Scourges of the Underworld
| Scourge of the Underworld | |
|---|---|
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Man #194 (May 1985) |
| Created by |
Mark Gruenwald (writer) John Byrne (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | various |
| Abilities | Master of disguise Exploding armor-piercing bullets |
The Scourge of the Underworld is the name of a series of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Writer/editor Mark Gruenwald originally created the Scourge in 1985 as a plot device intended to thin the criminal population of the Marvel Universe, in particular eliminating those supervillain characters he deemed to be too minor, redundant, or ill-conceived. Numerous other characters have used the name, often with differing motives and loyalties.
The Scourge is originally depicted as an individual vigilante dedicated to the assassination of criminals. This person, whose true name has never been revealed, is seen over the course of several months murdering known supervillains. The Scourge approaches a supervillain in disguise, shoots him or her with an explosive-tipped bullet, shouts his catchphrase ("Justice is served!"), and disappears. This first Scourge's killing spree reaches its apex in Captain America #319, where he guns down eighteen such criminals at an underworld meeting which is, ironically, held to devise a way of countering the menace of the Scourge. The Scourge disguises himself as the bartender, whom nobody thinks to search. When Captain America captures the Scourge in the following issue, the character claimed to be the brother of the Enforcer, whom Scourge has killed because his sibling's criminal activities has shamed their father. He claims that this crime led to him creating the Scourge persona with help from a private investigator only identified as "Domino", who provides him detailed information on the supervillain community. Immediately after making this confession, the Scourge is himself shot and killed by an unseen assailant, who is heard to cry "Justice is served!" in the fashion of the Scourge's other killings.
In Captain America #326, Captain America is confronted by a hologram of the Scourge, operated by Doctor Faustus, to try and kill Captain America via having him confront "ghosts" of several villains who had recently died in battle against him. Later on, in Captain America #347 Albert Malik, the communist villain who assumed the identity of the Red Skull during the 1950s, is killed by a mercenary that breaks him out of prison only to kill him. After killing Malick, the mercenary shouts the Scourge's catchphrase. In issue #350, Scourge is shown to be part of an assembly of villains working for Red Skull, many of which Captain America had fought following Red Skull's "death" in Captain America #300. Red Skull gloated that he had created the Scourge organization, as part of a massive network of criminal organizations that carried out Skull's will. The Scourge presented in the issue is promptly killed by John Walker, who had recently assumed the identity of Captain America.
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