Wrecking Crew (comics)

Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew fights Thor for the first time in Thor (vol. 1) #304. Art by Keith Pollard.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(As group) Defenders vol. 1, #17 (November 1974)
Created by	Len Wein
In-story information
Member(s)	Bulldozer Piledriver Thunderball Wrecker

The Wrecking Crew is a team of four fictional supervillains — Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball, and the Wrecker — that appears in Marvel Comics. While not featured on the cover, the Wrecking Crew's first appearance is in Defenders vol. 1, #17 in November 1974.

Fictional biography

The Wrecking Crew are formed when Dirk Garthwaite - the Wrecker - is approached by Dr. Eliot Franklin in prison and asked to retrieve a gamma bomb Eliot had designed, with the intent of ransoming New York for millions of dollars. The Wrecker had formerly been a violent criminal who demolished crime scenes with his crowbar, but gained his power when he was mistaken for Loki and given godly powers by the Norn Queen. Garthwaite manages to retrieve his enchanted crowbar, and during a lightning storm tells Franklin and fellow prisoners Henry Camp and Brian Calusky to grip the weapon simultaneously. A lightning bolt then strikes the crowbar and transforms the four men into the Wrecking Crew. They promptly escape from prison and in the course of searching for the gamma bomb are defeated by the Defenders and Luke Cage.

Over the years the Wrecking Crew have perpetuated a very familiar cycle - escape prison, fight and subsequently lose to superheroes, and return to prison. The Wrecking Crew have battled the Avengers, Captain America, Iron Fist, the Runaways, Spider-Man, the Sub-Mariner, the Thing, and their main foe - Thor. When the Wrecking Crew first battle Thor, they are confident that it will be a quick victory. Thor, however, defeats them all in moments and critically injures the Wrecker - infuriated by the fact that one of the Wrecker's offensives has killed an innocent bystander. Thunderball escapes and several weeks later recovers the Wrecker's crowbar, and goes on to form his own gang before being defeated by Spider-Man.

The team is later chosen by the being known as the Beyonder to participate in the Secret Wars against a team of select superheroes.

The Wrecking Crew's most despicable act was to participate in the near-fatal beating of the hero Hercules during a siege of Avengers Mansion by the supervillain team the Masters of Evil. With Thor's assistance, Hercules eventually confronts the Wrecking Crew and defeats them, restoring his confidence in himself.

The Wrecking Crew was imprisoned in the Raft, when Electro freed the inmates in the New Avengers.

Civil War and Beyond

During the Civil War event, the Wrecking Crew is forced to join the team the Thunderbolts or face additional jail time.

They later escape to Canada to avoid the Superhuman Registration Act. Upon arriving in Canada, the Crew, minus Thunderball, murders nearly everyone inside a Canadian bar, due to an "annoying" cell phone ringtone. They then join forces with the mythical Great Beasts and battle the superhero team Omega Flight.

After Omega Flight defeats the Crew in battle, they are imprisoned in a jail in Manitoba but manage to escape and return to the United States where they are recruited to join the Hood's crime syndicate.

The Wrecking Crew were later hired by Jigsaw to kill Punisher during Jigsaw's revenge plot against Frank Castle. However, before Wrecker can deliver the final blow, he is defeated by Rhino, who owed Frank a favor after Castle spared his life.

In Secret Invasion, they are among the many supervillains who rejoined the Hood's crime syndicate and attacked an invading Skrull force.

Membership

• Bulldozer (Henry Camp) - Bulldozer has an armored metal helmet and fights by ramming his victims head-first.

• Excavator (Ricky Calusky) - The teenage son of Piledriver and a temporary member. Excavator wielded an enchanted shovel that broke in his very first battle when he smashed it over Molly Hayes' head (which only irritated the young mutant girl).

• Piledriver (Brian Philip Calusky) - Piledriver fights with his over-sized pile-driving fists.

• Thunderball (Dr. Eliot Franklin) - Thunderball is the thinker on the team and wields a huge demolition ball on a chain.

• Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite) - The team's leader wields an indestructible crowbar with magical properties. He both fears and hates the Thunder God, Thor.

Other versions

Marvel Zombies

In Marvel Zombies vs the Army of Darkness, Thunderball is seen fighting Daredevil, whom he defeats with the help of Ash Williams (who mistakenly believed Daredevil the villain). Later, Thunderball is attempting to fight off several zombies, including infected versions of Wrecker, Piledriver, and Bulldozer. The Punisher comes upon the scene and shoots Thunderball dead, then directs his attention to the zombies. The remaining members of the Wrecking Crew are subsequently among the zombies who attack and infect the Punisher.

Ultimate Wrecking Crew

The Wrecking Crew initially appear in Ultimate Spider-Man as a clean-up crew for super-human battles, as employees of Damage Control. They then briefly appear in Ultimate Hulk Annual fighting Zarda after gaining the weapons, powers, and costumes of their mainstream counterparts and seizing the Flatiron Building. It is as yet unknown how or why they acquired their weapons, costumes, and powers nor the change in their behavior.

JLA/Avengers

The Wrecking Crew have a brief appearance in the last issue as a part of Krona's army, being single-handedly taken down by Wonder Woman.

In other media

Television

• The Wrecking Crew first appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "To Err is Superhuman."
• The Wrecking Crew appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Thor the Mighty." They attack a dock containing a shipment of weapons and take out the cops only to end up fighting Thor. It was revealed that Loki in the form of Leader hired the Wrecking Crew as a diversion so that he can have the Frost Giants invade Asgard. They later appear during the Gamma World Event, working for the real Leader. He increases their powers with gamma radiation, allowing them to defeat Thor and Doc Samson, though none of them are able to wield Mjolnir, despite their hopes. They are defeated by a combination of Thor and Black Panther, alongside the destruction of the Gamma Dome generator. They are then taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D forces (using special prison cubicles), before the second Gamma Wave hits, it is unknown what happens to the Crew when this happens though. During the second Gamma Wave, it was revealed that the Wrecker and Piledriver were infected with Gamma radiation. They attempted to pick up Thor's hammer, but failed when Thor summonded it while he (alongside Doc Samson) was captured. It is left unknown what happened to Thunderball and Bulldozer.

Video games

• The Wrecking Crew appeared in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series games for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo.

• The Wrecking Crew appears in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. They are members of Dr. Doom's Masters of Evil. During the Bifrost Bridge mission, the Wrecking Crew are seen blocking the bridge to prevent reinforcements from arriving. But all are defeated after battling the heroes. The Wrecking Crew have special dialogue with both Luke Cage and Elektra.

Miscellaneous

• The cartoon Dexter's Laboratory parodied the Wrecking Crew in the show-within-a-show "Action Hank" which featured a team of bad guys with the same name. Two of the Wrecking Crew members wielded a crowbar and wrecking ball (like Wrecker and Thunderball) while another one wielded a jackhammer.

External links

• Wrecking Crew at Marvel.com