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History

Origin[]

The past history of Atlanta native Edward Pasternak remains largely unknown, but eventually he became a mutant for hire.

He was first hired by former Secret Empire employee turned geneticist Carl Maddicks to capture the Beast, then a member of X-Factor. Maddicks wanted to experiment on McCoy to discover a means to reverse genetic mutations, in order to turn his son Artie "back" to a human.[2] Although Tower succeeded in capturing Hank, Maddicks ironically hired X-Factor (then posing as mutant hunters) to "eliminate" Tower. Hank's friends learned of Maddicks's plot after defeating Tower in battle, and Marvel Girl offered Tower a place with X-Factor. Tower laughed at this offer and walked away.[3]

Edward Pasternak (Earth-616) from X-Factor Annual Vol 1 6

Alliance of Evil[]

Shortly thereafter, Tower joined with the Alliance of Evil, a group of mutants under the employ of Apocalypse. Interested in X-Factor's operations, the Alliance sent Tower to spy on their headquarters to uncover a way to capture Rusty Collins. When Tower was discovered, X-Factor clashed with him in their mutant terrorist guise of the X-Terminators. Tower fled from the mutants before capture, and received a reprimand by his field leader Frenzy.[7]

Apocalypse later captured Mike Nowlan, a mutant with the ability to boost others' powers, who could only stop his abilities by being stoned all the time. Apocalypse utilized Nowlan to boost the powers of his minions, including Tower, a process that made Tower and the others addicted to Mike's power boosting capabilities. When Nowlan escaped from Apocalypse's clutches, he found sanctuary under the protection of X-Factor, which led to a clash between the group and the Alliance of Evil. The Alliance threatened the life of Mike's wife Susan, forcing him to turn on X-Factor and return to Apocalypse's hideout with Tower and the others.[8] X-Factor came to his rescue, but during the battle, Mike's power flared out of control and caused Tower to grow. However, upon Susan's death in the battle, Mike drew all the power back into him, killing himself in the process. In the confusion, Tower and the other members of the Alliance of Evil were arrested.[9] While being interviewed by the press, Tower noted that wherever X-Factor went, the X-Terminators were never far behind, being the first to come close to the fact that both teams were the same.[10]

Getting out of jail, the Alliance of Evil lay low for a while until shortly after the implementation of the Mutant Registration Act. They terrorized a live televised event by television reporter Trish Tilby, prompting X-Factor (now outed as a team of mutants) to come to her aid and stop their rampage. X-Factor and their charges Boom Boom, Rusty Collins, Richter, Artie, and Leech were overpowered by the group until the arrival of Beast (recently restored to his furry form) who defeated the Alliance single handed.[11]

Months later in El Salvador, Tower was murdered by the hunter known as the X-Cutioner.[4]

Edward Pasternack (Earth-616) from X-Force Vol 3 22 001

Resurrected Tower vs Blindfold

Necrosha[]

Sometime later, Eli Bard used the Transmode Virus to resurrect Tower on behalf of Selene.[1] He was part of Selene's attack force on Utopia, seen in battle with Blindfold.[12]

Tower's ultimate fate remains unrevealed, but he presumably returned to death along with the other resurrected mutants.

He was later mentioned by Micromax on Krakoa. It is likely he was resurrected by The Five.[6]

Attributes

Powers

Tower is a mutant[3] who can change the size of his body. He was stated to be a Level 7 Threat by Cable.[13]

  • Size Increase: His maximum size is unclear, one time it was stated to be 15 feet,[2] while another time - 40 feet.[13]
  • Size Decrease: He was also able to decrease his size to just few inches,[13] but had only used it once.[2]

See Also

Links and References

References

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