YELLOWJACKET

 

Real Name: Darren Agonistes Cross

Identity/Class: Human mutate, technology user

Occupation: CEO of his own company; gang leader

Group Membership: Cross Technological Enterprises (CTE for short);
formerly Homines Verendi (Black Bishop/Maximilian Frankenstein, Black King/Kade Kilgore, Hate-Monger/Josh Glenn, Donald Pierce, White Bishop/Chen Zhao, White King/Manuel Enduque, White Queen/Wilhelmina Kensington, X-Cutioner/Carl Denti), Army of Evil (Absorbing Man/Carl Creel, Anaconda/Blanche Sitzniski, Armadillo/Antonio Rodriguez, Baron Blood/John Falsworth, Blackout/Marcus Daniels, Boomslang/Marc Riemer, Bulldozer/Henry Camp, Bushmaster/Quincy McIver, Clown/Eliot "Crafty" Franklin, Coachwhip, Cottonmouth, Cyclone/Pierre Fresson, Death Adder/Theodore Scott, Dragonfly/Veronica Dultry, Fer-de-Lance, Ferocia, Fire-Eater/Tomas Ramirez, Graviton/Franklin Hall, Great Gambonnos, Grey Gargoyle/Paul Duval, Human Cannonball/Jack Pulver, Ironclad/Mike Steel, Klaw/Ulysses Klaw, Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff, Living Laser/Arthur Parks, Madame Menace, Mr. Hyde/Calvin Zabo, Nitro/Robert Hunter, Piledriver/Brian Calusky, Princess Python/Zelda DuBois, Puff Adder/Gordon Fraley, Ringmaster/Maynard Tiboldt, Rock Python, Sidewinder/Gregory Bryan,Skein/Sybil Dvorak, Slither/Aaron Salomon, Squid, Teena the Fat Lady/Mary Stenson, Thunderball/Dr. Eliot Franklin, Tiger Shark/Todd Arliss, Vapor/Ann Darnell, Vector/Simon Utrecht, Viper/Jordan Dixon, Whirlwind/David Cannon, Wizard/Bentley Wittman, Wrecker/Dirk Garthwaite, X-Ray/James Darnell)

Affiliations: Baron Zemo (Helmut Zemo), Miss Brown, Count Nefaria (Luchino Nefaria), Augustine Cross, CTE personnel (employees), Egghead (Dr. Elihas Starr), Human Fly (Rick Deacon), Hydra, Doctor Koppel, Moonstone (Karla Sofen), the Power Broker, Razorback, Toad (Mortimer Toynbee), White Rabbit (Lorina Dodson), various thugs;
formerly Dr. Erica Sondheim (employee/captive/slave worker)

Enemies: Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Arcade, Bishop (Lucas Bishop), Black Ant (Eric O'Grady LMD), Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers), Emma Frost, Grizzly (Max Markham), Hijacker, Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Machinesmith (Samuel Saxon), Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Ms. Thing (Darla Deering), Pyro (St. John Allerdyce), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Erica Sondheim, Stepford Cuckoos, Stinger (Cassie Lang), Taskmaster (Tony Masters)

Known Relatives: William Cross (Crossfire, cousin); Augustine Cross (son)

Aliases: "Buster," "Jolly Pink Giant," "Pinkberry" (insults from Ant-Man)

Base of Operations: Cross Technological Enterprises installations; customized sedan

First Appearance: Marvel Premiere I#47 (April, 1979)

Powers and Abilities: Initially, Darren Cross had superb administrative and technical skills; the exact fields are not very clear, but probably include some sort of high technology skills. After an unspecified time (probably a few months) wearing his experimental pacemaker, he developed a handful of superhuman capabilities. The most obvious was strength (somewhere around Enhanced Human), but his speed, senses and healing were also enhanced to superhuman levels. After harvesting the Pym Particles from Cassie Lang's heart, Darren Cross was able to manipulate the size of his body, though he was not able to properly control his size-shifting, often changing sizes at random.

