SUPERCHARGER

Real Name: Ronald "Ronnie" Hilliard

Identity/Class: Mutated human; technology user

Occupation: Anti-superhuman activist and terrorist

Group Membership: Dr. Henry Pym's Lethal Legion (Black Ant/Eric O'Grady LMD, Blizzard/Donald Gill, Bullet/Buck Cashman, King Cobra/Piet Voorhees, Lodestone/Andrea Haggard, Mortar/Liana Feeser, Oddball/Orville Bock, Piecemeal, Speed Demon/James Sanders, Sunstroke/Sol Brodstroke); formerly Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil

Affiliations: Borya Cich, Griffin, Griz, Icemaster, Lightmaster, Mandrill, Mark Twelve (Ultron Mark Twelve), Dr. Henry Pym, Quicksand, Remlik, Ruby Thursday, Schizoid Man, Silk Fever, Vic Slaughter;
former client of Maxie Schiffman;
formerly Ultron

Enemies: Avengers Unity Squad (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Havok/Alex Summers, Rogue, Thor Odinson), Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Guardsmen, MI13 (Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Pete Wisdom, Excalibur/Faiza Hussain, others), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Thunderbolts (Atlas/Erik Josten, Charcoal/Charles Burlingame, Citizen V/Helmut Zemo, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Jolt/Hallie Takahama, MACH-1/Abner Jenkins, Songbird/Mellisa Gold, Techno), Ultron, X-Men (Mimic, Rogue);
formerly Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Avengers Inc. ("Victor Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve, possessing Whirlwind/David Cannon, Janet Van Dyne), Luke Cage, Stinger (Cassie Lang), Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Vision, Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne)

Known Relatives: Lyman Hilliard (father, deceased)

Aliases: None

Place of Birth: New York City, New York

Base of Operations: Pace Federal Penitentiary;
formerly a prison in Upstate New York;
formerly the Raft, Ryker's Island;
formerly Mount Charteris, near Burton Canyon, Colorado

First Appearance: (Cameo) Amazing Fantasy I#17 (January, 1996); (full) Amazing Fantasy I#18 (March, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: Supercharger is a "living battery" capable of absorbing, storing, and releasing great amounts of electricity. The upper limit of Supercharger's ability to store electricity is unknown, but he has been observed to absorb and store several hundred thousand volts. He can discharge this energy through physical contact or as destructive lightning-like bolts. However, Supercharger seems unable to generate electrical energy himself, and is dependent on a power source. In addition, sufficiently efficient conducting mechanisms can conduct away his stored power against his will. As such he has at times worn a battery pack on his back containing several thousand volts of current. The pack is connected to his wrists by cables, and provides him with a supply of electrical current in the absence of any other power source.

History:
(Amazing Fantasy I#18 (fb)) - The man called Supercharger was the son of a scientist interested in the sudden, large number of superhuman crimefighters who had appeared in recent times. As a young man, Supercharger collected data for his father, who wished to study the implications the existence of such superhumans had on the science of biology, particularly in the field of induced mutations. However, the generators that the future Supercharger's father used to power his equipment were incapable of supplying enough power for his experiments, and as a result they exploded. Though Supercharger's father was killed, Supercharger himself gained his superhuman powers as a result of the accident. Mentally unbalanced by the tragedy, Supercharger became convinced that the existence of superhumanly powerful beings was a threat. Moreover, Supercharger was frustrated by the fact that the public was fascinated by and even supportive of the exploits of such "superheroes" as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.

(Amazing Fantasy I#17) - Supercharger walked into the office of Max Shiffman, who initially mistook him for a Spider-Man imitator.

(Amazing Fantasy I#18) - Seeking a public forum, Supercharger learned that publicity agent Maxwell Shiffman, who represented Spider-Man at the time, was looking for more superhumans to represent. Supercharger accepted an offer to appear on a popular live entertainment program, "It's Amazing," along with Spider-Man. Both Spider-Man and Shiffman believed that Supercharger was merely another entertainer, as did the staff of the television show. However, Supercharger took the entire audience hostage in order to espouse his anti-superhuman views, and planned to murder them in order to provide an example of the dangers posed by superhuman beings. After a brief battle, Spider-Man managed to use the studio's equipment to drain away Supercharger's power before he could harm the audience. Presumably he was left for the police.

BTS - Supercharger's activities in the years following his initial defeat are unknown.

(Thunderbolts I#24-25) - Supercharger joined the new Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil and participated in the Masters' plot to extort a massive sum of money from the world's nations in the hopes that the scheme would create a public perception that superhuman beings were inherently dangerous. However, Supercharger and the rest of the Masters were opposed and defeated by the superhuman adventurers called the Thunderbolts, and Supercharger was once again placed in police custody.

