Saturday Showcase: Bloodhawk (X-Men 2099)

     Greetings fellow lovers of all things comics.  Today's showcase is from the Marvel 2099 line-up.  His name is Bloodhawk and his adventures were originally told in the X-Men 2099 titles.  So, sit back on this chilly day and have some fun learning about the winged "demon" known as Bloodhawk.

    We are first introduced to Bloodhawk as a prisoner of the Synge Casino, about to be executed in a floorshow for damaging Synge transports hauling hazardous materials to desert dumpsites. Krystalin and Meanstreak arrive to rescue him and offer for him to join the new X-Men. Bloodhawk declines, preferring to work by himself to protect his desert home.

    After Synge's enforcers raid the X-Men's mutant gathering, Bloodhawk leads them to a local dam for safety, as repayment for them rescuing him. 

    As the X-Men confront Synge, Skullfire is knocked out one of the casino windows, where Bloodhawk flies in to save him. He joins the fight, during which his wing is broken by Junkpile, but later healed by Xi'an's recently discovered secondary mutation. He stays with the X-Men for a short while longer, attending the funeral of Serpentine who died during the fight with Synge but then returns to the desert.

    Bloodhawk continues to constantly find himself in interesting situations.  Whether its trying to save the Savage Land or to have situations arise with the Doom of his timeline or returning to the X-Men for an occasional battle, Bloodhawk is always on the prowl to help those in need.  

Powers & Abilities

    Bloodhawk possesses mutant powers that allows him to trans morph into his recognizable red form with bat-like wings. In this state, he gained immense strength, stamina, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and healing, hyper-keen senses, winged flight, natural weapons, and resistance to radiation.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1 (1993)

Created by John Francis Moore & Ron Lim

Alter Ego: Lemuel Krug

Species: Human Mutant

Place of origin: Marvel 2099 (Earth-928)

Team affiliations: 

• X-Men 2099
• Halo City Protectorate

**********************************************************************************

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Meanstreak (X-Men 2099)

 I apologize for the late post but I was watching the Wild Card games with friends and family.  It is when I was home I realized I needed to put another showcase up.  I am still staying in the Marvel 2099 universe and I am still on the X-Men team.  This time we will focus on the speedster of 2099, Meanstreak.

    Henri Huang was a scientist at Alchemax who worked alongside Jordan Boone. After Jordan helped Henri break his Alchemax contract, he left New York, where he eventually encountered Krystalin in Berkeley and was recruited into Xi'an's X-Men and was given the codename Meanstreak. Joining the X-Men out of gratitude, he remained for the thrill the work gave him and for Krystallin, with whom he had fallen in love.

    Henri was the team tactician and point man, leading the group through the Synge Casino, searching for evidence to clear suspicion that Xi'an assassinated casino head Noah Synge.  After clearing Xi'an's name, Meanstreak leaves the team briefly to search for Jordan Boone, who had gone missing. As they make their way to New York, aided by Skullfire, Bloodhawk and Krystalin, they are captured by the Theatre of Pain. They manage to escape and arrive in New York to find that Boone had been genetically altered into the 2099 version of the trickster god Loki. Along with Doom, Ravage, Punisher and Spider-Man, they manage to defeat the Alchemax created Aesir and then return to Nevada.

    After the ordeal with Thor and the Norse gods of 2099, Henri is approached by Halloween Jack, the latest persona of Jordan Boone. Together they travel to Las Vegas to enact revenge on the new heads of the Synge casino and children of Noah Synge, Desdemona and Lytton. They easily break in and take over the casino, gaining access to not only the bank accounts of the Synges, but also the rest of the Greater Nevada Syndicate. Henri helps Jack build a Virtual Unreality projector which, when activated, begins warping Nevada and fusing it with alternate dimensional energies. Doom arrives, having recently installed himself as President of the US. He quarantines Las Vegas, leaving Jack to lord over the twisted city. It's at this point Henri decides to move on.

