Robbie Baldwin

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===Speedball Again===
 
===Speedball Again===
He returned to his Speedball identity where he had a meet-up with his friend Vance Astrovik where he attempted to convince Justice about reforming the New Warriors. (Nova v5 #7)
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Vance came to convince him to help Hank Pym in training young new superhumans to be heroes at [[Avengers Academy]]. (Avengers Academy v1 #1) Robbie had a meet-up with his friend Vance Astrovik where he attempted to convince Justice about reforming the New Warriors. (Nova v5 #7)
  
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
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As Penance, the suit he wore subjected him to constant pain which he felt helped him to think and focus. This was because typically he saw the world as flat and gray during this time with the pain giving it colour to him. (Thunderbolts v1 #113)
 
As Penance, the suit he wore subjected him to constant pain which he felt helped him to think and focus. This was because typically he saw the world as flat and gray during this time with the pain giving it colour to him. (Thunderbolts v1 #113)
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Even after becoming Speedball again, it was said that Robbie was somewhat different compared to what he used to be as he was somewhat more rougher. (Avengers Academy v1 #1)
  
 
Dr. Benson's cat '''Niels''' was also exposed to the same experiment giving him abilities similar to Speedball. (Speedball v1 #2) Robbie was said to not like snakes. (Speedball v1 #10)
 
Dr. Benson's cat '''Niels''' was also exposed to the same experiment giving him abilities similar to Speedball. (Speedball v1 #2) Robbie was said to not like snakes. (Speedball v1 #10)
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*''Civil War: Front Line v1'':
 
*''Civil War: Front Line v1'':
 
*''Thunderbolts v1'':
 
*''Thunderbolts v1'':
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*''Avengers Academy v1'':
 
*''Nova v5'':
 
*''Nova v5'':
 
*''New Warriors'':
 
*''New Warriors'':

Revision as of 20:47, 10 November 2019

Speedball in Fear Itself: The Home Front v1 #3.

Robbie Baldwin is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

Speedball in Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #22.

Robbie Baldwin was the blonde haired son of Justin Baldwin and his wife Madeline Naylor. His mother was a successful actress whilst his father was an assistant district attorney who worked in the town of Springdale that was said to be the sparkling jewel of the tri-state area. (Speedball v1 #1)

He came to work a part-time job on the weekends at Hammond Research Labs. Robbie was responsible for cleaning up the place where one day he wanted to finish quickly so he could sneak into lab 12 to witness the secret experiment of Dr. Benson. Baldwin witnessed them tap into an extra-dimensional energy source but they lost control of it where it engulfed Robbie. He believed he was coated in a substance that he needed to wash off with no one in the lab aware of his exposure to the energy. Robbie was then shocked to see himself transformed by the energy into a super-powered form. Whilst on the roof, he was unaware that a band of criminals had arrived to rob the lab with them pushing the masked Robbie off the roof. However, the kinetic energy of the fall was redirected by his powers sending him bouncing back to the roof. The criminals fought Baldwin but were unable to catch him as his powers simply caused him to bounce around them every time they tried to hit him. They eventually decided to flee but the delay caused by him led to a police pursuit with them dying in a crash. A tired Robbie later fell asleep and awoke to find the police on the roof but at this point the Speedball Effect had disappeared allowing him to appear normal. Baldin was allowed to go back home where he came to question if the experience was real and decided to test himself by hitting a wall with the mysterious power returned. This led to Robbie deciding to keep his powered nature a secret until he learnt to better control it. (Speedball v1 #1)

Whilst back in Springdale, he came to continue to worry about controlling his abilities leading to avoid physical contact with other people. During this time, he witnessed his parents being kidnapped and pursued the assailants where he accidently tripped leading to his transformation into his powered-form. In this state, he quickly fought the criminals in order to free his parents. (Speedball v1 #1) During this time, he learnt that Dr. Benson's cat Niels had also been exposed to the energy from he experiment where he was tasked with capturing him. He was then dispatched to Garson's laboratory where the scientist was killed by his assistant who tried to kill Robbie but the fall from the stairs triggered his powers. As Speedball, he pursued the assistant only to find him dead and confronted his boss who was a villain named the Sticker that wanted to acquire the formula for a magno-fluid. He was able to defeat the villain by removing his helmet but this cause the magnofluid to fill his head leading to him suffocating to death. Afterwards, another threat came from the Graffiti Guerrillas that were terrorising Springdale with them being defeated by the Masked Marvel. (Speedball v1 #2) From Springdale Maximum Security Prison, noted criminal Leaper Logan managed to escape and started robbing people leading to an encounter with the Masked Marvel who captured him. Later, he faced a crisis at his school when a group of thugs had arrived in order to ransom martial arts celebrity Chick Mason. Whilst entering the school, they pushed Baldwin thus triggering his kinetic energy field leading to him using his power as Speedball to thwart the attackers. (Speedball v1 #3)

