Chamber (character)
Chamber | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Generation X #1 (November 1994) |
Created by | Scott Lobdell (writer) Chris Bachalo (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Jonothon Evan Starsmore |
Species | Human Mutant |
Team affiliations | New Warriors Clan Akkaba Generation X X-Men Weapon X Jean Grey School |
Notable aliases | Decibel |
Abilities | Currently:
Formerly:
|
Chamber (Jonothon Evan Starsmore) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually associated with the X-Men and the New Warriors.
A British mutant, Jono possessed the ability to cast energy blasts from his chest. He had limited control of his power and destroyed much of his chest and lower face when his powers emerged. He lost his powers on M-Day. For a time he used technology to give himself sonic based abilities. He regained his powers after the events of Age of X.
Jonothon was a member of the X-Men junior team Generation X. He was sullen and moody and had difficulty bonding with teammates. He has since been offered a permanent position in the X-Men's teaching staff.
Publication history
Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, he first appeared in Generation X #1[1] (November 1994).
Fictional character biography
Origin
Jonothon Evan Starsmore ("Jono" to his friends) is a native of
The primary manifestation of his abilities is his ability to fire powerful blasts of psionic force. It has been implied at numerous times that Jono is potentially one of the most powerful mutants to walk the earth (most notably the scale of his mutagenic aura as seen by
Generation X
Shortly after his mutant powers manifested, Jonothon accepted an invitation to join
Emplate captured Chamber with Gayle's help, and then imprisoned both of them. Gayle blamed Jono for ruining her life, but the two managed to get over their physical and mental trauma after the rest of Generation X freed them.[4] Chamber later became romantically involved with Husk. Unfortunately, the relationship was strained as Jono often sabotaged the relationship, believing he could not offer her the normalcy he assumed she wanted. And despite the mutual attraction, future attempts to restart their relationship failed, as Jono's insecurities were always a hindrance. These issues also negatively impacted their ability to interact as platonic teammates.[volume & issue needed]
Jono's greatest victory during the time he was with Generation X was when Banshee was attacked by the mutant serial killer Omega Red. With their teacher incapacitated, Chamber led the pursuit of the mutant and after the rest of the team was defeated, Chamber's immunity to Omega Red's death spores, as well as some tactical thinking on his part, enabled him to single-handedly defeat the killer.[5]
Despite his time at the school, Jono was never able to gain full control of his abilities. Chamber grew even more depressed when he saw that Synch, who could duplicate a nearby mutant's powers, was more proficient with Chamber's own powers than Chamber himself was. When the school was outed as harboring mutant students, an anti-mutant group attacked the school. After Synch was killed preventing a bomb from killing nearby human students, the
X-Man and Weapon X
After failing to join the X-Men, Chamber returned to London, where he hooked up with
]Following a strained time on the X-Men, Chamber investigated the apparent murders of mutant students at Empire State University[7] on their behalf. He became romantically entangled with the shapeshifting reptilian mutant, Amber,[8] who was the only mutant student to remain at ESU when they shut down their mutant program, but the relationship quickly ended before it began when Amber came to believe he was only interested in her when she used her shape-shifting abilities to take on a more conventionally attractive form. After that he asked to be relieved from active duty with the X-Men, claiming that he still had much to learn.[volume & issue needed]
While he was back at the school, Chamber saw Husk in the arms of
In the second
Decimation
Following the warping of reality by the
Jono was moved to a hospital in England, but was abducted by his therapist a few weeks later - his therapist being
New Warriors
Jono resurfaced as Decibel, a member of
Age of X
Jono eventually made his way to the X-Men's new Island nation of Utopia. Shortly after his arrival, one of the split-personalities of Xavier's son Legion re-wrote the history of the X-Men turning himself into a hero. In this re-written world, Jono was once again referred to as Chamber and had regained his lost mutant powers, but also lost the body restorations given to him by Clan Akkaba. When normality was finally restored, Jono was one of the few X-Men who retained their physical changes from this altered reality. Now once again in possession of a gaping hole in his chest and jaw, Jono submitted to observation by the X-Men's resident biologist, Dr. Kavita Rao.[13]
Schism
Chamber is mentioned by the Stepford Cuckoos as responding to a Sentinel threat in Berlin alongside Warpath.[14] After the conflict of leaders between Wolverine and Cyclops, Chamber chose to join Wolverine at the new X-Mansion, now the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.[15]
Wolverine and the X-Men
Chamber is now teaching a course on "Coping With Physical Changes" at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Chamber is entrusted with the safety and security of the students when a violent threat is roaming the halls.
