THE
HARBORMASTER
THE
HARBORMASTER
Real Name: Sean William Beckett (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human, magic-based mutate
Occupation: Bouncer (see comments)
Group Membership: Anti-Registration Undergound (All-Out/Unarmed Training Automaton 110, Attacker/Richard Taine, 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, 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: 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 Harbormaster.
(Civil War: Front Line#4) - The Harbormaster was present with the ARU when S.H.I.E.L.D. raided the ARU's safehouse and arrested most of its members, although the Harbormaster managed to escape.
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#5/2 - BTS) - ARU prisoners, such as Typeface, 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 Harbormaster:
REAL
NAME: Sean William Beckett
ALIASES:
Sean the Mon, Deck-It
IDENTITY:
Known to US
authorities and to most of his circle of family and friends
OCCUPATION:
Bouncer
CITIZENSHIP:
USA
PLACE
OF BIRTH:
Squareville, Ohio
KNOWN
RELATIVES:
Bill Beckett Jr. (father); Sylvia Beckett (nee Slade, mother);
Carson
Beckett, Ryan Beckett, Travis Beckett-Seaton (brothers);
Georgia
Beckett Flaherty, Samantha Beckett Kinder (nee Bixby, Kaufman,
Turner), Winifred Beckett Scrub (sisters);
Bill Beckett (paternal
grandfather); Mimi Beckett (nee Spencer, paternal grandmother);
Dennis Slade (maternal grandfather); Roberta Slade (nee Cameron,
maternal grandmother);
Andrew Beckett, Bob Beckett, Roy Edwards, Kyle
Holland, Ben Slade, Chevy Slade, Dennis Slade Jr. (uncles);
Katherine
Collins Beckett, Sandrine Webb Beckett, Lisa Beckett Edwards, Jenny
Slade Holland, Laura Slade Walker, Marie Slade Foster, Louise Doyle
Slade, Red Dawson Slade, Rudy Andrews Slade (aunts);
Edmund Beckett,
Johnny Beckett, Lester Beckett, Lloyd Beckett, Ryan Beckett Jr.,
Stuart Beckett, Trent Beckett, Burgess Beckett-Seaton, Milton Bixby
Kinder, Herbert Bixby Kinder, Patrick Flaherty, Isaac Greenberg,
Jamal Jefferson, Jerome Kaufman Kinder, Louis Kaufman Kinder, Moses
Kaufman Kinder, Gerard Kinder, Charles Turner Kinder, Jeff Scrub, Tom
Scrub (nephews);
Anne Beckett, Cathy Beckett, Marcia Beckett, Rita
Beckett, Stephanie Bixby Kinder, Francine Flaherty, Angela Freiberg,
Blanche Kinder, Colette Kinder, Simone Kinder, Henrietta Leighton
(nieces);
Daniel Flaherty, Jerry Kinder, Richard Scrub, Howard Seaton-Beckett
(brothers-in-law);
Laurie Tilton Beckett, Maureen Marcus Beckett
(sisters-in-law);
John Bixby,
Trevor Kaufman, Steve Turner (former brothers-in-law);
many cousins;
many relatives by marriage
GROUP
AFFILIATION:
Formerly Anti-Registration Underground
EDUCATION:
College degree
SHRA
CLASSIFICATION:
Magic-Based Mutate
FIRST
APPEARANCE:
Civil War: Front Line#4 (2006)
HISTORY:
While working as a
bouncer at a waterfront night club, Sean Beckett, perusing the harbor
in an idle moment, saw what he believed was a drowning figure several
yards away and dove in to attempt a rescue. Reaching the figure, he
discovered it was not a drowning human but a Nereid, or ocean nymph, Glauconome, one
of the fifty daughters of the Olympian sea deities Nereus and Doris
Deciding that a super-hero's duties of disrupting crimes differed
little from the duties of a bouncer, Beckett took on the former
position while retaining the latter. A few of his many young nieces
and nephews collaborated to design a costume for him, which he wore
as the Harbormaster. His attempts to maintain a secret identity were
superficial at best, and before long it was not uncommon for club
patrons to see him performing his bouncer duties while still wearing
his costume.
Following the passage of the Superhuman Registration Act
(SHRA), the Harbormaster declined to register since he felt being a
licensed super-hero would unduly interfere with his personal life.
Eventually he was recruited into Typeface's Anti-Registration
Underground and was present when S.H.I.E.L.D. raided the ARU's safehouse
and arrested most of its members. Unwilling to incur further criminal
charges by attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, even in self-defense, the
Harbormaster was one of the few ARU members to evade capture. His
whereabouts and activities following the repeal of the SHRA remain
unrevealed.
HEIGHT:
6'4"
WEIGHT:
240 lbs.
EYES:
Violet
HAIR:
Blond (dyed green and
blue)
ABILITIES/ACCESSORIES:
The Harbormaster, whose body, like that of most human adults,
consists of 65 - 70% water, can exude large quantities of water from
any part of his body, usually from his hands; among the many effects
he can thus achieve is to create blasts of water exerting up to a ton
of pressure per square inch, hurl water balls which forcefully
explode on impact, surround himself with a semi-solid water field to
slow or divert any physical attack, create ready water supplies to
replenish dehydration victims, and project water directly into an
opponent's nose and mouth to force said opponent to withdraw rather
than risk drowning.
Unlike other superhumans with similar powers, he has no control over any other water source, not even if he intermixes his own water projections with such a source, nor can he literally convert his body or any portion thereof into water. His body's water percentage magically and instanteously regenerates itself following any loss, making it virtually impossible for him to become dehydrated; as a result, he can, unlike ordinary humans, survive seemingly indefinitely without liquid consumption, although he has never taken sufficient interest in this ability to test its limitations.
The Harbormaster is an exceptional swimmer, with above-average strength due to sheer physical size, and he has substantial hand-to-hand combat experience as a result of years of working as a bouncer.
Profile by Ronald Byrd, Snood, and Multi-Tasking Mike Fichera (image capture/clean-up/awesomeness)
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Harbormaster should be distinguished from:
Any other character or location whose name includes the word "Harbor" or "Master"
images:
(without ads)
Civil War: Front Line#4, page 5, panel 4 (main);
pg. 10, panel 2 (headshot)
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: 11/07/2021
Last
updated: 11/12/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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