First Appearance:
Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (September, 2019)
THE
A
Real Name: Mike Alicar
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Rapper, sneaker designer, X-Statix
member;
former independent adventurer
Group Membership: X-Statix (Dead Girl/Moonbeam, Doop, Gone Gal/Katie Sawyer, Rosa Lemper, Mister Sensitive/Guy Smith, Phatty, Pood, Venus Dee Milo/Dee Milo, Vivisector/Myles Alfred)
Affiliations: Beak (Barnell Bohusk), Marsha Davies, Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Girl Joe, Hellcat (Patsy Walker), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Mr. Royal, Speedball (Robbie Baldwin), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Wonder Man (Simon Williams), X-Statix
Enemies: X-Cellent (Hurt John, Mirror
Girl/Jenny Spiegel, Stripe, Toodle
Pip/Artemis Boleyn, Uno, Zeitgeist/Axel
Cluney)
Known Relatives: Tike
Alicar (Anarchist, father, deceased), Marsha
Davies (mother)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: X-Statix Mansion, Bel Air, California, USA
First Appearance:
Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (September, 2019)
Powers/Abilities: Much like his father, the A has the mutant ability to exude acidic sweat, which he can project outward with varying degrees of force for various effects. When applying minimal or lesser force, he can project the acid outward in the form of droplets that slowly dissolve matter on impact but if he applies more force, he is capable of projecting the acidic sweat outward like sustained energy blasts.
As a member of X-Statix, the A wears a
full-length Dooplex bodysuit that adds to his durability and can
withstand some typically mortally-wounding or deadly attacks without any
actual damage to himself.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 175 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark brown with orange streaks
History:
(Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (fb) - BTS) - Tike Alicar, better
known as the celebrity mutant Anarchist, secretly settled down with his
high school sweetheart Marsha Davies and together they had a son, Mike.
(Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (fb)) - While Mike was still an
infant, his father Tike divided his time between Marsha and the mutant
group X-Statix, where he put up a womanizing front in an effort to
protect his family. After the Anarchist's death, Marsha raised Mike
alone and Mike displayed an inheritance of his father's mutant abilities
at an early age when Mike projected acidic sweat at an overzealous
police officer during a traffic stop. By age seventeen, Mike had cleared
a violent drug gang out of his neighborhood using his superhuman powers.
(The X-Cellent I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Mike developed a hatred
for his father due to the Anarchist never being there for him growing up
and he began to believe that the Anarchist kept his mother a secret in
an effort to protect nothing more than his public image.
(Giant-Size X-Statix #1 (fb)) - The angry but also
brilliant Mike became determined to be every bit as famous as his
celebrity father, eventually taking on the codename of simply "the A"
and following in his father's footsteps as a hero. The quick-tempered A
took down a group of criminals and a portion of the mission was filmed.
His growing celebrity status soon earned him a record deal with Bad Rap
Records and he was allowed to design a new line of sneakers.
(Giant-Size X-Statix#1) - When some of the surviving
former X-Statix members sought to reactive the group, they watched
footage of the A in action and thought he would be perfect for X-Statix,
given his growing fame and lucrative endorsement deals. Claiming that
the A was no Anarchist, X-Statix team leader Mister Sensitive
nonetheless found the A's show reel impressive and the A was soon
invited to join the reactivated X-Statix team. Despite his agent warning
him about getting mixed up with X-Statix, the A agreed to join the team.
For his first mission, the A accompanied the rest of X-Statix to the
headquarters of the new celebrity mutant group, the X-Cellent, where
they found Katie Jones, daughter of her former X-Force member U-Go
Girl, being held hostage by the long-thought-deceased X-Force
leader Zeitgeist. As X-Statix entered the building, Mister Sensitive
noted that the A used a bit too much acidic sweat on the wall and the A
responded by claiming he wasn't taking lessons from the "old man" Mister
Sensitive. During the battle, the A fought against X-Cellent member Hurt
John until Zeitgeist unleashed Uno against X-Statix. Mister Sensitive
then ordered Mike (mistakenly calling him Tike) to project some acidic
sweat into the air to provide some cover. When the A became annoyed that
Mister Sensitive was confusing two different black men, Mister Sensitive
remarked that Mike was just as touchy as his father had been. While the
rest of X-Statix tried to get Katie Jones to use her inherited
teleportational powers to get them out of there, Zeitgeist projected a
blast of his acidic vomit that dissolved one of the A's arms, prompting
the A to beg Katie to get it together. Katie eventually managed to
overcome her fears enough to teleport X-Statix into the graveyard where
her mother was buried. Once safely away from the X-Cellent, Mister
Sensitive assured the A that Doop would get him fixed up with a
prosthetic arm that would be better than new.
