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HARVEST

Real Name: Jonathan Mauro Camden

Identity/Class: Human mutate (techno-organic entity)

Occupation: Phalanx operative

Group Membership: Phalanx

Affiliations: None (technically Harvest was part of all the other Phalanx members like Stephen Lang, Cameron Hodge and Sara Grey)

Enemies: Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Blink (Clarice Ferguson), Husk (Paige Guthrie), Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), M (Monet St. Croix), Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Skin (Angelo Espinosa), Synch (Everett Thomas), White Queen (Emma Frost)

Known Relatives: Unidentified wife and son

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An abandoned navy vessel in San Diego Bay;
formerly Saint Louis, Missouri

First Appearance: (Pre-transformation) Uncanny X-Men I#308 (January, 1994); (as Harvest) Uncanny X-Men I#317 (October, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Harvest possessed all the standard powers of Earth "born" Phalanx, including the ability to infect living organisms with the techno organic transmode virus. Once infected, Harvest could either absorb his victims' "lifeglow" to sustain himself or add their biomass to the Phalanx collective, effectively turning them into his mindless underlings. Harvest could only infect non mutant organisms, but wasn't picky: on one occassion even "recruiting" a family of rats to meet his desired bio mass quota. Harvest could absorb inorganic matter to enhance his own form, using it for instance to increase his size, replace lost limbs or even turn parts of his anatomy into weaponry. Despite possessing superhuman strength (at least class 25), he rarely engaged in physical combat, choosing to let his underlings fight. Convinced of his own superiority and fuelled by a hatred for all mutantlife, the man who would become Harvest gladly sacrificed his humanity in order to keep his family safe.

Height: 7'2" (variable)
Weight: 1250 lbs. (variable)
Eyes: Yellow with red pupils
Hair: Bald (black pre-transformation)

History:

(Uncanny X-Men I#308 (fb) ) - Concerned about the mutant threat and determined it should be dealt with it head on, Mauro joined the Phalanx initiative. Kissing his wife and son goodbye, Mauro left their Saint Louis home and entered the Phalanx recruitment van that had come to collect him. As a sign he was about to leave his old life behind, he tossed out his packed briefcase soon after driving off.

(Uncanny X-Men I#316 - BTS) - Mauro was exposed to the techno-organic virus that created the Phalanx and abandoned his humanity completely. Reborn as Harvest, he was tasked by the Phalanx's leader Stephen Lang to investigate why the Phalanx was unable to absorb mutants into their collective.

   The Phalanx managed to invade Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, kidnapping and replacing the X-Men in an attempt to acquire as much information on mutant nature as possible. They also managed to decrypt Cerebro's files on young mutants. After the visiting Banshee (Sean Cassidy) realized the X-Men had been replaced by Phalanx clones, he rallied Emma Frost, Sabretooth and Jubilee (the only actual mutants left at Xavier's) to join him in stopping the Phalanx's plans.

   Harvest meanwhile used Cerebro's files to have his henchmen kidnap Monet St. Croix (see comments), Angelo Espinosa and Clarice Ferguson. Taking them to an abandoned naval vessel in San Diego Bay, he had them imprisoned along with Gregor, a techno-organic construct pretending to be another kidnapped mutant designed to infiltrate and gain further information.

(X-Men I#36 - BTS) - While Banshee and the others managed to prevent Everett Thomas from being captured by the Phalanx (encountering Stephen Lang along the way who kept them distracted long enough for Sabretooth to escape),  Harvest's forces successfully retrieved Paige Guthrie from her Kentucky home. Delivered to Harvest in San Diego, he successfully infected her with the transmode virus, before putting the unconscious girl with the others.  

(Uncanny X-Men I#317) - After watching the young mutants' shock at Paige's condition, a gloating Harvest made his presence known to the slightly intimidated teens. Sharing parts of his origin with them, he assured his enemies he would not rest until all organic life on the planet had been culled as chaff from the wheat. This greatly angered Clarice Ferguson, who lashed out with her mutant abilities, instantaneously disrupting his form by teleporting parts of it out of sync. Gregor, claiming Harvest was about to retaliate, interrupted Ferguson's attack thereby allowing the villain to retreat. After Monet St. Croix deduced Gregor was part of the Phalanx, she managed to take him out and then freed the others by breaking through the wall of their cell.

(X-Men I#37) - Instantly aware the young mutants had broken free, Harvest sent some of his most recent recruits to engage them as soon as they came on deck. They proved no match for Blink's abilities, forcing Harvest to get involved himself, while complaining about the fact the Phalanx under his command were ill-formed.

