The ANSWER

Real Name: Aaron Nicholson

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Mercenary/independent agent;
    former hitman and field agent

Group Membership: Hood's army;
formerly Hammerhead's "villain army" (Hammerhead, Ape-Man, Aura, Bloodshed, Clown (Eliot "Crafty" Franklin), Discus (Tim Stuart), Electro (Max Dillon), Great Gambonnos, Man-Mountain Marko, Mauler (Brendan Doyle), Override (Greg Herd), Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt), Spot, Squid (Donny Callahan), Trapster, Will O' The Wisp, others);
    former agent of HYDRA

Affiliations: Boomerang, Living Brain, Sisters of Sin, Ruby Thursday, Sidekick, the Wizard; attempted to gain work with the Owl, Wolverine (loose);
    former agent of the Kingpin (and Richard Fisk);
   empowered by the equipment of Dr. Harlan Stillwell;
   Dagger (saved her life once)

Enemies: Asgardians, Avengers (Luke Cage, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew), Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), Bullseye, Captain America (Sam Wilson), Cloak (Tyrone Johnson), Dagger (Tandy Bowen), Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Doombots, Hammerhead, Inner Demons, Iron Man (Victor von Doom), Iron Man drones, Mr. Negative, S.H.I.E.L.D., Skrulls, Spider-Man, Toxin (Pat Mulligan)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Pop-Up With Non Name, New York City;
    formerly Bar With Non Name, New York City;
    formerly Bagalia;
    formerly the Bronx, New York, USA;
    formerly (presumably) S.H.I.E.L.D. custody (prison 42?);
    formerly the Raft, Ryker's Island prison, New York;
    formerly Fisk Towers, Manhattan, New York;
    formerly the atmosphere around Earth;
    formerly Las Vegas, Nevada

First Appearance: (In the shadows) Spectacular Spider-Man II#91 (June, 1984); (fully seen and named) Spectacular Spider-Man II#92 (July, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: His powers are the answer to whatever he needs at the time. At rest, he may not demonstrate any superhuman powers. However, in the middle of a fight, struggle, etc., he will develop whatever abilities he needs at the time (USUALLY only one or two powers at a time): superhuman strength, speed, durability, flight, formation of force fields, heightened senses, etc. Flight may be an ability he retains at all times. In some cases this is a conscious effort, as when he deliberately enhanced his own hearing, and in other cases, it is his body's response to a situation. Also, in most cases his powers respond almost instantly, although there have been situations when he has been surprised and overwhelmed before his powers could adapt.

His costume is specially designed so as to be virtually frictionless (presumably with the exception of the soles of his boots and the palms of his gloves), so that Spider-Man's webs will not stick to them.

Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:
(Captain America I#145-148 - BTS / Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#1 (fb)) - The Answer first came to work for the father and son team of Wilson and Richard Fisk when they controlled the Las Vegas division of HYDRA. He was their top hit man, but he also had an angle, or an answer, to any problem.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#91) - From the shadows, the Answer observed the struggle between Spider-Man and the Blob, gaining information on Spider-Man's powers and skills, as well as his new (alien) costume.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#92) - The Kingpin sent the Answer to engage Spider-Man and test his abilities. At first, the Answer seemed to be a pushover, but each time Spidey attacked him, he gained the ability to counter such attacks, such as with great speed or fantastic stamina/durability. Soon, the Answer had Spidey at his mercy, pummeling him with thousands of punches within a few seconds. The Black Cat jumped between them and stopped the fight, but the Answer knew of her bad luck powers, recently gained at the hands of the Kingpin, and so he avoided them by simply avoiding her attacks, but not attacking her back. As the Answer dodged the Black Cat, Spidey webbed him to the floor, but his frictionless costume prevented it the webs from sticking to him, and he simply broke the spots on the floor holding the web to escape. In addition, he tossed the still-sticky web onto Spidey and the Cat, and her bad luck powers acted on Spidey when he tried to push her away. Spidey and the Cat ended up trapped in the web, and the Answer, having taken their measures and founded them wanting, flew away.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#93) - The Answer observed a fight between Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Because of the Kingpin's plans to use long term exposure to the Cat's bad luck power to cause problems for Spidey, he had the Answer arrange things to keep them together. Coercing the Black Cat to agree to the harmless plot because of her debt to the Kingpin, the Answer held her prisoner with a bomb, and then allowed Spider-Man to "save" her. The Answer escaped, and the bomb was merely impressive fireworks, but the plan worked, and Spidey and the Cat were friendly once again.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#94) - The Answer detailed to the Kingpin his theory on why Silvermane was not truly dead, and then the Kingpin's agents succeeded in partially reviving him. The Answer applied a submission collar on Silvermane's neck to force his compliance. Silvermane's test mission was a success in that he overpowered Spider-Man, but he lacked subtlety and attracted a large crowd in the process.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#95) - When Silvermane went out of control, the Answer correctly figured that he was seeking Dagger, whose energies had incapacitated him before, and which held a connection to his life force. He also reasoned that the energy manipulated by Dagger might be able to revive the nearly comatose Vanessa Fisk. The Answer then made arrangements through the Rose to set a trap to attract Cloak and Dagger. The plan worked, and the Answer swooped down in the middle of a struggle between Cloak & Dagger, Silvermane, Spider-Man, and the Black Cat, and flew away with Dagger.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#96) - The Answer returned to the Kingpin with Dagger, but found that she was too depleted to save Dagger, as Silvermane was draining them off via their connection. As the rampaging Silvermane followed Dagger to Fisk Tower, the Kingpin decided to use Dagger's energies anyway, even though it might kill her. Cloak arrived to free Dagger, but he, too, had been weakened by Dagger's energy deficit, and the Answer dropped him with a single punch. As the Kingpin tried in vain to stop Silvermane, the Answer deduced that Dagger had to return the energy she had taken from Silvermane, in order to break the link, and to stop his attacks. Though Dagger was too weak, the Answer deduced a solution and infused his own light energy into Dagger. The infusion went out of control and Dagger absorbed all of the Answer's life force, apparently killing him. The energy released in the process did break the link with Silvermane, and restore him fully to life. However, Dagger refused to give any energy to the wife of the Kingpin, and instead restored her partner, Cloak, and the two teleported away.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#97 - BTS) - The Kingpin lamented the loss of his loyal agent, and the failure to revive Vanessa. He blamed the interference of Spider-Man and the Black Cat, and vowed vengeance.

(Excalibur I#50 - BTS / Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#1 (fb)) - The Answer did not die, but rather was left as a discorporated, unconscious being of energy. However, the "implosion of the Multiverse Matrix" caused an energy disturbance that restored the Answer to awareness.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#1) - Seeking the answer to his current existence, he discovered the means to communicate with the corporeal world via a computer chip, formerly used by Dr. Octopus to control his adamantium arms. He made a deal with Octopus, promising to free him from prison and restore his destroyed mechanical arms, in exchange for helping him regain his physical form. Their plan hinged on a nuclear blaster designed at the US Atomic Research Company, where Octopus had first been mutated and bonded to his arms. However, the blaster was stolen by the Sinister Syndicate, who sought it for their own reasons.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#2) - Octopus formulated a new plan, in which he duped a wannabee-scientist Guardsman into creating the machine which restored the Answer to life. The Answer sought to betray Octopus and leave him trapped in the Vault, but Octopus maintained their former mental link, and used his superior will to force the Answer to free him.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#3) - Octopus built himself a temporary set of arms, and then proceeded to recreate his previous arms. The Answer's abilities allowed them to break into the labs at Empire State University, and recover the computer chip for the adamantium arms. In the process the Answer fought off both Spider-Man and a squadron of Guardsman trying to protect the chip. After regaining his previous arms, Octopus tried to kill the Answer, using the mental link to prevent him from fighting back. However, their battled was interrupted by both Spider-Man and Swarm.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#4) - Octopus escaped the struggle and returned to one of his old labs to recreate his adamantium arms, but the Answer tracked him there. The Answer finally managed to create an interference field that neutralized their mental link, and the two fought on an equal playing field. However, while the Answer's powers were divided between the interference field and directly engaging Octopus' temporary arms, Dr. Octopus managed to nail him with his recreated previous arms. The Answer was granted a reprieve when Octopus' pawn, Mr. Hargrove, arrived and tried to take vengeance for his manipulations. Octopus stopped Hargrove, but then fled as the police drew near, leaving the Answer defeated, but alive.

