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Quote1 I'm not strong, I'm not smart, I do not shoot death-rays. About the only thing I'm good at... is making friends. Quote2
Beak[src]

History

Xavier Institute[]

Barnell Bohusk was a student at the Xavier Institute. He was being taught to fly by Henry McCoy. Later, Beast was telepathically attacked by Cassandra Nova, when Beak arrived to present his prized baseball bat as a token of thanks. He was controlled telepathically by Cassandra and forced to beat Beast.[10] Jean Grey attempted to restore the damage done to Barnell but he remained seriously injured and mentally distraught. Presumably, she finished the job at a later date by the time Cassandra Nova returned to the school. Beak met Angel Salvadore for the first time when she let him out of the lab he had been residing in. He played a minor role in the defeat of Cassandra Nova.[11]

New X-Men Vol 1 125 Textless

Beak attended Archangel's flight class. He was kissed by Angel Salvatore who was bet money that she wouldn't do it. As part of the Special Class, Angel and Beak continued to build on their relationship. After an encounter with the U-Men, Beak and Angel returned in time to be caught on the edges of the Riot started by the Omega Gang at Xavier's school. Angel revealed to Beak that she was pregnant. After being discovered in an adulterous position with Scott Summers by Jean Grey-Summers, Emma Frost is found shattered in her room. Beak attempted to take the blame for Angel, who was remote controlled into shooting Emma Frost. Beak and Angel's babies hatch from larvae-like egg sacs.[12]

Beak originally joined with the new Brotherhood when Kuan-Yin Xorn posed as Magneto. However Beak grew disgusted at the human killings and broke away from the Brotherhood, rejoining the X-Men. He was injured but survived. He claimed Xorn's helmet after the final battle.[13]

Exiles[]

Beak's life was flipped upside-down when he found himself involved with the reality hopping Exiles. The Exiles, had just arrived in Beak's reality trying to figure out their next mission, their Tallus saying only "cast your possessions and earn your wings," and their newest member, Namora ran off on her own. The team encountered Beak near the Xavier Institute grounds, and brought him with them to the Fantastic Fours headquarters - having just learned that Namora has been captured by the Fantastic Four and the Sub-Mariner - so that he couldn't alert others of the Exiles' presence.[14]

After a battle with the Fantastic Four and Namor, Mister Fantastic solved the riddle saying that Nocturne (capable of possession) would leave the team and Beak would be joining (the Exiles would thus "earn their wings") with the riddle solved the Timebroker appeared and informed the Exiles that Richards was correct and that Beak would be their new member, much to Beak's dismay. Beak soon discovered that he had become unhinged in time and that his wife Angel and his children couldn't see him and feared that he had run off on the family. Beak was teleported with the Exiles onto their next mission, and Nocturne was left behind in his place.[15]

During their missions, the Exiles' biggest problem with Beak was his apparent uselessness. A mutant with only a physical mutation was not seen as an adequate addition to the team. More often than not the various Exiles often insulted Beak's abilities, appearance and usefulness.[16]

Beak's adventures with the Exiles found the former X-Man going from one parallel world to another finding himself more and more unsure of his usefulness for the team, even though the Timebroker had a very special use for him. Beak joined the Exiles first to a world where The Impossible Man From Planet Pop-Up had turned Washington D.C. into his own personal playground[17] after the Controller botched an attempt to turn the vacationing alien into his slave. On the next world Beak assisted Mystique (posing as Blink) and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with his fellow Exiles to free "The Big M"[18]. Next the group found themselves on a world that was gaining sentience thanks to the manipulations of Ego the Living Planet. Beak held his own protecting the planet's newly forming brain even though he was scared and out of his league.[19] The next (and certainly the most strange) mission the Exiles found themselves partaking in was to buy the last cheese Danish from a shop in New York. Beak, fearful of the Celestial's warning about the Timebroker really being a Timebreaker debated with the team on if they should do the Timebroker's bidding, in the end Mimic got the Danish and set off a chain reaction that saved the world from a Shi'ar invasion.[20]

The next reality Beak and The Exiles find themselves in a world where the sorcerer Kulan Gath has turned New York into a medieval world of magic & demons, however the demon Zarathos had dethroned Gath and planed to expand the enchantment to cover the entire world. Once the Exiles arrived, they too were effected by the enchantment, forgetting their mission and assuming fantasy lives. Beak is the groups fearful jester. Not until Spider-Man, Magik, & Gath sought the team out and freed them from the enchantment that the group returned to normal.[21]

On their next mission, the magic from the previous reality affected the Exile Sasquatch letting the spirit Tanaraq (the source of Sasquatch's power) to assert control of her body. Tanaraq ransomed the completion of the mission for the Exiles to gather super-villains to try and find a way to free themselves from the Timebroker's control. Blink sent Beak to Alpha Base to retrieve Shaman whose magical skills might be able to stop Tanaraq. By tricking all the villains into believing that he was Kang, The Shaman managed to get close enough to Tanaraq to separate Heather Hudson from its being, and teleport him to the dimension where the local reality's version of Tanaraq was waiting to dispose of the "impostor".[22]

After the Exile's failure to follow the Timebroker's orders to kill Sabertooth, the group was whisked away to Blink & Sabertooth's home reality, the Age of Apocalypse. Beak was then replaced by another refugee from the AoA, Holocaust.[23]

Later, the Exiles entered the M'kraan Crystal and traveled to the Timebroker's base, to find that there was no Timebroker but a bunch of insectoids who discovered the "crystal palace" and messed up the time stream and tricked the Exiles & Weapon X into helping them correct the problems. All the Exiles & Weapon X members who were injured or "sent home" were encased in a large wall, including Beak. It also appeared that one of the Weapon X members, Hyperion, had healed and broken free of his imprisonment and taken over the place (explaining why the Timebroker went "mean" and the disappearance of Sasquatch & Beak for more aggressive members like Sabertooth & Holocaust).

