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[[ja:ビートル (コミック)]]
[[ja:ビートル (コミック)]]
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[[es:Beetle (cómic)]]

Revision as of 18:19, 23 October 2010

Beetle
File:Spider-Man Web of Doom 3.jpg
Spider-Man: Web of Doom #3 featuring the second Beetle armor and the version most associated with the name
Art by Shawn McManus
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceStrange Tales #123 (August 1964)
Created byStan Lee, Carl Burgos
CharactersAbner Jenkins
Leila Davis

The Beetle is the name of two comic book characters owned by Marvel Comics who exist within the fictional Marvel Universe. It is also the name of the three versions of high tech armor used by five separate characters.

Publication history

File:Strange Tales 123.jpg
Cover to Strange Tales #123.
Art by Jack Kirby.

The first version of the Beetle armor debuted in Strange Tales #123 (August 1964) as the creation of Abner Jenkins. This version would only be used for a few years before the character switched to the second version, which is the armor most associated with the name. This version would be in use until Thunderbolts #1 (April 1997) when Abe Jenkins alter ego was changed to MACH-1.

A new version of the Beetle armor debuted in Thunderbolts #35 (February 2000). This version resembled a walking tank and would be used by Jenkins and Leila Davis, the second person to use the Beetle identity. This version was crushed by Graviton, killing Davis, who was still inside at the time.

After Leila Davis' death the Beetle armor would go unused until Thunderbolts #103 (August 2006) when all three versions were stolen and used by three college students. How, why and exactly when the third version of the armor was rebuilt was not made clear. The individual names of these characters were not revealed.

Fictional character biography

Abner Jenkins

Main article: Abner Jenkins

An ex-master mechanic, Abe Jenkins left his career to pursue life as an adventurer seeking wealth and fame under the name, the Beetle. A defeat at the hands of the Fantastic Four sent him into the direction of a life of crime. Years later he joined a group named the Thunderbolts, a choice that eventually took him on a more heroic pathway in life.

Leila Davis

The third version of the Beetle armor on the cover of Thunderbolts #35.
Art by Mark Bagley.
Main article: Leila Davis

The widow of the minor supervillain the Ringer, Leila began her criminal career as a driver for the super villain team the Sinister Syndicate. After the Ringer's death Leila would go on to have her own costumed career, first as Hardshell, and finally as the Beetle. She was killed when Graviton crushed the Beetle armor with her still inside.

The three Beetles

Three college students stole the previous incarnations of the Beetle armor during Marvel's Civil War event.[1] The individual piloting the first version was called Joaquim and the person in the second version was revealed to be female. No other information was revealed about them in their subsequent appearances in Thunderbolts.[2] No individual code names were given to them either. In those issues which made up a storyline named the "Guardian Protocols", they defend the city of Dallas against a plot by the Grandmaster as members of an enlarged Thunderbolts team recruited by Baron Zemo and consisting of numerous supervillains. When the Overmind lets the full power of the Wellspring (the source of power the Grandmaster is using) loose when he attempts to revive Baron Zemo, the defenders of Sydney and Dallas are overrun, with the three Beetles presumably among them.

In 2007, the three Beetles were identified among the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. [3]

Unnamed successor

A new female Beetle attacks Captain America and Black Widow.[4] The two managed to defeat her and remand her to The Raft.[5]

Other versions

Marvel UK

The name Beetle was used by an armored S.T.R.I.K.E. superhuman restraint squad in the Jaspers' Warp story arc[6] published by the Marvel UK imprint.

Ultimate Beetle

The Ultimate Marvel version of Beetle debuts in Ultimate Spider-Man #124. Spider-Man first finds him robbing a sample of the Venom symbiote from the Roxxon company. After the brief confrontation, Nick Fury tells Peter Parker not to get involved with the S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation. Beetle breaks into the building that Venom is held in and Venom chases after him. Upon cornering Beetle, Venom is attacked by Spider-Man. When Venom seizes Beetle with his tentacles, Spider-Man saves Beetle who escapes. After Eddie Brock becomes Venom again, Beetle captures him and ships him to Latveria.[7]

In other media

The Beetle has made numerous appearances outside of comic books. Most of these happened when Abner Jenkins was the only character using the name and it is assumed that he is the character in the armor.

Television

  • The Beetle appeared in the 1980s Saturday morning animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends voiced by Christopher Collins. The Beetle stole a crime-detection computer and the Power Booster invented by Tony Stark to increase his power. He was the first villain that the Spider-Friends faced together in that origin episode.

Video games

File:Ultimate Beetle.jpg
The Beetle in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game
  • The Beetle was the first boss in the 1995 Super Nintendo game Spider-Man: Lethal Foes, a game only released in Japan.
  • In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game the Beetle (voiced by Tucker Smallwood) makes his Ultimate continuity debut, acting as an agent for the Latverians, collecting genetic information from superhumans to allow them to genetically engineer super-soldiers. The notable actions he took in the game were stealing a vial of sand (which it is implied the Ultimate Sandman has a connection) and freeing Norman Osborn (also known as the Green Goblin). He also battled Spider-Man shortly after freeing the Green Goblin, but escaped by ducking into the nearby Latverian Embassy. Concept art in the special edition of the game shows Beetle giving the Sandman vial to Doctor Doom. Beetle is later sent to capture a sample of the Venom symbiote. Venom eventually chases and defeats the Beetle.

References

  1. ^ Fabian Nicieza (w), Tom Grummett (p), Gary Erskine (i). "Taking Civil Liberties" Thunderbolts, no. 103 (Marvel Comics). August 2006.
  2. ^ These appearances were in:
    • Fabian Nicieza (w), Tom Grummett (p), Gary Erskine (i). "Taking Civil Liberties" Thunderbolts, no. 104 (Marvel Comics). September 2006.
    • Fabian Nicieza (w), Tom Grummett (p), Gary Erskine (i). "Power Full" Thunderbolts, no. 107 (Marvel Comics). December 2006.
    • Fabian Nicieza (w), Tom Grummett (p), Gary Erskine (i). "Power Full" Thunderbolts, no. 108 (Marvel Comics). January 2007.
  3. ^ "''Avengers: The Initiative'' #1 Character Map". Marvel.com. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  4. ^ Ed Brubaker (w), Mitch Breitweiser (p), Mitch Breitweiser (i). "No Escape Part 2" Captain America, vol. 6, no. 607 (August 2010). Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Ed Brubaker (w), Butch Guice (p), Rick Magyar (i). "No Escape Part 3" Captain America, vol. 6, no. 608 (September 2010). Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ Alan Moore (w), Alan Davis (a). "Among Those Dark Satanic Mills (or Madwar)" The Mighty World Of Marvel, no. 9 (February 1984). Marvel UK.
  7. ^ Brian Michael Bendis (w), Stuart Immonen (p), Wade Von Grawbadger (i). Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 128 (January 2009). Marvel Comics.
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