MYSTERIOUS FAN BOYMYSTERIOUS FAN BOY
Real Name: Arthur K. Lundberg
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: X-Statix
member
Group Membership: X-Statix
(Anarchist/Tike
Alicar, Dead
Girl/Moonbeam, Doop, the Orphan/Guy
Smith, Phat/Billy
Bob Reilly, Venus Dee
Milo/Dee Milo, Vivisector/Myles
Alfred)
Affiliations: Mrs. Lundberg,
X-Statix;
former controller of a small town that included Bud Corby,
Nathan
Malloy and others
Enemies: Mr. Clancy,
Lacuna
(Woodstock Schumaker), Mr. Mullen,
O-Force (Obituary/Milton
Petersen, Ocean,
Ocelot,
Ooze,
Orbit,
Overkill),
the
Orphan (Guy Smith), Razorhead;
formerly X-Statix
Known Relatives: Mrs. Lundberg
(mother)
Aliases: "Arnie," "Freak," Arnie Lunt (see comments)
Base of Operations: X-Statix Tower, Santa
Monica, California, USA;
formerly a small town in Minnesota, USA
First Appearance: X-Statix I#1 (September,
2002)
Powers/Abilities: The Mysterious Fan Boy was a
mutant who could bend reality at will, allowing for the restructuring
of matter, both organic and inorganic, and the teleportation of objects
or even beings. His reality-bending powers also allowed him to raise
and animate corpses and project mental images and sounds.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blonde
History: (X-Statix I#1 (fb)) -
Arnie Lundberg was a mutant who was born with a deformed right side of
his head.
(X-Statix I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Arnie was a fan of speed
metal music.
(X-Statix I#1 (fb)) - Arnie was later severely beaten
by a group of teenagers in his small Minnesota town due to his
deformity and hospitalized. X-Force's U-Go Girl
(Arnie's favorite X-Force member) recorded a special message for the
injured Arnie and the message was played as Arnie lay comatose days
later.
(X-Statix I#3 (fb)) - The recorded voice of U-Go Girl
helped stir Arnie out of his inert state and he was photographed for
the local newspaper holding a photo of U-Go Girl. Interviewed for the
newspaper, Arnie told the media that U-Go Girl was his favorite X-Force
member and how he someday hoped to meet her in person.
(X-Statix I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Upon reviving completely, Arnie kept the recorded message.
(X-Statix I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Arnie used his mutant
mental powers to take control of his entire town, killing anyone who
stepped out of line.
(X-Statix I#1) - Claiming to be the biggest
X-Force/X-Statix fan in the world, especially of U-Go Girl, Arnie
blamed the Orphan for killing his favorite member and projected images
of U-Go Girl as he mused about her recent death. His mother soon
interrupted his thoughts to tell him she had made his favorite food but
Arnie demanded she tell him what his favorite food was. Terrified, his
mother claimed she had forgotten and Arnie responded by asking his
mother how she knew it was his favorite if she didn't even know his
favorite food. Mrs. Lundberg weakly muttered that she had made his fish
pie and Arnie happily proclaimed fish pie his favorite food and
remarked that he would be right down after turning off the projector.
Not seeing a physical projector in the room, Mrs. Lundberg asked what
projector Arnie was talking about but a silent stare from Arnie
prompted Mrs. Lundberg to ask Arnie to run down for dinner while she
"turned off the projector." Later, Arnie secretly and subtlely began
beaming images of U-Go Girl into the Orphan's mind in hopes of
provoking the Orphan to attack him, causing the Orphan to see U-Go Girl
in a video he was watching about possible new X-Statix recruit, Venus
Dee Milo. Unsure what was going on, the Orphan thought U-Go Girl, whom
he had loved, was somehow torturing him from beyond the grave. As the
day progressed, Arnie killed town local Mr. Mullen for talking to a
tourist and that evening, Arnie watched the latest episode of O-Force's
reality show and began to fill like X-Statix was only seeing him as a
blip on a sales sheet. Deciding to make himself feel better by
listening to the recorded message U-Go Girl had once left him, Arnie
recalled hearing U-Go Girl's voice during his prior coma. While Arnie
thought about his intentions to make his town reflect the hard life he
had been forced to lead, the Orphan met with Venus Dee Milo and
admitted suspicions that he might be going insane, seeing U-Go Girl in
random places and hearing her voice calling him "Arnie."
