A Friend (Young Avenger & Alyssa Bryon character)

friend-a-youngav-computer "A FRIEND"

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Unidentified (presumably a human technology-user)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None known

Affiliations: Alyssa Bryon, Young Avenger (Bill Bryon)

Enemies: Loki Laufeyson;
others unrevealed

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (September, 2011)

Powers/Abilities: "A friend" has or had knowledge of the events of Operation: Firefly.

A Friend could communicate through computers and by speaking through a car radio, during which he could hear the car's inhabitant(s) responses.

Additionally, he could somehow hide his presence from even mystic beings, such as Loki Laufeyson.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (fb) - BTS) - A mysterious individual, he (gender unconfirmed, but calling the person "he" for the sake of simplicity of discussion) claimed his life had been saved by Bill Bryon (presumably while in his Young Avenger identity) at some unspecified earlier point in time, so he felt he owed Bryon his life.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2) - He first made his presence known to Alyssa Bryon by hacking onto her laptop while she was searching the Internet for information regarding Captain Flame; he sent a brief message to Alyssa to let her know that Operation: Firefly was somehow tied in with Captain Flame.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 - BTS) - As Bill Bryon told Alyssa about his heroic days, she asked him if about Operation: Firefly; suddenly, Bill Bryon suffered a heart attack and collapsed to the floor. Panicking, Alyssa put a nitrous pill in her grandfather's mouth and tried to telephone for help; but the room was filled with a strange lightning-like display as the Norse god of trickery, Loki, appeared.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 - BTS) - After intimidating Alyssa, Loki assured her that he was not the cause of her grandfather's heart attack; he blamed that on all the fast food the old man had eaten. Then Loki demanded that Alyssa tell him the identity of the person who sent her the message regarding Operation: Firefly. Loki told her that mortals could not hide from him, yet this particular individual somehow managed that feat. But Alyssa honestly didn't know the person's name, so Loki told her that when she met the person, she should tell her mysterious friend that Loki wanted the information to remain a secret, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to keep it that way. After he warned Alyssa not to press the issue any further, Loki departed in the same manner as he appeared.

friend-a-youngav-carradio-1 friend-a-youngav-carradio-2 (All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3) - Later, following the funeral of Bill Bryon, "A FRIEND" contacted Alyssa over her car's radio; he spoke with her and let her know that she was on the right path to discovering the highly significant mystery of Operation: Firefly -- he told Alyssa she could trust him because he owed her grandfather his life. "A FRIEND" mentioned to Alyssa that for reasons that would become clear, he could not tell her directly about the consequences of Operation: Firefly, and he warned her about two men in a sedan who were following her car.

"A FRIEND" told Alyssa he knew she was scared, for he was aware of her visit from the Asgardian Loki and he knew why the god of trickery came; then "A FRIEND" gave Alyssa the address of the home of Albert "Slow-Motion" Jones and told her she'd find answers there.

Before he broke contact, "A FRIEND" asked Alyssa if she would trust him; wearing a scowl on her face, Alyssa merely drove on in silence to Jones' house.

Comments: Created by Paul Jenkins and Carmine Di Giandomenico.

    All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes was supposed to be an 8-issue mini-series, but it was canceled with the fifth issue due to low sales and the story was never completed, so we never learned if Alyssa ever solved the mystery of Operation: Firefly.
    We may know who "A FRIEND" really was, but considering he was able to shield his identity from Loki, perhaps he was magically-empowered.
    However, even though it's been fifteen years -- at the time of this profile's publication -- since the time this story was canceled mid-series, stranger things have happened, and I hope the remaining three issues are someday published in some format.

    A Friend was originally a sub-profile in Alyssa Bryon's profile, originally posted 06/17/2017. Ron wrote that sub-profile, and Snood adapted it to a full profile.

This profile was completed 11/20/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Ron Fredricks and Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"A Friend" should be distinguished from:

FRIEND - seemingly an agent or version of God or Christ, assisted Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider against Mephisto/Satan; story later edited to make him be revealed as another aspect of Mephisto--Ghost Rider II#9
friend of Earth-93060 - see LORD PUMPKIN--Prime I#12/Ultraverse Premiere#3/3
FRIEND, MARTIN - failing sit-com writer, allied with the human-host-taking animal Pride--Marvel Fanfare I#56
FRIENDLESS - Grad Nan Holt, vast telepathic powers--X-Men Legacy#255
FRIENDS - magical creatures, force humanity to confront their darker sides, test humanity every 10,000 years, tested people of Benson, Arizona in recent years--[Fantastic Four I#238], 239
FRIENDS of HUMANITY (Checks, Graydon Creed(d), Grinder, Hanratty, Jumbo, W. C. Taylor, Weasel, Donovan Zane) --anti-mutant group, originally led by Graydon Creed, succeeded by Donovan Zane--Uncanny X-Men#299 (
FRIENDS of MISS AMERICA - women's support group set up by Sue Richards, She-Hulk, & Wasp with support of Miss America's nephew--[Fantastic Four#554], 558
other "Friend" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...

images: (without ads)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2, p7, pan5 ("A FRIEND" contacts Alyssa on her laptop (Alyssa's reflection on screen))
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3, p19, pan4 ("A FRIEND"'s voice on Alyssa's car radio)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3, p19, pan6 ("A FRIEND"'s voice tells Alyssa why she should trust him)

Appearances:
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2-3 (September-October, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Bill Rosemann & Alejandro Arbona (editors)

First posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated: 11/20/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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