(The X-Cellent I#1) - The A, now outfitted with a
cybernetic arm to replace his lost one, joined X-Statix as they reshot
some footage of their battle against the X-Cellent for their X-Statix
TV show under the direction of Mr. Royal. During the shoot, the
A pulled Vivisector back and exclaimed that Vivisector was never in
front of him during the actual battle. After Mister Sensitive ad-libbed
a line and Phatty also asked to have her butt look bigger in the
reshoots, Mr. Royal called cut on the shoot and complained about the
group's ad-libs. Royal spoke with the A to remind him of his correct
lines but the A insisted that Vivisector had hid behind him in the
actual battle. When Vivisector playfully accused the A of being
insecure, the A threatened the "werewolf," prompting Vivisector to point
out that while werewolves suffered from uncontrollable lycanthropy, he
had free will in regards to his transformations. Royal interrupted to
ask the A and the rest of X-Statix to try to stick to their lines as
written before bringing in Katie Sawyer to film footage of her joining
X-Statix. Katie suggested her joining the team should be in a different
episode and questioned why X-Statix was reshooting Doop's footage in the
first place. When Royal explained how footage of the non-modified
reality didn't cut it with the broader, younger market, the A complained
that reality wasn't real enough, at which point Royal ordered make-up to
fix up the sweating A. The A argued that his face was fine the way it
was until Mister Sensitive interrupted to inform X-Statix of a recent
social media livestream from Zeitgeist. As they watched the false online
narrative Zeitgeist was providing, the A admitted his surprise that
Zeitgeist had over a hundred million followers, monitoring it as the
number of subscribers grew despite Zeitgeist airing a fake video of
X-Statix attacking his facility.
When the X-Cellent later crashed the
premiere of the latest Thok Helmsom movie, the A and the rest of
X-Statix quickly tried to teleport there to confront the X-Cellent, only
to arrive just as the X-Cellent were making their getaway. Following a
series of more happenings featuring the X-Cellent that continued growing
their number of online followers, the A, Mister Sensitive, Dead Girl and
Doop discussed why Zeitgeist seemed to want to increase his followers so
much. When Dead Girl likened Zeitgeist's public statements to grave mud,
a confused A asked Mister Sensitive what she was talking about and,
while Mister Sensitive had equal trouble making sense of Dead Girl's
statements, he claimed to agree with her and questioned what X-Statix
could do about the situation. The A suggested breaking into the
X-Cellent's headquarters and forcing the truth out of Zeitgeist but
Mister Sensitive commented that Zeitgeist would only use the attack to
further boost his followers. When the A responded by calling Zeitgeist a
coward just like his father, Mister Sensitive grabbed the A and
exclaimed that the Anarchist was a good friend and one of the bravest
men he had known. The A argued that his father was "brave" enough to
keep his mother a dirty secret but Mister Sensitive reminded the A that
his mother was kept a secret from the public for her own protection. The
A and Mister Sensitive then nearly got into a fistfight with the A
claiming the Anarchist only cared about protecting his image and Mister
Sensitive insisting that the A didn't know the Anarchist like he had.
The A angrily responded by agreeing that he didn't know his father
because he was never there for him. The fight was soon broken up by the
arrival of the stone-manipulating Rosa Lemper, who got in between the
two X-Statix members, causing them to hit their hands on the stone wall
Rosa had erected.
After Rosa Lemper joined X-Statix,
the team learned of the crashing of a holographic Rick Ragger concert by
the X-Cellent and, following phone calls to their agents, X-Statix
teleported onto the scene. The X-Cellent immediately attacked X-Statix
and when Mister Sensitive ordered Rosa to erect a wall between the two
teams, the A angrily announced that he didn't duck a fight. Mister
Sensitive reminded the A that he didn't have to prove he was better than
his father by getting himself killed. Insisting that Rosa was the one
brought in to be killed, the A leaped over Rosa's wall, avoiding a blast
from the X-Cellent's Uno that ultimately hit Vivisector instead. As
Vivisector weakly remarked on how he'd be the first writer to win a
Pulitzer from beyond the grave, Mister Sensitive angrily blamed the
reckless A for Vivisector's injuries.
