Slingers

Slingers were a group of fictional superheroes in the Marvel Comic universe, who appeared in an eponymous comic book. They were four teenage superheroes who had been inspired by Spider-Man. The group first appeared in Slingers #0, a free promotional comic book included in an issue of Wizard. Slingers #1 used a controversial sales gimmick: four versions of the first issue were produced, each telling a third of the first issue's story from the point of view of one of the four team members. The gimmick, and the series, failed to sustain either sales or reader interest, and the series was cancelled with issue #12.

The team's four members used costumes and codenames that had been used by Spider-Man during the "Identity Crisis" crossover. During "Identity Crisis", Spider-Man was wanted for murder with a million-dollar reward posted for his capture; instead of his normal costumed identity, he adopted four other costumes and created a different crimefighting persona for each suit. After this crisis had ended, he discarded the four costumes, and they subsequently disappeared, reappearing in the possession of the Golden Age superhero called the Black Marvel. The Marvel gave the costumes to four youths, and trained them to become heroes.

Aside from brief cameos in New Warriors and Contest of Champions II, the team made no appearances elsewhere, and in their own series only received a few brief appearances by their inspiration, Spider-Man. When it was revealed that the Black Marvel had received the costumes through a deal with the demon Mephisto, the Slingers broke from him, them returned to free his soul from Mephisto. The Black Marvel died, free from Mephisto's grasp, and the team apparently disbanded.

The four members of the Slingers were:

• Prodigy (Ritchie Gilmore) was the leader of the group, and wore bullet-proof armour, and a cape which allowed him to fly, . Not to be confused with Prodigy of the New Mutants
• Hornet (Eddie McDonough); Wore a suit of flight-capable powered armor, which, among it's capabilities, allowed him to use his crippled arm. After the group dissolved, he tried stopping a brainwashed Wolverine and was killed.
• Ricochet (Johnny Gallo), a mutant with superhuman agility and a "danger sense", similar to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense; he also used throwing discs in combat. After the group dissolved, he joined the Los Angeles-based "teenage superhero recovery group" called Excelsior.
• Dusk (Cassie St. Commons) – Died in Slingers #0 and mysteriously returned from the dead in Slingers #1.

External Links

• Still on the Shelf #84 – Slingers. A brief review of the series, with issue synopses and short bios of the characters.
• Slingers cover gallery