ENFORCER
Real Name: Charles L. Delazny, Jr.
Identity/Class:
Human, unconventional weapons-user;
Citizen of the U.S.A.
Occupation: Professional criminal, former student
Group Membership: Formerly led a criminal organization and a smaller gang
Affiliations:
Madame Masque;
formerly Carson
Collier Jr., the Committee,
Rupert Dockery,
"Big Jim" Galton, Gladiator
(Potter), Ignatz Goldman,
Gypsy Moth (Skein),
Dr. Karl Malus, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Water
Wizard, unnamed gamblers
Enemies: Carson Collier Jr., Buck Cowan, Eel (Leopold Stryke), Flagg Fargo, Ghost Rider (John Blaze), Locksmith, Scotty McDowell, Scourge of the Underworld, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Tick-Tock, J.R. Van De Kalb, Werewolf (Jack Russell), Buck Cowan's former employer
Known Relatives: Charles L. Delazny, Sr. (father), Dorian Delazny (probable relative), Mike Nero (nephew)
Aliases: (allegedly) Carson Collier, Jr.
Place of Birth: San Jose, California, USA
Base of Operations:
Los Angeles, California, USA
formerly an underground base within the
Hollywood Hills
First Appearance:
(BTS) Ghost Rider II#21 (December, 1976);
(seen) Ghost Rider II#22 (February, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: The Enforcer possessed the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engaged in moderate regular exercise. He was a fine marksman with handguns and a fair hand-to-hand combatant. He also had some skill at stunt work and could pilot a small jet airplane.
Weapons: The
Enforcer wore a steel-mesh bodysuit that covered him
from head to toe. His steel face mask had infrared image amplifiers
that enabled him to
see in the dark. His reinforced vest was covered with silver nitrate to
protect him from
attack by supernatural creatures who are repelled by silver (such as
werewolves).
The Enforcer carried two .45 caliber
automatic machine pistols, which
had special ammunition clips containing a number of toxic substances.
Among his regularly
used projectiles were tranquilizer pellets (capable of paralyzing an
average-sized person
in 4 seconds for up to 2 hours), incendiary "pyrogranulate" capsules
which ignited upon
impact, silver bullets (for use against werewolves), blackout darts
(which caused its
victims to to become blind for several hours) and a special substance
called "the tingler"
which created a metabolic reaction in its victims that caused them to
burst into flame
when it was activated. The Enforcer generally used "the tingler" in
conjunction with
sodium pentothal (will-debilitating "truth serum"), making the victim
highly susceptible
to his posthypnotic commands. Thus the victim could be made to trigger
his own
immolation by hypnotic command.
The Enforcer once wore an
extraordinarily powerful disintegration ray
projector in his ring. The
manner in which this device worked is unknown but it was
capable of disintegrating an entire destroyer with a single blast.
The Enforcer once flew a small jet aircraft which had been modified
so
that it could attach itself to the top of a 747 jumbo jet.
The Enforcer once drove a
specially-modified sports car
which had
been equipped with a side-mounted concealed machinegun and a missile
launcher in its
rear "bomb bay."
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17) - Charles
L. Delazny, Jr. was born in San Jose, California, the only son of the
head of Delazny Studios,
an independently-owned back lot and soundstage where movies were once
filmed, but which
had more recently been used primarily for television production. One of
Charles L. Delazny, Sr.'s longtime associates was Carson
"Coot" Collier, Sr., a former actor who
once directed movie Westerns and later directed television programs at
Delazny Studios.
Collier had a son named Carson, Jr., who was the same age as Delazny's
son, and the two
were schoolmates at Hollywood High School.
Hoping to follow in his father's
footsteps, Charles Delazny, Jr.
enrolled in the University of Southern California film school, only to
become heavily
involved in dealing narcotics. Developing criminal contacts, Delazny
dropped out of
school to pursue a career in crime.
(Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS) - During the worst of the recession, the elder Delazny borrowed heavily from racketeers to keep his studio in business.
(Ghost Rider II#22 (fb) - BTS/OHotMUDE#17) - The young Delazny contacted agents of a foreign power who hired him to wreak destruction at the San Diego Navy yards. Using the money he was advanced, the young Delazny hired an elderly scientist named Ignatz Goldman to create a bullet-proof costume. Wearing this outfit, the young Delazny became known as the Enforcer.
(Ghost Rider II#21 (fb) -BTS) - The Enforcer wanted to obtain a disintegrator ray generator for his own purposes, but it had already been stolen by Leopold Stryke, the original Eel. The Enforcer then hired the costumed criminal known as the Gladiator to steal the device from Leopold Stryke and told him that Stryke had left the device on a certain soundstage at Delazny Studios.
