Scourge of the Underworld

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Scourge of the Underworld
Scourge23.jpg
Scourge, artist John Byrne.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Iron Man #194 (May 1985)
Created by Mark Gruenwald (writer)
John Byrne (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego various
Abilities Master of disguise, exploding armor-piercing bullets

The Scourge of the Underworld is the name of a series of fictional characters that have appeared in various series set in the Marvel Comics universe.

Writer/editor Mark Gruenwald originally created the Scourge in 1985 as a plot device intended to thin the criminal population of the Marvel Universe, in particular eliminating those supervillain characters he deemed to be too minor, redundant, or ill-conceived. Since that time, other writers have expanded upon the concept and fleshed out the Scourge's backstory.

Contents

[edit] Organization

The Scourge was originally depicted as an individual vigilante dedicated to the assassination of criminals. This person, whose true name has never been revealed, was seen over the course of several months murdering known supervillains in cold blood. The Scourge would approach a supervillain in disguise, shoot him or her with an explosive-tipped bullet, shout his catchphrase ("Justice is served!"), and disappear. This first Scourge's killing spree reached its apex in Captain America #319, where he gunned down eighteen such criminals at an underworld meeting. When Captain America captured the Scourge in the following issue, the character claimed to be the brother of a super-villain known as the Enforcer, whom Scourge had killed because his sibling's criminal activities had shamed their father. He claims that this crime led to him creating the Scourge persona with help from a private investigator only identified as "Domino", who provided him detailed information on the supervillain community. However, immediately after making this confession, the captured man was himself shot and killed by an unseen assailant, who was heard to cry "Justice is served!" in the fashion of the Scourge's other killings. This was the first clue that there was more than one Scourge.

Some time later, in Captain America #350, it is revealed that the Scourge is actually the creation of the Red Skull, who states that he created the Scourge as his personal assassin, with Albert Malik, the communist villain who assumed the identity of the Red Skull during the 1950s, as one of this version's confirmed kills. This was apparently a ruse by the Skull, as during the 1994 U.S. Agent miniseries, it is suggested that the Scourge is ultimately an identity used by several people, all of whom were financed by the original Angel, a hero from the World War II era of Marvel Comics, who had been driven to vigilantism in recent years. His Scourge agents operate through subterfuge to get close to targets, then kill them.[volume & issue needed]

The organization operates through behind the scenes direction by Angel, and under him are several individual Scourge agents capable of autonomous action. A man named Domino worked for the organization, but the identities of most Scourges are unknown, with the exceptions of Vagabond, Caprice, and Bloodstain. A member must be a legal adult willing to submit to thorough investigation of his or her personal background and swear an oath of loyalty to the principles of the Scourge organization. Any Scourge attempting to reveal the existence of the organization would be assassinated by another member.[volume & issue needed]

When not in disguise, a Scourge wears an all-white coat and hat, and a skull-like mask. Most Scourges are armed with a .50 cal Thompson machine gun with a sawed-off barrel and stock using a special purpose 5-round magazine. Each .50 cal round is equipped with an acceleration activated, delay-triggered explosive shell which exhibits the signature sound of "pum-SPAAK" in the comic book panels. Scourges also use radio devices for communication with Domino, as well as makeup and costumes for disguise.[volume & issue needed]

[edit] Membership

The first person identified as a Scourge killed several supervillains, including the Enforcer,[1] Miracle Man,[2] Hate Monger III,[3] Melter,[4] Titania I,[5] Basilisk,[6] The Human Fly,[7] Death Adder and Blue Streak.[8] This Scourge was also responsible for the "Bar With No Name" massacre, in which he killed 18 supervillains.[9] This Scourge was eventually unmasked and defeated by Captain America. According to this Scourge, he was the brother of the Enforcer, his first victim, and received information on villains from his private detective Domino. The Scourge making this confession was then executed by the second known person to use the Scourge identity.[10]

The second person identified as a Scourge killed Hammer and Anvil,[11] and the The Wraith (Brian DeWolff),[12] before killing the Scourge who talked to Captain America, and some time later, he killed a member of the Watchdogs.[13] This Scourge was captured by the U.S. Agent and killed by another Scourge.[14]

A third, renegade Scourge killed the Soviet agent who had used the identity of the Red Skull (Albert Malik) in the 1950s.[15] This Scourge attempted to kill the then-current Captain America (later known as the U.S. Agent). It was revealed that this Scourge had been financed by the original Red Skull, who had been believed dead at the time but had actually survived in a body that was cloned from Captain America's DNA.[16] This Scourge was eventually eliminated by the Red Skull.[17]

The fourth person identified as a Scourge was first seen killing the second Scourge, who had been captured by the U.S. Agent.[18] When this Scourge was captured by the U.S. Agent, he was killed by yet another Scourge.[19]