(X-Statix I#2 (fb) - BTS) - X-Statix team owner Spike
Freeman used a police contact to reach out to O-Force agent Solomon
O'Sullivan and nudge him in the direction of Arnie Lundberg in terms of
missions. When Arnie's music teacher picked on him for appearing
different, Arnie used his powers to affect the teacher's inner ear and
vocal chords so the teacher would be tone deaf and unable to sing.
Despite the teacher's apology, Arnie continued to take his anger out on
the teacher.
(X-Statix I#2) - While the man working for Spike
Freeman informed Solomon O'Sullivan of Arnie's actions in his small
town, Arnie himself was re-arranging the skeletal structure of his
music teacher's hands, prompting a light scolding from his mother. In
response, Arnie suggested using his powers on his mother and accused
her on previously wishing he looked normal but Mrs. Lundberg insisted
she had always loved him. Arnie then hugged his mother, remarked that
he was only kidding and asked that she not interfere so much, claiming
he was no longer a little kid. The teacher then asked about his hands
and Arnie told the teacher to see him the following day in his office
to discuss the teacher's recent behavior. He then nonchalantly walked
away, greeting the transformed Mr. Clancy as he passed. Arnie then
sensed a spy helicopter flying above and figured X-Statix would be
arriving to attack him soon, much as he planned. He then continued on
his way, wondering when X-Statix would arrive, and passing a woman he
had transformed into a Dalmatian. A short time later, Arnie made the
Orphan see his teammate Dead Girl as U-Go Girl during a battle.
Later that evening, X-Statix team owner Spike Freeman showed X-Statix the latest episode of O-Force's television show, in which they were to liberate Arnie's Minnesota town. Recognizing the name Arnie as what his visions of U-Go Girl were calling him, the Orphan admitted the information to Venus Dee Milo moments before lawyer Sharon Ginsberg arrived to legally prevent Venus from taking action with X-Statix.
(X-Statix I#3) - X-Statix argued amongst themselves
and the Orphan suggested the team band together to get the Arnie
situation worked out. Spike Freeman gave some of the X-Statix members a
brief run-down of Arnie's reign of terror in his Minnesota town and the
Orphan admitted his suspicions that Arnie had been beaming images of
U-Go Girl into his head. Vivisector reacted with sarcasm but the Orphan
insisted Arnie was dangerous and X-Statix should do something about it
but Freeman reminded the Orphan that he had already pushed that mission
towards Solomon
O'Sullivan's O-Force in hopes that they'd receive negative
publicity for beating up a kid. As X-Statix seemingly fell apart as the
individual members wanted to do their own things, Solomon O'Sullivan
briefed O-Force on their upcoming mission against Arnie, where he
warned the team against killing Arnie on camera. The briefing was
interrupted by the Orphan, who warned the mission would be highly
dangerous based on his long-range experience with Arnie's powers. As
O-Force refused to heed the Orphan's warnings, Arnie himself blew up a
school after giving the inhabitants a ten minute warning because there
was nothing on television and he was bored with games. Preparing for an
attack, Arnie then raised the corpses in a local graveyard to act as
his troops as O-Force publicly announced their plans to attack Arnie.
Arnie soon unleashed his army of the dead to attack the O-Force
superteam. When the Orphan researched Arnie and learned of his
obsession with U-Go Girl, the Orphan realized that Arnie had been
beaming the images into his mind in an effort to lure the Orphan to him
for judgment over U-Go Girl's death. Arnie's army of the dead quickly
took out O-Force and the Orphan ultimately dropped into Arnie's
Minnesota town, just as Arnie had planned, and Arnie himself smiled at
the Orphan's arrival.
