Skids (Sally Blevins) is a Marvel Comics mutant. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, she first appeared in X-Factor vol. 1 #7 (August 1986).

Fictional character biography[link]

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Morlocks[link]

Little has been revealed of Sally Blevins' past. It is known that her power first manifested after she was abused by her stepfather. Her mother Matilda is deceased and the current whereabouts of her step father is unknown.^[1] She ended up a runaway, living on, or rather under, the streets with the Morlocks, a group of homeless mutants. Most Morlocks voluntarily (or, in some cases, involuntarily) took on inhuman appearances at the hands of the Morlock facial sculptor, Masque. Sally's force field protected her from Masque's power, allowing her to maintain her normal appearance, leading to resentment from some Morlocks. At one point, Skids encountered Rusty Collins, who was being pursued by the Freedom Force (government-chartered mutant enforcers composed of former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) and a mob of mutant-hating humans. Rusty had accidentally injured a woman with his pyrokinetic powers and was wanted by the U.S Government. Skids' force field allowed the two to easily escape, but were eventually overtaken by the Freedom Force on the edge of Central Park.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Before the evil mutants could take them in, a mob of humans attacked the Freedom Force. In the confusion, Skids and Rusty escaped. Skids tried to get Rusty to the safety of the underground home of the Morlocks, but the Freedom Force caught up with them again, this time in the sewers beneath New York. The Force member Blob was pounding Rusty into the sewer wall when the mutant hero team X-Factor arrived. After a brief skirmish, Freedom Force retreated.^[2]

X-Factor, X-Terminators, and New Mutants[link]

With X-Factor's mentorship, Skids and Rusty began to learn more about their powers, and were the first of several X-Factor trainees.^[3] They shared other adventures alongside the rest of X-Factor's trainees, at one point calling themselves the X-Terminators.

During the Inferno storyline, the X-Terminators teamed up with the New Mutants to help rescue mutant babies from N'astirh, who was using them to help keep open a portal to Limbo.^[4] Skids aided the New Mutants and Namor the Sub-Mariner against an undersea monster.^[5] At the conclusion of Inferno, Skids joined the New Mutants, along with Rusty, Rictor and Boom Boom.^{[volume & issue needed]} Skids and Rusty learned that Freedom Force were taking mutant infants that were abducted during the demonic invasion into government custody for exploitation.^[6] Rusty and Skids were separated from the group for some time. Freedom Force surrounded them at the Statue of Liberty island. Skids' force field blocks their attacks but they simply wait until pure exhaustion drops her. Rusty's flames are neutralized by the Freedom Force member Pyro, who can control any flames generated by another source. The pair was captured by Freedom Force.^[7]

The other New Mutants were unable to rescue their friends due to their concurrent adventures. Rusty and Skids escaped from their prison cells to stop the criminals Nitro and Vulture.^[8] They escaped the federal prison and defeated Nitro, but thanks to the fight Rusty was brought back into the sights of Freedom Force. While attempting to escape, he was severely injured by the Blob and they were recaptured by Freedom Force.^[9] While recovering in the hospital, he and Skids were contacted by members of the Mutant Liberation Front. With soldiers opening fire on them, they felt there was no other choice than to join them.^[10]

The Mutant Liberation Front[link]

Shortly thereafter, Rusty and Skids were brainwashed by Stryfe into following him blindly. Due to this, Rusty and Skids had no qualms about attacking former teammate Cannonball during the X-Cutioner's Song storyline. At the end of this story, the Mutant Liberation Front were turned in to the authorities.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly after, Rusty and Skids were kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity. While being transported, X-Force (the team created by the former members of the New Mutants), rescued them. Arriving back at their base, X-Force was soon confronted by Exodus. He was inviting original New Mutants Cannonball and Sunspot to Avalon, a "safe haven" for selected mutants. Cannonball refused to go unless all former New Mutants present (Boom Boom, Rictor, Rusty and Skids) were invited also. While Exodus complained that Rusty and Skids were "damaged" due to their brainwashing, he finally acquiesced.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Avalon[link]

