Metalhead (comics)

Metalhead
Cover to X-Men 2099 #14 showing Metalhead and Rosa Art by Ron Lim
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men 2099 #1
Created by	John Francis Moore Ron Lim
In-story information
Alter ego	Edward "Eddie" van Beethoven-Osako
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men 2099, Freakshow, Halo City Protectorate
Abilities	Superhuman strength, durability, and resistance to physical injury Can absorb the properties of any metal he touches and alter the molecules of his skin to match.

Metalhead is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics for their futuristic comic book line dubbed Marvel 2099 in X-Men 2099. His creators were John Francis Moore and Ron Lim.

Fictional character biography

Edward "Eddie" van Beethoven aka Metalhead was one of the mutants recruited by Xi'an Chi Xan to be a part of his new incarnation of the X-Men. He was the effective muscle of the group, but he also had an invaluable sense of humor which kept the team comfortable. When the X-Men needed to find out information on the Driver about the existence of other mutants they encountered an outcast group, consisting of rejects from programs based on genetic modification and engineering, called De-gens—named the Freakshow. During the obligatory battle over misunderstandings, Metalhead fought with one such 'genescrape' named Contagion whose touch could infect an individual with a psychoactive virus which disrupts their cellular structure. Most victims wouldn't live long after being infected, but Eddie was a unique case. Since he was in metallic form at the point of infection, the virus interacted differently with his cellular structure and, instead of killing him, made him incapable of reverting to his human form, warped his appearance, and left him in an alloyed state. Thinking himself a freak, and finding other Freakshow member Rosa Navarro attractive, Metalhead left the X-Men to stay with the rag-tag band of misfits.

Freakshow

Later, the Freakshow makes another guest appearance, when they travel to the Keewazi Nation in the Oklahoma region. Rosa comes under the care of Doctor Louise Wingfoot, the leader of the town. Eddie and the others soon learn of a local legend called the Shadow Dancer, who is thought to come to the aid of the Keewazi in time of trouble. A hired killer named Alexi, the super-powered Glitterspike, tracks down Freakshow, wanting Rosa and her child back, so he can take care of them. Eddie battles Alexi after Rosa is threatened. He is swiftly defeated. Rosa is prepared to kill Alexi over this, before fully realizing his intentions

In the final showdown, Metalhead and Glitterspike are stuck in a series of caves which also houses the Shadow Dancer's ship. Metalhead absorbs the alien metal of the ship and with it is able to defeat Glitterspike and trap him in the cave with the angry Shadow Dancer.

Rosa

Glitterspike was not dead as believed and returned a few months later with a vengeance. He intends to kill Metalhead and sell his and Rosa's baby to the highest bidder for revenge. He had even devised a strategy for defeating Metalhead and would have succeeded if not for the intervention of Rosa's baby. During the battle, Rosa went into labor and the baby inside of her protected his mother by producing a force field around the confused Glitterspike. With the battle ended, Rosa was taken into town and had a successful delivery. Her baby Joachim, definitely a mutant, was born glowing.

Later, a mutant named Vulcann of the order of the Bloodsmiths kidnaps baby Joachim and speeds up his aging process to make him a man. Dubbing him Darkson the dark Messiah, the two go about defeating the X-Men, including killing Skullfire. However, Skullfire found a way to reform his body and defeat the young powerhouse. With Vulcann defeated and Darkson recaptured, Eddie and Rosa went about trying to help the boy regain his lost sense of family and childhood.

Savage Land

Metalhead makes his way to the Savage Land, which has become the last outpost of humanity due to worldwide flooding by the Phalanx. He meets up with several of his X-Men allies. He is forced to deal with the threat of an information-gathering machine intelligence named Franklin, which has already injured Cerebra and threatens others.

Powers

Originally, Metalhead had the ability to transform from a human form to a metal form with increased strength, durability, resistance to injury, and whatever specific properties that metal had (e.g. adamantium would give him invulnerability, copper would give him increased electrical conductivity, gold would be softer, etc.) dependent upon a type of metal which he made contact with. However, after his battle with Contagion he was stuck in his hulking metallic form and incapable of reverting to human form. He was still capable of shifting the molecular composition of his skin though.

In other media

• Metalhead was made into an action figure as part of Toy Biz's X-Men 2099 line.

External links

• Uncannyxmen.net character bio on Metalhead