Flex (Adrian Corbo) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

, a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. He is a former member of the superhero team

Alpha Flight Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wo ...

, but later got downgraded to

Beta Flight Beta Flight is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Along with Gamma Flight, Beta Flight is one of the "minor leagues" of the Canadian team Alpha Flight. Originally, Beta Flight was the interm ...

Fictional character biography

Adrian and his older half-brother Jared (later codenamed

Radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

) were raised in the Hull House orphanage, which was actually a facility operated by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

's secretive Department H. While Adrian became shy, reserved and bookish, Jared became athletically inclined, aggressive, and arrogant. Both brothers manifested

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 ...

powers after puberty: Adrian gained the ability to transform parts of his body into blades, while Jared manifested a personal force field that could not be shut down. The brothers were recruited into a new incarnation of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight. This incarnation was being heavily mentally controlled by

Department H The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

, led by Jeremy Clarke. As part of this, the team was led to believe that

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

had murdered the ex-Alpha Flight member Box. Flex was one of the team sent to stop him, which they did on a heavily forested back road in New York. Wolverine initially faces down the team, discussing things and using his senses to check them out. Flex becomes very nervous, despite his brother's bravado. Despite the efforts of both sides, a fight breaks out and it is soon joined by several more X-Men. Flex is personally confronted by

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

and loudly declares his desires to talk, not fight. Cannonball, always willing to do the same, does so and the two manage to get the fight to end. The entire Alpha Flight team realizes something stinks about the entire situation, mainly because they had been tracking Wolverine by his adamantium and at that point in time, he had none. Radius and Flex assist the new Alpha Flight in battling several foes, including the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

and the Brass Bishop. During the Brass Bishop incident, the team encounters a church full of zombified townspeople. Flex's teammate Man-Bot reports no life signs, other than the church-goers but a scared little girl emerges from the crowd. The team follows her directions, flying off to where the girl said all the people had gone. While mid-flight, Flex is the one to realize that Man-Bot did not register the girl's vital signs. His warning saves the team from flying nose-first into a mysterious, shielded structure. The team eventually fought the malicious, mind-controlling leader of Alpha Flight, Jeremy Clarke. He later died of radiation poisoning during a Zodiac raid on the Department H headquarters, to be replaced by a new, kinder administrator. A reorganized Alpha Flight team confronts several members of the original Flight and later team up with them to defeat a new

Weapon X Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are conducted by List of government agencies in Marvel Comics, Department K, which turns willing ...

, who had been created by a rogue Department H scientist. Both groups of Alphas merge into a unified Alpha Flight following this adventure. The Corbo brothers and several other members of the new team were later reassigned to Alpha Flight's trainee team,

. After the events of M-Day, Corbo lost his mutant abilities. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Powers and abilities

Adrian had the ability to "flex" parts of his body into thin sheets of "organic metal" (possibly similar in nature to the organic steel analogue of

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ''Colossus of Barletta'', a bronze statue of an unidentified Roman emperor * ''Col ...

), which are highly resistant to physical damage. Often he "flexes" his hands into sharp long blades, and has even been shown to flex his leg into a blade preventing someone from grabbing him. It's relatively thin, but by doing so he had the strength to send over 15 people into the air. Adrian's metal blades have been shown to cut through metal with ease and block laser and gunfire, but the overall strength and durability of his organic metal was never stated. It may be possible that he could transform his entire body into this substance.

External links

AlphaFlight.net - Alphanex entry on FlexUncannnyxmen.net character bio on Flex
{{Flight Program Comics characters introduced in 1997 Canadian superheroes Fictional Canadian people in comics Marvel Comics characters who are shapeshifters Marvel Comics superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics mutants Characters created by Steven T. Seagle