Kangaroo (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kangaroo is the alias of two fictional Spider-Man villains in the Marvel Universe. The first was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #81 in 1970; the second was first seen in Cage #13 in 1993 and made his debut in The Spectacular Spider-Man #242 in 1997. Both are noted for their leaping ability.
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[edit] Frank Oliver
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As a young man, Frank Oliver studied kangaroos in his native Australia with a passion. Oliver lived, ate, and traveled with the kangaroos, developing a leaping ability that rivaled the animals he studied. Seeing an opportunity to make money, Frank decided to parlay his new-found leaping abilities into a boxing career. His superior speed and agility allowed him to best opponents time and again. However, during one match, Frank jump-kicked one opponent in the face, severely injuring his opponent. Facing criminal charges stemming from his opponent's injuries and possibly other similar incidents, Frank fled Australia for the United States of America. Once he arrived, he was discovered without a passport and held for deportation.
Rather than be deported, Frank broke free from detention and leapt away. Deciding that the intolerance of the world was oppressing him, Frank embraced a life of crime and declared himself the Kangaroo. Needing to make a name for himself, Frank then attacked several guards and stole their ward: a briefcase containing only a vial. While the Kangaroo pocketed the vial, thinking it to contain jewels, the vial actually contained an experimental bacteria which would unleash a devastating plague if set free. The Kangaroo was unhappy with his small amount of loot, and sought out another target, this time for cash. While attacking a group of people for their money, the Kangaroo encountered and began to battle Spider-Man. While Spider-Man could easily defeat the Kangaroo with a few punches, he knew that the Kangaroo had stolen the vial of bacteria, and pulled his punches to prevent the vial from being shattered. After trading blows with his opponent and attempting to reason with him, Spider-Man then webbed up the Kangaroo and held him upside down until the vial dropped. While Spider-Man was busy with returning the vial, the Kangaroo absconded.
The Kangaroo's defeat threw him into a deep depression, resulting in Frank becoming a vagrant in New York City. While watching Spider-Man swing by, Frank reflected on his defeat and wished for a means to defeat Spider-Man. Shortly thereafter, Frank was approached by one Dr. Jonas Harrow, who wished to enhance the Kangaroo to a superhuman level. Frank agreed, and after a seven hour procedure, found himself gifted with air jet-enhanced leaping and punching ability. Harrow wanted to use the Kangaroo as muscle, but the newly empowered Kangaroo resented being anyone's pawn. Smacking Dr. Harrow aside, the Kangaroo leapt away to pursue Spider-Man.
Upon finding Spider-Man, the Kangaroo battled the webslinger, who had underestimated his previously underpowered enemy. As the Kangaroo was gaining the upper-hand, however, Dr. Harrow activated an implant in Olvier's brain which caused him great pain. Forced by Dr. Harrow to obey him or suffer agony, the Kangaroo returned and was then ordered to retrieve a radioactive isotope. While breaking into the Hudson River lab which held the isotope, Frank once again encountered Spider-Man. As the two battled, Spider-Man found himself outmatched, and attempted to convince the Kangaroo of the dangers of the isotope's radiation. Refusing to listen to his enemy, the Kangaroo burst into the room which held the isotope and was reduced to a pile of ashes.
Some time after his death, Arnim Zola recovered some of Frank's DNA and created a proto-husk of the deceased villain. When Deadpool followed another proto-husk to Zola's lair, the Kangaroo proto-husk was used to assault the mercenary. He was the second proto-husk to die, felled by a single shot from Deadpool.
[edit] Brian Hibbs
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Brian Hibbs is the second person to take on the identity of the Kangaroo. He was first mentioned as an active operative of the Corporation, a crime-organization opposed by a variety of superheroes including Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Captain America, Hulk, and others. Hibbs, although not from Australia, idolized the original Kangaroo, going so far as to spend years studying the exploits of Frank Oliver and begin imitating his speech and style. Hibbs adopted Oliver's costume and appearance, but decided against confronting Spider-Man. To better prepare himself to avenge his idol, Hibbs secured a job working for the Corporation as one of their agents, based out of Taylor, Mississippi. Hibbs success against non-costumed adversaries led to his break from the Corporation and his genesis as a menace to costumed enemies. While bounding through New York City and shouting for people to get out of his way, Hibbs was knocked out by a single punch from a webswinging Spider-Man.
