U-Men (comics)
Encyclopedia
The U-Men are a fiction
al group of villains, owned by Marvel Comics
and existing in the Marvel Universe
.
run on New X-Men. Their name is an allusion to the early Seattle grunge band also named The U-Men
. They believe in using mutant body parts to augment their human bodies as well as to grant themselves superhuman powers. They also live in specially designed environment suits to protect them from what they believe to be an imperfect world. Until his death, they were led by John Sublime.
, who manifested fly-related mutant powers. They are about to dissect her in a mobile-lab by the side of the road when Wolverine finds them and attacks, having been searching for Angel with the help of Jean Grey. All the soldiers are killed and Angel is taken into the care of the X-Men.
A little after Angel is rescued, a squadron of U-Men attack through the front gate of the X-Mansion. Jean Grey
is the only X-Man on the premises, but with the help of several of the students, such as one who could manifest voices from any direction, she was able to keep the U-Men at bay. The U-Men have many counter-abilities to mutant powers, such as being able to shut down portions of their mind in order to escape telepathic control by the Stepford Cuckoos
. Jean manages to both humiliate the U-Men with her telepathy and defeat them with her regrowing Phoenix powers. As Wolverine and Angel draw up to the mansion, the U-Men are seen running away, screaming into the night as Jean telekinetically destroys their suits and attacks them with psychic fire.
The U-Men are next seen when the first Xorn
takes his remedial class, which includes Angel, out on a special camping trip. They are attacked by U-Men forces. Xorn was drawn away, leaving the class to face down a lone U-Men soldier. The students defeat him and Angel, sent to search for Xorn, discovers that Xorn had slain the rest of the force.
Kid Omega
and his gang, high on the mutant drug Kick, made a planned attack on a U-Men stronghold, destroying it and killing the men.
A U-man is also seen being killed by angry mutants in Planet X
.
U-Men act in groups, composed of a "central base", group leaders, and subordinates. They communicate through standard forms of technology and go out into hunting missions to harvest mutants. They often refer to John Sublime's website for guidance and questions.
As well, Sublime's book states that there is a "third species" on Earth called Homo perfectus or "the Recycled Man". The so-called "Third Species" is composed of normal humans who believe it is their right to use mutants and mutant parts to give themselves "chosen mutant" abilities. They do this by capturing mutants and harvesting their organs or other body parts to use either as grafts and implants (such as eyes with x-ray vision or blood transfusions that grants electrical abilities) or as tools (such as Martha the Mutant Brain
). Like normal grafts and implants, the mutant organs do not always take, and some U-Men die as a result of the process, such as U-Man Bob Smitt, who died of blood poisoning when his mutant lung grafts rotted inside him. U-Men view the failure of a graft to take as a measure of an individual's "purity" and deservedness to be one of the Third Species.
When a U-Man dies, the other members of his or her team congregate for a short ceremony and then harvest the deceased U-Man's grafted mutant organs for themselves. In doing so, they believe that the fallen U-Man (as well as the mutants whose organs they harvest) will continue to live within them, a form of genetic immortality.
Despite their seemingly small and radical stigma, the U-Man organization is much larger, possibly due to John Sublime's wealth and fame. The X-Men investigate an issue in Hong Kong and discover a massive illegal mutant organ smuggling operation within John Sublime's Sublime Pharm Solutions building. The building houses several captured mutants, some of which have been operated on and left to die. The facility is massive and contains sophisticated technology and surgical equipment.
, an apocalyptic alternate future time line, the last U-Man is known as Apollyon the Destroyer, who serves as a herald for "The Beast" (a Sublime-possessed Hank McCoy). Having suffered several injuries and still being "perfected" with different grafts, Apollyon awaits the day when he will be grafted with the "Phoenix gene" and will become perfect and able to walk on a "perfected world." However, when the Phoenix gene is harvested, Apollyon discovers that the Beast lied to him and intends to harvest the Phoenix gene for himself. When a reawoken Jean Grey
extracts the intelligent bacterial entity Sublime from Beast, Apollyon strikes and decapitates Beast out of vengeance. Delusional and believing the world to now be perfected, Apollyon rips off his mask, revealing a face that is horribly disfigured. Despite this, the dying E.V.A. recognizes him and calls out, suggesting that Apollyon's true identity is that of Fantomex
.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al group of villains, owned by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and existing in the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
.