(The X-Cellent I#2 (fb)) - The A stood panicked as Mister
Sensitive ordered Katie Jones (newly codenamed Gone Gal) to teleport
them back to Bel Air. After Gone Gal was hit in the face by a blast of
Zeitgeist's fiery vomit, a television reporter tried to interview the
injured Gone Gal, only to be elbowed aside by the A. The A then
intercepted an energy blast from Uno with his own blast of acidic sweat
and dodged a retaliatory shot from Uno. Gone Gal, still reeling from her
facial injuries, eventually managed to teleport the A and the rest of
X-Statix out of the concert. As they arrived back at X-Statix Mansion,
Mister Sensitive suggested the A apologize to Vivisector for the rash
actions that had resulted in Vivisector's injury but the A refused. The
group then discussed Doop saving Vivisector's life and it came out that
Doop had saved Zeitgeist's life years ago after his supposed death.
(The X-Cellent I#3) - Following Dead Girl's spying on the
X-Cellent, she returned to X-Statix Mansion to inform the A and the rest
of the team of the X-Cellent's newest members and a new happening
Zeitgeist was planning. When the A asked if Zeitgeist had given any
details on the happening, Mister Sensitive told the A to back off, as he
was questioning Dead Girl. The A argued that they were wasting time, as
Zeitgeist now had a teleporter on his team and seemed to be planning
something big. Gone Gal agreed with the A that there was no use waiting
until the X-Cellent grew even stronger and the A thanked Gone Gal for
providing what he considered some sense. Mister Sensitive again blamed
Vivisector's injuries on the A's rash actions but Gone Gal accused
Mister Sensitive of deliberately picking on the A, who suggested Mister
Sensitive was racist. Mister Sensitive argued that the Anarchist was a
very close friend but the A responded by suggesting the Anarchist was
just Mister Sensitive's kind of black man: a sell-out. Mister Sensitive
insisted that the A's accusations were untrue and assured the entire
X-Statix that they would be going after the X-Cellent after they
enlisted a new ally to help them.
After Mister Sensitive recruited the
aid of social media influencer Girl Joe, the A and the rest of X-Statix
watched on television as the X-Cellent raided Doctor Strange's Sanctum
Sanctorum. X-Statix later discussed the X-Cellent's actions in their
pool, where the A opined that the X-Cellent's popularity was due to them
being new and modern. The still-recovering Vivisector commented that the
X-Cellent were all damaged second-raters, the A agreed and replied that
was exactly why the public related to them. As the group got out of the
pool, Girl Joe uploaded a video questioning the X-Cellent's morality and
causing the X-Cellent to lose followers. When several Zeitgeist
supporters attacked Girl Joe, Mister Sensitive prepared to have X-Statix
teleport in to rescue Girl Joe, only to find the A and Gone Gal nowhere
in sight. While Mister Sensitive called for Gone Gal, the A was meeting
with her and he informed Gone Gal that she was needed. When she
suggested X-Statix could do without her for five minutes, a smiling A
asked if Gone Gal was freaked out by his cybernetic prosthetic arm, to
which Gone Gal replied that it was cute.
(The X-Cellent I#4) - Mister Sensitive eventually located the A and Gone Gal and questioned what they were doing hiding. Gone Gal claimed she wanted privacy but Mister Sensitive argued that it wasn't possible in an emergency and commented that Gone Gal's mother, former X-Statix member U-Go Girl, would have never went AWOL like Gone Gal had. Gone Gal angrily remarked that perhaps X-Statix shouldn't have killed U-Go Girl and stormed off, leaving the A to accuse Mister Sensitive of being tactless. Mister Sensitive admitted his fault and the A asked if it were truly an emergency. Upon learning the situation was life or death, the A went after Gone Gal to comfort her. Gone Gal asked if she would always be compared to her mother and the A answered in the affirmative, noting that he would similarly always be compared to his father. He then suggested that the only way to beat those comparisons was to be every bit as good as their parents. The A eventually convinced Gone Gal to return to X-Statix and she teleported the team to Girl Joe too late. X-Statix were surprised to learn that the X-Cellent's Flush had saved Girl Joe and they returned to their headquarters.