(New Avengers I#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Answer was imprisoned in the Raft sub-section of Ryker's Island.

(New Avengers I#1-3- BTS) - The Answer escaped during the breakout initiated by Electro, despite the efforts of the group that would become the New Avengers.

(Toxin#3) - The Answer began to rob banks with an unnamed sidekick in order to impress the Owl, the current ruler of New York's underworld. He managed to get the Owl's attention, and was waiting in a bar with his sidekick before phoning him back, but was confronted by Toxin, the heroic symbiote, and Toxin told the Answer that if he gave him the answer to his problem, he would let him walk away. Toxin revealed to the Answer that he was a former police officer bonded to a symbiote, and that he couldn't seem to keep the symbiote from misbehaving, and that it was bringing out the worst in him. The Answer told Toxin that the solution was to kill himself. Toxin didn't keep his word, and sent the Answer back to the Raft. Toxin did attempt suicide, as per the Answer's solution, but the symbiote saved him.

(I ♥ Marvel: Outlaw Love#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in his life, the Answer fell in love with Ruby Thursday, but after a brief relationship, she broke up with him, and he couldn't get over her.

(I ♥ Marvel: Outlaw Love#1) - In Cleveland at the Back Room the Answer played "strip Q and A" games with the Sisters of Sin, winning all the time because of his intellect, when Ruby returned, asking him to help her access the procurement budget for A.I.M. He got her the information. Two weeks later, he discovered that he was being targeted by Bullseye, and asked around the super-villain community, trying to understand who was after him. He finally realized that Bullseye was hired by A.I.M., and was trying to get to Ruby through him. He led Bullseye to Ruby and let him decapitate her, but made a deal to keep her head. He then went quietly went off the radar in the hopes of reactivating her head.

(Civil War: War Crimes) - Answer joined Hammerhead's "villain army" in order to take advantage of the raging superhero Civil War. Before they could begin doing so, however, their headquarters was raided by Iron Man and a small army of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Answer's fate in the ensuing melee is unknown.

(Punisher: War Journal II#4) - Answer attended the wake of Stilt-Man, who had been killed by the Punisher. The wake was held in a bar, and was attended by many current and former criminals. Several attendees started feeling sick, and the villains and ex-villains realized too late the Punisher had been there disguised as the bartender, and had poisoned their drinks. As the Punisher walked away from the bar, it blew up.

(She-Hulk II#17 (fb) - BTS ) - The super-villains in the bar was taken to the hospital, had their stomachs pumped, treated for burns, etc.

(New Avengers I#35) - The Answer was one of a large number of super-villains who met with the Hood, hearing and apparently accepting his position as the new Kingpin of super-villain crime. For his attendance, he was given $25,000.

(New Avengers Annual#2) - The Answer was part of the Hood's super-villain army that ambushed the "New" Avengers' base at Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. He was incapacitated by the Zom-powered Dr. Strange and then taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D..

(New Avengers I#46 (fb) - BTS) - Answer was apparently freed by the Hood.

(New Avengers#46) - Answer was present along with the rest of the Hood's army when they tortured a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who proved to be a Skrull. Guided by Demonicus, the Hood used his demonic powers to determine that a skrull was impersonating the Slug, and he shot and killed the imposter.

