Mutant Growth Hormone
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Mutant Growth Hormone or MGH is a fictional drug in the Marvel Universe. The drug is extracted from genetic material taken from superpowered individals, and is usually presented in pill form. Note that, despite the name, the drug is not limited to being refined from mutants. It can be refined from most superpowered individuals, if their genetic make up has been altered.
MGH grants temporary powers to whoever takes it, described as a "temporary genetic shift". Supposedly, these powers are duplicates of those belonging to whomever the genetic material necessary to make the drug was extracted from, although this seems inconsistent. Usually, when the source is unspecified, the effect is increased strength and aggression.
Exactly when the drug first appeared is hard to place. In Iron Man vol. 3 #33–34, a drug was passed around to a party crowd which gave them all very familiar powers and caused them to run amuck. The drug was not named here, however it could easily have been MGH. A drug with very similar uses was being sold by the Vanisher in the 2001 annual of Uncanny X-Men not soon after.
MGH certainly came to prominence in comics written by Brian Michael Bendis. It was central to the plots of the "Lowlife" story arc in Daredevil, where the Owl was refining his own genetic material and building a criminal empire by dealing it, and in the "The Underneath" arc of Alias, where the young Spider-Woman (Mattie Franklin) appeared to be the source of the material.
Recently, Patriot of the Young Avengers was revealed to be using MGH. Having no superpowers of his own, he misled his teammates into believing he had inherited his grandfather Isaiah Bradley's super powers, when in fact Patriot was regularly taking MGH in order to be as effective as his teammates in battle. When this secret was revealed, he quit the drug and the team, though the other Young Avengers have attempted to get him to rejoin.
The Runaways have also encountered the drug on their recent jaunt to New York City. Cloak of Cloak and Dagger was pursued by the New Avengers as he was caught on tape savagely beating Dagger, an attack which landed her in the hospital. It was later revealed that Reginald Mantz, an orderly at that same hospital, was the one behind the attack, mimicking Cloak's powers using MGH.
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