BUSHMASTER

Real Name: Quincy McIver

Identity/Class: Human technology user (cyborg); citizen of unrevealed Caribbean island nation

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Serpent Society (aka Serpent Solutions) (Anaconda, Asp, Black Mamba, Black Racer, Boomslang, Coachwhip, Copperhead/Davis Lawfers, Cottonmouth/Burchell Clemens, Death Adder/Theodore Scott, Eel/Edward Lavell, Fer-de-Lance, King Cobra, Princess Python, Puff Adder, Rattler, Rock Python, Sidewinder/Gregory Bryan, Viper/Jordan Dixon);
   formerly Army of Evil, Villains for Hire, Epsilon Squad of the Thunderbolts Army (Batroc the Leaper, Blacklash, King Cobra, Whiplash, Tatterdemalion, Zaran)

Affiliations: Avalanche, Baron Zemo (Helmut Zemo), Bombshell, Death Stalker, Headhunter, Leviathan (especially Orion/Viktor Uvarov), Mr. Negative, Monster, Purple Man, Shocker, Tiger Shark;
    former employee of Roxxon Oil, Herve Argosy;
   formerly Death Adder (Burroughs), Diamondback (Leighton), Sidewinder (Voelker)

Enemies: A.I.M., Anole, Arcade, Black Ant, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Captain America/Falcon (Sam Wilson), America Chavez, Crossfire, D-Man, Deadpool, Diamondback, Diamondback LMD, Falcon (Joaquin Torres), Force Works (Century, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, USAgent), Free Spirit, Nick Fury Jr., Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Jack Flag, Joelle, Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Alyosha Kravinoff, Lady Stilt-Man, Man-Ape, Misty Knight, MODOK, Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond simulacrum), Paladin, Rockslide, She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Speed Demon, Hope Summers, Taskmaster, Viper (Madame Hydra), X-Men (Dazzler (with Diamondback's mind), Longshot, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Prestige/Rachel Grey, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke, Storm)

Known Relatives: John McIver (John Bushmaster, older brother, deceased), Cruz Bushmaster (nephew, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Various Serpent Society headquarters and Serpent Citadels

First Appearance: Captain America I#310 (October, 1985)

Powers/Abilities: Bushmaster has prosthetic arms, with a single retractable claw located in the back of each hand. Though some of the Roxxon-created serpents have gills, Bushmaster does not, and requires a breathing apparatus to operate underwater. He has a small transceiver implanted in his skull which allowed Sidewinder to track him; it is unclear if he or any other Society members are aware of this.

History:

(Captain America Annul#10/2 (fb)) - Quincy grew up on a Caribbean island. At the age of 12 he was caught shoplifting beside his older brother John, who escaped. John believed that Quincy had ratted on him to the shopkeeper while caught, and beat first Quincy then the shopkeeper, killing the latter. Years later, John got Quincy a job unloading cocaine for Herve Argosy, a gun-runner. Several nights later the police busted the smuggling ring, and Quincy dove into the water to escape, more afraid of his brother's reaction to his arrest than actually being arrested. He was run over by a police boat, and woke in the hospital, having lost all four limbs to the boat's propellers. His brother John visited him in the hospital just once, telling Quincy that he was going to Europe for Mr. Argosy, and that he was changing his name to John Bushmaster; that was the last time Quincy ever saw him. A month or so later, Roxxon Oil executive Seth Voelker visited Quincy in the hospital, and told him that Roxxon wanted him for an experiment in prosthetics. Roxxon made the charges against Quincy vanish, and he was sent to the Brand Corporation's New York facilities, where a week's worth of operations gave him bionic arms and a bionic snake's body where his legs once were - Voelker termed it "Roxxon's idea of an improvement." Quincy heard that his brother had received super-strength and then been killed, so he took his brother's old name of Bushmaster. Roxxon told Bushmaster that if he served them for one year they'd give him prosthetic legs at that time, but the Brand Corporation was closed down and Roxxon president Hugh Jones placed in an asylum before the year ended; Quincy was stuck as Bushmaster permanently.

