X-Statix

X-Statix was the name of a fictional team of mutant superheroes in Marvel Comics, specifically designed to be ironic media superstars. The team, created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, first appeared in X-Force #116, and originally went by the name X-Force.

Detailed Roster

The team was a group of colorfully dressed and emotionally immature young mutants put together and marketed to be superstars first by the mysterious "Coach" and later by media mogul Spike Freeman. Milligan and Alfred routinely killed off characters as a running gag (nearly the entire team was killed in the first issue), but some of the longer-running and most important members included:

• Orphan, aka Mister Sensitive, the team's de facto leader, a suicidal mutant with purple skin and two antennae protruding from his forehead who possessed heightened senses, superhuman speed, and the ability to levitate.
• Anarchist, the team's self-proclaimed "token" African American, whose acid-like sweat enabled him to fire energy bolts.
• U-Go Girl, a blue-skinned redhead who could teleport but was weakened after doing so.
• Phat, an openly gay Eminem pastiche who could harden, soften and increase the size of any part of his body.
• Vivisector, a bookish scholar who could transform into a wolf-like creature, and who briefly became Phat's lover.
• Dead Girl, a literal dead girl who could reform her body and control its parts when dismembered, and could "read" the memories of dead bodies.
• Venus Dee Milo, whose body was made entirely of crackling red energy that allowed her to teleport.
• El Guapo, a sexy male mutant with a flying skateboard that seemed to have a mind of its own.
• Doop, a green, floating spheroid creature of unknown origins who spoke in a "language" all his own (respresented in text by a special font), and who served as X-Force's cameraman. It was hinted many times that he might have been manipulating the team or that he was trying to control them in some clandestine way but nothing was ever resolved or proven.
• Bloke, a mutant with the ability to change the color of his skin, like a chameleon; certain color changes would enhance his strength. He revealed himself to be gay shortly before his death.

This dramatic revision of the series was not universally accepted, but many readers applauded the book for its black humor and its daring. X-Force ended with issue #129 (2002), when the team was renamed X-Statix, and the series restarted under that title with X-Statix #1. X-Statix lasted until issue #26 (2004); after a story arc pitting X-Statix against The Avengers, low sales prompted cancellation, and the cancellation of the series prompted the death of the entire team in the last issue.

Controversies

As the title was designed with tongue-in-cheek humor in mind, they had several controversial issues during their run.

• The most notable controversy was the plan to include a depiction of a reanimated Princess Diana in X-Statix #13. This plan was scrapped after much commotion, and the Diana character was replaced with a fictional pop star, Henrietta Hunter.