The Foolkiller is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer Steve Gerber and first appeared in the pages of 1974's Man-Thing. He also had a ten-issue limited series that ran from 1990 to 1991. There have been three different individuals to adopt the mantle of the Foolkiller. The character was inspired by a Southern legend that was the basis for a short story by O. Henry. This in turn was the inspiration for a later novel by Helen Eustis. The novel was made into a film featuring Anthony Perkins. A character of the same name also appeared in L. Frank Baum's The Enchanted Island of Yew. Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to first comic book to feature a character. ... The Man-Thing is a fictional comic book creature created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and featured in various Marvel Comics titles, the most prominent of which was written by Steve Gerber. ... Omega the Unknown was both an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976-1977 and the titular character of that comic book. ... The limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. ... Stephen Ross Gerber (born 20 September 1947, St. ... Val Mayerik (born 1950, Youngstown, Ohio) is an American comic-book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of Marvel Comics satiric character Howard the Duck. ... Jim Mooney (born 1919) is an American comic book artist best known as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, and as the signature artist of DC Comics Silver Age Supergirl. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Stephen Ross Gerber (born 20 September 1947, St. ... The Man-Thing is a fictional comic book creature created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and featured in various Marvel Comics titles, the most prominent of which was written by Steve Gerber. ... The limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. ... This article is 88 kilobytes or more in size. ... William Sydney Porter in his thirties O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910). ... Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932–September 12, 1992) was an American actor best known for his role as the serial killer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho. ... The Laughing Dragon of Oz, see Frank Joslyn Baum . ... The Enchanted Island of Yew is a childrens fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Fanny Y. Cory, and published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company in 1903. ...

Ross G. Everbest

Everbest as the first Foolkiller.

The original Foolkiller, introduced in Man-Thing #3 and killed in the next issue, was more of a reactionary crusader than subsequent versions of the character. Upset by anti-Vietnam War protests and counterculture movements, he decided that sinners, dissidents, and criminals alike were "fools" who must be eliminated, and that he had been chosen by God to do so. He was inspired by a faith healer, Reverend Mike Pike, who cured his childhood paralysis. As a result, he became an evangelist with Reverend Mike as his mentor and soon became as popular as the Reverend. But after catching Reverend Mike in a drunken orgy, he killed his former hero, preserved the corpse in formaldehyde, and used the preacher's money to fund his vigilante activities. He donned a flamboyant costume and acquired (by unknown means) his "purification gun", a raygun which disintegrated people instantly. Some of his victims were given a 24-hour warning in the form of a calling card: "Foolkiller / e pluribus unum / You have 24 hours to live. Use them to repent or be forever damned to the pits of hell where goeth all fools. Today is the last day of the rest of your life. Use it wisely or die a fool." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Faith healing is the use of solely spiritual means in treating disease, which, in some cases, is accompanied with the refusal of modern medical techniques. ... The chemical compound formaldehyde (also known as methanal) is a gas with a pungent smell. ... // Rayguns are a type of directed-energy weapon. ... E pluribus unum included in the Great Seal of the United States, being one of the nations mottos at the time of the seals creation E Pluribus Unum was one of the first mottos adopted by the United States government. ...

In his brief Man-Thing appearance, the Foolkiller attempted to kill two major characters in the series: F.A. Schist, a real estate developer whose projects threatened the ecology of the Florida Everglades, and Richard Rory, a disk jockey who had denounced the Foolkiller's activities. During a struggle with the monstrous Man-Thing, the Foolkiller died in a freak accident, impaled by a shard of glass from the tank containing Reverend Mike. An Anhinga perched on the boardwalk railing The Florida Everglades is a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, specifically in parts of Monroe, Collier, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. ...

His real name was not given until a later flashback in Amazing Spider-Man #225, which stated that it was Ross G. Everbest (a variant of Gerber's Reg Everbest pseudonym with his middle name attached to it). The Amazing Spider-Man is the title of both a comic book published by Marvel Comics and a daily newspaper comic strip. ...