Powers and Abilities

    Henri Huang possesses enhanced speed, stamina, reflexes, and thought process. Meanstreak is capable of breaking the sound barrier, if he pushes himself though only for small periods of time or cover vast distances. His body heals and metabolizes at the same incredible rate, but oddly, he does not seem to need more than average sustenance. [Unlike another speedster from another universe Dr. Jay]

    He is also a technological genius, able to manipulate most computer systems with ease.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  X-Men 2099 #1

Created by John Francis Moore & Ron Lim

Alter Ego: Henri Huang

Species: Human Mutant

Place of Origin:  Earth-928

Team Affiliations: X-Men 2099

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase : Skullfire (X-Men 2099)

 

    It's a new year and I am back to do what I love and that is to educate the masses on the world of comics.  I have been away for awhile due to personal issues but I have made arrangements in my life that will allow me to do things that I want to do and love.  For my first showcases of the year, I decided to focus on a universe that debuted back in the '90s.  That universe is the 2099 universe of heroes and villains from Marvel.  When everyone, including myself, first saw Spider-Man 2099 they flipped out.  But it was some of the other possibilities like the Punisher, Ghost Rider, and the X-Men that caught my interest even more.  So, for my first showcase of 2024, I would like to discuss one of my favorite characters from the X-Men 2099 team.  His name is Skullfire and here is his story.

    Timothy  Fitzgerald (Fitz) was a wealthy, young urban professional until his mutant powers manifested  and uncontrollable burst of energy destroyed his apartment and killed his girlfriend, Reiko. After this, Timothy went into hiding, living on the streets.  It was on t he streets where he was approached by Cerebra, who gave him a card and told him to go to the Nuevo Sol Arcology, in the Nevada desert.  Upon his arrival, Tim was surprised to see other mutants and other genetic outcasts socializing and enjoying themselves. He is introduced to X-Man Serpentina and then their leader Xi'an. However, Tim notices a sniper attempting to assassinate Xi'an. He foils the attempt, but Xi'an is still injured. During their mission to save Xi'an and escape the assassins, Serpentina is killed by a mutant known as Junkpile.  Tim decides to stay with Xi'an because Serpentina trusted him and that was good enough for him...for now.

    Still unable to fully control his powers, Tim accompanies Krystalin and Meanstreak to New York to find Meanstreak's friend, Jordan Boone, who had disappeared. Along the way, they are captured by La Lunatica and Controller Thirteen of the Theatre of Pain. Luna's powers force Tim to relive the memory of when his powers manifested and how his girlfriend was killed. This trauma triggers his powers, shorting out the equipment around him and helping them all escape (including Luna who had been a slave of the Theatre for 10 years).  This exchange also changed Timothy himself, allowing him full control over his powers and bringing him to terms with his past, making him more assertive, more daring and eventually shaping him into the leader of the X-Men.

    After returning to Xi'an, Fitz helped find Mama Hurricane, a member of the underground railroad during the Great Purge of mutants, and then Master Zhao, the leader of the last known team of X-Men. Tim would accompany Xi'an searching for The Driver, on information from Mama Hurricane.  It is here where they encounter La Lunatica again and she and Tim begin a relationship that would last for the remainder of the comic's run.  Tim agrees to help her escape the pursuit of the Theatre of Pain, though he is mostly ineffective against their leader, Brimstone Love, when Love attacks them at the Driver's garage. They are granted reprieve however, when Brimstone leaves instead with Xi'an, who joins the Theatre.  Disillusioned by his mentor's defection, Tim returns to the other X-Men, with Luna, to reform the team and lead them against the Theatre of Pain.

Powers and Abilities

    Originally, Tim has the ability to absorb all ambient energy particles into his body where he metabolized them in a usable form and then, disperses it as destructive blasts. Skullfire had no control over these powers though and only capable of using it during great stress moments.  After La Lunatica made him relive Reiko's death, he can control his powers now. While helping to free the mutant Book, it is revealed that he could absorb mystical energies. Absorbing the energy from Halo City's nuclear reactors gave Skullfire a permanent power source, but as one side-effect: glowing light-green.

    When Skullfire's body was destroyed, he existed as a small sphere of energy. Tim managed to take on a form that resembles his human self. Now, he possesses flight, as well as energy manipulation, but with far more ease and control.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  X-Men 2099 #1 (October, 1993)

Created by John Francis Moore & Ron Lim

Alter Ego: Timothy Fitzgerald

Species: Human Mutant

Place of Origin: Marvel 2099 (Earth-928)

Team Affiliations: 

• X-Men 2099
• Halo City Protectorate
• Undead

Abilities:

• Energy Absorption
• Energy Channeling
• Levitation

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Killer Shrike

Just who is the Killer Shrike?  Just one of the coolest villains to challenge heroes such as Spider-Man and Moon Knight.  In my opinion, he is highly underrated and should be a Marvel Legends or Funko Pop! figure by now.   That is why I chose the Killer Shrike as my return to my posts known as Saturday Showcase.

