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Humbug (comics)
Encyclopedia
Buck Mitty, known as Humbug, is a fictional character
that appeared in the Marvel Comics
universe
. Humbug was originally a super-villain but later became a super-hero and a member of the Heroes for Hire
.
professor at Empire State University
until his funding was cut off. Desperate to prove the value of the insect world, as well as to gain enough wealth to continue his research, Mitty designed the Humbug costume to achieve his goals, by whatever means necessary. Humbug intended to begin his career by stealing a shipment of black pearls, but a group of criminals beat him to the punch, and he fled when Spider-Man
showed up to take them out. He next targeted an armored car government cash transfer. While he overpowered the guards and blew open the car, he had no way to transport the large shipment, as he had previously blown out one of the tires, to prevent them from escaping. At this time, Spider-Man came on the scene and, after a short struggle, turned Humbug's sonics back on himself, destroying his equipment. The cops then took him away. Mitty's sentence was commuted to time served, and he was released from prison. He renewed his awesome entomological onslaught, now dedicated to punishing ESU for their betrayal. He first tried to steal some rare paintings for their art department to finance his research, but found that the art department had been relocated, when he blasted into the women's locker room. Embarrassed, he fled the scene.
Regrouping, he broke into the physics building, to steal some of the super-conductive ceramics. The noise of his assault drew Spider-Man, who again turned Humbug's power back on him, this time blasting him out through a window. Spider-Man's web saved Mitty from going splat, but Humbug then distracted him by blowing up some cop cars. Spider-Man tracked Humbug to his old entomology lab, where he took a woman hostage. Spider-Man turned the tables on him, by grabbing a jar containing some of his specimens: "Let the girl go, Humbug! Or these roaches die screaming!" Humbug surrendered, appalled at Spider-Man's cruelty, and was sent back to jail.
Later, Humbug attended the Springdale branch of the Bar with no Name, where he bragged about the newly redesigned Tomazooma
.
In his very own one-shot special called "Spider-Man: Bug Stops Here", Humbug attacked the New York Museum of Natural History to finance his research by robbing a rare scarab amulet. Spider-Man, being present at the time of the robbery, confronted his old nemesis. Spider-Man eventually led Humbug to a place of the museum that was damaged by termite
s, and Humbug fell through the floor broken by those termites. During the fall, Humbug was knocked out upon landing on the lower level floor.
Discovering that Humbug had renewed his attack on the museum, the mercenary known as Deadpool
was hired by unknown parties to prevent it. Deadpool eventually caught up with Humbug, but one of Humbug's insect buddies warned him of the attack. Humbug fired sonic blasts at Deadpool, causing the mercenary to go both deaf and mute. Furious, Deadpool chased Humbug into a woman's dorm. Deadpool then tried to determine Humbug's secret identity, and nearly killed two innocent men, before figuring out that entomology was the study of insects, and thus making the connection between Mitty and Humbug. He then attacked Humbug in his lab, doused him with honey, and then hurled a jar of South American fire ants on him. Humbug tried in vain to blast off the fire ants as they devoured him, and after a few minutes, Deadpool declared Humbug to be dead.
However, while the outer layer of Humbug's skin was eaten by the ants, he made a deal with them. They let him live and he got them younger and tastier victims. Rodney, the leader of the ants, stayed with Humbug after this.
, Humbug began trying to redeem himself, and in doing so joined up with the new Heroes for Hire
super-hero team. During his adventures with the team, he gains the personal attention of the villains Insecticide, and the Headmen
.
He is apparently eaten by giant insects while on a mission in Antarctica, but turns out to be alive and well along with new powers. His personality changes, however, as he becomes obsessed with serving the bugs on earth. He is advised by the insects that they must return to New York for the Hulk
and his Warbound
are fast approaching. In the World War Hulk
series, Humbug turned on Earth's hive and the Heroes for Hire to serve the Brood
queen of Hulk's Warbound, No-Name
. No-Name uses him as a host for her gestating eggs.
