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STUN-ULATOR

Classification: Terrestrial technology

Creator: Tony Stark

User/Possessors: Tony Stark, unidentified prison guard

First Appearance: Avengers Annual I#1 (September, 1967)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Built as a non-lethal means of crowd control--and specifically made to quell prison riots--the Stun-ulator fired an energy beam that would painlessly stun any individuals who were struck by it into submission. It was built in three models: 1. A large floor unit ("Stun-ulator") 2. A portable hand gun ("Stun-gun") 3. A portable bazooka-like unit ("Stunulator").

Prison staff admire Tony Stark's gun

History:

(Avengers Annual I#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Tony Stark developed his Stun-ulator technology. 

(Avengers Annual I#1) - Stark went to an upstate prison and demonstrated the floor-unit Stun-ulator to Warden Smith. Stark activated the device and fired a beam down a corridor separating some prison cells and mentioned that any escapees would be stunned into submission painlessly; Smith was amazed because it was as harmless as tear gas and even more effective. Then Stark showed the warden a portable "Stun-gun" and told him that within a year it would be adapted to mass-production (although he jokingly apologized because it looked like something out of "Flash Gordon"). His presentation completed, Stark asked to be shown out to his car. But shortly thereafter, the Living Laser (who happened to be incarcerated at the prison) made his escape; the villain went to Warden Smith's office and fired a laser-blast at the floor-unit before finally making his getaway. 

The Plastoid gets stunulated!

(Daredevil I#51) - When roboticist Starr Saxon sent his Plastoid to the prison on a mission to kill incarcerated gangster Biggie Benson, a group of prison guards got the bazooka-like Stunulator to drive the giant automaton away. They fired the device at the mammoth Plastoid and caused it something very much like the human sensation of pain; but as the giant robot collapsed, it fell upon Benson and inadvertently accomplished its mission.

 

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas (writer), Don Heck (pencils) and George Roussos (inks).

My guess is that the Stun-ulator probably works similarly to a Taser

We haven't seen anything of the Stun-ulator used in any Marvel prisons since the Daredevil story--maybe the prison system was a little leery about using it after what it did to the Plastoid. 

And a BIG Thank You to James Sharpe for the scans!

Profile by John Kaminski.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Stun-ulator has no known connections to:


images: (without ads)
Avengers Annual I#1, p3, pan1 (main image)
Avengers Annual I#1, p3, pan4 (Stark with "Stun-gun")
Daredevil I#51, p3, pan4 (bazooka version firing)


Appearances:
Avengers Annual I#1 (September, 1967) - Roy Thomas (writer), Don Heck (pencils), George Roussos (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#51 (April, 1969) - Roy Thomas (writer), Barry Smith (pencils), George Klein (inks), Stan Lee (editor)


Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Last Updated: 05/10/11

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