Shatterstar
Alternate Versions:
It was
revealed in the first Exiles series (by Mojo himself) that
Mojoworlders are unique in the sense that they are
multiverse creatures. There are (apparently) no outer-dimension versions of his creations, meaning they exist in
all timelines. However, there is an Ultimate version of both
Longshot and Mojo -- which would mean either Mojo was lying
in Exiles, or that the Ultimate Universe is unique to
alternate timelines in the Marvel Universe. Where this
leaves Shatterstar is undetermined. If it is in fact true
that he is half human, it is a very good possibility he
would be exempted from this rule...which would make sense.
Because for a guy who isn't supposed to show up in alternate
dimensions, his ass sure does get around.
~That being said, the X-Force Annual 1991 saw 'Star in
an alternate future when Mojo V had been defeated, and
Shatterstar took over rule of the planet. He had many
advisors who pushed rules and laws on him, which made
decision making difficult. Eventually he was pressured to
the point where he basically reversed the laws of the land
and thrusted the Spineless Ones into the same arena games
that the Bipeds had been in. He was conflicted over such a
thing, as he felt like a hypocrite (naturally). Eventually
Mojo and Arize escaped to Earth-616 and enlisted in the help
of a future version of X-Force to knock some sense into
Shatty. When they showed up Shatterstar easily complied, but
not without a fight with his advisors. Shatterstar won, and
declared equality amongst the Spineless Ones and the Bipeds.
~In "What If...Stryfe Killed the X-Men?" the X-Men
were...well, killed by Stryfe. And in order to carry on
their legacy, X-Factor and X-Force (grudgingly) decided to
team up and become the new X-Men team. They battled Stryfe
and all that good stuff, but he mostly beat them up until
Cable came to save the day, like usual. In this 'verse,
Shatty was obviously an X-Man.
~In "What If...Storm Had the Power of the Phoenix?"
Storm...had the power of the Phoenix! All of the mutants on
all of the X-Teams appeared in the book as a legion of
respecting Phoenix followers. There was a lot of bogus stuff
going on, and if anyone can figure out exactly what
it was they were doing, that would be really awesome if you
could tell me. But, uh, on the UP side, Shatty was wearing a
Phoenix outfit and a really goofy mesh shirt underneath it.
Even as a guy with a costume, he still failed at dressing
himself in this 'verse.
~The anniversary issue, X-Force #100, gave us three
different 'outer world' versions of Shatterstar. The first
was quite close to his 616-counterpart. In this time line,
Cable and Cannonball had been murdered by Stryfe and the MLF
(mutant liberation front, for those of you not paying
attention in class), and the remaining members of X-Force
(Rictor, 'Star, Boomer, Sunspot, Deadpool, Copycat, and Siryn) had unleashed a bloody war by slaughtering Stryfe
and a few innocents in the process. This X-Force was a group
of known renegades, and was on the top of the America's Most
Wanted List, naturally.
The second version showed X-Force locked up in the Weisman
Institute for the Criminally Insane. Here Shatterstar was
not even Shatterstar. He was Benjamin Russell and he was
held under constant restraint in bed. Here he believed that
he was a bloodthirsty warrior alien, and he had to be
supervised at all times as he was one of the Institute's
most hostile. In this reality though, 'Shatterstar' was just
a dream that Benjamin made up.
Lastly, the third version of Shatterstar was a Skrull
looking thing. No big flippin' surprise there, Marvel.
~In 2001, Marvel put out a comic called Millennial
Visions, in which their artists had the opportunity to
design their own teams and characters any way they wanted.
Current X-Factor (Vol 3) artist, Pablo Raimondi chose to use
X-Force. Raimondi described his vision like this:
"The United States Government has finally acknowledged
the problem of the growing mutant population and decides to
officially make it an effort to improve mutant-human
relations. Special laws are enacted giving mutants specific
civil rights and responsibilities. To ensure that they are
treated fairly, Cable agrees to temporarily operate as the
head on an NYPD task force.
But the powers-that-be soon realize that their overburdened
police force cannot handle the task of policing all the
city's mutants on their own. Subsequently, a separate
bureau, one fully subsidized by the government, is created
to oversee mutant affairs. In its midtown Manhattan
headquarters, this new force, comprised of both mutants and
humans, provides protection to mutants, but also holds them
accountable for any actions involving their powers. Humans
have their very own police force...and the mutants have an
X-Force.
Cable, however, is not a happy man. He feels manipulated
into leaving the NYPD task force when told that if he
doesn't accept the X-Force command offer, someone with less
honorable intentions will be placed in charge. He has no
confidence in his superiors, and fears that the government's
real goal in funding the bureau is to profile and gather
information about the mutant population.
Although most of the men and women working with him are
trusted friends and allies, there are a handful that Cable
knows are not true believers in mutant rights.
Every new recruit or appointed lieutenant could very well be
a traitor or spy waiting for the chance to harm them all.
And it's all on Cable's shoulders.
Humans remain hostile towards mutants. Mutants, in turn, act
hostile towards Cable's troops. Cable distrusts all but his
closest allies."
(excerpt taken from Millennial Visions Vol 1 #2)
Shatterstar, in this vision/reality, was a cop on Cable's
force.
~X-Men: The End was also an alternate future. X-Force
was knocked out of the sky by a hungry alien. Shatterstar
was one of the first to fall victim to it due to him being
the first to attack it (again, naturally). However, Sinister
snatched up his infected body (as well as Warpath's) and
kept it to make it a fighting machine. His dead corpse had
more appearances in this book than his actual living body
did. Not recommended reading (once again, naturally).
~Lastly, an alternate dimension version
of Shatterstar existed in the world run by Spiral in his LS.
This version had been a rebel fighter under Cable's
tutelage, and had died sometime during the war.