Weaknesses: Complete lack of ethics; a strong tendency to brag about his plans; at least a hint of berserker rage; freakish and intimidating appearance that greatly hindered his social capabilities (not that he seemed to miss them much, really). Originally, Darren Cross was forced to undergo near-constant heart transplants in order to survive his pacemaker's mutations but after he harvested the Pym Particle-saturated heart of Cassie Lang, Cross no longer suffered that affliction, as the Pym Particles allowed his heart to compensate for the pacemaker's enlargements.

Height: 6'1" (by approximation); (post-transformation, originally): 8'; (following Cassie Lang heart transplant): Variable
Weight: 185 lbs. (by approximation); (post-transformation): 400 lbs.; (following Cassie Lang heart transplant): Variable
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: (Marvel Premiere I#48 (fb)) - Darren Agonistes Cross was a particularly successful self-made man who headed his own high technology industry. However, he had a heart condition and soon began searching for an alternative to slowing down and retiring,

(Ant-Man I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Refusing to give up and die of his heart condition, Darren Cross designed an experimental nucleorganic pacemaker.

(Marvel Premiere I#48 (fb)) - Once the pacemaker was under development by his research staff, Darren submitted to an implant of the experimental sophisticated nucleorganic pacemaker, which saved his life. However, it worked too well and eventually began to increase the size of his entire circulatory system, and the rest of his body by extension. As a result he mutated into a slightly misshappen brute with superhuman attributes. Since no human heart could keep up with the implant's toll, he was forced to submit to a series of heart transplants. He eventually learned of Dr. Sondheim's heart transplant skills and decided to forcefully get her permanent help. At the same time, realizing that he would never get voluntary donors fast enough to survive, he kidnapped a number of vagrants and homeless people and kept them captive as a source of living hearts.

(Marvel Premiere I#47 (fb)) - While overseeing Dr. Sondheim's abduction, Darren met and tossed away Scott Lang, who wanted her help in saving his daughter's life.

(Marvel Premiere I#47) - His next heart transplant was interrupted by Scott Lang, debuting his new Ant-Man identity in a desperate attempt at finding help for his daughter, Cassie. When his CTE security personnel were defeated by Ant-Man, Darren was forced to act directly.

(BTS) - Dr. Sondheim misdirected Darren into believing he had indeed received a new heart during the interrupted surgery.

(Marvel Premiere I#48/Ant-Man I#1 (fb)/Ant-Man I#3 (fb)/Ant-Man I#4 (fb)/Ant-Man I#5 (fb)) - Darren fought Ant-Man (Scott Lang) so that he didn't free Dr. Sondheim -- and to get yet another unwilling heart donor. Ant-Man was briefly captured, but escaped and resumed his fight with Darren, who ended up collapsing from a heart attack.

(Ant-Man I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Darren Cross died from the heart attack and was placed in stasis by his son Augustine within CTE.

(Ant-Man I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Kept in stasis, Darren Cross remained in exactly the same state that he was mere seconds following his death.

(Ant-Man I#3) - Augustine eventually kidnapped Dr. Erica Sondheim and kept her at gunpoint as he explained how his father had died due to Dr. Sondheim "failing" Darren. He then revealed that she had the opportunity to atone for her past "mistake," unveiling the body of Darren Cross, who was in stasis, and revealing that he planned to have Dr. Sondheim bring Darren back to life.

(Ant-Man I#4) - As Darren remained in stasis, Augustine reviewed Darren's origins with Dr. Sondheim and revealed that CTE had found the perfect donor to permanently solve Darren's heart condition and restore him to life: Cassie Lang, daughter of Ant-Man. He further revealed that if Dr. Sondheim refused to transplant Cassie's Pym Particle-imbued heart into Darren Cross, he would have his men first kill Cassie and Sondheim's son Abe, then Dr. Sondheim herself. Learning of Cassie's kidnapping, Ant-Man later infiltrated CTE with his allies Machinesmith and Grizzly but found himself pinned underneath the foot of the revived Darren Cross, whom Dr. Sondheim had transplanted Cassie's heart into.

