ARCHANGEL: Page 3 of 13

Publication Date: 30th Sep 2019
Written By: Peter Luzifer, Monolith and Gremlin.
Image Work: Peter Luzifer and Dean Clayton.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY - Page 3

The original five X-Men settled back into their old dynamic, forgetting what had gone on in the future. Beast never expressed his feelings for Jean and Scott became timid again, so Warren continued to pursue her. The love triangle between Scott, Jean, and Warren climaxed when Cyclops accidentally injured the Angel during a battle and Warren accused him of having it done on purpose to have Jean for himself. [X-Men (1st series) #26] However, the next day, Warren apologized, saying that he was delirious and, not long afterwards, gave up on chasing after Jean, realizing that she cared for Scott more than for him. After accidentally meeting up again in one of New York's night clubs with Candy Southern, an old friend from his prep school days, the pair started to date. [X-Men (1st series) #31]

 

During a battle with Grotesk, the Subhuman, Xavier was apparently killed, saving his students (actually it was the Changeling posing as Xavier), and FBI agent Fred Duncan ordered the X-Men to disband. [X-Men (1st series) #42, 46] Warren returned to his parents and secretly sneaked out at night to continue to fight crime as the Angel. He also kept seeing Candy and, during one of their dates, masked men broke into the Worthington House and killed Warren’s father on the order of the villain called Dazzler. Angel took it very hard and blamed himself and his love for Candy for the murder, thinking that, had he been at home, he might have prevented his father’s death. When he investigated the Dazzler’s organization, he was blackmailed by the villain who was holding Candy Southern hostage (planning to use her to ensure Warren’s cooperation). The Dazzler was curious who the superhero trying to interfere with his plans was and forced Warren to take off his mask. When he saw it was Warren, the Dazzler too revealed his identity – he was none other than his uncle Burtram Worthington. Burt had used Worthington Industries as a cover for his diamond smuggling syndicate and, when Warren’s father found out, he saw no other way than to kill him. In the following battle, Candy Southern learned of Warren’s secret too and the Dazzler apparently died when he fell from a great height. [Ka-Zar (1st series) #2-3, Marvel Tales (1st series) #30]

Before long, the X-Men reunited and continue to fight for Xavier’s dream. After a battle with the mutant hunting Sentinel robots, the X-Men's newest member, Havok, was severely injured, so he was taken to a Dr. Karl Lykos for treatment. Unknown to the X-Men, Lykos was actually an energy draining mutate, who survived by draining lifeforce from his patients. When he tried to absorb the phenomenal cosmic energies Havok had within him, Lykos was transformed into the flying pterodactyl-man, Sauron, with a hypnotic line of sight. He began a string of robberies and, because of his wings, the police blamed the robberies on Angel. Enraged, Warren donned his old Avenging Angel costume and went out to capture the real villain and reclaim his good name. He caught up with Sauron but was caught in Lykos' hypnotic gaze, making Warren attack his friends. [X-Men (1st series) #60-61] 

The other X-Men dealt with Angel by tying him up until the hypnotic daze would wear off. They left him in the care of the team's other new member, Lorna Dane, while they followed Sauron to Tierra del Fuego, where he fell into a chasm and disappeared into the tunnels leading to the Savage Land. 

When Warren woke up with his mind clear again, Lorna and Havok released him and he followed the team to the Savage Land, but was downed by the flying reptiles there. On the brink of dying, he was then saved by a man known as the Creator, who had apparently created a sanctuary for the mutants of the Savage Land. The Creator treated Angel's wounds and gave him a new costume to wear. Meanwhile, the rest of the X-Men came to the Savage Land in order to find their lost comrade and encountered their old ally, Ka-Zar, who told them that a strange group of Mutates were attacking his friends, the Fall People. They encountered some of the Savage Land Mutates and, later, Angel, who was convinced that the Creator and his Mutates were heroes. The other X-Men explained to Angel the attacks on the Fall People and he flew back to the Creator's citadel to confront him, only then learning that the man was actually Magneto, the X-Men's greatest foe. Magneto then had him entranced by his new Mutate, Lorelei. The rest of the X-Men and Ka-Zar arrived, freed Angel and together they defeated Magneto and his Mutates. [X-Men (1st series) #62-63]

