| Bushmaster | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Fist vol. 1 #15 (September, 1977) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont John Byrne |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | John McIver |
| Notable aliases | John Bushmaster, Power Master |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength and durability |
Bushmaster is the name of two Marvel Comics brothers, both supervillains.
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John McIver was a powerful crime boss, criminal financier and organizer, and was oft-confronted by the super-hero Iron Fist. McIver is best known for his attempts to lure Misty Knight to his side. Misty even faked a relationship once in an attempt to bring Bushmaster down. In an attempt to exact revenge on Knight, he hired Luke Cage to kidnap her and bring her to him. As added incentive, he promised evidence that Cage was framed for the heroin possession charge he was imprisoned for, as well as holding Claire Temple and Noah Burstein hostage. Bushmaster forced Burstein to mutate him as he had Cage, but was nonetheless defeated and soon became paralyzed by the process; while the experiment had merely rendered Cage's skin unbreakable, Bushmaster's treatment caused his entire body to harden, rapidly approaching the point where Bushmaster was unable to even move. Bushmaster later died when he was turned into a metal-like substance after his last-ditch effort to find a cure by reversing the process that gave Cage his powers failed,[1] and his code-name was later honored by his younger brother, Quincy.
| Bushmaster | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Captain America v1 #310 (October, 1985) |
| Created by | Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Quincy McIver |
| Team affiliations | Thunderbolts Serpent Society |
| Abilities | Bionic arms, 14-foot-long (4.3 m) snake-like tail |
Quincy McIver was born on a Caribbean island. He became a quadruple amputee when he lost his arms and legs in a boating accident while trying to evade the police underwater. Shortly later, the Roxxon Oil Company equipped him with bionic arms and a snake-like tail in the place of the lower half of his body. He took the name "Bushmaster" from his fallen brother, the first Bushmaster. Years later, Sidewinder enlisted Bushmaster to join the criminal trade union known as the Serpent Society.[2] Bushmaster was grateful for the unity and the steady employment. After all, he considered himself to be a freak, and the Society was his best chance in life. In fact, he made a friend in Diamondback, a fellow Society member.
In his first mission with the Serpent Society, he was hired by AIM to hunt down MODOK. MODOK severed Bushmaster's artificial appendages, and Diamondback saved Bushmaster's life.[3] He soon received new bionic arms.[4]
After the Viper took over the Society, Bushmaster remained loyal to Sidewinder. He was poisoned by the Viper, but was saved by Captain America and Diamondback.[5] He then participated in the Serpent Society's mission to recover mystic objects for Ghaur and Llyra. He withdrew from combat against the X-Men to repay his debt to Diamondback.[6]
Sidewinder, disillusioned by the betrayals of some of the Serpents, had turned over control of the guild to the Cobra, and Bushmaster served him next.[7] At Diamondback's trial, Bushmaster voted to spare her life from a death sentence.[8] After the trial, Bushmaster fought Diamondback, and next, Captain America and Paladin. He was finally taken into custody.[9] He was later released from the Vault.[10]
During the Civil War event, Bushmaster II, like many other villains, was apprehended by Baron Zemo and forced to join Thunderbolts. He briefly appears along with fellow Serpent Society members King Cobra and Rattler.[11]
Alyosha Kraven later began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans[12], including Gargoyle, Tiger Shark, Kangaroo, Aragorn, Vulture, Mongoose, Man-Bull, Dragon Man, Swarm, Mandrill, Grizzly, Frog-Man, and Rhino. Bushmaster is apparently killed by Kraven and left face down in the water aboard the sinking ship.[13] In the end, the Punisher managed to sabotage this zoo; though Kraven himself escaped to the Savage Land.
Later, several Serpent Society members including Anaconda, Black Mamba, Bushmaster and Cottonmouth, fought members of the New Avengers in a semi-tropical locale. He was defeated by Ronin and Luke Cage.[14]
Bushmaster was given bionic prosthetic limbs and a tail attached through surgery courtesy of the Roxxon Oil Company and Brand Corporation. His long, snake-like, superhumanly strong bionic tail enables him to move and strike at superhuman speed. He has two 6-inch (150 mm) "fangs" strapped to the back of each of his hands, which are needle sharp at the tips and contain a fast-acting poison derived from snake venom.