Greg Salinger

Gerber created the second version of the character in Omega the Unknown #9 (plus a one-panel cameo in #8, which was written by Roger Stern), in which Greg Salinger, imprisoned for disorderly conduct, heard the story of the first Foolkiller from his cellmate, Richard Rory, incarcerated on a trumped-up kidnapping charge since Man-Thing #20. After being released, he stole the Foolkiller's equipment and assumed his identity, using the "purification gun" to kill a number of people in New York including the supervillain Blockbuster. Unlike his religiously inspired predecessor, Salinger defined "fools" as those guilty of materialism and mediocrity, or anyone who lacked "a poetic nature". Omega the Unknown was both an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976-1977 and the titular character of that comic book. ... The Hobgoblin character co-created by Stern. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Richard Rory is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. ... The Man-Thing is a fictional comic book creature created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and featured in various Marvel Comics titles, the most prominent of which was written by Steve Gerber. ... Doctor Doom, one of the most archetypal supervillains and his arch-enemies The Fantastic Four (in background). ... Blockbuster is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. ... In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions; that matter is the only substance. ...

In issues #73-75 of The Defenders, written by Ed Hannigan, Rory, feeling responsible for Salinger's breakdown and crimes, tried to help the Defenders arrest Salinger, by persuading him that he could join them as a superhero. However, Salinger had decided the Defenders were "fools" after their failure to capture another supervillain; he burned down their headquarters and was captured, but escaped in a road accident. He reappeared in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #58-60 and The Amazing Spider-Man #225-226, written by Roger Stern, studying at Empire State University, where teaching assistant Peter Parker (Spider-Man) befriended him, then stopped him in the midst of another killing spree. When a witness suggested that only a fool would fight Spider-Man, Salinger attempted to shoot himself, but was stopped, arrested, found criminally insane and institutionalized for good. He appeared briefly as a mental patient in Captain America #319 (Stern) and in the Foolkiller miniseries (Gerber). The Defenders are a Marvel Comics superhero group — usually presented as a non-team of individualistic outsiders each known for following their own agendas — that usually battles mystic and supernatural threats. ... Ed Hannigan has been a writer, artist and editor of comic books for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. ... For the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, see Super Hero (Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode). ... Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. ... The Amazing Spider-Man is the title of a comic book published by Marvel Comics, a television program and a daily newspaper comic strip. ... Empire State University (ESU) is a fictional university in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... A teaching assistant (TA) is a junior scholar employed on a temporary contract by a college or university for the purpose of assisting a professor by teaching students in recitation or discussion sessions, holding office hours, grading homework or exams, supervising labs (in science and engineering courses), and sometimes teaching... Spider-Man swinging around his hometown, New York City. ... Criminally insane refers to a legal standard in most countries, where the motive for murder or grievous bodily harm is insanity. ... Captain America is a fictional comic book superhero published by Marvel Comics. ...

Kurt Gerhardt

Gerber's Foolkiller miniseries, illustrated by JJ Birch, was published from October 1990 to October 1991. It focused on a new character, Kurt Gerhardt, who reached a state of homicidal despair after the random murder of his father, a divorce, the loss of his bank job (part of the savings and loan crisis), and being brutally robbed at his new job in a fast-food restaurant. After Gerhardt saw a televised interview with Greg Salinger, they began to correspond about what they both saw as the depraved state of the world. Salinger directed Gerhardt to an old confidant who provided him with the Foolkiller costume and "purification gun". He eventually abandoned the gaudy costume, substituting a simple leather mask and vest (or appearing in a variety of disguises), and created a simpler calling card: "Foolkiller / e pluribus unum / Actions have consequences." The Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s was a wave of savings and loan association failures in the United States in which over 1,000 savings and loan institutions failed in the largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance and larceny of all time. ...

