Prism (Robbie) is a fictional

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He is a member of the Marauders.

Publication history

Prism first appeared in ''X-Factor'' 10 (November 1986), and was created by

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

and

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''The New Mutan ...

. The character subsequently appears in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #240-241 (January-February 1989), #243 (April 1989), ''X-Man'' #13 (March 1996), ''Generation M'' #3 (March 2006), ''X-Men and Power Pack'' #4 (March 2006), ''X-Men: The 198 Files'' #1 (March 2006), ''X-Men'' (vol. 2) #200-204 (August-December 2007), and ''X-Men: Messiah Complex'' #1 (December 2007). Prism appeared as part of the "Marauders" entry in the '' Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #18.

Fictional character biography

Prism is a member of the mercenary group, the Marauders, who is able to use his

crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

body to absorb, reflect, and even amplify any beams of light and other energy. Prism was part of a squad of Marauders, along with

Arclight An arclight or arc lamp is a lamp that produces a bright light by generating an electric arc across two electrodes. Arclight, Arc Light or arc light may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Arclight (comics), a mutant super-villai ...

and

Scrambler In telecommunications, a scrambler is a device that transposes or inverts signals or otherwise encodes a message at the sender's side to make the message unintelligible at a receiver not equipped with an appropriately set descrambling device. Wher ...

, who were sent to kill the members of

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

as they lead a mission to an evacuate the

Morlocks Morlocks are one of the two fictional species of post-humans created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel ''The Time Machine'' (the other being the Eloi). The origin of the names is not established (with regard to Wells' inspiration or inspirations ...

and help them escape the Marauders. Prism used his powers to reflect the optic blast of Cyclops back at him, and X-Factor member

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

slammed Prism against a wall using her telekinetic powers. This move killed Prism as his body was too fragile to survive the attack, which surprised everyone present. Mr. Sinister used his cloning technology to bring back Prism and his fellow Marauders which were killed during the

Mutant Massacre "Mutant Massacre" was a 1986 Marvel Comics crossover storyline. It primarily involved the superhero teams the X-Men and X-Factor. The solo hero Thor, the New Mutants, Power Pack, and Daredevil crossed over for an issue each in their own comic b ...

. Prism was killed again by a group of demon-influenced police officers in the opening hours of the '' Inferno'', while the Marauders fought the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

(who had not battled Prism before). Prism appears as one of the remaining 198 Mutants after M-Day, and became institutionalized in a mental hospital, and he was able to rise to power and exact revenge on anyone who harassed him and then lost their powers. Prism and the other Marauders ambushed the X-Men who were at Mystique's residence, and Prism participated in the ensuing battle. The Marauders were able to quickly defeat the X-Men and kidnap Rogue to bring her to Mr. Sinister. It was also revealed that Prism and several of his teammates were responsible for assassinating the Dark Mother. Prism's body is found shattered by the X-Men when they arrive at an Alaskan town, trying to find the new mutant baby who has been born.''X-Men: Messiah Complex'' #1 Prism had been killed in a clash with the Purifiers and was eaten by Predator X after the X-Men left. Prism's clone was later tracked down and killed by Magneto. Magneto reprogrammed the cloned Marauders to serve under his command, and when they were reborn, Prism and the other mercenaries joined Magneto's side.

Powers and abilities

Able to refract most forms of energy directed at him, including ambient light. He is also capable of storing light within his body, using it as a form of illumination or as a means of blinding his opponents.

Death count

Prism has apparently died four times during his time as a Marauder. The first was when Jean Grey used her

telekinetic Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

powers to throw Prism against a wall, smashing him to pieces.''X-Factor'' #10 The second was during '' Inferno'', where a group of policemen shot Prism and shattered him. The third time was when

X-Man Nathaniel "Nate" Grey (X-Man) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Steve Skroce, the character first appeared in ''X-Man'' #1 ...

used his mental powers to slaughter all of the Marauders. His shattered body is found by the X-Men in an Alaskan town, where he and the Marauders fought the Purifiers, and it was revealed he was killed and eaten by Predator X. It is unknown if Prism actually does die, or if he is able to piece his crystal body back together; Sinister regularly cloned members of the Marauders when they died, however, after M-Day it is unclear whether Sinister's samples of the Marauders survived and whether he can be cloned again.

References

External links

Prism
at Marvel.com * {{comicbookdb, type=character, id=7349, title=Prism (Marvel) Characters created by Chris Claremont Characters created by Louise Simonson Clone characters in comics Comics characters introduced in 1986 Fictional mercenaries in comics Fictional murderers Marvel Comics mutants Marvel Comics supervillains