(Ghost Rider II#21- BTS/Ghost Rider II#22 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer encountered the Eel in the alley [where the Eel had just knocked out Ghost Rider] and "appropriated" the device from him. Leaving the Eel in that alley [where he was soon found and killed by the Gladiator], the Enforcer brought the device to his secret underground base and turned it over to Professor Goldman to be miniaturized.
(Ghost Rider II#22) - Later, the Enforcer returned to his underground base and Goldman gave him a medallion that was a miniaturization of the disintegration device and which could be used as a weapon. Several hours later, the Enforcer arrived at the Belaire mansion which was the home of "the boss" of a local criminal organization which had gained control of Delazny Studios. After declaring that he was there to take over the operation, the Enforcer was threatened by "the boss" but used the medallion to disintegrate him. The gangsters immediately accepted the Enforcer as their new "boss."
(Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS) - As the new "boss" of that local criminal organization, the Enforcer met with (or contacted) Delazny and they agreed that the Enforcer would stay away from Delazny once Delazny "paid his price."
(Ghost Rider II#22 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer received the third version of the disintegration device from Goldman who had further miniaturized it until it was small enough to be set in a ring.
(Ghost Rider II#22) - The next day, the Enforcer and four members of his newly-acquired gang left the Delazny mansion and drove south to the San Diego Naval Yards, unaware that they were being followed by Ghost Rider. After arriving at the Navy Yards, the Enforcer paused to brag about his disintegrator ring and the foreign power who had financed his operation. When the shore patrol showed up and opened fire, the Enforcer left his men to deal with them while he proceeded with his mission. He disintegrated a destroyer before Ghost Rider (who had already taken care of the goons) knocked him off his feet. After a brief running battle that ended with them both falling into the harbor, the Enforcer escaped from Ghost Rider but lost his ring in the water while doing so.
(Ghost Rider II#23) - The Enforcer showed up at the warehouse where the Water Wizard was celebrating the success of his first bank robbery and offered him one million dollars to kill Ghost Rider. The Water Wizard accepted the contract and the next day he tried to kill Johnny Blaze while the motorcyclist was performing a stunt at Delazny Studios, but Blaze survived by briefly changing into Ghost Rider.
(Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS/Ghost Rider II#23 - BTS) - At the Enforcer's request, the Water Wizard used his power over water to create a thousand liquid creatures who combed the bottom of San Diego harbor to find and recover the lost disintegrator ring. Guessing that Blaze might have learned of Delazny's involvement with him, the Enforcer arranged for the Water Wizard to ambush Ghost Rider at Delazny's estate that night. The ambush ended with Ghost Rider being knocked out and transformed back into Blaze.
(Ghost Rider II#24) - As
Charles L. Delazny stood above Johnny Blaze's unconscious body,
the Enforcer appeared and revealed that he had arranged the ambush.
When Delazny angrily
questioned him, the Enforcer threatened Delazny's family (including his
son) and cowed
Delazny by demonstrating his disintegrator ring's power. After taking
Delazny's son's
motorcycle and ordering Delazny to report it as stolen, the Enforcer
tried to kill Blaze
by having him tied to the motorcycle which was then sent off a cliff.
Although he saw
Blaze transform into Ghost Rider on the way down, the Enforcer was sure
that no man
could have lived through the crash.
Returning to his underground base with
the Water Wizard, the Enforcer
revealed that he planned to use Delazny's business to launder the money
he was going to
make from the crime-empire that he was building. The Enforcer then
stated that he had
decided to eliminate the person he saw as the only remaining threat,
the man who created
his ring, and was about to disintegrate Goldman when Ghost Rider showed
up. After a
brief battle, both the Water Wizard and the Enforcer were knocked out
by Ghost Rider
who then removed the Enforcer's mask but didn't recognize him. Johnny
Blaze later called
the police and told them where to find the criminals.
(OHotMUDE#17) - Before the police arrived, the Enforcer revived, and, under circumstances that have yet to be revealed, managed to mislead the authorities into believing that Carson Collier, Jr. was the Enforcer. Hence, it was the young Collier who was imprisoned for the Enforcer's crimes. The elder Delazny, however, learned that his son was the real Enforcer.
(Ghost Rider II#26 (BTS)) - While seeking information about the Ghost Rider, Doctor Anthony Druid confronted Charles L. Delazny, Sr. and used his powers to probe Delazny's mind. While doing so, Druid learned that Delazny was upset because "(his) son was secretly a criminal known as the Enforcer, who was captured and imprisoned recently!"
