CRAIG FARNSWORTH

Real Name: Craig Farnsworth

Identity/Class: Human mutant (post-World War II, pre-modern to modern era), citizen of the United States

Occupation: None

Affiliations: Angel (Warren Worthington III), professor Charles Xavier

Enemies: None, formerly X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Henry "Hank" McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Havok/Alex Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, Polaris/Lorna Dane)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: 'Tiger' (nickname used by Gracie Smith)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed,
                                   formerly Promise Headquarters (located underneath Messenger Mansion on the outskirts of New York);
                                   formerly the Yellow Claw's Mojave desert base

First Appearance: X-Men: The Hidden Years I#17 (April 2001)

Powers/Abilities: Craig Farnsworth is a mutant telepath who can generate dreamcasts, illusions of his own design that are so lifelike they can even fool telepaths. In combat, Farnsworth uses the dreamcasts to distract or have his opponents attack each other. When combining his powers with other strong telepaths, Farnsworth can teleport and alter reality on a massive scale. Thanks to the Promise's teaching circuitry, he is well versed in history, world events, advanced technology and various other fields of knowledge. Farnsworth is a smoker.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:

(Yellow Claw I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Born in the early 20th century, Craig Farnsworth grew up realizing he possessed powerful telepathic abilities.

(Yellow Claw I#2 - BTS) - In 1956, Farnsworth was noticed by the Yellow Claw who saw a use for his potent powers. The criminal mastermind had Craig captured along with other strong mutants like Gene Bitner and Simon Lestron. Claw hypnotized them to do his bidding, figuring their combined brainpower would prove more effective than a dozen hydrogen bombs.

(Yellow Claw I#2) - After causing minor mischief such as lifting canoes, having trees grow eggs and turn water into milk, the Yellow Claw had Farnsworth and the other mutants unleash a full scale attack on big cities, warping reality to such a degree widescale panic occurred.

(Yellow Claw I#2 - BTS) - FBI agent Jimmy Woo was contacted by the Claw's niece Suwan who told him of the mutants. He was sent out to infiltrate the villain's Mojave desert base to deal with them.

(Yellow Claw I#2) - As soon as Woo entered the Claw's base, the mutants sensed his presence and manifested a pair of cuffs on him. However, Suwan saved the day by sounding a nearby giant gong that broke her uncle's hypnotic effect on Farnsworth and the others. Still connected to each other, they immediately teleported away to parts unknown.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18 (fb) - Craig Farnsworth, Simon Lestron and Gene Bitner were contacted by Tobias Messenger and invited to join The Promise.

X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18 (fb) - BTS) Farnsworth began dating Promise recruit Gracie Smith after she joined the group in the early 1980s (see comments).

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#17 - BTS) - Coming out of their most recent hibernation cycle, Farnsworth and the others sought to expand the membership of The Promise. Learning of the existence of Lorna Dane, they decided she would be an ideal new recruit. Their teenage member Tad Carter was sent out to make contact with her.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18 - BTS) - Farnsworth wasn't around when the Promise welcomed Lorna Dane to their secret base underneath Messenger mansion. Messenger recounted the group's origin story, including Farnsworth time as a pawn of the Yellow Claw.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18) - Correctly expecting Lorna's teammates to come looking for her, Craig Farnsworth was waiting for the young mutants outside Messenger mansion. He instantly started his dreamcasting, making his opponents believe they were under attack by fearsome creatures that were actually their own teammates. Farnsworth singlehandedly defeated all but Havok, who was taken out by the vampiric kiss of Craig's girlfriend Gracie Smith. Farnsworth got a bit jealous, fearing he wasn't enough to satisfy her. Farnsworth and Smith brought in the defeated X-Men and joined the group discussion on what to do with them. Havok was chosen to join the Promise and Craig supported Lucy Robinson's desire to take Angel as well, as long as he didn't have to listen to her sob story about losing a child again.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18 - BTS) - Farnsworth joined forces to mindwipe the X-Men, dumping them into the deep subterranean caverns under their headquarters.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#19) - With Havok, Polaris and Angel already put in stasis, Farnsworth and the other Promise members prepared themselves to enter their next ten year sleep cycle.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I# 19 - 21 - BTS) - Without anyone noticing, Lucy Robinson had rigged her stasis pod so she could wake up and escape with Angel, forcing the X-Man to do her bidding by putting him under her telepathic control. However, once Angel overcame her mind control, he took Robinson back to the Promise to free his fellow X-Men from stasis.

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#22) - With telepathic assistance from professor Xavier, Angel and Lucy Robinson revived their teammates as well as Craig and the other Promise members. They were shocked to find Tobias Messenger dead inside his pod (secretly caused by a vengeful Lucy Robinson). Without their leader, the group decided to disband and venture out into the world. Gracie and Craig agreed to take care of their teammate Simon Lestron who still looked like a young boy even though he was born in 1945.

Comments: Created by: Jack & Roz Kirby (original 1950s appearance), fleshed out by John Byrne and Tom Palmer.

Technically, Craig Farnsworth's first appearance was in Yellow Claw I#2, written and drawn by Jack Kirby with an inking assist from his wife Roz. However, because John Byrne was the one who gave the character his name, powers and his first actual dialogue he deserve his fair share of the creative credit too.

By recruiting Farnsworth, Bitner and Lestron into the Promise, Tobias Messenger has half the group that can reshape reality on a massive scale. But instead of using their fantastic power to help bring about the better future he desired, Mesenger had them nap away in stasis pods for well over 70 years.

Craig and Lucy's relationship is interesting. They met as Promise members and since that group only spends a week out of stasis every ten years, they've only spent about a month together.

'Born in the early 20th century' and 'encountering the Yellow Claw in 1956'...  Of course, all those dates are topical. These references worked when the story first appeared in 2001, but Marvel's adherence to the Sliding Timescale means it's always less than fifteen years since Fantastic Four I#1. Which means that the events of Hidden Years, which took place between X-Men I#66 and Giant-Size X-Men I#1, occurred no earlier than the 2010s. And it's moving forward each year.  

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Craig Farnsworth should not be confused with:

• Any other "Craig" or "Farnsworth" characters  

images: (without ads)
X-Men The Hidden Years I#18, p21, pan4 (main image)
Yellow Claw I#2, p2, pan6 (with Yellow Claw)
X-Men The Hidden Years I#18, p18, pans2&3 (close up)
X-Men The Hidden Years I#22 p17, pan4 (keep each other out of trouble)

Appearances:
Yellow Claw I#2 (December, 1956) - Jack Kirby (writer, pencils), Roz Kirby (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#17 (April 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#18 (May, 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#19 (June, 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#22 (September, 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)

First Posted: 03/11/2022
Last updated: 03/11/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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