Later that evening, after learning from
sorcerer Dr. Strange that Zeitgeist had stolen a spell from the Book of
the Vishanti, Mister Sensitive called an X-Statix team meeting. Hearing
noises emanating from a room, Mister Sensitive investigated and
discovered the A and Gone Gal making out on a couch. When Mister
Sensitive claimed the two could not pursue a relationship because it was
bad for team discipline, the A again accused Mister Sensitive of being
racist and Gone Gal reminded Mister Sensitive that he never seemed to
have a problem with Phat and Vivisector's relationship in the old days.
Insisting he was not racist, Mister Sensitive ventured to U-Go Girl's
grave and had Dead Girl summon the spirit of U-Go Girl to discuss the
matter of Gone Gal with her. Admitting he wasn't sure what to do with
Gone Gal and the A, Mister Sensitive was told to just give Gone Gal a
break since she was just a kid. The A and Gone Gal later watched Girl
Joe's story on his rescue by Fluff and when Gone Gal began blaming
herself for the mishap, Mister Sensitive reappeared and suggested Gone
Gal not be so hard on herself. Mister Sensitive then admitted that he
should cut Gone Gal some slack and suggested she and the A take an
evening off together. The A happily agreed to the offer and as he rushed
out with Gone Gal, Mister Sensitive warned that they could get hurt
while part of such a dangerous team.
(The X-Cellent I#5 (fb) - BTS) - While at a beach
together, Gone Gal told the A that she might like to see other people.
(The X-Cellent I#5) - The A questioned Gone Gal's decision and when Gone Gal suggested they just slow down a little, the A admitted that he thought they had something special. They were soon interrupted by a team summons and Gone Gal teleported them both into the X-Statix Mansion pool. When Mister Sensitive asked the A if they were ready to teleport out for their mission, the A claimed that while he was ready, Gone Gal might not be ready to commit. X-Statix subsequently teleported into a prison, where the X-Cellent were staging a breakout. Uno and Zeitgeist immediately fired on the team but Rosa Lemper protected the A and Gone Gal with her stone body as the two argued about their relationship. Rosa was soon knocked over and when Gone Gal checked on the A, he announced his plans to prove to her that she did love him. The A then ran off to confront Zeitgeist one-on-one, hurling acidic sweat into Zeitgeist's face. Mister Sensitive then ordered the rest of X-Statix to go on the offense as Zeitgeist tried to order Mirror Girl to turn her powers against the A. Mirror Girl struggled to decide on what to do, buying the A time to hit Zeitgeist directly in the eye. The X-Cellent quickly teleported away and the A later accompanied X-Statix to a signing at one of the X-Statix Stores. While there, the team learned that the X-Cellent had teleported into X-Statix Mansion and ransacked it.
(The X-Cellent II#1) - X-Statix teleported back to their
headquarters, where the A promised to sweat in Zeitgeist's other eye,
but the team found the place destroyed but empty. The A and Gone Gal
then ventured into the Mansion's kitchen area, where Gone Gal commented
that they just didn't seem right for one another. The A suggested he
could change but Gone Gal replied that he couldn't change enough. As the
two continued to discuss their differences, the A noticed one of Uno's
monstrous "children" spying on them and he destroyed the floating eye
with a blast of acidic sweat. Assuming Mister Sensitive had planted the
eye there to spy on Gone Gal and himself, the A angrily confronted
Mister Sensitive, who insisted he had never seen the eye before. Later,
after learning that Zeitgeist had stolen the Rite of Apotheosis spell
from the Book of the Vishanti, Mister Sensitive informed X-Statix and
the A insisted they attack the X-Cellent. Mister Sensitive instead how
their battle against the X-Cellent was a war of popularity and he
instead ordered the A and Gone Gal to go on the cover of L.A.
Magazine. Gone Gal tried to explain that she and the A were no
longer a couple but Mister Sensitive interrupted, having already
realized that using his powers. Despite the A and Gone Gal's refusal,
they nonetheless did as ordered and the newest issue of L.A.
Magazine featured a cover story of the two mutants' "modern
love affair."
(The X-Cellent II#2) - Despite being scheduled to appear
at a gala together to keep up appearances of being in love, the A and
Gone Gal met with Mister Sensitive minutes after they were supposed to
be at the gala and explained that they could not keep pretending to be
in love due to their actual past feelings for one another. After Mister
Sensitive expressed his confidence in them and admitted that keeping up
the appearance of being in love was more than either of their parents
could accomplish, the A and Gone Gal reluctantly agreed to continue
publicly pretending to be in love and Gone Gal teleported them both to
the gala, where they were pressured to kiss one another for the cameras.
