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!

Saturday Showcase: Cyclone (André Gerard)

 

Today's Showcase features another one of the Scourge's victims who was later resurrected by the Hood only to  be killed by Frank Castle aka the Punisher.  This villain has fought Spider-Man and Moon Knight in his prime.  He had a good career as a villain until the Scourge of the Underworld put him down,  Let's learn about how vital h is to the Marvel Universe.

André Gerard was born in Lyon, France. Mr. Gerard was a French engineer working for NATO but he had a falling out with his former employees based on the development of a weapon that generates high velocity tornado-like winds. So André took his invention and used it for his own criminal ends, developing his costume and other weapons. Since h e had the capability of creating tornado-like winds, he named himself Cyclone.  Like many criminal masterminds in Spider-Man comics, he decided to form a gang and capture J. Jonah Jameson, the owner of the Daily Bugle, and like so many criminal masterminds who follow this plan, he was defeated by Spider-Man.  He also attempted to  kidnap Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, but was again defeated by Spider-Man.

André  was broken out of prison by the Masked Marauder and employed by the Nefaria Family of the Maggia as an enforcer. Cyclone was sent to kill Spider-Man and Moon Knight, but was defeated by Moon Knight.

He was doing relatively well for himself, in spite of his defeats at the hands of Spider-Man. Concerned over the deaths of various costumed villains by the vigilante Scourge organization, Cyclone attended a meeting at the "Bar with No Name" in Medinah County, Ohio, to deal with the Scourge and was shot to death by a Scourge agent posing as the bartender.

Cyclone was later among the eighteen victims of Scourge to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu 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 Hood gives the Punisher a knife to sacrifice G. W. Bridge, but the Punisher instead uses the knife to slash Cyclone's throat.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #143 (April 1975)

Created by Gerry Conway & Ross Andru

Full Name: André Gerard

Team Affiliations:

• Maggia
• NATO

Partnerships:

• Hood

Abilities

Expert engineer

Gifted intellect

His Costume grants the ability to create whirlwind

Until next time, get your READ on!

All I got to say now  is "Who's Next?"

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!

Saturday Showcase: the Mirage

 

Desmond Charne aka the Mirage is an interesting Marvel villain from the 70's.  Sure, the costume wasn't the greatest back then, but his costume wasn't the only one that would have you say WTF? back then.  I was just going through some old comics, and I came across a Captain America Scourge storyline that featured this forgotten villain and I decided to educate you new comic readers to the man known as Desmond Charne but better known by his alias, the Mirage. 

Desmond Charne was a former holography technician who wanted to be a supervillain. He used holograph technology which could make him invisible or create 3-D illusions.  He made his criminal debut at Betty Brant and Ned Leeds' wedding, intending to rob them and their guests, but Spider-Man interfered. Alas, his plans were ruined by your friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man. [Amazing Spider-Man #156]

The next time we see Mirage, he had planned to kidnap the Thing from a hospital, to sell him to the highest bidder. However, Daredevil prevented hiss plans, and defeated him.  [Marvel Two-in-One #96]  No one said he was a successful criminal. (Right Dr. Jay)

Mirage attended the "Bar With No Name" in Medinah County, Ohio and was massacred along with all the other villains present at the incident by the Scourge of the Underworld, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. He was reported to have survived, as part of a ploy to lure the Scourge into a trap. Dressed as Mirage, Captain America captured Scourge, who was then shot to death by another mysterious assailant.  [Captain America #319-320]

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Mirage was later among the 18 criminals that were murdered by Scourge of the Underworld to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.

Mirage disguises himself and a number of the criminals as the Avengers out to kill the Punisher. The Punisher uncovers the ruse when he knocks out Mirage (disguised as Captain America) and captures him. He interrogates Mirage about the villain's plans, and leaves him with a grenade in his mouth.

He was saved by his crew only to have the Punisher find him once again but it wasn't the Punisher that finished him.  He was silenced before Frank could get him to talk.  [the Punisher #5-8 (2009), Punisher: In the Blood #2]

The Mirage has returned in many storylines since his "reveal" back in 1976, which is proof you can't keep a bad guy down.  They just don't seem to stay dead.  It is the world of comics you know, lol.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #156 (May 1976)

Created by Len Wein & Ross Andru

Alter Ego: Desmond Charne

Team Affiliations:

• Grapplers
• Sinister Sixteen

Notable Aliases: Master of Illusion

Powers & Abilities

Genius Electrician, Physicist and Laser Technologist

Carries a handgun and tranquilizer gun

Costume grants him three dimensional holographic image projection

Which one of these fallen villains should I write about next?

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Scourge (of the Underworld)

   This week's Saturday Showcase focuses on the Marvel villain known as the Scourge (of the Underworld).  The Scourge isn't just one man, he is an unlimited army of assassins.  When one dies, another takes his place.  If one is captured, they are killed and the one who does the kill becomes the new Scourge.

    The Scourge was first introduced in 1985.  Iron Man #194 was the issue where we witnessed the birth of "justice" when the Scourge eliminated the Enforcer.  At the end of the kill, the Scourge cries out, "Justice Is Served!"  Those of you who followed Marvel Comics back in the '80's would see this battle cry often.

   The Scourge proved to be an enemy who was hard to beat.  Like I said earlier, when one is taken out of the equation, another one would take their place.  This is why he gave the Avengers a run for the money.  He was never stupid enough to take on the whole team, but he would take them on one-on-one.

    His favorite Avenger to tangle with was Captain America.  I guess he was not living up to the Scourge's view of Justice.  He didn't just tangle with Avengers though.  When it was believed that Flash Thompson was the Hobgoblin, the Scourge paid him a visit only to be stopped by Spider-Man.

    I just don't understand why Marvel hasn't used the Scourge on TV or in film.  You have an endless supply of assassins trying to dish out "justice".  I would have thought they would have appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D at least.  Hopefully, someone at Marvel is reading this and getting some ideas.  Well, until next time...Get your READ on!