INVENTOR

Real Name: Thomas Edison

Identity/Class: Human/bird mutate/clone

Occupation: Criminal, mad scientist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Doyle, Gregory Balthazar Knox, Megagator

Enemies: Nakia Bahadir, Vic Carelli, Julie Harrison, Lockjaw, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Birdman

Base of Operations: Bayonne, New Jersey

First Appearance: (Referenced, named as Inventor) All-New Marvel Now! Point One#1/5 (March, 2014); (seen, called Mr. Edison) Ms. Marvel III#5 (August, 2014)

Powers/Abilities: The Inventor was a clone of Thomas Edison, with parts of his creator's pet cockatiel's DNA mixed in, resulting in a bird/human hybrid body with a bird head, human height, and long feather-like fingers. The Inventor is a genius, specializing in robotics, energy sources, electro-magnetics, and mutating alligators. He designed a massive Grid that would feed off of human energy, as well as smaller robots that could do the same. The Inventor often uses surveillance equipment, giant robots, small attack robots, mech-suits of armor, and mutated alligators in his plots.

Height: Unrevealed; (4'7", by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed; (90 lbs., by approximation)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Pink and white feathers

History:
(Ms. Marvel III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The scientist Dr. Gregory Balthazar Knox sought to synthesize the DNA of Thomas Edison to create a clone, but the DNA of his pet cockatiel got mixed in, resulting in the clone having a giant bird head. The clone, who called himself Thomas Edison, soon adopted the moniker of the Inventor.

(Ms. Marvel III#11 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor got the idea to solve the world's over-population issue and the energy crisis at the same time. He would form a Grid, which would be powered by youth off the streets who would willingly give their lives and energy to him.

(Ms. Marvel III#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor reached out to many youth, some of them runaways, and convinced them that they could help end world crisis if they sacrificed themselves to him and let him use up their energy sources to combat global warming. Many volunteered, believing their sacrifices would help save the planet.

(Ms. Marvel III#1 - BTS) - Reports of missing children circulated through Jersey City.

(Ms. Marvel III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Vic Carelli joined up with local teens under the leadership of Doyle at an abandoned house in Greenville, NJ.

(Ms. Marvel III#3 - BTS) - Vic Carelli invoked the name of the Inventor as he sought to rob Bruno Carelli at the Circle Q. Vic ended up shooting Ms. Marvel when she attacked.

(Ms. Marvel III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Vic went back to Doyle, who was furious and put Vic on lockdown.

(Ms. Marvel III#4 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel attacked the Greenville house, where she pushed aside a few guards and then fought off several small robots firing lasers. Doyle and the others soon attacked her.

(Ms. Marvel III#5 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel battled Doyle, who wielded an energy blaster and several "kitties," or robots with offensive weaponry, and the heroine fled the fight when she was overwhelmed, leaving Vic behind. Later, she returned and fought Doyle and the others, then she escaped with Vic as Doyle yelled that the Inventor would have his revenge. Later, a message was spray-painted on the Circle Q that said "the Birdman Cometh."

(Ms. Marvel III#5) - Doyle went to visit the Inventor, and was shown in by Knox. The Inventor vowed revenge against Ms. Marvel.

(All-New Marvel Now! Point One#1/5 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel fought a giant robot created by the Inventor at a landfill in New Jersey. She had the robot on the ropes after tossing a car at it, but she had to leave when she received a call from home. Ms. Marvel told the robot to tell the Inventor that this wasn't over.

(Ms. Marvel III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor sent out robots to find and attack Ms. Marvel, but she successfully evaded them all. He weaponized several alligators -- including one giant alligator, which he called the Megagator -- and set up a base in the sewer under Jersey City. 

(Ms. Marvel III#6 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel destroyed more of the Inventor's robots.

(Ms. Marvel III#7 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor experimented on one of the kidnapped kids, Julie, using her as a power source in the sewer for his robots.

(Ms. Marvel III#6) - Ms. Marvel found holograms of the Inventor and Knox, and of the live alligators in the sewer, and the Inventor explained that he wanted to test Ms. Marvel, not kill her. The holograms disappeared when Wolverine entered, and the hero helped Ms. Marvel defeat the armed alligators, but the Megagator then attacked.

(Ms. Marvel III#7) - While the Inventor monitored things, Wolverine and Ms. Marvel struggled against the Megagator until Wolverine killed it. The Inventor then remotely triggered a trap that would crush the heroes, but they freed themselves and then rescued Julie.

(Ms. Marvel III#8 (fb) - BTS) - Inventor used another kid to power a robot with offensive weaponry, and he placed it near the power plant in Bayonne.

