DISCUS

Real Name: Tim Stuart

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Mercenary, criminal

Group Membership: Hammerhead's "villain army" (Hammerhead, Answer/Aaron Nicholson, Ape-Man, Aura, Bird-Man, Bloodshed, Cat-Man, Clown, 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);
formerly Justin Hammer's agents, Hammer's Hammers (Beetle/Abner Jenkins, Blizzard/Donald Gill, Constrictor/Frank Payne, Death-Shield/Timothy Karlskin, Leap-Frog/Vincent Patilio, Man-Killer/Katrina van Horne, Melter/Bruno Horgan, Porcupine/Roger Gocking, Spymaster, Stiletto/Thomas Stuart, Taskmaster/Tony Masters, Water Wizard/Peter Van Zante, Whiplash/Mark Scarlotti)

Affiliations: Stiletto (partner); Justin Hammer, Nightshade (former employers);
Sphinx (Anath-Na-Mut)-formerly allied with Justin Hammer;
Beetle (Abner Jenkins, aka Mach-1-3+), Blizzard (Gregor Shapanka), Bombshell, Boomerang, Constrictor, Hydro-Man, Leap-Frog (Vincent Patilio), Man-Killer, Melter, Porcupine, Rhino, Speed Demon, Spymaster I, Water Wizard (aka Aqueduct), Whiplash (Mark Scarlotti)--all fellow operatives under Hammer
Eel (Edward Lavell), Man Mountain Marko--allies under Nightshade

Enemies: Black Goliath, Black Panther (T'Challa), Falcon, Iron Fist, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Misty Knight, Power Man (Luke Cage), Det. Rafael Scarfe, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man, Colleen Wing;
New Warriors (Firestar, Namorita, Night Thrasher, Nova, Silhouette)

Known Relatives: Tom (brother, Stiletto), Tyler (father)

Aliases: Disco (a nickname from Power Man)

Base of Operations: New York City; formerly Justin Hammer's floating island villa; Ryker's Island prison

First Appearance: Luke Cage, Power Man I#22 (December, 1974)

Powers: None. Discus uses throwing disc as weapons, and he is precise and accurate with this skill. He uses a number of discs containing various weapons, such as explosives and electricty. He may have other weapons, similarly armed as the knives used by his brother.
He has at times worn a jet pack, and has also used grappling hooks with cables able to be fired from his wrist launchers.
He claims to have been a star athlete and school, and he is sufficiently strong to have floored Luke Cage on a few occasions. However, his strength appears to be more in the athlete level, rather than superhuman.
Discus has at times believed himself to be a vigilante, trying to bring in Luke Cage, whom he saw as a criminal, but his behavior goes way beyond that, and he is more than willing to sacrifice innocent lives when going after Cage. In addition, neither the fact that Cage was judged innocent in a court of law, nor that his own father, Tyler Stuart, does not blame Cage have turned him from this mission.

History: Tim Stuart is the younger brother of Tom, and the son of Tyler Stuart, who was briefly the warden at Seagate. Tim was a prize athlete in school, although the extent of his education is unknown.

BTS - After Carl Lucas became the first man to escape from Seagate, warden Tyler Stuart was fired from his job. Tom and Tim blamed Lucas and sought vengeance on him. Tom somehow contacted Justin Hammer and was given the costume and advanced weaponry to become Stiletto and attacked Luke Cage (Hero for Fire#16). After being fought off, Tom had Tim outfitted in similar fashion, to beceom Discus.

(Luke Cage, Power Man I#22) - Stiletto and Discus ambushed Cage in his apartment above the Gem Theatre, knocking him through the wall, and out onto the streets of New York. Their fight carried them across the city, but Cage eventually got the better of them, and he threatened Stiletto, attempting to force him to reveal his reasons for coming after him. Tyler Stuart himself arrived in time to save his sons from further beatings, revealed them to be his sons, and convinced Cage to let him take care of the situation.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#50) - At a victory party celebrating Cage's exoneration of all previous charges, Stiletto and Discus once again attempted to take their vengeance on him. Cage was assisted by his allies, Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon. Stiletto fired a barrage of flechettes at Iron Fist, but was astounded when the martial arts battered every single one of them out of the air. Iron Fist easily got the drop on the surprised Stiletto. Discus and Stiletto fled form the battle, but then ambushed Iron Fist as he followed them, causing him to fall off the top of a building (he survived...duh!). Power Man and Misty Knight then arrived on the scene and overpowered the two criminals, who were sent to prison.

(Iron Man I#126-127) - Discus and Stiletto were part of an army of super-villains stationed on Justin Hammer's floating villa and used in an effort to capture Iron Man. Neither of the pairs' weapons could damage his armor, and Iron Man reflected Discus' attack back on them, taking them out of the fight early on.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#110 (fb) - BTS) - Discus and Stiletto found religion while in prison, and decided to turn away from their violent past.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#110) - Tim and Tom were sent to an address for a Miss Tilda Johnson, who would be able to help them find work. The whole thing was a set-up, as Tilda was the criminal Nightshade, and she doped them up and had them assist her in another plot to rob the wealthy attending the Debutante Cotillion of Millie Hogarth's. Unbeknownst to Nightshade, Millie's father, Jeryn Hogarth, was the agent to Power Man and Iron Fist, who attended the ball at Millie's request as her escorts. Alongside Eel and Man Mountain Marko, Discus and Stiletto began looting those present, but soon found themselves in conflict with the Heroes for Hire. However, the drugged Tim and Tom's hearts weren't in the struggle, and once Nightshade was knocked out (by Millie herself), the regained their senses and stopped fighting. They even helped defeat the Eel, and so they were set free on their own recognizance.