Upon arriving at Avalon, the mutants were taken to "the Savior" (in reality Magneto), who used his powers to undo the brainwashing done to Rusty and Skids. When X-Force arrived to save their friends, Rusty and Skids decided they would stay with Magneto, feeling that they owed him. With thus being done, they joined the Acolytes.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly after the Age of Apocalypse storyline, a mutant body (Holocaust) was discovered floating in space near Avalon. It was brought on board. While on guard duty watching over the thought-to-be frozen body, Rusty's life force was drained by Holocaust, killing him. Holocaust then destroyed the Avalon space station leaving Skids stranded on a piece of debris plummeting away from the station, struggling to maintain her force field. Skids was rescued by Jean Grey and taken to the X-Men's mansion for medical attention. Upon recuperation, Skids left the mansion without being noticed.^{[volume & issue needed]}

College[link]

Skids had become a college student, studying biological sciences. She was contacted by her friends in X-Force who were on a cross-country trip, but they were all attacked by the villain Reignfire, who was then leading an incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front. During the adventure, Skids' force field disrupted the teleportation abilities of MLF member Locus, causing both of them to be caught in a trans-spatial backlash which deposited them in the Balkan country of Latveria. Skids and Locus were then captured by an age-old sorceress named Pandemonia, the self-styled Queen of Chaos, who sought to recruit mutants into her own personal army. With the assistance of the young sorceress Jennifer Kale, X-Force managed to defeat Pandemonia and rescue their ally.^{[volume & issue needed]}

X-Corporation[link]

Despite her decision to remove herself from mutant-related activity and superheroism, Skids was nonetheless eventually recruited by former New Mutant teammate Sunspot, now a leader of the Los Angeles branch of the X-Corporation (a worldwide network supporting mutant causes), to join his cause. This faction assisted the X-Treme X-Men after the villain Elias Bogan took mental possession of some of their members. Skids was defeated in battle by the possessed Bishop, who attached a generator to her which caused her spin rapidly on the surface of her own slippery force field. Eventually, though, the remaining heroes defeated Bogan.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly afterwards, X-Men founder Charles Xavier (who also founded the X-Corps initially) had the network disbanded when he decided the world had become too dangerous for mutants in the public sector, and Skids presumably returned to a civilian life.^{[volume & issue needed]}

M-Day and Apocalypse[link]

When the reality warping-mutant the Scarlet Witch used her powers to negate the abilities of most of the world's mutants' superhuman abilities (an event subsequently referred to as M-Day), Skids found herself surprised and possibly even disappointed to learn that she retained her own powers. In the anti-mutant aftermath that followed, Skids wound up one of several remaining mutants seeking refuge on Xavier's estate, sharing a tent with the mutants Magma and Outlaw. During this time, the ancient X-Men nemesis Apocalypse attacked the estate with his loyal Horsemen. The Horseman Famine sapped the energies of the camping refugees, forcing them to crave sustenance of any kind. When Apocalypse offered his empowered blood to them, it was all that the heroes could do to keep Skids and other desperate mutants from accepting the evil substance. Despite this near-betrayal, Xavier forgave Skids and the others and allowed them to remain on the grounds. However, Skids eventually departed the camp and was not heard of again for some time.^{[volume & issue needed]}

S.H.I.E.L.D.[link]

