I hate to do this, but in my heart of hearts, I know the truth. It pains me to admit it, but yes, the Porcupine was a huge, huge turkey of a super villain. Don't get me wrong: I love Alex Gentry and all his ilk; all the disgruntled engineers and scientists in comics who ever re-purposed their failed Army battle suit to name themselves after an animal and rob banks. Guys like the Porcupine, the Beetle and the the Leapfrog had the misfortune of naming themselves after lackluster, non-terrifying animals, eventually falling out of fashion in these leather clad days of cool and irony.
Porcupine started out an Ant-Man villain, but over time he got his ass handed to him by everyone from Spider-Man to Agatha Harkness. Eventually, he upgraded his armor to a sleeker model, but was still a perpetual punching bag. He actually went out heroically, saving Captain America from the Serpent Society and had his armor displayed in a place of honor in Avengers Mansion. There appears to be a new Porcupine on the loose, but he only appeared in the background in Thunderbolts awhile back, and hasn't been seen since. That I know of.
3 comments:
Alex Gentry the Porcupine is still my favorite all time comic book character. His original battle armor was unique.
I have to say that I'm in the Porcupine fan club myself, the Beetle and Leap Frog too for that matter. Ever read the (original) X-Men #s 22 and 23? Nefario, Porcupine, the Eel, Plantman, Unicorn and Scarecrow are the villains. Great Silver Age stuff by Roy Thomas and the underrated Werner Roth.
And wow! You got a comment on your blog from the Porcupine himself. Pretty impressive.
In one of the issues of Doom Patrol that were written by Grant Morrison, the reader is treated to a tour of the subconscious world of Crazy Jane, a heroine with multiple personality disorder. In the background of many of the story's panels it is possible to see Jane's various super-powered personalities...and I could swear that one of them was the Porcupine or something very like it. Grant has long been known for his affinity for ridiculous unknown characters.
Post a Comment