Circus of Crime

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Circus of Crime

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Incredible Hulk #3
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
Base(s) of operations	New York

Roster
Ringmaster The Clown Bruto The Strongman The Human Cannonball The Great Gambonnos Princess Python Live Wire

The Circus of Crime is a fictional villainous organization in the Marvel Comics universe.

1 History
- 1.1 Members
2 1940s Circus of Crime
3 19th Century Circus of Crime
- 3.1 Members (1st team)
- 3.2 Members (2nd team)
4 External link

[edit] History

Originally a spy organisation employed by the Nazis during World War II, Tiboldt's Circus was a traveling circus led by Maynard Tiboldt, the Ringmaster, and he and his performers would use their special skills and talents to rob their audiences.

The Circus first came to the authorities' attention, when they carried out a series of robberies of small towns, using the Ringmaster's skill in hypnotism to mesmerise entire towns, in order to rob said towns. Regretably for the Circus, Rick Jones was one of the victims of their capers, and his involvement led to the involvement of the Hulk, and the Circus' arrest (Incredible Hulk #3).

After a brief stretch in prison, the Circus visited New York, where they battled both Spider-Man and Daredevil, with predictably poor results. Even briefly reinventing themselves as the Masters of Menace did not help the Circus in their next attempt at petty thievery.

By the mid-60s, the Circus of Crime had established themselves as comic foils, and this led to their being used more widely in the later 60s and 70s. They briefly recruited Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch into their ranks, hypnotised Thor into assisting with one of their schemes, attempted to sabotage The Wasp and Yellowjacket's wedding, battled against Daredevil and Power Man, and were even defeated by Howard the Duck.

In later years, the Circus slid somewhat down the credibility scale. Despite devising an enhanced hypno-ray, dubbed the "psionic eye", the Ringmaster and his flunkies were soundly beaten by The Thing and Iceman. They were subsequently used as punching bags by the She-Hulk,Power Pack and Generation X.

By this time, the Ringmaster was seriously contemplating giving up his life of crime, and on at least one occasion, was usurped by the Clown, who proved no more competent a leader than the Ringmaster.

With the exception of the Ringmaster, the Circus have not appeared in Marvel Comics for several years.

[edit] Members

Ringmaster (leader)
The Clown (Funny Man and deputy leader)
Bruto the Strong Man
Teena
Cannonball (The Great Gambini)
Samson
The Great Gambonnos (sometimes called the Great Gambinos)
Princess Python
Incredible Hulk
Thor II
Ulik
Blackwing
Live Wire
The Rajah
Fire-Eater
Iron Jack Baker
Dragon Man
Devil Dinosaur (hypnotized)
Moon-Boy (hypnotized)

[edit] 1940s Circus of Crime

Maynard Tiboldt's father, Fritz, ran a travelling circus and was also a Nazi agent. Sent to America to murder US Government officials, under cover of his circus activities, Tiboldt and his gang fell foul of Captain America and were deported back to Germany, where Fritz Tiboldt and his wife were subsequently murdered by their former employers.

[edit] 19th Century Circus of Crime

Oddly, there were two organisations in the Old West who dubbed themselves the Circus of Crime. Both teams fought against Kid Colt; the latter also faced the West Coast Avengers.