Tumbler (comics)

Tumbler (John Robert Keane) is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in Tales of Suspense #83 (Nov 1966) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

John Keane, as the Tumbler, is a costumed criminal acrobat. Intending to test himself against Captain America, he broke into Avengers Mansion. He easily beat Captain America in two separate struggles—although, this turned out to be the Super-Adaptoid, who had taken Captain America's form and lacked his fighting skills. The real Captain America freed himself from the Adaptoid's trap and defeated the Tumbler in combat.

Later, the Tumbler was hired by Quentin Harderman as a part of the Secret Empire's plot to discredit Captain America. The Tumbler robbed a store, and Captain America tried to capture him but the Tumbler escaped. The next day, John Keane in civilian clothes was told to meet Captain America at a charity boxing match; however the Captain recognized Keane and he ran. Captain America knocked Keane down with his shield, and as the two struggled, the first Moonstone shot and killed Keane with a micro laser under orders from Harderman while hiding out of sight.^[1] Harderman accused Captain America of murdering the Tumbler as part of the scheme to discredit him.

It was later revealed that Keane was using his ill-gotten gains that he had taken as the Tumbler to pay for his mother's living and her home, while his brother Michael was in the army. He had also taken out a million-dollar life insurance policy with the Guardian Life Insurance Policy. When Michael tried to collect on this policy, Guardian refused to pay the claim since John had been killed in an illegal act. Michael trained hard and took on his brother's identity as the Tumbler, getting Captain America's help to expose the insurance company's fraud.

References

External links

• Tumbler at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe