Origin

Adrian Corbo was raised in the Canadian orphanage Hull House (nicknamed "Hell House" due to its strict, authoritarian structure) with his older, maternal half-brother, Jared ( Radius). Hull House, not to the boys' knowledge, was actually owned and operated by the Canadian government organization Department H and recruited "Legacies"--children who were the offspring of various superhumans. The orphanage was intended to accelerate the path of young super-powered individuals so that they could sooner serve the Canadian government. (Ironically, Puck had occasionally volunteered at the Hull House and played with the Corbo brothers, but neither party remember each other. It is possible that this was a result of Department H's regular memory tampering).

Mayor Story Arcs

Alpha Flight

When the boys were old enough, they were recruited into the Canadian superhero team, Alpha Flight, where Jared would continue to bully and torment the sensitive Adrian. Intuitive and compassionate, Adrian was plagued with feelings of inadequacy. His fear of combat, failure, and violence ultimately led to his mentor, Madison Jeffries', capture during Flex's first mission against the Zodiac. Teammate Puck continues to encourage Flex following the traumatic loss and the new Alpha Flight begin to make progress in their training.

The most obedient of the newest Flight recruits, Flex reluctantly assists his rebellious brother and fellow teammate Murmur to help a radioactive Sunfire escape from Department H. The three take a road trip using one of Department H's staff hummers. They take a stop at a quaint diner where they are greeted by the villain Mesmero. The hypnotizing mutant entrances the four heroes into working in the diner until the rest of Alpha Flight come looking for their missing comrades. Vindicator is able to break Murmur free from Mesmero's control. However, as all the young trainees become sober minded once more, Mesmero takes control of the veteran Alphans. Flex learns to effectively fight against his mentor, Puck, while also reliving traumas from the Hull House where he could not trust the coordinator, Miss LaSalle, to protect him from a devious monster. The elder Alphans are able to break free and the group return home.

Adrian uses an adoption search engine on the Internet to uncover the superhuman parents of the so-called "Legacy" children. Adrian reveals his half-brother's father to be Unus the Untouchable. It is never revealed who had fathered Adrian himself, although it is long-rumored to be original Flight member Wolverine.

Whether this revelation was made or not, Alpha Flight's next mission has them crossing paths with Wolverine himself. The Alphans accuse the feral mutant of killing their missing teammate, Madison Jeffries, as he is seen fleeing from the crime scene with a brown sack on his shoulders. Flex's intuition and gentleness is instrumental in quelling the conflict between Alpha Flight and the X-Men when he and Cannonball decide to not engage in combat and simply share the facts they both had. The two teams realize it is all a misunderstanding and that Wolverine had been with the X-Men during Jeffries' alleged murder.

After several more adventures, Flex was demoted to Beta Flight, the trainee team, following the return of several more original Alpha Flight members to the team.

Decimation

After M-Day, where the Scarlet Witch depowered 90-98% of the world's mutants, both the Corbo brothers lost their powers. Adrian's current whereabouts are unknown.

Parentage

It was suggested, but never proven, by writer Steven Segle that Flex was the son of Wolverine.

Powers and abilities

Flex was a mutant who could transform his limbs into massive, razor-sharp organic metal blades. It may have been possible that he could transform his entire body into this substance.

Adrian had the ability to "flex" parts of his body into thin sheets of organic metal, which were highly resistant to physical damage. Often times he "flexed" his hands into sharp long blades, and was even shown to flex his leg into a blade preventing someone to grab him. It was relatively thin, but by doing so he had the strength to send over 15 people into the air. Adrian's metal blades were shown to cut through metal with ease and block laser and gunfire, but the overall strength and durability of his organic metal was never stated.

Flex has exhibited a high degree of physical resistance and pain tolerance, as he had tanked a massive punch from Puck, easily a 10-tonner, whom was under mental control by Mesmero and possessed the intent to murder Adrian.