Mac Gargan
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Gargan as Venom Art by Leinil Yu. |
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Macdonald "Mac" Gargan is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, a supervillain most 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.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] 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 get those incredible pictures of Spider-Man, Gargan's efforts set off Peter's spider-sense and the teen was able to easily frustrate 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.
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.
[edit] 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,[1] 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 Twelve.[2] Even with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve.[3] So far he remains bonded with the symbiote. Though incarcerated,[4] 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.[5] He tries to kill the other participants for the "Beyonder's" wish fulfillment prize for the winner[6] but fails and is returned to Earth alongside the rest of the group.[7]
Gargan later becomes a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts,[8] which has been drafted[9] 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[10] As a Thunderbolt, he is seen as a hero by the general public and has his own action figures. During a battle with Jack Flag, Venom is stabbed. Gargan apparently loses control of the symboite, attempting to devour Flag before his eletrical implants were activated.
[edit] 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!"[11]
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 irrational hatred toward J. Jonah Jameson and 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 the symbiote has 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.[12] 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).
[edit] Powers and abilities
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.[13]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
Scorpion appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series played by Martin Landau, and 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.
[edit] 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 officially joined the group.
- He appeared twice in the arcade game Spider-Man: The Video Game.
- He also appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
- 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. Scorpion is also set to appear in Spider-Man 3: The Video Game.
- 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.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9
- ^ Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10
- ^ Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #11
- ^ Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #12
- ^ Beyond! #1
- ^ Beyond! #2
- ^ Beyond! #6
- ^ Civil War #4
- ^ Civil War: Choosing Sides #1
- ^ Heroes for Hire vol. 2 #2
- ^ Amazing Spider-man (Vol. 1) #20
- ^ Thunderbolts #112
- ^ Thunderbolts #111
