BRUTE FORCE

Members: Lionheart, Hip Hop, Soar (aka Slipstream), Surfstreak, Wreckless

Purpose: To save the planet from polluters and those that destroy the environment.

Affiliations: Fresh Air (Jack Hudden, Joanne Newcomb, Charlie Sutton), Doctor Randall Pierce, Ricky Pierce

Enemies: Marc De Mal, Flex Corporation, Adam Frost, Heavy Metal (Armory, Bloodbath, Ramrod, Tailgunner, Uproar), "Toxic Waste Terror"

Base of Operations: MultiCorp Ecology Center (Bio-enhancement Division), New Jersey

First Appearance: Brute Force#1 (August, 1990)





History:

(Brute Force#1 (fb)-BTS) - As part of a plan to help save the Earth's resources and animals, Multicorp put in motion a plan to locate six animals and equip them with cybernetics so that they could aid with the conservation efforts. The six animals were brought to Dr. Randall Pierce - a kangaroo, a bald eagle, a lion, a grizzly bear, a dolphin and a gorilla, which had been injured.

(Brute Force#1) - As Pierce and his team worked on implanting cybernetics on the injured gorilla in their Multicorp laboratory, a group of men dressed like clowns burst in and demanded the gorilla. The ape woke up during the chaos, but was tranqulized and spirited away by the intruders. Pierce later tried to alert his boss, Adam Frost to the theft, but Frost refused to go to the authorities, saying that news of a group of clowns stealing a gorilla in armor would make Multicorp a laughing stock. Pierce returned to his lab, disgusted, and questioned the continuation of the project. While talking to his young son Ricky, Pierce realized that the Tastee Burger wrapper that Ricky had with him had an image of a clown identical to those that stole the gorilla. As Tastee Burger was owned by the Flex Corporation, which was notorious for its environmental destructive ways, Pierce believed there was a connection as Flex had recently made the news for causing problems in the Amazon rainforest. With no other choice, Pierce equipped the remaining animals with cybernetics in order to send them after the gorilla that Flex was using in their decimation of the rainforest. With the cybernetic armor in place, the five animals were given human-level intelligence and the ability to speak, along with various weapons and technology contained within their suits. Dubbed Brute Force, Pierce and the team traveled to the Amazon to locate the gorilla. They almost immediately spotted the mercenaries who held the gorilla, but their first attempt to follow them was disastrous, as the group was still getting used to their new tech. Elsewhere, Frost - aware of Pierce's doing - ordered a minion to put his new project, Heavy Metal - into production immediately. On their second attempt, Brute Force successfully managed to stop the mercenaries, although the gorilla escaped.

(Brute Force#2) - Pierce put Brute Force into the field, sendng them on separate missions with varying levels of success. Soar disobeyed Pierce's orders to observe a factory and assaulted it somewhat, dropping a boulder in one smokestack and scaring the employees. Wreckless chased off some loggers but his short attention span caused him to lose interest in the mission in order to play with some bear cubs he had saved. Lionheart lost track of his mission due to his hunger, targeting a group of farm animals (Pierce disrupted this before Lionheart could make a successful kill). Surfstream, who was investigating illegal dumping in the Mississippi River, came across an oil tanker being attacked by Heavy Metal, who were trying to sink the ship. When Heavy Metal member Bloodbath entered the waters to discharge missiles at the boat's underside, Surfstreak attacked him, but Heavy Metal soon fled due to the attack taking longer than hoped. With his communicator broken, Surfstreak had to borrow money from a passerby and use a pay phone to call Pierce to warn him about Heavy Metal. Blaming the incident on Pierce's animals, Frost fired him, even though it was his own team that did so. Heavy Metal tried attacking the tanker again, but this time Brute Force was ready for them and defended the ship. After a brutal battle, Heavy Metal escaped again, and the FBI arrived just in time to find Brute Force on the tanker. They arrested Pierce.

(Brute Force#3 (fb)) - As he was being arrested, Pierce ordered Brute Force to flee.

(Brute Force#3) - With Pierce arrested, Brute Force had nowhere to go but to the home of Charlie Sutton, a friend of Pierce's. Sutton, a member of the Fresh Air conservatory group, tried to get his group's approval on Brute Force, but they declined at first, instead wanting to investigate a Canadian businessman Marc De Mal. At De Mal's, the Fresh Air members were shown a bio-sphere of De Mal's creation that housed plants and animals that were mutated to thrive on pollution as part of his Project: Ark. Brute Force followed and were attacked by De Mal's defense systems just as the businessman captured the Fresh Air members to use as new test subjects. Brute Force made their way into the complex and unwittingly into the bio-sphere where they were confronted by the "Toxic Waste Terror" - a bizarre creature merged from several others through De Mal's machinations. As some members of Brute Force freed the Fresh Air members, Surfstreak blasted the monster with pure water, killing it. Brute Force now felt confidant enough to take on Heavy Metal.

(Brute Force#4) - After disarming seven men falseley claiming to be members of the Meltdown eco group (actually more Frost-hired thugs posing as Meltdown members) holding the Raleigh B Nuclear Power Plant, Brute Force departed, but shortly afterwards, Heavy Metal arrived and helped the "Meltdown" members escape only to realize they were one short: Brute Force had captured one. Heavy Metal tracked down Brute Force and attacked them. As reports of two groups of animals came through, the FBI realized that Pierce was telling the truth. Brute Force managed to defeat Heavy Metal finally, and just as Frost was escaping with the captured "Meltdown" member, Pierce arrived and stopped him. Frost was arrested as Pierce and Brute Force considered their future.