Recently, Skids has become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for as yet unknown reasons. She was assigned to pose as an operative of Masque's rogue splinter group of Morlocks who attempt to carry out the designs of their new "prophet," the late Morlock precognitive Qwerty. Simultaneously, she was assigned to infiltrate Masque's Morlock rivals, a more pacifistic sect that were nonetheless equally devoted to Qwerty and her book of prophecies. This sect made the underground sanctuary Lindisfarne their home base, which housed their sacred text of Qwerty's scripture. In both roles, Skids apparently feigned equal devotion to Qwerty's prophecies.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Appearing as a reluctant and listless (and possibly alcoholic) recruit of Masque's faction, she purposefully took part in Masque's plan to disfigure humans by bombing a subway train with a gene-altering chemical weapon. Her deep cover prevented her from interfering when Masque went on to deform them with his powers. She also did nothing to stop Masque and his cohort Bliss when they decided to abduct and torture Leech, her former friend when they were X-Factor trainees. The X-Men Storm, Warpath, Hepzibah and ex-Morlock Caliban go after Masque in the tunnels, and find Skids unconscious after she was caught in the crossfire of an attempted raid on Masque's crew by other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They wonder why she is there, and while Caliban defends her character, Storm questions her loyalty due to her complicated history with the X-Men. When a S.H.I.E.L.D. Sentinel attacks the X-Men (thinking them to be Masque loyalists), Skids recovers and takes charge of the investigation, much to Caliban's delight. She then fills the X-Men in on her assignment and Qwerty's prophecies, and leads them to Lindisfarne and introduces them to Qwerty's friend and priestess Delphi.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Later, Skids and the X-Men are captured by Masque's crew. Masque wants to initiate a war between humans and remaining mutants via a devastating terrorist attack, and leave his captives' corpses at the scene to further de-legitimize Xavier's vision. However, the captives escape, and while the X-Men defeat Masque, Skids left the scene with Qwerty's book.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Skids shortly afterward found Magneto at a local cemetery and gave him the book, informing him that she would get into a lot of trouble if her actions were discovered. She stated that the book said Magneto was still a mutant.^[11]

Powers and abilities[link]

Sally Blevins is a mutant that has a semipermeable personal protective deflection field that provides nearly total protection from all attacks except attacks of insufficient force like gas. Her force field disperses energy assaults, reflects kinetic impact off itself, and even negates friction, making it impossible for anyone to hold on to her. Therefore, Skids cannot be grabbed or entangled when using her powers. She also is immune to Masque's powers when her force field is activated, as he cannot touch her. Skids also can move at speeds faster than she can run by "skating" the surface of her force field across the ground.

Originally, Sally was unable to turn off her force field but with practice is able to turn it off and on at will without concentrating. If Skids concentrates, she can extend her force field to protect others in her immediate area at least up to 30 cubic feet (0.85 m³).

Other versions[link]

Age of Apocalypse[link]

In 10th anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse, Skids made a brief appearance. Like many other mutants not deemed worthy enough to serve Apocalypse, Skids' was one of many inmates in the Breeding Pens that escaped after the fall of Apocalypse. She along with a trail of escaped mutants took residence in the sewers and created once again the Morlocks society. They did not trust any outsiders, not even the X-Men, now mutant hunting officers of the newly restored human government, when they ventured into Morlock territory, inviting them to come and live with them in the surface world. The Morlocks lashed out at them for fear of being locked up and thrown back into cages by them. Due to the experiments she was put through in the Breeding Pens, Skids' powers have been mastered to such a point that she could shield herself and several others from Storm's lightning bolts. Nonetheless, the X-Men would emerge victorious and the Morlocks were brought back to the Xavier Institute where they were detained. Their fates after being remanded into government custody is unknown.^{[volume & issue needed]}

What If[link]

In the reality shown in What if (2nd series) #85, Xavier and Magneto set their differences aside peacefully, and Avalon was left undisturbed in Earth’s orbit. However, Magneto’s dream of a peaceful haven for mutants did not come true, for no more than ten years later, his Acolytes were at each other's throats. Some of them wanted to move Avalon to another galaxy, thinking that they were still to close to humanity’s influence, whereas the others believed that they should kill humanity and conquer Earth for themselves. Rusty and Skids stayed away from either side and the constant fights, them being busier with themselves, as they were expecting a child. Hank McCoy helped to deliver Avalon’s first baby, and examining the boy, he found something special in his genetic make-up. Apparently the son of Sally and Rusty, Sean Collins, was the next step in human evolution – Homo ultima – capable of choosing and altering his mutation at maturity. As the word spread, the different Acolyte factions put their differences aside, and feeling threatened by the arrival of a new race, they teamed up to attract Rusty and Skids and kill their baby. With Sean dead, Sally and Rusty turned their back on the Acolytes and returned to Earth. The sad part was that actually the boy was a normal mutant; Magneto had faked the test results, well aware that his Acolytes needed a common enemy to unite against.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In other media[link]

Skids made an appearance in the X-Men episode "No Mutant is an Island", voiced by Tara Strong.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Skids at Marvel.com
• Uncannyxmen.net: Spotlight on...Skids

Look up skids in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Skids may refer to:

