EUGENE VAN DER MERWE
Real Name: Eugene van der Merwe
Identity/Class: Human; South African
Occupation: Sergeant of the South African Security Forces
Affiliations: Anton Pretorius, Doeke Riebeeck, South African Security Forces (Einer, Sergeant, many others)
Enemies: Black Panther (T'Challa), black people, Theodore Olebogeng, Zanti Chikane
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Pretoria, South Africa and the surroundings
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents#19/2 (May, 1989)
Powers/Abilities: None. Military training, used a machine gun and a pistol. He was also able to use a bazooka.
History:
Eugene van der Merwe was born in South Africa and raised as a racist.
(MCP#19/2): Van der Merwe and Einer drove into the Black Township and pumped tear-gas into the air. Eugene didn't see Theodore on the street and was seconds away from running over the kid.
(MCP#20/2): Eugene saw Theodore too late to stop the car, but the kid was saved by Black Panther. Eugene continued to drive through the Black Township pumping tear-gas into the air. Black Panther jumped onto the truck and broke tear-gas pipe on it. After an attack on Einer the Black Panther broke the window of the truck and grabbed Eugene, who panicked and crashed into a house with the truck. Eugene came to his senses again and fired with his gun out of the broken window at Black Panther. The bullet hit the target.
(MCP#21/2): Eugene felt good after he pulled the trigger and dropped his gun to the ground. He was surprised when the Black Panther got up again. Eugene took his gun up and shot at the Panther again, but this time he missed. The Panther pulled Eugene through the window and threw him to the ground outside of the truck. Once again Eugene tried to shoot, but the Panther jumped at him, took away his gun and brought him to the damaged tear-gas pipe. Now Eugene himself breathed the tear-gas; the pain in his eyes was too much for him, and he just wanted it to stop. Suddenly more soldiers arrived to help Eugene.
(MCP#22/2): The soldiers were shocked when they heard Eugene whimper. They talked too long and Panther took the time to push Eugene in front of him and use him as a shield. Eugene told them to shoot through him if they had to. The Panther threw Eugene into the crowd of soldiers and ran away. A short time later Eugene helped the other Sergeant to pull Zanti out from beneath the truck. The Panther taunted the soldiers and Eugene and the other soldiers followed him again.
(MCP#23/2): Eugene and another Sergeant didn't see the Panther when he was stuck in one of the roofs. Eugene saw him when the Panther was free again and able to run away. Eugene lost sight of him in mere seconds.
(MCP#25/2): Eugene was in Pretorius' bureau in Pretoria and listened to a quarrel between Riebeeck and Pretorius. After their quarrel he told them about his experience with the Panther and added his thoughts about him being a psychotic. He told them everything about the attack and the injuries of his partner Einer. He wanted to help Riebeeck catch the Black Panther. Pretorius wished he and Riebeeck good luck.
(MCP#29/2): Van der Merwe, Riebeeck and some soldiers checked on the dead from the fight between the Comrades and the Fathers. He drove away with Doeke to patrol the area because the Panther had been seen there the night before.
(MCP#30/2): Van der Merwe and Riebeeck patrolled in the area of Slade's store and heard gunfire. Eugene drove with the truck to the source of it.
(MCP#31/2): Eugene and Doeke arrived at the scene and saw the Black Panther. Eugene wanted to go in, but Doeke wanted to wait for more troops. Eugene went into the store and fired at the Panther and Zanti. They got away over the roofs and Doeke stopped Eugene from firing more bullets after them and began to argue with him about ignoring his orders. Eugene told him that they wouldn't get the Panther by surrounding the building.
(MCP#33/2 (fb) - BTS) - Eugene van der Merwe, Doeke Riebeeck and a bunch of soldiers found the hidden sonar glider of Black Panther.
(MCP#33/2): Eugene tried to open the sonar glider together with other soldiers by hitting it with his machine gun, but it didn't work. Black Panther attacked them and threw Eugene and Doeke from his sonar glider. Eugene shot at the sonar glider, but the bullets recoiled on the vibranium and hit Zanti.
(MCP#34/2): While the other soldiers continued to fire at the sonar glider with their machine guns, Eugene turned to a more destructive weapon. Zanti hit him with a gun when he tried to fire a bazooka at the sonar glider. Eugene van der Merwe suffered a broken jaw and lost some teeth.
Comments: Created by Don McGregor and Gene Colan
by Markus Raymond
CLARIFICATIONS:
Eugene van der Merwe should not be confused with:
Einer
Einer was the co-driver of van der Merwe's truck. He didn't see Theodore either when they nearly ran over him. He heard something on their roof and grabbed his gun to check on it. He opened the door of the driving truck and got his gun kicked out of his hand by Black Panther. In the process he fell out of the car. Einer was sent to a hospital afterwards, because a broken rib punctured his lung.
--Marvel Comics Presents#19/2 (20/2-21/2
Sergeant of S.A.S.F.
He arrived with a bunch of soldiers in the Black Township and saw how van der Merwe was attacked by Black Panther. He wanted everybody to stay calm while he talked to the Black Panther. He got angry when one of his men tried to give the order to shoot Black Panther. The Panther took this as a chance to push van der Merwe in front of him. The Sergeant now didn't know what to do. The Panther threw Eugene against the Sergeant and his men. He tried to shoot the Panther, but was pulled to the ground by Zanti, who had hidden beneath the truck. He pulled Zanti out from beneath the truck with the help of van der Merwe . A fight broke out between his soldiers and the black people. The Panther taunted the soldiers, and they started to run after him. The Sergeant went with van der Merwe, and they oversaw the Panther when he was stuck in a roof. They weren't able to catch him afterwards.
--Marvel Comics Presents#22/2 (23/2
images:
Eugene van der Merwe full: Marvel Comics Presents#23, p9, pan1
Eugene van der Merwe face: Marvel Comics Presents#24, p9, pan2
Einer: Marvel Comics Presents#20, p14, pan3
Sergeant: Marvel Comics Presents#22, p12, pan4
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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