(OHotMUDE#17) - Subsequently, the Enforcer was hired by the Committee, a group of corrupt Los Angeles businessmen, who outfitted him with a set of specially modified automatic pistols to take the place of his disintegrator ring (which he no longer possessed due to circumstance that have yet to be revealed). His first assignment was to silence writer Buck Cowan, who was about to expose Committee activity to the police.
(Werewolf By Night I#42-43 - BTS / Spider-Woman#19 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer shot Buck Cowan's former employer with his tingler weapon.
(Werewolf By Night I#42-43 - BTS / Spider-Woman#19 (fb) - BTS) - Cowan's former employer tried to ask Cowan for help, only to mysteriously burst into flames.
(Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS) - A Los Angeles newspaper reported that the Enforcer (Collier?) was "recently sprung from the joint." (see comments)
(Spider-Woman I#30 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer bought some psycho-chemical metabolic incendiary darts from their inventor, Dr. Karl Malus.
(Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer's bosses gave him a briefing about what he might expect to encounter when dealing with Cowan, including the fact that Cowan's close friend Jack Russell was a werewolf.
(Marvel Team-Up I#93 (fb)/Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS) - As soon as Cowan entered Russell's apartment, the Enforcer broke through the door and pulled a gun, prompting Russell to change into his Werewolf form. Prepared for this, the Enforcer blew him out the window with silver nitrate pellets and then shot Cowan with "the tingler" to keep Cowan from telling anyone what he had learned.
(Spider-Woman I#19) - Finished with Cowan, the Enforcer leaned out the window to deal with the Werewolf, but was pulled out the window by Spider-Woman. After a brief battle, he managed to shoot both her and the Werewolf with tranquilizer darts and then shot them with "the tingler" as well, commanding them to burst into flame if they ever opposed him or mentioned his existence. Spider-Woman proved to be immune to the tingler's effects and she recovered almost immediately, taking the Enforcer by surprise and knocking him unconscious with her venom blast. The police then arrived and took the Enforcer into custody.
(OHotMUDE#17) - To confuse the authorities, the Enforcer claimed to be Carson Collier, Jr., and his deception was not exposed, at least not until after the Enforcer made his escape.
(Spider-Woman I#27) - While "Carson Collier" was serving time in California State Prison he received a private visit from newspaper tycoon Rupert M. Dockery. When the meeting ended badly, "Collier" found the cane that Dockery had "forgotten" to take with him. Discovering the cane's hidden blade, "Collier" and four other inmates used it to overpower a guard and escape. After coercing his fellow escapees into being his gang, the Enforcer decided to seek revenge on Spider-Woman and make some money by stealing the only known bronze representation of Anasi the Spider from the Los Angeles Museum of Anthropology and Folk Art. As the Enforcer had hoped, Spider-Woman showed up to stop them, but was defeated when she was blinded by one of the Enforcer's new blackout darts. The Enforcer brought Spider-Woman back to his hideout and put her in a cage, where she soon regained her eyesight, freed herself, and was about to take them by surprise when her partner, criminologist Scotty McDowell, showed up to rescue her, but was promptly shot by the Enforcer.
(Spider-Woman#28) - The Enforcer and his gang were quickly overcome by the enraged Spider-Woman, but the Enforcer forced her to stop by revealing that he had shot McDowell with one of his psycho-chemical incendiary darts and that McDowell would have to be kept isolated in a cold environment or he would burst into flames. The Enforcer then offered to give Spider-Woman the antidote for the dart but only if she helped him steal 10 million dollars. Forced to agree, Spider-Woman helped the Enforcer when he stole a jewel-encrusted statue of a Hindu god from the Hollywood Bowl. The following evening, the Enforcer robbed tycoon J.R. Van De Kalb of his priceless stamp collection at Christie's Auction House but was trapped by the police in a steel-mesh net and needed Spider-Woman's help to escape.
(Spider-Woman#29) - The Enforcer and his gang forced Spider-Woman to participate in their mid-air robbery of a 747 flying from New York to Los Angeles. The Enforcer blinded a gem courier with one of his darts and stole a briefcase full of gems, but was taken by surprise when Spider-Man appeared and decked him. Spider-Woman delayed Spidey long enough for the Enforcer, and she to reach their aircraft and escape. When Spider-Man found the hideout and knocked out the gang, the Enforcer was about to shoot him with some nitro-darts but Spider-Woman blasted him with a venom-blast first. When the police arrived and arrested him and his gang, the Enforcer revealed that he had never had any antidotes to his darts.
