JONATHAN DREW

Real Name: Jonathon "John" Drew

Identity/Class: Human scientist

Occupation: Zoologist; research scientist

Group Membership: Former employee of Pyrotechnics

Affiliations: Priscilla Dolly (Madame Doll), William Dolly, Dr. Horace Grabsheid, Knights of Wundagore, Magnus, Moloid subterraneans, Phillip Masters (Puppet Master), Phaeder, Gregor Russoff, Professor Wladyslav Shinski, Herbert Wyndham (High Evolutionary)

Enemies: Chthon, Pyrotechnics, Gregor Russoff, Congressman James T. Wyatt

Known Relatives: Meriem Drew (wife, deceased), Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman, daughter)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly Pyrotechnics, Inc (a.k.a. Pyro-Technics);
    formerly London, England;
    formerly the Citadel of Science, Wundagore Mountain, Transia;
    formerly Paris, France;
    formerly Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

First Appearance: Spider-Woman I#1 (April, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Jonathon was extremely intelligent and was highly trained in zoology, especially in the study or arachnids and insects (entomology), and was highly experienced with radiation.
    He may or may not have gained some degree of delayed aging from his experiences at Wundagore (exposure to radiation and magic, as well as access to genetic enhancement).

History:
(X-Factor Annual#3/3 (fb) - BTS) - Jonathon Drew attended Yale University, studying Zoology, with an emphasis on arthropods

(X-Factor Annual#3/3) <October, 1928> - Drew attended the International Conference on Genetics in Geneva, where he encountered and befriended Herbert Wyndham. After attending a lecture by Professor Wladyslav Shinsky, Drew and Wyndham shared drinks, discussing their respective works.

(Punisher Annual#1/4 (fb) - BTS) - Jonathon returned home, regaling his wife, Meriem, for hours with tales of their discussions and their prodigious drinking.

(Punisher Annual#1/4 (fb) - BTS) - Jonathon and Meriem, along with their daughter, Jessica, relocated to Paris, France.

(Punisher Annual#1/4 (fb) - BTS/ Silver Surfer Annual#1/4 (fb) - BTS) - Meriem inherited a small tract of land on the Eastern side of Wundagore Mountain, in Transia from her maternal uncle.

(Punisher Annual#1/4) <June, 1930> - After Wyndham had been expelled for his radical work and had had his first successfully evolved animal killed by neighbors, he realized he needed somewhere where he could work in private. Wyndham visited the Drews, convincing them to pool their resources and research. Meriem and Jonathon offered the use of the land she had recently inherited. Wyndham and the Drews moved to Transia and began to set up their laboratory.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / Avengers I#187 (fb)) - The Drews and Wyndham purchased a portion of Gregor Russoff's estate, expanding on the land on Wundagore that Meriem had inherited.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb)) - Jonathon Drew worked closely with Herbert Wyndham, backing his genetic accelerator, while Wyndham supported his studies on using arthropods to discover how to create immunity to radiation and other harsh conditions.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / Silver Surfer Annual#1/4) <July, 1930> - Drew and Wyndham discovered the large Uranium stores in Wundagore Mountain, gaining great wealth from its sale.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / Silver Surfer Annual#1/4) - Months later, continuing their mining, Drew and Wyndham hired Dr. Horace Grabsheid (later Grayson, father to Marvel Boy) to construct their citadel on Wundagore Mountain in return for financing his personal project--an interplanetary spacecraft.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / Silver Surfer Annual#1/4) - Weeks later, Drew and Wyndham approved Grabsheid's design, after which they had a near-miss encounter with Gregor Russoff in his werewolf form.

(New Mutants Annual#4/3 (fb) - BTS) - Jessica Drew befriended the young Phillip Masters.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / New Mutants Annual#4/3) <March, 1931> - Drew disapproved of the Moloid subterraneans given to them by Phaeder. Jessica Drew fell deathly ill from radiation exposure. Jonathon injected her with his spider extract, but found little change as the serum would take a month to incubate. Wyndham volunteered to treat her with his genetic accelerator, while a stasis unit caused her to age at a very slow rate. Meriem was strongly opposed to the idea and, after an argument with Jonathon, she went out for a walk. There she was slain by the Gregor Russoff werewolf.
    Jonathon and Herbert found her body, and Herbert even saw the werewolf in the shadows, but he decided not to tell Jonathon for fear that he would blame the Moloids.

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb) / 7(fb) / Fantastic Four Annual#21/4 (fb) - BTS) <April, 1931> - Shortly thereafter, Jonathon, distraught over the loss of his wife and his inability to help his daughter, left Wundagore, leaving Jessica in Wyndham's hands and intending to return to America.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual#22/4 (fb)) - Passing through London, Drew's exposure to the energies of the Elder God Chthon (who was imprisoned within Wundagore Mountain) caught the attention of the 6th century sorcerer Magnus. Learning of the activities on Wundagore, Magnus possessed Drew's form and headed towards Wundagore