(X-Men I#37 - BTS) - Meanwhile, Banshee, Emma Frost, Jubilee and Everett Thomas had learned of Harvest's location and were en route to rescue their fellow mutants, unaware that the recently escaped Sabretooth was also nearby.

(X-Men I#37) - Just as Harvest was about to kill the frightened teens, he became aware of the X-Men's presence, but assured the mutants they were too late. Despite the fact he picked up growling, Harvest was unable to prevent Sabretooth from sneaking up on him and tearing off his left arm. Allowing the crazed, feral mutant to tear into him for a while, Harvest simply absorbed parts of his underlings to repair the damage, while increasing his size in the process. Turning his index finger into a gun, Harvest was getting ready to shoot Creed when Banshee's wail ripped him apart. Briefly forgotten by the mutants who enjoyed a happy reunion, Harvest absorbed all the techno-organic matter from his followers, ending their lives but vastly increasing his own power in the process. When he had adapted to Banshee's sonic scream, he pressed the attack once again. Scanning Harvest, Emma Frost realized there was nothing even remotely human about him he could affect with her telepathy. Just when all seemed lost and Harvest was already tasting victory, assuring the mutants he would exterminate their entire generation, Blink became convinced she had no choice but to sacrifice herself in order to stop him. Pushing her spatial shearing abilities to the limit, she managed to cut Harvest, the Phalanx ship and its crew out of this reality.

(X-Necrosha: The Gathering#1 (fb) ) - Aware of the fact Blink had survived the fight with Harvest, Selene travelled to San Diego where she used her abilities to retrieve Ferguson from the dimensional void she'd condemned herself and the Phalanx menace to. Recounting her final confrontation with the monster, Blink happily accepted Selene's offer to teach her how to use her powers properly.

Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell (writer),  Joe Madureira (pencils), Dan Green (inks).


While the Phalanx Covenant crossover was a bit of an unruly beast of a mess, I always loved the Generation Next chapters. It's always fun to get in on the ground floor of a new generation of mutants.  Especially the moment when Sabretooth, out of nowhere, showed up to help rescue the young 'uns from Harvest is seared in my memory as a classic "f*ck yeah!" moment in comics that makes you want to stand on a chair and cheer. Or maybe dance the Macarena on your coffee table, if you read this in 1996.

Strictly speaking, given the connected nature of the Phalanx, Harvest merits a BTS credit for all the activities of the collective before he was apparently killed by Blink. For clarity's sake, I've left all those out. It's also not entirely clear if Harvest was flying solo or if he acted as an actual part of the greater whole. In X-Men I#36, writer Fabian Nicieza seems to allude that Harvest is connected (after all, head honcho Stephen Lang shows up to supervise) while a month later in #37, he has Harvest claim he was cut off from the greater collective. Guess Clarice's initial "blink" attack caused more damage than we thought.

A full nine months before he showed up as part of the Phalanx, Harvest was shown in his human form. Apparently caucasian and with a full head of hair, his appearance after exposure to the techno organic virus was distinctly different. Now bald and with a skin tone far darker than the yellowish hue of most of the other Phalanx members, it's almost as if Harvest was originally intended to be African American.

And as for Monet: though unknown at the time, this wasn't the real Monet St. Croix, but rather her younger twin sisters Claudette and Nicole, merging together to replace her... In order to save their parents from grieving over losing the real Monet who, at the time, was trapped as Penance, and serving as the main food source for the mutant bone marrow vampire Emplate, better known around the St. Croix household as their older brother Marius... *sigh* Larry Hama's late 90s Generation X run often read like an episode of Jerry Springer... on crack.

Comments/insights from Snood:

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Harvest should not be confused with

images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#317, p9 pan1-2 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#308, p8, pan4-6 (pre-transformation)
Uncanny X-Men I#317, p10, pan1-2 (hurt by Blink)
X-Men I#37, p10, pan2 (versus Sabretooth)

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#308 (January, 1994) - Scott Lobdell (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Dan Green & Al Vey (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#316 (September, 1994) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (pencils), Dan Green (inks),  Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men I#36 (September, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#317 (October, 1994) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (pencils), Dan Green (inks),  Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men I#37 (October, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Necrosha: The Gathering#1 (February, 2010) - Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost (writers), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (pencils & inks), Axel Alonso (editor)

Last updated: 04/10/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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