Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 213. Who is Chamber in Marvel Comics
Transcript
- 0:11Hello Marvel nerds, my name is Megan with vigilante vibes and I
- 0:15am here to surprise surprise, do another Marvel character
- 0:19breakdown and of course it is another mutant.
- 0:21It's one I don't think it's talked about enough so I'm here
- 0:24to talk about him today. Who is Chamber?
- 0:27Let's talk about Chamber, let's figure out who he is, and let's
- 0:29learn about his life. Chamber made his Marvel Comics
- 0:32appearance in Generation X #1 in 1994.
- 0:36Jonathan Evans Starsmore, better known as Chamber, was a mutant
- 0:39from London whose powers showed up in the worst possible
- 0:42possible way. A massive burst of psionic
- 0:46energy blew out of his chest and lower face and permanently
- 0:50disfigured him and badly injuring his girlfriend at the
- 0:53time, GAIL Edgerton. After that, he couldn't speak
- 0:57normally anymore and had to communicate telepathically.
- 1:01Not long after his powers emerge, Jono, who is sometimes
- 1:05called Jono in the comics, accepted an invite to Xavier
- 1:09School, but before he even got there, he was attacked at the
- 1:12airport by M Plate, a mutant who survives by feeding on other
- 1:16mutants, which is gross. Generation X showed up just in
- 1:20time to save him and Jono quickly became part of the team.
- 1:23He also managed to calm down the feral mutant pennants who ended
- 1:28up joining them. Things did not get easier and
- 1:32Play later kidnapped Jono with Gail's help since she blamed him
- 1:37for ruining his life. The two eventually worked
- 1:40through their trauma after Generation X rescued him.
- 1:43Jono also started a rocky on again off again relationship
- 1:47with Husk, who which which never really found solid footing.
- 1:52That's all right. He grew more insecure when he
- 1:56realized Sync could use Jono's own powers better than he could.
- 2:00After Sync died saving human students from an anti mutant
- 2:04attack, the Generation X kids decided it was time to stop
- 2:07training and start acting. Jono was offered a spot on the
- 2:12X-Men but turned it down and went back to London, briefly
- 2:14becoming a publicity prop for pop star Sugar Cane before
- 2:18ditching her and eventually joining the X-Men anyway.
- 2:21As an X man, he investigated the murders of mutant students and
- 2:25formed brief connections with people like Amber, a
- 2:27shapeshifter, and Walter, a former anti mutant activist.
- 2:32When things fell apart, Jono asked to step away, feeling like
- 2:36he still hadn't figured himself out.
- 2:39Later things spiraled. Seeing Husk with Archangel sent
- 2:43him over the edge, leading to him wrecking a bar and punching
- 2:48Warren, who is Archangel by the way.
- 2:51He was arrested and while in prison, recruited into Weapon X,
- 2:56though secretly he was spying for the X-Men.
- 2:59Weapon X temporarily restored his body, but during the chaos
- 3:02of M Day, Jono lost his powers again.
- 3:05Without the device stabilizing him, he left.
- 3:08He was left with a hollow chest and no jaw, barely alive, stuck
- 3:12on life support. He was eventually taken to
- 3:15England by Clan Aqaba, descendants of the Apocalypse,
- 3:21who healed his chest using Apocalypse's blood and revealed
- 3:24Jono was also one of the Apocalypse's descendants.
- 3:27Though they offered him a place among them and warned his powers
- 3:31would return, Jono refused and walked away, done with mutant
- 3:35factions and teams at his lowest point.
- 3:38Contemplating suicide over his altered appearance, Jono was
- 3:43found by Night Thrasher and recruited into the new version
- 3:46of the New Warriors. Going by the new name Decibel,
- 3:51he used a Sonic harness to fight crime and openly criticize Tony
- 3:55Stark and the Initiative. The team suffered heavy losses
- 3:59but chose to stick together anyway, forming a tight knit
- 4:02family despite an internal tensions and secrets, especially
- 4:08surrounding Night Thrasher's identity.
- 4:09But what are you going to do? You know, families fight.
- 4:12Eventually, the New Warriors disbanded after more deaths, and
- 4:16Jono ended up in Utopia thanks to one of Legion's reality
- 4:20rewrites. Jono got his powers back and
- 4:23returned to his original appearance, though losing his
- 4:26face and chest again hit him hard.
- 4:29Still, he rejoined the X-Men and later sided with Wolverine
- 4:32during the schism, becoming a teacher at the Jean Grey School.
- 4:36He focused on protecting his students and tried to stay
- 4:39neutral during major conflicts like Avengers versus X-Men.
- 4:43Jono was repeatedly pulled into Legion related disasters,
- 4:48surviving possession, reality warping, and even death itself
- 4:52more than once. Over time, he grew into a
- 4:56mentor, especially alongside Jubilee.
- 4:59Their bond deepened and eventually becoming romantic,
- 5:03especially after Jono helped support her and her son Shogo
- 5:07through some truly traumatic moments.
- 5:11After another mutant decimation and Jubilee's apparent death,
- 5:15Jono took responsibility for Shogo and went underground,
- 5:18leading the Morlocks. Though he initially refused to
- 5:22rejoin the X-Men, he eventually returned when the Marauders
- 5:26massacred as people. In the final confrontation, Jono
- 5:30killed the Marauders himself, but was mortally wounded soon
- 5:35after and died only to later return following the creation of
- 5:40the mutant nation of Krakoa, where resurrection became
- 5:43possible. On Krakoa, Jono bounced between
- 5:47teams including the New Mutants and Nightcrawlers Legionaries.
- 5:50Things went badly during one mission when he was possessed
- 5:54and accidentally killed teammates.
- 5:56Afterward, he worked alongside Husk investigating X Corp and
- 6:00reflected on relying on too much raw power.
- 6:04Following the fall of Orcas and the chaos of the Hellfire Gala,
- 6:08Jono either briefly died again or was exiled before being
- 6:13brought back again. When everything finally settled,
- 6:16Chamber returned to home to London, still scarred, still
- 6:20powerful, and still trying to figure out who he is outside of
- 6:23endless mutant wars. And basically that is that it's
- 6:28one war after another in chambers life and you just can't
- 6:32help but feel bad for the guy. He's he goes through a lot, but
- 6:37you know, don't we all? So that's Chamber.
- 6:40I hope you enjoyed this episode. Let me know in the comments if
- 6:44you want one of your favorite characters to be broken down
- 6:46because I love doing these. And thank you to the listener or
- 6:49watcher who asked me to do Chamber because I did not think
- 6:54to do Chamber. To be honest.
- 6:55There are so many mutants in the world and it is really hard to
- 7:00nail down every single one. But they're all cool, man.
- 7:03Like they're all cool. So if you have a favorite mutant
- 7:06or a favorite Marvel character, just let me know because I
- 7:09really do like doing these. So with that being said, be sure
- 7:12to like and subscribe and have a marvelous day.