(Ant-Man I#5/Astonishing Ant-Man I#1 (fb)) - Unaffected by Darren Cross' stepping on him due to the retaining of his human strength, Ant-Man grew to human size and forced Darren off of him. Soon recognizing Dr. Sondheim in the corner, Ant-Man was warned to stay back and to keep Darren away from her as she transplanted a new heart into Cassie Lang to save her life. Darren's rampage was briefly halted by Augustine, who hugged his father, happy to see him alive again, in the middle of the fight. Deducing that the donor who had revived him was Cassie Lang, Darren Cross turned his attention towards Cassie in an effort to hurt Ant-Man through her. Ant-Man fought back and was soon knocked through the wall by Darren, forcing both to fall from the high story building. On the ground, Ant-Man covered Darren from head to toe in ants before Darren knocked the ants off and prepared to deliver the finishing blow to Ant-Man. Unfortunately, Darren proved unable to properly control the Pym Particles within his body and began shrinking. Ant-Man mocked Darren's tiny size, promising he would get used to it, before Augustine arrived in a flying vehicle and fired on Ant-Man, buying Darren time to board Augustine's vehicle and escape.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#1) - Some time later, Darren Cross prepared for impending work at Cross Technological Enterprises, his assistants working on restoring his proper skin tone. When his son Augustine happily arrived and hugged him, Darren attempted to adjust his size back down to Augustine's level, explaining to Augustine that his heart condition was now non-existent thanks to Cassie Lang's Pym Particle-charged heart. Darren then began uncontrollably getting smaller, prompting Augustine to assure Darren that if a "low-class criminal" like Scott Lang could master Pym Particles, it should be no problem for the genius Darren and that it would just take time to adjust to the Pym Particles in Darren's body. Augustine then reminded Darren of their meeting with the enigmatic Power Broker, who had created apps that Augustine thought CTE should invest in. After arguing the usefulness of app technology, Darren Cross agreed to meet with the Power Broker, who presented Cross with his new Hench app. Continuing his presentation, the Power Broker decided to demonstrate the Hench app by using it to search for a costumed super villain to take care of Cross' enemy, Ant-Man. The app located Whirlwind and immediately sent Whirlwind after Ant-Man. Cross then watched on the Power Broker's phone (thanks to a gopro camera installed on Whirlwind's costume) as Whirlwind battled Ant-Man. Thinking that he was going to watch Ant-Man's death, Cross was quickly reminded by the Power Broker that the footage was merely a trial run until Cross had decided to invest. Darren was ready to pay any amount into the thousands but the Power Broker asked for 1.2 billion, prompting Darren to angrily accuse the Power Broker of criminal extortion and decline to pay for it. The Power Broker then canceled the assassination and gave Whirlwind new orders, causing Darren to grow in size proportionate to his anger at the canceled assassination attempt. The Power Broker then departed, leaving Darren Cross' head stuck in the ceiling as Augustine ordered the Power Broker to return.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#5) - Darren didn't care much when Augustine told him during dinner that he had copied Power Broker's app idea and created the Lackey app.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#6 - BTS) - Power Broker believed Darren Cross had stolen his app idea and offered Cassie Lang, who applied on Hench X to get powers again, free powers if she went after Darren Cross for him. He convinced her by telling her that Cross had stolen her heart and her father had kept it a secret from her.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#8) - Darren, Augustine and Crossfire found Stinger (Cassie Lang) breaking into the server room at Cross Technological Enterprises and trying to upload a virus to their servers for the Power Broker.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#9) - Stinger tried to escape, but the Cross family had her cornered in the server room. Ant-Man tried to save her, but was caught by Crossfire and Darren while Stinger got away.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#10 (fb)) - Darren held the energy bubble Ant-Man was trapped in.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#10) - Darren watched Crossfire and Augustine play ping-pong with the energy bubble, but Darren had different plans for Ant-Man. Stinger returned to free her father by using the gun Crossfire had used to deactivate the energy bubble, but Crossfire and Darren were still not finished with them. Darren got his hands around Ant-Man's throat and tossed him through a window after Stinger hit Darren with an energy blast. Stinger shrunk down when Crossfire shot at her, which led to him accidentally hitting Augustine. Darren got mad that his son got hurt and was going to crush Ant-Man and Stinger, but the ceiling above Darren collapsed thanks to ants controlled by Stinger and the duo escaped Darren's deadly grip.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#11) - Darren visited his comatose son in hospital and promised him that he would get his revenge on Ant-Man. He also made sure to remind Crossfire that he didn't forget his part in injuring Augustine by threatening him as well. To appease Darren Crossfire delivered Hijacker, one of Ant-Man's crew that recently robbed C.T.E., to Darren. Hijacker begged for his life and spilled the beans about Ant-Man's secret lab headquarter, which caught Darren's interest.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#12) - Darren visited his son again and promised him that he would get him fixed. Egghead was delivered to him and Darren hired him because Egghead was an expert on Dr. Henry Pym's work. They broke into a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility alongside Crossfire and found Pym's helmet in the "Layaway Department" with the secret lab inside. Darren and Egghead shrunk down to enter the lab and find something to help Augustine. Egghead agreed to it and showed Darren the Yellowjacket armor, which could turn Augustine into one of the most powerful people on the planet. Upon hearing this Darren decided to take the armor for himself.

