Am I the only one who really, really likes Frenzy? I've seen a lot of people commenting that she's the most annoying character in X-Men: Legacy, but I personally couldn't disagree more. While Gambit and Rogue generally rank as my favourite and second favourite X-Men characters of all time, I actually prefer Frenzy to the both of them when it comes to XML. I'm really liking the way Carey has written her after promoting her from a second-rate villain into a hero and a prominent cast member of the title. I also love the cool and chic look she got after Age of X.

To me, Frenzy really the saving grace of XML. She has the best lines, and I love her pragmatic, straightfoward, hit-'em-where-it-hurts-the-most attitude. In my opinion, she often acts as the (very cynical) voice of truth and reason in a series where all the other characters are acting crazy, stupid, or just out of character. I also love it how all her emotional states range between ANGRY and MILDLY DISPLEASED, and that she tries to solve all of her problems by punching something. I was sketching pictures of her in my notebook the other day and made the hilarious discovery that sketches of Frenzy don't look like Frenzy unless she's drawn with angry eyes. That really sums up why I like her so much. I have a fondness for shamelessly mean & perpetually angry characters like her.

Frenzy isn't all about being violent and ill-tempered, though. She's also endearingly honest to everyone, including herself. Right now, she's been serving as the comic relief who isn't afraid to tell it how it is. I think that at this stage of her character developement, the role of the incredibly mean yet funny sidekick suits her just fine, though I'm hoping that she'll eventually become more than just that. I don't expect much from her unrequited love for Cyclops, but her self-reflection following the AoX arc and the way she yearned for the life she had in a faux, dystopic reality have already added so much depth to her. She realized that she liked the person she was in a nightmarish false reality much more than the person she was in the real world, and now she strives to change herself to become more like her AoX self. I'm hoping that this dilemma of hers is going to be the driving force behind some major character developement in the future. Right now, she's a fun side character who kicks a lot of ass and spices & stirs up the team she's in with her snide, unapologetically straightforward remarks, but I think that she has the potential to become a deep, complex, truly fascinating heroine as well.

Frenzy's cool, and does offer a break between the whole rogue/gambit/magneto fiasco. I'm interested to see what class they are going to be having her teach at the school.

I do really like what Mike Carey has done with her, and I'm interested to see if Christos Gage can keep that tone with her... The troubled wannabe hero who tries not to lapse back into villainy.

She seriously rubbed me the wrong way for a long time. I'm still not her biggest fan, but she's growing on me...like mold, or an infection, or something as equally clever. And I love the depth that they're finally starting to give her.

It is funny how Cyclops granted her a presidential style pardon for all of her crimes. She murdered Sharon Friedlander, long-standing ally of the X-Men & New Mutants... but because she slept with Cyclops in a warped version of reality, alli s forgiven ;)

@xerox_kitty said:

It is funny how Cyclops granted her a presidential style pardon for all of her crimes. She murdered Sharon Friedlander, long-standing ally of the X-Men & New Mutants... but because she slept with Cyclops in a warped version of reality, alli s forgiven ;)

That's the Scott Summers way. He's down with reformed villains. Just look at his new team!

Loving Frenzy! Huge fan and hope that Gage focuses on her a bit more when he takes over as there's a lot of potential here. Would be a shame for here to fade into the background again or revert to villianous type.

Huge Frenzy fan and especially with what Carey has done with her. Actually not sure who is specifically responsible for her new visual look either, but even that. Demonstrates the power of what a change of threads can do with helping a character get a new lease on life. Great thread and points! 

@MyraMyraMyra said:

@xerox_kitty said:

It is funny how Cyclops granted her a presidential style pardon for all of her crimes. She murdered Sharon Friedlander, long-standing ally of the X-Men & New Mutants... but because she slept with Cyclops in a warped version of reality, alli s forgiven ;)

That's the Scott Summers way. He's down with reformed villains. Just look at his new team!

I'm not sure I want to know what favours Magneto & Namor had to perform...! ;)

@SC said:

Actually not sure who is specifically responsible for her new visual look either, but even that.

Clay Mann did the Age of X designs, so I guess he deserves the credit?

@MyraMyraMyra said:

@xerox_kitty said:

It is funny how Cyclops granted her a presidential style pardon for all of her crimes. She murdered Sharon Friedlander, long-standing ally of the X-Men & New Mutants... but because she slept with Cyclops in a warped version of reality, alli s forgiven ;)

That's the Scott Summers way. He's down with reformed villains. Just look at his new team!

Just look at his girlfriend :P

@The Dark Huntress said:

Just look at his girlfriend :P

I still wish there had been a scrap between Frenzy & Emma.... thing is, I'd probably have been cheering for Frenzy, since I liked her relationship with Basilisk.

@xerox_kitty said:

@The Dark Huntress said:

Just look at his girlfriend :P

I still wish there had been a scrap between Frenzy & Emma.... thing is, I'd probably have been cheering for Frenzy, since I liked her relationship with Basilisk.

I would have loved to see that. At the same time, though, I'm proud of Emma for not making it into a huge melodrama as is her nature.

And I actually really enjoyed the Basilisk/Frenzy relationship, I just don't ship them in 616.

@The Dark Huntress: Oh no, I don't "ship" them. In fact, Frenzy can do SOOOO much better than Cyclops. Basilisk was a very different person, and just right for her... such a shame he was a make-believe man.

@xerox_kitty: I preferred Basilisk to Cyclops, as well. I also seriously loved the way that Cannonball was utilized. It showed so much potential.

@The Dark Huntress: Agreed (about Scott & Sam... although it left Sam a bit of an emo).

Just to add to the Frenzy Appreciation nature of this thread... so awesome Age of X action :)

I liked her relationship with Basilisk in the AoX universe, too, but I'm not rooting for a Cyclops/Frenzy romance (not that I believe that there's any real chance of that happening in the 616 universe). She can do much better, and it's not Cyclops who she loves anyways - it's Basilisk, who technically doesn't even exist.

Still, I do think that her love for "Cyclops" is kind of interesting because it's so obviously doomed to be one-sided. She usually makes such a spectacle out of not giving a damn about anyone (except Magneto when he was still cool), and yet she's hopelessly hung up on someone she can't have. She seems to recognize the fact that he doesn't really love her, but at the same time she's holding on to the illusion of who they were in the fabricated AoX reality because she misses what she had back then, even if it wasn't for real. I think this adds a bittersweet touch to the character, which intriguingly clashes with her otherwise misanthropic personality. That's why I think Scott ignoring her might be much more interesting than having him respond to her feelings.

I like her more in AOX than in 616. I think her power that has to do with her being so abrasive and forward too.

@MyraMyraMyra: Frenzy has always been one of my favorites just because she didn't have "because the plot says so" superhuman strength to me. It always LOOKED like she could lift a lot and I got the feeling that she only lost fights because she underestimated her opponents or overestimated herself. aside frrom that the only problem I had with her was the fact that she tred too hard to live up to her name! Even brawny characters can be more than just bloodthirsty violence-junkies, even if that is exactly what they are!