Krakoa
When
Powers and abilities
Jono's thoracic and abdominal cavities are a chamber for a furnace of psionic energy capable of nuclear fission whose output can be projected as wide blasts of concussive force or laser-like focused beams that disrupt atomic bonds. The initial manifestation of said powers has destroyed most of his internal organs along with his mouth and chest, effectively killing his body. Chamber requires no food or oxygen and is seemingly indestructible as he has disintegrated his own body along with D'spayre's down to their sub-atomic components in a kamikaze attack and later reconstituted himself (Generation X Annual '97).
Jono's appearance is so unusual that even other mutants are startled and repulsed.[23] His bizarre physiology suggests he is actually a being of pure psionic energy inhabiting a dead organic shell that he can disintegrate and reassemble from memory, a hypothesis several characters have put forward in comics. Chamber can also project his thoughts into other people's minds, but cannot read the thoughts of others, which enables him to communicate without a mouth. At one point, fellow Generation X member Synch used his own mutant powers to tap into and copy Jono's powers and fly. Jono himself has never exhibited this ability before or since.
After being depowered by the events of House of M, Jono's body was rebuilt by Clan Akkaba in the image of Apocalypse and he later employed technology to mimic sonic powers as Decibel. These powers included flight, sonic blasts and the creation of solid energy constructs. He has since been restored to his original form and powers by the events of Age of X.
Reception
- In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Chamber 35th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[24]
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the
Future X-Men
Within an alternate future timeline set 25 years ahead of current events. Jonothon Starsmore remains an X-Man to this day where many students of the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning have grown up and gone on to become both heroes and celebrities. In this particular era he and his love interest
He later died during a battle with the Shi'Ar after Daken had tricked the X-Men and Deathbird into getting him close enough to the M'Kraan Crystal so he could ascend to an Apocalypse level power base, detonating it to blow apart the battle cruiser they were on killing nearly everyone aboard.[28]
Name
For all of the character's Generation X appearances, his name was spelled as Jonothon Starsmore. However, following his appearances in this title, his name started appearing spelled Jonothan, starting with his appearances in Uncanny X-Men. The reason for this change is unclear.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ Generation X #1
- ^ Generation X #2
- ^ Generation X #14
- ^ Generation X #11
- ^ Generation X #75
- ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
- ^ "Amber (Chamber character)".
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #6
- ^ New Excalibur #9
- ^ New Warriors vol. 4 #3
- ^ New Warriors vol. 4 #7
- ^ X-Men Legacy #248
- ^ X-Men: Schism #2
- ^ X-Men: Regenesis #1
- ^ Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #4 (June 2012)
- ^ X-Men Legacy #264 (March 2012)
- ^ X-Men Legacy #22
- ^ X-Men Legacy #24 (Feb. 2014)
- ^ Generation X #1–9 (2017)
- ^ New Mutants Vol 4 #1–7 (2019-20)
- ^ Legion of X #4 (2022)
- ^ Vaughan, Brian K. (w), Ferguson, Lee (p), Rapmund, Norm (i), Villarruiba, Jose (col), Sharpe, Dave (let), Raicht, Mike; Quesada, Joe (ed). "The Hollow Man: Chapter One" Chamber, vol. 1, no. 1 (October 2002). Marvel Comics.
- ^ June 09, Darren Franich Updated; EDT, 2022 at 12:31 PM. "Let's rank every X-Man ever". EW.com. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Generation Next #1
- ^ Generation Next #4
- ^ Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #10 (2017)
- ^ The Uncanny X-Men: Winter's End #1 (2019)
External links
- Chamber at Marvel.com