- Name: Marshal Evan Stone III
- Code Names: Random
- First Appearance: X-Factor #88 (Mar ’93)
- Powers: Protoplasmic Form
- Teams Affiliation: X-Factor, The Acolytes, The Utopians
About
Back when I talked about Fantomex, I talked about the “cool character”. Someone who seems hand-crafted by a committee to tick every box that a twelve-year-old boy might think is neat. We are talking motorcycles, we are talking bad attitudes, and of course, we are talking about big old guns. Even if every part of your body is creaming about how uncool something is, you see a bandana and a “mom” tattoo and, BAM! You think you have seen a cool dude. The 90s were chock full of characters like this, and few tried harder to look cool than Random.
Marshal Evan Stone III was a regular kid in New York some nebulous time in the past. His body began to change and he soon found himself in a loose sense of control of this now-protoplasmic form. He could change and mutate his body into whatever random form he wanted. He chose to be a stereotypical biker dude because he was created in 1993 and everyone just went with their first idea. He struggled to fully control this mutant power and worked with the Age of Apocalypse version of Beast, but nothing comes few and Random became indebted to the Dark Beast.
Random became a mutant bounty hunter, just being a cool dude for hire. It was here that he first ran across the government-sponsored X-Factor. He was hired to deal with some Genoshian refugees, but X-Factor got there first. A big ol’ superhero fight looked like it was about to happen but Havok had a different idea. With the full backing of the tax-paying American public, X-Factor simply cut Random a check and told him to be on his way.
Assumedly because accounting got curious about the $4k expense Havok was trying to claim on his T&E form, Random got on the government’s radar. A rogue government agency, possibly being run by the evil choker necklace, hired Random to burn one of their own agents. Random attacked Polaris, but he wasn’t thrilled about the choice. He realized that Polaris wasn’t the worst, she actually treated him like a human. Still, she beat Random repeatedly with his own car and got away. He was surprisingly cool about the whole situation.
Feeling a deep attraction to Polaris, Random offered his services to X-Factor, as well as a lead on who tried to assassinate Polaris. Their leader, Forge, took him up for the low, low price of $15k and a new car. He stayed on the help the team battle Haven but soon realized that the government life wasn’t for him. He developed a rivalry with Strong Guy, and Havok felt like this was all a plot to steal Polaris from him. Random left the group, but something dark was underway.
It soon became clear just how indebted to Dark Beast Random was. Dark Beast was helping Random keep control and not turn into a puddle of protoplasmic goo. In return, Random would be his agent for whatever nefarious ends he had. In truth, Marshal Even Stone III was little more than a confused young man. His powers had overwhelmed him and Dark Beast was the only one he could turn to. Beast was the one to encourage him to be the biker stereotype that he was, but Random saw no way out of his predicament.
Again, Beast asked Random to infiltrate X-Factor and Marshal was torn. In his short and tumultuous, time with the team they became the closest thing Random ever had to a family. Beast offered something very tempting, capture Havok and leave Polaris single. Random complied, maybe just to spend a bit more time with Lorna, but the plan backfired. Havok was captured and brainwashed, sure, but when she learned about the deception, Lorna turned her back on Random for good.
Random jumped around from group to group after that. He joined Exodus for a hot second before relocating to the mutant haven of Genosha. He was captured by Weapon X and sent to one of their concentration camps and later joined the 198 remaining mutants after M-Day. He rejoined Exodus during the Messiah CompleX but was convinced to move with the rest of the mutant nation to Utopia. After jumping from group to group, he just wanted some stability and stayed on Utopia after its’ destruction. He joined the mutant of New Tian during the Hydra takeover of the US but has stayed on the sidelines since.
Must Read
I’m not 100% convinced that any comic Random has been in is any good but some are at least fun. X-Factor #95 Has Polaris and Random duke it out in a very entertaining manner. The art by Greg Luzniak sells the carnage and does some interesting things with Random’s morphing abilities. It is the best balance of the dumb, but kinda fun original pitch of the character with just a hint of depth.
Ranking
Of all the hyper 90s characters, Random sure is one of them. He is dull in almost every appearance and the attempts to give him some depth fall flat. He has just become a stock bad guy for artists who want something fun to draw. He is worse than guys like Adam-X or Exodus but probably better than Vulcan. He is better than The Children of the Vault but I gotta say, I like Squid-Boy better. That makes Random the new number 103 in the Xavier Files.
Random and requested by Patreon supporter Gabe Fabricant. Thank you for your support! If you have a request for how about you send it below? If you want to cut to the front of the two-year long line, we have a Patreon you can support Xavier Files for just $1 to get a line cutting reward.
Make sure you check out my podcast BATTLE OF THE ATOM. It’s where Bish & Jubez creator Adam Reck and I talk about every single X-Men story that ever existed and rank them from best to worst. Episode 35 is up and we talk about some interesting recent X-Men adventures. Make sure you subscribe to any of the following platforms (or others, I’m not picky) Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS.
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Next week I pay some Penance! See you then!
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
