The Alliance of Evil is a group of

supervillains 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 ...

Publication history

The Alliance of Evil first appeared in ''

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 ...

'' #5–6 (June–July 1986), and was created by writer

Bob Layton Bob Layton (born September 25, 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as ''Iron Man (comic book), Iron Man'' and ''Hercules (Marvel Comics), Hercules'', and for co-fo ...

and artist Jackson Guice. Two of its members, Tower and Frenzy, had appeared before the rest of the team. The team subsequently appears in ''X-Factor'' #33 (October 1988), and ''New Mutants Annual'' #7 (1991). The Alliance of Evil received an entry in the '' Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89'' #1.

Fictional team biography

The Alliance of Evil was once

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

's personal strike force. Their first mission was to find and capture Michael Nowlan, a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

with the ability to heighten other mutants' powers. When Nowlan tried to leave, they kidnapped his girlfriend, Suzy, to use as bait.

found Nowlan and vowed to protect him. When the Alliance confronted him, they threatened to harm Suzy Nowlan increased their powers. The Alliance fought and defeated X-Factor, then brought Nowlan to Apocalypse. X-Factor eventually found their hideout, and on Apocalypse's orders, Nowlan powered up the Alliance again. When Suzy tried to escape, Stinger's bolts accidentally killed her. Nowlan killed himself, and Apocalypse abandoned the Alliance of Evil and escaped. Much later, the Alliance of Evil caused a commotion over the Mutant Registration Act. X-Factor saw them on the news and immediately attacked them. After being defeated by X-Factor, they were taken into custody by Freedom Force. The group, minus Timeshadow, later encountered the

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, sub ...

, along with Harness and

Piecemeal Piecemeal denotes something being done piece by piece or one stage at a time. Piecemeal may also refer to: * Piecemeal (Gilbert Benson), a fictional character in the Marvel Universe * Piecemeal (Cyborg villain), another fictional character in the ...

. They were defeated, and when questioned later, Frenzy admitted to being hired by AIM to bodyguard Harness and Piecemeal. She was then dropped out of a helicopter. The group eventually disbanded. Frenzy went on to join the ranks of Magneto's

Acolytes An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

and later the X-Men themselves, Tower was killed by the X-Cutioner, Stinger was seen befriending Iceman on the X-Men's home island of Utopia. Timeshadow has not been seen since.

Members

Employers

(En Sabah Nur) *

(Gilbert Benson): son of Harness

Agents

* Frenzy (Joanna Cargill): field leader of the Alliance, a super-strong mutant with steel-hard skin and resistance to temperature extremes. She later joins

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

and his

, and eventually through mind-control joined 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 ...

. She had returned to the Acolytes after Exodus reformed the group, having retained her mutant powers; she resides on Utopia. *

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

(Edward Pasternak): a mutant with the ability to increase his size and strength. He is probably the most reckless out of the group, and isn't very bright. Tower was killed by the mutant-hunting X-Cutioner, but he was resurrected by

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...

. *

Stinger A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal. An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of ve ...

(Wendy Sherman): a young

valley girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, f ...

with electricity control. * Timeshadow: had the mutant power to phase into time, allowing himself to teleport in a way, or appear to be in several places at once. His current status and whereabouts are unknown. * Source (Michael Nowlan): a drug addict mutant who radiated pulses of energy that increased a superhuman's abilities, sometimes beyond their control. This energy was highly addictive. Nowlan was captured and forced to "join". Deceased.''X-Factor'' #6

References

{{X-Men characters Comics characters introduced in 1986 X-Men supporting characters