Origin
Tom Corsi was a caucasian American Vietnam veteran, who worked as a policeman around the Westchester area of New York. There he enjoyed the challenges of the job and helping people in the local community. One night during a heavy snow storm, Danielle Moonstar was rushed into the Emergency Room. She had been severely attacked, with wounds that appreared to be consistant with a bear attack. Unknown to the emergency staff, Dani was the New Mutant known as Psyche, and she had been attacked by the ferocious spirit known as the Demon Bear.
The rest of Psyche’s team-mates had accompanied her to the hospital. Tensions were running high, as they had originally found Psyche’s mauled body lying in the snow. Officer Corsi introduced himself to the team and tried to get details of what had happened. He gently quizzed them for information, but was interrupted when a member of hospital staff stated that Psyche’s wounds were consistant with a bear attack. Officer Corsi was shocked, as there were no bears in Westchester. He made an off-handed remark about how they must be joking, which caused Sunspot’s temper to grow out of control. Before a fight broke out, Nurse Sharon Friedlander arrived to calm everybody down. Cannonball explained that Psyche’s family had died and that her legal guardian, Professor Charles Xavier, was still in Masschusetts. Nurse Friedlander went to fetch pillows and blankets for them all, while Officer Corsi left them in peace.
He patiently patrolled the corridors of the hospital, and caught something leaning up against the door of the Operating Theatre. Having never seen anything like it before, he threatened to shoot the intruder. However, what Officer Corsi didn’t realise was that he had seen Wolfsbane in her transitional form. He chased her around the corner, and when he caught up she had transformed back into her normal human state. She was clearly afraid for Psyche’s life, and he was deeply shocked by how he had nearly shot a little girl. He led her back to the others and wandered over to the Nurses’ Station to relax his nerves.
Creation
Tom Corsi was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz and first appeared in The New Mutants Volume 1 issue 19 (1984).
Major Story Arcs
Transformation
There, he struck up conversation with Nurse Friedlander. He needed to relax after his shock with Wolfsbane, but soon their conversation moved from shift-patterns to casual flirting. Both of them were completely unaware of the growling of the Demon Bear until it attacked.
The New Mutants rushed to help when they heard Nurse Friedlander’s screams and Officer Corsi’s shots. However, by then it was too late & they were already missing. After the New Mutants successfully managed to prevent the Demon Bear from entering the Operating Theatre, it transported them all to it’s own magical realm. It was a segment of the spirit world that closely resembled the grassy plains where Psyche had grown up. Above the demon bear floated a bubble that was a portal to the Operating Theatre, and either side of the bubble floated Nurse Friendlander and Officer Corsi. They were still unconscious, but appeared to be in fine physcial condition.
The Demon Bear then plunged it’s gigantic claws through their bodies, casting powerful spells over both of them. They were transformed from caucasians into Native American demons. As demons, both Sharon and Tom had extraordinary powers of flight, black lightning and heightened strength. However, they were completely mute and forced to act against their will. As the Demon Bear’s demonic slaves, they were forced to fight the New Mutants while the bear itself continually attempted to force it’s way into the Operating Theatre. The New Mutants recognised that both Nurse Friedlander and Officer Corsi were still inside the demon monsters and therefore did their best not to hurt their friends while attacking them. However, neither Sharon nor Tom held back, and repeatedly attacked the New Mutants.
Ultimately the fight was won by the New Mutants. Magik managed to turn the tide by using her eldritch Soulsword to cut through the Demon Bear’s enchantments. When then Soulsword was sliced through Tom, it drove the demon out of his body. He was left lying on the floor unsconscious, but his body had not reverted back to that of a caucasina man. Although both he and Sharon were freed of the demonic spells that possessed them, Magik could not restore their bodies to their former appearance. As William Lonestar later explained, the Demon Bear’s first enchatment that transformed them into Native Americans was permanent. Magik’s Soulsword had removed the demonic enchantments, but there were no more spells to be removed.
New Life
Being transformed into a different ethnic race meant that Tom couldn’t return to work with the polcie force. His whole life had been turned upside down by the encounter with the Demon Bear. Professor Xavier sent him & Sharon to Muir Isle where Moira MacTaggert attempted to research for any possible cure and study their new abilities. However, Sharon & Tom were permanently transformed. While Sharon still seemed upset by her new body, Tom seemed happy with his new strength and reinvigorated youth.
Legion
While testing Tom’s enhanced strength they both received a psychic image of an Arabian boy who seemed distressed. Suddenly they heard a commontion from David Haller’s room and ran to investigate. There they found David floating face down above his cot, while toys and other items where being thrown around the room. Soon the telekinetic bombardment became too much, and their route to the door was cut off. They were forced to move further in the center of the room, and began to wonder why these terrible things must continue to happen to them when David’s screams grew out of control. His pain increased until the room suddenly exploded in a ball of fire.
Both Tom & Sharon were left unconscious. They had been drained of any signs of life by the time Moira MacTaggert and Multiple Man examined them, but there were no outwards signs of trauma to their bodies. Charles Xavier and some of the New Mutants arrived on Muir Isle the day after. Moira explained that their unconscious conditions defied explanation. Neither Tom nor Sharon had received any injury of burns during the explosion, and all their vital signs were strong. It was a mystery why they were unconscious.