BTS - Tim and Tom's spiritual strength apparently faded as the rent became due, and they soon found themselves again working for Justin Hammer.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (fb) - BTS) - Numerous powered criminals joined Justin Hammer's army after reading a flyer at the Bar With No Name to conquer a Carribean island for Hammer.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (fb)) - Discus joined a group called Hammer's Hammers in defending Justin Hammer on a remote Caribbean island. The team fought Venom, who swiftly defeated them.

(Spectacular Spider-Man Annual I#12, Web of Spider-Man Annual I#8, [New Warriors Annual I#2]) - The Sphinx allied himself with Justin Hammer and others in a plot to capture a number of super-powered beings to siphon for power to replace his own supply. As a growing number of super-heroes began to oppose and investigate this plot, Hammer volunteered the services of his operatives, in exchange for an increased share of the profit, of course.
Discus, alongside the Beetle, initially faced off against Nova and Namorita. Namorita swung the Beetle into one of his discs, temporarily shorting out his armor, afterwhich Discus took off. Later, he worked with Stiletto and Boomerang, bombarding Namorita with a large number of discs, flechettes, and boomerangs, one of which eventually nailed her and took her out of the fight.
Eventually all of the heroes escaped and fought against the power of the Sphinx. Discus and his others were taken out of the fight early, and trapped in the facility when it blew up.

(Civil War: War Crimes) - Discus 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 SHIELD agents. Discus' fate in the ensuing melee is unknown.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#562) - Discus attended a Bar With No Name in New York City, where he and a number of other supervillains watched the Basher challenge Spider-Man to a fight via YouTube. He and a number of other villains placed bets with the Bookie that Spider-Man wouldn't show up, and turned on him angrily when an imposter Spider-Man showed up at the fight. He was still at the bar when the real Spider-Man arrived, following a tip from the imposter.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#563) - Discus and the other supervillains in attendance battled Spider-Man, but they stopped when the bartender reminded them that the Bar With No Name was a sanctuary for those being hunted by the law - which currently included Spider-Man. Spider-Man then pressed the bar's tight-lipped occupants for information on the Bookie, finally extracting some from Deke.

Comments: Created by Tony Isabella and Billy Graham.

Discus and Stiletto apparently parted company after the encounter with the Sphinx. Stiletto has since been seen, sans Discus, in Captain America I#411-414 and Black Panther III#16+17. Perhaps Discus retired for good after seeing the dangers involved in interacting with beings of such power, or he could have been injured in the collapsing building. Another possibility: Discus accidentally shorted out the Beetle's system during the middle of a fight in Web of Spider-Man Annual#8. Perhaps the Beetle came back and laid the smackdown on him, not killing him, but perhaps badly injuring him and/or making him rethink his career. Or perhaps a steady diet of tacos finally began to catch up with him, and he was in the bathroom during the last few struggles.
--Per Bob Almond, inker of the Black Panther, Discus was in the original plot for Black Panther III#16+17, but was switched to Cottonmouth for unknown reasons. In addition, the Gamecock was also in the original plot, but he was switched to Cockroach Hamilton because the editor, Ruben Diaz, was a big fan of Cockroach, and requested Priest use him.
--Discus could conceivably be considered BTS in the above issues, but this is unconfirmed.--Snood

Stiletto and Discus discussed having a "third partner" who had outfitted them with their advanced weaponry, but this wasn't clarified until they both were revealed as agents of Justin Hammer in the pages of Iron Man. The fact that they worked for Hammer in the past should mean that they've got that control deal inside of their system (see mid-to-late 60s issues of the Thunderbolts). Maybe they'll show up as part of that plot.

CLARIFICATIONS:

Appearances:
Luke Cage, Power Man I#22 (December, 1974) - Tony Isabella (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#50 (April, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Dave Cockrum & Dan Green (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#126-127 (September-October, 1979) - David Michelinie & Bob Layton (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#110 (October, 1984) - Tony Isabella (writer), Greg LaRocque (pencils), Jerry Acerno & Brad Joyce (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual I#12 (1992) - David Michelinie (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man Annual I#8 (1992) - David Michelinie (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
New Warriors Annual I#2 (1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Brandon Peterson (pencils), Keith Williams, Mark Stegbauer, Al Milgrom & Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Civil War: War Crimes (February, 2007) - Frank Tieri (writer), Staz Johnson (penciller), Tom Palmer & Robin Riggs (inkers), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#562 (August, 2008) - Bob Gale (writer), Mike McKone (penciler), Andy Lanning (inker), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#563 (August, 2008) - Bob Gale (writer), Mike McKone (penciler), Marlo Alquiza (inker), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector II#5 (July, 2022) - David Michelinie (writer), Ivan Fiorelli (artist), Devin Lewis (editor)

First Posted: 06/23/2002
Last updated: 09/13/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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