(Ms. Marvel III#8 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel and Lockjaw defeated the robot and freed the kid within, getting him to safety. The Inventor tracked her back to Coles Academic High School and sent a giant robot to attack the school.

(Ms. Marvel III#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor designed battle armor specially equipped to fight Ms. Marvel and Lockjaw.

(Ms. Marvel III#9 - BTS) - Ms. Marvel defeated the robot, but was badly wounded herself, as the Inventor kept a careful eye on her. When Ms. Marvel, with Vic Carelli, returned to the base, Inventor sent a giant robot to protect Doyle and Knox. Ms. Marvel was briefly trapped in an energy field, but Lockjaw helped her escape, after which Ms. Marvel was shocked to realize that all of the runaways were there by choice, engaging in something they called the harvest.

(Ms. Marvel III#11 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor kidnapped more for his Grid, including Nakia Bahadir.

(Ms. Marvel III#10) - Lockjaw teleported Doyle and Knox away, and then the Inventor triggered an explosion at the base before attacking Ms. Marvel in his battle armor, using electric zaps to keep her off balance, but she managed to topple him. When Lockjaw tried teleporting the Inventor away, he contained Lockjaw in a phase-disrupting field, then flew away with the captured dog. Ms. Marvel attacked the power plant, sneaking past the electrified grid, and she heard the Inventor telling Knox (back from wherever he was teleported to) to activate their grid. Ms. Marvel was flanked by many of the runaways, who no longer believed in the Inventor, but he revealed that he had dozens more kids acting as a power battery, stacked up in the Grid.

(Ms. Marvel III#11) - The Inventor bragged about his Grid, and Ms. Marvel was shocked to see Nakia Bahadir among those powering it. Shaking off the Inventor's electric attack, Ms. Marvel freed Nakia while the youth attacked his giant robot. Ms. Marvel shrank down inside the giant robot, where the Inventor hit her with another electromagnetic blast, but she managed to disable the robot. The youth freed Lockjaw, who helped Ms. Marvel get out of the robot, after which the police arrived to arrest the Inventor. The Inventor tried to escape, but a giant junk-pile collapsed on him, and he was assumed to have died.

Comments: Created by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona.

    I love this weird, unique villain.

    Knox's full name was later revealed as Gregory Balthazar Knox, and he returned to fight Ms. Marvel later on.

    It can be presumed that the Inventor has all or some of Thomas Edison's memories or experiences. Read more about the famous Edison here.

    Julie Harrison's mutant powers were never revealed.

    Thanks to Markus Raymond for adding All-New Marvel Now Point One#1.

    This profile was completed 10/30/2020, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Inventor has no known connections to:

Doyle

(Ms. Marvel III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Vic Carelli joined up with local teens under the leadership of Doyle at an abandoned house in Greenville, NJ.

(Ms. Marvel III#9 (fb) - BTS) - Doyle and Knox were tasked with gathering runaways for the Inventor, and occasionally brought some of them to the power plant, where Inventor would change them into power sources for his robots and experiments.

(Ms. Marvel III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Vic went back to Doyle, who was furious and put Vic on lockdown.

(Ms. Marvel III#4) - Ms. Marvel attacked the Greenville house, where she pushed aside a few guards and then fought off several small robots firing lasers. Doyle and the others soon attacked her.

(Ms. Marvel III#5) - Ms. Marvel battled Bruno, who wielded an energy blaster and several "kitties," or robots with offensive weaponry, and the heroine fled the fight when she was overwhelmed, leaving Vic behind. Later, she returned and fought Doyle and the others, then she escaped with Vic as Doyle yelled that the Inventor would have his revenge. Doyle went to visit the Inventor, and was shown in by Knox. The Inventor vowed revenge against Ms. Marvel.

(Ms. Marvel III#9) - Ms. Marvel, with Vic Carelli, returned to the base to stop Doyle and Knox, but the Inventor sent a giant robot against her.

(Ms. Marvel III#10) - Lockjaw teleported Doyle and Knox away.

--Ms. Marvel III#4 ([Ms. Marvel III#4 (fb)], [9 (fb)], [4 (fb)], 4-5, 9-10

Julie Harrison

(Ms. Marvel III#7 (fb) - BTS/8 (fb) - BTS) - Julie Harrison, a mutant student at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, went missing, although she had updated her Facehead page before she disappeared. She was kidnapped by the Inventor and kept with other kidnapped children. Eventually, he used her as a power source to give strength to his machines.

(Ms. Marvel III#6 - BTS) - Wolverine went looking for Julie.

(Ms. Marvel III#7) - