(Incredible Hulk II#357) - Nick Cloot dragged Dennis from a hot tar pit in Hell and offered him freedom. He just had to go up a stairway. Cloot warned him of a gray demon that would try to stop him, but Dennis still tried. The gray demon (Cloot in disguise) appeared and over the course of Dennis' escape from Hell disfigured him badly in a painful manner by crushing his extremities and face and ripping open his back with his bare hands. Though Dennis finally reached the end of the stairway he now literally looked like a Ghoul. With his new powers he swore revenge on the gray demon that had looked exactly like Mr. Fixit!

(Incredible Hulk II#358) - Still believing Mr. Fixit was the culprit of his transformation, Ghoul used his powers to find him at the Ponyland Revue club. Though Mr. Fixit was stronger, Ghoul didn't stay down as easily as Fixit expected. After tackling Fixit through a window a Las Vegas SWAT team greeted Ghoul outside by shooting him, but they couldn't kill him because he was already dead. Ghoul finally draw first blood by scratching Fixit with his claws. It paralyzed Fixit's arm temporarily and Ghoul tossed the weakened Fixit into the nearby Liberace Museum. As the fight continued Fixit became afraid because Ghoul just didn't stay down and could hurt him. When Fixit landed in a pool, Ghoul followed him and Fixit realized that the cool water slowed him down. Ghoul tackled the jumping Fixit in midair and both landed in Michael Berengetti's casino the Coliseum. Causing more property damage with their fight, Berengetti's men emptied their guns agains Ghoul, but even they couldn't kill what was already dead. Fixit then remembered how the cool water had slowed down Ghoul before and threatened to decapitate him with an axe. Afraid the Ghoul fled into a freezing meatlocker like Fixit had planned. Ghoul tried to flee again when he realized that he was tricked, but Fixit grabbed his legs and tossed him onto a meat hook. Fixit left the impaled Ghoul in the meatlocker and told Berengetti to pack Ghoul in ice when he is taken out.

Comments: Created by Peter David, Jeff Purves & Jim Sanders III.

Dennis nickname "the Menace" is a play on "Dennis the Menace" a comic strip by Hank Ketchum about Dennis Mitchell, a boy that was a pain in the @$$ to his neighbor George Wilson. In the 50s it was turned into a TV series and decades later into a cartoon and two movies. The 90s movie had the late Walter Matthau in it as George Wilson.

Where did he go? Either Satannish sent him back to Hell or Dennis is still on Earth waiting for a warmer day --- and revenge on Mr. Fixit.

Thanks to DerGilb for the main image.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Ghoul has no known connection to:

• Ghoul, of Ultraverse, Exiles and Ultraforce member @ Exiles I#1 (Ultraverse)
• Ghoul, mutant serial killer @ Generation M#1
• any other character with a similar name

images: (without ads)
Marvel Super Heroes Official Game Accessory, Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe Volume 6, p93 (main)