THE
ATTACKER
THE
ATTACKER
Real Name:Clayton Richard Taine (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human, exotic technology user
Occupation: See comments
Group Membership: Anti-Registration Undergound (All-Out/Unarmed Training Automaton Awe-Striker/Cecily Johnson, Basic Black/Norman Gentry, Battlestar/Lemar Hoskins, Brain Spasm/Dennis Hoxie, Canasta/Henry Cavanaugh, Captain Kinship/Edward Randlebuck, Dahntu/Charles Luc Phan, Freeware/Kurt Duryea, Gladiatrix/Robin Braxton, Green Guardswoman/Natalie Bell, Harbormaster/Sean Beckett, Haunter/Mark Runnemyer, Human Haze/Steve Cochrane, Iguanid/Tom Boldstep, Johnny Justice/Jonadab Megyscol, Kruzado/Dorothy Cardoza, Lawman/Leon Frankfurt, Leather Angel/Andrew Mussawyr, Masked Rose/Josie Tyler, Natural/Beru Addison, Network/Valerie Martin, Orange Crusher/Andy Gardner, Panthrax/Alex Mitchell, Peace-Lover/Barry Kanczeski, Qiblah/Jared Nelson, Saint Hildegard/Sonya van Jagt, Scorecard/Bill Merrick, Skybolt/Zack Zimmerman, Solo/James Bourne, Spaceheat/Charles Yaméogo, Staten Island Star/Russell Feldman, Stone-Tough/Ted Pendleton, Tosser/Ferris Hartke, Typeface/Gordon Thomas, U.S. Annie/Harriet Best, Warbug/Bernard Van Buren, Winter Woman/Angela Stover, Xantippe/Mandy Atkinson, Zapster/Langley Saint-Margaret, others); see comments
Affiliations: See comments
Enemies:
(At least formerly) S.H.I.E.L.D. and its "Cape-Killers"
see
comments
Known Relatives: See comments
Aliases: See comments
Base of
Operations: Unrevealed;
previously an
unidentified Anti-Registration Underground safehouse in Manhattan,
New York
see comments
First Appearance:
(Unidentified) Civil War: Front Line#4 (2006);
(identified) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z
hardcover#14 (2010)
Powers/Abilities: The Attacker uses weapons based on those from pulp stories. See comments
Height:
Unrevealed (approximately 6'4"; see
comments)
Weight:
Unrevealed (approximately 240
lbs.; see
comments)
Eyes:
Unrevealed (see
comments)
Hair:
Unrevealed (see
comments)
History: See comments.
(Civil War: Front
Line#4 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z
hardcover#14: Anti-Registration Underground (fb) - BTS) - Following
the Stamford disaster, where hundreds had perished during a battle
between New Warriors and four Raft escapees, Iron Man (Tony Stark),
Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) and others worked with US officials to
develop the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), outlawing any
crimefighting activities by unregistered super heroes.
Vigilante Typeface, although his identity was already known, resolved to fight a perceived assault on freedom, and he organized an Anti-Registration Underground, beginning with ex-government operative Battlestar and anti-terrorist Solo, to support super heroes who continued fighting crime without SHRA approval. Their ranks were soon supplemented by mystic-armored Freeware; bodysuit-enhanced Green Guardswoman; Masked Rose, leader of super-team TJAW (Truth, Justice, and the American Way), empowered by accidental mutant blood exposure; exoskeleton-empowered Network; and cyborg Skybolt. Via a covert interview with Alternative reporter Sally Floyd, ARU members publicized their perspective, and several other anti-registration heroes joined, including the Attacker.
(Civil War: Front Line#4) - The Attacker was present with the ARU when S.H.I.E.L.D. raided the ARU's safehouse and arrested most of its members, including himself.
As the ARU members debated whether to seek and join Captain America (Steve Rogers)’s Secret Avengers, a better organized and equipped anti- SHRA unit, or to remain independent. Armored S.H.I.E.L.D. Cape-Killers, accompanied by Iron Man, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Wonder Man (Simon Williams) and at least ten unidentified flying heroes, raided the base. Caught by surprise, few ARU members managed to effectively fight back against their more powerful and organized opponents. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. captured over 40 members, The Harbormaster, the Awe-Striker, Canasta, Dahntu, the Green Guardswoman, and the Tosser evaded capture, as did the Masked Rose, who had been absent seeking new recruits.
(Civil War: Front Line#5) - ARU prisoners, such as the Attacker, were seen being sent to the Prison 42.
(Civil War#6 - BTS) - The Secret Avengers and the Superhuman Registration Act resistance arrived at Prison 42 to free the prisoners.
(Civil War#7/Amazing Spider-Man I#538/Civil War: Front Line#10-#11 - BTS) - The Secret Avengers penetrated Prison 42, freeing many prisoners. When the combined anti-registration forces were confronted by Iron Man’s pro-registration forces, Secret Avenger Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) teleported both groups to Manhattan. Freed ARU prisoners took part in the battle between the pro and anti-registration heroes, spanning from the Negative Zone prison to the streets of New York. In the ensuing battle, which caused severe damage, the Thunderbolts’ Venom (Mac Gargan) apparently killed Typeface. Other fatalities may also have occurred. Following Captain America’s surrender to forestall further civilian risk, Battlestar and possibly others avoided recapture.
The government offered amnesty in return for registration. Although Gladiatrix rejected the offer, Network registered under the 50 States Initiative, while Solo also registered but pursued independent interests. Presumably additional ARU members followed Gladiatrix’s example, others followed Network’s or Solo’s, and still more remained at large.
