Crimson Commando

Crimson Commando
The first appearance of Crimson Commando (Frank Bohannan; lower middle) as seen in The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987).
Art by Alan Davis and Dan Green.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearance(Frank Bohannan): The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
(second version): X-Men #106 (Nov. 2000)
(third version):
X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Created by(Frank Bohannan): Chris Claremont
Alan Davis
(second version): Chris Claremont
Leinil Francis Yu
(third version): Seth Peck
Jefte Palo
Guillermo Mogorron
In-story information
Alter egoFrank Bohannan
SpeciesHuman mutant
Team affiliations(Bohannan): Freedom Force
O*N*E
(second version): Brotherhood of Mutants
(third version): Freedom Force
Notable aliases(Bohannan): Cyborg X, Commando
Abilities(Bohannan): Non-superhuman physical perfection (peak state possible for baseline humans)
Cyborg implants

Crimson Commando is the name used by three fictional characters, which are either a mutant or a cyborg appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Frank Bohannan first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987), and was created by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis.[1]

The second version only appeared briefly in X-Men vol. 2 #106 (November 2000), and was created by Chris Claremont and Leinil Francis Yu.

The third version appears in X-Men (vol. 3) #40 (March 2013), and was created by Seth Peck, Jefte Palo, and Guillermo Mogorron.

Fictional character biography

Frank Bohannan

Frank Bohannan was born somewhere in Massachusetts. Bohannan, Stonewall, and Super Sabre, all veterans of World War II, intend to continue their government service after the war by combating communism during the Cold War, but are rejected. Angered by what they perceive as a decline in morals in the United States, the group become vigilantes. They capture criminals, then release and hunt them in the wilderness of upstate New York.[1][2]

Mistaking Storm (the leader of the X-Men) for a criminal, the team capture and then hunt her.[2][3][4] When Storm and Wolverine defeat the three, Stonewall and Crimson Commando agree to turn themselves in.[5] Stonewall and Crimson Commando agree to join Freedom Force, a government-sponsored team of superhumans, in exchange for a commutation of their sentences.[6][1]

Crimson Commando is gravely wounded during a bungled mission in the Middle East. Freedom Force is sent to Kuwait City to rescue or kill physicist Reinhold Kurtzmann, but encounter the Arabic super-team Desert Sword. Teammate Super Sabre is killed, while Crimson Commando's right hand is severed by Desert Sword member Aminedi.[7][3][1]

Cyborg X, a cyborg soldier created by Care Labs, is implied to be Crimson Commando.[8] A testing accident causes him to malfunction, bringing him into a confrontation with Spider-Man and Ghost Rider.[9] Cyborg X later assists Spider-Man in battling the Sinister Six, but is apparently killed in an explosion.[10]

Now going by only the name Commando, Bohannan works with his former Freedom Force teammate Avalanche to infiltrate the reclusive Empyrean's headquarters and put his operation out of commission.[11]

Commando appears in the reality-altered House of M storyline serving as one of Magneto's royal guards. After this and M-Day, he loses his mutant powers.[12] Without his powers, Bohannan begins to die. He kidnaps Hope Summers in an attempt to have her save him, but is killed by Wolverine.[12][1]

Bohannan was resurrected by the Five at some point during the Krakoan Age, which restored his lost limbs. He did not stay on Krakoa for long and later became the director of the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E). He and O*N*E show up following the defeat of Fenris and their Neo-Nazi group and detain them. While doing a press conference advising the mutants who are "guests" to the United States to follow the rules, Crimson Commando ends up deputizing the X-Men to assist O*N*E, though Cyclops refuses to follow his orders. Crimson Commando advises Cyclops to tell all the X-Men branches that Crimson Commando and O*N*E intend to benefit the United States, but only if they will listen to him.[13] Bohannan goes on to ally with Maxine Danger of the Beyond Corporation to combat the X-Men.[14]

Second version

An unnamed, female, African-American version of Crimson Commando appears briefly as a member of Mystique's new Brotherhood of Mutants.[15]

Third version

A human/cyborg version of Crimson Commando is a member of the Freedom Force.[16] His power armor is equipped with two automatic machine guns as hands and a machine/rail gun mounted on its left shoulder.

