GAUNTLET

THE GAUNTLET

CHRONOLOGY:

All Appearances: X-Man #63-66

The specifics surrounding the formation of the Gauntlet are unknown. Apparently, they had met in university, the right parties, exclusive resorts and the boardrooms etc., instinctively recognizing each other as other mutants. The group had been around for some time and it was said that they had gone by other names by the time they were introduced in X-Man #63.

Their motivation seemed to be a combination of greed and ennui. They rejected the teachings of Xavier and Magneto, as they felt that the two just postulated between the question of existence as being an either-or proposition. Feeling that they neither needed to integrate nor dominate, this team wanted to enjoy their powers/differences and, having realized that they could travel the multiverse (and apparently time travel) by pooling their powers together, explore. The group purchased cosmonaut suits from the Russians to this endeavor, to protect their bodies when they traveled and maintain life support. They had journeyed both up and down The Spiral, seeing realities in which Earth had prospered and others where it had been blighted. In one instance they even set up a very lucrative business deal in an unknown reality though the specifics of said deal are unknown.

[Note: The concept of “The Spiral” was introduced in the X-Man series with worlds of lower numbers being considered "better" and those with higher numbers "worse". Though it referenced the Earth-616 numerology, this concept is not consistent with how universes are numbered in the Omniversal system introduced by Captain Britain.]

History changed for the Gauntlet when they journeyed to an undesignated reality that should not have been fit for human life. In this world, Homo sapiens initially only evolved to the point in which they could naturally exist within a tropical, Kenyan environment. A harsh Earth in which time passed quicker, the humans were themselves subject to constant mutation to adapt to their ever-changing environment. So brutal was this world that fertility and reproduction for their kind was itself extremely rare, making all and any life extremely precious. Despite this, their children did still dream of a better more peaceful world. When the Gauntlet arrived and scanned the Earth, one of the humanoids of this world connected with them telepathically, curious as to who they were, not recognizing them as predators. The Gauntlet considered the creatures to be miracles, humans that could survive on a world that should not be able to sustain life, while the poor creatures wondered what a miracle was. Gauntlet member, Helen Burnside proposed stealing the children of these humanoids, seeing them as valuable biotechnology as their organs would be perfect for transplants due to their constant adaptivity. Her proposal accepted, the group absconded with the children and returned to Earth-616, using their grouped powers to encase the world to prevent pursuit. Within two weeks, all the stolen children had been dissected and their organs harvested. They were not given burial by the Gauntlet.

The children were not forgotten by their people. It took them several generations and approximately one century (their time) but the humanoids evolved the power to break through the Gauntlets' barrier, so one of their number could manifest on Earth-616 and get revenge. The first one to connect telepathically with the Gauntlet volunteered to be their instrument of vengeance, given his own sense of guilt. By Earth-616 time, it had only been 5 weeks since the Gauntlet had traveled to his world.

The first to die was an unseen member named Cox, killed in his apartment. Other members, such as Mr. Beckham, had investigated but were unable to figure out what had killed him. At his corporate headquarters, he instructed his assistant, Lau, to tell Pope (another unseen Gauntlet member) to call a “Sun Kings Circle.” When Lau was confused, Beckham fired him and promoted Helen Burnside who was standing on hand. The two got into a lift and Beckham told Helen that the entire group was under attack and they needed to get to safety. Soon after, Beckham started to fall ill and cough before he started levitating his body. He was being torn apart from the inside out as the creature manifested inside him. He repeatedly said he was sorry, as he “blew up” next to Helen while the creature cursed her.

Helen suffered a psychiatric break after this happened and she was taken to the hospital. Nate Grey had sensed the event and flew to her location. He used his powers to calm Helen, explaining that she was part of his tribe and that her group needed his help if they were going to live past Christmas. Helen took Nate to their headquarters, a palatial mansion in Manhattan where the “Sun Kings Circle” had begun. The base was a tesseract, larger on the inside than was apparent outside. Inside the group's “muscle,” Mr. Glass, objected to both Helen and Nate's presence, fearing that Helen might be contaminated after what happened to Beckham and that Nate was a stranger. Glass attempted to kill Grey but was supremely outclassed and quickly dispatched/crushed by the omega level telekinetic. With him out of the way, Grey went into the central chamber and interrupted the group's “ritual.”