(Astonishing Ant-Man I#13) - Janice Lincoln had Lang's Ant-Man suit delivered to court by S.H.I.E.L.D. with Darren, Crossfire and Egghead secretly still inside the lab inside the helmet. Darren as Yellowjacket was ready to get his revenge. After Ant-Man put on the suit as part of a demonstration for the court he immediately heard an intruder alert for the helmet's lab and told everybody to get out of the courtroom. Yellowjacket, Crossfire and Egghead grew back to their normal size and attacked Ant-Man. Yellowjacket took out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Pymbusters agents before, but She-Hulk, Ms. Thing, Machinesmith, Grizzly and Stinger joined Ant-Man to fight against the villains in the courtroom. Yellowjacket tried to escape, but was caught when Stinger force-fed him a pill the court used to take away Lang's Pym Particles. Because Darren's Yellowjacket suit used Pym Particles as power source he dropped to the street like a brick.

(Mighty Thor III#8) - Darren Cross attended a meeting of the most influential corporations in the Universal Bank's vault in Bern, Switzerland with Roxxon's Dario Agger, Fisk Industries' Wilson Fisk, Shi'ar Solutions Consolidated's Frr'dox, Yashida Corporation's Shingen Harada, Kilgore Arms' Wilhemina Kensington, Shaw Industries' Sebastian Shaw, Stane International's Ezekiel Stane and Alchemax's Tiberius Stone. They wanted to discuss Agger's alliance with Malekith, but Agger was not willing to share his new ventures in the other realms. The Midas Foundation's Oubliette Midas eventually interrupted the meeting and shot Agger in the head, abducting him alongside Harada. The meeting was adjourned.

(Captain America: Steve Rogers#13) - Baron Zemo recruited Yellowjacket, who later joined the Army of Evil.

(Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Secret Empire)#1) - Yellowjacket joined Hydra's forces in an attack on Washington D.C.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#23 (fb) - BTS) - Yellowjacket was among the animal-themed villains captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant on behalf of Arcade and Kraven, then placed inside Central Park after being in stasis for a time. There he and the other villains were hunted by Hunter-Bots controlled by Arcade's clients at the Plaza Hotel. After the Hunter-Bots were deactivated the villains tried to escape Central Park.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#23) - Yellowjacket found Black Ant and delivered him to the Fly, Razorback, Toad and White Rabbit. They were going to kill him, but Taskmaster saved Black Ant from them.

(Marauders I#6 (fb) - BTS) - Yellowjacket joined the anti-mutant organization Homines Verendi.

(Marauders I#6) - Hidden on the tip of a sword Yellowjacket inside a one-man submarine entered Pyro's bloodstream after he was stabbed by Hate-Monger. Yellowjacket headed for Pyro's optic nerve to become the eyes and ears for Homines Verendi on Krakoa and gather information for them. He informed the young Hellfire Club members of his success and was asked to go radio silent after leaving Madripoor Bay with Pyro.

   The plan worked perfectly! Yellowjacket was able to tap into Pyro's optic nerve to receive a clear image of everything Pyro saw and could already hear his voice before even deploying the sound buoy. The Marauder with Pyro aboard was headed to Krakoa.

(Marauders I#7 - BTS) - Kilgore and Enduque watched through Pyro's eyes how he was told by Bishop to take the Marauder back to Krakoa while Bishop would return to Madripoor.