(X-Statix I#4) - As the Orphan rescued
O-Force's Ocean and stores such as Wildtime
Records, Milligan's
Pens and T-Mart
burned, Arnie beamed an image of U-Go Girl in front of the Orphan, who
ran upon realizing it was an illusion. Arriving at Arnie's home, the
Orphan was informed by Mrs. Lundberg that Arnie was not to be disturbed
but the Orphan nonetheless busted into Arnie's room and ordered him to
stop his assault, as people were getting hurt.
(X-Statix I#5 (fb) - BTS) - The Orphan
immediately sensed a hole in Arnie's heart caused by a malformed left
ventricle.
(X-Statix I#4) - Arnie replied that he was hurting in
there before assuring his mother he could handle the situation and
sending the Orphan flying out a window and into the undead army. The
Orphan was saved by the late arriving X-Statix and the Orphan soon
returned to confront Arnie once more. Finding Arnie longingly looking
at his photo of U-Go Girl, the Orphan discussed with Arnie what it was
like to know U-Go Girl. When the Orphan mentioned U-Go Girl being
difficult, Arnie suggested the Orphan didn't really like U-Go Girl and
the Orphan responded by exclaiming his love for U-Go Girl while calling
Arnie a freak. Arnie claimed the Orphan did not love her as much as he
did and the Orphan reminded Arnie that he had never even met U-Go Girl.
Arnie then warned the Orphan not to call him a freak and when the
Orphan replied by calling Arnie a freak three times in short
succession, Arnie used his powers to peel the Orphan's back. Arnie then
decided to let the Orphan live since he was the leader of his favorite
team but an angry Orphan grabbed Arnie by the neck and threatened to
kill him. The two exchanged words while the Orphan continued to hold
Arnie up by his neck. The two were soon interrupted by Mrs. Lundberg,
who had brought them cookies. Arnie berated his mother, exclaiming that
the two were in the middle of deciding whether to kill each other, and
when Mrs. Lundberg asked why they would do something so silly, the
Orphan agreed and released Arnie. Feeling as if Arnie deserved another
chance, the Orphan convinced Arnie to turn his powers to healing the
mess he had caused in his town.
(X-Statix I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Despite Arnie's best
efforts, two deaths were caused by his actions and quite a bit of
trauma.
(X-Statix I#4) - Hours later, the Orphan readied Arnie to visit Professor X and admitted that they would have to tell the media he had died to keep law enforcement from pursuing Arnie. Arnie, however, had another idea and warned that the Orphan would not want to make him mad be refusing. A short time later, the Orphan returned to X-Statix and nominated Arnie for X-Statix membership.
(X-Statix I#5) - The Orphan held an X-Statix meeting
in the stall of one of the team's bathrooms so they could discuss
Arnie's X-Statix membership while Doop emitted a short-range pulse to
disrupt Arnie's senses. Spike Freeman refused to allow Arnie to join
X-Statix but the Orphan insisted that Arnie was unstable and the only
way they could keep an eye on him was as a member of X-Statix. When
Freeman suggested the media make a fiasco out of the team recruiting a
murderer, the Orphan came up with the idea to disguise Arnie as the
Mysterious Fan Boy, complete with a green costume and mask that
concealed his identity. X-Statix soon after announced the Mysterious
Fan Boy as their newest member, drawing the suspicions of their ally,
Lacuna, who could move between seconds of time. Mysterious Fan Boy was
immediately loved by the media but when Vivisector remarked that the
media actually hated them and waited for them to fall, Arnie grew
annoyed, claiming that it wasn't what he wanted the team to be.