The Baldwin family afterwards experienced a controversy when Alexander Bow was murdered who was a former boyfriend of Robbie's mother. This caused the media to believe that Madeline or Justin had killed him. Around this time, there was the mysterious Ghost of Springdale High with the Masked Marvel attempting to capture a masked criminal. It was later revealed that the criminal was a notorious cat burglar named Fred Caskey that was working on behalf of retired contractor Otto Clase who had killed Bow. This helped clear the Baldwin family's name allowing for their lives to return back to normal. (Speedball v1 #4) The Masked Marvel later helped capture the Basher who was a failed rookie cop that became a masked criminal. Whilst trying to capture Niels the Cat, he also contended with the Two-Legged Rat that was prowling Springdale and targeting cats. Robbie also met Rico Gawren who gained superpowers as a Freak of Science and helped him escape capture. (Speedball v1 #5) These various encounters had improved Robbie's use over his abilities with him helping in apprehending the masked gunmen known as the Bug-Eyed Voice. Afterwards, Robbie tried to catch Niels the Cat but learnt that the feline also struggled in controlling his kinetic energy powers and hoped to find a means in controlling his own powers. During an attempt to get Niels, the Masked Marvel encountered feline-like aliens that were interested in the unusual kinetic powers they had seen but were thwarted leading to them abandoning their attempted abduction. (Speedball v1 #6) His father was later involved in uncovering the conspiracy behind Alexander Bow's death and received a tip with his wife being worried about him being hurt. This led to Robbie becoming the Masked Marvel to watch over his father who was attacked by the Harlequin Hitman. He helped stop the masked gunmen from killing his father with it being discovered that the hitman was actually Herb Hollister and his wife Sheila who had been operating as a supervillain team. Baldwin also helped stop illegal anabolic steroid from being secretly being sold to athletes at his school. (Speedball v1 #7) Robbie next contended with he criminal Bonehead who wanted to steal from a charity his parents supported where he as the Masked Marvel managed to stop the criminal. He later intended to go to prom where he wanted to ask his love interest Terri Cooper to go as his date but she was already asked by his friend David Beals. During this time, Baldwin managed to get Monica Deluise as his prom date who was a rich new student at Springdale High who was the daughter of Senator. Monica came to be a target of some gunmen when she was saved by the Masked Marvel. (Speedball v1 #8) Tensions in the Baldwin household ran high over the death of Alex Box causing Robbie's parents to lash out at him but they later told him the truth. They then looked into finding the truth about Bow's death where they fell into a hidden conspiracy secretly led by Nathan Bodger who was Springdale's wealthiest philanthropist. Bodger was responsible for killing Bow and when the Baldwin's discovered his involvement he attempted to have them killed but the were saved by the intervention of the Masked Marvel whereupon the truth about Bow's death was revealed to the public. (Speedball v1 #9) Whilst still trying to find Niels, he learnt that Benson's laboratory came under scrutiny from the media who accused them of illegal experimentation on animals. Around this time, a lab assistant named Clyde sought to gain riches from the works of his deceased employer Dr. Rarque who had developed a growth formula. He sought to perfect the formula which created numerous large animals that terrorised Springdale until he was stopped by Speedball. (Speedball v1 #10)

He was at Hammond Labs when they were attempting to help a girl named Sharra who had been mutated by radioactive Vibranium. This turned her into a superhuman named Vibrania but the exposure was also killing her where she went on a destructive rampage which culminated in her death but not before she saved Speedball's life. (Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #4) In another one his adventures, he helped defeat the pirate-themed supervillain known as Jolly Roger. (Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #5)

New Warriors

Whilst in the city with his mother, he witnessed on the news that a group of young heroes were battling Terrax in Queens. Deciding to help them, he activated his powers and became Speedball where he participated in the battle. During the fight, Marvel Boy noticed that impact with Speedball's powers had an effect on Terrax and deciding to in-case the Masked Marvel in a telekinetic bubble until his kinetic field had reached its peek whereupon he was launched at the former Herald of Galactus. This weakened Terrax enough to the point allowing him to be defeated thus ending the threat he posed to the city. In the aftermath, the Avengers arrived at the scene to detain the supervillain where they were credited for his defeat. Speedball then joined the young band of heroes where they were into a team called the New Warriors by Night-Thrasher. (New Warriors v1 #1)

Penance

He became one of the prisoners taken to be part of Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts program. (Thunderbolts v1 #110)

Speedball Again

Vance came to convince him to help Hank Pym in training young new superhumans to be heroes at Avengers Academy. (Avengers Academy v1 #1) Robbie had a meet-up with his friend Vance Astrovik where he attempted to convince Justice about reforming the New Warriors. (Nova v5 #7)

Overview

Personality and attributes

As Speedball and Penance in Avengers: The Initiative v1 #29.