Over the course of the gala, both the A and Gone Gal started thinking
about their kiss and they began to feel that they'd made a rash decision
in breaking up. Gone Gal then teleported the A and herself back to Santa
Monica but when the two prepared for another kiss, they were pelted with
garbage thrown by bystanders on the pier who had discovered on the
internet that the two had been recently faking their relationship. The A
and Gone Gal quickly returned to X-Statix Mansion, where they learned
that someone had been scouring the internet to uncover X-Statix's dirty
secrets. Zeitgeist soon admitted he was the one airing X-Statix's dirty
laundry and when Mister Sensitive asked if Zeitgeist expected him to beg
to not have X-Statix's secrets disclosed, Zeitgeist suggested X-Statix
attend a party of B-list celebrities. The A later accompanied X-Statix
to the gala and, as X-Statix wondered what Zeitgeist was up to while
they were stuck at the gala, the X-Cellent were destroying Times Square.
News outlets soon reported on how X-Statix was partying away at a B-list
gala despite being needed in New York.
(The X-Cellent II#3) - When the X-Cellent subsequently
began the X-Statix members' stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mister
Sensitive ordered Gone Gal to be ready to teleport X-Statix to Hollywood
to stop the X-Cellent. Some of the X-Statix members expressed concerns
that Zeitgeist would publicly reveal their dirty secrets if they
attempted to stop him, with the A admitting that he agreed with the rest
of X-Statix, having already experienced some of the public backlash from
Zeitgeist's exposure of X-Statix secrets. Mister Sensitive nonetheless
rallied the team and X-Statix soon teleported to Hollywood, where the A
participated in a battle against the X-Cellent. During the battle,
Zeitgeist posted some of X-Statix's secrets online, leading to the
civilian crowd turning against X-Statix and Gone Gal blaming Mister
Sensitive for forcing her to keeping up the appearance of a relationship
with the A.
(The X-Cellent II#4) - After X-Statix returned to their
headquarters, Mister Sensitive discussed with the rest of X-Statix Gone
Gal's blaming of him for the breakdown of her relationship with the A
and the A questioned whether or not Mister Sensitive had indeed driven a
wedge in his relationship with Gone Gal.
(The X-Cellent II#5) - Upon learning from Dead Girl that
Zeitgeist had killed the X-Cellent's teleporter Toodle Pip and that he
was becoming godlike due to the spell he stole from the Book of the
Vishanti, Mister Sensitive asked if Gone Gal could teleport X-Statix
directly into the X-Cellent's Zeit House headquarters but the A refused
to allow Mister Sensitive to send Gone Gal on what was seemingly a
suicide mission. X-Statix nonetheless soon teleported into the Zeit
House to confront Zeitgeist and the X-Cellent but they were quickly
downed by the now-godlike Zeitgeist and Uno. Rosa Lemper erected a wall
around X-Statix to buy them time to figure out their next move but
Zeitgeist easily tore down the wall, sending Rosa into a seizure. The
X-Cellent then continued their attack on X-Statix with Stripe
controlling the A's zebra print boxers into squeezing him. After
Zeitgeist killed Vivisector, he turned his attention towards the A and
the rest of X-Statix, trying to determine who to kill next and who to
keep alive to serve the X-Cellent. A mostly reformed Venus Dee Milo
interrupted Zeitgeist, saving the A and the rest of X-Statix by
teleporting Zeitgeist outside of the space-time continuum. Venus then
returned to X-Statix, where she informed them of where she had sent
Zeitgeist.
Comments: Created by Peter Milligan and Michael "Doc" Allred.
This profile was completed 09/23/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The A should be distinguished from:
| --Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (fb) |
Appearances:
Giant-Size X-Statix#1 (September, 2019) - Peter Milligan (writer),
Michael "Doc" Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent I#1 (April, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent I#2 (May, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent I#3 (July, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent I#4 (July, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent I#5 (September, 2022) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent II#1 (May, 2023) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent II#2 (June, 2023) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent II#3 (July, 2023) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent II#4 (August, 2023) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael "Doc"
Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
X-Cellent II#5 (September, 2023) - Peter Milligan (writer), Michael
"Doc" Allred (art), Darren Shan (editor)
First posted: 09/07/2026
Last updated: 09/23/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Marsha Davies