Comments: Created by Charles Viola, adapted by Simon Furman, Jose Delbo, Mike DeCarlo.

Though stated as part of the STAR Comics imprint on the Master List, Brute Force actually was not, although it did advertise that line instead of the mainstream Marvel titles.

There really isn't anything keeping this out of Earth-616 continuity, despite its slight silliness. We've certainly seen other animals engineered to have human intelligence and speech.

I'm not real sure why three of the four issues have a small "Based on characters created by Charles Viola" note above the credits box (only #4 is missing this). Google searches turn up nothing on Mr. Viola, and according to the indicia, Marvel owns the concept and characters outright.

Profile by Madison Carter.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Character name has no known connections to

ARMORY

Octopus member of Heavy Metal.






--Brute Force#1-2, 4

BLOODBATH

Shark member of Heavy Metal. Had a personal vendetta against Surfstreak, whom he considered his mortal enemy.






--Brute Force#1-2, 4
MARC DE MAL

Insane businessman who started Project: Ark in order to turn the world into a toxic wasteland in which only those who had undergone his mutations would survive. He was defeated by Brute Force.





--Brute Force#3

FRESH AIR
(Jack Hudden, Joanne Newcomb, Charlie Sutton)

An environmental group. Given a check for $50,000 by Frost and Multicorp, which they ended up using to finance Brute Force against him. At first, Joanne found Brute Force to be an abomination against nature, but after they saved her from De Mal, she became a supporter.









--Brute Force#1-4



ADAM FROST

President of Multicorp, sought to eliminate various eco-groups by blaming them for sabotage against both his company and his competitors'.









--Brute Force#1-4

HEAVY METAL

Frost's answer to Brute Force. Defeated and presumably had bio-armor removed.













--Brute Force#1-4

HIP HOP

Kangaroo member of Brute Force. Liked to listen to music and could transform his armor into a tank.











Brute Force#1-4
LIONHEART

Lion member of Brute Force. Could transform his armor to function like a motorcycle.



--Brute Force#1-4



MELTDOWN

An eco-group that Frost had some mercenaries impersonate in order to destroy their name. No actual members were ever seen.


--[Brute Force#4]
DOCTOR RANDALL PIERCE

Creator of the bio-armor. He was fired by Frost after discovering the truth and arrested by the FBI. He was released when Heavy Metal was publicly exposed.








--Brute Force#1-4

RICKY PIERCE

Randall's son. He liked Tastee Burgers.







--Brute Force#1

RAMROD

Rhino member of Heavy Metal.









--Brute Force#1-4


SOAR
(aka SLIPSTREAM)

Bald Eagle, member of Brute Force. Self-proclaimed leader of Brute Force. Though code-named Slipstream, he immediately declined the name, preferring Soar.






--Brute Force#1-4

SURFSTREAK

Dolphin member of Brute Force. His bio-armor came with legs, which took him a while to get used to using and was equipped to breath on land.










--Brute Force#1-4

CHARLIE SUTTON

Member of Fresh Air and friend of Pierce. Helped get Fresh Air involved in aiding Brute Force.







--Brute Force#2-4

TAILGUNNER

Vulture member of Heavy Metal.






--Brute Force#1-2, 4

"TOXIC WASTE TERROR"

Bizarre creature composed of several other animals, able to live in complete pollution. Died when it was blasted with pure water by Surfstreak.








--Brute Force#3

UPROAR

Gorilla member of Heavy Metal. Was originally intended as the sixth member of Brute Force after Pierce's people found him injured, but was kidnapped and trained by Frost instead.
















--Brute Force#1-2, 4

WRECKLESS

Bear member of Brute Force. Had an incredibly short attention span, and carried a Bearzooka.




--Brute Force#1-4

images: (without ads)
Brute Force#1, cover (main)

                    #1, page 16, panel 6 (vehicle modes)
                    #4, page 20, panel 1 (Armory)
                    #2, page 18, panel 3 (Bloodbath)
                    #3, page 8, panel 6 (De Mal)
                    #3, page 8, panel 2 (Fresh Air)
                    #3, page 6, panel 5 (Frost)
                    #1, page 24, panel 4 (Heavy Metal)
                    #2, page 5, panel 1 (Hip Hop)
                    #2, page 4, panel 5 (Lionheart)
                    #1, page 1 (Dr. Randall Pierce)
                    #2, page 18, panel 2 (Ramrod)
                    #1, page 9, panel 5 (Ricky)
                    #2, page 2, panel 1 (Soar)
                    #1, cover (Surfstream)
                    #3, page 4, panel 2 (Sutton)
                    #2, page 18, panel 1 (Tailgunner)
                    #3, page 17, panel 2 (Toxic Waste Terror)
                    #1, page 4 (Uproar)
                    #2, page 4, panel 1 (Wreckless)

Other Appearances:
Brute Force#1-4 (August-November, 1990) - Simon Furman (writer), Jose Delbo (penciler), Mike DeCarlo (inker), Bob Budiansky (editor)

Last updated: 03/10/11

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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