The fifth person identified as a Scourge was Priscilla Lyons, also known as Vagabond; the sixth Scourge was an agent also known as Caprice, and the seventh Scourge was an agent also known as Bloodstain. Lyons was unable to bring herself to kill the Matador, and was thus targeted by the other Scourges. She sought the help of U.S. Agent, who captured some of the Scourge agents, and then confronted the Angel and Domino. Bloodstain was killed in combat during this encounter.[20]

[edit] Fictional history

The Scourge first appeared in Iron Man #194 (1985) and made single-issue appearances in most of Marvel's series published at the time, although the bulk of his story was told in Captain America #318-320. The Scourge of the Underworld first surfaced as an old lady who unexpectedly executed a villain leaving the scene of a crime, and most of the Scourge's other assassinations were committed under similar disguises. His most famous appearance was in Captain America #319, in which he killed eighteen minor supervillains at "the Bar With No Name" (see below).

Years later, in the U.S. Agent miniseries, U.S. Agent and the Vagabond fought the Scourges, including one who had claimed to be the U.S. Agent's brother. In the end, the Angel died (although he was survived by a brother who had also used the identity of the Angel), Domino died, and the remaining Scourges were defeated and arrested.

The Red Skull's minion Mother Night was at one time sent by the Skull to recruit the villains Jack O'Lantern II and Blackwing for his pool of underlings, loosely titled The Skeleton Crew. She used her illusion-casting abilities to generate the image of the Scourge, who then "shot and killed" both villains, in reality, simply fooling Captain America so as to allow her to escape with the criminals. The primary writer and conceiver of the Scourge plotline as well as the Captain America storyline, Mark Gruenwald, had often expressed some disappointment in what he saw as the short-sightedness in killing so many potentially "fun" villains rather than re-imagining or improving them.[citation needed]

The Scourge played a major role in the story The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, despite the fact that the character never actually appears during the story outside of a dream sequence. Throughout the events of the story, the Shocker is stricken with paranoia over the idea that the Scourge will come for him next. During the climax of the arc, the Kingpin employs an unseen Scourge imposter to fake an attempt on the Shocker's life, preventing him from killing Spider-Man and causing him to flee the scene, all in order to avoid attention being drawn near a location that the Kingpin was having robbed.

In the pages of Thunderbolts, a new Scourge appeared; this one assassinated the Thunderbolts members Jolt, Baron Zemo and Techno, as well as a pair of civilians (Gayle Rogers and Roberta Haggerty) who were investigating Jolt's death. It was revealed that this Scourge was actually Jack Monroe, alias Bucky and Nomad, who was being mentally controlled by the superhuman-hating government agent Henry Peter Gyrich; Gyrich himself was being manipulated by Baron Strucker. Monroe was defeated and freed from Gyrich's control by the Thunderbolts and their allies, the Redeemers. He then, apparently, abandoned the Scourge equipment and identity after the battle. As Scourge, Monroe had access to a wide array of technology based on equipment confiscated from super-villains. Some were installed in the costume he wore, while several others were miniaturized using Pym particles and stored in one of the costume's gauntlets; all were accessible by a voice-coded system. Specific items used included versions of the Green Goblin's glider, the Unicorn's helmet-installed energy projector, and Stilt-Man's telescoping legs, as well as various unspecified weaponry, including a metal quarterstaff. He could also access his gauntlet's Pym particles to alter the size of himself or others, though excessive use of this ability on the Thunderbolt Atlas forced him to abandon much of his weapon stores when his supply of Pym particles was spent.

Three characters bearing the names of the Scourge's previous victims - Hellrazor, Caprice, and Mindwave (minus the hyphen) - appeared in Thunderbolts #116. Caprice and Mindwave appeared along with Mirage and Bluestreak as supervillains incarcerated in Thunderbolts Mountain in Thunderbolts #117 telepathically discussing a plot against the Thunderbolts. Caprice, Mindwave, Mirage, and Bluestreak were all killed in their cells by Bullseye in Thunderbolts #121.

