Strong Guy (Guido Carosella) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz and first appeared in The New Mutants #29 (July 1985).
Publication history Strong Guy first appeared in The New Mutants #29 (July 1985) as Lila Cheney's bodyguard, known only as Guido. He joined X-Factor in X-Factor #71, and was first called Strong Guy in X-Factor #72. Guido's struggles with picking a codename are used for comic effect in the story, and X-Factor writer Peter David admitted that in real life he had difficulty coming up with a decent codename for the character.
Fictional character biography Early life Born in Rhinebeck, New York to working-class Italian parents, Guido Carosella gained a fortune in a settlement when his parents were killed by falling space debris. Skinny and shy, Guido's mutant powers were triggered in childhood when an incident with schoolyard bullies and being hit by a bus ended in his body becoming disproportionately large and muscular, separating him further from his peers. He had the love and support of his aunt and uncle, who took him in after his parents' deaths. Guido coped with his emotional and physical pain caused by his mutation by developing an outgoing "public face", rarely letting even those close to him see him in discomfort.
During the incident with the bus, another boy, Charlie Ronalds, was hurt by Guido's flailing. Due to luck, Charlie survived with only a slight limp. He would later become the villain Charon.X-Factor Annual #8 (May 1993)
Lila Cheney and Muir Island After losing much of his fortune, Guido begins to take on jobs that allow him to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. This leads to him becoming a long-time roadie and bouncer for the mutant musician Lila Cheney.The New Mutants #29 (July 1985) He later finds Dazzler near Lila Cheney's Malibu house, and helps rescue her from drowning.Uncanny X-Men #259-260 (March - April 1990) Guido is among the mutants living on Muir Island who are mentally controlled by the telepath Shadow King.Uncanny X-Men #278 (July 1991) After the Shadow King is defeated, several of the Muir Island mutants, with the help of Valerie Cooper, are recruited to form a new X-Factor, a team of government operatives.X-Factor #70 (September 1991)
X-Factor Guido's teammates are Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, and Quicksilver. Required to come up with a codename, Guido announces himself as "Strong Guy" at an X-Factor press conference after hearing a reporter say, "He must be the strong guy! Every super-group has a strong guy!".X-Factor #71-72 (October - November 1991)
Mister Sinister manipulates Strong Guy into destroying the Washington Monument while fighting Slab.X-Factor #74 (January 1992) With X-Factor, he aids the American-supported Trans-Sabal government in a war against rebels, and fights the Hulk, then battles the Mutant Liberation Front.The Incredible Hulk #390-392 (February - April 1992)X-Factor #76-78 (March - May 1992) He also fights the Brotherhood of Mutants.X-Factor #82 (September 1992)
Strong Guy and X-Force become involved in a confrontation between Lila Cheney and the alien K'Lanti, who plant bombs throughout Madripoor. While disarming the last bomb, Strong Guy absorbs its energy and suffers a severe heart attack.X-Factor #111 (February 1995) He spends time in suspended animation until Jamie Madrox returns and frees him. However, Strong Guy remains in poor health until Forge creates a device to heal him.X-Factor #135 (June 1997) Strong Guy chooses to accompany Lila Cheney and her band instead of rejoining X-Factor.Strong Guy Reborn one-shot (September 1997)
X-Factor Investigations In Peter David's run on X-Factor, in the aftermath of Marvel's "Decimation" storyline, Strong Guy moves to New York City to become an enforcer for Jamie Madrox's detective agency, X-Factor Investigations. In the process, he rejoins many of his former teammates from the previous incarnation of X-Factor.X-Factor (vol. 3) #1 (January 2006)
Some time later, Valerie Cooper contacts Strong Guy and offers him a job as sheriff of Mutant Town. Guido informs Jamie Madrox that he will be taking the job,X-Factor (vol. 3) #24 (December 2007) but changes his mind when Mutant Town is destroyed by the villain Arcade.X-Factor (vol. 3) #31-32 (July-August 2008)
