Black Tom Cassidy

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Black Tom Cassidy
Black Tom Cassidy
Art by Michael Ryan
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceCameo appearance: X-Men #99 (June 1976)
Full appearance: X-Men #101 (Oct. 1976)[1]
Created byChris Claremont
Dave Cockrum
In-story information
Alter egoThomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy
SpeciesHuman mutant
Team affiliationsBrotherhood of Mutants
PartnershipsJuggernaut
Siryn[2]
Abilities(Currently):
  • Bio-organic thermokinesis
  • Wood manipulation
  • Environmental symbiosis
  • Possible genetic immunity

(Formerly):

  • Plant manipulation
  • Life-force absorption

Black Tom Cassidy (Thomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the X-Men, and of his cousin, Banshee. In addition to fighting the X-Men, he has clashed with Deadpool a number of times.

Black Tom is a mutant who can manipulate, bond with, and project energy through plant life. He is also capable of issuing concussive blasts with a wooden object, usually a shillelagh. Tom was the black sheep of a prominent Irish family.[3] He secretly raised Banshee's daughter Siryn, of whose existence Banshee was unaware, and conscripted her into his criminal gang. Black Tom was also a longtime criminal partner of the super-strong villain Juggernaut, until Juggernaut's reformation.

Black Tom Cassidy made his film debut in Deadpool 2, portrayed by Jack Kesy.

Publication history

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Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum, Black Tom Cassidy first appeared as a shadowy figure in Uncanny X-Men #99 (June 1976).[4] He later made his first full appearance in Uncanny X-Men #101 (Sept. 1976), followed by editions #102 (Oct. 1976), and #103 (Nov. 1976). He subsequently appeared in editions #122 (March 1979), #218 (March 1987), #361 (Sept. 1998), #369 (April 1999), #411 (Aug. 2002), #412 (Sept. 2002), #464 (Sept. 2005). Black Tom Cassidy also made an appearance in the Uncanny X-Men vol. 4 series, showing up in editions #11 through #14 (Aug. 2016-Oct. 2016).

Black Tom Cassidy also appeared in other core comics like Spider-Woman editions #37 and #38 (Feb. 1981 and April 1981); The Amazing Spider-Man #229 and #230 (April 1982 and May 1982); Marvel Team-Up #150 (Nov. 1984); Venom: The Madness #1 and #2 (Sept. 1993 and Oct. 1993); Generation X #18, #23, #24, #25, #60, and #61 (June 1996, Nov. 1996, Dec. 1996, Jan. 1996, Dec. 1999, Jan. 2000); and New Excalibur #6, #7, and #13 (April 2006, May 2006, Nov. 2006). He also appeared in two flashback comics: Classic X-Men #11 [A Story] (April 1987) and Classic X-Men #16 [B Story] (Sept. 1987). There were also appearances of him in X-Men Forever #3 (Jan. 2001), and Cyclops #1 (Aug. 2001)

Some other appearances were in several of the Deadpool series including: The Circle Chase #1 and #2 (June 1993 and July 1993), Deadpool #1, #2, #3, #4 (June 1994-Sept. 1994) and Deadpool (2008) #58, #59, #60 (July 2012-Sept. 2012).

Finally, Black Tom was in X-Force (1991) editions #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 (June 1991-Oct. 1991), while also making appearances in Generation X (1994) #18 (June 1996), #23 (Nov. 1996) #24 (Dec. 1996) and #25 (Jan. 1997). He also appeared in X-Men (1991) #88 (March 1999), #158 (June 2004), #160-#164 (Aug. 2004-Nov. 2004).

Fictional character biography

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A young Tom and Sean Cassidy meet Maeve Rourke. Art by John Bolton.

Black Tom was born in Dublin. He is the cousin of Sean Cassidy, the Banshee, a member of the X-Men. He was also once the only friend of the Juggernaut.

