Mutant Liberation Front
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The Mutant Liberation Front, or MLF, was a Marvel Comics supervillain group, primarily enemies of X-Force. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist/co-writer Rob Liefeld, the original MLF first fully appeared in The New Mutants #87 (March 1990).
The Mutant Liberation group consisted of young terrorist mutants, formed under the mutant time traveller Stryfe. After his apparent death, the group reformed under Reignfire.
[edit] History
The Mutant Liberation Front first appeared in New Mutants #87 (the same time as Cable, they both had a cameo on the last page of #86). The MLF was primarily the antagonist of the New Mutants, and their later incarnation, X-Force. They also fought the second incarnation of X-Factor, and were eventually defeated by the X-Men during the X-Cutioner's Song. A second incarnation was assembled later by a villain known as Reignfire.
The team seemed mainly organized of disillusioned, anarchic mutant youths. Stryfe founded the group sometime after coming to the 20th century (from roughly 2,000 years in the future). They were likely assembled as a tool while Stryfe assembled his master plan which he executed in the X-Cutioner's Song storyline. The exact size of the organization is unknown, but they were seen to have had several advanced bases around the world, and employed a number of presumably human guards.
When the team first appeared, it was during the debut of new New Mutants artists Rob Liefeld, and the team was his creation (with Louise Simonson). Their first mission was to rescue Rusty and Skids, two New Mutants who had been captured by the government. Rusty and Skids would not be seen for some time later, but when they were it was revealed that they stayed with the group due to mind control devices Stryfe implanted in them. It was never indicated that any of the others members had similar implants.
After the organization was dismantled in the X-Cutioner's Song, four of the imprisoned members (Wildside, Reaper, Forearm and Tempo) were liberated and recruited by a mysterious villain named Reignfire, who was believed to be a futuristic version of Sunspot. Already among the ranks of the new MLF were former New Mutant member Moonstar (undercover on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Locus. X-Force's Feral also defected to the MLF, and Tempo betrayed them and went her own way. After a few minor missions, including a group that infiltrated Muir Island to obtain information on the Legacy Virus, the group was captured by members of Operation: Zero Tolerance and never reformed.
[edit] Members
- Stryfe (leader) - Vast telepathic and telekinetic abilities; clone of X-force's Cable
- Reignfire (second leader) - Absorbs solar energy, metabolises it, and uses it to increase his physical strength, project pyrokinetic burst of heat and fire, and utilize it for flight; protoplasmic lifeform patterned after Sunspot. Originally intended to actually be a future version of Sunspot.
- Collective Man (Sun, Chang, Ho, Han and Lin Tao-Yu) - Was also a member of the MLF under the leadership of Reignfire; until he betrayed Collective Man to the Chinese government.
- Dragoness (Tamara Kurtz) - Uses stored bodily energy to create stinging blasts or create flames in the atmosphere; sometimes uses robotic dragon wings and a jetpack for flight.
- Feral (Maria Callasantos) - Cat-like physiology grants her enhanced senses, razor-sharp teeth and claws, a furry orange hide, a prehensile tail and flexible spine, and above average strength, speed, agility, and endurance. Lost powers on M-Day.
- Forearm (Michael McCain) - Superhuman strength, endurance and resistance to injury, as well as two additional arms.
- Jade Dragon (Dai Guan) - Was also a member of the MLF under the leadership of Reignfire; until he betrayed Jade Dragon to the Chinese government.
- Kamikaze - Able to excite the molecules of anything he touches to create violent explosions; flight
- Locus - Able to teleport herself and other people or objects to a point that she or they have been some time in the past
- Moonstar (Danielle Moonstar; acting as an undercover SHIELD agent) - Concentrates her psychic energy in the form of arrows that can cause severe mental and emotional trauma in her victims.
- Nuwa - Was also a member of the MLF under the leadership of Reignfire; until he betrayed Nuwa to the Chinese government.
- Reaper (Pantu Hurageb, Depowered)- Emits a neural disruption force, which, when focused through his scythe, can cause paralysis. Accidentally mindwiped by Cable in Weapon X #12. Lost powers on M-Day.
- Rusty (Russel Collins) - Able to generate and control fires within his line of sight.
- Selby - Ability to instinctively decrypt and rewrite computer programs.
- Skids (Sally Blevins)- Generates a force field around her body that sloughs off physical impact, absorbs energy, and counteracts friction allowing her to slide across surfaces.
- Strobe - Emits an aura of intense heat, which can melt objects, concentrate the energy into heat beams, or use thermal updrafts to fly.
- Sumo - Can make himself immensely fat, whcih grants him immense resistance to injury and impact, and superstrength.
- Tempo (Heather Tucker)- Able to control the flow of time for individuals, speeding up allies and slowing opponents. She is also one of the 198 mutants to have survived M-Day.
- Thumbelina (Kristine Anderson) - Able to shrink to minuscule size while proportionally increasing her strength and density (sister of the Nasty Boys Slab).
- Wildside (Richard Gill, Depowered)- Able to distort the senses of his opponents, however he rarely uses his powers as he prefers to maim and kill his victims by hand. Accidentally mindwiped by Cable in Weapon X #12. Lost powers on M-Day.
- Zero - A silent android that Stryfe brought with him from the future. It is capable of advanced teleportation, and is the groups primary means of transportation. The Zero android also appeared in the first Deadpool miniseries. It was believed destroyed in Excalibur #80, but revealed to have survived in X-Force (vol. 2) #5.
