Origin
It was recently revealed that Striker was raised by a fame-obsessed mother and an adulterous politician. After her 15 minutes of fame were up she attempted to get Striker into show business and as a result he was exposed to a pedophile in the form of his agent Rick. His mother refused to believe him, but due to her avaricious ways it is believed that she did not wish to jeopardize potential career by reporting Rick. Striker’s powers first manifested themselves as a way to defend himself from his sexual abuser, Rick.
Creation
Striker was created by Christos N. Gage and Mike McKone and first appeared in Avengers Academy #1 (2010).
Major Story Arcs
Young Avengers
Striker is a young man recruited into the Avengers Academy who tries to hide his insecurities by acting like an alpha male and assert dominance. Striker, Finesse and Hazmat would meet Veil as she speaks with Mettle and Reptil. Striker thought he had the best looking costume but compliments Veil for pulling off a costume basically made out of black bandages. Hank Pym tells Striker and his fellow cadets that they were the elite six chosen from the dozens of superhumans Norman Osborn had captured and held captive for studying. They were told they had the potential to become the heroes of tomorrow. Striker would learn that their first training session as a group would have them spar against Speedball. Striker had his reservations against Baldwin because of what happened in Stamford and thought that Speedball was stupid. Striker displays his electrical powers during the sparring session and tells Speedball that he is ready for field work and craves the spotlight. Finesse learned that the Avengers were keeping a big secret from them after reading the lips of Speedball and Quicksilver during a heated argument. Finesse, Striker and Veil decide to hack into their systems and discovered the whole speech Pym gave them about being the elite group was a lie. They found out that the six of them were the ones that Osborn had tortured the worst and whose psych tests set off alarms. The Avengers knew these young recruits were dangerous and the Avengers Academy was a way to keep an eye on them and to keep them in line. Striker told his teammates that the Avengers were afraid of them and Finesse replied “They should be”.
During a walk home from the movies Whirlwind attacks Pym and his Academy pupils, amongst them Stryker. This results in the Academy having to use their powers to defend themselves and their subsequent exposure to the media. At the end of the issue it is revealed that his mother hired Whirlwind in order to accumulate attention for herself through her son. Striker is unaware of the fact that his mother once again put him in danger to exploit him for monetary gain and fame.
Weeks later the Academy saw a video of The Hood beating Tigra. After Striker, Veil and Hazmat went the The Hood’s hideout, Striker and Hazmat then beat The Hood while Veil filmed it. The three then went back to the Infinite Avengers Mansion and showed the video to everyone which made Tigra then grew angry about them breaking the law. She then tries to expel them, but the rest of the staff wouldn’t allow her to and the three were given a probation.Later when Veil accidentally unleashed Korvac, Carina turns the kids into there adult forms. Shortly after, the future version of Striker was killed by Korvac and reverted back to back the teen form then ran away in terror of Korvac. After, Korvac was defeated by Hazmat, Tigra had a talk was Striker and he was considering that being a hero was not worth his life. Later in the week Veil talked to him about the fight with Korvac and tried to calm him down in which was successful.
Admitting being Gay
When Julie Power joined the team as a teaching assistant, Striker revealed to her that he was gay. In the next issue of the series, he called for a press conference, during which he announced his sexual orientation as a way of gaining headlines.
In the final story arc of Avengers Academy, he was attacked by Jeremy Briggs, which gave Striker scars on his face.
Avengers vs X-Men
After the initial conflict on Utopia between the Avengers and the X-Men over the fate of Hope Summers, the mutant students of the X-Men residing on the island were taken into Avengers custody and sent to stay out of the fight at Avengers Academy. They all hated the way they were treated, and the Academy students had difficulty getting along with the X-Kids. After a few rounds of sporting events, the students of both sides soon got back to bickering. Sebastian Shaw, who had been transferred along with the mutant students, broke free from his confines, and took out every adult at the school. The staff believed that it was his intention to kill the mutant students, when he only really wanted to set them free. Siding with Shaw and her former teammates, X-23 convinced several Academy kids to let the mutants escape. Striker sided with X-23, and soon a brief battle was staged between the staff and the students to make it appear as though they had actually put up a fight, even though Tigra had decided to let them go.
Later on in the conflict, five of the X-Men received a portion of the Phoenix Force. Each of the Phoenix Five turned their attention towards building a better world and provided clean energy, water, and food to everyone in every part of the planet. They also outlawed war, declaring “Pax Utopia”, and to that end, they set out to destroy all weaponry worldwide, simply melting it all away into nothingness. The X-Man known as Emma Frost, aka the White Queen, was one of the five, and took it upon herself to destroy every sentinel on the planet. After her work around the globe, she traveled to Avengers Academy to rid the world of its last remaining sentinel – the one owned by Academy student, Juston Seyfert. Hank Pym tried to compromise with Emma, who agreed to leave the sentinel unharmed so long as she was allowed to wipe its CPU. Juston would not agree, saying that she would be erasing the personality of his only friend. Eventually, Giant Man and the Academy students, including X-23 and Striker teamed up to battle Emma, who was easily able to thwart all the attempts to delay her mission. While they battled, Finnesse contacted Quicksilver. Striker argued with Emma about the morality of her cause, citing his homosexuality as a “difference”, and questioning her as to whether or not she should “fix” him because of it. Emma, tired of the conflict, deconstructed the sentinel, so that Juston would be able to fix it later on, but melted what she thought was the sentinel’s CPU, and then left the Academy. It turns out that Quicksilver had switched out the CPU with another, saving Juston’s friend. Pym and Tigra announced their decision to shut down Avengers Academy until such time as the conflict between the Avengers and X-Men had ended. Colossus, one of the Phoenix Five, came to ensure that the school had been closed off.
Final Exam
The final story arc of Avengers Academy sees the return of Jeremy Briggs, along with Madeline Berry, aka Veil, who reveals that Briggs was able to cure her, removing her powers and ensuring her survival. Briggs offers to cure Mettle and Hazmat, and they readily agree to do so, but take precautions and invite Reptil, X-23, Finnesse, and Striker to go along with them. Briggs cures Hazmat and Mettle and they are finally able to be with each other. Unfortunately, Briggs had a more sinister plot in mind: he planned to depower all super-powered people on the planet, villains and heroes alike by releasing a missile that would unleash a gaseous “cure”. He also revealed that the Academy crew had been breathing in the cure, and none of their powers worked. Striker agreed to join Briggs, while his other teammates were systematically taken out by Briggs’ allies – the former Young Masters. Sylvie Lushton, the second Enchantress, tagged along with Briggs to keep an eye on Striker and Veil. Striker manipulated Sylvie into repowering him by giving him the antidote. Soon after, Striker attacked Sylvie, but was stopped painfully by Briggs. After Briggs’ counterattack, Striker was left with scars on his face. Veil got the antidote to a reluctant Hazmat and Mettle, who then joined the fight, and together were able to stop Briggs, Enchantress, and the missiles. Finnesse used X-23 as a weapon to stab and fatally wound Briggs, who she then let die. Striker and the others returned to the school, and were told by the Avengers that they had “graduated”, in a manner of speaking, having fulfilled that which the Avengers had expected of them.
Powers & Abilities
Striker has the ability to generate vast amounts of electricity. Striker can fire electricity bolts from his hands for range attacks and use his powers to disrupt and short out numerous devices. He also can make electro-magnetic force fields. His costume is made out of unstable molecules whom Mr. Fantastic had invented and the suit adjusts to the wearer’s abilities and powers.