The Sun Kings Circle was the group forming a telepathic collective to block the creatures manifesting on Earth 616. In an attempt to make the group more comfortable, Grey allowed them to read his mind first, so they knew who and what he was. He then read theirs, though he only gleamed minimal information, as he was afraid he could damage them if he pressed against their psi-shields at this delicate time. Grey used his own powers to bolster their shield and asked the Gauntlet to share their side of the story about the creature and basically explain themselves as he was already suspicious of them. Although the group outlined their philosophy, they failed to disclose their crimes. As Grey and the Gauntlet spoke, the creature began manifesting on Earth again, having now evolved to not actually recognizing their shield at all, as opposed to literally breaking through it. Grey stayed behind, warning the group to flee to safety; Helen was shocked he was going to attempt to face it. Grey fought the creature to a standstill and, after he severed its arm, the creature fled back to his own home reality. Grey still remained in the dark about why the creature had attacked in the first place.

Grey flew up in the sky from remains of the Gauntlet’s headquarters and forced a psi-link with all of its members. The outspoken Ms. Yoshida immediately protested, claiming Grey had no right to invade her mind. At this point, an exhausted Grey had no time for her objections and compelled the Gauntlet to tell the truth. They explained the story about traveling to the creatures' reality and, when Grey questioned if they committed a heinous act there, the group did not deny it, sickening Grey. Again, Ms. Yoshida pushed back, advising that his abuse of his powers with this forced telepathic connection was equivalent to their action in the “spiral.” Grey considered this position “idiocy” and had heard enough, promising he would return for the group but had to leave the universe to find the creature. He was still unaware of the fate of children at this point.

Grey journeyed to the home reality of the “Broken Man” (the name he now gave the Gauntlet's attacker) and, after another forced psi-link, found out about true details about the children. Grey promised the man justice and departed back to Earth-616, meeting Helen Burnside in her office. He connected all of the members of the Gauntlet telepathically again and confronted them about the theft of the children. The members of the group panicked and attempted to flee all across the island of Manhattan. Helen remained calm initially and tried to misdirect Grey and blame the others stating, “Is that why it came here? Because they took its children?” Grey checked her computer and found out that the children were already dead. The truth revealed, Grey now saw the Gauntlet as an infection on the Earth, as they had committed genocide/infanticide without remorse for mere profit/boredom.

He telekinetically dragged the members of the Gauntlet up into the Manhattan skyline, detonating them one by one. Ms. Yoshida was the first to be killed, cursing Grey and calling him a hypocrite as she exploded. Helen begged him stop, as the psi-link he had forced was still in place and she could feel the others die. Grey told Helen that he was not going to kill her, though she was the most worthy of death, as he now knew it was her idea to steal the children. He revealed that it was Helen not Beckham who had been the Broken's Man target that day in the lift. Helen, with a tear running down her face, questioned Grey; what if she had a good reason for the theft, something other than money? Grey said nothing could justify her actions before he sent her back to the undesignated world. Helen landed in front of the Broken Man and others of his race. Somehow, she was still alive on the barren world, which pleased the Broken Man. Her fate remains unknown. Soon thereafter, Grey buried the remains of the children in a cemetery, stating they deserved better. [X-Man #63-66]

[Note: In the story, the number of children taken by the Gauntlet is not stated but at the end Grey is standing in front of five unmarked tombstones, so presumably it was five.]

POWERS

Excluding Mr. Glass (who seemed to be more hired muscle), none of the mutant powers of the group were revealed. However, as they acted essentially as a coven and pooled their powers together to travel the multiverse and protect themselves from telepathic attacks, they must may have had a combination of telepathic/teleportation powers. Alternatively, they could have all just been “psi's,” who used their telepathic abilities to astral project in these alternate timelines and reconstitute their bodies with telekinesis.

Interestingly, even as a powerful telepathic collective, they understood they had no chance of defending themselves against a psi-attack from Nate Grey, so presumably they were all at most Alpha level mutants and had no Omegas among them.

