Piotr Rasputin is the teammate everybody can see being strong. When he changes into organic steel, his place in a dangerous scene seems obvious: stand between the threat and who…

Piotr Rasputin is the teammate everybody can see being strong. When he changes into organic steel, his place in a dangerous scene seems obvious: stand between the threat and whoever is easier to hurt. The person making that choice is much less certain of himself than the armored body suggests. Piotr is still a young man far from the life he knew. His shyness and his eye for art give him interests beyond being useful in a fight, and the comic keeps those interests close enough that the metal never becomes his whole personality. The training sequence in #122 makes his uncertainty physical. Under enormous pressure in the Danger Room, he needs to believe that he can keep going. Wolverine's intervention is deliberately harsh, but it exposes something the team can otherwise overlook. Piotr's limits are sometimes tied to confidence rather than to the apparent strength of the body in front of them. Proteus demands something much worse. In #128, Piotr's steel form gives him a way to stop an enemy whose power has left the others struggling. He uses it, and the victory leaves him holding Moira while she mourns her son. That aftermath belongs to the action. Piotr doesn't finish the fight and become emotionally untouched because he had a reason. He can believe he did what was necessary while still feeling the weight of ending a life. The following issue lets that discomfort travel home with him. Colossus gives this team an unusually tender heavy hitter. His gentleness doesn't depend on being spared hard decisions, and his strength doesn't require him to stop feeling them. The combination makes him a believable friend to have beside you, especially when winning has left somebody with nothing to celebrate.