• Skids (Transformers) is the name of several Transformers characters
• Skids (band), a Scottish band
• Skids (comics), a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics
• Skids (EP) a 1977 EP by the Scottish punk label No-Bad

See also[link]

• Skid (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Dave Kellett
Kellett in June 2011
Residence	Los Angeles, CA
Other names	David Kellett
Education	University of Notre Dame, University of California San Diego, University of Kent at Canterbury
Occupation	Cartoonist
Known for	Creator of Sheldon (webcomic) and Drive
Spouse	Gloria Calderon Kellett
Website
http://www.sheldoncomics.com, http://www.drivecomic.com/

Dave Kellett is the creator and cartoonist of two webcomic titles, Sheldon and Drive, and the co-author of How To Make Webcomics.^[1] He is one of a small but growing group of webcomic artists who are self-sufficient.^{[citation needed]}

Early Years and education[link]

Kellett is a southern California native. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelors in English and Spanish. While there, he produced the daily comic strip Four Groups of the Apocalypse for the student newspaper The Observer.^[2][3] He earned a Masters degree from University of California San Diego in Literature with his thesis, "To draw in the crowd : the cartoon and the 'public sphere' of eighteenth-century England." ^[4] He received the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship,^[5] to attend the University of Kent in England (within the Centre for Cartooning and Caricature Studies). There, he earned a Masters degree in History of cartoon art propaganda with his thesis, "Philip Zec: Cartoonist in a Propaganda War."^[6]

Career[link]

Dave Kellett is the creator behind the successful web comics: “Sheldon” about a 10-year-old computer genius billionaire, and the sci-fi strip “Drive”. The author of twelve comic books, and the co-author of the Harvey-Award-nominated book “How To Make Webcomics,” Kellett regularly speaks around the country on the subject of cartooning in new media. His Ohio State lecture can be found here: Freeing of the Comics (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

at the 2010 Emerald City Comicon in March 2010

Currently, he is working on a comics documentary with twice-Sundance-nominated cinematographer, Fred Schroeder. He has been an invited speaker at Savannah College of Art & Design, the Society of Illustrators, Ohio State’s triennial Festival of Cartoon Art, the Charles M. Schulz Museum, the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum, Loyola Marymount University, South by Southwest Festival (SxSW), San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Seattle’s Emerald City Comicon and more. His cartoons have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, and dozens of others.

Kellett holds two Masters degrees in the art and history of cartooning: First, at the University of California San Diego; and then at the University of Kent, UK, at its Centre for Cartoon and Caricature Studies, on a full academic scholarship from the Rotary Foundation. After working for Mattel Toys as the head writer and a senior toy designer for 8 years, Dave pursued cartooning full time in 2007. Dave started Sheldon in 1998 and Drive in 2009.

Awards[link]

• Nominated for an Eisner Award in 2011 ^[7]
• Nominated for a Harvey Award in 2009 ^[8]
• Finalist, Scipps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award (College Cartooning)^[9]
• Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar ^[10][11]

Authored Books[link]

Kellett has authored the following books:

• Still Got It: The Seventh Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-9-0
• Living Dangerously With Saturated Fats: The Sixth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-8-3
• Nerds On Parade: The Fifth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-7-6
• Pugs: God's Little Weirdos ISBN 978-0-9655060-6-9
• A Blizzard of Lizards: The Fourth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-5-2
• 62% More Awesome: The Third Sheldon Collection
• The Good, The Bad & The Pugly: The Second Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-3-8
• Pure Ducky Goodness: The First Sheldon Collection ISBN 0-9655060-1-0
• A Well Balanced Meal: The Very Best of: Four Food Groups of the Apocalypse ISBN 0-9655060-0-2

He also co-authored the book How to Make Webcomics.^[12]

Press & Interviews[link]

• Freeing of the Comics (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Catalist Magazine (via Google Translate)
• Forbes Magazine "My Turn, Your Turn" by Helaine Olen
• Syracuse Post-Standard
• Syracuse Post-Standard
• Notre Dame Magazine
• Fleen.com
• Websnark.com
• Wired Magazine^[13]
• Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio by Andertoons
• London Daily Telegraph
• Houston Chronicle
• Wizard
• Tell Tale Features
• Fleen, part 1, part 2, and part 3.
• The Costco Connection
• UCSD Guardian
• Andertoons.com
• Phi Kappa Phi Forum
• University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism Student Website^[14]

Acting and Other Projects[link]

Kellett was a part of the sketch comedy group And Donkey Makes Five from Los Angeles, California.^[15] He also performed in Comedy Central’s South Beach Comedy Festival in Miami in 2009.^[16] Kellett has performed on stage in Skirts and Flirts in New York^[17] and in Los Angeles.^[18] He also performed in Der Inka von Peru at the George Wood Theatre in London.

