Rusty Collins

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caption = Cover to "New Mutants" #86 featuring Rusty Collins and the Vulture
comic_color = background:#ff8080
character_name = Rusty Collins
real_name = Russel "Rusty" Collins
species= Human Mutant
publisher = Marvel Comics
debut = X-Factor #1 (February 1986)
creators = Bob Layton and Jackson Guice
alliance_color = background:#ffc0c0
alliances =Acolytes Mutant Liberation Front New Mutants X-Terminators United States Navy
aliases = Firefist
powers = Fire generation

Russell "Rusty" Collins, formerly known as Firefist, is a fictional character, a superhero from Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Created by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice, Rusty Collins first appeared in "X-Factor" #1-2 (February-March 1986).

The character subsequently appears in "X-Factor" #4-5 (May-June 1986), #7-10 (August-November 1986), #12-23 (January-December 1987), #27 (April 1988), #30 (July 1988), #32 (September 1988), "X-Terminators" #1-4 (October 1988-January 1989), "X-Factor Annual" #3 (1988), "The New Mutants" #72-74 (February-April 1989), "X-Factor" #40-41 (May-June 1989), #77-78 (July-August 1989), #80 (October 1989), #82-87 (November 1989-March 1990), "Fantastic Four" #342 (July 1990), "The New Mutants" #100 (April 1991), "Cable: Blood and Metal" #1 (October 1992), "X-Men" #13 (October 1992), #15 (December 1992), "X-Force" #24-25 (July-August 1993), and "Cable" #11 (May 1994).

Rusy Collins received an entry in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89" #2, and the "Marvel Encyclopedia" HC vol. #2 - 'X-Men' (2003).

Fictional character biography

Rusty Collins was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Raised by his uncle, Rusty joins the US Navy at sixteen years of age. His mutant power, generation of fire, manifests itself violently, burning a woman. Rusty is arrested, but set the arresting officer aflame and escapes.

X-Factor is alerted and came to the aid of Rusty, helping him to control his powers. He came to live with X-Factor, who were slowly gathering a small team of mutant wards. Rusty forms a relationship with Skids, a former Morlock. They both participate in X-Factor's trainee team, the X-Terminators.

For a time, they all lived upon Ship, a sentient being in the form of a long, rectangular spacecraft that towered over all other Manhattan skyscrapers. Rusty and the X-Terminators help X-Factor when an old booby-trap activates, threatening Ship's brain with a gigantic bomb. Ultimately, the bomb explodes harmlessly far above Manhattan.

Inferno

During the Inferno storyline, the X-Terminators teamed up with the New Mutants to help rescue mutant babies from N'astirh, who was using them to help keep open a portal to Limbo. Rusty himself had gone back into custody at the Navy but willingly goes with the group when he realizes his younger friends, Leech and Artie Maddicks have been captured by demonic forces. At the conclusion of Inferno, with Artie, Leech and the even younger kidnapped children involved safe Rusty joins the New Mutants, along with Skids, Rictor and Boom Boom.

Rusty and Skids help out when long time New Mutants member Danielle Moonstar loses control of her her mystical powers. During the incident they are separated from the rest of the group. Mystique's Freedom Force attacks them at Liberty Island. Part of this conflict involves the ultimate fate of the children Rusty helped rescue; he believes that Freedom Force had wrongfully taken them into custody. ["New Mutants" #80]

Due to a fight with Nitro and Vulture, Rusty is brought back into the sights of Freedom Force. While attempting to escape, he was severely injured by the Blob. While recovering in the hospital, he and Skids were contacted by members of the Mutant Liberation Front. With soldiers opening fire on them, they felt there was no other choice than to join them.

Brainwashed

Shortly after, Rusty and Skids were brainwashed by Stryfe into being two of his soldiers. During this, Rusty is part of a MLF strike team sent to a museum to steal an ancient artifact. Cable, the man who took over the New Mutants soon after Rusty left, is there. Cable slays MLF member Sumo. He attempts to kill the rest of the group but only gets two of them in the arm, Rusty included.

Due to the brainwashing, Rusty had no qualms about attacking former team mate Cannonball during the X-Cutioner's Song storyline. At the end of this story, the Mutant Liberation Front are turned over to the authorities.

Shortly after, Rusty and Skids were kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity. While being transported, X-Force (the team created by the former members of the New Mutants), rescued them. Arriving back to their base, X-Force was soon confronted by Exodus. He was inviting original New Mutants Cannonball and Sunspot to Avalon, a "safe haven" for selected mutants. Cannonball refused to go unless all former New Mutants present (Boom Boom, Rictor, Rusty and Skids) were invited also. While Exodus complained that Rusty and Skids were "damaged" due to their brainwashing, he finally acquiesced.

Upon arriving at Avalon, the mutants were taken to "the Savior" (in reality Magneto), who used his powers to undo the brainwashing done to Rusty and Skids. When X-Force arrived to save their friends, Rusty and Skids decided they would stay with Magneto, feeling that they owed him. With thus being done, they joined the Acolytes.

When a mutant body belonging to Holocaust, a "survivor" from the Age of Apocalypse, was discovered floating in space near Avalon it was brought on board. While on guard duty watching over the thought-to-be frozen body, Rusty's life force was drained by Holocaust, killing him. ["X-Men" vol. 2 #42 (July 1995)]

Powers and abilities

Rusty could create flames around his body or up to twenty feet away from himself. When his powers were activated, a psionic shield instinctively protected Rusty from harming himself.

In other media

A much younger version of Rusty was featured in an episode of "X-Men" animated series. There he was an orphan whom Cyclops met while visiting his old orphanage in Nebraska. Rusty was finding it hard to control his pyrokenetic powers. A man known as Kilgrave, offered to help and adopted Rusty seemingly out of charity. In reality, Kilgrave, a mutant himself with telepathic abilities, wanted to use Rusty's and several other mutants' (Skids included) powers to take over as governor. Scott was able to snap Rusty and the others out of Kilgrave's hypnotic brainwashing in the end.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/characters/showquestion.asp?fldAuto=1654 UncannyXmen.net Character Bio- "Firefist", Rusty Collins]
* [http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/c/collinsrusty.htm Marvel Directory Character Bio-Rusty Collins]