Strong Guy is hired to protect J. Jonah Jameson from super-powered assassins. He is shot through the heart and overexerts himself stopping a Mandroid from falling onto a crowd. Strong Guy is rushed to the hospital, but the doctors are unable to save him due to the damage to his heart. A few minutes later, he miraculously revives, showing no injuries. It is revealed that Layla Miller resurrected Strong Guy, who no longer has a soul.X-Factor #217 (May 2011) As a result, he begins acting more aggressive, and after a failed date with M, quits the group,X-Factor #243 (November 2012) only to return during the Hell on Earth War where he works for Mephisto against the other Hell Lords. By the end of the event, he murders Wolfsbane's son Tier to become the Supreme Hell Lord.X-Factor #256 (July 2013) Red Hulk eventually convinces Strong Guy to abandon the position, but he remains in Hell to regain his soul.Thunderbolts (vol. 2) #22 (April 2014)
Return to Earth Strong Guy returns in Death of X, along with other mutants, helping the X-Men.Death of X #2-3 (December 2016 - January 2017)
In Secret Empire, Strong Guy is seen among the inhabitants of the mutant nation of New Tian following Hydra's takeover of the United States.Secret Warriors (vol. 2) #2 (July 2017)
New Mutants: Dead Souls At some point, Strong Guy joins Magik's team of New Mutants, and is revealed to have regained his soul with Magik's help. He also reconciles with Wolfsbane after he apologizes for killing her son. While fighting with Tran Coy Manh, Strong Guy is able to take a hold of him and Magik is forced to banish both of them to Limbo, where time passes differently. Magik is able to summon him back when she is attacked by her teammates, who are infected with the Transmode virus and are controlled by an insane Karma. However, despite only a few days passing in the real world, it has been years from Strong Guy's perspective. During the fight, he suffers from a heart attack, though Danielle Moonstar saves him by infecting him with the virus.
Death and return A still techno-organic Strong Guy is held captive by the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E), who place him inside a Sentinel. He is rescued by Cyclops and Wolverine. After O*N*E kills several duplicates of Multiple Man, Strong Guy sacrifices himself to save the others by absorbing massive amounts of energy.Uncanny X-Men (vol. 5) #12 (April 2019) Strong Guy is later seen on Krakoa, having been revived by the Krakoan council like many other previously dead mutants.Cable (vol. 4) #1 (May 2020)
Powers and abilities Strong Guy possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. He can augment his strength by absorbing kinetic energy, but cannot store the energy he absorbs for very long and must physically expel it within 90 seconds to prevent it from permanently distorting his body. Strong Guy's powers put strain on his heart, which he received a surgical implant to alleviate.Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #11 (December 2009) When Strong Guy's powers first manifested, he was unable to expel his energy in time, warping his body and causing him to appear top-heavy. Strong Guy's maximum strength level is such that he has sufficient power to move the Blob,X-Factor #107 (October 1994) and briefly stand toe to toe with the Hulk, although the latter's rage-enhanced strength was so powerful that the energy of channeling merely one blow put Strong Guy in danger of a heart attack afterwards.World War Hulk: X-Men #3 (October 2007) Strong Guy is formidable at hand-to-hand combat in the style of street fighting. In addition, he is a skilled actor and comedian.
Reception In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Strong Guy 94th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list. In 2018, Comic Book Resources (CBR) ranked Strong Guy 8th in their "Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World" list.
Other versions An alternate universe version of Strong Guy from Earth-295 appears in Age of Apocalypse.Gambit and the X-Ternals #1–4 (March - June 1995)
In other media Television Strong Guy makes non-speaking appearances in X-Men: The Animated Series as a member of X-Factor. Strong Guy appears in X-Men '97, voiced by Adrian Hough. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
Video games Strong Guy appears as a playable card in Marvel Snap.
Merchandise In 1993, Toy Biz released an action figure of Strong Guy sporting his X-Factor uniform as part of their X-Men series. Marvel and Planet Studios released a 1.25 inch/3.175 cm Full Figure pin of Strong Guy, 1994. Bowen Designs produced a Strong Guy Mini-Bust, sculpted by Jeremy Pelletier, July 2012. It was released in Phase 5, Bust #288. Hasbro released a 6" scale action figure of Strong Guy as the Build-A-Figure for a wave of Deadpool and X-Men characters in their Marvel Legends line in 2020.
References
External links
Strong Guy at Comic Vine Strong Guy at UncannyXmen.net