THE GRINDER

Real Name: Brute Bashby

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Rupert Dockery

Enemies: Nova (Richard Rider), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City
Los Angeles, California

First Appearance: Spider-Woman I#26 (May, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: The Grinder has no superhuman powers. He does wear a titanium saw-tooth blade that he can use to cut into steel vaults. He can also use it to fly and deflect anything thrown at him such as Spider-Woman's bio-electric blasts. He also throws saw blades as weapons and used hand-held circular saw blades.

History: (Spider-Woman I#26)- Brute Bashby was once a small-time hood when publisher Rupert Dockery approached him to stage crimes and battle Spider-Woman for his newspaper to print and increase its circulation. Dockery furnished him with a series of special weaponry and began calling him the Grinder. Dockery had a film crew ready as the Grinder attempted to steal a fortune in gold coins, and then Spider-Woman came upon the scene to stop him. Although he briefly got the jump on her, she used one of his discarded blades to damage his gear enough that she could defeat him and turn him over to the police.

(Nova III#1 (fb, BTS))- Following his defeat by Spider-Woman, the Grinder was sent to prison where the humiliation of his being defeated by a solitary female super-hero worked its way into his ego. When he was finally paroled, he immediately went back to robbing banks apparently not having learned a single thing from his incarceration.

(Nova III#1)- As the police held Grinder trapped in the bank, Nova happened on the scene believing as they did that the criminal inside was Gladiator. As Nova realized the truth, Grinder revealed he had decided to rob the bank to make a name for himself and erase the stigma of having been defeated by Spider-Woman. Nova knocked him with one punch, but then the Grinder's equipment kicked on doing more damage on its own and dragging the Grinder around by his helmet. Nova watched in surprise for a second just before dismantling the blade and carrying the Grinder out to the police. Finally reaching consciousness, the Grinder apologized for knocking out the cameras because the police would never see the size of the fight it took Nova to defeat him.

Comments: Created by Michael Fleisher, Steve Leialoha, Mike Esposito and associates (that's what it says).

It's uncertain if Brute is his real name or just a nickname. It could be a shortened form of Brutus.

The Grinder's release from prison seems to indicate that some costumed criminals seem to attain "star status" just as much as some of the heroes. This status seems to be determined by just who puts you in prison and the prestige of those heroes. It would appear that getting busted by the original Spider-Woman is just a bit more embarrassing than if you were caught by a group of prominent heroes such as the Avengers or the Fantastic Four or even by a solo hero with a considerable track record like Thor or Spider-Man.

by Will U

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Grinder is not to be confused with:

• Gladiator, Melvin Potter, another saw-blade motif criminal, now reformed, @ Daredevil I#18
• The Grind, Fagin-like drug-dealer, @ Night Thrasher II#20
• Grinders, children controlled by the Grind, @ Night Thrasher II#20
• Whirlwind, David Cannon, another saw-blade motif criminal, member of the Masters of Evil, @ Tales To Astonish I#50

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