Bugeye (Spider-Man character)

BUGEYE

Real Name: Abner

Identity/Class: 10 year-old human mutant

Occupation: Living off the land, sorta.

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Spider-Man, the "gov'ment"

Known Relatives: His twin brother Banjo, his Mama, and her relatives

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A village in the Appalachian Mountains, near the Susquehanna River, in southern Pennsylvania

Appearances: Spectacular Spider-Man II#156 (November 1989)

Powers: Bugeye can project "brain bubbles" at others. These cause extreme disorientation, interfering with vision and balance, and enough of them can also be used to knock people unconscious. It's unclear if these are bubbles of force that actually hit other people's heads and knock them out or if they merely cause internal psychic pain. It's also unclear if the bubbles are actually visible to others. He seems to project as many brain bubbles as he wants whenever he wants. His power stems from being a mutant.

Weaknesses: None known.

Physical Description: Bugeye is probably the least disfigured person in his entire village, he has no apparent deformities and still has all his teeth. His head looks a little big, but not freaky big. It's a mystery how he came by his nickname of "Bugeye". He looks like a normal 10 year old boy.

History: His Mama was living with her cousins and working in their garden near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when one day the air around her started sparkling and she fainted. She was several months pregnant at the time. It was the day of the Three Mile Island disaster in 1978 (probably topical in the Marvel U) and despite what those "gov'ment" men told her, apparent she received a hefty dose of radiation from airborne fallout. Bugeye's brother Banjo was born disfigured, and Bugeye manifested his powers very early, before the age of five. Bugeye would use his "brain bubbles" to get the other children to leave his brother Banjo alone. His Mama decided to move Banjo and Bugeye back to her old home village, deep in the mountains of SE Pennsylvania.

Spider-Man stumbles upon their village while looking for the missing Robbie Robertson. They mistake him for a government agent, because he's all funny looking, and Banjo attacks the tree Spidey is sitting in. Bugeye knocks him out with some of his brain bubbles. When Spidey wakes up, Mama has decided to teach the "gov'ment" a lesson by letting Banjo hunt down Spidey, who is forced to participate or Abner will just cause him great pain or knock him out again. Spidey runs into the woods while Mama screams, "Kill Him!" and Banjo follows.

Bugeye waits in the village while Banjo hunts down Spidey. Spidey returns with an unconscious Banjo on his shoulder. Bugeye is all set to knock Spidey out again for hurting his brother, when Banjo stops his brother and tells him that Spidey saved his life. Mama reconsiders her position on hating all strangers and stuff. (Implied moral - Gee, maybe you're just as bad as the kids who taunted your son.) Spidey leaves peacefully.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema.

Possibly named after Lil' Abner, the long running comic-strip character from 1935-1970, who came from a backwards mountain village where he was the most normal looking-one.

Clarifications: Bugeye has no known connection to:
anybody I can think of...

ah, young grasshopper...here's a few--Snood:
Bugeye, of the talking frogs of Central Park, who conspired to become their leader, @ Thor I#363
The Bug-Eyed Voice, Arthur Bigelow, one of Ditko's goofy Speedball foes, @ Speedball#6, and again, believe it or not, in New Warriors I#66

Profile by: caliban

Last updated: 08/02/02