Soon after, Xavier returned and revealed that he had asked the Changeling to replace him while he prepared for the Z'noxx invasion. Together, Xavier and the X-Men defeated the Z'noxx and stopped the invasion. [X-Men (1st series) #65]

After Xavier learned of the X-Men's recent time in the Savage Land, he decreed that they return and determine for certain whether or not Magneto had died as they believed. Magneto was, in fact, alive and well deep in the Savage Land. During this mission, Angel had time to meet and befriend Avia, a bird-woman native to the land. Amidst the treacherous return to the modern world, Angel and Avia were cut off from the others and captured by sailors, who in turn sold them to a man named Krueger. The X-Men and a disguised Candy Southern came to their rescue, fighting off both Krueger's freaks and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. [X-Men: The Hidden Years #3, 6-7, 12-13]

Once the dust had settled, Candy told Warren that his Uncle Burt was not only alive, but planning to marry Kathryn Worthington and lay claim on the family fortune. Angel and the X-Men came into conflict with Dazzler and the Worthington's mutant-hating family doctor. 

However, there was the problem of Kathryn not knowing about her son being a mutant and, since she had a weak heart, Warren did not want to endanger her with such distressing news. Finally, the X-Men succeeded in foiling the duo's plans to pilfer the fortune, but only after Kathryn died of the long-term effects of a poison the doctor had been administering to her. [X-Men: The Hidden Years #14-15]

Several months later, the mansion was attacked by Magneto. It turned out that the costume he had given to Angel while he was posing as the Creator was actually designed to slowly absorb Warren’s mutagenic energies and, after Magneto had drugged him and put on the costume himself, it restored him to his full might. Magneto placed the unconscious Angel in a secure spot and then disguised himself with the costume’s hood and a pair of fake wings. When the Avengers arrived to check out the destroyed mansion, they took the unconscious X-Men with them, not suspecting the identity of the "Angel".

Shortly after they left, the Angel awoke and tried to find his team, but instead fell prey to yet another attack by agents of the Secret Empire. Fortunately, the Avengers and the remaining X-Men handled Magneto themselves after some time and with the help of Daredevil, but they had no idea what had happened to their friend and teammate. Only many weeks later did the X-Men became aware that more and more mutants were disappearing. They ultimately found and rescued their friends with the help of the Falcon and Captain America. [Avengers (1st series) #110-111, Captain America (1st series) #174-175]

Reunited, the X-Men continued to fight crime until they were captured by Krakoa, the Living Island, who then let Cyclops go to bring other mutants to him. He and Xavier gathered together the second generation of international X-Men and this new team succeeded in rescuing the X-Men from Krakoa. Afterwards, the original X-Men, including Angel, left to allow Xavier and Cyclops to train the new team. [Giant-Size X-Men #1]

Angel and Iceman were planning on starting their college careers, but were roped into a conflict with the Olympian gods. As a result, the two of them helped form a Los Angeles based team called the Champions along with Hercules, Black Widow and the original Ghost Rider. Warren adopted a new costume that no longer contained a face mask. With his parents gone, Warren no longer felt the need to protect his civilian identity. [Champions #1]

Even more importantly, Warren was given full control of his family's assets and financial interests after long legal issues with some distant relatives who had sued him, having pretended that the Worthingtons would have left Warren out of their will, had they known of his mutant powers. Angel became the sponsor for the Champions and Worthington Industries did everything from designing their Champscrafts to securing a high-rise headquarters. [Champions #5]

Unfortunately, the Champions were a mismatched group from the start and it wasn't long before that team went belly-up. All other members walked out on Warren and he was left behind to close the headquarters. [Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #17]