SHRUNKEN BONES
Real Name: Dr. Jerold "Jerry" Morgan
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Professional criminal; former biologist
Group Membership: Headmen (Chondu the Mystic, Gorilla-Man/Arthur Nagan, Ruby Thursday)
Affiliations: A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), Angar the Screamer, Circus of Crime (Bruto, Clown/Eliot Franklin, Princess Python, Ringmaster/Maynard Tiboldt), Doctor Bong, Doombot (Vic), MODOK, Mysterio (Quentin Beck), Orrgo
Enemies: Angar the Screamer, Celestial Mind Control Movement/Bozos, Defenders (Doctor Stephen Strange, Hellcat, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Jack Norriss, Red Guardian/Tania Belinsky, Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd, Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde, Valkyrie/Samantha Parrington), Billy Delfini, Heroes for Hire (Black Cat, Humbug, Misty Knight, Orka, Shang-Chi, Tarantula/Maria Vasquez, Colleen Wing), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Killer Shrike, Ludberdites, Lyja Lazerfist (as Alicia Masters), Nebulon She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Known Relatives: Sam Morgan (step-brother)
Aliases: Droopy (name used by Hulk), Mister Wrinkles (nickname given by Billy)
Base of Operations: Variable
First Appearance: World of Fantasy I#11 (April, 1958)
Powers/Abilities: Dr. Morgan is an expert
mixer of potions and serums, ranging from a serum which, when injected
into Chondu the Mystic's brain, is capable of inspiring fear and
paranoia in people, to shrinking mists and psychogenic enhancers. He has
invented devices capable of tracking Spider-Man's spider-sense. He has
genetically bred lizards. He has wielded shrinking-gas guns,
tranquilizer guns, and neuro-needles in battle, though he tends to shy
away from physical conflict. Due to his failed experiment, Morgan's
bones are slightly smaller than they should be, leaving his skin in a
loose, hanging form.
Height: 5'
7" Weight:
180 lbs. Eyes:
Brown Hair: Brown
History:
(Defenders II#10 (fb) - BTS) -
Jerold Morgan, in his younger years, was frequently ridiculed and
bullied by his peers, and rejected often by women.
(World of Fantasy I#11 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Jerry Morgan had almost perfected his shrinking gas. He'd gotten it to the point that its mists would shrink organic matter to a miniscule size, but the matter would return to its original size after a few minutes.
(World of Fantasy I#11) - Desperate for resources to perfect his work, Jerry contacted his step-brother, Sam Morgan, a big time racketeer, for money. Sam offered Jerry a position in his criminal enterprise, but Jerry refused and Sam left after he got a call. Jerry released the last of his gas, knowing he could never perfect it. The mist, unknown to Jerry, shrunk Sam down for a short period of time. The frightened Sam turned himself in.
(Defenders I#21 (fb) - BTS - Morgan continued his experiments and accidentally shrunk the bones in his body slightly, giving him a more sinister appearance. He teamed up with Arthur Nagan, whose head had been grafted on to a gorilla's, and the two set up a plot and moved to Westbury, CT, where Morgan worked to refine the serum they'd need.
(Defenders I#21) - Morgan finished the serum, and discovered that Nagan had found the recipient they'd need to utilize it, so they traveled to New York. Nagan and Morgan met with traveling mystic Chondu and injected the serum into his brain, allowing Chondu to tap into an other-dimensional black rain that caused all sleeping New York citizens to rampage. After Nagan looted a jewelry store, Morgan and his allies quickly fled the city and the rain died down.
(Defenders I#33 (fb) - BTS) - Nagan proposed a plot to Morgan and Chondu that they attempt to rule the world through quiet means, eliminating all random factors, with them as the heads of it. They put together a complex plot to do so.
(Defenders I#31) - Morgan watched as Nagan put the captured Nighthawk's brain into a dish and Chondu's brain was transplanted into Nighthawk's body. Chondu attacked the Defenders and was defeated.