(Spider-Woman#30 - BTS) - Spider-Woman dressed up in the Enforcer's costume in order to confront Rupert Dockery about his recent activities. The terrified Dockery quickly admitted that he had let the Enforcer steal his walking stick with the tiny radio transmitter hidden inside it so that he could listen in on the Enforcer's crime plans and that he knew that Spider-Woman wasn't really the Enforcer's accomplice. LAPD Captain Walsh then showed himself and used Dockery's tape-recorded admissions to force him to appear in court to clear Spider-Woman of all outstanding charges for the crimes she was forced to help the Enforcer commit.
(OHotMUDE#17) - The Enforcer was again imprisoned but was soon at large again. Whether or not the police had yet been able to establish that the Enforcer was not Carson Collier, Jr. is as yet unknown, nor is it yet known what had become of the real Carson Collier, Jr. during this time.
(Ghost Rider II#58) - The Enforcer was hired by some gamblers who wanted him to fix the rematch between Johnny Blaze and Flagg Fargo. The Enforcer met Fargo and threatened to kill him if he didn't take a dive and let Blaze win, but Fargo refused. The Enforcer later used his modified car to fire some (warning) shots at Fargo, but Blaze was there and gave chase on his motorcycle. The Enforcer let Blaze see him, then shot him with tranquilizer darts. Later, at the stunt-championship contest, the Enforcer shot Fargo as he was performing the auto jump, causing Fargo to crash onto the cars. With everyone distracted by the crash in the arena, the Enforcer went to the stadium box office and robbed it of the $300,000 in ticket receipts. The Enforcer shot two guards with tranquilizers and escaped in his souped-up car but was pursued by the Ghost Rider. The Enforcer fired a missile from his car's bomb bay to destroy a bridge to cut off pursuit, but Ghost Rider took the longer way around. Finding himself racing head-on at the Ghost Rider on a narrow road high above a lake, the desperate Enforcer drove his car off the precipice and into the lake. By the time that he pulled himself from the lake the Ghost Rider had left.
(Dark Reign: Made Men#1/5 (fb)) - Expecting to be killed at some time, Charlie Delazny told his nephew, Mike Nero, of the lessons he had learned out in the field and the money to be made in taking on jobs involving the supernatural. Delazny started to train and prepare him to take on the family business.
(Spider-Woman I#50 (fb) - BTS) - The Enforcer was one of a number of "deviants" from the Los Angles area who were kidnapped and imprisoned in Locksmith's private prison. The Enforcer's guns were taken away from him and he was fitted with a body lock that allowed only the barest mobility.
(Spider-Woman I#50) - The Enforcer was still in his personal cell when Locksmith brought Spider-Woman to his prison. The Enforcer had come to see the shadows as so thick that they were almost alive and staring at him. After Spider-Woman freed herself and defeated Locksmith and Ticktock, she summoned the police who (presumably) arrested the Enforcer and the other criminals among Locksmith's captives. Later that night, the Enforcer was among those affected by a spell cast by the sorcerer Magnus which caused everybody to forget that Spider-Woman had ever existed.
(Iron Man I#194) - The Enforcer was contacted by Madame Masque (acting on behalf of Obadiah Stane) and offered fifty grand to eliminate one of Stane's agents, the Termite, who was in police custody. The Enforcer accepted the contract and decided to take care of this "ten minutes work" right away. Outside his hotel room, the Enforcer encountered a bag lady who asked him for spare change. When the Enforcer told her to buzz off because he didn't have anything for her, the bag lady replied, "But I have something for you!" and shot him through the chest with a shotgun she had concealed under her coat. After the mortally-wounded Enforcer fell to the ground, the bag lady proclaimed, "Justice is served!" and left. Thus the Enforcer became the first known victim of the Scourge of the Underworld, a vigilante who targeted people with criminal records.
(Iron Man I#195 - BTS) - Madam Masque reported to Obadiah Stane that the man she had contracted to terminate the Termite had been gunned down before he could complete his assignment.
(Dark Reign: Made Men#1/5 (fb)) - After his uncle's death, Mike Nero took on the arsenal and armor that were his uncle's as the Enforcer.
(Captain America I#320 - BTS) - After being captured by Captain America, Scourge claimed to be the younger brother of the Enforcer and that he had killed him in retaliation for the shame that the Enforcer had brought upon their family, and for the heartbreak their father had felt on learning the Enforcer's true identity.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Don Heck and Keith Pollard.
Donald's Enforcer identity argument
With Snood's rebuttals in italics
There's a BIG problem with the Enforcer's real identity. The character appeared in six stories/storylines but only two of them revealed who he was behind the mask and those stories contradict each other. According to Ghost Rider II#26, the Enforcer was the (unnamed) son of Charles L. Delazny but Spider-Woman I#27-29 has the Enforcer doing time in prison as "Carson Collier" and later referring to himself as "Carson Collier." Since it's obvious that these contradictory stories can't both be correct, it follows that one of them must be wrong...but which one?