Simon Maddicks was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He began his career as a soldier in the United States Army. After that, he was selected to be a special agent of the Roxxon Oil Company.  Maddicks became a mercenary and professional criminal, more specifically a special agent in covert operations. He underwent extensive conditioning which increased his human abilities. He also underwent surgery that implanted a miniature anti-gravity generator in his spine. Roxxon gave him  his super-villain costume and the codename "Killer Shrike".

The Killer Shrike has had his fair share of encounters with a variety of super heroes and villains, but he has never really reached his full potential.  He is always stopped and captured.  Hell, sometimes he ends up in a hospital. {*As seen in The Sensational She-Hulk #27,  Dr. Jay}

Powers & Abilities

Extensive conditioning and surgery by Brand Corporation scientists enhanced Simon Maddicks's strength and other physical abilities. He is capable of flight by means of a surgically implanted anti-gravity generator at the base of his spine, activated by a neural link.

Besides that, he has extensive training and experience in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, and proficiency with hand weapons including guns and knives.

Killer Shrike wears body armor, an armored suit made of an insulated steel alloy mesh capable of protecting him from flight turbulence and small caliber weapons fire. His major weapons system is the twin power-blasters worn on his wrists, with titanium talons capable of slashing flesh, wood, cinderblock, and light metals, and of discharging high-frequency electrical bolts.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Rampaging Hulk #1 (Jan. 1977)

Created by John Warner & John Buscema

 

Alter Ego: Simon Maddicks

Notable Aliases:  Harold Simmons

Team Affiliations

• Brand Corporation
• Masters of Evil
• Roxxon Oil Company
• Sinister Six
• Thunderbolts
• United States Air Force
• United States Army

I hope you enjoyed this brief history lesson on the Killer Shrike.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Nitro

 

In my opinion, MARVEL has been sitting on a gold mine in a villain they need to spotlight in their movies and TV shows.  Who is this villain? The one and only Nitro.  I know that this may be the first time some of you have hard of Nitro, but he has been involved in some of the most historic events in Marvel Comics history.  If you do your research, you will see that Nitro was the cause for the Marvel Comics version of Civil War and not what you were fed in the theatres.  Here is what you need to know about Nitro.

Robert Hunter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was an electrical engineer. Due to genetic alteration carried out on him by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Robert gained the ability to explode and reform himself at will and became a professional criminal. During one of his exploits, he exposed Captain Marvel to a carcinogenic nerve gas that ultimately caused Captain Marvel's fatal cancer. (Historic Event #1) 

Since then he has clashed with Earth's superhumans such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Avengers, and the New Warriors to name a few.  At the start of the Civil War storyline, the New Warriors performed a videotaped raid of a house containing the Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart and Nitro, who had recently escaped from prison during the Ryker's Island Incident. 

The New Warriors attacked each villain, with Namorita going after Nitro. Slamming him into a school bus, Namorita taunted Nitro who then quotes "Oh, baby, don't you even know? You're playing with the big boys." Nitro then explodes causing a massive explosion. This explosion killed Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, and the supervillains he was with during the raid along with sixty children at the nearby elementary school and some 600 people in the surrounding neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut where the fight took place. (Historic Event #2)  This event led to the hero registration act which would start a Civil War amongst those with powers.

Powers and Abilities

Nitro can forcefully convert his whole body into gases, resulting in a violent explosion. This transformation could be limited to discrete portions of himself, such as his fist and aim the force in a specific direction. While in a gaseous form, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest and must completely reconstitute himself before detonating again. The process does not have any healing qualities, so any wound received due to the explosion would be present when he reforms.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)

Created by Jim Starlin (writer) & Steve Englehart (artist)

Name: Nitro

Alter Ego:  Robert Hunter

Species: Human Mutate

Team Affiliations:

• Defenders
• Hardcore's Untouchables

Notable Aliases:

• Exploding Man
• Living Bomb

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: the Prowler

 

Last week for m y showcase we dove into the Spider-Verse and talked about the Original Spot. Today, we will continue our journey in the Spider-Verse but we will focus on the original Prowler.  In the Ultimate's Universe as well as the Spider-Verse movies, the Prowler is Miles Morales' Uncle but when the Prowler first came into being, he was known as Hobie Brown.

