Real Name: Juan Aponte
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Boxer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Pop Fenton, Father Gawaine, Dr. Jakkelburr
Enemies: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Fogwell's Gym, New York City
First Appearance: Daredevil I#119 (March, 1975)
Powers/Abilities: As the
Crusher, Aponte was nearly twice the size of an ordinary man, and
possessed superhuman strength.
In his mutated state, he could only say, "The Crusher!"--according to Juan, he had no control over himself in this form, as though he were another person (see comments).
Height: (Human) 5' 2"; (mutated) 10' (by approximations)
Weight: (Human) 120 lbs. (by approximation); (mutated) Unrevealed
Eyes: (Human) Unrevealed; (mutated) White
Hair: (Human) Black; (mutated) Light brown (balding)
History:
(Daredevil I#119 (fb)) - Juan Aponte was a young and ambitious bantamweight boxer; but believing there
was no money to be made in that weight-class, he wanted to become a
heavyweight fighter and earn a fortune. Aponte met Dr. Jakkelburr, who
had learned how to recreate the formula that created the villainous Crusher,
and he offered it to Aponte.
(Daredevil I#119 (fb) - BTS) - Aponte began taking doses of the formula to increase his size and strength, but he also began to suffer from mood swings and violent fits of temper.
(Daredevil I#119) - The former boxer Father Gawaine and coach Pop Fenton both wanted to help Aponte, to prevent him from fighting until he could be examined by a reputable doctor, so they brought lawyer Matt Murdock to Fogwell's Gym, to help them get a restraining order. Dr. Jakkelburr sent men to rough up the three of them, then the thugs tied up Gawaine and Fenton, and confined Murdock to the locker room; but Murdock managed to slip away to become Daredevil.
The effects of the chemicals on Aponte finally overwhelmed him, and he transformed into the Crusher, resembling the original in appearance, but driven nearly mindless. The Crusher battled Daredevil, and their confrontation tore apart Fogwell's Gym, eventually causing a wall of the decades-old building to topple over on Father Gawaine and Pop Fenton; but the Crusher dove to their rescue, managing to throw his body between the collapsing wall and its almost-targets. Consequently, the Crusher himself was crushed by the falling debris; moments later, Aponte turned back to normal and was pulled from the rubble, then he died in Fenton's arms.
Comments: Created by Tony Isabella, Bob Brown and Don Heck.
Despite his being more eloquent on the issue's cover (see main image), the mutated Aponte only continuously repeated "The Crusher!"--this made Daredevil wonder to himself if Jakkelburr's treatments could have actually transferred some of the original Crusher's mind to Juan. As he turned back to normal before he died, Juan apologized to Daredevil and said, "...I didn't wanna fight ya... it was like watchin' it from outside... somebody else was fightin' ya.... not me..."
Taking the above into consideration: The profile for the Freaks (Happy Hogan and Eddie March) suggested that their similar appearances could be due to possession by some extradimensional entity; since both the Crushers had similar appearances to the Freaks, perhaps there's some common link between all four of them?--Ron Fredricks
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Crusher (Juan Aponte)
should not be confused with:
Dr. Jakkelburr has no known connection to:
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Dr. Jakkelburr (first name unrevealed) was a coroner who worked for New York City. When the original Crusher (Caldwell Rozza) drowned (@ Iron Man I#6), the villain's corpse was recovered and turned over to Jakkelburr; while performing an autopsy on it, the doctor learned how to recreate the formula that had transformed Rozza into the Crusher. Sometime later, Jakkelburr offered the formula to Juan Aponte, a bantamweight boxer who wanted to become a heavyweight champ. Intending to exploit the young fighter and make him a boxing star so he could share in the fortune Aponte would earn, Jakkelburr began to administer doses of the Crusher's formula to him. Aponte's size and weight began to increase, but he also suffered from mood swings and violent fits of temper. Aponte was eventually overwhelmed by the formula's effects, and turned into the Crusher himself; he went on a rampage until he was accidentally killed. Jakkelburr was subsequently captured by Daredevil. --Daredevil I#119 (119 (fb), 119 |
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images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#119, cover (main image - Crusher)
Daredevil I#119, p8, pan5 (headshot - Juan Aponte)
Daredevil I#119, p13, pan1 (Juan Aponte mutates into Crusher; Daredevil [foreground])
Daredevil I#119, p9, pan5 (in flashback, Dr. Jakkelburr in autopsy room; original Crusher's corpse [foreground])
Daredevil I#119, p9, pan6 (in flashback, Dr. Jakkelburr with Juan Aponte [right])
Appearances:
Daredevil I#119 (March, 1975) - Tony Isabella (writer), Bob Brown (pencils), Don Heck (inks), S. Goldberg (colors), Dave Hunt (letters), Len Wein (editor)
First posted: 11/27/2005
Last updated: 01/29/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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