Snood's
statement. There are a LOT of diehard fans who have a lot of trouble
with the fact that OHotMUs have always been 98%
resource and 2% source (meaning that they sometimes supply new
information (like real names, or names of relatives) or explanations to
connect two otherwise contradictory stories). These fans believe that
if it doesn't come from a pre-existing story it is not "canon." These
people can continue these beliefs and arguments in their own groups,
but that is not and has never been Marvel's policy. Get over it.
HOWEVER...I am not trying to disrespect
Donald, who is an excellent researcher and information source. I
strongly disagree with some of his opinions, especially his digs at the
handbooks, but that's as far as it goes.
That Donald, he's ok.
:)
The Enforcer's name was first mentioned in Ghost Rider II#21 and it was later revealed that he was the person who had robbed the Eel in that issue but he wasn't actually seen until Ghost Rider II#22.
Chronology Note: Marvel Team-Up#93 (May, 1980) takes place two days after Spider-Woman#19 (October, 1979) and Spider-Woman#20 (November, 1979) takes place between those two stories (i.e. The events in SW#19, SW#20 and MTU#93 take place, in that order, over three consecutive days).
More Chronology: The Enforcer's first encounter with Spider-Woman occurred shortly before she became a bounty hunter. By the time of their second encounter, Spider-Woman had been acting as a bounty hunter for "a few weeks" to "several months". This means that the Enforcer must have been in jail for that length of time.
Even More Chronology: According to
the OHotMUDE, the Enforcer's "first assignment" for
the Committee was to silence writer Buck Cowan who was about to expose
Committee activity
to the police. Spider-Woman#19 (October, 1979) revealed that Cowan had
been looking into
the circumstances of the weird death of one of his former employers, a
man who had burst
into flame when he tried to ask Cowan for help. This death occurred
behind-the-scenes
in Werewolf By Night I#42-43 (January + March, 1977), issues which were
on sale at about
the same time as the Enforcer's first appearance in Ghost Rider
II#22-24 (February-June,
1977). So, if the Enforcer was only "recently sprung from the joint" in
S-W#19, then
who used the "tingler" on Cowan's old employer sometime before WBN#42?
Was the Enforcer
already working for the Committee back then? Or was it someone else,
possibly Carson
Collier, who dealt with that man on behalf of the Committee?
Recently this week? Recently this month? Recently this year?
It's subjective, but a valid point.
Anyway, yes, he could have been working for the Committee earlier, but
as it was Collier who had been imprisoned in his stead (as confirmed in
the OHotMUDE#17), Delazny, the Enforcer, was already on the loose.
Delazny later perpetuated the deception in hopes of being able to use
it another day.
Ignatz was the name of the mouse opponent of the 1920s comic strip Krazy Kat. We see the name pop up every now and then, such as in Heroes for Hire, where Ant-Man rode the small winged Deviant Ignatz.
Anyway, Donald put a lot
of research and thought into this profile, and he also sent a pair of
profiles which list the two Enforcers as being separate. You can see
them here:
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/enforcerdelazny.htm
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/enforcercollier.htm
Snood's conclusions.
Clarifications:
The Enforcer has no known connections to
Ignatz Goldman (if that's really "the Professor's" name) has no known connections to
Enforcer's Disintegrator Ring
The Enforcer's original weapon was a ring with a disintegration ray generator set in it. Originally the generator was an "electronic gizmo" (see left) which the Eel (Leopold Stryke) had stolen from a never-revealed location. The Enforcer hired the Gladiator (Potter) to steal it from Stryke and told him that Stryke had left it on a certain soundstage at Delazny Studios (but it was actually in Stryke's rented room in a flop-house). The Eel took the gizmo with him to an appointment and knocked out Ghost Rider (who had been following him) but then the Enforcer "appropriated" the device from him, and Stryke was soon killed by the Gladiator (who was still looking for the gadget). The Enforcer took the device to Professor Goldman who miniaturized it into a medallion (see Goldman sub-profile) which the Enforcer used to kill the "boss" of a local gang of racketeers. Later, Goldman reduced the device to the size of a jewel and set it into a ring (see right). The Enforcer used the ring to disintegrate an entire destroyer before losing it in San Diego harbor. After the Water Wizard recovered the ring, the Enforcer tried to use it to kill Ghost Rider but he just couldn't manage to hit him. What happened to the ring after the Enforcer was defeated is unknown (but if Goldman and/or Ghost Rider had any sense at all they would have destroyed it before calling the police). Presumably the LAPD confiscated the ring when they arrested the Enforcer.