Announcing X-Statix to be a big disappointment and that perhaps the
media's stories of the team being spoiled and ego-driven were true,
Arnie used his powers to close the team members' throats before the
Orphan suggested they all go out for lunch. After discussing how to
handle Arnie in the bathroom stall, X-Statix took the Mysterious Fan
Boy to the
Chimpanzee's Tea Party, a trendy upscale restaurant where they
witnessed Julia
Roberts arguing over her check. While there, the team was visited
by Lacuna, who invited the Mysterious Fan Boy to appear on her show, Lacuna and the Stars, an offer
Arnie accepted, but the Orphan refused to allow it and ordered Venus
Dee Milo to teleport the team away. Deciding to go behind X-Statix's
backs, Lacuna later traveled to their headquarters and publicly
unmasked the Mysterious Fan Boy, revealing his identity to the public.
A media backlash ensued and an angry Mysterious Fan Boy destroyed one
of X-Statix's television sets after watching a news report on his
unmasking. Arnie then suggested a mission where he could prove to the
public that he was using his powers for good and the Orphan agreed. The
Orphan then visited Lacuna and recruited her help to take down Arnie as
payback for her unmasking of him. Lacuna expressed a dislike for being
forced to assist in Arnie's death but agreed, feeling as if her hand
was forced.
Not long after, X-Statix was called in to stop the
indestructible Razorhead, a mutant criminal who had recently escaped
prison. Unaware of Lacuna's presence, the Mysterious Fan Boy was
injected with a chemical by Lacuna that would induce a heart attack.
Admitting he didn't feel well, the Mysterious Fan Boy nonetheless
joined the team on the mission. When Razorhead showed up and easily
tore through X-Statix, the Mysterious Fan Boy used his powers to blow
away half of Razorhead's body before collapsing. Growing weak, the
Mysterious Fan Boy revealed to X-Statix a heart condition and how his
powers never worked to fix his heart or face. As Arnie then died, the
Orphan promised to tell the world that X-Statix was saved by the
Mysterious Fan Boy. X-Statix later visited the funeral home, where Mrs.
Lundberg thanked the Orphan for coming and the Orphan admitted that the
team would attend the funeral but their presence would only incite a
media circus. As Mrs. Lundberg informed the Orphan of Arnie's heart
condition, the Orphan thought to himself how he had known about it from
their first meeting and how he had hoped Arnie's heart would explode
before he did any real harm. Despite his thoughts, the Orphan
nonetheless hugged Mrs. Lundberg, who thanked him for allowing Arnie
onto X-Statix. A television special later aired entitled The Mysterious Fan Boy Funeral Special and
while the rest of X-Statix watched it, the Orphan met with Lacuna and
the two argued over Lacuna's forced role in Arnie's death.
Comments: Created by Peter Milligan and Michael Allred.
Arnie was mistakenly called "Arnie Lunt" throughout X-Statix I#2.
As a bit of an in-joke, the names on the gravestones (Terwilliger, Wiggum, Syzlak, Burns, Simpson, Smithers, Flanders) in the cemetery when Arnie raises the dead are all named after the last names of characters on The Simpsons television series.
The store Milligan's Pens was obviously named after X-Statix writer Peter Milligan and the fact that it was a pen store was a nod to Milligan's status as writer.
The dates at Arnie's visitation were 1988-2002 but those dates are topical due to Marvel's sliding time scale.
The Mysterious Fan Boy received a profile in Marvel
Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men (2003).
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Mysterious Fan Boy has no known connections to:
The Chimpanzee's Tea Party was a trendy California restaurant often frequented by celebrities. X-Statix took the Mysterious Fan Boy there for lunch one day and they witnessed Julia Roberts arguing over the cost of her check. When Lacuna showed up and invited the Mysterious Fan Boy on her television show, the Orphan angrily refused and ordered Venus Dee Milo to teleport them out of the restaurant.
-X-Statix I#4
Mr. Clancy was a man who lived in the town being controlled by Arnie Lundberg. Arnie had transformed his face, so that Clancy only had one eye and no mouth. After Arnie had transformed his music teacher's hands, he said "good afternoon" to Mr. Clancy, to which Clancy replied with a terrified "mphhh!"
