Bushwacker (Marvel)

Latest revision as of 12:57, 19 March 2025

Bushwacker in Punisher v14 #2.

Bushwacker is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Carl Burbank in Daredevil v1 #335.

Carl Burbank was originally a Catholic priest where in those years he saw many kids corrupted by drugs sold by Nick Lambert. He wanted to kill Lambert, but knew that would go against his priesthood. Ultimately, he was forced to abandon his vows following the drug-related deaths of young parishioners. He joined the C.I.A., which outfitted him with a cybernetic arm and made him an assassin under the codename Bushwacker. (Daredevil Annual v1 #4B) At some point afterwards, he came to believe that he was a Mutant and that the C.I.A. had only brought out his natural mutant abilities. (Daredevil vs. Punisher v1 #3)

After leaving the C.I.A., Bushwacker became an assassin-for-hire, focusing on killing mutants for money. He married Marilyn Rogers, who didn't know about his job or powers. Wolverine began tracking the kills, going after Bushwacker. Bushwacker tracked down Ms. Summers of his list of mutants. He knocked on the door, saying he was a friend of her father, but she refused to let him in so he used his gun arm to blast his way in and brutally killed her with gunfire. When he got home, his wife asked him to come around more often, and confronted him about finding bullets under the bed, but he was furious with her for snooping. Wolverine came hunting, startling Marilyn, and she rushed down to a legal clinic for help. (Daredevil v1 #248)

Bushwacker specialized his murders on creative mutant geniuses. He violently murdered composer Gerhart, destroying his music and instruments as he did so. Restless with his own thoughts, Bushwacker staked out mutant artist Vanna Herald at the Institute of Art, inviting her to join him on a motorcycle ride. Intrigued, Vanna did so, and Bushwacker used his gun-arm to cause a massive traffic accident. He told Vanna that his gun-arm was a gift from the C.I.A. after his war service, kissed her, told her she was a mutant, then killed her. Back at his apartment, Bushwacker laughed at violent cartoons before going for a walk, juggling bullets. He shot the liquor out of a homeless man's hand, then went to hunt down a ballerina. Wolverine leapt at him with claws extended, intent on killing him, but Daredevil sparred with him, wanting to bring Bushwacker in alive. Bushwacker rushed off, killed the ballerina, and posed her on a fence before the two sparring heroes caught up with him. Bushwacker hit Wolverine with multiple bullets before Wolvie doused him in gasoline and threatened to light a match. Daredevil again argued for keeping Bushwacker alive, but the villain wanted to die and fired off his own gun arm to ignite the explosion. Daredevil leapt and got Bushwacker clear from the flames just in time, and then turned him over to the arriving police. Bushwacker's face was badly burned, and his gun arm badly damaged. Typhoid Mary, with the Wild Boys and Ammo, liberated him from prison after killing some guards. As the others watched, Typhoid forced a prison doctor to reattach Bushwacker's gun arm. She instructed the villains to beat Daredevil badly, but leave him alive for her to finish off. Bushwacker wanted the chance to scar the hero's face in revenge. (Daredevil v1 #249)

Druglord Nick Lambert hired Bushwacker, via a proxy, to track reporter Ben Urich, as Urich was receiving information from a traitor in Lambert's staff. Bushwacker murdered the mole but he then saw the info Urich was receiving, including incriminating pictures of Lambert. Bushwacker then changed sides and helped Urich, because Lambert had been one druglord active in Bushwacker's old parish. Thanks to Bushwacker's assistance, Lambert was judged, released on lack of evidence but was then brutally murdered by Bushwacker. (Daredevil Annual v1 #4B)

Burbank took advantage of the mutant hysteria and used it to get work as people would pay top dollar to kill a mutant. He began hunting and murdering mutants, most often those mutants whose abilities Bushwacker perceived as making them especially talented in the arts. Burbank's killing spree brought him into conflict with both Wolverine and Daredevil. Wolverine learned of Bushwacker's activities and began to hunt the killer himself. At the same time, Burbank's wife believed her husband was insane and needed to be placed in a hospital. She sought aid from lawyer Matt Murdock (secretly Daredevil). Daredevil found Wolverine fighting Bushwacker, and he would have killed him if Daredevil hadn’t stopped him. Unfortunately, this allowed Bushwacker to escape and continue his rampage. Bushwacker was ultimately tracked down and defeated by the two heroes, which left the right side of his face horribly scarred, and he was placed in police custody. (Daredevil v1 #249)