It was later revealed that Earth's hive knew that Humbug would turn on them and in fact used him as a Trojan Horse
to transport their own agents into the queen's hive. These agents then shot the queen with a beam, claiming afterwards to have sterilized her. When the queen gloated that her hivelings were near hatching inside of Humbug, the Earth-hive agents revealed that Humbug had been poisoned beforehand, dooming both him and the queen's eggs. Meanwhile, mutated and dying in agony, Humbug begged Shang-Chi
to mercy kill
him. Shang-Chi granted his request by tearing his head off.
Starting in his Deadpool appearance, he began to demonstrate the ability to communicate with insects.
Following Heroes for Hire #9, Humbug received a massive increase in his powers, as well as an exo-suit. He has demonstrated superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses, and the ability to communicate with any insectoid in the world and possibly beyond Earth.
When the Black Cat
destroyed his helmet, it was revealed that his skin had taken on an insect-like appearance.
However, it was revealed that the suit itself was infested with insects from Earth's hive when the Helmet sprouted legs. The bug helmet also displayed its ability to fire a laser beam, suggesting that most of Humbug's new abilities were from the exo-suit or the bugs within it.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appeared in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. Humbug was originally a super-villain but later became a super-hero and a member of the Heroes for Hire
Heroes For Hire
Heroes for Hire is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #54 , and was created by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias.-Publication history and original concept:...
.
Fictional character biography
Buck Mitty was the senior entomologyEntomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
professor at Empire State University
Empire State University
Empire State University is a fictional university in the Marvel Comics Universe, a mixture of New York University and Columbia University . It is located somewhere in New York City, in Greenwich Village near the site of New York University...
until his funding was cut off. Desperate to prove the value of the insect world, as well as to gain enough wealth to continue his research, Mitty designed the Humbug costume to achieve his goals, by whatever means necessary. Humbug intended to begin his career by stealing a shipment of black pearls, but a group of criminals beat him to the punch, and he fled when Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
showed up to take them out. He next targeted an armored car government cash transfer. While he overpowered the guards and blew open the car, he had no way to transport the large shipment, as he had previously blown out one of the tires, to prevent them from escaping. At this time, Spider-Man came on the scene and, after a short struggle, turned Humbug's sonics back on himself, destroying his equipment. The cops then took him away. Mitty's sentence was commuted to time served, and he was released from prison. He renewed his awesome entomological onslaught, now dedicated to punishing ESU for their betrayal. He first tried to steal some rare paintings for their art department to finance his research, but found that the art department had been relocated, when he blasted into the women's locker room. Embarrassed, he fled the scene.
Regrouping, he broke into the physics building, to steal some of the super-conductive ceramics. The noise of his assault drew Spider-Man, who again turned Humbug's power back on him, this time blasting him out through a window. Spider-Man's web saved Mitty from going splat, but Humbug then distracted him by blowing up some cop cars. Spider-Man tracked Humbug to his old entomology lab, where he took a woman hostage. Spider-Man turned the tables on him, by grabbing a jar containing some of his specimens: "Let the girl go, Humbug! Or these roaches die screaming!" Humbug surrendered, appalled at Spider-Man's cruelty, and was sent back to jail.
Later, Humbug attended the Springdale branch of the Bar with no Name, where he bragged about the newly redesigned Tomazooma
Tomazooma
Tomazooma is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.-Fictional character biography:Tomazooma is a gigantic robot designed to resemble a Native American deity of the Keewazi people. The Red Star Oil Company built the robot to frighten the Keewazi into giving up their oil-rich land...
.
In his very own one-shot special called "Spider-Man: Bug Stops Here", Humbug attacked the New York Museum of Natural History to finance his research by robbing a rare scarab amulet. Spider-Man, being present at the time of the robbery, confronted his old nemesis. Spider-Man eventually led Humbug to a place of the museum that was damaged by termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s, and Humbug fell through the floor broken by those termites. During the fall, Humbug was knocked out upon landing on the lower level floor.