(Captain America I#310) - At a posh midtown Manhattan hotel, Sidewinder (Seth Voelker) had invited several serpent-themed mercenaries to attend the organizational meeting for the Serpent Society. Those present were Sidewinder, Black Mamba, Death Adder, Princess Python, Cottonmouth, Diamondback, Constrictor, Bushmaster, Cobra (later King Cobra), Asp, Rattler, and Anaconda. Sidewinder's pitch was to mimic the heroes and to band together as a united group. He'd spent the previous nine months laying the groundwork for his new group, and promised a guaranteed pay scale, insurance, medical plans, pensions, greater access to tools and data, and, thanks to Sidewinder's teleportational abilities, no fear of long-term imprisonment. All but one attendee agreed to join; Constrictor refused and left.

(Captain America I#310) - To test their ability to be team players, Sidewinder split the group into three sections, and set each group out in a van to retrieve objects that he thought would be of use to the Society. While Anaconda, Cobra, and Rattler went to retrieve mutagenics equipment from Brand, it is not known what the other groups were not what they retrieved.

(Captain America I#311) - Following the successful completion of all three tasks, the group reconvened in their new headquarters, the Serpent Citadel. Seeking to advertise the group, Sidewinder broke them into teams of two and sent them to contact all the major criminal and subversive organizations in America. Among the potential contactees were the Maggia, Zodiac, Secret Empire, Kingpin, AIM, and Hydra. Diamondback and Bushmaster made contact with AIM's inner council, and after Bushmaster pointed out that the Society would forfeit their fee if they failed to deliver, AIM agreed to hire the Society to find and kill their renegade leader, MODOK.

(Captain America I#312) - Still teamed, Diamondback and Bushmaster investigated an abandoned AIM headquarters (it had been demolished during a MODOK/Hulk fight) on the Maine coast. After disabling some automated stun-beams with his claws, Bushmaster and Diamondback concluded that the base was truly abandoned and Diamondback set a time-bomb to destroy the whole mountain in case MODOK tried to return.

(Captain America I#313) - Investigating a sunken AIM submarine on the Atlantic coast, Bushmaster and Diamondback found MODOK, who was trying to recuperate. Diamondback cut off his food supply but MODOK barely got to his chair and blasted through the hull. Bushmaster grabbed on to the chair, but MODOK blasted him as they surfaced, slicing off both of Bushmaster's prosthetic arms. Diamondback dragged Bushmaster to shore, returned to their Serpent Saucer, and notified Sidewinder. He ordered Diamondback to care for Bushmaster while Sidewinder arranged to have him transported to the infirmary.

(Captain America I#315) - Still lacking his arms, Bushmaster was present when the 100,000 $ reward for killing MODOK was distributed, receiving his share.

(Captain America I#319 - BTS) - Bushmaster's arms were restored. It is not known if the Society retrieved and repaired the originals or if new arms were constructed.

(Captain America I#319) - All the Serpents were looking for the missing Death Adder and were present when Sidewinder teleported in with Death Adder's body, having found it in the local morgue. Sidewinder ordered everyone to drop all missions and concentrate on finding the killer. Cobra and Bushmaster invaded some AIM loyalists in search of information.

(America#7 (fb)) - The Serpent Society (Cobra, Asp, Bushmaster) tried kidnapping a young America Chavez.

(Captain America I#341/2) - Sidewinder introduced four new Serpents to the charter members, and appointed them as probationary members of the team. The foursome quickly betrayed the team to Viper.

(Captain America I#342) - Bushmaster, Black Mamba, and Asp refused to join Viper, so she injected them with a poison which would leave them dead in an hour. The Captain and Diamondback came to their rescue and Diamondback gave the Cobra's universal anti-toxin to the trio and left them there to recover.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual#13) - Cobra accepted a commission from Ghaur (Deviant leader) and Llyra (Atlantean) to retrieve items of arcane mystic power; he split the Society into squads. Cottonmouth, Rattler, Bushmaster, and Black Racer went to the Icelandic coast, seeking a mystic rock. They encountered several X-Men there and battled them as a team. Diamondback, trapped in Dazzler's body, convinced Bushmaster that she was truly Diamondback; she reminded him how she'd saved her life and Bushmaster voluntarily returned to his Serpent Saucer after saying that he'd owed Diamondback a debt which was now repaid, and that she was a traitor. The X-Men retrieved the item and the serpents returned home.

(Captain America I#365/2) - Bushmaster was present at a Serpent Society meeting when Cobra announced that a mystery man (Loki) had teleported into the Society's Bronx headquarters. Cobra asked the group to keep an ear out for information about the stranger. Afterwards, Cobra told Bushmaster he'd be gone for a few days and placed him in charge in his absence.