(Defenders I#32) - Morgan grew agitated when Nagan threatened to squish Nighthawk's brain. Nagan shocked Morgan by introducing a new team member, Ruby Thursday, who'd replaced her own head with organic circuitry. She frightened Morgan by mimicking his face and then growing tentacles. When the Defenders arrived, with Nighthawk, she defeated them all by exploding her head.
(Defenders I#33) - The Headmen equipped Valkyrie, Hulk, and Strange with brainwashing equipment to bring the heroes around to their way of thinking. The Headmen set a meeting, but did not realize that 'Chondu' was Jack Norris's mind in Chondu's brain in Nighthawk's body. 'Chondu' played on their differences and delayed their plans, Morgan agreeing as he did not trust Nagan lately. The Headmen took time to restate their goals. The Defenders awoke and Morgan shied away from physical conflict. Ruby subdued the heroes and the Headmen fled.
(Defenders Annual I#1 (fb) - BTS) - As a result of the brainwashing, the Defenders began doing strange acts without realizing it. The Hulk attacked people more often, the Valkyrie lost control of her emotions, and Dr. Strange struggled with the inner peace he needed to use magical forces.
(Defenders I#35) - Nagan, Morgan, and Thursday prepared a new body for Chondu at their back-up headquarters. Nebulon appeared in their midst with a deer who proved it contained Chondu's mind, and Nagan realized his mistake before in assuming Nighthawk was Chondu. Nebulon departed in a fury. They transplanted Chondu's brain, now a computer like Thursday's, into a body Morgan had helped create with biochemics. Chondu reacted violently and had to be subdued by Thursday.
(Defenders Annual
I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Posing as Dr.
Ruhart Gnaan, Nagan set up a Parisian advertising company called the
Compagnie de Lux, and became involved in all aspects of society that he
could, including agriculture, oil, computers, steel, food processing,
population control, and automobile production. The Headmen attempted to
buy out the Celestial Mind Control Movement in Paris, but only made
enemies of the Movement instead.
(Defenders Annual I#1) - Morgan moved against the Bozos' Parisian headquarters and shrunk the entire place with a blast from his shrinking gun. When Nighthawk tried to attack him, Morgan shrank the hero as well. The Headmen soon gathered, having captured the Defenders, the United States president, Nebulon, and many Bozos and others, planning to keep them in a sphere and observe their interactions. Hulk arrived and freed the captives, who were returned to normal size by Strange. Valkyrie and Jack Norris defeated Morgan, and the Headmen were arrested. The Defenders planned to undue the Headmen's political and economic plots in time.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#1 (fb) - BTS) - As Chondu had had struggles with maintaining his sanity with his new transformation, the other Headmen sought to procure a new body for him. They hired the Circus of Crime for three million dollars to test the She-Hulk's strength.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#1) - The Circus of Crime sought to use She-Hulk for their own means. Though Morgan continued to be skeptical of the plan, Nagan disguised himself as a gorilla (using a gorilla mask) and released She-Hulk from the Circus's hypnotized control. The Circus was arrested, and the Headmen sought to have her tested through other means.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Headmen hired Mysterio to test her powers as well, offering him three million dollars but planning on giving him fake cash. Just in case, Nagan developed a piece of equipment that would interact with Spider-Man's spider-sense, tracking him to Mysterio if necessary. By these means, Nagan hoped Spider-Man would kill Mysterio before Mysterio found their money was fake.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#2) - Mysterio captured She-Hulk after using an elaborately constructed attack of the alien Toad Men (actually actors posing as them) and some gas. They paid Mysterio in false bills after Mysterio turned down their offer to join their team, and Nagan arranged for Mysterio to be unable to find them for revenge. Nagan and Thursday consoled Morgan, then used a buzzsaw on She-Hulk's neck.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Morgan took a sample of She-Hulk's skin and cloned a body with a tiny head that sat inside a conductor unit, to allow them to put Chondu's head on the body.