- (electronic gizmo) Ghost Rider II#21
- (medallion) Ghost Rider II#22
- (ring) Ghost Rider II#22 (24)
Enforcer's "souped-up" car
The Enforcer once drove a "souped-up" red two-door sports car which could attain greater speeds than most normal cars. The Enforcer's "fancy wheels" had been equipped with several weapons including a retractable machinegun (mounted on the driver's side below the side mirror) and a "bomb bay" in the rear from which at least one "tactical missile" (capable of blowing up a bridge) could be fired. Nothing was revealed about who designed and/or rebuilt the car, and it was lost in a lake when Ghost Rider forced the Enforcer off the road while he was making his getaway from an attempted murder and a robbery which he had committed.
- Ghost Rider II#58
Enforcer's Getaway Plane
The Enforcer once flew a small jet aircraft which had been modified so that it could attach itself to the top of a 747 jumbo jet. The Enforcer and his gang used this jet to perform a mid-air robbery of a gem courier who was traveling from New York to Los Angeles aboard Atlantic Airlines Flight 814.
- Spider-Woman I#29
Carson Collier, Jr.
Carson Collier Jr. is the only (confirmed) son of Carson "Coot" Collier, Sr. He was born in San Jose, California.
(Spider-Woman I#29 (fb)- BTS) - As a young boy, Carson watched his father perform stunts in his "shoot-'em-ups." Later, when he was older, Carson began to "shake down school kids for their lunch money."
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#4) - Hoping to follow in his father's footsteps, Carson enrolled in the University of Southern California film school, only to become heavily involved in dealing narcotics. Developing criminal contacts, Carson dropped out of school to pursue a career in crime.
(Ghost Rider II#22)- Carson went
to his father's Benedict Canyon home and let himself
in. When Coot returned and saw the lights on, he grabbed his carbine
and confronted the
intruder but was surprised and delighted when he realized that it was
Carson. When Coot
asked where he'd been, Carson replied that he'd been keeping real busy
and thought to
himself that while he couldn't reveal exactly what he'd been into
lately, soon everybody
would find out. Coot didn't notice Carson's peculiar smile or the
sudden glint in his
eyes.
The next morning, Carson went to Delazny
Studios to watch his father
direct an episode of the "Stuntmaster" television show. Standing with Stuntmaster
and
Roxanne Simpson, Carson watched Johnny Blaze perform a motorcycle stunt
with Karen Page.
Once the stunt was completed, Stuntmaster introduced him to Blaze who
got a strange
feeling that "something about Carson (didn't) ring true."
(OHotMUDE#17) - After the Ghost Rider had defeated the Enforcer, but before the police arrived, the Enforcer revived, and, under circumstances that have yet to be revealed, managed to mislead the authorities into believing that Carson Collier, Jr. was the Enforcer. Hence, it was the young Collier who was imprisoned for the Enforcer's crimes. The elder Delazny, however, learned that his son was the real Enforcer.
(Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS) - A Los Angeles newspaper reported that the Enforcer (Collier?) was "recently sprung from the joint." (see comments)
(Captain America I#320 - BTS?) -
After being captured by Captain America, Scourge claimed to
be the younger brother of the Enforcer and that he had killed him in
retaliation for
the shame that the Enforcer had brought upon their family, and for the
heartbreak their
father had felt on learning the Enforcer's true identity. Scourge also
claimed that it
was how good he felt after dealing with his brother that had inspired
him to devote his
life to serving the cause of justice (by killing costumed criminals).
Scourge was then
killed by an unseen gunman (who was later revealed to be a second
Scourge).
Scourge's story seems to indicate the
Collier was the Enforcer, and that Scourge was Collier's previous
unknown brother.
If
the OHotMUDE's theory that Carson was falsely imprisoned for the
Enforcer's crimes is
accurate, then it was Carson who was "recently sprung from the joint"
(as reported in a
Los Angeles newspaper mentioned in Spider-Woman#19).
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#11: Scourge
entry postulates the Collier may have been the Scourge that slew the
Enforcer, but this remains unconfirmed.
- Ghost Rider II#22 (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#17 / Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS
Charles L. Delazny, Sr.
Charles L. Delazny is the owner of Delazny Studios, an independently-owned back lot and soundstage where movies were once filmed but which has more recently been used primarily for television production. One of his longtime associates is "Coot" Collier, a former actor who once directed movie Westerns and later directed television programs at Delazny Studios. Delazny had a family which included a son who was secretly the criminal known as the Enforcer. During the worst of the recession, Delazny borrowed heavily from racketeers to keep his studio in business. This loan enabled a local criminal organization to gain control of Delazny Studios and use Delazny as their "front man."