When his powers activated, he transformed with his clothing transforming into a blue costume and a mask whilst his voice also sounded different. (Speedball v1 #1) As such, no one could recognise him in his energised form during the initial time when no one knew he was the Masked Marvel. (Speedball v1 #6) Among his epithets was being known as the Masked Marvel. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #22) After Stamford, he joined the Thunderbolts and operated under the name of Penance. (Thunderbolts v1 #113)

At Springdale Central High, he was well liked by his friends along with teachers and whilst he was not highly intelligent his grades were said to had been respectable. (Speedball v1 #1)

When he was still learning his powers, he became scared of them hurting others leading to Robbie avoiding physical contact with people when in his civilian identity. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #22) He was determined not to tell anyone about his powers until he had learnt to control them. (Speedball v1 #1)

He felt he could not communicate about his powers to his parents as they did not listen to him anymore with them instead concerned about his plans for college as his father wanted him to go into law whilst his mother wanted him to go into the arts. His mother was shown to believe in the actions of superheroes whilst his father saw masked heroes as vigilantes. (Speedball v1 #1) His father believed that the Masked Marvel was little better than the criminals that he fought. (Speedball v1 #3)

As Penance, the suit he wore subjected him to constant pain which he felt helped him to think and focus. This was because typically he saw the world as flat and gray during this time with the pain giving it colour to him. (Thunderbolts v1 #113)

Even after becoming Speedball again, it was said that Robbie was somewhat different compared to what he used to be as he was somewhat more rougher. (Avengers Academy v1 #1)

Dr. Benson's cat Niels was also exposed to the same experiment giving him abilities similar to Speedball. (Speedball v1 #2) Robbie was said to not like snakes. (Speedball v1 #10)

Powers and abilities

His father was known to had taught him to use a gun. (Speedball v1 #10)

When facing a kinetic force, his body's pores produced force bubbles cushioned the impact whereupon the absorbed the kinetic energy and redirected it. Thus, he effectively bounced between surfaces in movements that would normally break a persons back with Robbie not experiencing any pain as he moved from surface to surface. As such, the greater the physical impact the harder he redirected it outwards. (Speedball v1 #1) This formed a field around him that acted as a cushion to protect him from harm with it being called the Speedball Effect giving him the ability to move greater than any gymnastic. (Speedball v1 #2) Simple physical contact was noted to be capable of triggering his abilities. Thus, the energies within his body were released that absorbed the kinetic force of an impact and redirected it. Initially, he did not know how to control the Speedball Effect with him bouncing around randomly until he could anchor himself. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #22) Bullets were shown to simply bounce off his kinetic energy field around his body. (Speedball v1 #3) When activated, his powers produced orbs of glowing light around his body and his clothing transformed into a suit which he could not take off as it felt as a part of himself. This costume simply manifested over any clothing he came to wear once the power activated. (Speedball v1 #1) He could localise the Speedball Effect on select parts of his body if they had a harsh enough impact. (Speedball v1 #10)

Another effect of his powers was increased strength allowing him to throw heavy objects. (Speedball v1 #2) At close range, the Speedball Effect was noted to be incapable of deflecting bullets. (Speedball v1 #10)

When with the Thunderbolts, he came to operate a special costume known as the Penance suit that subjected him to constant pain. (Thunderbolts v1 #113) When his powers were activated, he could project his power outwards allowing him to send a wave of energy to clear a site and project it into a blast at targets. (Thunderbolts v1 #111)

Notes

  • Speedball was created by Steve Ditko and Tom DeFalco where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #22 (January, 1988).
  • For a time, he briefly adopted the name of Penance in Civil War: Front Line v1 #10 (January, 2007).

Alternate Versions

  • In Dead Man Logan v1 # (2019), an alternate version of Robbie Baldwin was shown to inhabit the world of the Wastelands located on Earth-807128. This version had survived the supervillain uprising that had taken over the world where he lived in the 50 years afterwards as the planet was conquered. Over the decades, the kinetic energy built up in his body to unstable levels to the point where a single bounce using his abilities could cause a powerful explosion. Robbie sought help and gained it from Forge who kept Baldwin in a sealed environment to keep him alive.

In other media

Television

Video games

Appearances

  • Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1:
  • Speedball v1:
  • Marvel Super-Heroes v2:
  • New Warriors v1:
  • Civil War: Front Line v1:
  • Thunderbolts v1:
  • Avengers Academy v1:
  • Nova v5:
  • New Warriors:
  • Dead Man Logan v1:

External Links

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