Jerome Beechman was the mutant son of Frederic Beechman, an atomic research scientist at Los Alamos Atomic Proving Grounds, New Mexico, and his wife Emily. Prior to his conception, Beechman's father, a Caucasian scientist, as well as Gemma Sinclair, a black cleaning woman, were exposed to a massive dose of radiation when faulty electrical wiring caused an explosion that breached the facility's small experimental nuclear pile. A year later, the scientist's son was born with black skin and tuffs of body hair. Equally distressing to Gemma Sinclair and her husband was the birth of their daughter, who was born with chalk white skin and fangs. The boy grew up hated by his peers and parents for his freakish appearance. When Beechman was ten, his father drove him out to the middle of the American desert and abandoned him. The boy swore to find his way back and exact revenge on his parents. |
While in the desert, he encountered the Sinclair's' mutant girl, Nekra, who had been similarly mistreated and was running away from home. The two became partners and wandered the Southwest, protecting one another and shunning all other human companionship, surviving by stealth and cunning. For six years, the two educated themselves by listening outside of schoolroom windows and reading stolen books. One night, angry New Mexican townspeople discovered them, having heard rumours about "monsters" invading their hometown, and attacked them with pitchforks and guns. That night, Beechman and Sinclair discovered that sheer hate released latent mutant powers within them, powers they used to slay their tormentors. As his mutant powers surfaced, Beechman's appearance became more apelike, prompting him to take the alias Mandrill. |