(X-Men Legacy#275 (fb) - BTS) - Supercharger was transferred to a prison in Upstate New York.

(X-Men Legacy#275) - Ruby Thursday, Griffin, Schizoid Man, Icemaster, Quicksand, Silk Fever, Supercharger, and Lightmaster staged a prison break, but were stopped by Rogue and Mimic, as well as Guardsmen.

(Gambit V#17 - BTS) - Supercharger was transferred to Pace Federal Penitentiary.

(Gambit V#17) - Supercharger was one of the prisoners, which also included Griz, Icemaster, Lightmaster, Mandrill and Vic Slaughter, taking Borya Cich's offer to kill Gambit, who had broken into the prison, for one million dollars or 100,000 for aiding in his death. He participated in the battle and knocked out Gambit alongside Cich's right hand Remlik. The fight was soon joined by Gambit's friends from MI13 and the Avengers Unity Squad. The prisoners failed to kill Gambit.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Avengers Inc.#5 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Henry Pym, still partially influenced by Ultron, created robotic ants with each possessing part of Ultron's code inside them. He sent these ants to a list of criminals, including Supercharger, to temporarily place them in a state of seeming death and play a sound file that made it seem like they were victims of the Scourge of the Underworld. As a consultant coroner Pym then picked up Supercharger and gained his cooperation after he regained consciousness 40 hours after his seeming demise. He became part of Pym's new Lethal Legion, who were assembled to destroy Ultron. He was unaware that Pym had actually been duped by Ultron into creating the team so Ultron could use their bodies as hosts.

(Avengers Inc.#4) - Avengers Inc. (Janet Van Dyne and "Victor Shade") and Moon Knight found Pym's hideout and were introduced to his new Lethal Legion, including Supercharger. In front of the Lethal Legion "Shade" seemingly turned on Pym by sticking his arm through him because "Shade" was Ultron.

(Avengers Inc.#5) - "Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve purged Pym's system from Ultron's code because he felt that Ultron was sending a signal to take him over. He couldn't prevent the takover of the assembled Lethal Legion, including Supercharger. Vision, Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Luke Cage, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Stinger (Cassie Lang) and Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne) joined the battle against the Lethal Legion. Supercharger got in a few hits against Vision, but was ultimately purged of the Ultron code by Ultron Mark Twelve to free him. Because the threat was still not over Pym took the Lethal Legion to Sub-Atomica to keep planning the destruction of Ultron.

Comments: Created by Kurt Busiek and Paul Lee.

Amazing Fantasy I#16-18 was a prestige format series about the days just following Spider-Man gaining his powers. They're quite literally the "prequel" to Amazing Spider-Man v.1, as well as the Untold Tales of Spider-Man series also by Busiek. It really captures the feel of Lee/Ditko, but has a modern sensibility as well.

Editor Caliban's Side Note: Which issue is the 'first' appearance of Supercharger has always been a sore spot with me. His first appearance is properly Amazing Fantasy I#17, not 18. He appears for two panels. But the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual still lists his first appearance as Amazing Fantasy I#18. Back in Thunderbolts 25, Kurt Busiek ran a contest to idenitfy the first appearances of all 25 members of Crimson Cowl II's Masters of Evil. Being a Marvel trivia geek extraordinaire, this contest was exactly what I had waited for my entire life. I actually did win that contest (my name is in Thunderbolts I#29), but only with 24 correctly identified (except for Shockwave, but that's another story). Busiek didn't accept Amazing Fantasy I#18 (my answer) for Supercharger's first appearance, he wanted issue 17. Which is technically true, although even his editor had got it wrong when Busiek was doing a profile for the annual, and I used that as a source. But no one else got all 25 correct, so I still was the winner, so I can't really complain. Busiek himself noted after seeing this entry: "If they go there, though, they'll get the impression that I ran the "Identify the Masters of Evil" contest in THUNDERBOLTS, and cruelly banned the winner from having an even better score! It was Brevoort!" (BTW - The most obscure one that almost everyone else missed was Icemaster, whose first appearance was in Hostess ads in the month of December, 1979)

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for cleaning up the main image.

Supercharger has an entry in the Spider-Man - Back in Black Handbook. His real name and the name of his father were revealed in this entry.

Profile by Omar Karindu. Updates by Markus Raymond & Chadman.

Clarifications:
Supercharger has no known connection to:

• Superconductor - a servant of the Time Guardian--Dark Guard#2 (Marvel UK)
• any other character with a similar name