(Spider-Man; Swing Shift) - The Answer and Sidekick were present at the Bar with No Name alongside a number of other super-villains, including Boomerang, the Clown, Hydro-Man, King Cobra, Kraven, Mentallo, Ox (Raymond Bloch), Slyde, Speed Demon, and the Spot. He took part in a bet involving a fight between Spider-Man and the new super-villain, Overdrive.

(Amazing Spider-Man#552 - BTS, 553) - The Answer and Sidekick were again present at the Bar with No Name alongside Black Mamba, the Bookie, a Clown, Doctor Bong, Hydro-Man, Lightmaster, Ox (Raymond Bloch), Shockwave, Shriek, Slyde, Speed Demon, Spot, Tomorrow Man, Trapster, and the Wrecking Crew (Bulldozer, Thunderball, Wrecker).

(Secret Invasion#6; 7-8 - BTS) - Answer was part of the Hood's Army who joined the Central Park fight with the Skrull invaders. The Hood's army departed after Veranke's death.

(New Avengers I#50) - When Cage's Avengers tried to lure Osborn's Avengers into a trap at an old Hellfire Club base, Osborn instead contacted the Hood who led his super-villain army to assault Cage's Avengers (Cage, Captain America/James Barnes, Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers, Ronin/Clint Barton, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew, Wolverine/Logan/James Howlett). Answer joined the Hood, Blackout, Blood Brother, Brother(s) Grimm, Centurius, Chemistro, Corruptor, Crossfire, Cutthroat, Dr. Demonicus, [Dormammu], Griffin, Jigsaw, Living Laser, Madame Masque, Mandrill, Razor-Fist, Scarecrow, Shockwave, Slug, Vermin, Wizard, the Wrecking Crew in this assault. Ms. Marvel channeled Spider-Woman's power to stun the criminals and allow the Avengers to escape.

(Wolverine Origins#45 (fb) - BTS) - The Answer worked with Wolverine to come up with a plan to against Romulus and asked Wolverine to break out Ruby and involve her in their plan.

(Wolverine Origins#45) - Wolverine confronted the Answer about Ruby's betrayal. The Answer was sorry because he knew Ruby would betray Wolverine, but he loved her so much, even though she was incapable of loving him back, that he wanted her out of prison and he knew Wolverine was the man capable of breaking her out....(oh, and Wolverine had already returned her to prison for her betrayal).

(Dark Reign: The Cabal#1/3) - The Answer was at the funeral where the Hood delivered a short eulogy that acted more like a warning to members of his army.

(Punisher VII) - The Answer hung out at Hood's surveillance room and got drunk with Grizzly, Squid and Tombstone.

(Dark Reign: The Hood#1 - BTS) - The Hood put Chemistro, Centurius, Demonicus, the Answer, and Living Laser on a special project. He promised to be in touch soon.

(Dark Reign: Mr. Negative#1) - White Dragon, corrupted by Mr. Negative, returned to the Hood's Hell Kitchen hideout and attacked several of Hood agents. Answer watched the attack, which was stopped by the Hood, who shot White Dragon.

  In retaliation the Hood sent Answer, Bloodshed, Lightmaster, Scorcher, Speed Demon, Spot, Squid and White Rabbit to deal with Mr. Negative. After taking care of the Inner Demons they were confronted by Hammerhead and Spider-Man, who had been corrupted by Mr. Negative.

(Dark Reign: Mr. Negative#2) - Spider-Man took Answer out by webbing up his mouth.

(Dark Reign: Mr. Negative#3) - The Hood surrounded Mr. Negative with his team including Answer, but before he could finish him off, the Hood got a call from Norman Osborn, who had made a deal with Hammerhead to save Mr. Negative. Nobody paid attention when Spot teleported Negative to safety.

(New Avengers I#60) - A furious Hood returned to his army and killed Jonas Harrow for his betrayal. Hood chided the criminals for their panicked actions, and told them they now had to follow Osborn's orders. Osborn told them to hunt the unregistered heroes and bring them back, dead or alive.