(Ghost Rider II#22) - Delazny had stuntman Johnny Blaze summoned to his office. When Blaze arrived, Delazny revealed that it was Officer Flannigan of the LAPD who had asked for the meeting. Blaze fled the office when Flannigan tried to force him to go to police headquarters. Later, after learning that Leopold Stryke (the Eel) had been hired through Delazny's office, Blaze staked out the Delazny mansion until he saw the Enforcer and some goons leaving it.
(Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS) - After the Enforcer took over the local criminal organization that had gained control of Delazny Studios, Delazny agreed to pay the Enforcer "his price" if he'd stay away from Delazny.
(Ghost Rider II#23) - Suspecting that Delazny was tied to the Enforcer, Ghost Rider went to the Delazny estate planning to force Delazny to reveal whatever he knew about the Enforcer but was ambushed by the Water Wizard as soon as he arrived. Ghost Rider managed to defeat the Water Wizard but was knocked out by his foe's last attack and reverted to human form. Then Charles L. Delazny strode from the shadows and said, "You were a fool to come here, Blaze -- and it's going to cost you your life!"
(Ghost Rider II#24) - While standing over Blaze's helpless body, Delazny was joined by the Enforcer who revealed that he had arranged the ambush. When Delazny demanded answers, the Enforcer threatened his family (including his son who was in college) and cowed Delazny by disintegrating the door of the garage. When the Enforcer announced that he was going to take Delazny's son's motorcycle and ordered Delazny to wait an hour before reporting it stolen, Delazny shakily agreed.
(Ghost Rider II#26 (fb) -BTS) - Following the capture and imprisonment of the Enforcer, Charles L. Delazny learned his son had secretly been the criminal. This knowledge upset him.
(Ghost Rider II#26) - When Delazny arrived at his office and learned that his secretary had let someone in without an appointment, he angrily confronted the intruder, Doctor Anthony Druid, but quickly succumbed to Druid's occult powers and apologized for being rude because he'd recently been upset about his son. Druid probed his mind and learned that Delazny was upset because his son had secretly been the Enforcer and that Delazny didn't believe that the Ghost Rider was a supernatural being.
Delazny was depicted as balding in his first appearance but later issues showed him with a full head of hair. (toupee?)
Charles L. Delazny is presumably related to the Dorian Delazny who was (apparently) the head of Delazny Studios in Astonishing Tales I#21-24 but I've never read those issues and I'm not aware of any story in which their exact relationship is defined.
- Ghost Rider II#22 (23,24,26)
"Coot" Collier
"Coot" Collier was the star of numerous 1940's cowboy films who later directed a number of movie Westerns and then went on to direct television programs (including "Stuntmaster") produced at Delazny Studios. Aside from his acting and directing skills, Coot did all his own trick-shooting in his films and retained this skill even after he gave up acting. Coot had definitely had at least one son, Carson. He was delighted when Carson paid him an unexpected visit but was later heartbroken
THEORY: According to a now-dead
Scourge, he had a younger son whose given name has never been revealed
(who became a Scourge). It was in response to his father's pain that
Coot's younger son disguised himself as a bag lady and gunned down
Carson while he was on his way to commit a murder-for-hire. Following
his murder of his brother, Coot's younger son used the family's wealth
to finance his ongoing self-appointed mission to "dispense justice" to
costumed criminals.
If Coot's younger son used his family's
wealth to finance his operations, that
could mean that Coot had died (of a broken heart?) before Carson was
killed and that
Scourge blamed Carson for their father's death.
Right, or that Scourge was just following orders to claim a
connection to a previous super-villain or super-hero, like the rest of
the Scourges.
- Ghost Rider II#13 (14-15,18-19,21-23, Marvel Team-Up I#58, GR II#25-26)
"Big Jim" Galton
Galton was one of the Enforcer's henchmen. When the Enforcer wanted to kill Blaze and make it look like an accident, it was Galton who tied Blaze to the motorcycle, locked the throttle open and pushed the starter button, thus sending the bike and Blaze over a cliff. Later, at the Enforcer's underground base, Galton stayed out of the way when Ghost Rider showed up to battle both the Water Wizard and the Enforcer. It wasn't until both of them were unconscious that Galton tried to sneak up behind Ghost Rider with a metal pipe but was instead knocked out by Professor Goldman (who had his own metal pipe).
