Stonewall has one of those powers that sounds like the answer to an argument: you cannot knock him down. Then Storm comes along and demonstrates how much depends on the situatio…

Stonewall has one of those powers that sounds like the answer to an argument: you cannot knock him down. Then Storm comes along and demonstrates how much depends on the situation, the footing and whether he is paying attention. His first story puts him alongside Crimson Commando and Super Sabre, before their government service. Their campaign of hunting people makes him an antagonist before Freedom Force ever enters the picture. His occasional doubts do not undo his participation. They make it clearer that he has opportunities to recognize what is wrong. Storm saving him when he is in danger gives those doubts particular weight. She offers help to someone involved in hunting her. Whatever justifications the veterans have given themselves, she supplies an example of conduct they cannot comfortably dismiss. When he is assigned to Freedom Force, the existing members hardly offer a warm welcome. Blob immediately wants to test the newcomer, and Fred gets the embarrassing result instead. It is a good introduction to the difference between a power failing under specific circumstances and that power being worthless. Stonewall has not become harmless because Storm outthought him. The Muir Island rescue gives him a chance to use that stubborn physical presence for other people. He helps Destiny out of the wrecked aircraft and later intervenes when Mystique is in danger. Those actions deserve to be remembered alongside his earlier cruelty, without allowing either part to erase the other. Donald Pierce kills him in #255. Stonewall's resistance to being moved is not immunity to every possible attack, and the distinction becomes fatal. He is left with an uneven history: a man who helped turn punishment into sport, then also put himself between teammates and danger. Freedom Force gives him room to make better choices, but it cannot guarantee that he will survive long enough to make many of them.