Featuring the following heroine!

Skids
by Bobby Coakley

Real Name: Sally Blevins

First Appearance: X-Factor 7

Team Affiliation: Quite a few. First a member of the Morlocks, Skids joined the team of X- Factor trainees, the X-Terminators. From there, she went onto the New Mutants, where she was kidnapped and brainwashed by Stryfe to be part of the Mutant Liberation Front. After Magneto freed her, she became part of his Acolytes, but more out of confusion and misguided thanks than real loyalty. While she skidded through many teams, she always stuck to her boyfriend and partner, the late and lamented Rusty Collins.

Favorite Quote: "Oh Rusty, you made my life better. Before I met you, my force field cut me off from everybody. You taught me to do this... to touch, to feel! I don't want to lose you. I love you." X-Terminators 1. A bit hokey, but accurate, description of the duo's relationship.

Powers: Skids is a mutant with the ability to completely cover herself in a frictionless and super-strong force field. Once she figured out how to use it, this frictionless field didn't affect her ability to eat, breath, or even stand up! Under training with X-Factor, she learned how to expand her field to protect others. For a time, the field could not be turned off, a weakness that turned out to be a psychological instead of mutagenic problem. Aren't they always?

Favorite Storyline: X-Factor 16, one of Louis Simonson's great "X-Factor kids" stories. Skids faces up to her past and her fears of the other Morlocks, while helping Rusty do the same. Skids was able to gain better control over her powers, and admit her feeling for Rusty Collins. This great story spoiled me for all the Gambit/Rogue stuff Nicieza and Lobdell tried years later.

Least Favorite Storyline: Not surprisingly, it all started with Slick Rob Liefield. Cable's first complete appearance also featured Rusty and Skids being forced to "defect" to the Mutant Liberation Front. The two were forgotten for a time, only to be rescued and then found to have been brainwashed by Stryfe. This led to the two getting spirited to Avalon and joining the Acolytes, which later led to Rusty getting killed by Holocaust. Skids' survived her fall back to Earth with Jean Grey, but her activities since remain unknown. Another interesting supporting character lost in the glut of Marvel Mutants.

Recommend Reading: While Skids seems to have been forgotten by the Marvel editors, she hasn't slipped by her fans. I recommend trying to get your hands on "The Wheat and the Weeds," part of the "Bucktown Timeline" fan fiction series by David J. Warner. It explores Skids activities after the Fall of Avalon, and is a killer story to boot.