(Captain America I#367/2) - Cobra returned and Bushmaster told him they'd had to free Coachwhip and Asp after some difficulties, but all was otherwise well; Cobra brusquely dismissed him. He was present at a noon meeting of the Society the next day wherein Cobra announced that he felt that he'd been underperforming as their leader and now intended to correct that and lead them to new heights as King Cobra.

(Captain America I#380) - When Diamondback was tried by the Society for treason, Bushmaster was one of the minority who voted for her innocence.

(Captain America I#381) - After Sidewinder rescued Diamondback, King Cobra ordered Diamondback and Sidewinder's execution, with a doubled annual bonus to anyone who brought in their corpses. He and Bushmaster confronted Black Mamba and Asp, bringing phone records that showed Mamba had called Sidewinder. The pair attempted to flee, but Cobra gassed them unconscious. Soon thereafter, Paladin and Diamondback invaded the Society's headquarters to rescue the pair; Paladin got the drop on Bushmaster and ordered him to take them to Asp and Black Mamba. When King Cobra ambushed Paladin, Bushmaster attacked Diamondback despite their friendship, believing that "a freak like himself" couldn't make a living elsewhere, and he needed to be loyal to King Cobra. Diamondback tried to hit him with a tear gas diamond, but instead accidentally threw and acid bomb in his mouth, disabling him.

(Captain America I#382) - Bushmaster recovered and engaged Captain America when the hero invaded the Society's headquarters; Cap defeated him but, being in a hurry, left him unconscious but untied. The Society's headquarters was closed down, and King Cobra, Coachwhip, Black Racer, Fer-de-Lance, Cottonmouth, and Rattler were hauled away by Guardsmen; Diamondback, Black Mamba, and Asp were allowed to remain free. Bushmaster's fate was not seen.

(Captain America I#385/2) - Bushmaster was indeed captured with the others: TV reports noted that King Cobra and six Society members were captured, while Puff Adder, Anaconda, Rock Python, Diamondback, Asp, and Black Mamba remained at large.

(Captain America Annual#10/2) - Bushmaster bitterly went over his life history in the Vault until his lawyer, Mr. Senescu, informed him that he was being released for insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

(Captain America I#435) - King Cobra auditioned Jack Flag as his eventual replacement as King Cobra, forcing him to run a gauntlet of the Society serpents, including Bushmaster. The fracas was interrupted when Captain America (secretly summoned by Flag) showed up and faked his own defeat at the hands of Jack Flag/King Cobra and Bushmaster, Fer-de-Lance, Cottonmouth, Rock Python, and Rattler; they took him to the real King Cobra. When Coachwhip was revealed to be a disguised Free Spirit and Jack Flag revealed himself to be an enemy of the Society, Bushmaster was one of those left to attack the pair after King Cobra and Mr. Hyde went after Captain America.

(Captain America I#436) - Bushmaster pursued Jack Flag and Free Spirit when they tried to escape.

(Captain America I#437) - Bushmaster and the Society had Jack Flag and Free Spirit cornered when Force Works (an Avengers' offshoot) came to the pair's aid; within four minutes the Serpent Society was defeated. They were taken into custody by the team.

(Captain America IV#30) - Bushmaster, Puff Adder, and Asp burst in on Captain America's apartment. Asp blasted both him and Diamondback (really an LMD) knocking out Captain America but not Diamondback, and noted to the others that her blast should have knocked out Rachel as well. Bushmaster was present in the Society's underground New York-area headquarters when Captain America and Diamondback awoke, chained to a pillar.

(Captain America IV#31) - Bushmaster was there while King Cobra taunted Diamondback, promising to punish her for her betrayal. Sixteen hours later, King Cobra summoned the rest of the Society when the Captain escaped; Bushmaster was one of many to respond and was knocked out by the Captain. S.H.I.E.L.D. subsequently took him and the rest of the Society into custody.

(Thunderbolts II#104) - At the Thunderbolts' training ground in Desert Flats, New Mexico, Bushmaster sat beside Rattler and Snake Marston and observed King Cobra training. He then watched with other villains while Baron Helmut Zemo gathered a large squad of villains and announced that they would be his new Thunderbolts, with a chance at earning either/both redemption or their freedom.