It is unrevealed whether or not Arnie returned Mr. Clancy to normal when he fixed everything else in his town before joining X-Statix.
-X-Statix I#2
Mrs. Lundberg was the mother of Arnie Lundberg. After Arnie awakened from his coma and his powers manifested, she somewhat treated him with a terrified, forced love. A few days before his battle with X-Statix, she cooked him fish pie, his favorite. Later, when Arnie rearranged the molecular structure of his music teacher's hands, Mrs. Lundberg lightly scolded Arnie. Once the Orphan arrived in town and busted into Arnie's home, Mrs. Lundberg arrived in Arnie's room and offered both the Orphan and Arnie some cookies. This act of kindness prompted the Orphan not to kill Arnie and have Arnie join X-Statix. After Arnie's death on a mission with X-Statix, the Orphan showed up at his visitation, where he comforted Mrs. Lundberg.
-- X-Statix I#1 (#3 (fb), 1, 2, 4, 5,
Nathan Malloy was born in 1888 and died in 1911. Bud Corby was born in 1932 and died in 1973. Both were resurrected by Arnie to battle the Orphan. The Orphan shoved his hand through Nathan's skull, effectively stopping him and Bud's head was vaporized by the arrival of Venus Dee Milo and other members of X-Statix.
-X-Statix I#4
Mr. Clancy was a man who lived in the town being controlled by Arnie Lundberg. When Mr. Mullen tried to talk to a tourist, Arnie willed Mr. Mullen's death and Mullen's corpse was later seen being taken away by ambulance.
-- X-Statix I#1
Julia Roberts was a famed actress. When X-Statix took the Mysterious Fan Boy to the Chimpanzee's Tea Party restaurant for lunch, the Mysterious Fan Boy was surprised to see Julia Roberts attempting to haggle over her check.
This was obviously the
Earth-616 version of the real-life famous actress Julia Roberts, known
for her roles in "Pretty Woman," "Steel Magnolias," "Erin Brockovich,"
"Runaway Bride," "My Best Friend's Wedding" and many, many more.
-- X-Statix I#4
Wildtime Records, Milligan's Pens
& T-Mart
Wildtime Records, Milligan's Pens and T-Mart were all stores in the Minnesota town controlled by Arnie Lundberg. During Arnie's battle with O-Force, these three stores were set ablaze like much of the area around them.
-- X-Statix I#4
images: (without ads)
X-Statix I#5, p16, pan5 (Mysterious Fan Boy, main image)
X-Statix I#1, p3, pan6 (Mysterious Fan Boy, unmasked headshot in
civilian clothes)
X-Statix I#4, p17, pan7 (Arnie in camo & war paint)
X-Statix I#5, p16, pan4 (Mysterious Fan Boy using powers)
X-Statix I#5, p17, pan5 (Mysterious Fan Boy's death)
Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 2: X-Men, p188, Mysterious Fan Boy entry (Mysterious Fan Boy unmasked in costume)
X-Statix I#5, p7, pan1 (Chimpanzee's Tea Party & Julia Roberts)
X-Statix I#2, p4, pan4 (Mr. Clancy)
X-Statix I#4, p8, pan4 (Nathan Malloy & Bud Corby)
X-Statix I#4, p16, pan3 (Mrs. Lundberg)
X-Statix I#1, p20, pan5 (Mr. Mullen)
X-Statix I#4, p1, pan1 (Wildtime Records, Milligan's Pens & T-Mart)
Appearances:
X-Statix I#1 (September, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael
Allred (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#2 (October, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred
(art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#3 (November, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred
(art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#4 (December, 2002) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred
(art), Axel Alonso (editor)
X-Statix I#5 (January, 2003) - Peter Milligan (writer), Paul Pope
(art), Axel Alonso (editor)
First Posted: 11/26/2003
Last updated: 02/08/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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