(Sensational She-Hulk I#3) - Spider-Man attacked Mysterio, as planned, but found out where the Headmen were located. Chondu grew agitated and seemed he was going to attack until Thursday roped him down with her head. Spider-Man attacked and evaded attacks by all the Headmen until the cloned body subdued him. They then removed Chondu's head and placed it on the cloned body. When he became aware, he was furious and started attacking his teammates, but Spider-Man soon dislodged his head. The Headmen attempted to escape in an armored tank, but She-Hulk and Spider-Man teamed up to stop them.
(Web of Spider-man
I#73) - The Headmen tracked down
Spider-Man with a device Morgan developed, and tried to capture the
hero to give Chondu his body. They fought the Human Torch and
Spider-Man at a party of Alicia Masters (secretly Lyja Lazerfist).
Morgan tried unsuccessfully to subdue the heroes with a tranquilizer
gun and a neuro-needle, but the Headmen were soon defeated and
arrested.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#97/4) - The Headmen, while plotting a scheme at the Bar With No Name, got caught up in a bar brawl, during which Morgan was incredibly drunk and got knocked out by Killer Shrike, until Angar the Screamer knocked them all out.
(New Warriors I#36) - Shrunken Bones was seen incarcerated at the Vault.
(Defenders II#9 (fb) - BTS) - Morgan and the Headmen plotted to control an ancient space-god in order to rule the world, though Morgan viewed this plot with a high level of skepticism. He tracked down and reassembled the Star of Capistan to aid in their plot, however.
(Defenders II#10 (fb)) - The Headmen helped rescue MODOK from another dimension, and he, with A.I.M., allied with the Headmen. Morgan had injected Chondu with a psychogenic enhancer in order to do so, and continued to be skeptical about the path they were taking.
(Defenders II#5) - Morgan accompanied the Headmen to a museum. Morgan injected the black mist into Chondu's brain, and he sent a cloud of paranoia over the patrons. They then pilfered an ancient figurine just before Nighthawk, Hellcat, and Valkyrie (Parrington) attacked. Morgan was the last Headman standing, and was quickly knocked out by a kick from Hellcat. The Headmen quickly teleported away with the figurine.
(Defenders II#9) - The Headmen resurrected the alien space god, Orrgo, and conquered the world with him, all under their sway except for the Defenders.
(Defenders II#10) - Morgan took advantage of the opportunity to have Orrgo assemble all those who had ridiculed him in junior high school. He shrunk them down and sicced a pair of bred dino-beasts on them, then began working on plots against all the women who'd ever refused to go out with him. In time, the Defenders attacked, and Nagan ordered Orrgo to form an army of super-villains to attack them, but that didn't stop Nighthawk from seizing the figurine and quickly defeating the Headmen.
(Heroes for Hire II#6 (fb) – BTS) – The Headmen stole a Doombot from a young boy, Billy, in New York’s homeless district and reprogrammed the robot to serve them. They chased Billy away, and the boy hired the Heroes for Hire to aid him.
(Heroes for Hire II#6) - Billy brought Humbug back with him, and the Headmen attacked, quickly fending off an infestation of bugs and capturing Humbug and Billy.
(Heroes for Hire II#7) – The Headmen transplanted Chondu’s head onto Humbug’s body, and Humbug’s head to a life support system. Humbug’s allies Shang-Chi and Orka arrived and attacked them, but the Doombot fired a lethal blast that left a gaping hole in Orka’s chest.
(Heroes for Hire II#8) – After Orka passed, Shang-Chi furiously tore through the Headmen’s ranks, knocking out Gorilla-Man and Shrunken Bones and knocking Ruby Thursday’s head off. She briefly battled with Humbug’s head, and Chondu surrendered. He aided them in reversing the transplant, and SHIELD was called in to arrest the Headmen.
(Dark Reign Files) - Quasimodo researched the Headmen including Shrunken Bones for Norman Osborn.