Comments:
Created by Paul Jenkins, Sean Chen, Rick Magyar;
Codename, real name, and nature provided by Ronald Byrd
During the production of the Civil War: Battle Damage Report (2007) writer Paul Jenkins provided Ronald with authorization to provide identities, real names for the various background Anti-Registration Underground characters, and to flesh them out as much as he wanted. Ronald provided identities and real names for the Anti-Registration Underground entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (2010). There wasn't room to provide much more than that in that entry. However, Ronald had backgrounds and histories in mind for these characters when he provided their names. While the information is unofficial until it sees print, here is the full story behind the Attacker:
REAL
NAME: Clayton Richard Taine
ALIASES:
The Nocturnal Nemesis, the Doom in
the Dark, others
IDENTITY:
Known to US authorities
OCCUPATION:
Librarian, occasional
mercenary
CITIZENSHIP:
USA
PLACE
OF
BIRTH: Scarsdale,
New York
KNOWN
RELATIVES:
Elder "Eldie"
Taine (father), Paula Taine (nee Went, mother)
GROUP
AFFILIATION:
Formerly
Anti-Registration Underground
EDUCATION:
College degree
SHRA
CLASSIFICATION: Exotic
Technology User
FIRST
APPEARANCE: Civil
War: Front Line#4 (2006)
HISTORY:
While organizing a collection of
rare pulp novels for a private library's reference section, Richard
Taine grew interested in stories about the Attacker, an apparently
fictional costumed adventurer whose weapons received occasional brief
descriptions in prose. As a hobby, Taine combined the piecemeal
descriptions, extrapolating any missing details, and built facsimiles
of the weapons described in the "Attacker" stories. Caught
up in his project, Taine himself became a "new" Attacker,
even using the pulp hero's catchphrases and mannerisms, and clashed
with various criminals and subversive organizations.
Following the
passage of the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), the Attacker
declined to register, both because he was unsure how long he intended
to continue using his costumed identity and because the concept went
against the mindset he had developed for that identity. Eventually he
was recruited into Typeface's Anti-Registration Underground and was
present when SHIELD raided the ARU's safehouse and arrested most of
its members, including himself. He was detained in the Negative Zone
Prison 42, indicating he maintained his refusal to register following
his arrest. Following the SHRA's repeal, he received an official
pardon.
HEIGHT:
5'10" WEIGHT:
171 lbs.
EYES:
Brown HAIR:
Brown
ABILITIES/ACCESSORIES:
The Attacker's costume
is lined with industrial-strength suction cups covered by a thin
layer of cloth, allowing him to adhere to walls by his hands, feet,
or back.
The toes of his boots and the fingers of his gloves are reinforced with thin sheathes of tempered steel, allowing him to deliver blows of near-superhuman level by kick or open-handed strike.
His cowl can generate a blinding and exceptionally hot light which renders victims temporarily incapable of seeing anything but jagged, flame-like shades of red; the Attacker is himself unable to see while the device is in use but recovers his sight immediately after turning it off. The light has a deleterious effect on human sinuses and presumably the middle ear, affecting balance, providing a nearly overwhelming disorientation, by which the Attacker, in conjunction with the light itself, can psychologically convince his victims that they are experiencing a vision of Hell.
The Attacker can travel via a spring-loaded wired projectile device; after shooting the projectile to embed it within a rooftop or other surface, the projectile rapidly retracts the wire into containment, pulling the Attacke along with it. Since the Attacker is susceptible to severe impact upon arrival at the desired point, he rarely uses this device to travel more than a few blocks in succession.
The Attacker is an above-average hand-to-hand combatant, a experienced researcher with a wide array of esoteric knowledge, and a talented inventor, particularly skilled in extrapolating on a device's technical details based on minimum data. He possesses detailed knowledge of human nerve points, enabling him to temporarily paralyze, deafen, or affect the short-term memories of an opponent. He is farsighted and thus requires glasses or, in his costumed identity, corrective lenses in his cowl.
Profile by Ronald Byrd, Snood, and Multi-Tasking Mike Fichera.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Attacker should be distinguished from:
images:
(without ads)
Civil War: Front Line#4, page 5, panel 4 (main);
Civil War: Front Line #5, Page 17, Panel 2, figure directly
Appearances:
Civil War: Front Line#3/1 - BTS (September, 2006) - Paul Jenkins
(writer), Ramon Bachs (penciler), John Lucas (iniker), Cory Sedlmeier
(editor)
Civil War: Front Line#4/1 - BTS (September, 2006) - Paul Jenkins
(writer), Ramon Bachs (penciler), John Lucas (iniker), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Civil War: Front Line#4/3 (September, 2006) - Paul Jenkins (writer),
Sean Chen (penciler), Rick Magyar (iniker), Molly Lazer, Aubrey
Sitterson (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Civil War: Front Line#5/2 - BTS (October, 2006) - Paul Jenkins
(writer), Steve Lieber (artist), Molly Lazer, Aubrey Sitterson
(assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Civil War#6 -BTS (December, 2006) - Mark Millar
(writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Civil War#7 -BTS (January, 2007) - Mark Millar
(writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines, John Dell &
Tim Townsend (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (June, 2010) - Jeff
Christiansen & Mike Fichera (head writers/coordinators), Markus
Raymond & Mike O'Sullivan (coordination assistants), Stuart Vandal,
Sean McQuad, Michael Hoskin, Ronald Byrd, Markus Raymond, Mike
O'Sullivan, Madison Carter, Kevin Garcia, Gabriel Shechter, Jacob
Rougemont, Rob London, Rich Green, Chris Biggs, David Wiltfong, Jeph
York, Mark O'English, & Mike Gagnon (writers),
John Denning (associate editor), Alex Starbuck (assistant editor),
Thedore Kutt (copy editor), Mark D. Beazley
(editor, special projects), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editor)
First
posted: 11/12/2021
Last
updated: 11/12/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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