(Avengers I#186 (fb) / Amazing Spider-Man Annual#22/4) <March, 1932> - Six weeks later, the Magnus-possessed Drew arrived at Wundagore at their Citadel of Science, explaining his true nature and warning Herbert Wyndham that he must cease his activities on Wundagore immediately or risk unleashing Chthon on the Earth. However, Wyndham refused to believe any of his talk of the supernatural.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual#12/3 (fb)) - The Magnus-possessed Drew convinced Wyndham to train his New Men (animals evolved into humanoid form) as warriors in the Knights of Wundagore.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual#12/3) <1958> - The Magnus-possessed Drew continued to supervise the Knights and was present when Magda Lennsherr arrived to deliver her twin children. Suspecting she might be a vessel for Chthon, Magnus scanned her and found her clean, but soon after he was gripped by the power of Chthon. Magnus' power proved futile in a direct assault against Chthon's Other, and so Magnus released his astral self, locating Gregor Russoff who had used the Darkhold to perform the Spell of Ascension. Magnus possessed Russoff, forcing him to perform the Spell of Binding, which trapped Chthon within the mountain once again. Realizing what was happening, Chthon assaulted Russoff, leaving him nearly dead.

(Web of Spider-Man Annual#4/4) - The next day, the Magnus told Wyndham of his intent to return to the grave, relinquishing Drew's body. He left Wundagore mountain.

(Spider-Woman I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Jonathon worked for a time at the British Natural History Museum.

(Spider-Woman I#7 (fb) - BTS) - At the museum, Jonathon discussed his spider extract serum. Members of the corporation Pyrotechnics learned of this and sought Drew's serum so that they could utilize the antidote for radiation poisoning.

(Spider-Woman I#3 (fb) - BTS / 7 (fb) - BTS) - Pyrotechnics brought Drew to work for them in their Los Angeles, California facility, where they had him continue his work until it was perfected. They drugged Drew to keep him unaware of their intentions (to use a neutron bomb as a weapon, and to make their soldiers immune to its radiation).

(Spider-Woman I#1 (fb)) - Working alongside William Dolly (actually a fragment of Nathan Dolly, Mister Doll/Brothers Grimm) at Pyrotechnics, Jonathon boarded for a few weeks at the home of Priscilla Dolly.

(Spider-Woman I#3 (fb) - BTS / 7 (fb) - BTS) - Jonathon Drew, apparently discovering Pyrotechnics' motives, attempted to escape before the final testing was done. He was discovered and killed by Pyrotechnics member Congressman James T. Wyatt.

(Spider-Woman I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Drew's death was investigated by Detective J. R. Bullit, but remained listed as unsolved.

(Spider-Woman I#3 - BTS) - Two months later, Jessica Drew, now an adult and the superhuman Spider-Woman, tracked her father to America and learned of his death.

(Spider-Woman I#7 - BTS) - Spider-Woman learned the truth about her father's death and brought both Wyatt and Pyrotechnics to justice. With the aid of Jerry Hunt and SHIELD, Pyrotechnics' operations were halted before they could inject their soldiers with the spider-extract serum.

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino, and Tony DeZuniga.

I doubt that Jessica Drew knows that the Werewolf (Jack Russell)'s father slew her mother, Merriam  .

From working alongside the High Evolutionary, being possessed by a centuries old sorcerer, and opposing the Elder God Chthon to becoming a pawn of and being killed by a second-rate group like Pyrotechnics.  

Meriem Drew in her first appearance, Merriam and Meriem in the Evolutionary Wars, and Merriam in the Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe. Take your pick. French

They made a point about Meriem inheriting the land from her maternal uncle...was that supposed to mean anything?

Spider-Woman I#42-44 (February - June, 1982)  revealed Meriem to have become Viper/Madame Hydra.
Probably an idea of writer Chris Claremont. This was revealed to be a Chthon-induced illusion in Captain America I#281 (May, 1983).
    --Dim I Nticoudis

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

Meriem Drew

 

    A French woman, she was the wife of Jonathon and the mother of Jessica (Spider-Woman), she inherited land on Wundagore Mountain from her maternal uncle, which she happily donated to Jonathon and his future business partner Herbert Wyndham. She was highly distraught after Jessica fell ill, and she argued against Wyndham using his genetic accelerator to try to treat her. After an argument with Jonathon, she went for a walk, where she was slain by the Gregor Russoff werewolf.

 

--Spider-Woman I#1 (Punisher Annual#1/4, New Mutants Annual#4/3 (fb), Avengers I#187(fb), New Mutants Annual#4/3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images:
Punisher Annual#1, p64, panels 3 and 5 (Meriem and Jon faces)
New Mutants Annual#4,p61, panel 4 (Meriem and Jon bodies)
Spider-Woman I#1, p14, panel 6

Spider-Woman I#2-7 (May - October, 1978) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Carmine Infantino (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (#2-5), Rick Bryant (#6), Steve Leialoha (#7) & Al Gordon (#7) (inks)
Avengers I#186-187 (August-September, 1979) - Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant & David Michelinie (writers), John Byrne (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
X-Factor Annual#3 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paris Cullins (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Punisher Annual#1 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paris Cullins (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Silver Surfer Annual#1 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paris Cullins (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
New Mutants Annual#4 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Jim Sinclair (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Fantastic Four Annual#21 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paris Cullins (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual#22 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Uncanny X-Men Annual#12 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)
Web of Spider-Man Annual#4 (1988) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks), Ralph Macchio (editors)

Last updated: 06/09/08

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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