The Alliance of Evil is a group of

supervillains A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are ofte ...

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 ...

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'' (2001–2003 ...

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

Bob Layton Bob Layton (born 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'' and ''Hercules'', and for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter. Early life Bob Layton ...

and artist

Jackson Guice Jackson "Butch" Guice (born June 27, 1961) is an American comics artist who has worked in the comics industry since the 1980s. Biography Guice was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.. Retrieved March 21, 2008. Growing up in the 1960s, Guice was fond o ...

. 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 in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

's personal strike force, and carried out his bidding. 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 ...

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 traced him down, they threatened Suzy to make him power them up. The Alliance fought and defeated X-Factor, bringing Nowlan back to their master. 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 kill 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 Discrimination against superheroes is a common theme and plot element comic books and superhero fiction, usually as a way to explore the issue of superheroes operating in society or as commentary on other social concerns. Often in response to th ...

. X-Factor saw them on the news and immediately attacked the Alliance. They were defeated by X-Factor and 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 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 us ...

, along with Harness and Piecemeal. They were defeated, and when questioned later, Frenzy admitted to being hired by A.I.M. 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 Professor X Xavin X-Cutioner The X-Cutioner (Carl Denti) is a fictional character, a former FBI agent obsessed with stalking mutants who kill humans. He uses an array of both alien technology (such as Shi'ar power armor and Z'nox sensors) ...

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

Members

Employers

* Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) *

Piecemeal (Gilbert Benson) Kevin MacTaggert, best known as Proteus and also called Mutant X, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly associated with the X-Men. Kevin was the mutant son of Scottish genetic rese ...

- 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. At first glance, she seems like your typical strongwoman, but she is actually quite intelligent. She later went on to join

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 mind-controlled to join the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

. She had returned to the Acolytes after Exdous reformed the group, having retained her mutant powers, but now resides on Utopia. * Tower (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

. Resurrected by Selene. * Stinger (Wendy Sherman)- a young valley girl with electricity control. Recently seen on Utopia. * Timeshadow - who 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 supercharged superhuman abilities or drove them out of their owner's control. This energy was highly addictive. Nowlanwas captured and forced to "join". Currently deceased.''X-Factor'' #6

References

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