Kellett is a co-host of the comics-focused podcast, Webcomics Weekly.^[19]

References[link]

1. ^ Drawn.ca review of How To Make Webcomics
2. ^ Forum on Sheldon Comics
3. ^ Starting the Next Course by KC Kenney
4. ^ ‘’To draw in the crowd : the cartoon and the "public sphere" of eighteenth-century England’’ by Dave Kellett
5. ^ Rotary Foundation article
6. ^ Thesis ‘’Philip Zec: Cartoonist in a Propaganda War
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ Publishers Weekly on Harvey Award
9. ^ Comix Talk
10. ^ Kellett Biography
11. ^ Article on Kellett by Rotary Foundation
12. ^ How to Make Webcomics
13. ^ Wired Magazine: Underwire
14. ^ ‘’A Pioneer in Web Comics’’ by Stephanie Guzman
15. ^ And Donkey Makes Five
16. ^ South Beach Comedy Festival
17. ^ Skirts and Flirts in New York
18. ^ Skirts and Flirts in Los Angeles
19. ^ Webcomics Weekly

External links[link]

• "Freeing of the Comics"
• Sheldon Comics Wikipedia page
• Official Sheldon website
• Webcomics Weekly
• Half Pixel

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2010)

Simon Gerard Kirby (born East Sussex, 22 December 1964), also known as Simon Radford-Kirby, is an entrepreneur and Conservative politician.

Early Life and Career[link]

Simon Kirby was born in Hastings, East Sussex in 1964. He attended Chantry Infants School, Sandown Primary School and Hastings Grammar School. He has a BSc(Hons) degree in Mathematical Modelling from the Open University and studied Operational Research at the London School of Economics.

Kirby established a number of successful businesses in various industries across Brighton. He was instrumental in establishing Surf 107, Brighton's independent radio station (later renamed Juice 107.2), as well as the Webb Kirby (later C-Side) pub, restaurant and nightclub chain in the city, founded together with Brighton businessman Martin Webb, now a TV presenter and Telegraph columnist.

He has been a school governor at a number of schools during the past 20 years.

Political career[link]

Kirby was an elected councillor at various times from 1992 on Brighton and Hove City Council, Mid Sussex District Council and East Sussex County Council, where he was cabinet member with responsibility for Economic Development.

He stood down as a Cabinet member on East Sussex County Council in 2009 to concentrate full time on winning back the parliamentary seat in Brighton Kemptown. He was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Brighton, Kemptown in the May 2010 general election, with a majority of 1,328, gaining the seat from Labour.

He delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2010, in which he paid tribute to his predecessors and spoke of his pride in representing the exciting and diverse constituency of Brighton Kemptown. He was recently listed as one of twenty Conservative MPs with "true grit" by the Conservative Home website and is recognised for his work on LGBT and animal welfare issues as well as taking a close interest in issues affecting older people.

Since his election Simon Kirby has been elected to both the Business, Innovation and Skills and Administration Select Committees. He is also Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS.

Since becoming a Member of Parliament he has also taken on responsibility as patron of the Sussex Beacon, the Sussex ME society.

Personal life[link]

Simon is married to Elizabeth and has six children. He has lived for nearly all of his life in the Sussex area. Simon has been a lifelong supporter of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and still finds time to watch them occasionally. He is a director of Whitehawk Football Club in the constituency.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Simon Kirby MP official constituency website
• Simon Kirby MP Conservative Party profile
• Brighton and Hove Conservatives
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Survey replies of political views at The Guardian

News articles

• The Argus election candidate information
• Kemptown Conservatives' announcement of his selection
• Notice of election to East Sussex County Council