Salinger was granted access by his therapist to a computer's word processor so that he could write his memoirs. Because his mail was subject to being screened by institutional staff, Salinger secretly used the modem on the computer (which his therapist was unaware of) to communicate with Gerhardt through a BBS. A word processor (also more formally known as a document preparation system) is a computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of viewable or printed material. ... Ward Christensen and the computer that ran one of the first public Bulletin Board Systems, CBBS from BBS: The Documentary “BBS” redirects here. ...

Initially, Gerhardt directed his vigilante campaign at violent criminals, garnering some praise from the public, but his anger at abuse and neglect in general led him to kill drug-addicted negligent mothers and even their (albiet violent) children in a series of escalating massacres. His ever broader definition of "fools" who deserved death broadened to include those guilty of what Gerhardt believed to be rank hypocrisy or stupidity.

For a while, Gerhardt works at a small fast food resturaunt, where he develops a promising romantic relationship with a fellow coworker. He becomes a popular man in his neighborhood. Acting heroically, even without the gun, Gerhardt saves an acquantice from being run down by a drunk. Gerhardt, however, must be stopped from beating on the driver.

In a move celebrated by his friends at the resturaunt, he gains a job at a credit agency. His work-neighbor is a crass, older man who enjoys using his power for thrills and cheap revenge. In a moment of weakness, Gerhardt even considers using his gun on this man, along with others who are guilty of only being annoying.

Gerhardt was especially frustrated at the public's thoughtless pursuit of instant or momentary gratification and this became the centralizing theme of his killing spree. His kills become more violent, taking place in front of, and traumatizing, many innocent people. Once such incident is viewed by his love interest. His final major kill was an industrialist who was stripping Amazon rain forest land to raise cattle for beef and this turned the public hostile towards the Foolkiller. At the end of the series, after escaping the police (his online communications with Salinger discovered) and failing to kill his drug-lord nemesis, Gerhardt had his face altered with the assistance of his predecessor's friend. She carefully uses acid to mar his face. He leaves New York to assume a new identity in Arizona. A river in the Amazon rainforest The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. ... NY redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ...

Gerhardt appeared in New Avengers as a Raft inmate, although the circumstances surrounding his capture have not been revealed. After Electro organized a massive breakout, he was seen attacking Spider-Man with many other villains, after which he escaped. New Avengers is a comic book published by Marvel Comics. ... Electro is the name of several fictional comic book characters in the Marvel Comics universe, including two from Marvels predecessors, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. ...

Marvel MAX

This article or section contains information about a scheduled or expected comic book release, or a series already in progress. It is likely to contain tentative information and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available.

Marvel have recently announced that a new Foolkiller limited series, written by Gregg Hurwitz, will be released under their Marvel MAX adult imprint. Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ... Image File history File links Speech_balloon. ... MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system. ...

2099 Continuity

A cabal of fundamentalist super soldiers modelled themselves after the Foolkillers of the 20th Century. One of their number was encountered by the X-Men of 2099 after he embarked on a mission to assassinate all former members of Xi'an Chi Xan's original team, "The Lawless." X-Men 2099 is a comic book published by Marvel from 1993 to 1996 that explores the possibility of what a team of X-Men would be like in the year 2099. ... Xian is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics for their line of Marvel 2099 in the title X-Men 2099. ...

Misc

• In the New Avengers: Most Wanted Files, Spider-Man recalls that he found it unusual that during the Raft breakout, Gerhardt called him out along with other inmates who had a vendetta against Spider Man. Although Spider-Man does make an appearance in Foolkiller issue #8 he does not encounter Gerhardt. He also recalls hearing that Salinger was briefly released by a government agent to go on a killing spree in order to frame Vengeance. It is unknown how much truth there is to this.

• New Avengers Most Wanted Files also incorrectly states that Foolkiller killed his drug dealer nemesis, Backhand. Backhand escaped though seriously crippled by Gerhardts attack.

This article is about the comic. ...

External Link

• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/foolk3.htm