STINGER III

BIOGRAPHY

The young mutant (and valley girl) called Stinger debuted as a member of the mercenary team working for Apocalypse known as the Alliance of Evil. How Stinger, whose real name was Wendy Sherman, became involved with the group remains unknown, as does her history prior to joining the team. What drove such a young woman to work in these circumstances must have been terrible, but it was compounded when she, like her teammates, became addicted to the power-enhancing abilities of Michael Nowlan, also a mutant. Stinger in particular found withdrawals from Nowlan's narcotic-like charges quite difficult to cope with. At the same time, Nowlan no longer wanted to be associated with the group and escaped, hoping to avoid them long enough so that they would go into withdrawal. He soon made contact with his ex-wife, who wanted nothing to do with them. She subsequently reported him to the mutant-hunting organization called X-Factor, not knowing that they were actually the original X-Men, using the organization as a front.

Unfortunately for her, the Alliance of Evil tracked Nowlan’s ex-wife down to use her as bait against Nowlan, who in turn was eventually tracked down by X-Factor. This soon brought both mutant teams in conflict with each other. During combat, Stinger found herself up against Iceman and she was not overly impressed with the frosty original X-Man. She easily defeated him using her ability to generate electricity from her hands. However, she found herself immediately attracted to Angel and berated her teammate, Tower, for taking Angel down so violently. Together, the Alliance of Evil succeeded in defeating X-Factor and recapturing Nowlan, whom they took back to their employer, the mysterious mutant called Apocalypse. It was Apocalypse’s plan to use Nowlan’s ability to enhance mutant powers on all mutants, creating a race of super-mutants which he would lead in war against humanity.

Keeping watch over Nowlan, Stinger and her teammates interrogated him about the mutants they found him with. However, knowing their identities as the mutant hunting X-Factor, Nowlan refused, leading them to threaten his unconscious ex-wife. Stinger offered to wake her with a blast of energy, but Nowlan fought back and used his powers on Stinger, dowsing her in more power than she could handle and causing her to lose control over her own mutant ability.

Ironically, Stinger’s involuntary discharge attracted X-Factor, who had been looking for Nowlan. However, Stinger had more than recovered enough to help the Alliance ambush X-Factor when the team arrived at Apocalypse’s mountain chateau that night. Unfortunately for her, Stinger’s smart mouth provided Marvel Girl a moment’s warning, enough time to erect a telekinetic shield to deflect the attack. Worse, Stinger was overpowered thanks to Nowlan’s earlier actions and, with so much energy being emitted from her, a stray energy blast struck Nowlan’s ex-wife, and killed her. Stinger and Jean continued to battle each other, with Jean eventually trapping Stinger in a telekinetic force field. Enraged at his ex-wife’s death, Nowlan rebelled against Apocalypse by re-absorbing all the power that Apocalypse was forcing him to expel. This eventually caused Nowlan to die, but not before Apocalypse escaped. Stinger and her teammates likewise attempted to flee, but were apprehended by the police. [X-Factor (1st series) #5-6]

When inanimate objects around New York City began acting strangely as a precursor to an approaching demonic event, the jail that Stinger and the Alliance of Evil were being kept in opened and the mercenaries escaped. They disrupted a live news report by TV journalist Trish Tilby (an ally of the now openly mutant X-Factor) and blatantly opposed the Mutant Registration Act, before challenging X-Factor on live television to oppose them. A battle soon ensued, this time with the X-Factor trainees getting involved. Stinger found her energy blasts unable to harm Skids, who deflected them with her force field, and she was once again trapped in a telekinetic bubble by Jean Grey, subsequently stinging herself. In the aftermath, the defeated and unconscious Alliance of Evil were taken into custody by Freedom Force (the former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants), who were unimpressed with the mutant team. [X-Factor (1st series) #33]