(New Avengers I#61) - The Hood used the Asgardian Norn Stones to give those in his army the ability to track down the targeted heroes, increasing their own strength and power as well.

(Invincible Iron Man#20) - The Answer attended a meeting at Avengers Tower with several other criminals, where Norman Osborn told them that the bounty was now off of Tony Stark's head.

(New Avengers I#64 (fb)) - The Hood approached his army and let them know of Osborn's offer to make them certified heroes if they participated in the siege on Asgard.

(New Avengers I#63) - The Answer participated in the ensuing battle with Asgard and fought Balder.

(New Avengers I#64 - BTS) - Later, during the siege of Asgard, Loki took away all their additional powers as the city crashed around them.

(New Avengers Finale#1) - The Answer was arrested by the Avengers.

(Wolverine: Origins#45 (fb) - BTS) - Wolverine approached the now-free Answer to devise a plan to help him stop the villainous Romulus, but the Answer, still in love with Ruby Thursday, instead used the opportunity to have Wolverine help her escape from prison.

(Wolverine: Origins#45) - Wolverine confronted the Answer about the failed plan and the Answer revealed his motives.

SECRET WARS HAPPENED

(All-New Captain America#2) - Answer was at a club in Bagalia betting on a fight between Captain America (Sam Wilson) and Crossbones.

(Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega#1 (fb) - BTS) - Answer was imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in Pleasant Hill where his reality was rewritten by a Cosmic Cube.

(Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega#1) - Freed from his false reality he fought alongside many other villains against the Avengers and was knocked out by Captain America (Wilson)'s shield when he tried to escape Pleasant Hill.

(Infamous Iron Man#7) - Wizard gathered Hood's old army, including the Answer, to discuss handling the threat of the new Iron Man, who was reportedly Doctor Doom. Iron Man (Doom) attacked, defeating the villains.

(Invincible Iron Man I#594) - Doom attacked Chemistro at his apartment in Detroit, Michigan, but it turned out to be a trap. The Hood's army got the jump on him, but he still escaped.

(Invincible Iron Man I#597) - The Hood led his army, including the Answer, to Latveria, where they attacked and defeated Doom.

(Invincible Iron Man I#598) - Doom managed to teleport his body away before Hood's army could breach his armor. The Hood then told his army that they would go after Tony Stark next.

(Invincible Iron Man I#600) - The Hood and his army approached Eric Lynch on his boat and demanded he sign power of attorney over to the Hood, which would give him controlling interest in Stark's company. Doombots and Iron Man drones defeated them.

(Defenders V#10) - The Hood gathered his old army, including the Answer, to recruit them to his new organization. He promised each of them a territory, working underneath him. The Defenders showed up with over a dozen heroes to stop them.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#6) - Answer hosted the Spider-Man Trivia Night at the Bar With No Name alongside his associate Living Brain. The contest was won by Boomerang's roommate Peter Parker, who posed as the Liar that night. He was heavily celebrated by the other villains.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#7) - Answer was still at the Bar With No Name when the other villains started attacking Boomerang to get a bounty from Kingpin. Boomerang and Parker escaped.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#19.HU) - The Answer had a drink at the Pop-Up With No Name with 8-Ball and Screwball.

Comments: Created by Al Milgrom.
    Origin detailed (ret-conned?) by Danny Fingeroth.

Always liked this character. Maybe his costume's too cheesy, but I don't know why someone doesn't bring him back. His mind and powers give him virtually unlimited applications.

    Answer and his sidekick made an appearance in the Free Comic Book Day giveaway Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift by Dan Slott. As stated by Slott himself the story did not occur in current continuity (maybe it will become canon in the future?).
--Markus Raymond
    It was re-released in Spider-Man: Swingshift and occurs in "Brand New Day" continuity
--Snood.

Profile by Snood. Updates by Markus Raymond (and other people I can't remember)

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to: