Bantam

Created by Jim Lee

Jim Lee

Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...

 and John Byrne, the first Bantam was a mutant who debuted Uncanny X-Men #282.

Fictional character biography

Bantam was an assistant of Trevor Fitzroy

Trevor Fitzroy

Trevor Fitzroy is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men, in particular Bishop. Created by Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #281 .Fitzroy hails from the same dystopian future as Bishop...

 who used his power as a chronal anchor to keep track of his master's time portals. When Fitzroy took over a future timeline and renamed himself the Chronomancer, Bantam accompanied him.

Slowly, Bantam realized that Fitzroy had been driven mad by his dreams of power, and eventually betrayed his master to the rebellion led by Bishop

Bishop (comics)

Bishop is a fictional comic book superhero, appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular the X-Men family of books...

. Bantam assisted in the raising of the gate to the Chronomancer's keep, and paid for his betrayal with his life at the hands of Fitzroy's Chronotroopers.

Powers and abilities

Bantam kept track of all of Fitzroy's time portals still in stasis. He was sensitive to the bioenergy emissions of other superhumans, allowing him to locate the site where the energy was released.

Bantam (Robert Velasquez)

Fictional character biography

The second Bantam, Robert Velasquez from San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, was a superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 who first appeared in Captain America Annual #12, after which he remained relatively obscure.

Civil War

In Civil War: Frontline #3, he faces off against Thunderclap

Thunderclap (comics)

Thunderclap is a fictional superhero created by Marvel UK a division of Marvel Comics. Thunderclap first appeared in Spider-Man Weekly #607 , and was created by Mike Collins and Barry Kitson....

, a superhero who opposes the Super-human Registration Act

Registration Acts (comics)

The Registration Acts—the Mutant Registration Act and Superhuman Registration Act —are fictional legislative bills that have been plot points used in various comic books published by Marvel Comics which, when passed into law, enforce the mandatory registration of superpowered individuals with...

. Thunderclap accidentally knocks Velasquez into a gas truck which then explodes, instantly killing him. Guilt-ridden, Thunderclap wanders away. The entire battle is viewed by Sally Floyd

Sally Floyd

Sally Floyd is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Generation M #1 Sally Floyd is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Generation M #1 Sally Floyd is a...

, a reporter who later wonders if the gas truck had been deliberately placed near the battle.

Powers and abilities

His powers were strength, speed, and endurance which increased to superhuman levels when in a frenzy that he had a hard time controlling which were the results of a special Power Broker

Power Broker

Power Broker is the name of two characters in Marvel Comics.Power Broker, Inc. is a fictional criminal corporation in the Marvel Universe which provides individuals with superhuman physical abilities for a price...

 Treatment.

Television

• Bantam I appears in the two-part X-Men
  X-Men (TV series)
  X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992, in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup...
  
  episode "One Man's Worth."

External links

• Marvel Universe Appendix: Bantam