Saturday Showcase: Firebrand

 

Greetings my fellow Nerds,

It is time once again that I showcase a character that you may have never heard of or simply forgotten.  Last weak I showcased the villain Mirage.  Well, sticking to the villains of the Avengers theme, I chose to discuss the Iron Man villain known as Firebrand.  He made is debut in July of 1970 and was very popular in the 70's and 80's.  He made a brief return in the 2000's as one of the villains that the Hood had resurrected to take on the Punisher.  There have also been other versions of the villain known as Firebrand but I am going to concentrate on the original Gary Gilbert.

Gary Gilbert was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is a superpowered enforcer for corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer.   As Firebrand, he is a former radical activist saboteur who turns to violence after believing peaceful protest produced no results.  Firebrand's "clenched fist" logo on his chest recalls the Black Power movement.

In his first appearance in Iron Man #27 (July 1970), Firebrand describes his experiences demonstrating for the civil rights movement in a speech to Iron Man.  The speech is included in the panel above. (It's an actually good speech isn't it Dr. Jay?)

While the story includes some positive messages about the civil rights movement, Firebrand is presented as a villain, because he sets himself outside of the existing political structure, and is willing to let innocents die to further his political and social aims. 

When Firebrand accidentally kills his own father,  he fell to alcoholism and gave up political activism only to work for other villains because he "needed the work".  He later gave up his costumed identity and became a "supervillain agent", brokering employment for other costumed villains.

[Dr. Jay, does this panel look familiar?  Well it should.]

When news of the Scourge of the Underworld's initial wave of supervillain murders spread among the criminal community, Gilbert took it upon himself to gather several costumed criminals for a meeting to determine what should be done about this menace. The meeting, held at an abandoned tavern in Medina County, Ohio, known among the criminal underworld as "The Bar With No Name", turned out to be a massacre, as Scourge infiltrated the event disguised as a bartender; a few minutes into the meeting, Scourge slaughtered every criminal present, including Gilbert, with machine gun fire.

Firebrand was later among 17 of the criminals murdered by the Scourge, who were resurrected by Hood as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.  After the Punisher is captured, he is present at the ritual where the Hood intends to resurrect the Punisher's family. The Punisher refuses to accept this, and forces Firebrand to burn his family alive, and then Punisher shoots Firebrand in the back of the head.

Powers, Abilities, & Equipment

With his suit, the armored exoskeleton gave him superhuman strength and resistance to fire. It also housed flamethrowers (which allowed him to fire thermal blasts from his hands), one mounted on each wrist, and flying jets that gave him the ability to fly.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Iron Man #27 (July 1970)

Created by Archie Goodwin (Writer) & Don Heck (Artist)

Until next time, get your READ on!