HEADLOK
Real Name: Murray Singleton
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: None;
formerly Chain-Gang 421-011 (Cottonmouth, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Plantman)
Affiliations: Griffin (John Horton), Justin Hammer, Mentallo
Enemies: Alpha Flight (Aurora, Guardian (Heather Hudson), Puck (Eugene Judd), Northstar, Sasquatch, Shaman, Vindicator (James Hudson), Windshear, Wildheart), Carpenter, Cyclone (Pierre Fresson), Fantastic Four (Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing), Strunk, Thing, West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Arthur Goddard
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Tuktoyatuk, Yukon
First Appearance: West Coast Avengers II#10 (July, 1986)
Powers/Abilities: Headlok possesses psionic abilities that allow him to control the minds of others and alter perceptions, though others can resist his control with focus and effort.
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
History:
(West Coast Avengers II#10 (fb) - BTS) - Hearing that the West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man) were searching for the Thing, Headlok gave them a false lead to lure them into a trap on the beach. He mentally forced the Griffin, who he'd stumbled upon wandering the Adirondacks weeks before, to work with him.
(West Coast Avengers II#10) - Headlok revealed himself, immediately confusing the Avengers mentally and boasting of his powers as he summoned Griffin to attack Wonder Man. As the Avengers attacked illusions of Headlok, he seized control of Wonder Man and forced him to attack his allies. As the battle went on, Mockingbird focused on overcoming the mental illusions and managed to see Headlok's true location, causing him to lose control of the others. As Headlok tried mentally controlling Hawkeye and Mockingbird, the Thing hit him from behind, knocking him out.
(Alpha Flight I#93 (fb) - BTS) - Headlok settled in a small town in the Yukon, Tuktoyatuk, and took mental control of the entire population.
(Alpha Flight I#92 - BTS) - The Fantastic Four sensed an increase in psychometric activity in the Yukon. They called Alpha Flight to help them investigate.
(Alpha Flight I#93 (fb)) - Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman accompanied members of Alpha Flight (Aurora, Sasquatch, Shaman, Vindicator) to investigate. Headlok sent the town's residents against the heroes, but the heroes quickly retreated and tracked the energies back to Headlok, who stood on the porch of his residence on the hill. By transmitting wavelengths on a multi-band spectrum, Headlok disrupted Vindicator's cyber-link to his biomechanical systems, causing him to crash. He then took over the mind of Mr. Fantastic, causing him to crash the Fantasticar. Switching his control to Sasquatch, he tried awakening the hero's bestial nature, but Sasquatch fell unconscious from the strain of trying to resist. Headlok defeated Mr. Fantastic by awakening his past guilts over allowing Galactus to survive, then the Invisible Woman by awakening her despair over losing a child. After defeating Shaman by reminding him of the guilt of failing his family, Headlok was hit by Aurora's light burst. He lashed out mentally, awakening her multiple personalities. Vindicator awakened, but Headlok caused him to collapse from fear of becoming completely mechanical.
(Alpha Flight I#93) - Headlok stood over the bodies of the
fallen heroes, madly recounting the entire battle, reading their minds one by
one to recount every moment. He marveled at the depth of each of their
characters. He donned a new costume and prepared to face the oncoming heroes
Human Torch, Thing, Northstar, Witchfire, Windshear, and Guardian.
(Alpha Flight I#94) - Headlok watched from afar as he forced his captive heroes to battle the new arrivals. After a brief battle with the Human Torch, Aurora broke free of Headlok's control, however, and worked to free the others with her light. Panicking, Headlok was filled with pain when Witchfire turned magical light on Shaman, who became more self-aware in that moment. As Headlok despaired at Shaman's internal pain, realizing how much stronger Shaman was than he, Shaman became free of Headlok's influence. Furious, Headlok forced Sasquatch to violently lash out against the Thing, whose orange-hued armor broke and revealed Ben Grimm beneath it. The shock of seeing a man within the monster caused Sasquatch to revert to human form, freed from Headlok's influence. To free Mr. Fantastic, Northstar stretched him to his limits, causing Headlok to let go of him due to the physical pain he was experiencing. Finally, Guardian freed Vindicator by overloading his mechanical brain, putting him back in control. Headlok tried to escape as the heroes surrounded him, then begged for mercy, punching Sasquatch repeatedly and pathetically, claiming he was weak and despairing when they told him he was going to jail. They put a helmet on him that blocked his powers.
(Alpha Flight I#104 (fb)) - Headlok's psi-dampening helmet shorted out when Aurora, who'd recently been through a difficult telepathic battle, past by. He took mental control of her and brought her into his cell.
(Alpha Flight I#102) - In his Department H cell, the guards noticed Headlok had hardly moved since his capture, not knowing that he was mentally taunting Aurora.
(Alpha Flight I#103) - As Headlok peeled through Aurora's brain, he looked aimlessly for her split personalities.
(Alpha Flight I#104) - When Aurora cried out from Headlok's cell, giving off a burst of shining light, Officer Strunk rushed in to investigate. Headlok made Strunk believe he was elderly, then entered Aurora's brain, claiming he wanted to help her integrate her personalities. Mentally disguising himself as Aurora's old teacher, he forced her to remember pieces of her past until she lashed out at him, causing him pain and forcing his mind back into his body. Several members of Alpha Flight, including Guardian, Puck, Northstar, Sasquatch, Windshear, and Wildheart, were standing by as Headlok lashed out telepathically at Aurora, furious at her attack. She asserted control of her mind once and for all, however, and he seemed to explode in Aurora's light.
(Thunderbolts I#55 (fb) - BTS) - Headlok was imprisoned in Seagate, where his mind was taken over by Mentallo, who plotted a prison escape.
(Thunderbolts I#55) - Along with Plant-Man, Hawkeye, and Cottonmouth, Headlok was taken to a prison transport van. The criminals were manacled with power dampeners, and called Chain Gang 421-011.
(Thunderbolts I#56) - The prison transport van was toppled over in an earthquake.
(Thunderbolts I#57) - The inmates broke out of the van and Hawkeye wondered about Headlok's coherent speech patterns, causing Mentallo to reveal that he was in charge of the body. When Cottonmouth tried rushing off, the manacles triggered and the villains crashed unconscious to the Earth.
(Thunderbolts I#58) - As the villains recovered, Mentallo revealed his plan to seize the greatest weapon on Earth.
(Thunderbolts I#60) - As the villains ran outside Pittsburgh, they were stopped by Guardsman Chris Fallon.
(Thunderbolts I#61) - Plant-Man inadvertently killed Fallon when they tried freeing themselves, infuriating Hawkeye. That night, in Nebraska, Cottonmouth tried biting off Plant-Man's arms to retrieve the manacles.
(Thunderbolts I#63) - In Vancouver, Washington, the villains met with Justin Hammer's man, Carpenter, trying to get the manacles off. Just as Carpenter was seeking to double-cross them, Cyclone (Pierre Fresson) attacked also seeking the weapon. They stopped him, with Songbird's help. Hawkeye and Songbird left Headlok and Cottonmouth captives in Hammer's facility, waiting for SHIELD's arrival.
(Dark Reign Files - BTS) - Quasimodo researched the Hood for Norman Osborn.
(Marauders II#6 - BTS) - When the Celestial Progenitor visited people at random to force them to justify their right to exist it would take on different shapes for each person. When facing Aurora it took on the shape of Headlok. However, Aurora received help from the emphatic Birdy to soften the blow and helped her defuse the situation.
Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, Al Milgrom, and Joe Sinnott.
In Alpha Flight I#104, Headlok was named Arthur Goddard. In Thunderbolts I#55, Headlok is named Murray Singleton.
Headlok received an entry in OHOTMU Update 89 I#3.
Main image provided by Markus Raymond. Marauders II#6 update by MarvellousLuke.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Headlok has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89#3, p38 (main image)
Alpha Flight I#93, cover (2nd)
Thunderbolts I#58, p9, pan4 (3rd)
Appearances:
West Coast Avengers II#10 (July, 1986) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Alpha Flight I#92 (January, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Dan Reed (penciler), Richard Bennett (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Alpha Flight I#93 (February, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Michael Bair (penciler), Mike Manley (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Alpha Flight I#94 (March, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Michael Bair (penciler), Mike Manley (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Alpha Flight I#102 (November, 1991) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Alpha Flight I#103 (December, 1991) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Alpha Flight I#104 (January, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Thunderbolts I#55-58 (October, 2001-January, 2002) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Thunderbolts I#60 (March, 2002) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Thunderbolts I#61 (April, 2002) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Thunderbolts I#63 (June, 2002) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Dark Reign Files (February, 2009) - Michael Hoskin & various others (writer), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Marauders II#6 (September, 2022) - Steve Orlando (writer), Andrea Broccardo (pencils, inks), Lauren Amaro, Jordan D. White (editors)
First Posted: 01/18/2009
Last updated: 05/08/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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