Some months later, Stinger re-appeared alongside Tower and Frenzy, under the employ of the Advanced Ideas Mechanics, who were attempting to collect the dispersed energies of the long-dead mutant Proteus. Stinger and her teammates forced their way into a school where one of the AIM’s targets was located. The private school also housed former wards of their old foes, X-Factor (Leech, Artie and Wiz-Kid), and Stinger took Leech down with an electrical blast. This attack on children did not go unnoticed, and Stinger and the others were tracked down at the Niagara Falls. She was swiftly taken out by Cannonball and was subsequently incarcerated along with her teammates. [New Mutants Annual #7]

While Frenzy and Tower would eventually return to mutant life, Stinger disappeared from the mercenary world and kept a very low profile. However, in the wake of M-Day, when 90% of the world’s mutant population was de-powered, Wendy found herself still-powered, and sought refuge on the island nation of Utopia, home to most of what remained of mutantkind. Though she still maintained a rather alternative appearance, Wendy had matured somewhat from her reckless time with the Alliance of Evil. No longer filled with the rambunctiousness of youth, she had become introverted and depressed. Seemingly lost in her conflicting emotions, she waited outside Iceman’s quarters, looking for someone to talk to. Though he didn’t recognize her, Iceman eagerly greeted the attractive young girl when he found her waiting. However, Iceman’s callous physical interest in her and unsympathetic dismissal of her concerns that all of the mutants on the island were in danger upset Stinger further and she ran away.

The next day, the now desperate Wendy took Kavita Rao hostage, surrounding herself and Rao with arcs of electricity. Though she was soon confronted by Magma, Sunspot and Doctor Nemesis, Wendy would only negotiate with Iceman. Summoned from a meeting with Cyclops (who also did not recall who Wendy was), Iceman was curious as to why she wanted to see him. Wendy explained that she heard the humans were going to bomb the island and that she wanted to leave. Iceman told her she could leave anytime, but Wendy replied that she needed to hear from him, one of the originals, that everything was going to be okay. Iceman took Wendy in his arms and assured her that everything would be fine, adding that he did remember her and always liked her. Even though she was trying to kill them, she seemed like a lot of fun. Wendy apologized for her actions, and later she and Iceman had a picnic on the beach. [Nation X #1]

Stinger chose to remain on Utopia, and joined forces with many other of the island’s residents who were not part of an active X-Men squad during the invasion by Bastion‘s Nimrod army. Together, they assisted the X-Men in stopping the deadly weapons. [New Mutants (3rd series) #14] Stinger next showed up at a backyard barbecue with several other villains hosted by former Marauder the Scrambler. Gambit crashed the gathering with Deadpool in tow in order to have the Scrambler fix his powers. Stinger attacked Gambit with the other villains and took a bow staff to the face for her efforts. [Deadpool v Gambit #3]

In the era of Krakoa, Stinger had settled down with the depowered mutant Paulie Provenzano, codename Omerta. The two of them had a baby together, but they had differing opinions on whether they should relocate to the mutant island paradise. Omerta argued that they should wait and see what would happen, given the history of the last mutant homeland of Genosha. However, Stinger was tired of the money problems and the strange looks she received on a daily basis. She pointed out that at least Omerta could pass for a human. Despite the loud argument, they hadn’t waken the baby and they soon found to their horror that the baby was missing. [Cable (4th series) #2]

Their baby turned out to be one of many mutant children kidnapped by Stryfe in a new ritual sacrifice scheme. Fortunately, through the heroic efforts of a teenage Cable and his allies, their baby was safely returned to them. They even decided to expand their family by taking in a second of the kidnapped babies. [Cable (4th series) #12]

Time will tell if the mutant family moves to Krakoa or they continue to live a normal suburban existence, but motherhood has certainly seemed to soften this former villain.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In the Age of Apocalypse, Wendy was known simply by her first name. She was one of the lucky few who escaped the desperate world created by Apocalypse and found refuge in the idyllic mutant colony Avalon founded by the precog Destiny. Wendy was a resident of Avalon for five years, where she lived in peace amongst the many refugees. This lasted until Apocalypse’s forces located the safe-haven. Possessed by the Shadow King during the assault, Wendy’s energy blasts went out of control. To prevent further damage and loss of life, Wendy was shot and killed by the visiting Mystique.