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Spiral

Spiral

95 appearances · Bronze Age · 1985–2023 · 5 key issues
Who is Spiral?

Rita Wayword was a stuntwoman and adventurer who became stranded in the dimension-hopping realm called the Wildways, where the sorcerer Longshot's enemy Mojo had her transformed — through dark magic and cybernetic augmentation — into the six-armed, sorcery-wielding mercenary known as Spiral.

Few characters in Marvel's Bronze Age arrived with the kind of immediate, unsettling mystique that Spiral did — bursting onto the scene in Longshot #1 in 1985, conjured by the remarkable creative partnership of Ann Nocenti and Arthur Adams. Over nearly four decades of publication, this enigmatic figure has woven herself through some of Marvel's most compelling corners, racking up 90 catalog appearances and five key collector issues that speak to her genuine impact on the mythology. Her deepest roots run through The Uncanny X-Men and Uncanny X-Force, and her team affiliations — the X-Men and the morally complicated Freedom Force — place her at fascinating crossroads of loyalty and danger, sharing pages with luminaries like Logan, Storm, and Ororo Munroe. Whether you're a longtime X-devotee or a collector hunting characters with real depth and longevity, Spiral is the kind of figure who rewards closer attention.

Identity

Real name. Rita Wayword

Teams & affiliations
Freedom ForceX-MenCommission on Superhuman ActivitiesX-FactorWeapon X Program
★ First appearance
Longshot #1
Sep 1985

Top series

Covers through the years — 1985–2021

Longshot #1 1985
Longshot #1
The Uncanny X-Men #225 1988
The Uncanny X-Men #225
The X-Men Annual #1 1992
The X-Men Annual #1
X-Force #60 1996
X-Force #60
Cable: Second Genesis #1 1999
Cable: Second Genesis #1
New X-Men #22 2006
New X-Men #22
Essential X-Factor #2 2007
Essential X-Factor #2
X-Babies: Stars Reborn #[nn] 2010
X-Babies: Stars Reborn #[nn]
Marvel Now! Omnibus #[nn] 2013
Marvel Now! Omnibus #[nn]
Captain America: Sam Wilson #2 2016
Captain America: Sam Wilson #2
X-Factor Epic Collection #7 2018
X-Factor Epic Collection #7
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #13 2021
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #13

Appearances

Longshot (1985)
Marvel Age Annual (1985)
#2
The New Mutants Annual (1984)
#2
X-Factor (1986)
X-Men Annual (1970)
The New Mutants (1983)
X-Factor Annual (1986)
Captain America (1968)
Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem (1989)
Marvel Comics Presents (1988)
The X-Men Annual (1992)
#1
X-Force Annual (1992)
#1
X-Men Halloween Special Edition (1993)
#1
Spider-Woman (1993)
#2
Wolverine Special (1996)
Youngblood / X-Force (1996)
#1
X-Force / Youngblood (1996)
#1
X-Men: Danger Room Battle Archives (1996)
X-Force (1991)
#60
Marvel Vision (1996)
#15
Beast (1997)
#1
Cable: Second Genesis (1999)
#1
X-Force: Shatterstar (2005)
#2
New X-Men (2004)
#22
New X-Men: Childhood's End (2006)
#1
Essential X-Factor (2005)
#2
X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David (2005)
#3
X-Babies (2009)
#4
X-Men: Psylocke (2010)
X-Babies: Stars Reborn (2010)
X-Force Omnibus (2013)
#1
Uncanny X-Force (2013)
Marvel Now! Omnibus (2013)
X-Men: The Road to Onslaught (2014)
#1
Cable and X-Force (2013)
#4
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration (2014)
#1
Captain America: Sam Wilson (2016)
#2
Wolverine: Old Man Logan (2015)
#2
Wolverine: Weapon X Unbound (2017)
X-Force Epic Collection (2017)
#1
X-Factor Epic Collection (2017)
#7
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men (2003)
Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection (2020)
#1
New Mutants Omnibus (2020)
#2
Captain Britain Omnibus (2021)
X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus (2021)
#1
X-Men Epic Collection (2014)
#20
Wolverine Epic Collection (2014)
#9
X-Men Legends (2022)
#2
The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus (2006)
#5
X-Men No. 1 Facsimile Edition (2023)
Captain Marvel (2019)
#10