(Thunderbolts II#107) - As part of Epsilon Squad of the "Thunderbolts Army," Bushmaster fought in Tokyo to control civilians who were unexpectedly gaining uncontrollable powers.

(Punisher War Journal II#13) - Bushmaster was among those captured by Alyosha Kravinoff and held in his super-human "zoo" in the cargo ship "Bella Anna."

(Punisher War Journal II#14) - Confined with Tiger Shark, the Rhino, Mandrill, Vulture, Mongoose, Man-Bull, Gargoyle, Frog-Man, Kangaroo, Grizzly, and others, Bushmaster had an explosive collar placed around his neck. He witnessed Kraven demonstrate the collar by exploding the winged horse Aragorn. After telepathic impulses from Kraven reduced Bushmaster and the others to acting on animalistic impulse, they were released within the ship to fight.

(Punisher War Journal II#15) - With the mental abilities of only an enraged animal, Bushmaster attacked Kraven but a chop to the neck left Bushmaster unconscious and defeated. Kraven was later defeated by the Punisher and others.

(Wolverine III#73/1) - On a Monday, several Serpent Society members (Anaconda, Black Mamba, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth), fought members of the New Avengers (Captain America/Barnes, Luke Cage, Ronin/Barton, Spider-Woman/Drew, Wolverine) in a semi-tropical locale (palm trees were nearby). Bushmaster took on both Cage and Ronin.

(X-Men: To Serve and Protect#2/1) - Mr. Negative hired the Serpent Society to eliminate two new vigilantes (Anole and Rockslide, both disguised), who were soon confronted King Cobra, Bushmaster, Rattler, Anaconda and Death Adder.

(X-Men: To Serve and Protect#3/1) - Anole and Rockslide's unusual fighting styles kept the Serpent Society members at bay until Mr. Negative intervened and "turned" Rockslide to his will.

(X-Men: To Serve and Protect#4/1) - Anole dodged the possessed Rockslide's hits, jumping amongst the Serpent Society members so that they would be hit instead of him. Mr. Negative ended his possession of Rockslide and a smoke grenade covered the escape of Mr. Negative and the Serpent Society group.

(Villains for Hire#0.1) - Purple Man hired Scourge (actually Paladin in disguise), Avalanche, Bushmaster, Monster, Shocker and Death Stalker for his Villains for Hire operation.

(Villains for Hire#1 - BTS) - Bushmaster guarded the pickup site for the Villains for Hire's heist of a transporter filled with evidence against the Maggia. The transporter never arrived because his crew was robbed by Misty Knight's crew, which included Crossfire, Bombshell, Tiger Shark and Nightshade.

(Villains for Hire#2) - Purple Man hired Bushmaster for another job, but Lady Stilt-Man interfered on behalf of Misty Knight.

(Villains for Hire#3) - Purple Man sent Bushmaster to distract Misty Knight by triggering alarms at her Control HQ. He got caught in an energy net, but Shocker freed him. Bushmaster stayed behind while Shocker, Avalanche, Tiger Shark, Bombshell, Death Stalker, Monster and Scourge (still Misty's undercover ally Paladin) broke into Misty's Control HQ and faced off with Misty, Man-Ape, Crossfire, Lady Stilt-Man and Speed Demon.

(Villains for Hire#4 (fb) ) - After a big fight Misty, Paladin and Puppet Master caught Shocker, Monster, Tiger Shark, Bushmaster, Headhunter, Crossfire, Speed Demon and Purple Man in foam and called the NYPD, who picked them up for prison.

(Battle Scars#3 (fb) - BTS) - Orion hired the Serpent Society to capture Marcus Johnson (Nick Fury Jr.) alive because Orion wanted his blood to regain his youth.

(Battle Scars#3) - Anaconda, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Death Adder and Rattler hunted down Johnson and found him alongside Taskmaster.

(Battle Scars#4) - Johnson and Taskmaster fought the Society members. They escaped them when Deadpool entered the fray to save or rather capture Johnson himself.

(Avengers vs. X-Men#0) - Bushmaster teamed up with Serpent Society teammates Anaconda, Asp, Cottonmouth and Puff Adder, robbing a bank and holding hostages. Hope Summers attacked them, cutting Bushmaster's cybernetic arms off, and knocked the villains out.

