"LARCENOUS THREE"

Membership: Badd Axe, Firearms, Vampiro

Purpose: Criminal activities

Affiliations: Hood (Parker Robbins), Taskmaster

Enemies: Nova (Rider), Spider-Man (Parker);
(Vampiro): Hood (Parker Robbins)

Base of Operations: New York City, New York

First Appearance: Nova III#5 (September, 1999)

History: (Nova III#5) - Somehow, the "Larcenous Three" confronted and began battling Spider-Man, destroying an apartment building in the process, possibly having been sent there to deliberately destroy it.  This building housed the parents of Richard Rider, aka Nova, who arrived shortly after hearing of the brawl.  The two heroes were getting the upper hand when Badd Axe took a hostage.  Spider-Man used his webbing to pull the hostage away, after which Nova grabbed Badd Axe and Vampiro, and flew into the air.  Badd Axe managed to free himself and fell, while Vampiro was knocked out by Nova.  After defeating Vampiro and handing him over to police, Nova realized that Firearms and Badd Axe had escaped.

(Avengers: The Initiative#26 (fb) - BTS) - Vampiro, Firearms, and Badd Axe joined up with the Initiative under Norman Osborn's regime. They relocated to Camp HAMMER in New Mexico and enjoyed the perks of being "heroes" instead of serving jail sentences. Vampiro, still convinced that he was a vampire, killed several hookers, figuring he'd never get caught.

(Avengers: The Initiative#26) - At HAMMER, the Hood and Taskmaster lectured the criminals on the new ways. The Hood angrily confronted Vampiro on his actions and Vampiro, first denying it then admitting it, told the Hood off. Furious, the Hood turned into a giant demon and ate Vampiro, killing him, in front of some of the other recruits. With a large influx of Initiative recruits under Norman Osborn's regime, the ranks of the Shadow Initiative were bolstered by members of Heavy Mettle (Barracuda, Blackwing, Riot, Stronghold, Warbow), the Larcenous Three (Badd Axe, Firearms), Butterball, Ringer, and Slaughter Boy, who joined Batwing, Bengal, and Komodo.

(Avengers: The Initiative#27) - The Shadow Initiative, after a brief period of training, stormed the Negative Zone gates and started fighting for 42. Among their enemies were Blastaar's alien hordes and inmates, such as Hardball, Arthur Nagan, Condor, and Dragon Man. Slaughter Boy, Blackwing, and Johnny Guitar were the first killed. Firearms soon panicked and was killed at the gate trying to escape. Bengal and Komodo used Butterball to get them in close. The Shadow Initiative moved in until Dragon Man attacked, but that turned to their favor when he began defending the injured Komodo. The tables turned when Hardball began aiding the Initiative, then Taskmaster, Constrictor, Penance, Living Laser, and Scorcher came in to take care of the rest. The survivors of the Initiative began understanding their true place in the Initiative now.

Comments: Created by Erik Larsen, Coy Turnbull and Al Milgrom.

Though the team was never given an official name, I thought this would be an appropriate one, as it's a play on words with the name of their creator, Erik Larsen.

I doubt that Vampiro was a real vampire, as he was working during daylight.

Profile by Madison Carter

Clarifications:

The "Larcenous Three" have no known connection to

Badd Axe has no known connection to

Firearms has no known connection to

BADD AXE

Badd Axe carried a large axe and was covered in tattoos.  He fought Spider-Man and Nova before Nova carried him into the air.  Swiping the hero with his axe, he forced Nova to drop him.  He apparently survived the fall and escaped.

(Avengers: The Initiative#28) - When the Heavy Hitters (Nonstop, Prodigy, Telemetry) succeeded from the Initiative, Osborn sent the Force of Nature (Aqueduct, Skybreaker, Sunstreak, Terraformer), the U-Foes (Ironclad, Vapor, Vector, X-Ray), Freedom Force (Challenger, Cloud-9, Equinox, Think Tank), members of the Shadow Initiative (Badd Axe, Ringer (Keith Kraft), Warbow), and other trainees (Brother Grimm, Griffin, Scorcher, Razor-Fist) to attack them. They briefly battled the Avengers Resistance (Debrii, Gauntlet (Joseph Green), Justice (Vance Astrovik), Night Thrasher (Donyell Taylor), Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl). Prodigy and Night Thrasher were captured, but the others escaped.

(Avengers: The Initiative#29) - The Avengers Resistance (Gauntlet, Justice, Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl) attacked Camp HAMMER in an attempt to free the captive Night Thrasher. They fought off HAMMER agents, Scorcher, Ringer, Quicksand, and Badd Axe before Taskmaster and Penance arrived to stop them. During the battle, Rage resisted Badd Axe's weapon.

(Avengers: The Initiative#31) - Badd Axe sparred with Man-Killer during a party alongside Black Mamba, Cutthroat, Griffin, Scorcher, and Skein. When Osborn announced a visit, Taskmaster whipped them into shape, suggesting Man-Killer and Badd Axe get a room. During Osborn's later visit, Badd Axe sparred against Scorcher and Man-Killer against Griffin. Badd Axe later stood in a lineup to showcase the group's discipline.

(Avengers: The Initiative#34) - The Hood enhanced the powers of his villains with his Norn Stones, allowing Badd Axe to hold his own against Ultragirl (narrowly missing slicing her stomach with his axe) and Ringer to bind Justice (despite his telekinesis). Soon, Penance, Batwing, Bengal, and Butterball joined the fight, and Rage attacked Badd Axe while Bengal fought Ringer. When Hood departed with his army, he purposefully left the lesser known soldiers behind, horrifying Badd Axe, who was soon defeated by Butterball (who took his axe) and Tigra.

(Avengers: The Initiative#35) - As the battle for Camp HAMMER concluded, Badd Axe was slashed by Tigra's claws. Their added powers soon disappeared and Night Thrasher kicked Badd Axe into unconsciousness. He was later arrested.

--Nova III#5 (Nova III#5, Avengers: The Initiative#26-29, 31, 34-35





FIREARMS

Firearms possessed a suit capable of shooting large bursts of flame.  He was tripped up and knocked out by Spider-Man, but managed to escape.

(Avengers: The Initiative#30 - BTS) - When Nightmare attacked Camp HAMMER, an apparition of Firearms haunted Taskmaster.


--Nova III#5 (Nova III#5, Avengers: The Initiative#26-27, 31-BTS
images:

Nova III#5, page 13, panel 3 (all images)

Appearances:
Nova III#5 (September, 1999) - Erik Larsen (writer), Coy Turnbull (pencils), Erik Larsen & Al Milgrom (inks), Ruben Diaz (editor)
New Avengers Most Wanted Files (December, 2005)
Avengers: The Initiative#26-27 (September-October, 2009) - Christos Gage (writer), Rafa Sandoval (penciler), Roger Bonet (inker), Jeannine Schaefer (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#28 (November, 2009) - Christos Gage (writer), Rafa Sandoval (penciler), Roger Bonet (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#29 (December, 2009) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Jorge Molina (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#30 (January, 2010) – Christos N. Gage (writer), Jorge Molina (penciler), Victor Olazaba, Andrew Hennessy (inkers), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#31 (February, 2010) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Rafa Sandoval (penciler), Roger Bonet (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#34-35 (May-June, 2010) – Christos Gage (writer), Jorge Molina (penciler), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)

First Posted: 06/08/2005
Last updated: 05/29/2010

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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