Reavers (comics)

Reavers
Art by Jim Lee
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #229 (May 1988)
Created by	Chris Claremont (writer) Marc Silvestri (artist)
In-story information
Member(s)	Donald Pierce Lady Deathstrike Pretty Boy Bonebreaker Skullbuster Wade Cole Angelo Macon Murray Reese Skullbuster (Cylla Markham) Josh Foley

The Reavers are a fictional team of criminal cyborgs appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The most significant team of Reavers were dedicated to the destruction of the mutant X-Men, and a number of them especially wanted to take revenge on one particular X-Man, Wolverine. The name was originally used by a gang of Australian cyborgs. The name later referred to a group under the leadership of Donald Pierce, consisting of the three survivors from the original Reavers along with other cyborgs.

These Reavers should not be confused with the Reavers of the planet Arcturus IV, who exist in the future of the alternate reality Earth-691 and are involved in the histories of the Guardians of the Galaxy members Starhawk and Aleta.^[1]

Publication history

The Reavers first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #229 and was created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri.

Fictional group history

Looters

The first group of cyborgs calling themselves the Reavers operated out of an underground complex beneath the ghost town of Cooterman's Creek in North Central Australia. The Reavers acted as a commando-style team of thieves, with apparently dozens of members. Their base was inexplicably equipped with advanced computers and a sub-basement and tunnel system. The Reavers coerced the mutant teleporter Gateway to teleport them from Australia to locations around the world to conduct their robberies. Informed of the Reavers' existence by Roma, the X-Men defeat the Reavers in battle and expel them from their base, which they then co-opt for their own use. The X-Men destroy some of the Reavers and force most of the rest to enter the mystical Siege Perilous to meet unrevealed fates. Only Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, and Bonebreaker escape.^[2]

Donald Pierce's Reavers

The Reavers are reassembled under the leadership of Donald Pierce, who reorganizes the team as an assassination squadron to undertake para-military style commando operations, dedicated to taking vengeance on the X-Men in particular and eliminating mutants in general. Pierce combines the three survivors of the original Reavers with Lady Deathstrike and the three former Hellfire Club mercenaries Cole, Macon, and Reese.^[3] No explanation is given for why Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, and Bonebreaker came to be involved with the group, aside from Pierce claiming to have created the original Reavers.^[4] Lady Deathstrike's reasons for joining the Reavers are even more unclear, as she professes a lack of interest in their goal of eliminating mutants.^[5]

While the X-Men are away from their Australian base, the Reavers retake the ghost town and wait for the team to come back. However, on their return the X-Men escape the Reavers through the Siege Perilous. Only Wolverine, who is on a leave of absence in Madripoor, remains. Once he returns, they capture him, and proceed to torture and crucify him.^[4] Wolverine escapes the Reavers with the aid of Jubilee. The Reavers then attack the Muir Island Mutant Research Center, theorizing that it is Wolverine's most likely destination. They fight Freedom Force and Moira MacTaggart's alternate X-Men team, and kill Stonewall and Sunder. During the assault on Muir Island, Skullbuster is rendered inoperative by sniper fire from Forge.^[6] Donald Pierce rescues a gravely wounded pilot named Cylla Markham, who agrees to be converted into a cyborg.^[7]

Around this time, Bonebreaker, Reese, and Pretty Boy are dispatched to a New York warehouse after Microchip, an associate of the Punisher, in a self-confessed mistake, infiltrates their computer system. The temporary absence of Gateway gives Punisher and Microchip enough time to evacuate and set up resistance. The warehouse is destroyed, but the two escape through the sewer.^[8] The Reavers face off against the Punisher again. In the firefight, the Reavers kill Microchip's cousin. The Punisher sets off auto-destruct charges which cause heavy damage to the three Reavers, particularly Bonebreaker, whose cybernetic lower body is demolished. The Reavers retreat.^[9]

The Reavers then successfully attack the White Queen's company, Frost Technotics.^[10] They capture Rogue, who has returned from inside the Siege Perilous, although Rogue is then rescued by a recreation of Ms. Marvel. Donald Pierce transforms Cylla Markham into the new Skullbuster (although she usually goes by the name Cylla).^[11] Lady Deathstrike later seeks Wolverine in Madripoor and Vancouver. Pierce creates an android named Elsie-Dee and a Wolverine android double named "Albert" to kill Wolverine. The attempt fails, however, when Elsie-Dee rebels against her programming.^[12]

Upstarts and humans

As part of the Upstarts' game, Trevor Fitzroy dispatches his own Sentinels to the Reavers' Australian hideout to kill Pierce and anyone else they find there. In the ensuing battle, only Pierce, Lady Deathstrike and Cylla escape the massacre, Pierce seemingly only making it as far as the Hellfire Club before he is "killed".^[13] Cylla later resurfaces, allying herself with Bloodscream in an attempt to murder Wolverine. However, Bloodscream betrays her and sucks the life from her, killing her.^[14]

However, most Reavers somehow survive their supposed deaths. They later return to battle the X-Treme X-Men on behalf of the Shadow King.^[15]

Donald Pierce puts together a new group of Reavers, composed of young anti-mutant humans (with the exception of Elixir, who at the time was unaware that he was a mutant).^[16] They are defeated by Karma, Elixir, and a handful of young mutants.^[17] The group later breaks Pierce out of prison, but with Elixir as bait, they are lured into an ambush and captured by the same five mutants who stopped Pierce when he first betrayed the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.^[18]

Messiah Complex

The latest incarnation of the Reavers in Messiah Complex by Humberto Ramos.

