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Each week Star Wars Spotlight combs through the digital archives of Marvel Unlimited to showcase one classic story from that distant galaxy filled with Jedi, Sith, princesses, scoundrels and droids.

Gunnery Sergeant Wrenga Jixton, better known as Jix, had the impressive abilities to not only break into any place he wanted, but also unravel a complicated con, both of which played into STAR WARS: SHADOW STALKER. The Ryder Windham and Nick Choles one-shot from 1997 collected the story originally serialized in the “Star Wars Galaxy” magazine.

Regular Star Wars Spotlight readers will remember Jix from the SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE comic as the agent sent by Vader to keep Luke Skywalker safe on Tatooine. To do so, he joined a Swoop Gang and put himself in grave danger to fulfill his mission. SHADOW STALKER, set between the events of “Empire Strikes Back” and the Shadows of the Empire multimedia event, began on Coruscant with a squad of Stormtroopers approaching Jix about a job. Unfortunately for them, they tried to flex their muscles, which didn’t sit well with the one-time Academy combat trainer.

Still, Jix used his skills to infiltrated Darth Vader’s inner sanctum, though the Sith Lord expected him. As the two conversed, they revealed a secret deal existing between them as well as some bad blood. After some posturing on both sides, Vader finally got to the point: He wanted Jix to kill Imperial Governor Torlock for planning to switch sides, but make it look like an assassination by the Rebels he secretly intended to join.

With that Jix flew off to Corulag on a drone barge and immediately started causing trouble in the name of the Rebellion. He even stopped a group of Black Sun operatives posing as Alliance faithful from killing Torlock in his speeder. After blasting his way into the vehicle, he found Torlock’s daughter Frija hiding inside behind a hologram of her dad.

Star Wars: Shadow Stalker (1997) #1

• Published: November 19, 1997
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: May 07, 2015
• Writer: Ryder Windham
• Cover Artist: Nick Choles

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Later, Jix took off to check Admiral Droon’s place for traces of Torlock and found his target sitting in a jail cell—well, not technically, as he found himself face to face with a droid decoy. Droon then appeared and sent both man and machine down into a hole with a giant, fire-breathing, snake-like creature ready for a snack. Jix not only made short work of the dragon slug, but also figured out who had betrayed who thanks to some information from the Torlock droid. He then faced Droon and his accomplice—the real Frija—before reuniting the droid versions of the father and daughter and leaving for Coruscant to explain everything to Vader with the admiral along to answer for his crimes against the Empire.

From the Jedi Temple Archives

Thanks to speeches from both Admiral Droon and Darth Vader, we learned quite a bit about Jix in this issue. As already mentioned, Corellian Wrenga Jixton made his way up to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant before an incident on Falleen that led not only to a court martial, but also imprisonment on Kessel. At some point, he escaped and wound up on a planet called Aridus. There, Vader found himself in some exploding towers and lost consciousness, but awoke on a ship piloted by Jix. The two struck a deal that boiled down to Jix working for Vader as long as the Empire promised to leave Aridus alone.

Next time, we return to the 1998-launched STAR WARS series for a story called “Outlander” by Tim Truman, Tom Raney, and Rick Leonardi.

The zoo has called her death a "freak accident."

Writer Cullen Bunn and artist David Baldeon deal with huge characters in MONSTERS UNLEASHED every month. However, with the series’ third issue, they’ll also be introducing some gigantic personalities all with malevolent intent: the New Intelligencia!

Originally gunning for The Hulk, this new take on the familiar group features The Leader, Mad Thinker, M.O.D.O.K. 2.0 and Mr. Sinister! As some of the most cunning minds in the Marvel Universe, they will put their giant heads together and come up with a way to target Kid Kaiju.

We talked with Bunn about building this new squad, playing with some of the most iconic villains Marvel has, and the joys of writing The Mad Thinker!

Marvel.com: Does this new Intelligencia have a specific goal or mission statement for lack of a better term? And how does that play into the series?

Cullen Bunn: This iteration of the group has the same mission statement as previous versions: evil through smarts. Okay, that’s not their mission statement, but it’s close. In the case of MONSTERS UNLEASHED, the New Intelligencia has found something they’ve not seen before. While each and every one of them has created monsters of one sort or another, they’ve always had to really work at it. Kid Kaiju, though, has actually created living, breathing creatures just by drawing them. To the Intelligencia, he represents the power of raw genetic creation, and that is worth studying.

Marvel.com: M.O.D.O.K. 2.0, Mr. Sinister, The Leader, and Mad Thinker are also fairly bombastic. How fun is it bouncing them off of each other?

Cullen Bunn: So much fun! They all have such unique personalities and approaches to reaching their malevolent goals. With this group, I wanted to show that Kid Kaiju and his monsters were going to be dealing with very real threats in the Marvel Universe. Each of the members of the New Intelligencia is a genuine threat in their own right. Working together, they are extremely dangerous.

Marvel.com: Leader, Mad Thinker, and M.O.D.O.K. have experience with this group. What made them bring in Mr. Sinister?

Cullen Bunn: Sinister, with his experience with cloning and such, was a perfect addition to the group. He is sort of a genetic expert. And I think people forget just how smart Mr. Sinister really is. His spot on this team is well-deserved.

Marvel.com: What sets the 2.0 version of M.O.D.O.K. apart from the others we’ve seen?

Cullen Bunn: Well, M.O.D.O.K. 2.0 is a clone of the original M.O.D.O.K., and he’s a little more calm and cunning than his predecessor. Of course, I always saw the original M.O.D.O.K. as a ranting fiend, so being [calmer] than him isn’t too hard. I also think he’s more cruel and scary. He actually wanted to become this abomination. Of all the members of the New Intelligencia, he’s the most evil, I think.

The Intelligencia by RB Silva

Marvel.com: Of this group, Mad Thinker’s been around the longest. What’s it like working with such a lasting villain?

Cullen Bunn: I love The Mad Thinker. I’m trying to approach him a little differently than we might have seen before. He has this weird, almost religious take on his own insanity. He’s frequently offering bits of strange philosophy regarding madness.

Marvel.com: The characters in this new version of the Intelligencia are mostly used to operating on their own or leading groups. How do they work together in a group situation?

Cullen Bunn: If anything, it will be the hubris of this group that tears it apart. Each member of the group believes they are the smartest, and there’s a little jealousy between them for that reason. Their minds are always working, always figuring out possibilities, but that makes them paranoid…maybe with good reason.

The Intelligencia makes their presence felt in MONSTERS UNLEASHED #3 on June 21 thanks to Cullen Bunn and David Baldeon.