Hobie Brown is the original Prowler. Born in the Bronx, New York, he was a bright but angry African-American teenager who got fired from his window washer job. Intending to use his engineering skills for personal profit, he devised a plan to steal items while disguised as a supervillain and then return said items as Hobie. Donning his green and purple Prowler costume for the first time, Hobie set out to rob the payroll office of the Daily Bugle, figuring that would garner him quick publicity. However, he was caught in the act by Peter Parker. While struggling with Parker, he drew editor J. Jonah Jameson's attention. Parker, with no way to defeat Prowler without giving away his own secret identity, contrived to get thrown through a window during the struggle, and used spider-powers to save himself once outside. Traumatized by the events, the shaken Hobie made his escape to the building's roof, only to be confronted by Spider-Man. When Spider-Man vanquished and unmasked Hobie, he realized he was just a misunderstood kid, so instead of handing him over to the police, he advised him to rethink his life.

Hobie took Spider-Man's advice to heart and gave up his criminal ways. He later impersonated Spider-Man at the hero's request – Spider-Man wearing a webbing mask – to convince Peter's friends that Parker was not Spider-Man after Peter 'confessed' the truth while suffering delirium due to the flu, thus creating the impression that Parker had merely been confused.  Hobie was convinced that Spider-Man was involved somehow in Police Captain George Stacy's death, and unsuccessfully tried to bring Spider-Man to justice.

Hobie began to look after his 'little brother' Manuel "Manny" Lopez as a part of the Big Brother Program. When Manny was murdered, Prowler believed the White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was responsible and attempted to bring White Tiger to justice.  Prowler attempted to join the super-hero group the Defenders, only to be tossed into the harbor by Valkyrie, at which point he decided to retire his identity.

Prowler later attempted to vindicate Spider-Man of a crime and first encountered Silver Sable and the Outlaws (including rehabilitated villains like Sandman, Rocket Racer and Puma).  His safety designs were stolen by Justin Hammer. Hobie proved the design flaws during an encounter with Hammer's hirelings.  Hobie fought Black Tiger  as an initiation test for Silver Sable to join the Outlaws.

Hobie was forced to retire for good when he was paralyzed in a battle later in life.  He eventually regained the ability to walk again only to be captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Civil War.  Hobie may have retired his role as the Prowler, but he is known to have a few tricks up his sleave if he is needed,

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:

The Amazing Spider-Man #78 (November 1969)

Created by Stan Lee, John Buscema, & Jim Mooney

Team Affiliations

Defenders

The Outlaws

Wild Pack

Parker Industries

Powers & Abilities

Technological genius

Skilled hand-to-hand combatant

Use of hypnotic aids and conventional hand-held weapons

Battle Suit grants:

• Wall crawling
• Gliding via cape
• Titanium-laced claws
• Gauntlets capable of shooting compressed air blasts, sleeping pellets and other projectiles

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: the Spot

 

Greetings True Believers,

For today's showcase, we will visit the Spider-Verse and discuss the origin of the villain known simply s the Spot.  You may not realize this, but the Spot has been around for close to 40 years.  He has fought many of Marvel's best, including villains, but he will always be known for his association with Spider-Man.  Let's take a look at the life of Jonathan Ohnn aka the Spot.

An MIT scientist, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, was working for the Kingpin to reproduce the radiation levels of the superhero Cloak to find a way to artificially mimic his powers. Working late one night, he succeeded creating a solid black circular portal. In doing so, however, the drain on the city's power became so great, a blackout washed over the city, causing the portal to shimmer and destabilize. Fearful of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Ohnn stepped into it. The shock of the transition caused him to pass out and he awoke floating weightlessly in a dimension which he initially assumed was Cloak's dark dimension. He soon realized however that the power shortage caused the portal to send him to a different dimension, a place of half darkness and half light. A seemingly infinite number of portals surrounded him in this place. He managed to find the original portal that brought him there and slipped back through it.  When he emerged back into his lab, he noticed his body had undergone a radical transformation. It appeared that the portals from the other dimension had adhered to his skin, covering him with black spots from head to toe. Realizing the spots were portable space warps, he started to think he might be able to use them to defeat anyone in battle. When Spider-Man and Black Cat arrived to confront Kingpin, he appeared before them and announced himself as the Spot. Spider-Man collapsed on the roof, laughing at the name. The Spot ended up winning that first confrontation and warned the heroes to leave the Kingpin alone. He later lost a second battle against Spider-Man because he was tricked into throwing too many of his spots as weapons and not keeping enough to defend himself with.