Bushwacker continued taking mutant targets to kill, accepting money from the Marauders to do so. Considering himself a true artist, Bushwacker finished a frustrating Steinbeck novel while he waited for his next artist target, Gretchen Carrenna, to emerge from her studio. Growing impatient, he entered the studio and began killing patrons before savagely killing Carrenna. Back at home, Bushwacker's wife berated him for treating her disrespectfully. As he demanded dinner, he saw a news report by Simon Winston that compared his actions to those of the Punisher. He also learned a witness had lived after the Carrenna attack. Later, a disguised Loki hired Bushwacker for the Kingpin to go after the Punisher, giving him intel on Punisher's allies Microchip and Jason Hunt. Bushwacker was hesitant until he heard Punisher was friends with Daredevil. Weeks later, Bushwacker tortured Hunt and questioned him about Punisher, then killed the boy. Bushwacker returned to the park where Punisher's family had been killed, planning his hit, as he knew Punisher would come for his annual memorial to his family. Late that night, Punisher and Bushwacker battled on the backs of motorcycles, shooting each other multiple times. The fight lead into a building, where Bushwacker agreed to take Punisher's last confession. (Punisher War Journal v1 #12) Punisher attacked, but Bushwacker got the upper hand and badly beat Punisher with his gun-arm until the man was unconscious. Bushwacker left Punisher there, and stole a motorcycle to get home. Later, Punisher attacked Bushwacker's home in his van, driving through the wall and opening fire, as Marilyn went running. Bushwacker attacked more savagely when Punisher cornered Marilyn, and Marilyn screamed for the fight to stop. As Bushwacker began drowning Punisher in an aquarium, Marilyn smashed a mirror over his head, then got in the car to leave, saying she was done for good. Bushwacker pleaded with her to stay, then leapt on her car, clinging on to stop her, so she hit the brakes to send him flying, then drove away. Punisher tracked Bushwacker down in the rain and shot him, then knocked him off the bridge. As Bushwacker pleaded to be pulled up, Punisher made him confess, then he let Bushwacker fall to his seeming death. (Punisher War Journal v1 #13)

After the Inhuman precog Ulysses Cain had a vision of Luke Cage orchestrating a prison break at Ryker's Island to free Danny Rand, Captain Marvel led a team to arrest him. During the subsequent battle, Centurius fired a blast at Storm, which struck the special detention unit and knocked the power dampening field offline, allowing Bushwacker to escape containment. After Luke Cage sacrificed himself to prevent Bushwacker from killing Captain Marvel, Carol overlooked Ulysses' vision, and allowed the Heroes for Hire to leave, while tasking Storm and Spectrum with coordinating the clean up and recapture of the inmates. (Power Man and Iron Fist v3 #9)

Overview

Personality and attributes

As a mercenary, he came to operate under the name Bushwacker. (Daredevil v1 #248)

He was shown to enjoy watching cartoons such as the Looney Toons. (Daredevil v1 #249)

Burbank said that he hated people with bleeding hearts. He also preferred to be killed than to be sent to jail. (Daredevil v1 #249)

The death of his target led to the event overwhelming him for a second leaving him feeling emptier than ever. It was in those moments that Burbank regretted the life he had chosen and wished he had stayed a priest. (Daredevil v1 #248)

As a mercenary, he hoped the anti-Mutant craze remained as killing Mutants led to a higher pay rate for him. (Daredevil v1 #248)

Carl was shown to have a fondness for women and often looked to have a physical relationship with any that struck his attention. This included some of his targets who he kissed before murdering them. (Daredevil v1 #249)

Powers and abilities

It was noted that he engaged in experiments that were authorised by the C.I.A. (Daredevil v1 #249) The unit that transformed Burbank was said to had been a precursor for the Extremis virus. (Punisher v14 #2)

He came to be considered a living weapon due to his new abilities that allowed him to synthesize his own weapons and ammunition. (Punisher v14 #2) As Bushwacker, he could transform his limbs into weapons such as guns. This ranged from turning the entire arm to morphing just the fingers into a pistol. (Daredevil v1 #249) Burbank's cybernetic arms conceal a variety of firearms; he prefers to transform only his right arm, but has occasionally changed his left, too, when circumstances dictated the need. (Daredevil vs. Punisher v1 #3)

Notes

• Bushwacker was created by Ann Nocenti and Rick Leonardi where he made his first appearance in Daredevil v1 #248 (November, 1987).

Alternate Versions

In other media

Video games

Appearances

• Daredevil v1: (1987)
• Daredevil vs. Punisher v1:
• Immortal Hulk v1:
• Punisher v14:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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