JAMES BURNETT
Real Name: James Burnett
Identity/Class: Human, technology user;
British citizen
Occupation: Scientist
Group Membership: Mys-Tech
Affiliations: Mys-Tech
Enemies: Dark Angel
Known Relatives: Emily (mother of his children) and his children
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mys-Tech machinery plant, East London
First Appearance: Overkill#26 (9th April, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: James was a gifted if not genius scientist, part of a team of Mys-Tech scientists who created a putrefaction inducing weapon.
History:
(Overkill#26(fb) - BTS) - James had children with a woman named Emily. While working for Mys-Tech, Crowe got to know him well enough that he was aware of James's family.
(Overkill#26(fb) - BTS) - James worked on a putrefaction inducing weapon, spending nearly eighty million in the process. When the prototype was ready to be showcased, he called Crowe to witness it in action.
(Overkill#26) - Crowe warned James that the weapon had better be good. James assured him he wouldn't be disappointed, and explained the weapon. Crowe's immediate reaction was that the Warheads had been retrieving more powerful weapons for years, but when he saw the full putrefaction effect he was suitably impressed. He told James that a pay review was in order, and asked him to pass his regards onto Emily and the kids.
Comments: Created by Bernie Jaye, Richard Piers-Raynor,
Sean Hardy;
Marvel UK
The story in Overkill#26 is called Double Cross. It was never printed in Dark Angel. James was only referred to by his first name in the story. He received a surname in the Mys-Tech profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z volume 1#8. To clarify, James is the red haired man to the left in the above pictures and the man in black next to him is Crowe. This story is a rarity in that it shows Crowe is capable of being warm and friendly to a respected employee. Check out the second image to see what I mean. "Give my regards to Emily and the kids." You evil fiend, Crowe. Of course, the real cliffhanger here is whether or not James ever got that pay review...
Although James never meets her, I've listed Dark Angel as an enemy albeit an indirect one. I imagine she'd want to make sure he couldn't produce any more such weapons.
Thanks to Alan Green for the images.
Profile by Changeling.
CLARIFICATIONS:
James Burnett has no known connections to
James and his team worked on the weapon for Mys-Tech, spending
nearly eighty million on it. Once complete, it was 
showcased to Crowe. It was
then smuggled out to Darkmoor Castle, where Dark Angel booby trapped it and
planted a tracer on it. When given to Mys-Techs best marksman, the booby trapped
ray killed him rather than the intended target.
The weapon fired laser beams with a unique molecular composition, creating an unsurpassed level of destruction. Although the initial wounds would appear minimal, putrefaction would set in quickly in a process that would totally annihilate flesh and bone within minutes leaving no residue whatsoever.
Dark Angel presumably either destroyed or retrieved the prototype weapon using the tracer. However, while Burnett is alive he could make more, and no doubt Crowe would want him to.
--Overkill#26
Mys-tech's best marksman was ordered to watch over an arms-cache as Crowe was expecting trouble. He was given James' prototype weapon so as not to leave any evidence lying about. Upon seeing hijackers raiding the cache, he opened fire unaware that the weapon was booby trapped. It's ray struck him in the face, and his body was slowly annihilated leaving nothing behind.
And you can see the weapons effect on the marksman in the sub-profile above this one! Nice.
--Overkill#26
Working on James's project was a Mys-tech scientist who felt that opportunities for job satisfaction at Mys-Tech were far and few between. He secretly smuggled the prototype weapon to Darkmoor Castle, where Shevaun Haldane booby trapped it and placed a tracer on it.
The scientists area of expertise isn't mentioned.
--Overkill#26
images: (without ads)
Overkill#26, p12, pan2 (main image)
Overkill#26, p13, pan8 (image)
Overkill#26, p12, pan3 (weapon)
Overkill#26, p15, pan7 (weapons effect)
Overkill#26, p15, pan3 (marksman)
Overkill#26, p14, pan4 (scientist)
Appearances:
Overkill#26 (April, 1993) - Bernie Jaye (script), Richard Piers-Raynor
(pencils), Sean Hardy (inks), Lesley Dalton (colour), Elitta Fell (letters),
John Freeman (editor)
Last updated: 05/11/16
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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