Mac Gargan

Venom
File:Venom civil war.jpg Gargan as Venom Art by Leinil Yu.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #19 (Dec 1964) (as Scorpion) Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #20 (1965) (as Venom) Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10 (2005)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Macdonald "Mac" Gargan
Team affiliations	Thunderbolts Sinister Twelve Masters of Evil
Notable aliases	Scorpion
Abilities	As the Scorpion: Superhuman strength and endurance, can cling to walls, wears scorpion-like armor with a cybernetic tail that has projectile weapons. As Venom: In addition to his inherent powers, symbiote allows all of Spider-Man's powers. Allows limited shapeshifting and cannot be detected by Spider-sense.

Macdonald "Mac" Gargan is a fictional character in the

, a supervillain primarily associated with the superhero Spider-Man. Originally known as the Scorpion, he is currently the new Venom. He first appeared as the Scorpion in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #20, and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. As Venom, he is a member of the Thunderbolts.

Fictional character biography

Scorpion

A former private investigator named Mac Gargan who was initially hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker is able to obtain incredible pictures of Spider-Man, Gargan's efforts set off Peter's spider-sense and the teen was able to easily evade the detective. Jameson then decided to hire Gargan as the subject of a barely tested process that would endow him with the useful characteristics of a particular animal with the help of Professor Farley Stillwell. In this case, a scorpion was the base for the purposes of creating a powerful agent capable of defeating Spider-Man.

File:Spectacular215.jpg

Cover to Spectacular Spider-Man #215.
Art by Sal Buscema.

This mutagenic treatment seriously affected Gargan's mind, driving him insane. He promptly turned on his benefactor and when Spider-Man intervened, Jameson found himself in the strange position of praying that his investment was insufficient in defeating the superhero he hated. Since then, the Scorpion has repeatedly attempted to indulge in his deadly vendetta against Spider-Man and Jameson, only to be defeated each time. Jonah does appreciate the irony. The Scorpion, through the course of his career, acquired a few items: a new costume, and a new tail that spurted acid. He also fought Ms. Marvel. In one instance, Scorpion became more psychotic than usual after his battle with Ms. Marvel, resulting in his being dumped in acid. In the sewers, Scorpion came to believe that his costume couldn't come off, but after a quick encounter, Spider-Man proved to him that his belief of being a monster was in his mind.

Venom

Later on through circumstances yet to be revealed, Norman Osborn reveals Spider-Man's true identity to Gargan and gives him orders to kidnap Peter's Aunt May should Osborn ever be captured and imprisoned. When Spider-Man defeats Osborn, he is imprisoned and Gargan carries out Osborn's orders in kidnapping Aunt May. Gargan eventually summons Peter and tells him the only way he can see his aunt again is to break Norman out of jail. Shortly thereafter, the Venom symbiote approaches Gargan, offering him new abilities, and Gargan becomes bonded with the creature. This would later give him an extra edge as part of Norman Osborn's Sinister Six. Even with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve. So far he remains bonded with the symbiote. Though incarcerated, Gargan is unfazed, as with his new powers came the respect of becoming an "A-list" villain.

Alongside Spider-Man and other villains and heroes, Venom is sent to Battleworld where he seemingly kills Spider-Man. He tries to kill the other participants for the "Beyonder's" wish fulfillment prize for the winner but fails and is returned to Earth alongside the rest of the group.

Thunderbolts

Gargan later becomes a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts, which has been drafted by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers and is currently run by the Commission for Superhuman Activities. It is then revealed that he has been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check. As a Thunderbolt, he is seen as a hero by the general public and has his own action figures. Gargan displays his new raw power as Venom in a battle with Jack Flag, after pummeling Flag for a bit, the hero manages to stab Gargan, who is protected by his Symbiote. Gargan becomes enraged and ferociously man-handles Flag, and is about to feast upon his flesh, when his electrical implants kick in and temporarily subdue him, allowing Flag to live. In Thunderbolts #112 Gargan expresses fear of the control the symbiote possesses over him, yet he has become addicted to the raw unearthly power it brings to him, and cannot begin to imagine life without it, similarly to a Drug Addict. In #114, an attack from Steel Spider & Sepulchre makes him lose control again, briefly becoming a huge monster once more, without Moonsten to co-ordinate his electrical implants; afterwards, however, he returns to a normal form with no ill effects.

