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Black Tom Cassidy

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Black Tom Cassidy
Black Tom Cassidy
Art by Michael Ryan
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceCameo appearance: X-Men #99 (June 1976)
Full appearance: X-Men #101 (Oct. 1976)[1]
Created byChris Claremont
Dave Cockrum
In-story information
Alter egoThomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy
SpeciesHuman mutant
Team affiliationsBrotherhood of Mutants
PartnershipsJuggernaut
Siryn[2]
Abilities(Currently):
  • Bio-organic thermokinesis
  • Wood manipulation
  • Environmental symbiosis
  • Possible genetic immunity

(Formerly):

  • Plant manipulation
  • Life-force absorption

Black Tom Cassidy (Thomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the X-Men, and of his cousin, Banshee. In addition to fighting the X-Men, he has clashed with Deadpool a number of times.

Black Tom is a mutant who can manipulate, bond with, and project energy through plant life. He is also capable of issuing concussive blasts with a wooden object, usually a shillelagh. Tom was the black sheep of a prominent Irish family.[3] He secretly raised Banshee's daughter Siryn, of whose existence Banshee was unaware, and conscripted her into his criminal gang. Black Tom was also a longtime criminal partner of the super-strong villain Juggernaut, until Juggernaut's reformation.

Black Tom Cassidy made his film debut in Deadpool 2, played by Jack Kesy.

Publication history

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Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum, Black Tom Cassidy first appeared as a shadowy figure in Uncanny X-Men #99 (June 1976).[4] He later made his first full appearance in Uncanny X-Men #101 (Sept. 1976), followed by editions #102 (Oct. 1976), and #103 (Nov. 1976). He subsequently appeared in editions #122 (March 1979), #218 (March 1987), #361 (Sept. 1998), #369 (April 1999), #411 (Aug. 2002), #412 (Sept. 2002), #464 (Sept. 2005). Black Tom Cassidy also made an appearance in the Uncanny X-Men vol. 4 series, showing up in editions #11 through #14 (Aug. 2016-Oct. 2016).

Black Tom Cassidy also appeared in other core comics like Spider-Woman editions #37 and #38 (Feb. 1981 and April 1981); The Amazing Spider-Man #229 and #230 (April 1982 and May 1982); Marvel Team-Up #150 (Nov. 1984); Venom: The Madness #1 and #2 (Sept. 1993 and Oct. 1993); Generation X #18, #23, #24, #25, #60, and #61 (June 1996, Nov. 1996, Dec. 1996, Jan. 1996, Dec. 1999, Jan. 2000); and New Excalibur #6, #7, and #13 (April 2006, May 2006, Nov. 2006). He also appeared in two flashback comics: Classic X-Men #11 [A Story] (April 1987) and Classic X-Men #16 [B Story] (Sept. 1987). There were also appearances of him in X-Men Forever #3 (Jan. 2001), and Cyclops #1 (Aug. 2001)

Some other appearances were in several of the Deadpool series including: The Circle Chase #1 and #2 (June 1993 and July 1993), Deadpool #1, #2, #3, #4 (June 1994-Sept. 1994) and Deadpool (2008) #58, #59, #60 (July 2012-Sept. 2012).

Finally, Black Tom was in X-Force (1991) editions #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 (June 1991-Oct. 1991), while also making appearances in Generation X (1994) #18 (June 1996), #23 (Nov. 1996) #24 (Dec. 1996) and #25 (Jan. 1997). He also appeared in X-Men (1991) #88 (March 1999), #158 (June 2004), #160-#164 (Aug. 2004-Nov. 2004).

Fictional character biography

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Family

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A young Tom and Sean Cassidy meet Maeve Rourke. Art by John Bolton.

Black Tom was born in Dublin. He is the cousin of Sean Cassidy, the Banshee, a member of the X-Men. He was also once the only friend of the Juggernaut.

His original principal power was that he could generate blasts of heat through a wooden medium, such as the shillelagh that he often carries. He has a rivalry with Sean, mainly because Sean won both Cassidy Keep, their estate, and the family fortune from Tom in a game of dice. They were also rivals for a woman named Maeve Rourke, whom Sean married.

While Sean was away, working for Interpol, Maeve gave birth to their daughter, Theresa. Not much later, Maeve died in an IRA bombing. With no means to contact Sean, Tom took care of Theresa.

When Sean returned to learn of his wife's death, he was devastated. Before Tom could even tell him of the existence of his daughter, Sean lashed out at Tom with his sonic scream for not having taken better care of Maeve.

While Sean flew away in anger, Tom fell into a chasm, breaking his leg as a result of the attack, which left him with a limp. Angrily, Tom swore to make Sean pay and vowed to never tell him about his daughter, raising her himself instead.

