Box (comics)

For more information on his incarnation of Box, see Madison Jeffries.

Box (Roger Bochs) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, specifically Alpha Flight, of which Box was a member. He first appeared in Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1983).^[1]

Box
Box (middle) charges into battle alongside his Alpha Flight teammates. From Alpha Flight #36 (July 1986). Cover art by Mike Mignola.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1983) (as Box) Alpha Flight #11 (June 1984) (as Roger Bochs)
Created by	John Byrne
In-story information
Alter ego	Roger Bochs
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Alpha Flight Beta Flight Gamma Flight
Notable aliases	Omega
Abilities	Mechanical genius, Ability to phase into the Box-armor and merge with it As Box: Superhuman strength

Fictional character biography

Roger Bochs was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He was a brilliant engineer and mechanic who lost both of his legs. He created a remote-controlled robot which he called Box as a play on his own name. James Hudson saw Bochs' potential. He helped Bochs with the construction of Box and recruited him into Gamma Flight, a training program for the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight, which was led by Hudson as Guardian. Bochs graduated to Beta Flight, a group for more advanced superhero trainees, but the Canadian government dissolved Alpha Flight, and Beta Flight and Gamma Flight were cancelled.

Most Gamma Flight members are recruited by Jerry Jaxon, a disgraced former employer of Hudson, to join Omega Flight. Bochs joins Omega Flight with the intention to destroy it from within.^[2] However, Jaxon attacks Guardian by wearing Box's controlling helmet. Guardian overloads Box, and the feedback kills Jaxon. The damage sustained during the battle causes Guardian's suit to explode.^[3]

Bochs returns to work on Box, but feels partly responsible for Guardian's death. Another friend of Guardian, Madison Jeffries, meets Bochs.^[4] Collaborating, and because of Jeffries' mutant ability to shape metal, plastic and glass with his mind, they significantly improve upon the original Box design. It is no longer controlled by a helmet. Instead, the user physically merges with the larger and more powerful Box.^[5]

Bochs wants to use Box to hunt down Delphine Courtney, an android working for Jaxon and the leader of Omega Flight, for its part in Hudson's death, but Box is needed elsewhere: The body of Walter Langkowski (alias Sasquatch) has been taken over by the Great Beast Tanaraq, and Snowbird is forced to destroy the body. Alpha Flight projects Langkowski's soul into the Box machine.^[6] With Alpha Flight, Bochs encounters Courtney once more, who is impersonating Guardian, along with the rest of Omega Flight.^[7] Omega is defeated with the assistance of the Beyonder,^[8] and Jeffries arrives to use his powers to turn Courtney inside-out, destroying her.^[9] Bochs tries to find a new body for him,^[10] but fails, and Langkowski's soul left Box.^[11] Bochs controls Box once again and joins Alpha Flight as an official member.^[12]

Bochs and Jeffries use Courtney's remains to reconstruct Guardian's battlesuit, allowing Hudson's widow Heather to become Vindicator.^[13] Aurora expresses a romantic interest in Bochs,^[14] who returns her affection, but Aurora's fickle nature is extremely stressful for Bochs. During an underwater mission, Bochs surfaces too fast while merged with Box and suffers from decompression sickness.^[15] He is unable to leave Box and starts to panic that he could never touch Aurora again.^[16] Madison Jeffries' brother Lionel (also known as Scramble), who could shape flesh and bone with his mind, not only separates and heals Bochs from his decompression sickness;^[17] he also restores Bochs' legs and gives him an athlete's body.^[18] Lionel does not tell Bochs, though, that he used dead human bodies as material for Bochs' legs and new body. During this time, Langkowski's soul briefly inhabits Box again before ultimately settling in the body of the recently deceased Snowbird.^[18] Langkowski was Aurora's lover before Bochs, and she leaves Bochs for him again. Bochs is bitter (though he has some amusement when he finds out that Langkowski cannot use Snowbird's shapeshifting to turn into a male). Feeling betrayed by Aurora and with his legs starting to decompose, Bochs goes insane. Madison Jeffries inhabits Box to prevent the amount of damage Bochs could do, but this only increases the sense of betrayal that Bochs felt.^[19]

Bochs leaves Alpha Flight and goes to Lionel Jeffries, hoping that he could restore his legs again. Lionel, also insane, merges with Bochs and they form Omega, who combines Lionel's powers with Bochs' genius intellect.^[20] Within Box, Madison Jeffries fights Omega. During the fight, Bochs comes to his senses again and starts to rebel against Lionel. Madison is forced to kill Omega, including Bochs.^[21]

Powers and abilities

The original Box is a robot which is controlled by a human wearing a special neural interface helmet. The upgraded version of Box is a unique construct: it cannot operate on its own and its controller does not wear a helmet. He has to phase into Box and merge with it. The controller feels a psychic bond with Box and can feel the damage done to Box as pain. If a person remains merged with Box for too long, he could become bonded to the armor permanently. Box has superhuman strength (which was increased with every improvement Roger Bochs and Madison Jeffries made on the armor) and durability. The improved Box also had the ability to fly and had a wide array of sensors and detecting equipment. Both Box robots possess high levels of superhuman strength, with the newer version being considerably stronger.

Other users of Box

• Jerome Jaxon, who stole the controlling helmet of the original Box from Bochs.
• Walter Langkowski aka Sasquatch, who, after the Great Beast Tanaraq took over his body, became a disembodied spirit, which resided in the armor for a short time.
• Madison Jeffries, who completely changed the look of the armor and used his own powers to constantly change and adapt the armor.