(Gambit V#9) - Bushmaster was among the villains at the Club With No Name who fought Gambit and Joelle when they caused a scene.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Captain America: Sam Wilson#4) - Bushmaster was at a meeting of Serpent Solutions, the rebranded Serpent Society, in a conference room with Captain America (Sam Wilson) as captive. Captain America, who had temporarily been turned into a wolf/human hybrid, had just been captured by Serpent Solutions members Black Racer, Copperhead, Cottonmouth and Diamondback.

(Captain America: Sam Wilson#5) - Bushmaster was present when Viper (Dixon) monologued to Captain America (Wilson) about how Wilson was destroying America and Serpent Solutions' businesses. Viper ended the monologue by shoving Cap, who had been paralyzed by Asp and was bound to a chair, out a window. He was saved from certain death by the new Falcon (Torres), who was then confronted by Serpent Solutions, including Bushmaster.

(Captain America: Sam Wilson#6) - Serpent Solutions went after Falcon (Torres), but eventually everything went wrong. Falcon survived a bite by Cottonmouth, Diamondback turned on them, Misty Knight and D-Man joined the battle and Captain America got back on his feet again. Their defeat on Wall Street at the hands of the heroes caused their stock to drop and bankrupt Serpent Solutions.

(Captain America: Steve Rogers#13) - Bushmaster was present when Baron Zemo asked Serpent Solutions to join his Army of Evil.

(X-Men: Gold II#4) - Members of the Serpent Society (Anaconda, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Sidewinder) were easily apprehended Nightcrawler, Prestige (Rachel Summers) and Kitty Pryde after a robbery.

(Jessica Jones II#18) - Bushmaster laid low for a bit in one of Owl's hideouts.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#16) - Serpent Solutions (Black Mamba, Black Racer, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Fer-de-Lance, Puff Adder, Rock Python and others) were gassed in their office and captured by Black Ant and the Taskmaster, then placed in a cage by Kraven the Hunter and Arcade.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#17 (fb) - BTS) - Bison was among the animal-themed villains captured by Taskmaster and the Black Ant on behalf of Arcade and Kraven the Hunter, then placed inside Central Park after being in stasis for a time.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#17 - BTS) - Hunter-Bots controlled by Arcade's clients at the Plaza Hotel advanced on the villains in Central Park, including Bison.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#23) - Armadillo and members of the Serpent Society (Anaconda, Asp, Black Mamba, Black Racer, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Rattler) were apprehended by the NYPD, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Falcon and Iron Man when they tried to escape Central Park.

(M.O.D.O.K. Head Games#2) - King Cobra took members of the Serpent Society (Bushmaster, Rock Python, Cottonmouth, Boomslang, Rattler, Puff Adder) showed up at the Criminal Technology Show, hoping to buy new technology from A.I.M. M.O.D.O.K., wearing an Arnim Zola costume, assaulted the Serpent Society in the bathroom, badly defeating them and leaving them unconscious. King Cobra later woke up and exposed M.O.D.O.K.

(Avengers VIII#55) - One day the members of Serpent Solutions (Anaconda, Asp, Black Mamba, Bushmaster, Coachwhip, Copperhead, Cottonmouth, Death Adder, Fer-de-Lance, King Cobra, Princess Python, Puff Adder, Rattler, Rock Python, Slither, Viper) fell under the influence of Mephisto and went from floor to floor in the building their offices were located and murdered everyone. With dozens of sacrifices stacked up Serpent Solutions prayed to Mephisto to open a portal to Hell for them. Nighthawk (a Kyle Richmond simulacrum created by Mephisto) took them all down single-handedly.

(Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal Infinity Comic#8) - Bushmaster was among a group of criminals in jail wanting to beat up Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary, Dennis Janke & Mike Carlin.

   Bushmaster's fellow Serpent Society member Cottonmouth has occasionally gone by Bushmaster's real name of Quincy McIver. While this was undoubtedly initially a mistake on Mark Gruenwald's part, it has since been perpetuated elsewhere. The current Marvel take is that Cottonmouth has been passing himself off as Quincy for unknown reasons of his own.

He was probably one of the many unidentifiable villains seen at the end of Amazing Spider-Man V#16 (April, 2019) trapped in energy cages on a mountainside in South Africa, but we don't know for sure.

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for the cleaned up main image.

Profile by SQUEAK