(Amazing Spider-Man Annual III#1) - At the Beyond Corporation labs, Dr. Bong led Angar the Screamer and the Headmen to open a cosmic rift, but Spider-Man soundly defeated them and they were arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D..
Comments: Created by unknown creators (credits for World of Fantasy#11 unlisted).
The name Shrunken Bones was first given to Dr. Morgan in his inclusion in the Headmen's bio in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#5. This moniker has never been used on panel, not that the writer of this profile found anyhoo.
Thanks to Brandon Nash for pointing out Billy Delfini's las name from Shrunken Bones' profile in Defenders: Strange Heroes (2012).
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Shrunken Bones has no known connections to any "Shrinking" or "Bones"
characters.
(World of Fantasy I#11) - Sam Morgan was
a big-time racketeer who'd developed a name for himself. When his
step-brother, Jerry, asked Sam for money, Sam scorned Jerry for having
attended college. He offered Jerry a place in his criminal
organization, but Jerry refused. Sam received a telephone call
tipping him off that the feds were closing in. He left and saw a
cop in the street, so he entered a fog to hide. When the fog
shrank him to a miniscule size, Sam was horrified by a cat and a car
tire. He grew back to normal size and turned himself in.
--World of Fantasy I#11
images:
Sensational She-Hulk I#1, p21, pan1
Weird Wonder Tales I#7, p20, pan6
Defenders II#10, p5, pan3
(Sam Morgan) - Weird Wonder Tales I#7, p19, pan7
Appearances:
World of Fantasy I#11 (April, 1958) - Creators unlisted
Defenders I#21 (March, 1975) - Steve Gerber (writer),
Sal Buscema (penciler). Sal Trapani (inker), Len Wein (editor)
Defenders I#31-33 (January-April, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal
Buscema (penciler), Jim Mooney (penciler/inker), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Defenders I#35 (May, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer),
Sal Buscema (penciler), Klaus Janson (penciler/inker), Marv Wolfman
(editor)
Defenders Annual I#1 (October, 1976) - Steve Gerber
(writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Klaus Janson (penciler/inker), Archie
Goodwin (editor)
Sensational She-Hulk I#1-3 (May-July, 1989) - John
Byrne (writer/penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#73 (February, 1991) - John Byrne
(writer), Alex Saviuk (penciler), Keith Williams (inker), Jim Salicrup
(editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#97/4 (December, 1992) -
Sholly Fisch (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Don Hudson (inker),
Terry Kavanagh (editor)
New Warriors I#36 (June, 1993) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), E. Craig
Brasfield (penciler), Jeff Albrecht (inker), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Defenders II#5,7 (July, September, 2001) - Kurt
Busiek (writer) , Erik Larsen (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker),
Tom Brevoort (editor)
Defenders II#9 (November, 2001) - Kurt Busiek, Erik
Larsen, Eric Stephenson (writers), Ron Frenz (penciler), Scott Hanna
(inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Defenders II#10 (December, 2001) - Kurt Busiek, Erik
Larsen, Eric Stephenson (writers), Erik Larsen (penciler), Sal Buscema
(inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Heroes for Hire II#6 (March, 2007) – Jimmy Palmiotti &
Justin Gray (writers), Alvaro Rio (penciler), Scott
Koblish, Tom Palmer (inkers), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Heroes for Hire II#7 (April, 2007) – Justin Gray,
Jimmy Palmiotti, Zeb Wells (writers), Al Rio
(penciler), Tom Palmer, Terry Pallot (inkers), Mark
Paniccia (editor)
Heroes for Hire II#8 (May, 2007) – Zeb Wells (writer),
Al Rio (penciler), Scott Koblish (inker), Mark
Paniccia (editor)
Dark Reign Files (February, 2009) - Michael Hoskin & various others (writer), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual III#1 (2015) - Jai Nitz (writer), Ron Salas (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
First Posted: 11/17/2006
Last updated: 04/14/2017
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
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