Spot later formed a short-lived team with Gibbon, Grizzly, and Kangaroo called the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, which was better known as the Legion of Losers. This team fell apart when Spider-Man carted the Spot and the Kangaroo to jail for bank robbery and Grizzly and Gibbon left the group as they disagreed with their teammates' more ruthless approach.  

The Spot later helped Tombstone escape from a maximum security prison. As thanks, Tombstone snapped his neck.  As they always do in comics, he reappeared alive months later and has been seen off and on since.  Well, that is until 2022, when he clashed with Carnage.  I don't think that is one death he will come back from.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:

• As unnamed man:

                Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97 (December 1984)

• As Jonathan Ohnn / Spot:

                Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #98 (January 1985)

Created by Al Milgrom & Herb Trimpe

Team Affiliations:

• The Hand
• Legion of Losers
• MODOK's 11
• Sinister Sixteen

Powers and Abilities

Using his space warps, the Spot can instantly move himself or any part of his body from one area to another over a theoretically unlimited distance via another dimension nicknamed "Spotworld."

The Spot can control and manipulate the warps to almost any degree he wishes. He can expand or shrink them to any size, or he can join together multiple spots to form one larger warp. The spots are unaffected by gravity and can be placed against a surface or left suspended in mid-air. He can also designate which spots will lead to the spot dimension from those that will instantly lead to another location in this dimension. He can create new spots, or close them entirely by retreating into his dimension and pulling the warp in behind him.

His preferred method of attack is to surround his opponent with numerous spots, allowing him to punch or kick them from unexpected angles across great distances. This proved very effective against Spider-Man as his spider-sense was unable to detect incoming attacks from another dimension.

Due to Spot's connection to "Spotworld", he appears to possess a form of immortality, being capable of speech even after having been decapitated; and if his physical body is fatally-wounded it will disintegrate and reconstitute itself in the Spotted Dimension.  (So, I guess there is hope he survived being ripped apart at the hands of carnage.)

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: the White Dragon

 

I apologize for my absence as of late.  Just a lot going on as the road known as life gets longer.  For my return to the Saturday Showcase, I figured I would spotlight some Spidey villains since the new Spider-Verse film is on the way.  Today I want to talk about a villain that I first discovered in a Marvel Team-Up comic starring Moon Knight.  That villain is the White Dragon.  Now, there has been several versions of the White Dragon but I am here to discuss the second one.  His name is unknown but he is the leader of the Dragon Lords in Chinatown.   Let's dig into the history of the man known simply as the White Dragon.

The origin of the second White Dragon is unknown. He is the leader of the Dragon Lords in Chinatown. We are first introduced to him when the Dragon Lords tried to force Philip Chang to join them. Philip was rescued by Spider-Man who then defeated White Dragon and handed him over to the police.

An effort to kill the White Dragon was started  after he killed the leader of the Tiger's Claw gang. The battle took place at Philip Chang's restaurant.  Spider-Man arrived with Moon Knight to help Philip. White Dragon was then defeated by Moon Knight while Spider-Man saved Philip and the restaurant from being bombed.  Moon Knight discovered that White Dragon was working with Kingpin to seize control over Chinatown.

During the Dark Reign storyline, Mister Negative killed some of White Dragon's men in Sunset Park to gain control of Chinatown. Shortly after that, White Dragon joined up with Hood's crime syndicate where Hood sent him to supervise all operations there with his Dragon Lords including Mister Negative's business. White Dragon had a meeting with Mister Negative stating that Hood is going to take over his business and that Mister Negative was going to pay 65% of all his earnings to Hood. White Dragon was surprised that Mister Negative agreed to it, but then Mister Negative shook White Dragon's hand to corrupt him. Upon being sent back to Hood, the corrupted White Dragon attacked Hood's allies Bloodshed, Lightmaster. Spot, Squid, and White Rabbit while informing Hood that all Tong stood behind Mister Negative to keep Hood out of Chinatown. Hood then shot White Dragon several times and the seemingly-dead White Dragon returned to his uncorrupted state.