- Ghost Rider II#24
Professor Ignatz Goldman
Ignatz Goldman (called only "Professor" in the stories) was "a rather nondescript scientific genius" employed by the Enforcer to miniaturize a disintegration ray generator into smaller, more practical forms which could be used as weapons. Goldman may have created the Enforcer's bullet-proof costume and may have helped design the Enforcer's secret underground base. At some point, Goldman realized that it wasn't prudent to anger his employer. Eventually, the Enforcer decided that Goldman was the only remaining threat to his plans (since, as the creator of the disintegator ring, he could likely find a way to nullify its power) and was about to eliminate him when Ghost Rider showed up. After the battle, Goldman repaid the favor by knocking out "Big Jim" Galton as he was about to strike Ghost Rider from behind. Despite this, Goldman was terrified of Ghost Rider and begged him to stay away. His fate since then is unknown.
- Ghost Rider II#22 (24)
Enforcer's gang
Four convicts who accompanied the Enforcer (who named himself "Collier") when he escaped from prison. Pete was the guy who was shot with a blackout dart and temporarily blinded when he questioned whether they should follow the Enforcer and he later took over the controls of the small jet airplane which the gang was using to commit a mid-air robbery. The one African-American member of the gang was named either Al or Joe, the third man was named either Joe or Al, and the fourth man's name was never mentioned.
- Spider-Woman I#27 (28, 29)
Buck Cowan's former employer
A wild-eyed man who suddenly appeared in the kitchen of Cowan's house, causing Lissa Russell to faint and scaring a girl named Buttons who went for help. When Buck came to investigate he found the intruder and recognized him as an old employer. The man stated, "Your time has come, Cowan, to pay me back for helping you!" but before he could say another word he somehow burst into flame and died. Cowan began investigating the man's weird death and Jack Russell believed that that investigation had something to do with why the Enforcer attacked Cowan with (apparently) the same gizmo that caused Cowan's former employer to burn to death.
- Werewolf By Night#42 (Spider-Woman I#19 (fb))
images:
OHotMU II#17, page
19, panel 1 (full body image)
Ghost Rider II#24, page 11, panel 5 (firing disintegrator beam)
Ghost Rider II#24, page 17, panel 2 (Enforcer unmasked)
Ghost Rider II#21, page 10, panel 5 (electronic gizmo)
Ghost Rider II#22, page 12, panel 6 (disintegrator ring)
Spider-Woman I#29, page 5, panel 3 (getaway jet)
Ghost Rider II#58, page 10, panel 3 ("souped-up" car)
OHotMU II#17, page 20, panel 3 (battling Spider-Woman and Werewolf)
Spider-Woman I#27, page 6, panel 5 ("Carson Collier" in prison)
Iron Man#194, page 17, panel 3 (Enforcer being shot)
Ghost Rider II#22, page 8, panel 3 (Carson Collier)
Ghost Rider II#26, page 6, panel 2 (Charles L. Delazny)
Ghost Rider II#24, page 3, panel 4 ("Big Jim" Galton)
Ghost Rider II#22, page 5, panel 6 ("Professor")
Spider-Woman I#27, page 9, panel 3 (Enforcer's gang)
Spider-Woman I#19, p30, panel 6 (Buck Cowan's former employer)
Ghost Rider II# (Coot Collier)
Appearances:
Ghost Rider II#22 (February, 1977) - Gerry Conway & Don Glut
(writer), Don Heck (pencils), Keith Pollard (inks), Archie Goodwin
(editor)
Ghost Rider II#23 (April, 1977) - Gerry Conway & Jim Shooter
(writer), Don Heck (pencils), Don Newton (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Ghost Rider II#24 (June, 1977) - Jim Shooter (writer), Don Heck
(pencils), Dan Green (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Spider-Woman I#19 (October, 1979) - Mark Gruenwald & Steven
Grant (writer), Carmine Infantino (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks),
Roger Stern (editor)
Spider-Woman I#27-29 (June-August, 1980) - Michael Fleisher (writer),
Jerry Bingham (#27), Steve Leialoha (#28) & Ernie Chan (#29)
(pencils), Mike Esposito (#27-28), Steve Leialoha (#28) & Frank
Springer (#29) (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Ghost Rider II#58 (July, 1981) - Michael Fleisher (writer), Don Perlin
(pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), David Kraft (editor)
Spider-Woman I#50 (June, 1983) - Ann Nocenti (writer), Brian Postman
(pencils), Sam De La Rosa (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Iron Man I#194 (May, 1985) - Denny O'Neil (writer), Luke McDonnell
(pencils), Ian Akin & Brian Garvey (inks), Mark Gruenwald
(editor)
Dark Reign: Made Men#1/5 (November, 2009) - Frank Tieri (writer),
Antonio Fuso (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 04/23/2005
Last updated: 11/07/2011
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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