BIOGRAPHY
Very little is known about the early life of Sean Garrison. What is known is that he eventually developed the ability to manipulate people using his pheromones and possessed the willingness to use them. For someone with more scruples, a power like his would be frightening but not for Sean Garrison. He used his “gift” to control others and amass power. [New Mutants (2nd series) #11] Not satisfied with being completely reliant on his mutant powers, though, he also studied sociology to further enhance his ability to understand people and scheme. He was still human, however, and power alone was not enough to satisfy him. One day, he met Gail Collins and immediately used his powers to seduce her. The two were together for an unspecified amount of time, until one night Gail left in the middle of the night. Sean was unaware that Gail had become pregnant, and the baby had granted her immunity to his abilities.
Sean would be unaware of the existence of his daughter Laurie until she was 15 years old. In the meantime, Sean became a national celebrity. His cable show w
as watched by millions and his self-help book “three phases to success” was on the bestseller list for two years. At some point, he had also crossed paths with Emma Frost (though she seemed unaware of his mutant status), Captain America and Diamondback. [New X-Men: Academy X #9] Interestingly despite hiding his own mutant status, Garrison was an outspoken public advocate for mutant rights, a position that had attracted an anti-mutant group, Purity. When the University of Chicago hired Garrison to be the commencement speaker at Karma's graduation, Purity protested the event. Garrison was not intimidated by their presence and told the graduating class that these “bigots” were simply jealous of mutants and were nothing to be afraid of. [New Mutants (2nd series) #4]
Having met her sometime before, Garrison was approached by Emma Frost with a problem regarding one of her students, a young mutant named Wither. The youth had joined the Xavier Institute after accidentally killing his own father, a tragedy with which he had still not come to terms. Hoping for his aid, Emma brought him to Sean Garrison's offices in New York City. She explained to Wither that she felt comfortable getting Sean's help specifically because of his longstanding pro-mutant advocacy. When Wither explained to him what had happened and if he could work with that, Sean responded he “could work with anything.” [New X-Men: Academy X #9] Despite Sean's overall amoral motivations, he nevertheless did some good work with Wither, explaining to the young mutant the possible benefits that his powers could yield as he gained control, such as destroying cancer cells. The conversation soon deviated to the love triangle that Wither was involved in with Elixir and Laurie. When Wither mentioned that Laurie controlled pheromones, this piqued Garrison's interest. Wither mentioned he knew that Laurie's “boyfriend” Elixir had an affair with a teaching assistant and wanted to know if he should expose it and break them up. Sean told the boy he needed to focus on exploring what would make him happy. [New X-Men: Academy X #10] Successfully manipulated by Garrison, Wither went to Emma Frost and exposed Elixir's affair which ended his relationship with Laurie.
Emma was relieved that Wither had come to her with such a serious issue and took Scott Summers to meet Sean Garrison. The two had discussed it and they felt that this situation had highlighted that they needed someone with Sean's experience on the faculty. Essentially, they were offering him the role of guidance counselor, which had recently been vacated by Dr. Alicia Downing. Sean initially declined, given his many responsibilities, including writing a new book. However, later that evening, he called Emma to say that he had changed his mind. He had now discovered that “Laurie Collins” was the daughter of his “old flame” Gail, clearly deducing that she was also his daughter, given their shared powers. He told Emma he couldn't start until next semester but that he had “big plans.” [New X-Men: Academy X #12]
In the meantime, Garrison continued his counseling, with one client being the perennial X-Men villain, the Blob. The Blob had sought out Dr. Garrison as he was upset by A) not being invited to join a new incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and B) that he wanted to avenge them for being defeated by the X-Men. When Blob questioned if the doctor was going to tell him he shouldn't want to be a bad guy anymore, Dr. Garrison told him that he believed “people need to be true to themselves.” Shortly thereafter, Blob attacked the Xavier Institute. [New X-Men: Academy X #14]
Ultimately, Dr. Garrison never started his employment at the Institute. Before the new semester began, M-Day occurred, resulting in the number of mutants around the globe apparently being reduced to the hundreds. With its student body greatly reduced, the Xavier Institute no longer needed a guidance counselor. Additionally, and more tragically, Garrison’s daughter Laurie was assassinated in the chaos of the Decimation, rendering moot his whole motivation for accepting the position. Whether Garrison himself was depowered by M-Day or retained his mutant abilities remains unclear.
Years later, a second chance for Garrison’s daughter arose, when the island of Krakoa became the home to the world’s mutants and, through the miracle of “mutant technology” Laurie Collins was resurrected. Never having learned that Sean Garrison was her father, Laurie almost certainly never reached out to him. However, it is unclear whether Dr. Garrison ever became aware of his daughter’s return.