ClanDestine

By Ben Morse

Forget the Summers brothers, the House of M and even the Fantastic Four—when it comes to being a powerful family in the Marvel Universe, none of them hold a candle to the Clan Destine.

In 1994, Alan Davis, legendary from his work on CAPTAIN BRITAIN, UNCANNY X-MEN and EXCALIBUR went in a bold new direction with the CLANDESTINE mini-series, pulling double duty as writer and artist. Taking the idea

CLANDESTINE #1 cover by Alan Davis

of a super-powered brood to the next level, CLANDESTINE followed the many offspring of the immortal Adam Destine, each with unique abilities, appearances and personalities thanks to Davis' boundless imagination, as they struggled to survive in a world not ready to accept them and become a family somewhere along the way.

On February 6, Davis brings Wallop, Cuckoo, Hex, Imp, Crimson Crusader and the rest of the Destines back to the Marvel Universe with the first issue of the new CLANDESTINE ongoing series. Before you dive into the vast and wonderful world of the Clan Destine, take a quick scan of the family tree with Marvel.com.

ADAM DESTINE
The patriarch of ClanDestine, Adam Destine has lived over 10 centuries since his birth in the England of the 1100's. Under the service of Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades, Adam found himself captured by Arabian nomads who tricked him into killing the sorcerer Sujanaa min Raghbah and capturing the mystic's magical gem for them. Before the treacherous Arabs could kill Adam, he shattered the gem, releasing a female genie who saved his life.

Adam and the genie fell in love and she granted him immortality and invulnerability. Though she quickly returned to her native realm following their initial meeting, the lovers would reunite frequently, producing powerful and long-living offspring each time.

Along with his ever-growing family, Adam lived happily in his ancestral Ravencroft Manor home until the 1970's when unrevealed actions taken by his son Vincent divided the clan. In the end, Adam felt he had no option but to kill Vincent, alienating himself from his lover and many of his children and prompting him to leave Earth.

Decades later, Adam's lover contacted him in the far reaches of space to alert him that their children had been discovered and were being murdered by an offshoot of the A.I.M. terrorist cell. With the aid of the Silver Surfer, Adam returned to Earth in time to save many of his children and chose to remain with them.

WALLOP (Walter Destine)
The soul of a romantic in the body of a monster, Walter Destine serves as ClanDestine's de facto second-in-command and its resident walking contradiction.

Born early in the 20th century, Walter enlisted in the British army when World War I broke out. During his time in the service, Walter encountered the famed American heroes the Invaders battling an Axis robot and first manifested his power to become a super-strong blue behemoth in order to aid them. Terrified of what their friend had become, Walter' fellow soldiers turned against him, crushing any dreams he had of ever becoming a super hero.

Walter retired to Ravenscroft where he began a lucrative career of writing romance novels under the false name Sabrina Bentley and eventually raised his young siblings, twins Rory and Pandora, posing as their uncle rather than expose them to the full truth about ClanDestine. Experimenting only occasionally with his abilities, Walter learned that the longer he remained in his empowered form, the more pronounced the transformation and the longer it took to turn back.

When the twins learned of their own powers and began careers as amateur super heroes coupled with A.I.M. targeting the Clan, Walter used his own abilities for the first time in years and revealed to Rory and Pandora their secret history. Reluctantly reuniting and leading his family into battle with the unwanted codename of Wallop given to him by the twins, Walter played a key role in defeating A.I.M. but paid a heavy price—at current he finds himself trapped in his "Wallop" form.

CUCKOO (Kay Cera)
The most outgoing and impetuous of the Destine siblings, Kay Cera—most definitely not her real name—uses her telepathic powers to transplant her mind from body to body every few years, assuming a new identity as it pleases her and earning her the nickname "Cuckoo" from her brothers and sisters. Early on in her long-lived existence, Kay and her sister, Gracie, met and teamed with Charles Xavier to defeat the demonic entity Synraith.

For years following Vincent's death and the Clan dispersing around the world to protect their anonymity, Kay inserted herself into the life of the head of a major fashion design company. When A.I.M. learned of the Clan and targeted them, their assassins killed Kay early on, but not before she transferred her conscience into the body of a nearby young woman.

With the reunion of her family, Kay has taken an active role in the lives of her young siblings Rory and Pandora and encouraged their love of adventuring, much to her brother Walter's annoyance. Soon after Kay resumed her role at her old design firm, posing as her former identity's descendant, the twins saved her from an assassination attempt with the aid of Spider-Man. Kay would also reunite with Professor X when his X-Men teamed with ClanDestine to battle a reborn Synraith.

NEWTON DESTINE
Possessing genius to a superhuman degree particularly when it comes to mechanical workings and technology, Newton Destine developed the advanced technology much of ClanDestine uses and that pervades Ravencroft Manor. Upon Vincent's death and Adam's departure from Earth, Newton suggested and helped make possible the "Relative Strangers" protocols that made it possible for the Clan to disperse themselves across the planet to live in safety and anonymity.

Following in his father's footsteps, Newton took to the stars but left a signal watch with his brother Dominic which could be used to notify him if his family needed him so he could teleport back to Earth. On the planet Ethera, Newton acquired a powerful and physically attractive artificial body he has taken to wearing over his own modest physique.

Come back Thursday to learn all about Crimson Crusader, Imp, Cap'n Oz and more. Also, check out this classic Alan Davis comic courtesy of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited