Strong Guy
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Strong Guy (real name Guido Carosella) is a fictional mutant superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Guido was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz in New Mutants volume 1 #29, and was reinvented as Strong Guy by Peter David and Larry Stroman in X-Factor (volume 1) #71 (July 1985).
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[edit] Fictional character history
Born in Rhineback, New York, to Italian parents, who tried to teach their son the value of a dollar, Guido Carosella showed this by earning a fortune in a settlement when his parents were killed by falling space debris. Skinny and shy, Guido's mutant powers were triggered in childhood when an incident with schoolyard bullies and being hit by a bus ended in his body becoming disproportionally large and overmuscled, separating the already withdrawn boy even further from his peers. Luckily, he had the love and support of his aunt and uncle, who had taken him in after his parents' deaths, and Guido coped with his pain, both emotional and the physical pain generated by his transformed body, by developing an outgoing "public face", rarely letting even those close to him see him in any discomfort.
After losing much of his fortune, he began to take on jobs that would allow him to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. This led to Guido becoming the long-time roadie and bouncer for the mutant musician Lila Cheney. He was later among the mutants living on Muir Island who were mentally controlled by the telepath Shadow King. After the Shadow King was defeated, several of the Muir Island mutants were incorporated into the new X-Factor team. His teamates included many notable former X-Men supporting characters, including Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane and Quicksilver. Guido picked up the "Strong Guy" name from a joke he made at an X-Factor press conference when the press demanded to know his codename. He had many adventures with the team, including being poisoned and being framed for the destruction of the Washington Monument. In reality it had been the villain Slab, who greatly resembled Guido.
During his time on the team there was a blossoming relationhip with a powerful Genoshan mutant (not mutate) and political dissident named Jo Beth. In issue #89, he even visited her Grandmother at her calm, suburban home on the island of Genosha. She took a shine to him instantly.
Also, he participated in the Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, playing small but vital parts, mostly by smashing things and people.
He remained a member of X-Factor until, during an overseas adventure, his body was overloaded with kinetic energy while saving Lila Cheney and his teammates from an alien bomb. Guido was placed in suspended animation after suffering heart damage. He was healed and revived with help and technology from his former teamate Forge (this after a disastorous 'rescue' by Jaime Madrox, Multiple Man). Afterwards he chose to accompany Lila and her band in their travels instead of rejoining the increasingly fractious X-Factor team. Lila was seen flirting with Guido many times but this seems to not have been returned.
Strong Guy was later seen in Tokyo as a member of a mutant fighting club called the Arena, in which the mutant fighters were being secretly enslaved by other mutants. He helped Storm and Callisto in taking down the enslavers.
About this time, Guido starred in his own one shot comic book Strong Guy #1. He became involved in a property dispute between warring alien races which sought to harm Lila.
Strong Guy recently moved to New York City to become the enforcer for his friend Madrox's detective agency, X-Factor Investigations, thus rejoining many of his former teammates from the government-sponsored incarnation of X-Factor. The team included Wolfsbane, Rictor, Siryn and Monet at first.
In X-Factor #10, Guido was assigned to protect a former employee of Singularity Investigations, Henry Buchanan, who had proof of their illegal activities. However, Guido instead killed the man and then called Singularity CEO Damian Tryp, revealing he was working as a mole inside X-Factor.
Guido tried to tell the team that the man had vanished on him but Wolfsbane smelled his blood on Guido's hands and a psychic scan by Monet revealed the truth. It seemed Guido had been subjected to hypnotic conditioning by Tryp to turn him into a mole (which explained his rougher attitude and some inconsistencies in his personality).
A visit with Henry's widow in X-Factor #14 did not go as expected; instead of reacting angrily, Alix Buchanan understood the circumstances in which Guido had acted, and forgave him. By the end of the issue they had found solace together in their mutual grief from Henry's death.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Strong Guy was still Lila Cheney's body guard, but much more obsessive about her. He was jealous, almost to the point of insanity, of Gambit because he and Cheney were lovers. Strong Guy was captured by Apocalypse's Infinites and had a bomb implanted in his skull. To save his own life, he betrayed the X-Men and even kidnapped Rogue and Magneto's infant son. It can be presumed that Rogue killed Strong Guy in an act of vengeance due to the kidnapping of her child.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Strong Guy has the mutant ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to enhance his muscular strength up to an unmeasured limit. However, he cannot store the energy he absorbs for very long; as a rule he must expend it within 90 seconds to prevent the enormous amounts of energy from permanently distorting his body. He is in constant pain from the existing distortion, although he hides it well, traditionally playing the role of team comedian to distract himself.
An unusual percentage of his body mass is stored in the upper half of his body, causing him to appear top-heavy and thus very imposing. Strong Guy's powers first appeared after being beaten by bullies and hit by a bus; unable to expel the energy, his body was permanently warped. Strong Guy's maximum strength level is such that he has sufficient strength to take on the Hulk (He has stated that he can lift twenty tons; whether this is his normal strength without absorbed energy is not made clear). In fact he has taken on and beaten an evil double of the Hulk, along with the evil doubles of many other super-heroes (during Infinity War). He is formidable at "street fighting"-style hand-to-hand combat.
Strong Guy is nearsighted and wears corrective "bottlecap" lenses. He is a multi-talented actor and stand-up comedian. He works as a bodyguard for the mutant rock star Lila Cheney when not adventuring alongside other mutant heroes.
[edit] In other media
Strong Guy appears in the X-Men animated series episode "Cold Comfort" as a member of the X-Factor team led by Forge.