What no-one understood was the connection between David’s autism and mutant powers. Within David Haller’s mind resided three extra and distinctive personalities who together were known as Legion. They had been absorbed from actual living people when his powers began to manifest, and therefore each of those personalities came to control different aspects of David’s power. The Arab boy who Tom & Sharon saw crying in pain was Jemail Karami who controlled David’s telepathy. He had reached out and taken the minds of both Sharon & Tom to protect them from the telekinetic and pyrokinetic assaults of Jack Wayne & Cyndi, the rest of Legion’s personalities. A war raged within David’s mind, but inside Jemail’s safe haven he had been trying to restructure David’s fractured personality. It was also where he had kept Sharon & Tom safe. Tom and Sharon were restored to their bodies when Mirage’s plan to use Jemail’s telepathy & Jack’s telekinesis to restore a large portion of David’s mind.
Teaching & Love
After being freed from Legion’s mind, they didn’t stay on Muir Island for much longer. Instead, Tom and Sharon returned to New York and went to live at Xavier’s School for the Gifted where they assisted the new headmaster, Magneto. They became teaching assistants and confidants for the New Mutants in much the same way that Stevie Hunter had done. Having survived at least two life-changing and traumatic experiences threw their lives together. When they first met Tom had begun to flirt with Sharon, but they didn’t pursue the relationship much further than friendship. However, when the White Queen wanted to convince Magneto that the New Mutants would be better under her supervision at the Massachusetts Academy she sent the Hellion known as Empath to influence his emotions. Tom spotted someone on the campus grounds and went to investigate with Sharon. There they found Empath who was using his mutant power to inflict a deep depression into Magneto. To ensure he was left alone, Empath used his control of emotions to manipulate Sharon & Tom. They had always been attracted to each other, but Empath twisted that emotion into an insatiable lust. Driven by their desires, Sharon & Tom passionately consumated their relationship while Empath continued to undermine Magneto’s self-confidence.
Both Tom & Sharon disappeared for some time. When they returned, both of them were sporting punk-hair cuts and extreme leather bondage outfits. They continued to feed on each other’s passions, but soon it wasn’t enough. The drive for more passion and ecstasy drove them to experiment into further extreme desires. Sharon had collapsed from exhaustion and Tom managed to carry her back to the school. They were both left exhausted, pale shadows of their former personalities. They rarely spoke to anyone else, and Tom spen a lot of time in the stables or tending to the school’s grounds so he could avoid as much human contact as possible.
Tom continued to help at the school while Magneto was headmaster. Afterwards he & Sharon travelled back to Muir Isle and worked as Moira MacTaggert’s assistants. There they successfully managed to stave off an attack from the cyborg group known as the Reavers. However, they later came under the telepathic possession of the Shadow King. Again their minds and bodies were manipulated and used by a malicious psionic attack. Unlike Empath, the Shadow King’s hold over them lasted for months until the combined forces of the X-Men & X-Factor were able to free all the inhabitants of Muir Isle.
Life After X-Men
Eventually Tom returned to America with Sharon. There he worked for Our Mother of the Sacred Heart; a hospital-school for handicapped children. It was a quiet life, which tragically destroyed when the school came under attack from the mutant group known as the Acolytes. Although Tom fought valiantly and killed on of the Kleinstock Brothers, he was unable to save Sharon’s life. She had been murdered by Joanna Cargill while making a distress call to Charles Xavier.
Having survived the attack on Our Mother of the Sacred Heart, Tom returned to life with Charles Xavier’s extended mutant family. This time he began working at the Massachusett’s Academy as a gym teacher to Generation X. He continued to have a supporting role after the Massachusett’s Academy closed and teaching was transferred to the Xavier Institute back in Westchester. Although he has not been seen since, it is likely that he continues to play a silent role supporting the X-Men and all their allies. It is unknown if he was de-powered from the events of House of M, or if he currently resides on the island Utopia
Powers & Skills
Unlike the majority of residents at either Xavier’s School for the Gifted or Muir Isle, Sharon Friedlander was not a mutant. For day-to-day life she relied on her skills and knowledge as a human being, but with a little enhanced strength courtesy of her new Native American body.
Officer Corsi
Long before the Demon Bear’s attack, Tom was an established police officer and veteran of the Vietnam war. He kept in shape for a man of his age, and had detailed fire arms experience.
Demon Powers
Immediately after he was kidnapped by the Demon Bear Sharon was possessed by a demonic spirit. The enchantments that caused the possession also gave him supernatural abilities. These included:
- Limited Flight: Tom was able to hover in the air indefinitely and fly between combatants. His flight was silent, as he could sneak up behind his foes. While aloft he appeared to be agile and deft at controlling his flight. However, he did not appear to have exceptional velocity while in flight as he was considerably slower than Cannonball.
- Super Strength: Both Tom and Sharon gained super strength while they were possessed by the Demon Bear’s enchantments. During the fight with the New Mutants they appeared to be on a par with the mutant teens, although possibly not as Strong as Sunspot. Tom at the very least was able to laso Sunspot around the waist and spin him around. He had the New Mutant spinning around at the end of a rope high above his head, and spun him at exceptional high speeds.
Enhanced Strength
After being freed from the Demon Bear’s demonic influence, Tom reverted back to being a human being. However, he did not revert to being a normal human being. Unlike Sharon Friedlander, Tom found it relatively easy to come to terms with his new Native American ethnicity. Since he was not an average Native American, he retained a portion of the super strength endowed upon her by the Demon Bear. Tom revelled in his new enhanced strength and the rejuvenated feling it gave him. While on Muir Isle, Tom set about testing the limits of his new strength. He claimed that he could lift twice the amount of the world weight lifting record with relative ease.