Deadpool (comics)
Deadpool is a fictional character, a mercenary and anti-hero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool first appeared in The New Mutants #98 Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional character, a mercenary and...
was hired by unknown parties to prevent it. Deadpool eventually caught up with Humbug, but one of Humbug's insect buddies warned him of the attack. Humbug fired sonic blasts at Deadpool, causing the mercenary to go both deaf and mute. Furious, Deadpool chased Humbug into a woman's dorm. Deadpool then tried to determine Humbug's secret identity, and nearly killed two innocent men, before figuring out that entomology was the study of insects, and thus making the connection between Mitty and Humbug. He then attacked Humbug in his lab, doused him with honey, and then hurled a jar of South American fire ants on him. Humbug tried in vain to blast off the fire ants as they devoured him, and after a few minutes, Deadpool declared Humbug to be dead.
However, while the outer layer of Humbug's skin was eaten by the ants, he made a deal with them. They let him live and he got them younger and tastier victims. Rodney, the leader of the ants, stayed with Humbug after this.
Heroes for Hire
Following the events of the superhuman Civil WarCivil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
, Humbug began trying to redeem himself, and in doing so joined up with the new Heroes for Hire
Heroes For Hire
Heroes for Hire is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #54 , and was created by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias.-Publication history and original concept:...
super-hero team. During his adventures with the team, he gains the personal attention of the villains Insecticide, and the Headmen
Headmen
The Headmen is a group of fictional supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. They first appeared in The Defenders #21 .-Fictional biography:...
.
He is apparently eaten by giant insects while on a mission in Antarctica, but turns out to be alive and well along with new powers. His personality changes, however, as he becomes obsessed with serving the bugs on earth. He is advised by the insects that they must return to New York for the Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
and his Warbound
Warbound
The Warbound is a group of fictional characters in the Marvel Comics. They first joined forces in The Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #94 as a combination of new and existing characters, the former created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan.-Planet Hulk:...
are fast approaching. In the World War Hulk
World War Hulk
"World War Hulk" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self titled limited series and various other titles published by Marvel Comics in 2007, featuring the Hulk....
series, Humbug turned on Earth's hive and the Heroes for Hire to serve the Brood
Brood (comics)
The Brood are a race of insectoid, parasitic, extraterrestrial beings that appear in the comic books published by Marvel Comics, especially Uncanny X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum, they first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #155 .The Brood possess wings, fanged teeth and...
queen of Hulk's Warbound, No-Name
No-Name
No-Name of the Brood is a fictional character in the . She is a Sleazoid Brood Queen who first appeared as a main character in the Planet Hulk storyline of The Incredible Hulk-Fictional character history:...
. No-Name uses him as a host for her gestating eggs.
It was later revealed that Earth's hive knew that Humbug would turn on them and in fact used him as a Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
to transport their own agents into the queen's hive. These agents then shot the queen with a beam, claiming afterwards to have sterilized her. When the queen gloated that her hivelings were near hatching inside of Humbug, the Earth-hive agents revealed that Humbug had been poisoned beforehand, dooming both him and the queen's eggs. Meanwhile, mutated and dying in agony, Humbug begged Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi is a Marvel Comics character, often called the "Master of Kung Fu". He was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin....
to mercy kill
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
him. Shang-Chi granted his request by tearing his head off.
Powers and abilities
Uses some audio tapes and a series of amplifiers to broadcast the noises of various insect species, which can incapacitate others or damage materials.Starting in his Deadpool appearance, he began to demonstrate the ability to communicate with insects.
Following Heroes for Hire #9, Humbug received a massive increase in his powers, as well as an exo-suit. He has demonstrated superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses, and the ability to communicate with any insectoid in the world and possibly beyond Earth.
When the Black Cat
Black Cat (comics)
The Black Cat is a fictional character, a superheroine in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 ....
destroyed his helmet, it was revealed that his skin had taken on an insect-like appearance.
However, it was revealed that the suit itself was infested with insects from Earth's hive when the Helmet sprouted legs. The bug helmet also displayed its ability to fire a laser beam, suggesting that most of Humbug's new abilities were from the exo-suit or the bugs within it.