After the Punisher tries to assassinate Osborn (failing due to the intervention of Sentry) during the Dark Reign storyline, Osborn asks the Hood to hunt him down.[21] In Punisher #5, the Hood is granted the powers of the Dark Dimension by his master Dormammu to revive eighteen murdered criminals (Basilisk I, Bird-Man II, Black Abbot, Blue Streak I, Cheetah, Cyclone I, Death Adder, Firebrand I, Hijacker, Human Fly, Letha, Megatak, Mind-Wave, Miracle Man, Mirage, Titania I, Turner D. Century, and Wraith I) to help him take down the Punisher. Scourge tells the villains that if they fail, they will be returned to their previous states of death and rot.[22] The Hood told these criminals that the Scourge of the Underworld was actually Frank Castle and by killing him they'd be avenging their previous deaths and prolonging their new lives. When asked by Microchip if he thought any of them believed that crap about the Punisher being Scourge, the Hood replied "sure they did".[23] Several of these villains (including Firebrand, the Wraith, Cyclone and Mirage) are killed again while confronting the Punisher, but ultimately Basilisk and Death Adder subdue the vigilante, and the terms of the Hood's agreement are apparently fulfilled.[volume & issue needed]

In Thunderbolts #133, an otherwise unidentified man is christened Scourge by Norman Osborn and assigned to the Thunderbolts. His first mission is to eliminate Songbird.[24] This character is later revealed to be Nuke with a new identity.[25]

The original Scourge is among the various people in Erebus when Hercules travels to the Underworld.[26]

An unknown person under the name of Scourge has joined up with Villains for Hire (the villain counterpart of Heroes for Hire).[27]

[edit] Villains killed by the Scourge

  • Megatak
    • first appeared in Thor #328
    • killed in Thor #358
    • The Scourge disguised as a homeless man
  • Melter
    • first appeared in Tales of Suspense #47
    • killed in Avengers #263
    • The Scourge disguised as The Melter's assistant Keegan (who was also killed by Scourge).
  • Red Skull (Albert Malik)
    • first appeared in Captain America Comics #61
    • killed in Captain America #347
    • The Scourge disguised as a pilot

[edit] Villains killed in the Bar With No Name

In Captain America #319, the Scourge was disguised as the bartender of "the Bar With No Name," a super-villain hang-out in rural Medina County, Ohio. A number of villains had gathered there that evening to organize a concerted effort to stop the Scourge, all at the urgings of villain "manager" Gary Gilbert, formerly a villain called Firebrand.

Security equipment that Gilbert borrowed from the gadget-villain called the Tinkerer was ineffective in detecting the Scourge, as no one thought to scan the bartender. Taken completely unawares, eighteen villains, including Gilbert himself, who attended the meeting were killed in a single stroke.

  • The Ringer (Anthony Davis)
    • first appeared in Defenders #51
      • was later revealed to have survived being shot, turned into a cyborg named Strikeback and then died again because his health failed from all the cyborg implants[28][29]

[edit] Villains who escaped The Scourge

  • Constrictor - The Scourge attempted to kill him but failed.
  • Solarr - Died in government project before the Scourge could get to him.
  • Water Wizard - Was to have been at the "Bar With No Name" meeting, but was delayed by a flat tire; by the time he arrived at the Bar, Scourge had already struck. He then turns himself in to Captain America for his own protection.
  • Diamondback and Cobra - The Scourge shot at the vehicle they were in, but missed the fuel tank.
  • Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) - When Flash Thompson was framed as the Hobgoblin and arrested, the Scourge attempted to assassinate him in jail, but Spider-Man stopped him. The real Hobgoblin remained on the Scourge's list when the Scourge was himself assassinated.
  • Puppet Master - On the Scourge's list when the Scourge was himself assassinated.
  • Shocker - Attacked in Deadly Foes of Spider-Man #3 but failed when the bullet bounced off the vibration field around his body.
  • Steel Wind - Attempt failed, as reported in Captain America #394.
  • Gamecock - Attempt failed, as reported in Captain America #394.
  • Lionfang - He was initially thought to have died at the hands of a Scourge,[30] but later revealed to be a middle management heroin dealer in North Philadelphia. He uses a wheelchair due to a back injury inadvertently caused by Luke Cage.[31]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Iron Man #194
  2. ^ Thing #24
  3. ^ Secret Wars II #2
  4. ^ Avengers #263
  5. ^ Thing #33
  6. ^ Fantastic Four #289
  7. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #276
  8. ^ Captain America #318
  9. ^ Captain America #319
  10. ^ Captain America #320
  11. ^ Marvel Fanfare #29
  12. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #278
  13. ^ Captain America #351
  14. ^ Captain America #358-364
  15. ^ Captain America #347
  16. ^ Captain America #350
  17. ^ Captain America #394
  18. ^ Captain America #364
  19. ^ U.S. Agent #[volume & issue needed]
  20. ^ U.S. Agent #1-4
  21. ^ Punisher Vol. 7 #1
  22. ^ Punisher Vol. 7 #5
  23. ^ Punisher Vol. 7 #6
  24. ^ Thunderbolts #133
  25. ^ Thunderbolts #136
  26. ^ Incredible Hercules #129
  27. ^ Villains for Hire #1
  28. ^ Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #4
  29. ^ Thunderbolts #56
  30. ^ Captain America #394
  31. ^ New Avengers: Luke Cage #?[volume & issue needed]

[edit] External links

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