The concept of mutants with similar powers working in tandem for greater results is more common now than it was when the Gauntlet were introduced with Krakoa's Five and S.W.O.R.D.'s teleport team.

MEMBERS

The exact number of members of the Gauntlet is unknown. Minimally, they had at least 35 members (though likely more) as 32 were in the circle when they were met by Nate Grey. The additional three members come from Mr. Beckham and Mr. Glass (who were both dead at this point) and the unseen Cox (whose death was implied). Most of the members were not named. Seemingly all living members were executed by Nate Grey, excluding Helen Burnside. One other member Pope was named in X-Man #63 but he was not identified among the group later on. Interestingly, all were human passing and largely “nondescript” in appearance. While several members were seen in different panels and they were seemingly a mix of genders, ethnic backgrounds and ages, most wore plain clothes and were unidentifiable panel to panel. Below we have some headshots of the clearly seen unnamed members in addition to the few named with some information about each one.

Mr. Beckham

First appearance: X-Man #63

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63

Notes:

• Had a company called Beckham Technologies.
• Before his death, he occupied a leadership role within the organization.
• He seemed to be extremely short as Helen Burnside towered over him and she was shown to be average height.

Helen Burnside

First appearance: X-Man #63

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63-66

Notes:

• She may still be alive on the undesignated Earth.
• Though Helen was not the leader of the group, she seemed to hold enough sway to influence them to steal the children for organ harvesting.
• Mr. Glass stated he had known Helen for five years. It was unclear if this was to imply that she had been with the group five years or he had. It seems more likely this related to her as it was later noted he had been a hired assassin/murderer for at least a decade.
• Given her comment about having a good reason for stealing the children and her survival, it is conceivable that there was an intention to revisit Helen/her motivation in the X-Man series in the future had it continued. X-Man was cancelled nine issues after the conclusion of this story.

Ms. Yoshida

First appearance: X-Man #64

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #64-66

Notes:

• Ms. Yoshida was probably intended as some sort of relative of X-Man Sunfire, as they share the same surname and are both mutants.
• Ms. Yoshida seemed to be the most vocal character of the group. Minimally, she was at least the point of view character for the Gauntlet in dealing with Nate Grey, as it was Ms. Yoshida who challenged his positions the most and generally considered him a hypocrite for judging them for their actions while invading minds telepathically without permission.
• She was the first to be telekinetically detonated by Nate Grey.

Mr. Glass

First appearance: X-Man #63

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63

Notes:

• Mr. Glass was security for the Gauntlet and did not appear to hold a position within the group itself.
• He was a powerful telekinetic.
• When Nate Grey read his mind, he saw that Mr. Glass had killed 67 people in the past ten years and that he had enjoyed it.
• Mr. Glass was killed by Nate Grey in combat.
   

UNNAMED MEMBERS

Unclear Status

Lau

First appearance: X-Man #63

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63

Notes:

• He was Mr. Beckham's assistant until he was fired for “not being inside the knowledge,” as he didn't seem to know what a “Sun Kings Circle” was. Potentially, this was intended to indicate that Lau was not part of the Gauntlet at all and was merely an employee of Beckham industries. His position was quickly filled by Helen Burnside.
• His death was not seen on panel but it can be assumed he perished if he really was a member of the group.

ENEMIES

Nate Grey (X-Man) – (Spotlight)

First appearance: X-Man #1

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63-66

“Broken Man”

The “Broken Man” did not mention his own name, so possibly he didn't have one. Nate Grey dubbed him this in X-Man #66.

First appearance: X-Man #63

All Gauntlet appearances: X-Man #63-66

Powers: Adaptive genetics and physiology designed for exteme environments of a "broken world", demonstrating superhuman strength, speed, durability, recuperation, feats of telepathy and telekinesis, imbue matter with adaptive properties, and move through multi-dimensional states, traveling between worlds, manifesting through multiple points of space-time at once, or emerge through the bodies of specific targets

Notes:

• Missing right arm following fight with Nate Grey.
• The “Broken Man” referred to himself in the third person.
• He had a large red X on his forehead.
• Nate Grey considered his power level on par with his own.