Major Story Arcs
Adrian is a mutant who attends Fontane College in Boston. He is a recluse, always wearing a jacket that says “MONSTER” on the back, but has two close friends, Helen Williams and Art Wagner.
Adrian has six fingers on each hand, and can see in infrared. However, he also has a degenerative nerve disorder, and can’t control his body well. Helen and Art help build him an exo-skeleton that helps his body control, and also gives him enhanced strength.
However, all he cares about is playing the piano, which he is very good at.
Mutant hysteria is rising across the country. The college’s students are against the hysteria, and see an opportunity to address it when both Senator Robert Kelly, author of the Mutant Registration Act, and the Beast, both happen to be coming to campus.
Adrian shows Beast around, but then has a seizure in his room that Beast is suspicious of, since he finds a crushed Walkman nearby. He doesn’t know about Adrian’s exo-skeleton, but does know about his six fingers.
After the Beast gives a comical speech, Adrian accuses him of being a Stepin’ Fetchit for mutants. Beast is ashamed. Adrian feels that mutants with useless powers, like his, are ignored by super-heroes, and indeed are endangered by their public acts.
When Kelly gives his speech, Adrian attacks him, hoping to make a statement against his anti-mutant agenda, but instead only fans it. The Defenders stop him, but only by shorting out his exo-skeleton, which leaves him in a bad state.
Beast later helps Adrian, Helen, and Art start M.O.N.S.T.E.R. (Mutants Only Need Sensitivity, Tolerance, and Equal Rights) to combat Kelly and help mutants. M.O.N.S.T.E.R. is later briefly run across in X-Men and Generation X.