Supervillain

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Later Tom became a criminal and came into conflict with the law and was apprehended. While serving time in prison, Tom met and befriended Juggernaut. The two became close friends and allies, and worked together on missions. As part of his revenge scheme against Sean, Tom murdered a lawyer ally of Banshee.[5] Black Tom and Juggernaut then took Banshee and the other X-Men prisoner at Cassidy Keep. He was defeated in a duel by Banshee.[6] Black Tom and Juggernaut next hired Arcade to kill the X-Men.[7]

Alongside Juggernaut and Theresa (now under the codename Siryn), Tom went to San Francisco and stole the United States' vibranium supply. Several X-Men and the original Spider-Woman liberated the vibranium and captured Black Tom and Siryn. Convinced a life of crime was too dangerous for Theresa, Black Tom exonerated her of responsibility for the theft,[2] and wrote a letter to Sean explaining who she was.[8] Juggernaut broke him out of prison the same day.[9]

Tom next sent the Juggernaut to abduct Madame Web, observing Juggernaut's battle with Spider-Man from afar.[10] Black Tom was briefly endowed with half the powers of Juggernaut by the Ruby of Cyttorak, and then teamed with Juggernaut against Spider-Man and the X-Men.[11]

Black Tom next took Gideon and Sunspot hostage on behalf of Arianna Jankos. He used an interdimensional teleporter to return the Juggernaut to Earth. He then battled Siryn and her teammates in X-Force. Cable shot Tom, and Deadpool took Tom to Mr. Tolliver.[12]

Transformation

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After being shot by Cable, Tom was taken to France, where doctors grafted a wood-like substance onto his wounds, healing him and allowing him to channel his bio-blasts through his fists. However, the substance spread over Tom's body, transforming him into a humanoid plant and driving him insane.[13]

During this time, Black Tom resurfaced as a member of the latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants.[14] Earlier, Juggernaut had infiltrated the X-Men for him as part of the Brotherhood's plan, though Juggernaut slowly changed during his time with the X-Men, mostly due to the influence of Sammy Paré. Juggernaut rejoined the Brotherhood, secretly planning on turning them when the time was right. Sammy stumbled upon the group, and assuming that Juggernaut was betraying the X-Men, started lashing out. In retaliation Tom murdered Sammy, causing Juggernaut to attack him.[15] Juggernaut managed to escape and warn the X-Men, while Black Tom led an attack on the X-Mansion. In the end, Xorn sucked Black Tom and the rest of the Brotherhood into a black hole.[16]

M-Day

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After M-Day, Black Tom woke up as a human again, losing his secondary mutation but possibly still retaining his old powers, along with his sanity. The organization Black Air hired Tom to attack the new incarnation of Excalibur, of which Juggernaut was now a member. Though he easily defeated the others, Juggernaut confronted his former friend and convinced him to turn himself in for the death of Sammy, saying "He was a kid, Tom. An' you an' me, for all our faults, we used ta be better than that." Tom also showed remorse for killing the child, "That wasn't me, Cain, you know that. I wasn't in my right mind... You've got to understand... that mad life, before... it was like some dream."[17]

Deadpool

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Black Tom reappears in Deadpool, where he was hired by Black Box to hunt Deadpool.[18]

X-Men: Blue

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Black Tom resurfaces with the Juggernaut attacking a luxury yacht, but they are confronted by the time-displaced young X-Men, with Jean knocking Black Tom out while Beast - who has been training in magic - creates a dimensional portal that passes through Hell before sending Juggernaut to Siberia.[19]

Dawn of X

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Thomas is one amongst many within Homo Superior, both heroes and villains alike, who accepts the invitation to the new mutant home nation of Krakoa on the grounds that all who call it home forgo any petty rivalries or their criminal ways.[20] These are terms that Black Tom gratefully accepts; eventually taking a job at internal/external security through a physiological union between himself and the living isle to better articulate his powers. It is also implied that one of the reasons Black Tom is loyal to Krakoa is because they have promised to resurrect Squid-Boy, who he regretted killing.[21]

Powers and abilities

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Originally, Black Tom Cassidy was a mutant with the ability to generate concussive blasts of force and heat. He typically carried a shillelagh, a wooden fighting stick, which he used as a focus for his power. He is immune to Banshee's sonic powers, as their powers cancel each other out on contact.

Later, Cassidy becomes a humanoid plant capable of assimilating other plants, creating plant clones of himself and others, and controlling others via his tendrils.[22][23][24][25] Following the events of "Decimation", he loses his plant form, but retains the ability to manipulate plants.[26][27]

Later, Cassidy becomes connected to Krakoa and gains the ability to manipulate its land and foliage.[28]

Other versions

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An alternate universe variant of "Black Tom" Cassidy called "Blackie" Cassidy appears in X-Men Noir #1. This version is a drug dealer with ties to the Brotherhood, a secret society of corrupt police officers and detectives.[29]

In other media

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References

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  1. ^ Misiroglu, Gina Renée; Eury, Michael (2006). The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9780780809772.
  2. ^ a b Spider-Woman #37-38. Marvel Comics.
  3. ^ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
  4. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  5. ^ X-Men #99. Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ X-Men #101-103. Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ The Uncanny X-Men #122. Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ The Uncanny X-Men #148. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Spider-Woman #38. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #229-230. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Marvel Team-Up #150. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ X-Force #1-5. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Deadpool vol. 2 #3 (1994). Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ X-Men Vol. 2 #161 (Nov. 2004). Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ X-Men Vol. 2 #163 (2005). Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ X-Men Vol. 2 #164 (2005). Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ New Excalibur #7. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Deadpool #58 (2012). Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ X-Men: Blue #1. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ House of X #4. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ X-Force (vol. 6) #1 (November 2019)
  22. ^ Generation X #1 (November 1994)
  23. ^ Generation X #25 (March 1997)
  24. ^ Uncanny X-Men #411 (October 2002)
  25. ^ X-Men #164 (January 2005)
  26. ^ Deadpool vol. 2 #59. Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ X-Men: Blue vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ X-Force vol. 6 #1-2 (Nov. 2019). Marvel Comics.
  29. ^ X-Men Noir #1. (Dec. 2008). Marvel Comics.
  30. ^ Faierman, Leo (May 17, 2018). "Deadpool 2 Almost Had More Mutants Using A Lot More Mutant Powers". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
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