After escaping from custody, Hibbs then spent a sizable amount of his trust fund to purchase a suit of armor from the "Sharper Villain Catalogue." The kangaroo-themed armor enhanced his strength and leaping ability, as well as provided him with a semi-prehensile tail and a pouch-level cannon. Once again bounding through the streets of New York, Hibbs was again confronted by Spider-Man. After recovering from a blow by the superhero, the Kangaroo then unveiled his pouch cannon; Spider-Man hastily webbed the cannon shut, preventing it from firing. Hibbs nonetheless fired his pouch cannon, without first considering the consequences of his action. The pouch cannon exploded in his crotch region, rendering him unconscious, while Spider-Man webbed him upside-down from a streetlamp.
Hibbs was freed shortly thereafter by another foe of Spider-Man, the Grizzly. The Grizzly proposed an alliance between the Kangaroo, the Spot, Gibbon, and himself, as a Spider-Man Revenge Squad (a riff on the Superman Revenge Squad). Kangaroo questioned the proposal, which resulted in him receiving a swift kick to the rear. Of his three teammates, the Kangaroo found himself most in-line with the Spot, as both wanted to pursue wealth from robberies rather than attack Spider-Man, as Gibbon and Grizzly both wanted. After resolving their internal strife, the Spider-Man Revenge Squad then sallied forth, with Kangaroo wearing polka dotted boxer shorts instead of his armor's destroyed bottom half. Upon encountering Spider-Man again, the team received the moniker Legion of Losers, and were almost defeated by Spider-Man. However, Gibbon managed to cold-cock Spider-Man, with the Kangaroo landed a stomp to the hero's stomach which put him out of commission. Upon returning to their secret lair, located at the Grizzly's apartment, the team was once again at strife. Grizzly and Gibbon had a change in heart, and wished to return their stolen goods and go straight. Spot and Kangaroo, however, disagreed with their teammates. A battle then erupted, with the Kangaroo launching himself at Grizzly, flying through one of the Spot's spots, and smashing into a wall, knocking him out. Afterwards, Spider-Man took the Kangaroo to prison.
Once in prison, the Kangaroo tried to further emulate his idol, by gaining superhuman powers. As a result, his stature increased, with a corresponding decrease in his mental faculties. As a result, he attempted to make a name for himself by playing baseball and shunning the supervillain lifestyle. Taking the name Billy Bob Jenks, the Kangaroo found fame as a professional ball player, until his identity was revealed, resulting in his expulsion from the major leagues. Turning back to the supervillain path, the Kangaroo then found himself incarcerated in the Cage, a prison where superhuman powers are dampened. Once again following his idol's path, Hibbs trained to become a master combatant. While in the Cage, he made a name for himself as a fighter, alongside Batroc the Leaper, another supervillain gifted with powerful legs.
During all of this activity, Hibbs's mutation was rapidly advancing, as he gained bulk and decreased in intelligence. After a short time period, Hibbs actually believed he was Frank Oliver, the original Kangaroo. As a result, he took on a very thick, almost unintelligible Australian accent.
Still in the Cage, the Kangaroo then encountered Tombstone, who was suffering from heart aliments at the time. When the Kangaroo attempted to exert his influence upon Tombstone, the two ended up brawling; the fight was cut short by Tombstone suffering a heart attack. Later, Tombstone allied himself with several minor villains and attacked Kangaroo, nearly injuring him with a pair of scissors, until guards broke up the altercation and sent Tombstone to solitary confinement. Kangaroo then attacked Tombstone's friends, before hearing about a way he could revenge himself upon Tombstone proper. While Tombstone was under anesthesia, Kangaroo could attack him by crawling through the ductwork. However, this turned out to be a trap set by Tombstone: the ductwork was too narrow for the Kangaroo to squeeze into, resulting in Hibbs being stuck halfway out of the ducts. A group of inmates known as the Cruisers then found the Kangaroo in a compromising situation, which resulted in implied sodomy.
[edit] Ultimate Kangaroo
Ultimate Kangaroo first appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2. Not much is known about him. He seems to be a hitman. Kangaroo does not wear armor like his Earth-616 (the main timeline in the Marvel Universe) counterpart, but has exceptional strength, possibly superhuman level. Kangaroo was defeated and turned in by Daredevil.