Powers and abilities

Frank Bohannan is a mutant who possesses the peak of physical perfection a baseline human can achieve without becoming a superhuman, and thus apparently ages at a much slower rate than normal human beings.[4] This also seems to include enhanced resistance to injury, managing to survive having his right hand severed and bleeding continuously for an hour, before being maimed by a land mine.[7]

Bohannan can carry out actions while submerging his conscious thought processes so deeply within his mind that they are shielded from telepathic detection. He also exhibited some degree of super-vision, able to see his teammate Super Sabre when the latter was moving at superhuman velocities. Bohannan wore a computer and modem device on his wrist, and carried knives, daggers, and conventional handguns as weapons. He is an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant and commando fighter, and is also a highly skilled hunter and tracker.

As a cyborg, the extent of his abilities is largely unknown. One arm was replaced by a large gun and one of his eyes was replaced with an optical sensor able to see beyond the range of normal human vision.

In other media

The Frank Bohannan incarnation of Crimson Commando appears in X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Webber, Tim (February 2, 2017). "X-Cons: 16 X-Men Villain Teams You Forgot". CBR. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2026. In 1987's "Uncanny X-Men" #215, Chris Claremont, Alan Davis and Dan Green introduced an unnamed trio of super-powered veterans who hunted criminals for sport. In a story called "Old Soldiers," Crimson Commando, Super Sabre and Stonewall were introduced as former WWII-era soldiers who were forced into retirement by the American government. Disgusted by rampant criminal activity, the group started kidnapping criminals and hunting them in the forests of the Adirondacks. After being beaten in combat by Storm, the group joined the government-sponsored team Freedom Force along with X-Men foes Mystique, Pyro and Avalanche...In a later adventure, the Iraqi super-team Desert Sword killed Sabre and maimed Commando. Commando was given cybernetic implants after this mission and fought the X-Men oa [sic] few more times. After losing his powers, Commando started dying when his body began rejecting his implants, and he was ultimately killed by Wolverine.
  2. ^ a b J.A.M (July 22, 2025). "10 Badass Moments Storm Proved She's Outgrown the X-Men". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 22, 2025. Retrieved February 18, 2026. At this point in time, Storm has lost her powers. Obviously, that doesn't slow down the opposition from challenging her. As she tries to outrun WWII-era villains Crimson Commando, Stonewall, and Super Saber, Storm decides she's tired of running. Instead, she sets traps for her would-be-captors that prove effective before a final confrontation with Crimson Commando.
  3. ^ a b Cronin, Brian (August 7, 2018). "How Freedom Force Was Wiped Out to Make Room for X-Factor". CBR. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  4. ^ a b Sawan, Amer (March 28, 2023). "X-Treme X-Men Just Highlighted Storm's Most Underrated Skill". CBR. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2026. Likewise, in Uncanny X-Men #215 (by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis) Crimson Commando was a veteran fighter from World War II with years of combat experience, and his own mutation always kept him in peak physical condition just shy of being superhuman. Much like Callisto though, Storm beat him through a combination of superior strategy and martial prowess.
  5. ^ Uncanny X-Men #215-216 (March - April 1987)
  6. ^ Uncanny X-Men #223 (November 1987)
  7. ^ a b The New Mutants Annual #7 (August 1991)
  8. ^ Cronin, Brian (May 16, 2008). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #155". CBR. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2026. Cyborg X was written as though he was Crimson Commando, the former member of Freedom Force who had been critically injured in a recent storyline in the X-Men annuals - Larsen had Cyborg X use actual dialogue from that storyline, showing the post-traumatic stress he felt about those events (later on, Crimson Commando would show up in X-Factor explicitly a cyborg).
  9. ^ Spider-Man #18 (November 1991)
  10. ^ Spider-Man #21 (February 1992)
  11. ^ X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2 (October 1993)
  12. ^ a b Uncanny X-Men #539 (August 2011)
  13. ^ X-Men (vol. 7) #25 (April 2026)
  14. ^ X-Men (vol. 7) #26 (May 2026)
  15. ^ X-Men (vol. 2) #106 (November 2000)
  16. ^ X-Men (vol. 3) #40 (January 2013)
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