Gargan has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1.

Personality

Before he donned the identity of the Scorpion, Mac was a skilled, if somewhat greedy and unscrupulous private investigator, who admitted that he'd go through anything "just so long as the pay is good!"

As he is emotionally disturbed as a result of the procedure in which he acquired his powers, Mac retains little of his former rationality. He is typically easily outsmarted by Spider-Man and is not very good at cooperating with other supervillains or following instructions. His most prominent weakness is his explosive temper and irrational hatred toward J. Jonah Jameson, to the point where he has been known to ignore the orders of whomever he is currently working for, in order to attack the Daily Bugle's publisher.

The years of being outsmarted and beaten, despite his physical superiority over Spider-man compliment the similar hatred possessed by the symbiote, and has allowed it to almost completely control Gargan. Very little of his personality is retained while in the Venom persona, thus Gargan is now observed making statements about eating brains and referring to himself as "we" rather than "I". When the symbiote is dormant in his body he has expressed nausea and fear of the organism. Unlike Eddie Brock, any inhibitions Gargan had about harming innocent bystanders has been eliminated with his bonding to the symbiote (though he had little regard for others to begin with).

Powers and abilities

File:Scorpion vs spidey.jpg

Scorpion squares off against Spider-Man

Mac Gargan has superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, stamina, and durability, and also has the ability to cling to walls. In addition to his superhuman physique, he was traditionally armed with a cybernetic, seven-foot mechanical tail, which can whip at incredibly high speeds. The tail has in the past been equipped with projectile weapons, usually an electrical generator, although it has also been equipped with an acidic spray and a plasma energy projector. The Scorpion is substantially stronger and more durable than Spider-Man, though a much less skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

With the Venom symbiote, Gargan retains his superhuman abilities, some of which have increased substantially beyond the original levels. The costume can even emulate the tail of Gargan's scorpion costume, though it now shoots webbing, acid, or poison rather than electrical voltage. It can also be used as a fifth limb. As Venom, Gargan has gained the ability to shoot webbing like Spider-Man, and can disguise himself as other people or blend in with his background. He is undetectable by Spider-Man's "spider-sense". His skill as a hand-to-hand combatant has increased due to the influence of alien symbiote, which has superior instincts and fighting experience. The costume can also heal grave injuries suffered by the host with incredible speed.

When injured or enraged, Venom now has the ability to increase its mass and physical strength in order to meet whatever threat it is facing with equal force (an ability inconsistently hinted in the past, such as when Venom fought Juggernaut). During these times it is not clear that Gargan has any control over the symbiote, for had it not been for the technology restraining Venom, he would have eaten Jack Flag. Also, during a battle with the Steel Spider, Gargan attacks innocent bystanders.

Though his power potential has greatly increased thanks to the symbiote, Gargan has still failed to evoke any respect from Spider-Man, the web slingers opinion being that "A loser in a Venom suit is still a loser."

Alternate versions

• In an alternate future, as seen in Runaways, a version of Scorpion is a member of the Avengers, led by Heroine, Gertrude Yorkes. It's unknown if this is Mac Gargan, though it's doubtful. He died fighting Victorious, Victor Mancha.

Exiles

In one of the many realities visited by the Exiles, Mac Gargan is one of the many superhumans that form the Heroes for Hire, and is part of the Avengers Package, which also includes the Black Widow and the Black Knight. After being hired to protect Tokyo from Moses Magnum and Namorita, Scorpion is killed by the murderous, teenage counterpart of Magik.

What If? Spider-Man: The Other

In this alternate reality, shortly after Venom's defeat by Spider-Man, he is in a prison. The symbiote abandons Gargan when it realizes that Peter Parker is vulnerable, and ultimately, the symbiote overcomes Peter and becomes a new being, Poison.

Spider-Man: Reign

Gargan appears as the Scorpion in Spider-Man: Reign as a member of the Sinner Six. He is killed during the last part when Spider-Man throws him from a window.

Ultimate Spider-Man

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the Scorpion takes on a minor role in the Clone Saga. The character of Mac Gargan is absent, the identity of the Scorpion being taken instead by a clone of Peter Parker.

