PHOEBE HUNTSMAN

Real Name: Phoebe Huntsman

Identity/Class: Human (British)

Occupation: Student

Group Membership: St. Searle's School for Young Ladies student body (Amy Fink, Karen Fink, Ginjer, Shelby Montrobe, Veronique, others)

Affiliations: Ashley, Excalibur (Captain Britain/Brian Braddock, Meggan, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Phoenix/Rachel Summers of Earth-811, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde), Karen Fink, Shelby Montrobe, Miss Amelia Rutherford, Mister Reeve, Veronique

Enemies: Fenris (Andrea & Andreas von Strucker), Mesmero (Vincent)

Known Relatives: Unidentified parents and step-parents

Aliases: "Feebs"

Base of Operations: St. Searle's School for Young Ladies, northern England, United Kingdom

First Appearance: Excalibur I#32 (December, 1990)

Powers/Abilities: Phoebe Huntsman had no superhuman powers but she could hold her own in a fistfight and was a skilled field hockey player.

Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 141 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde

History: (Excalibur I#33 (fb) - BTS) - Like all of the other students at St. Searle's School for Young Ladies, Phoebe Huntsman had been thrown out of other prep schools and became enrolled at St. Searle's because no other school would take her.

(Excalibur I#32 (fb) - BTS) - After learning of a new student at St. Searle's School for Young Ladies, Phoebe Huntsman, Veronique and another girl broke into the new girl's room and began rummaging through her belongings.

(Excalibur I#32) - The new girl, Kitty Pryde, went up to her room at St. Searle's, only to find Phoebe, Veronique and the other girl inside. When Kitty asked what they were doing in her room, Phoebe claimed they were helping her unpack but when Kitty knocked Veronique into a light switch for going through Kitty's diary, Phoebe punched Kitty. After her friends commended her on the attack, Phoebe admitted that she had hurt her hand in the connect and warned Kitty that her nails better be intact. Kitty then fought back, suggesting Phoebe worry about her face before the fight was broken up by Miss Rutherford, the school's headmistress, who demanded an explanation. Claiming that Kitty had started the fight, Phoebe told Miss Rutherford that she and her friends were trying to help Kitty fit in when Kitty attacked them. Kitty immediately argued, informing Rutherford that Phoebe and her friends were going through her belongings but Phoebe asked how else they were supposed to help, other than putting away Kitty's things for her. Miss Rutherford then ordered Kitty to her office and told Phoebe and her friends to return their own rooms. That night, after Rutherford had assigned Kitty to write lines, Kitty returned to her room thinking her hand probably hurt worse than Phoebe's did. In the days that passed, Phoebe and her friends continued to play pranks on Kitty, ranging from filling Kitty's locker with sand to ostracizing her at lunch to altering the shower head during Kitty's shower to pushing her down to tossing her papers out a window. A short time later, Phoebe and her friends were in Mr. Reeve's physical education class, where they were to begin field hockey lessons. When Mr. Reeve asked where Kitty was, Phoebe revealed that Kitty's bed had not been slept in the night before, smiling as she suggested Kitty might have run away, only to be chagrined when Kitty appeared. Phoebe warned that Kitty should have stayed gone and that she had made a mistake showing herself. Kitty responded by suggesting Phoebe take her best shot at her during the hockey game, Phoebe relented and allowed Kitty to play for the other team as goalie. During the game, Kitty managed to defend the goal from all scorers, with the match eventually come down to a bout between Phoebe and Kitty one-on-one. Kitty managed to hit the ball into Phoebe's face and while Phoebe was down, Kitty retrieved her stolen leather jacket from Phoebe and warned that she wanted the theft of her property to stop. Kitty then tossed the ball into Phoebe's goal, winning the game for her team and remarking that Phoebe had played a nice game.

(Excalibur I#33) - Walking up at several students were watching Kitty shadow box, Phoebe Huntsman reminded younger student Shelby Montrobe to get her sports terms right as Montrobe was discussing American football but when Montrobe proclaimed that Phoebe couldn't scare her, Phoebe further reminded Montrobe that she was the head prefect of the senior form and was responsible for Montrobe's welfare. Phoebe then warned for Montrobe and her friends to leave but Montrobe again refused to be scared off and when one of Montrobe's friends hit Phoebe in the eye with a jelly roll, Phoebe and her friends chased Montrobe and her friends away. Phoebe's friend Ashley then suggested they do something about the disrespect but Phoebe asked what they should do, to which Ashley blamed the disrespect on Kitty Pryde's presence at St. Searle's. Phoebe followed up, reminding Ashley that Kitty had earlier hit her with the field hockey ball in such a way as to prevent permanent damage and that Kitty actually knew how to fight. When Ashley then asked what they should do, Phoebe suggested not doing anything and that they should pass the word that no one should interact or acknowledge Kitty's existence as a form of revenge since they could not physically get even with Kitty. Later that evening, Kitty thought about how Phoebe had succeeded in getting the other students to ignore her and worried that the younger students might someday grow up to be like Phoebe. Following a brief visit from Miss Rutherford about Kitty's lack of friends in which Rutherford had to leave quickly due to a visit from the financial advisor, Kitty spied on Rutherford to see what made her leave so suddenly, only to spot Phoebe sneaking out and into an attic across the way. Sneaking out herself to see what Phoebe was up to, Kitty found Phoebe listening in on the conversation Miss Rutherford was having with the financial advisor and overheard that St. Searle's was bankrupt. Phoebe soon spotted Kitty and the two argued about who was spying on who before Phoebe admitted that her picking on Kitty was originally intended to be first day fun that Kitty had turned into a full-blown war. Kitty argued that she didn't like being picked on but Phoebe asked who did and that they only pushed back hard because Kitty had fought back and that the school was Phoebe's turf. Phoebe then suggested Kitty should have found a way to meet her and her friends on their terms instead of trying to dictate the terms herself before she halted the argument, admitting that none of it mattered if the school was to be closed in a few weeks anyway. When Kitty remarked that Phoebe could just go somewhere else, Phoebe replied that her family wouldn't know what to do with her and informed Kitty that she had several "parents" with her real father about to trade in a wife for a "newer model." Kitty then revealed to Phoebe that her parents were divorced as well and that her original school got blown up with many of her friends supposedly dead. Realizing they had some common ground, Kitty offered Phoebe her jacket to stay warm before the two were interrupted by overhearing Miss Rutherford cry from her office. Phoebe then remarked that Miss Rutherford had nowhere to go if the school shut down, as it was her life. Kitty and Phoebe then confronted the other students, who were unsure what to do to stop the school from closing, and suggested St. Searle's try out as cheerleaders for Britain's recently-created American football team. When one of the students commented that they couldn't practice and win the cheerleading contract for the school within two weeks, Phoebe asked if anyone had a better idea, prompting the student to ask who would train them. Phoebe then watched as Kitty volunteered herself.

