Abner Jenkins
Abner Jenkins is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Abner Jenkins
He began to buy, trade and steal parts that he used to create a suit and equipment for himself to be used as a costumed villain. He then created his Beetle costume and embarked on a crime spree where his initial forays led to an encounter with the Human Torch Johnny Storm and the Thing. (Strange Tales v1 #123)
The Beetle later came to form the Sinister Syndicate consisting of costumed supervillains that would hire their services to other parties. Among his team included Hydro-Man, Speed Demon, Boomerang and the Rhino where they looked to earn their reputation by targeting Silver Sable. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #280)
He assembled a gang for a heist but his criminal compatriots ended up abandoning him leading to the Beetle wanting to get revenge on them. However, his attempted vengeance was thwarted by the intervention of Daredevil with the Beetle only barely managing to escape from unseen aid. It turned out that this was Baron Helmut Zemo who was looking to recruit Jenkins for a venture with the Beetle accepting. (Thunderbolts Annual #1997)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Jenkins later decided to go by the supervillain identity of the Beetle. (Strange Tales v1 #123)
He came to seek a new and more dangerous career as a costumed supervillain. (Strange Tales v1 #123)
Powers and abilities
It was noted that he was a mechanic and one skilled enough to produce a suit with various gadgets in it. (Strange Tales v1 #123) He was an aviation engineer and crack pilot who had unusual ideas about the potential use of aviation technology. (Thunderbolts Annual #1997)
As the Beetle, he had an advanced suit of armour and other equipment linked to it. Central to it was the Beetle helmet which was an electronic power source that took Jenkins years to create. Upon wearing it, the raw current surged through his suits body that provided him strength that was double or triple his own. However, there was a maximum output stage that could be reached with Abner having to shut it down or risk blacking out from the surge of power. In addition, he crafted a pair of wings allowing him to fly though he was not as fast as a bird nor could he reach as a high but offered him a degree of mobility. It was only through the enhanced strength provided by the suit that allowed him to handle the great strain of manipulating the two solid steel wings. Jenkins also created magno-suction Beetle Grippers that allowed him to lift almost anything (Strange Tales v1 #123)
The armor was water-tight and carried its own air supply allowing the Beetle to operate submerged. (Thunderbolts Annual #1997)
After joining the Thunderbolts, he and the Fixer worked on creating a new set of armor for Jenkins to pilot with this being the MACH-1. (Thunderbolts Annual #1997)
Notes
- Abner Jenkins as the Beetle was created by Stan Lee and Carl Burgos where he made his first appearance in Strange Tales v1 #123 (August, 1964).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the Abner Jenkins Beetle appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Origin of the Spider-Friends".
- In Iron Man, the Beetle made a brief appearance in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "Armor Wars" Pt. 1 where he was voiced by actor John Reilly.
Video games
Appearances
- Strange Tales v1: (1964)
- Incredible Hulk v1:
- Thunderbolts v1:
- Old Man Hawkeye v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
