Sunday, June 23, 2013

MACH IV


Real Name: Abner Jenkins, currently goes by Matthew Davis
Occupation: Former mechanic and professional criminal, now practicing hero
Identity: (as Jenkins) publicly known, (as Davis) secret
Legal status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: (Former) employee of the Collector and Justin Hammer, (former) partner of the Gladiator, (former) member of Egghead's Masters of Evil, (current)Thunderbolts
Base of Operations: Mt. Charteris
First Appearance: STRANGE TALES #123 (as the Beetle)

History: Abner Jenkins was a master mechanic at an aircraft parts factory who became dissatisfied with his boring, low paying job. Using his considerable mechanical knowledge, Jenkins built an armor-plated, strength-augmenting suit, a pair of gravity-defying wings, suction-fingered gloves, and a cybernetic control helmet. Calling himself the Beetle, Jenkins decided to use his battle-suit for fame, wealth, and adventure. The Beetle chose to lure the Human Torch and the Thing into battle believing a victory over half the Fantastic Four would make him an overnight sensation. Unfortunately, the Thing and the Torch defeated him, and he was sent to prison. Paroled a short time later, he sought revenge on the Torch, but found himself in battle with Spider-Man instead. Once again he was defeated. Upon his release, he decided to forego petty revenge and concentrated on the acquisition of wealth. He battled Spider-Man and Daredevil separately on various occasions, and once recruited by the Collector to serve as his unwilling agent. Under the Collector's domination, the Beetle faced the Avengers.

Losing every battle against costumed crime fighter and failing to accumulate very much wealth, the Beetle offered his services to underworld financier Justin Hammer, who kept various superhuman criminals on retainers. His offer accepted, the Beetle was dispatched against the original Iron Man, as part of a battalion of costumed criminals. His Beetle armor was severely damaged by Iron Man during the fight.

Jenkins then invested all of the capital he could acquire into the modification and refinement of his Beetle armor. With the assistance of the Thinker, he produced a new battle suit with far greater capacities than his old one. Before launching his comeback, the Beetle recruited the criminal Ringer to put Spider-Man through his paces. The Beetle wished to study Spider-Man's fighting style and program it into a computer system so he could anticipate his opponent's moves. Despite his preparations and new battle-suit, the Beetle was defeated by Spider-Man. He was later freed from prison by Egghead who recruited him for his Masters of Evil organization. The Beetle and other Masters of Evil were defeated by the Avengers and arrested.
When most of Earth's costumed adventurers, including the Avengers and Fantastic Four, seemingly died battling Onslaught, Baron Zemo recruited Jenkins and a number of other villains to trick the world into believing they were heroes called the Thunderbolts. Jenkins adopted the guise of Mach-1. Zemo's plan ultimately failed, but Jenkins and other members decided to try making the Thunderbolts a legitimate team. When Hawkeye took over the group's leadership, he convinced Jenkins to serve out the remainder of his prison term as a show of good faith to the public. But when another criminal used the guise of the Beetle to frame him, Jenkins escaped from jail. Rather than return to prison, he underwent plastic surgery, drastically altering his looks. Ogre also improved on his flight suit, and Jenkins adopted the codename Mach-2.

This custom has been made from a Eaglemoss Avalanche figure with use of Green Milliput and Magic  Sculp White.




3 comments:

  1. bellissima posa dinamica , grande lavoro di dettaglio , pittura precisa !! splendido lavoro !! avrei preferito vedere anche il wip !!!

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  2. Grandioso! Vero, anch'io voglio vedere il wip ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Grazie Enzo e Franco, ma a stento riesco a fare le minie ormai, figuriamoci le foto per il WIP.... :(

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