

Also, the less said about the gawdawful fourth incarnation of New Warriors that roped Radian into becoming "Phaser" the better.

Radian received a profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#2, and Heroic Age: X-Men. The Official Handbook, however, lists Radian's first appearance as New X-Men I#134, this should've been New X-Men I#135.

Profile by MarvellousLuke

CLARIFICATIONS:
Radian has no known connections to

• Radian, Y'lestja @ Doom2099#15
• Radian, merger of Y'lestja with Kamirez Rosikon @ Doom2099#44
• Radiant, Fury Secret Base 5 @ Secret Warriors#1/2
• or any other "Radian" characters

images: (without ads)
New X-Men I#135, p22, pan1 (main image)
New X-Men I#135, p10, pan3 (using drugs)
New X-Men I#135, p13, pan4 (powers)
New X-Men I#138, p6, pan4 (broken leg)
New Warriors IV#3, p7, pan1 (New Warriors team)
New Warriors IV#7, p10, pan1&2 (grieving)
New Warriors IV#13, p3, pan3&4 (fighting Machinesmith)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#2, Phaser's entry (Phaser)

Appearances:
New X-Men I#135 (February, 2003) - Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils), Tim Townsend (inks), Mike Marts, Mike Raicht, Nova Ren Suma (editors)
New X-Men I#136 (March, 2003) - Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils), Avalon Studios (inks), Mike Marts, Mike Raicht, Nova Ren Suma (editors)
New X-Men I#137 (April, 2003) - Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils), Avalon Studios (inks), Mike Marts, Mike Raicht, Nova Ren Suma (editors)
New X-Men I#138 (May, 2003) - Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils), Avalon Studios (inks), Mike Marts, Mike Raicht, Nova Ren Suma (editors)
New Avengers I#18 (June, 2006) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (pencils), Joe Pimentel (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Warriors IV#1 (August, 2007) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#2 (September, 2007) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#3 (October, 2007) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#4 (November, 2007) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#5 (December, 2007) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#6 (January, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
New Warriors IV#7 (February, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Jon Main (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#9 (April, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#10 (May, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#11 (June, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#12 (July, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#13 (August, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#14 (September, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Koi Turnbull (pencils), Sal Regla (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#15 (October, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Koi Turnbull (pencils), Sal Regla (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#16 (November, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#17 (December, 2008) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#18 (January, 2009) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Casey Jones (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#19 (February, 2009) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
New Warriors IV#20 (March, 2009) - Kevin Grevioux (writer), Reilly Brown, Casey Jones (pencilers), Juan Vlasco, Vince Russell (inkers), Daniel Ketchum (editor)

First Posted: 11/23/2019
Last Updated: 11/23/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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