BARNEY BATES

Real Name: Barney Bates

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Cab driver

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Machine Man

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Central City, California

First Appearance: Machine Man I#6 (September, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Bates is a skilled cab driver, and has a well-grounded perspective on life.

History: (Machine Man I#6) - While Central City was being invaded by the Autocron Ten-For, Machine Man decided to turn himself over to the authorities, in the hopes that the tracking device embedded inside of him could be removed. He boarded Barney Bates' cab, and assured him that he could claim the reward for turning him in. Bates remarked "It sure is tough to be black-- and unlucky!" To that, Machine Man observed that he himself had a skin problem, and was, in fact, a minority of one. Bates asked Machine Man why he had to choose his cab, and Machine Man replied that he felt he could trust Bates. Before they could reach their destination, Machine Man saw an explosion in the distance, caused by Ten-For. Bates suggested that Machine Man go to their aid, but Machine Man felt he had no reason to help humanity. To explain why to him, Bates compared the situation to a pie--and that if the pie were stolen, everyone would go hungry, including Machine Man. Having gained this new perspective, Machine Man resolved to deal with Ten-For, and thanked Bates for his help.

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.

I can't quite recall how it is that I came to write this profile, but at some point, Snood added "black cabbie who convinced Machine Man to stop Ten-For" to my dibs list. I guess I must have made some crack about doing Bates' profile on the group list, and he took me seriously.

Interestingly, Bates worked in the same city as Cabbie did originally. Let's hear it for Central City cab drivers!

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Barney Bates has no relation to:

• Bates, Alfred Coppersmith's neighbour, @ Punisher II#10

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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