Publication history
In the Marvel Universe the U-Men are a collection of characters that first appeared in Grant Morrison'sGrant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
run on New X-Men. Their name is an allusion to the early Seattle grunge band also named The U-Men
The U-Men
The U-Men were a Seattle-based post-punk band active in the early to late 1980s. They toured extensively across America and even had a song by the Butthole Surfers named in their honor...
. They believe in using mutant body parts to augment their human bodies as well as to grant themselves superhuman powers. They also live in specially designed environment suits to protect them from what they believe to be an imperfect world. Until his death, they were led by John Sublime.
Fictional history
A group of U-Men track down a young girl named Angel SalvadoreAngel Salvadore
Angel Salvadore, also known by her codename Tempest, is a fictional character created by Grant Morrison and Ethan Van Sciver, appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in New X-Men, vol. 1 #118. She is portrayed by Zoë Kravitz in X-Men: First Class...
, who manifested fly-related mutant powers. They are about to dissect her in a mobile-lab by the side of the road when Wolverine finds them and attacks, having been searching for Angel with the help of Jean Grey. All the soldiers are killed and Angel is taken into the care of the X-Men.
A little after Angel is rescued, a squadron of U-Men attack through the front gate of the X-Mansion. Jean Grey
Jean Grey
Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
is the only X-Man on the premises, but with the help of several of the students, such as one who could manifest voices from any direction, she was able to keep the U-Men at bay. The U-Men have many counter-abilities to mutant powers, such as being able to shut down portions of their mind in order to escape telepathic control by the Stepford Cuckoos
Stepford Cuckoos
The Stepford Cuckoos are a set of fictional mutant psychically linked quintuplets . They are students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
. Jean manages to both humiliate the U-Men with her telepathy and defeat them with her regrowing Phoenix powers. As Wolverine and Angel draw up to the mansion, the U-Men are seen running away, screaming into the night as Jean telekinetically destroys their suits and attacks them with psychic fire.
The U-Men are next seen when the first Xorn
Xorn
Xorn is a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. First appearing in New X-Men Annual 2001, Xorn was a new addition to the X-Men membership during writer Grant Morrison's revamp of the franchise....
takes his remedial class, which includes Angel, out on a special camping trip. They are attacked by U-Men forces. Xorn was drawn away, leaving the class to face down a lone U-Men soldier. The students defeat him and Angel, sent to search for Xorn, discovers that Xorn had slain the rest of the force.
Kid Omega
Quentin Quire
Quentin Quire, also known as Kid Omega, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in New X-Men #122 , although he went unnamed until New X-Men #134...
and his gang, high on the mutant drug Kick, made a planned attack on a U-Men stronghold, destroying it and killing the men.
A U-man is also seen being killed by angry mutants in Planet X
Planet X (comics)
"Planet X" is 2004 storyline published by Marvel Comics that ran from New X-Men #146-150. The story is the climax of Grant Morrison's run as writer on the X-Men, and features the return of Magneto and the death of Jean Grey.-Plot:...
.
"The Third Species" religion
The U-Men were primarily led by Dr. John Sublime until his death. Individuals view his book, The Third Species, to be their bible and the practice of being a U-Man as a legitimate religion, though others, such as mutants, view them as a cult.U-Man life and philosophy
The Third Species presents Sublime's philosophy that the current world is "tainted" and that followers must not be exposed to the air or touch the earth of the "fallen world" until it has been perfected, hence the special suits. They eat only processed, specialized foods that are deemed "clean," and their suits have automatic waste recycling. They must pay for these suits themselves. They carry weapons used for harvesting mutants, such as propulsion guns that fire razors or bullets.U-Men act in groups, composed of a "central base", group leaders, and subordinates. They communicate through standard forms of technology and go out into hunting missions to harvest mutants. They often refer to John Sublime's website for guidance and questions.
As well, Sublime's book states that there is a "third species" on Earth called Homo perfectus or "the Recycled Man". The so-called "Third Species" is composed of normal humans who believe it is their right to use mutants and mutant parts to give themselves "chosen mutant" abilities. They do this by capturing mutants and harvesting their organs or other body parts to use either as grafts and implants (such as eyes with x-ray vision or blood transfusions that grants electrical abilities) or as tools (such as Martha the Mutant Brain
Martha Johansson
Martha Johansson, also known as No-Girl, is a fictional mutant character, an isolated brain, from the New X-Men comic book series, set in the Marvel Universe and published by Marvel Comics.-Fictional character biography:...
). Like normal grafts and implants, the mutant organs do not always take, and some U-Men die as a result of the process, such as U-Man Bob Smitt, who died of blood poisoning when his mutant lung grafts rotted inside him. U-Men view the failure of a graft to take as a measure of an individual's "purity" and deservedness to be one of the Third Species.
When a U-Man dies, the other members of his or her team congregate for a short ceremony and then harvest the deceased U-Man's grafted mutant organs for themselves. In doing so, they believe that the fallen U-Man (as well as the mutants whose organs they harvest) will continue to live within them, a form of genetic immortality.
Associations
The U-Men are often viewed as a cult of "geeks" or other young, social outcasts who are easily swayed by the radical philosophy found in John Sublime's book. The Third Species and the U-Men gain public attention when a high schooler holds up a school assembly with a gun and announces to the world that he had killed a school jock, a closeted mutant and gay, for the purpose of harvesting his x-ray vision eyes. The announcement, and his declared intent to join the U-Men and have the eyes transplanted is broadcast on the news. He is subsequently shot and killed by police.Despite their seemingly small and radical stigma, the U-Man organization is much larger, possibly due to John Sublime's wealth and fame. The X-Men investigate an issue in Hong Kong and discover a massive illegal mutant organ smuggling operation within John Sublime's Sublime Pharm Solutions building. The building houses several captured mutants, some of which have been operated on and left to die. The facility is massive and contains sophisticated technology and surgical equipment.
The last U-Man
In Here Comes TomorrowHere Comes Tomorrow
"Here Comes Tomorrow" is the eighth and final story arc in Grant Morrison's run on the Marvel Comics series New X-Men, which ran from issues #151-154...
, an apocalyptic alternate future time line, the last U-Man is known as Apollyon the Destroyer, who serves as a herald for "The Beast" (a Sublime-possessed Hank McCoy). Having suffered several injuries and still being "perfected" with different grafts, Apollyon awaits the day when he will be grafted with the "Phoenix gene" and will become perfect and able to walk on a "perfected world." However, when the Phoenix gene is harvested, Apollyon discovers that the Beast lied to him and intends to harvest the Phoenix gene for himself. When a reawoken Jean Grey
Jean Grey
Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
extracts the intelligent bacterial entity Sublime from Beast, Apollyon strikes and decapitates Beast out of vengeance. Delusional and believing the world to now be perfected, Apollyon rips off his mask, revealing a face that is horribly disfigured. Despite this, the dying E.V.A. recognizes him and calls out, suggesting that Apollyon's true identity is that of Fantomex
Fantomex
Fantomex is a fictional superhero associated with the X-Men in titles published by Marvel Comics. Fantomex first appeared in New X-Men #128 and was created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey....
.
Television
- The U-Men appear as the primary antagonists of Marvel Anime: X-MenMarvel AnimeMarvel Anime is a four-part anime project with collaborations from both Marvel Entertainment and Madhouse. The project took famous Marvel characters and reintroduced them for a Japanese audience in a 12-part series. The announcement was confirmed at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con...
. Here, they are portrayed as a human supremacist group who are trying to harvest mutant body parts/powers similar to their comic book counterparts.
Video games
- The U-Men make an appearance as antagonists in X-Men: DestinyX-Men: DestinyX-Men: Destiny is a video game based on the X-Men comic book series. It was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Activision. The game was released in North America on September 27, 2011 for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS consoles...
. They have formed an alliance with the PurifiersPurifiersThe Purifiers, also known as the Stryker Crusade, are a fictional paramilitary/terrorist organization in the Marvel Comics universe and enemies of the X-Men...
in replicating Mutant powers.