SHOULDERS McGILL

Real Name: Donald McGill

Identity/Class: Human (UK citizen) 

Occupation: Assassin, tramp

Affiliations: The McCloud Brothers (Glaswegian gangsters), Silver Death (son, partner and weapon)

Enemies: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Meggan Puceanu, Dai Thomas, any Glaswegian gangster not associated with the McCloud Brothers - specifically , 27 unidentified gangsters, 3 unidentified undercover cops

Known Relatives: Silver Death (son and weapon)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Glasgow

First Appearance:  Captain Britain II#14 (February 1986)

Powers/Abilities: None, but uses his Warpie son as a living weapon

Height: 5'6" (estimated)
Weight: 140 lbs. (estimated)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White

History:

(Captain Britain II#14 (fb) BTS) - Donald McGill's son, Calum, was born a Warpie, a mass of blades and barbs that didn't resemble a human in any way; Donald was apparently the only person who could control his son, who otherwise would fly around and psychotically slaughter anything in his path. McGill carried the child around inside a briefcase. Insane and alcoholic (perhaps because of this, perhaps already so), McGill fell under the influence of Glaswegian gangsters the McCloud Brothers, who convinced him that God had given him his living weapon son to carry out a mission to undertake a sacred purge of the underworld. He gained the nickname Shoulders from his comments that the Lord had given him broad shoulders to carry this sacred burden. The McCloud Brothers directed McGill to their rivals, giving him a bottle of whiskey for every one he eliminated. Over a short space of time in the run up to December 24th, Shoulders McGill and his Warpie son "Silver Death" claimed the lives of twenty-seven Glaswegian gangsters and "known villains," as well as three undercover policemen working for Dai Thomas, the head of a newly formed National Investigations Unit.

(Captain Britain II#14) - On Christmas Eve at 11.30p.m. Thomas turned to Captain Britain and Meggan for assistance, asking them to pose as out-of-town mobsters trying to muscle in on Glasgow, in the hopes they would draw the assassin out into the open. After busting up the premises of every known local outfit in Glasgow, thirty-five locations in all, Captain Britain, Meggan and Dai Thomas waited in Redondo's Abattoir, which was closed for Hogmanay and chosen because any confrontation with the super-assassin would be well away from innocent bystanders. Dai let it be known through the underworld grapevine that the "new gang" was going to be there waiting for a heroin shipment. The McCloud Brothers sent Shoulders to kill Captain Britain and Meggan, and at 11.55p.m. on New Year's Eve McGill confronted Dai, who thought he was merely an alcoholic and tried to get him to move on for his own safety. Shoulders stated that he had a message for the "tart and the big man" and when Dai said he could pass the message on, Shoulders announced that this meant the message was for him too, and released Silver Death from the briefcase. Dai was only saved by Captain Britain's swift intervention. The hero then had Dai take Shoulders outside while he and Meggan dealt with the murderous creature. After the Captain and Meggan ended the threat (and life) of the bizarre warpie, Shoulders McGill was arrested and gave a full confession.

Comments: Created by Alan Davis (script and pencils) and Mark Farmer (inker). A Marvel UK character.

McGill's first name was revealed in Marvel Atlas#1.

CLARIFICATIONS: Shoulders McGill has no known connections to:

• McGill, Linda - former girlfriend of Ben Grimm, @Marvel Fanfare I#46/2
• McGillicuddy, Seamus @Immortal Iron Fist Annual#1
• A.R.M.S. - offshoot of AIM, munitions dealers -Alternative Resources Munitions Supply @Spider-Man#41
• Arms of Salvation - black market organ transplanters, @Marvel Comics Presents#83/3
• Arms Dealer to the World, a.k.a. Moses Magnum @Power Man Annual#1
• Arms Merchant (Andreas Kapelos) - weapons dealer @Iron Man III#3
• Leggs, Los Angeles Undergrounders, prostitute @Nomad II#3
• Crazy Legs, Trash mutant, @Power Pack I#31
• Daddy Longlegs, (Ramsey Kole), Spider-Woman foe, @ Spider-Woman I#47
• Daddy Wronglegs, alien criminal sentenced to Earth during Maximum Security, @ Marvel Knights I#5
• Long-Legs, Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur foe @ Devil Dinosaur#2
• or anyone else named after body parts

images: (without ads)
Captain Britain II#14, p10, pan3 (main image)
Captain Britain II#14, p10, pan2 (headshot)
Captain Britain II#14, p10, pan4 (unleashing Silver Death)

First Posted: 08/13/2002
Last updated: 02/18/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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