In other media

Television

File:Spidermanep2.jpg

Scorpion in 1990s Spider-Man animated series

In Spider-Man (1967 TV series) the Scorpion is introduced in episode 5A - Never Step on a Scorpion in which his creation is shown and returns in episode 20A - Sting of the Scorpion where he breaks out of prison to wreak revenge on J. Jonah Jameson.

Scorpion appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series played by Martin Landau, and in later episodes by Richard Moll, following Landau's Academy Award win and subsequent lack of availability. In his debut episode, "The Sting of the Scorpion", Mac Gargan works for J. Jonah Jameson as an investigator, but is nervous, plump and balding. In an attempt to discover Spider-Man's real identity, Jameson hires a scientist to use Dr. Connors' Neogenic Recombinator to turn Gargan into a superhero called the Scorpion. This incarnation is similar to the original comics version of the Scorpion. He encounters Spider-Man on a roof top, and after a short battle is able to defeat the wall crawler. However, when he is about to unmask Spider-Man, his body is overcome with pain, and he begins to mutate further; developing yellow eyes, green skin, and talons on his fingers. He becomes horrified with what's happening to him and flees to attempt to gain access to a nuclear reactor, insanely believing it will restore him to normal ("Radiation made me this way, and I'm going to use it to turn me back!"). Spider-Man stops him, sending him to jail.

In "The Insidious Six", Scorpion becomes a member of the Insidious Six, created by the Kingpin, to kill Spider-Man, so Kingpin can settle off his debt with his enemy, Silvermane, but Spider-Man survives the attempt. In "The Final Nightmare", he makes a plan to find a cure for his mutation by kidnapping Dr. Stillwell, the scientist who is responsible for turning him into a freak. Unfortunately, Stillwell destroys the Neogenic Recombinator in order to prevent any other beings like the Scorpion from existing again. Later, he meets Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, who is as smart as Stillwell, and when Toomes' lab was blowing up, Scorpion saved him. In "Partners", where Moll replaced Landau, he makes another attempt to cure himself, but fails when Spider-Man stops him (this attempt was a plot created by Spider-Man because he needed Scorpion to give to Alistair Smythe to save the Black Cat). In "The Wedding", Scorpion makes a bank robbery and Spider-Man is defeated. Then, he takes the wedding rings, so that he and his girlfriend Sara can get married. And finally, the Scorpion appears in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter as his last appearance as a member of the Insidious Six.

Video games

• The Scorpion is the third boss of the Game Boy game The Amazing Spider-Man.

• Scorpion appears in the Game Boy Color video game Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six as a member of the Sinister Six, though in the comics, he never joined the group (however he did join the Sinner Six in Spider-Man: Reign and the Sinister Twelve as Venom.

• He appeared twice in the arcade game Spider-Man: The Video Game.

• Scorpion appears as a boss in both the Snes and Sega Genesis games based off the animated series.

• He was a boss in the Japanese only Super Nintendo game Spider-Man: Lethal Foes.

• He also appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Daran Norris.

• In the multiple platform game Spider-Man: The Movie (based on the film), Scorpion makes an appearance in two of the levels and was voiced by Mike McColl. He wears his short-lived blue and green armored suit from 1998 Spider-Man comics and has an intense fear of spiders due to the fact that Oscorp's electronic spiders are hunting him. He appears to be crazy, as he says to Spider-man after the first level with him "Are you here to capture me too? Yes... yes, I can tell, I can tell", before attacking Spider-man and running off.

• He appears as a boss in the Gameboy Advance game Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace.

• The Scorpion appears as a villain in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. He works for Dr. Doom's Masters of Evil attacking S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Heli-carrier. Scorpion is the first villain players face in the game and one of the few fought multiple times, as he later appears guarding the defeated Tyr along with the Lizard. Scorpion is the only villain to change his costume during the game, as he appears on the Hellicarrier in his classic costume, and in his blue & green costume in Asgard. In the Downloadable content via Xbox live, Mac Gargan appears as a playable character in his Thunderbolts Venom guise.

• Scorpion appears as one of the villains in the game Spider-Man 3. In it, his appearance is unlike anything he has worn before, referred to by Chris Archer to be similar to what he would look like should he have been in a movie. He is mind controlled and there is an arcade-like mini-game where the player takes control over the Scorpion and defeats various enemies.

External links

• Gargan's Profile at Spiderfan.org