Real Name: Howard Mitchell
Identity/Class: Normal human technology user
Occupation:
Criminal (hijacker,
thief, killer);
former owner of Mitchell Armored Truck
Company
Group Membership: The Hood (Parker Robbins)'s army of resurrected Scourge victims aka. Deadly Dozen (Basilisk/Basil Elks, Bird-Man/Achille DiBacco, Black Abbott, Blue Streak/Don Thomas, Cheetah/Esteban Carracus, Cyclone/André Gerard, Death Adder/Roland Burroughs, Firebrand/Gary Gilbert, Human Fly/Richard Deacon, Lascivious/Davida DeVito (formerly Titania), Letha/Helen Feliciano, Megatak/Gregory Nettles, Mind-Wave/Erik Gelden, Miracle Man/Joshua Ayers, Mirage/Desmond Charne, Turner D. Century/Clifford F. Michaels, Wraith/Brian DeWolff), Scourge victims
Affiliations: Firebrand (Gary Gilbert), the Hood
Enemies: Ant-Man (Henry Pym), Black Goliath, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Punisher, Scourge I, the Thing (Ben Grimm), Venom (Flash Thompson)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base
of Operations: New York City, USA;
formerly the Bar
with No Name, Medina County, Ohio;
formerly mobile
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#40 (February, 1963)
Powers/Abilities:
The Hijacker had a good working knowledge of advanced weaponry and
could easily turn available equipment into an attack. He used a vario
blaster (able to be adjusted to a nuclear flame blow-torch, force beam,
etc.), a padded costume (possibly bulletproof and/or flame resistant),
gas grenades (knock-out, tear gas, etc.), and a gas mask.
He operated large, powerful vehicles as weapons. One of these was an immense truck capable of holding an armored truck in its van. This truck contained a powerful magnet to pull the trucks into it, despite the use of brakes, reverse gear, etc. His second vehicle was an immense tank with spiked treads, and it was able to stand up to the full force of the Thing (although its underside was more vulnerable). It also had powerful electromagnets, and could use them to pull heavy objects at great speed to use as weapons against an attacker. His third tank was similar in appearance, but not as durable.
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 200 lbs.
History:
(Tales To Astonish I#40)- Howard Mitchell originally owned an armored truck company. Dissatisfied with his profits, he embarked on the idea to hijack his own trucks and steal the money within them. Creating the costumed identity of the Hijacker and armed with his knowledge of the shipping schedules, Mitchell accomplished four successful thefts. His use of an amnesia inducing knock-out gas insured that there was no evidence to link him to the thefts.
Mitchell pretended to be infuriated by the police's inability to capture the Hijacker and requested the assistance of Ant-Man (Pym), feeling that the small hero would be no threat to him. Figuring that the Hijacker would not attack the trucks if he knew it was guarded by a super-hero, Ant-Man feigned appendicitis and then hid out in one of the trucks. Ant-Man confronted the Hijacker, using a gas-mask of his own invention to allow him to resist the gas attack. Ant-Man then fled from the Hijacker (I'm not sure why), leading him into the cab of the armored truck, where he ripped open his gas mask. Exposed to his own gas, Mitchell was soon unconscious and unmasked. Ant-Man, ever the super-sleuth, had already identified Mitchell as the Hijacker after seeing his Peruvian statues. Ant-Man knew that "the indians in Peru have an ancient vapor, the inhaling of which causes a lapse of memory!"...(what the frick...?)
(Marvel Two-In-One I#24)- After either being released or escaping some time later, Mitchell began stealing technology and selling it on the black market. The Hijacker broke into Stark West, planning to steal Stark's inventions. He ran into trouble from Bill Foster, aka Black Goliath, and the Thing, who were involved in a test procedure at the time. Realizing he was overpowered, Mitchell escaped and returned with his battle tank. After some struggle, the two heroes dismantled the tank, and then easily apprehended the Hijacker.
(Marvel
Two-In-One I#96)- The Hijacker returned for vengeance on the Thing
after
he was hospitalized following injuries at the hands of Gladiator and
the Champion. A number of other villains had similarly targeted the
Thing, but a group of super-heroes had gathered in preparation for
this. The Hijacker used a tank similar in appearance to his last one,
but it was not as durable, and Iron Man made quick work of it.
(Captain America I#319)- A few years later, the organization of criminal assassins known as Scourge cast fear into the hearts of evil-doers everywhere. Firebrand gathered a group of villains, including the Hijacker, at the legendary Bar with No Name in order to plan some sort of defense. Unfortunately for the criminals, Scourge was present at the Bar as well, disguised as the bartender. He executed everyone present using a pair of machine guns, and the Hijacker was no exception.
(Punisher VII#5) - Aided by Dormammu's dark magic, the Hood resurrected Hijacker along with several other of Scourge's victims to fight the Punisher.
(Punisher
VII#6) - The Hood addressed the assembled villains (including Hijacker)
who had been resurrected to kill the Punisher, warning them that
failure to do so would leave them dead again after 30 days, but lying
to them that it was the Punisher disguised as Scourge
who had
killed them. Each one resurrected had been augmented, armed
and
costumed by the Hood.
(Punisher VII#7) - Hijacker worked on a new tank and watched silently as Mirage, Letha and Lascivious tussled over leadership off the group.
(Punisher VII#8) - In his new tank, Hijacker formed part of the reinforcements attacking the Punisher.
(Punisher VII#9) - Hijacker rolled his tank toward the Punisher, his horror gas causing the vigilante to see the mocking form of the Hood. The Punisher fell under the tank, but used stolen Pym particles to escape and get into the tank itself, taking control of it.
(Venom II#9 - BTS) - Hijacker survived the Punisher's attack and invested all his funds in a new tank very similar to the previous one, this time incorporating extendable claws and a rocket blaster that could briefly shoot the tank over several city blocks.
(Venom II#9) - Hijacker resumed his criminal heists in the ensuing chaos and disorientation in the wake of Spider Island. He used his tank in many smash and grab attacks on Manhattan banks, all within minutes of each other, but killed several people in the process. Venom (Flash Thompson) was unable to stop the deaths and angered, the black symbiote took over. Surviving a hull-mounted electrical discharge, Venom pursued Hijacker back to his hideout and brutally killed him.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.
I know that the Ringer
has returned, and I'm sure more will as well. There's no good reason to
bring back characters with clean-cut deaths [or two in this
case, possibly three if the Punisher was supposed to have killed him
--Grendel Prime]. But that's a whole 'nother
topic...
Clarifications:
Hijacker should not be confused with:
images:
Appearances:
Tales To Astonish I#40
(February, 1963) - Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby
Marvel Two-In-One I#24
(February, 1977) - Bill Mantlo & Jim
Shooter (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks), Archie
Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One I#96 (February, 1983) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron
Wilson (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Linda Grant & Lance
Tooks (editors)
Captain America I#319 (July, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Pual
Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Punisher VII#5 (July, 2009) - Rick Remender (writer), Jerome Opena
(art), Axel Alonso (editor)
Punisher VII#6-9 (August-November, 2009) - Rick Remender (writer), Tan
Eng Huat (art), Axel Alonso (editor)
Venom II#9 (January, 2012) - Rick Remender (writer), Stefano Caselli
(art), Steven Wacker (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First Posted: 09/06/2001 (?)
Last Updated: 11/23/2011
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