White Dragon shows up alive in London, where he becomes embroiled in a conflict with the local triad leader Skull-Crusher. He sends Razor Fist to kill Skill Crusher's lover and undercover MI-6 agent Leiko Wu, in Chinatown. When Leiko's ex-lover Shang-Chi arrives in London to investigate her murder, White Dragon sends his assassins to kill him, only to be repeatedly thwarted by the Master of Kung Fu. During his skirmishes with White Dragon, Shang-Chi, Skull-Crusher, the Daughters of the Dragon and the Sons of the Tiger discover that White Dragon has access to the Mao Shan Pai, a powerful Chinese black magic. When Shang-Chi and Skull-Crusher arrive at White Dragon's estate to fight him, they are captured by Shang-Chi's brother, Midnight Sun, who reveals himself to be the true mastermind behind White Dragon's actions.

Publication Information

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #184

Created by Marv Wolfman & Ross Andru

Team Affiliations

• Dragon Lords
• Hood's Unnamed Crime Syndicate

Abilities

• Expert martial artist
• Wears a costume with steel claws
• Gas and fire projection via dragon mask

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Steeplejack (Maxwell Plumm)

The next Marvel Villain I shall showcase from the "Bar With No Name Massacre" is the Power Man & Ms. Marvel villain known as Steeplejack.  Three men have used the identity of Steeplejack but we are here to discuss Maxwell Plumm.

Maxwell Plumm was a building contractor in New York City. He was indebted with crime boss Dominic Varone. To pay his debts, he was forced to perform budget cuts in his projects which caused different security failures. 

Sadly, two of his construction workers fell to their deaths due to a sudden wind slipping the cable of a girder. A surviving worker was Jake Mallard, brother of the two victims.  Mallard discovered Plumm's illegal activities and budget cuts.  He swore to get revenge on him. He made some construction-tool-like weapons and would become the first Steeplejack to avenge the death of his brothers.

Steeplejack tried to kill Plumm by throwing him from the top of one of his buildings. However, Power Man was coincidentally near the area, witnessing the scene, and rushed to save Plumm. After exchanging some punches, the Steeplejack managed to throw Plumm from the building, and Power Man had no choice but to save him. Eventually Power Man would fight Steeplejack  again.  This time the battle ended with the death of Jake Mallard, thus ending the career of Steeplejack...but not really.  You see Maxwell Plumm noticed Steeplejack's gear at the scene of his death and found it interesting, so he savaged and reproduced it.  He wanted to patent and sell Mallard's inventions. He relocated to Boston and began a new project, Monarch Plaza, using his budget-cutting tactics.

This new project involved a worker named Joseph Danvers, who happens tobe the father of one MS. Marvel aka Carol Danvers.  Due to Plumm's illicit activities, Danvers was almost killed by the impact of materials thrown by a wind - and he would have died if his daughter were not there to save his life. Joe Danvers threatened Plumm because of the event, but Plumm counter-threatened Danvers.

Seizing his opportunity to strike, Plumm disguised himself as the second Steeplejack. He had a slighter complexion than Mallard, and thus he could fool no-one pretending to be the original Steeplejack. However, he designed a completely-different costume, and other weaponry. He used it to kidnap Joe Danvers and intended to throw him from the Monarch Plaza. He wasn't counting on Danvers having his own galactic guardian angel.

Steeplejack fought Ms. Marvel and stood toe to toe with her for a minute, but she was just too powerful  in the long run.  He was captured and sent to prison.  It was in Captain America #319 that we see the return of Steeplejack.  His return wouldn't last long due to the fact that he walked into a trap set by the Scourge of the Underworld.   It was here where he and 16 other villains met their deaths by the Scourge and his machine gun.

Publication Information

First Appearance: Maxwell Plumm - Power Man #18 (April 1974)

First Appearance: Steeplejack - Ms. Marvel #14 (February 1978)

Death: Captain America #319 (July 1986)

Created by Len Wein & George Tuska

Powers & Abilities

Steeplejack had a padded costume that his physique look larger than he actual was.  

The costume also helped soften the blows in a fight.

He also carried a rivet gun that could fire several forms of energy and force (including light and heat), red-hot rivets, and a cable.

Until next time, get your READ on!