(Excalibur I#34) - Phoebe Huntsman accompanied Kitty Pryde, Miss Rutherford, Mister Reeve and the other St. Searle's students to Greville-by-Ealing Station to see Miss Rutherford off for a trip to meet with Courtney Ross regarding money for the school's debts. After Mr. Reeve went on his way, Phoebe and Kitty summoned the younger class of students and phoned St. Searle's to ensure Mr. Reeve was out of sight for their plan to keep him occupied while they tried out for cheerleading. When the station master confronted the girls to determine if they still had business at the train station, Phoebe claimed they were on a field trip and presented the station master with their tickets and written permission from Miss Rutherford. As their train arrived, Phoebe informed Kitty, who called the train station Miss Rutherford was due to arrive at and had them give Rutherford a false story to keep her busy while Phoebe and the others went to the cheerleading tryouts. Boarding the train, Kitty reminded the girls that they had to keep Rutherford busy so she wouldn't stop them from trying out and when Kitty remarked that, as a Cubs fan, she thrived on longshots, Phoebe chimed in that the Cubs always lost. During the train ride, Phoebe and the girls practiced their cheerleading routine until Kitty's phasing power kicked in, revealing her identity as the mutant Shadowcat. Phoebe immediately remarked that Kitty should have told her about her status as a mutant and Kitty replied that it was a secret identity, prompting Phoebe to respond that if she wished to keep their friendship, she would not keep any other secrets. Once at Wembley Stadium for the tryouts, Phoebe donned a curly brown wig and put Kitty in a blonde wig so that they would not be recognized during the tryouts before Kitty gave all of the girls a pep talk. The tryouts soon started and the girls performed splendidly until Kitty noticed the Phoenix Effect in the sky and realized Excalibur needed her help. Despite Phoebe's warnings to stay put for the sake of the school, Kitty ducked out of the tryouts and rushed off to help while Phoebe kept the other girls in line and going on without Kitty. The young St. Searle's class soon ran onto the field despite Phoebe's accusations that they were ruining the tryout but when Karen Fink informed Phoebe that Kitty needed help, Phoebe decided to assist, running back into the Stadium. Phoebe and some of the students then helped Excalibur defeat both Mesmero and the Fenris Twins. Following the battle, Phoebe learned that St. Searle's had lost the tryouts to professional cheerleaders and Kitty remarked that they might have won if they had not abandoned their tryout to aid Excalubur but Phoebe admitted St. Searle's would not have made it that far without Kitty. Miss Rutherford soon arrived and chewed out Kitty and Phoebe, only to be surprised when Courtney Ross met her there and offered to pay to use St. Searle's facilities for the Yeoman organization to train on. Rutherford reluctantly accepted the offer and Phoebe hugged Rutherford with the other students as Kitty secretly rejoined Excalibur.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Ron Wagner.

St. Searle's is an homage to St. Trinian's School, a British comic strip created by Ronald Searles and which was adapted into several films. Based on descriptions, St. Trinian's is, well, a weird place, and St. Searle's may be presumed to be similarly weird. Kitty's inability to use her powers on campus may have been an aspect of that.
--Ronald Byrd

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Phoebe Huntsman has no known connections to:


images: (without ads)
Excalibur I#34, p1, splash page (Phoebe Huntsman in school uniform, main image)
Excalibur I#32, p9, pan4 (Phoebe Huntsman, headshot)
Excalibur I#32, p22, pan1 (Phoebe in hockey gear)
Excalibur I#33, p12, pan2 (Phoebe with a black eye, getting hit with a jelly roll)
Excalibur I#34, p12, pan5 (Phoebe in cheerleading uniform with brown wig)


Appearances:
Excalibur I#32 (December, 1990) - Chris Claremont (writer), Ron Wagner (art), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#33 (January, 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Ron Wagner (art), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#34 (February, 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Ron Wagner (art), Terry Kavanagh (editor)


First Posted: 03/15/2019
Last updated: 04/05/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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