His original principal power was that he could generate blasts of heat through a wooden medium, such as the shillelagh that he often carries. He has a rivalry with Sean, mainly because Sean won both Cassidy Keep, their estate, and the family fortune from Tom in a game of dice. They were also rivals for a woman named Maeve Rourke, whom Sean married.

Black Tom later became a criminal and befriended Juggernaut while in prison. The two became close friends and allies, and worked together on missions.[5] Alongside Juggernaut and Siryn, Tom travels to San Francisco and steals the United States' vibranium supply. The X-Men and Spider-Woman secure the vibranium and capture Tom and Siryn. Convinced a life of crime is too dangerous for Siryn, Tom exonerates her of responsibility for the theft. Juggernaut breaks him out of prison the same day.[6][7]

After being shot by Cable, Tom is taken to France, where doctors heal him by grafting a wood-like substance onto his wounds. However, the substance spreads over Tom's body, transforming him into a humanoid plant and driving him insane.[8] During this time, Tom joins the Brotherhood of Mutants.[9] Juggernaut infiltrates the X-Men on behalf of the Brotherhood, but gradually reforms, mostly due to the influence of Sammy Paré. Sammy stumbles upon the Brotherhood and is murdered by Tom.[10]

After M-Day, Black Tom loses his ability to transform into a plant, but retains the ability to manipulate plants. The organization Black Air hires Tom to attack Excalibur, of which Juggernaut is now a member. Though he easily defeats the others, Juggernaut confronts Tom and convinces him to turn himself in for killing Sammy. Tom shows remorse for killing Sammy and states that he was not acting rationally at the time.[11]

Tom is among many mutants who accept the invitation to the mutant nation Krakoa on the grounds that all who call it home forgo any petty rivalries or villainy.[12] These are terms that Tom gratefully accepts; eventually becoming the chief of security at Krakoa and creating a physiological union between himself and the island.[13] When Sammy Paré is set to be resurrected by the Five, Juggernaut considers having Tom witness his resurrection, but cannot bring himself to do so and goes in his place.[14]

Powers and abilities

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Originally, Black Tom Cassidy was a mutant with the ability to generate concussive blasts of force and heat. He typically carried a shillelagh, a wooden fighting stick, which he used as a focus for his power. He is immune to Banshee's sonic powers, as their powers cancel each other out on contact.

Cassidy later becomes a humanoid plant capable of assimilating other plants, creating plant clones of himself and others, and controlling others via his tendrils.[8][9][15][16][17]

During the Krakoan Age, Cassidy becomes connected to Krakoa and gains the ability to manipulate its land and foliage.[13]

Other versions

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An alternate universe variant of "Black Tom" Cassidy called "Blackie" Cassidy appears in X-Men Noir #1. This version is a drug dealer with ties to the Brotherhood, a secret society of corrupt police officers and detectives.[18]

In other media

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References

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  1. ^ Misiroglu, Gina Renée; Eury, Michael (2006). The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9780780809772.
  2. ^ Spider-Woman #37-38. Marvel Comics.
  3. ^ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
  4. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  5. ^ X-Men #99 (June 1976)
  6. ^ Uncanny X-Men #148 (August 1981)
  7. ^ Spider-Woman #38 (June 1981)
  8. ^ a b Deadpool (vol. 2) #3 (March 1997)
  9. ^ a b X-Men (vol. 2) #161 (November 2004)
  10. ^ X-Men (vol. 2) #162 (November 2004)
  11. ^ New Excalibur #7 (July 2006)
  12. ^ House of X #4 (October 2019)
  13. ^ a b X-Force (vol. 6) #1 (November 2019)
  14. ^ X-Men Unlimited #105 (September 2023)
  15. ^ Generation X #1 (November 1994)
  16. ^ Generation X #25 (March 1997)
  17. ^ Uncanny X-Men #411 (October 2002)
  18. ^ X-Men Noir #1 (December 2008)
  19. ^ Faierman, Leo (May 17, 2018). "Deadpool 2 Almost Had More Mutants Using A Lot More Mutant Powers". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
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