Psionex
Roll Call: Asylum (Henrique Manuel Gallante), Coronary (James Sharp), Impulse (Dwight Hubbard), Mathemanic (Thomas Sorenson) and Pretty Persuasions (Heidi P. Franklin). The original Asylum went without name or voice.
First Appearance: New Warriors 4 for most of 'em. Gallante, however, started solo in New Warriors 32 and named himself "Darkling" in NW 34 before reemerging (so to speak) as Asylum II in NW Annual 4. His predecessor was last seen in New Warriors 40, after she went wild in Central Park and got blown apart by Speedball.
What's Their Problem? Harmon Furmintz was an exceptional genius who felt passed over by great human events like the Super Soldier project (which dropped him due to his hemophilia), so he sought to start a race of superhumans through his research company, GeneTech. They went ahead and altered five volunteers: an ex-mental patient, a medical student, a street-gang member, a mathematics whiz and an exotic dancer, later joined by an ex-drug addict. Not exactly the ones you'd want gaining great powers (which they did) without that great a sense of responsibility (which they may be learning... I hope).
Abilities: The original Asylum was a mass of non-corporeal Darkforce mist who engulfed a person to scare them with their own inner truth or lie; while immune to various energies, enough physical force (like a punch to the mask) could disperse her. Gallante, the mutant who is the current Asylym, can teleport himself and others via the Darkforce dimension, the substance of which he can manipulate as so much obedient taffy. Coronary can control the biometabolic functions of others and induce intense pain, muscle spasms and so forth. He can also reform his "plasticized" body if shattered, but this leads to weird, spiked-and-bulging mutations with powers like phasing, stretching and superhuman strength. Impulse is able to act very aggressively at the speed of thought. Mathemanic is a "math telepath". He tries out computations by altering people's perceptions of reality, making them feel extremely heavy, weightless, aged, trapped in a maze, separated from their bodies or otherwise distorted. And, finally, Pretty Persuasions stimulates the pleasure centers (read: libidos) of others with her energy weapons, stunning them at least. She mainly uses a whip generated by her own, uh... you know, impulses.
Weapons: Most of Psionex relies on personally-generated powers, although Impulse sports a pair of wristbands with eight blades each, which were sometimes laced with a knock-out drug.
Favorite Quotes: "She can feel the distance now. She is a part of it. Can you imagine yourself taking one step and having it transverse a universe? Get me some Dramamine, please. I'm feeling queasy." (Mathemanic in New Warriors 4, as he spaces out Firestar. Literally.)
Heroes They Keep Running Into: The New Warriors broke into GeneTech to find out why data on them was gathered; they found out the hard way after Psionex ambushed them. The Warriors won out that same night, but later spats were pretty much dead-even. As his power emerged in a semi-delirious withdrawal, Gallante kidnapped several Darkforce users and nearly smothered the city. In the following brouhaha, he made Silhouette, Cloak, Archangel, Namorita, Rage, Sersi, the Human Torch, the Black Knight and plenty of New Yorkers fight other Warriors, Spider-Man, Darkhawk, Dagger, the Thing and Crystal . He even discussed life and darkness with Dr. Strange!
People Who Think They're Not So Bad: Furmintz was truly upset by their lack of promise but felt they were his responsibility. After he died, administrator Walter Rosen took over GeneTech and their 'experiments', something he wasn't so eager to do. Gallante reunited them as vigilantes to clean up New York's seamier streets. The Warriors saw them as darker, not-so-stable parallels of themselves, but the public liked them enough (that billboard Ms. Persuasions did for Calvin Klein didn't hurt). After Asylum accidentally killed a boy, he was jailed and pretty much on the outs with the others. They wound up being trained and led by Night Thrasher, who has since rejoined the Warriors. One wonders what Psionex is up to now...
Most Despicable Act: Those five were a pain in the butt more than anything else, but they've had some real lows. Once Impulse slashed Rosen across the back; Terrax later broke his back, but both men are better now. As for Asylum, scaring the bujeezus out of Manhattan was a major cry for help, but dropping a publicity-seeking mayor from a roof just to show he'd do it also qualifies; it wasn't even a getaway distraction!
by Ray Schaff
Psionex Mug Shots
New Warriors 4 1990 New Warriors 15 1991
