Excelsior (comics)

Loners (originally named Excelsior) are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published Marvel Comics. They first appeared in the pages of '' Runaways''. The group consists of a Los Angeles–based support group for former teenage superheroes from New York, founded by Turbo of the New Warriors, and Phil Urich, the heroic former Green Goblin. Their goals are initially stated to be to help fellow teenage superheroes to adjust to normal lives while coping with their powers, and to dissuade other superpowered teenagers from becoming heroes, but these goals are discarded in their own miniseries in favor of the group apparently wanting to avoid using their powers for any reason, even if that means abandoning helpless victims of crime to their fate. Although all the characters were created by different authors and artists, the team itself was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, with other characters (Spider-Woman, Hollow, and Red Ronin) added to the cast during the events of the 2007 miniseries.

The group originally appeared in the '' Runaways'' story arc " True Believers". At the end of the story arc, it was revealed that the group was secretly sponsored by Rick Jones, on behalf of Captain America, who hoped to ensure the Runaways do not get into trouble. Following their battle with Ultron, Rick offered to sponsor the team full-time. Its creative team is C. B. Cebulski (writer) and Karl Moline (artist).

Overview

Originally debuting in the book '' Runaways'' under the name "Excelsior", the team later received their own limited series with an option to continue as an ongoing should sales be high enough, though this was not the case. The title of the series and the team was changed from Excelsior to ''Loners'', due to trademark issues as Stan Lee holds a trademark on the term "Excelsior!", though the team did appear in an issue of the third volume of '' Marvel Team-Up'' under the name Excelsior before ''Loners'' was published.''Marvel Team-Up'' vol. 3 #15 The title premiered on April 11, 2007, and ran for six issues. In a stylistic departure from their debut appearance in ''Runaways'' as comic relief, ''Loners'' is not a comedy, though the covers of the individual issues still suggest a lighthearted tone by being direct homages to the imagery of John Hughes' films, and the exaggerated personalities from their ''Runaways'' debut are also retained entirely for the cast, though this does create some continuity discrepancies, particularly Darkhawk's infrequent lapses into potentially murderous violence in a manner that ignores later events from the ''Darkhawk'' series, and Julie Power no longer having the ability to teleport, her powers now including the ability to hover in the air without being in motion, and her character purporting to be from New York instead of Bainbridge Island, Washington. In a further departure from both their debut appearance and their appearances elsewhere in Marvel titles as a fully functioning superhero group who gather in costume, the group has a different and unprecedented function, changing from a peer support/counseling group of active superheroes to an addiction/recovery group. It can be observed that the methods utilised by the group in many instances contradict common practices of individual empowerment found in addiction/recovery groups in favor of codependency upon the group and its rituals. In the series, the "addiction" specified is addictive behavior: using superpowers, fighting crime, and helping those in need. The addictions are not to narcotic substance at any time during the series, although Mattie Franklin is seen getting drunk in a bar during the closing montage of issue 3 despite still being in high school, suggesting the possibility of alcohol dependence.

Julie Power and Johnny Gallo are also the subject of character retcons during the course of the series: whereas in his ''Runaways'' appearance Johnny's reasons for joining the group were given as being so he could be around other ex-teen heroes who had experienced early fame as a superhero and later couldn't cope without it,''Runaways'' vol.2 #1 this was revised in ''Loners'' to being that he used superheroics for thrill seeking and to meet women,''Loners'' #2 then revised a third time to being a response to his friend being killed during a superhero battle (though this battle—occurring during the events of the 'Wolverine: Enemy of the State' story arc—did not actually occur until after Johnny first appeared as a member of the Los Angeles–based Excelsior group, though he is portrayed during ''Loners'' in flashbacks as still living in New York at the time, working as a superhero alongside the friend in question: Eddie McDonough, who is also portrayed as being back in the Hornet armor he lost, somehow cured of the cerebral palsy which afflicted him). Julie's low intelligence displayed in the ''Runaways'' 'True Believers' story arc and the first three issues of ''Loners'' is also revealed as an affectation she adopts to fit in with the natives of Los Angeles and her fellow teammates,''Loners'' #4 though she retains this personality for the rest of the series regardless of her revelation. Julie's age is also revised by several years, from the indeterminate "ex-teenage" of Runaways to the specific age of 17, and she no longer displays her teleportation powers, or the ability to create shields.

Three new team members were also introduced in the series: Penance (known as Hollow), Spider-Woman and Namie (the second version of the Red Ronin). After the miniseries, The Loners appear in a special ten page Christmas story within the 2007 ''Marvel Holiday Special''.

After Mattie was killed and Darkhawk was severely injured (in " Grim Hunt" and '' The Thanos Imperative'' respectively), the remaining members of the team join the Avengers Academy.''Avengers Academy'' #21

Members

Sponsor

* Rick Jones, on behalf of Captain America.

Original members

*Darkhawk (Chris Powell). He decided to give up his powers after his nightmares became too intense for him to handle. Chris is short-tempered and prone to violence, especially in his Darkhawk form, attacking not only his targets, but his own teammates. He later joins the New Avengers.
*Green Goblin (Phil Urich), the fourth, heroic, incarnation of the Green Goblin. After losing his costume and equipment during a battle, he finished college, earned a degree in journalism, and helped start Excelsior. He returned to New York City, working for the ''Daily Bugle'' (formerly ''Front Line''). He became the Hobgoblin, who is working for Kingpin.
* Lightspeed (Julie Power), formerly of Power Pack. Convinced that the superhero lifestyle robbed her of her childhood innocence, she left her family at 15 years old and moved to California, hoping to become an actress. Currently attending the Avengers Academy as a teacher's assistant.
*Ricochet (Johnny Gallo), formerly of the Slingers. He is a mutant who has an early warning sense much like Spider-Man's, as well as acrobatic agility, dexterity with thrown objects, reflexes, and coordination.
*Turbo (Michiko "Mickey" Musashi), formerly of the New Warriors. Deciding she would do more good with her education than she would through adventure, she retired the Torpedo armor and returned to investigative journalism.
* Geoffrey Wilder, a time-displaced member of the Pride, disguised himself as Chamber to spy on the Loners.

Later members

*Hollow, formerly known as Penance of Generation X. It is unknown who is now residing in this hollow body.
*Namie, a mystery female character that is not one of the previously introduced teen female characters. Cebulski previously hinted that she does have ties to the Marvel Universe, eventually outed as a cyborg