"BRUISER" BATES

Real Name: Bates (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Criminal contact 

Group Membership: None 

Affiliations: None 

Enemies: Hawkeye (Clint Barton) 

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Bruiser

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Avengers I#43 (August, 1967) 

Powers/Abilities: "Bruiser" Bates had no superhuman powers but was a semi-skilled street fighter and preferred to rough people up to get what he wanted. He was also very cowardly and had no problem spilling the beans on anyone for the right price. 

History: (Avengers I#43 (fb) - BTS) - "Bruiser" Bates contacted Hawkeye at an unlisted number, informing him that the Black Widow had been captured somewhere in Asia.

(Avengers I#43) - Clint Barton met "Bruiser" at a sleazy bar in Manhattan's lower east side where he asked where he could find "Bruiser." Bates quickly introduced himself as the man who had contacted Hawkeye and demanded money in return for the Black Widow's whereabouts. Hawkeye explained that he would be well taken care of, but Bates demanded the cash up front. He then decided to teach Barton a lesson by roughing him up, only to have Barton reveal himself as Hawkeye. With his identity revealed, Hawkeye was soon ambushed by many of the criminals inside the bar. After taking down nearly all of the thugs single-handedly, Hawkeye corned "Brusier" and demanded the information on Black Widow. Bates cowardly revealed the Black Widow's location to Hawkeye, who decided to let Bates go free, as a bargan was a bargain.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and George Bell.

How Bates knew of the Black Widow's location is anyone's guess. Perhaps he overheard a S. H. I. E. L. D. agent talking about it on his day off...

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"Bruiser" Bates has no known connections to

• Bates, Barney, Central City cab driver, convinced Machine Man to save Earth from Ten-For, @ Machine Man I#6
• Bates, Jack, mutophobe father of William, @ District X#13
• Bates, Jordan, sister of William, @ District X#13
• Bates, Natalie, sister of William, @ District X#13
• Bates, William Nathaniel "Billy," District X, mutant son of Jack, killed by Agent Popova to prevent anti-mutant rioting, @ District X#13
• Bates, Mr., elderly neighbor of Alfred Coppersmith, threatened Coppersmith for being too loud, @ Punisher II#10
• Bates, Mrs., mother of William, @ District X#13
• Bruiser, middleweight boxer, used experimental pills to gain weight, shunted to Subterranea, @ Tales to Astonish I#16
• Bruiser, Bronx bully, defeated by Edwin Jarvis & the local neighbors, @ Avengers I#201
• Bruiser, aka Lemuel McPhee, @ Spectacular Spider-Man II#151
• Bruiser (Molly Hayes), mutant 11-year old member of the Runaways, @ Runaways I#1
• or any other "Bruiser" or "Bates" characters

images: (without ads)
Avengers I#43, p5, pan3 ("Bruiser" Bates, fullbody)
 p5, pan4 ("Bruiser" Bates, headshot)

Other Appearances:
Avengers I#43 (August, 1967) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (artist), George Bell (inker)

Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Back to Characters