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 of a super-powered brood to the next level, CLANDESTINE followed the many

CLANDESTINE #2 cover by Alan Davis

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 (and if you missed part one, check it out here).

CRIMSON CRUSADER (Rory Destine)
An excitable teenager with a lifelong admiration for super heroes, the minute that Rory Destine learned he had the power to control gravity, enabling himself to fly among other things, he fashioned himself a costumed identity as the Crimson Crusader and dragged his twin sister Pandora into a life of crime fighting.

After Rory learned the truth behind his family history—that his father Adam had sired dozens of super-powered children and that Walter, the uncle who raised him, was in fact his older brother—he approached his abilities with slightly more restraint out of respect for his siblings' desire to remain anonymous, but could not suppress his giddiness at being part of a clan of heroes.

Rory leapt back into action as the Crimson Crusader not long after the Clan defeated A.I.M., teaming with Pandora and his idol Spider-Man to save sister Cuckoo from an assassination attempt as well as with the X-Men against the demon Synraith and nearly being offered a spot with the mutant team.

IMP (Pandora Destine)
While Pandora Destine does not quite match her twin brother Rory's enthusiasm for costumed heroics, she shares his sense of adventure and has grown accustomed to following his lead over the years in most matters. Learning she had the power to manifest focused light, Pandora quickly got caught up in Rory's exploits as the Crimson Crusader and donned her own costume, taking on the codename Imp, an identity her brother created that she remains less than fully enamored with.

A bit more mature than her brother, Pandora does her best to rein Rory in and keep him out of too much trouble, but tends to lose sight of potential danger herself when the opportunity for heroism presents itself. During their battle with A.I.M., the twins discovered that their powers work less effectively the greater the distance between them in terms of physical proximity.

HEX (Dominic Destine)
Eccentric, but good-natured, Dominic Destine has spent his life making the best out of a power that could really be considered a curse. Dominic possesses incredibly heightened senses that allow him to hear whispered conversations happening miles away or execute breathtaking acrobatic feats thanks to his unparalleled sense of touch, but at the same time the slightest foreign sound, taste or smell can throw him into a near comatose state.

For a time, Dominic used his abilities to carve out a career as a stage magician, adopting the name Hex, but a brush with real supernatural forces and a necessitated rescue from another dimension by Dr. Strange led him to hang up his magic wand. Dominic retreated to a remote island, sterilized with the help of his brother Newton, and lived apart from the world for years before his family sought him out to battle A.I.M.

ARGENT (Samantha Destine)
Cold and aloof, Samantha Destine relished the distance the "Relative Strangers Protocol" put between her and her family, establishing a career as a successful artist and sculptress. Unfortunately for Sam, an attempt on her sister Kay's life dragged her back into the family business where her ability to control and reconfigure metal came in handy during the struggle with A.I.M.

Taking the name Argent, Samantha has remained with the Clan and chooses to express herself by using her powers to constantly reshape the armor and weapons she carries into battle. While Sam has grown close to her young siblings Rory and Pandora, she remains standoffish with extroverted sister Kay.

CAP'N OZ (William Destine)
Following the tragedy of his brother Vincent's death and the enactment of the "Relative Strangers Protocol," William Destine got as far away from his family as he could, relocating to Australia where he became action film star William Chance. Using his superhuman strength and endurance to earn great success portraying the Cap'n Oz character and score him a romance with co-star Alice Springs.

When the Clan drew the attention of A.I.M., William fought off and attack by their agents on the set of his latest movie and then flatly rejected sister Kay's telepathic request for him to return to England and aid the family.

CLANDESTINE #1 ships on February 6. While you're waiting, check out this classic Alan Davis comic courtesy of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited