L.D. 50

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: His crew (Tiny, Roach and at least half a dozen unidentified others)

Affiliations: Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), Ngh the Unspeakable, several unidentified aliens (Ffurg, Orm, plus a Kree, Makluan, and a Skrull, among others - see comments)

Enemies: Avengers (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Quasar/Wendell Vaughn, Rage/Elvin Haliday, Sersi, She-Hulk/Jen Walters, Vision/"Victor Shade"), FDA Narcotics Division, New York Police Department, She-Venom (Ann Weying), Spider-Man (Ben Reilly), Edna Staples, Venom (Eddie Brock)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None; "L.D. 50" is most likely short for "Lethal Dosage"

Base of Operations: Brooklyn, New York

First Appearance: Avengers I#326 (November, 1990)

Powers/Abilities: As a human, he had no known powers, but did possess a remarkably well developed vocabulary. He did have access to some advanced weaponry, such as a rocket launcher.

    As a servant of Ngh, he possessed enhanced strength, endurance, and reflexes.

History:
(Avengers I#326)  - L.D. 50 was the leader of a band of drug-dealers based in Brooklyn. He distributed drugs produced and provided by the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), selling them throughout the Brooklyn area while making a tidy profit. That changed when local superhero Rage (Elvin Holiday) got fed up by the many "crack dens" in his neighborhood and tore down one of L.D's hideouts, while L.D. himself was still inside.

(Avengers I#327) - Escaping the destruction of his building via the sewers, L.D. resurfaced, swearing revenge on Rage and deciding to call the Kingpin for help. Fisk had a rocket launcher delivered to him and L.D. figured out what to do next: Kill Rage.

(Avengers I#328) - L.D. 50 prowled the streets of Brooklyn looking for Rage, who seemed to have disappeared. Which was kind of true: Rage had, inadvertently, joined the Avengers on a mission to the Dimension of Exile. When he finally returned to Brooklyn, along with Captain America who wanted to learn more about him, L.D. soon spotted them. The two heroes were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't notice him, it wasn't until he fired a rocket that Cap picked up on his presence and used his shield to deflect the projectile. L.D. beat a hasty retreat, while wondering if anti-tank mines would do the trick next time.

(Avengers I#329) - At another one of his Brooklyn safehouses, L.D. continue to fume at the notion of super heroes like Rage targeting non-powered "entrepreneurs" like himself. His musings were interrupted by Ngh the Unspeakable and his band of dimensional warriors, collectively known as the Exiles. Ngh had been imprisoned in the Dimension of Exile by the Tetrarchs of Entropy, and the Avengers' recent venture there had inadvertently allowed him to escape. Now free, he planned to take over the Earth. However, he needed local servants and L.D. fit the bill, because of his evil nature. Mainly hoping Ngh would help him get rid of Rage, L.D. offered his services. Not too long after that, they watched a news report on Rage joining the Avengers. One of Ngh's demons noticed Rage mouthed the words "granny Staples," a reference to his grandmother. Correctly assuming this might a clue to Rage's secret identity, L.D. had his associates search Brooklyn and tracking Edna Staples down to 535-19 Dubois Street. Ngh, L.D. and both their gangs invaded the elderly woman's house.

(Avengers I#330 - BTS) - L.D. 50 was present when Ngh startled Rage by answering the phone when he called his grandmother from Avengers Headquarters. Ngh threatened to kill the woman if Rage didn't come home immediately.

(Avengers I#331) - By the time Rage and the Avengers arrived in Brooklyn to confront Ngh and free his grandmother, L.D. 50 and his men were transformed into Ngh's latest demonic servants. Even in his augmented demon form, L.D. was no match for Rage who swatted him aside to confront Ngh. In the aftermath of Nghs defeat, L.D. returned to normal and watched as Ngh's other demonic servants turned into their former selves as well. It turned out Ngh's warriors consisted of members of alien races like the Kree, the Skrulls, the Makluan, a Z'nox and even an Atlantean. Recognizing an opportunity when it presented itself, L.D. 50 offered the confused interdimensional criminals a place in his organization.

(Venom: Along Came a Spider#3) - Eddie Brock sent the Venom symbiote to take over his ex-wife Ann Weying. As She-Venom, she immediately took off for Brooklyn with Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) and the New York police force in hot pursuit. The symbiote had informed Ann that Eddie would rendezvous with her inside the House of Horrors of Thrillworld amusement park. However, unbeknownst to everyone, L.D. 50 was running a giant drugs and weapons ring in the basement of the attraction. Even worse: he was about to get raided by the FDA, who had already surrounded the building. L.D. 50 learned of this when he discovered an FDA mole in his organization and beat the truth out of him. Ordering his trusted lackey Roach to the surface with a flamethrower, L.D. planned to destroy evidence and roast whoever was foolish enough to approach. Right then and there, She-Venom barged in on them and threatened L.D. The druglord wasn't too impressed, claiming he had already faced the likes of Rage. He told his men to open fire, and only a timely rescue by Spider-Man saved She-Venom from an untimely demise. However, the sound of gunfire caused the FDA to move in, while the NYPD forces finally caught up with She-Venom and got involved as well. Meanwhile, Eddie Brock unwittingly approached the House of Horrors to make the rendezvous with Ann and got torched by Roach. 

(Venom: Along Came A Spider#4) - Shocked to see its lover near death, the Venom symbiote abandoned Ann and bonded with the severely injured Eddie Brock. Instantly revived, Venom joined the fray and started busting heads left and right. While Spider-Man tried to prevent him from killing anyone, Roach took the disoriented Ann hostage. Calling L.D. 50 to inform him of the capture, Roach learned his boss already had a plan to take care of the situation: by using big guns and even bigger cars. Driving a monster truck loaded with armed henchmen on to the scene, L.D. felt he was having a psychotic episode and called his psychologist Otto DeFray to inform him of the situation. Still, his plan seemed to work when he knocked the wind out of Venom by hitting him with both the grill of the truck and an anti-tank missile. Spider-Man got Venom to agree to a strategic retreat, and L.D. decided to use this break to have his henchmen move the cache of drugs, weapons and other merchandise from the bunker under the House of Horrors to another safehouse. When Roach showed up with Ann, L.D. callously called her expendable and ordered her killed. Before Roach could shoot her, Venom, Spider-Man and NYPD officer Clark showed up to rescue her. L.D. and Roach ran into the bunker to get away, but unbeknownst to Roach, a stray bullet had punctured his flamethrower's reservoir. Leaking highly flammable jellied gasoline all over a storage space filled with ammo and volatile chemicals, all it took was one lit match to blow up the underground complex, likely killing both Roach and L.D. 50 in the process.   

Comments: Created by Larry Hama, Paul Ryan, Tom Palmer

    Some of the Exiles reverted into less monstrous form upon Ahh and Ngh's merging. The Kree, Skrull, and Atlantean weren't seen before this reversion, while Orm and Ffurg weren't seen after it...there were numerous other unidentified monstrous characters pre-reversion, and several other unidentified reverted characters, and we don't know which characters were which.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
L.D. 50 has no known connections to

• Any other "L.D." or "50" characters

images:
Avengers I#327, p19, pan5 (main image)
Avengers I#331, p20, pan4 (head shot)
Avengers I#331, p3, pan2 (mutated)
Venom: Along Came a Spider#4, p7, pan6 (on the phone)

Appearances:
Avengers I#326-331 (November, 1990 - April, 1991) - Larry Hama (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Venom: Along Came a Spider#3/1 (March, 1996) - Larry Hama (writer), Joe St. Pierre (pencils), Mark McKenna (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Venom: Along Came a Spider#4/1 (April, 1996) - Larry Hama (writer), Joe St. Pierre (pencils), Mark McKenna, Randy Emberlin (inkers), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 08/20/2013
Last updated: 07/06/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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