(Marauders I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Yellowjacket's presence was discovered by telepaths. Emma Frost used her telepathy to manipulate Yellowjacket's perceptions of what he saw and heard on Krakoa.

(Marauders I#9) - Yellowjacket watched Pyro arrive on Krakoa and go for a ride with Jean Grey. He eventually found out that it was not real when Jean disappeared and he heard Frost communicate with Pyro. Yellowjacket enlarged his submarine, blowing Pyro to pieces and then fled Krakoa after shooting Frost, unaware that he was still trapped in an illusion by the Stepford Cuckoos. Sophie Cuckoo found out that Yellowjacket planned to return to Madripoor and had informed his allies about everything he saw through Pyro over the last couple of days. Magneto removed the submarine with Yellowjacket asleep inside. Frost then wiped all of Yellowjacket's memories of everything he saw since getting inside Pyro's body. Magneto then hurled the submarine into the ocean.

(M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games#2) - Yellowjacket attended a technology show expo at the Roxxon Casino in Las Vegas.

(Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic#3) - Working for Count Nefaria Yellowjacket and Moonstone attacked She-Hulk and Captain Marvel in Los Angeles to weaken the Avengers. Yellowjacket shrunk down She-Hulk, but he was knocked out by Captain Marvel and left behind by Moonstone. Captain Marvel later interrogated Yellowjacket about his employer.

Comments: Created by David Micheline, John Byrne and Bob Layton.

Darren Agonistes Cross was unwillingly responsible for the existence of the new Ant-Man, because it was his intervention that made Scott Lang resort to extreme measures in order to assure his daughter's heart operation.

Under "Powers" the enhanced healing is a logical extrapolation of mine -- Darren battled Ant-Man literally while getting up from a heart transplant. Since he wanted so much to survive, I can only guess he had already spent enough time to recover from the surgery, which implies enhanced healing if not all-out Wolverine-style instant regeneration. The story also showed his enhanced vision and strength, and (IMO) speed. It is logical to assume that other capabilities were similarly improved, including his other senses -- and for that matter, his metabolism -- I am willing to bet he ate a lot.

Kim the Beetle tells us that Darren's son, Augustine, took over the business after his death.

Profile by Luis Dantas. Updated by Proto-Man and Markus Raymond.

Clarifications:
Darren Agonistes Cross has no known connection to:

and is definitely not

but both Darren Cross and Crossfire were involved (at different times) with

images: (without ads)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#12, p20 (main)
Marvel Premiere I#48, p7, pan3 (Darren Cross pre-mutation, headshot image)
Marvel Premiere I#47, p16-17, splash page (Darren Cross, post-mutation)
Ant-Man I#4, p20, splash page (Darren Cross emerging from stasis)

Appearances:
Marvel Premiere#47-48 (April-May, 1979) - David Michelinie (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Ant-Man I#1 (March, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Ant-Man I#3 (May, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Ant-Man I#4 (June, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Ant-Man I#5 (July, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#1 (December, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#5 (April, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#6 (May, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Annapaola Martello (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#8 (July, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Brent Schoonover (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#9 (August, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Mighty Thor III#8 (August, 2016) - Jason Aaron (writer), Russell Dauterman (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#10 (September, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#11 (October, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Charles Beacham & Wil Moss (editors)
Astonishing Ant-Man I#12-13 (November-December, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Brent Schoonover & Ramon Rosanas (artists), Charles Beacham & Wil Moss (editors)
Captain America: Steve Rogers#13 (May, 2017) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ro Stein (pencils), Ted Brandt (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Secret Empire)#1 (July, 2017) - Nick Spencer (writer), Andrea Sorrentino (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#23 (August, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley (pencils), Cliff Rathburn (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Marauders I#6 (March, 2020) - Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli & Mario Del Pennino (artists), Jordan D. White (editor)
Marauders I#7 (April, 2020) - Gerry Duggan (writer), Stefano Caselli (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
Marauders I#9 (May, 2020) - Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games#2 (March, 2021) - Jordan Blum & Patton Oswalt (writers), Scott Hepburn (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic#3 (July 19th, 2022) - David Pepose (writer), Davidé Tinto (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 10/29/2002
Last updated: 05/21/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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