Loners
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Loners (originally named Excelsior) are a group of fictional characters, a support group for former teenage superheroes, founded by Turbo of the New Warriors and Phil Urich, the heroic former Green Goblin. Its stated goal is to help fellow teenage superheroes to adjust to mundane lives and dissuade other super-powered teenagers from becoming heroes. They were introduced in "True Believers," the first arc of Runaways (vol. 2). The story and team titles were a company in-joke. Stan Lee often uses the phrase "Excelsior" and refers to fans as "true believers!" in his "bullpen bulletin" in Marvel comic books and Who Wants to be a Superhero?.
In the end of the "True Believers" arc, it was revealed that the group was secretly sponsored by Rick Jones on the behalf of Captain America, who hoped to ensure the Runaways do not get into trouble. Following Excelsior's battle with Ultron, Rick offered to sponsor the team full-time.
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[edit] Current members
[edit] Sponsor
- Rick Jones on behalf of Captain America.
[edit] Founders
- Michiko "Mickey" Musashi, also known as Turbo, formerly of the New Warriors. Deciding that she would do more good with her education than she would adventuring, she retired the Torpedo armor and returned to investigative journalism. With the help of Phil Urich, she got a job at the Los Angeles Times.
- Phil Urich, also known as the heroic fourth incarnation of the Green Goblin. After losing his costume and equipment during the Onslaught saga, he finished college and earned a degree in journalism.
[edit] Attendees
- Johnny Gallo, also known as Ricochet of the Slingers. He is a mutant who has an early warning sense much like Spider-Man's, as well as enhanced agility, sensory perception, amazing targeting skills with thrown objects, and coordination. He decided to quit adventuring after becoming disillusioned with his prospects as a superhero.
- Chris Powell, also known as Darkhawk. He decided to give up his powers after his nightmares became too intense for him to handle. Chris is short-tempered and prone to violence, especially in his Darkhawk form, attacking not only his targets, but his own teammates.
- Julie Power also known as Lightspeed (former codenames include Molecula and Starstreak) of Power Pack. Convinced that the superhero lifestyle robbed her of her childhood, she quit adventuring and moved to California, hoping to become an actress.
- Geoffrey Wilder, a time-displaced member of Runaways enemy The Pride, disguised as Jonothan "Jono" Starsmore, better known as Chamber, a former member of Generation X and the X-Men. Geoffrey only used the group as an opportunity to gain intel on the Runaways and never returned to them after the end of the "True Believers" arc.
[edit] Upcoming series
As announced by Marvel, the team will be receiving its own book; although, the title of the series will be called "The Loners," to which the team will also be renamed, due to copyright issues as Stan Lee holds a trademark on the term "Excelsior!" [1]. According to Newsarama.com, the title is scheduled to premiere on April 11, 2007, and will run for 6 issues, with the possible option of becoming an ongoing series should sales warrant it.[2] Its creative team will be C.B. Cebulski (writer) and Karl Moline (artist)[3]. A preview of the new book in Wizard #181 shows that the team will have three new members: Penance(who will be known as Hollow), Spider-Woman [4], and another female in a ninja outfit.