The Reavers return to play a role in the Messiah Complex event, under the leadership of Lady Deathstrike.^[19] Judging from the design of their costumes, as well as their rhetoric in battle, these newest Reavers are simply existing members of the Purifiers upgraded with cybernetics rather than classic members of the team. Deployed as an elite commando unit designed to eliminate organized mutant resistance, the Reavers manage to track down and confront Cable in Alberta, Canada before being attacked by the new X-Force.^[20]

In the ensuing battle, Deathstrike and the Reavers are all terminated by Wolverine's strike team, but not before killing the mutant Caliban and injuring Cable. To this date only Deathstrike's fate was revealed and it remains to be seen whether the Purifiers will be able to upgrade more of their fighters with Reaver technology to replace the ones lost in Canada.^[21]

Cable and X-Force

The Reavers play a small role in Cable and X-Force - Volume 4. Pretty Boy, Bonebreaker, Skullbuster (female), and Skullbuster (male) are quickly dispatched by Hope Summers and Cable before being able to deploy an ICBM.

Known members

First Team

• Bonebreaker
• Skullbuster
• Pretty Boy
• Various unnamed other members (deceased or reincarnated)

Second Team

• Donald Pierce (leader)
• Lady Deathstrike
• Wade Cole (deceased)
• Angelo Macon (deceased)
• Murray Reese (deceased)
• Bonebreaker (arrested)
• Skullbuster
• Skullbuster (Cylla)
• Pretty Boy (arrested)

Third Team

• Donald Pierce (leader)
• Elixir (quit)
• Duncan
• Various unnamed other members

Fourth Team

• Lady Deathstrike (leader)
• Various unnamed other members (all presumed deceased)

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Reavers were a band of human traitors serving Apocalypse. They have been enhanced with Apocalypse's techno-organic virus which allows them to merge with both organic and mechanical materials.^[22]

Ultimate Marvel

Rather than being a specific team of supervillains, the Ultimate version of the Reavers are human gladiators who have undergone surgery to become cyborgs for the specific purpose of hunting down mutants on live television. They are led by the deranged Mutant-hunter Sgt. Wade "Wadey" Wilson aka Deadpool. Some do retain the names of the Earth-616 Reavers, such as 'Bonebreaker'. Another known one is named 'Cruise'.^[23]

In other media

Television

• The Reavers make an appearance in the two-part X-Men episodes "Out of the Past". Known members are Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Murray Reese, Skullbuster, and Wade Cole. The Reavers do a trick that leads Wolverine into the tunnels where they plan to use him to open an alien ship that Lady Deathstrike found. When the ship is opened, the alien inside ends up sucking the lifeforce out of the Reavers. Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike had to work together to defeat the alien. Once the alien is defeated, the lifeforce of the Reavers are returned to their bodies. Donald Pierce would instead be a member of the Inner Circle (the alternate name in this TV series for the Hellfire Club) instead in this continuity, as seen in the four part "Dark Phoenix Saga" storyline.
• The Reavers appeared in Wolverine and the X-Men, with their vocal effects provided by Charlie Adler in "X-Calibre" and by Steven Blum in "Hunting Grounds." They are shown as servants of Mojo and Spiral and the identified Reavers are Murray Reese, Wade Cole, Angelo Macon, and a female named Ricochet.

Film

• The Reavers appear in Logan.^[24][25] The known members are Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Angelo Macon, Danny Rhodes, and Mohawk. In the year 2029, the Reavers are an enhanced security force for the Transigen Project led by Donald Pierce and are all under the employ of Dr. Zander Rice who heads up the Transigen Project.

Video games

• A variation of the Reavers appeared in X2: Wolverine's Revenge. Instead of being led by Donald Pierce, they are led by Deathstrike herself. In the game, she reveals to Wolverine that the pilot that was taking him to the abandoned facility, May Deuce (leader of the Mutant Hunters), and the Army GI that saved his life from two Department H soldiers were cyborgs controlled by Deathstrike that would direct Wolverine to her so she can kill him by her hands, not the Shiva Strain Virus. Deathstrike also reveals that she paid Sabretooth to get in on the plot so he could cause Wolverine pain. In the game, they are never named the Reavers.
• The Reavers appear in Strider Hiryu's ending in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• The Reavers (via Bonebreaker) appear as an army of soldiers for Magneto in the 1992 X-Men arcade game.
• The Reavers also appear in Capcom's The Punisher arcade game, with Bonebreaker as a stage boss and many Pretty Boy cyborgs in different stages.
• The Reavers appear in Marvel Heroes. While Lady Deathstrike and Bonebreaker are known members, the foot sodliers of the Reavers consist of Dr. Reaversteins, Mighty Max, Reaver Berserkers, Reaver Blitzkriegs, Reaver Hellhounds, Reaver Maniacs, Reaver Psychotics, and Reaver Savages.

References

External links

• Reavers at Marvel.com