Madman (Marvel)
Madman is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Phillip Stern
As a child. Phillip always ate his Halloween candy as fast as he could whilst his 7-year-old brother Sam divided his candy up into tiny amounts and hid them all over the place. This was because he knew that his brother Phil would otherwise take the candy from him. Phil always wondered how Sam could find the candy again. (Thunderbolts v3 #4)
By adulthood, Phil Sterns came to attend the same graduate school as Bruce Banner. Though intelligent, Phil always hovered toward the bottom of the class, but admired the genius of Bruce Banner from afar. After graduation, Sterns tried to get military funding to support his research in using gamma radiation as a weapon. However, the military supported Bruce Banner instead leading to Phillip becoming jealous of his idol. Stern spent years trying to duplicate the conditions to give himself powers like the Hulk. The process drastically twisted his mind as well as his body resulting in his his personality splintering between Phil Sterns and a new persona called the Madman who was a superhumanly strong, size-shifting monster. His Madman personality became stronger, asserting more dominance over Phil until finally, Phil found himself a servant of his deranged alter ego. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367)
A year ago, he approached his brother Samuel who had been depowered and had lost his great intelligence in order to probe him for information about a secret code he had been using. (Thunderbolts v2 #4) As Madman, he was hired by a revolutionary group in the country of Kata Jaya who tasked him with killing their tyrannical leader. However, Phillip came to betray them after receiving a better deal from the dictator. From the base in the country, he attempted to find he hidden secrets of the Leader's remote files in order to gain more influence and power. During this time, the Red Hulk arrived in the country who headed a team of Thunderbolts where they intended to eliminate threats to the world. This team came into conflict with Madman who was ultimately killed when his brother Samuel was restored as the Leader where he whispered something in Phillip's ears that ended up killing him. (Thunderbolts v2 #6)
Overview
Personality and attributes
His attempts at duplicating the research that created the Hulk led to the splintering of Phillip's mind creating a new persona called the Madman. Over time, this personality grew stronger and asserted more dominance over Phillip until he found himself subservient to his deranged alter ego. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367)
It was known that during their childhood that Phillip would even steal his brother Samuel's candy. (Thunderbolts v2 #4)
At school, he was noted to had been in the same class as Bruce Banner. He came to admire Banner's intellect and genius from afar. This admiration of his idol changed though when his efforts at getting support for his research were ignored in favour of Banner's work. As a result, Phillip came to jealous of Bruce Banner and looked to outperform him in terms of achievements. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367)
Powers and abilities
Phillip Stern was originally an ordinary human being with no inherent special powers. Though intelligent, he always remained at the bottom of his class. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367)
Duplicating Bruce Banner's work, Sterns attempted to give himself powers similar to those of the Hulk. This resulted in him gaining the ability to shapeshift into a superpowered form that was his alternate persona which was the Madman. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367) It was shown that his strength was greater than that of the Professor incarnation of the Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v2 #407)
Notes
- The character first debuted as Phil Sterns who was created by Peter David and Jeff Purves where he made his first appearance in the Incredible Hulk v2 #363 (December, 1989).
- He later appeared as Madman in the Incredible Hulk v2 #364 (December, 1989).
In other media
Television
Video games
Appearances
- Incredible Hulk v2: (1989)
- Thunderbolts v2:
External Links
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