Frenzy is a mutant superhero who has been a member of the X-Men, the Acolytes, and the Alliance of Evil. She has superhuman strength, durability, and stamina and can create shockwaves by clapping her hands. Joanna Cargill is also known as a former mercenary with a troubled family history and a love-hate relationship with Gambit. 

Joanna Cargill was born to an abusive ex-soldier father who favored his son and constantly lashed out at her for any reason. When the news of her brother’s death reached her father, he brutally beat her, causing her powers to activate. She tried to defend herself by punching him, only for her fist to go straight through his chest, killing him. Joanna was afraid of what she was and what she had done, so she ran away.

Joanna became a mercenary known as “Frenzy.” Frenzy came head-to-head with the mutant Gambit during one mission, and she developed a love-hate relationship with him. After Cargill witnessed Magneto chained and put on trial by humans, she became outraged and joined Apocalypse hoping to get even with humanity. She adopted the alias of Frenzy in his ruthless Alliance of Evil.

She stayed with the group and served in several missions, putting her up against the mutant group X-Factor. Her first order from Apocalypse was to capture Rusty Collins and recruit him into their group. X-Factor foiled her plan, and after a heated battle, she fled from feeling overwhelmed. Using a mutant with the ability to enhance others’ powers, Frenzy’s strength and durability made her a challenging foe for the superheroes. Still, she was eventually defeated after the death of her power-heightening accomplice.

Later, Frenzy was invited to join the S.S. Superia, a cruise ship owned by the villainess Superia. Frenzy served alongside the Femizons, a group of super-powered female criminals, and battled Captain America and Paladin. She also broke free from the Vault, a prison for supervillains and created a stir with the Avengers.

Frenzy eventually found acceptance under Magneto’s teachings. She joined the ranks of the second incarnation of the Acolytes, faithful believers of Magneto’s ideals who usually clashed with the X-Men. She participated in several missions, relinquishing the codename Frenzy and preferring to be called by her last name, Cargill.

Their first mission was to kidnap a child from a school called Our Mother of the Sacred Heart. Cargill killed Sharon Friedlander and battled the gold X-Men team with her teammates, Unuscione and the Kleinstock Brothers. Cargill immediately chased after Gambit but was knocked out when Gambit hit her with a charged tire. She retreated, but she battled Iceman during their subsequent encounter with the X-Men. Although they have both changed from the X-Factor days, Cargill punches him until he gains enough power to defeat her with his new ice form.

After Magneto was revealed to be alive, Cargill was among the Acolytes who quickly turned on Fabian Cortez and joined Magneto in his mutant sanctuary, Avalon. While on a mission to recruit mutants into their cause, Cargill, along with Milan and Unuscione, found the young meek boy Neophyte after he betrayed the Acolytes. Cargill was quick to vote guilty at his trial. During the Fall of Avalon, Cargill allied herself with long-time enemy Cyclops for survival, and she and her fellow Acolytes could escape the destroyed space station in time. They crash-landed in Australia but were given to the authorities.

The Acolytes escaped prison and found the remains of Avalon, worshiping it and the return of Magneto. Exodus eventually took over leadership of the Acolytes, and Cargill participated in the attack on Mt. Wundagore, the High Evolutionary’s base of operations.

As a loyal Acolyte, she became a Genoshan ambassador under Magneto’s rule. She was in charge of diplomatic relations with other countries and the United Nations. She also helped Magneto rebuild Genosha and protect its mutant population. She was one of the few survivors of the Sentinel attack that killed millions of mutants on the island.

After decimating the mutant population, Cargill rejoined the Acolytes as a radical approach to restoring mutant numbers. She and her teammates attacked a hospital where they believed a mutant baby was born, but the X-Men and the New Avengers confronted them. Cargill fought against Luke Cage and Ms. Marvel but was eventually defeated and taken into custody.

Cargill was among the mutants trapped in a divergent reality crafted by Legion, where humans hunted down mutants. In this reality, she was a member of the Force Warriors, a group of telekinetics who maintained a protective force field around the mutants’ last refuge. She also had a romantic relationship with Cyclops, who was the leader of the mutant resistance. She was loyal and devoted to him, even when Legacy blinded him. When Legion undid the reality, Cargill retained her memories of being a hero and in love with Cyclops.

Inspired by her experience in the Age of X, Cargill decided to join the X-Men and enrolled as a student at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. She befriended Rogue, who was her former enemy and rival for Gambit’s affections. She also helped the X-Men in various missions, such as fighting against Exodus and his new Acolytes, defending the school from the Avengers during the Avengers vs. X-Men conflict, and battling against Arkea and her Sisterhood of Evil Mutants. She also developed a crush on Wolverine, the school’s headmaster.

After the Terrigen Mist spread worldwide and endangered the mutant race, Cargill joined Storm’s team of X-Men, who sought to protect mutants from the Inhumans. She participated in several missions, such as rescuing Nightcrawler from the Ghosts of Cyclops, fighting against Forge’s Sentinels, and infiltrating Muir Island to stop the Hellfire Club from creating a mutant-killing weapon. She also helped evacuate mutants from Limbo when demons invaded it.

More recently, with the return of S.W.O.R.D. as a mutant organization linked to the nation of Krakoa, Cargill acted as ambassador extraordinary for the Galactic Council. As an agent of S.W.O.R.D., she has become a member of Abigail Brand’s X-Men Red, a team especially envisioned to operate in the society of Arakko on the planet formerly known as Mars.