During the Exiles battle with King Hyperion, the Timebroker insects freed Beak from his tomb. Beak realized his usefulness to the team was that he was really good at making friends, so using the Crystal Palaces machines, Beak found two good Hyperions from other dimensions to battle the evil one. After King Hyperion's defeat and his alternate world counterparts were returned home, the Exiles decided to continue their mission, but first tried to heal all the Exiles & Weapon X members they could and start sending people home. Mimic suggested that they send Beak back first.[24]

However, the Exiles got themselves involved in another mission to a world where Curt Connors & other great scientific minds of the world battle giant monsters in order to get Connor's regeneration serum to cure members of the group. During this mission, Beak remained at the crystal palace assisting Heather MacDonald. The group found that Beak's world couldn't be registered on the palace's screens. Unknown at the time, the "House of M" was occurring.[25]

The group recruited a super-surgeon Dr. Strange who released Deadpool upon finding that he had a powerful healing factor. Deadpool killed Strange and held MacDonald hostage in order to free his fellow living Weapon X teammates to get revenge on the Exiles. Beak freed Mimic (who was in stasis following his battle with King Hyperion), who mimicked Deadpool's healing factor and, with the help of Hulk (Jen Walters), killed Deadpool. After the Exiles returned from their mission they decided their next course of action was to send Beak home.[26]

Decimation[]

Barnell Bohusk & Angel Salvadore (Earth-616) from Exiles Vol 1 72 0001

Beak and Angel after M-Day

Beak arrived home to find, he, his wife Angel, and all his children except for Tito Bohusk were depowered via the events of M-Day.[27]

New Warriors[]

Barnell Bohusk (Earth-616) from New Warriors Vol 4 5 0001

Blackwing

Shortly afterwards, Barnell joined the the anti-registration team New Warriors under the guise of Blackwing. Blackwing had the power of flight and energy blasts, which were derived from a power suit. Angel was also a member of the group under the name Tempest. The team was led by the new Night Thrasher.[28]

For months, Barnell (under the alias Barry) visited a restaurant where Sofia Mantega worked, under the pretense that he was attracted to her and wished to take her on a date. He revealed this to be a test in regards to both Sofia's determination and trust toward the New Warriors. Barnell revealed on their "date" that he had been working for the New Warriors, and that he had no attraction to her other than the friendship they had maintained back when she knew him as Beak. After revealing who he was and who he was working for, he led her to the New Warrior's Headquarters.[29] Barnell and Angel left the team after they disbanded.[30]

Regaining Powers[]

Barnell Bohusk (Earth-616) from X-Men Blue Vol 1 26 001

Beak regaining his powers

Despite having grown accustomed to his lack of powers, Barnell regained his abilities against his will as a result of the global outbreak of the power-bestowing Mothervine virus carried out by a cabal of mutant villains, including Miss Sinister and Havok.[7] He was later seen in a support group, co hosted by Kurt and Domino, for mutants coping with nonhuman appearances, lamenting he was just getting used to appearing handsome.[31]

X-Men Disassembled[]

Barnell was one of the mutants that confronted Nate Grey when he tried to impose his will upon the world. Nate Grey then made his enemies disappear in an instant, including Barnell.[32]

Age of X-Man[]

Barnell and the others were sent to a reality created by Nate Grey where mutants lived in peace. Barnell had his memories of his previous life erased so he didn't resist.[33]

Barnell became a student of the Summers Institute for Higher Learning.[34] While not seen, he was later allowed to return to the real world by Nate Grey after realizing the flaws of his reality.[35]

Dawn of X[]

Wanting to make sure that all mutants could have joined the mutant paradise of Krakoa, including those who didn’t answer Professor Xavier’s invitation, Armor started to track down Barnell Bohusk, AKA "Beak", and his wife, Angel Salvadore. With the help of Sage and Boom-Boom, Armor was able to cure Beak’s father rare form of dementia thanks to the Krakoa's wonder drugs that could cure many human diseases, including dementia. Unfortunately, a group of anti-mutant mercenaries followed the New Mutants on their journey to Nebraska and captured Beak and Angel's kids in order to negotiate for Krakoan medicine.[36]

Attributes

Power Grid[39]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Long Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Peak Human:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

Avian Mutation: Beak has a mutation wherein his bones were light and hollow. His arms had feathers which allowed him to glide and fly for short distances with great effort.

  • Enhanced Sight: Beak can see at a long range.
  • Talons: Beak has talons on his hands and feet.

Abilities

Beak is really good at making friends.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Blackwing's Suit: Beak formerly wore an advanced body suit that gave him the ability to fly, superhuman strength, and energy blasts, as well as giving him enhanced protection.

  • Beak sometimes wears the metal helmet once worn by Xorn, he seems to wear this more as a fashion statement since it doesn't fit his head properly.
  • Beak also wields a metal baseball bat which he was once forced to use against the Beast during the time Cassandra Nova was trying to destroy all mutants on earth. He carries this bat in a case over his shoulder.

Notes

Beak was 'straight-edge hardcore' and refused both cigarettes and alcohol.[37]

See Also

Links and References

References

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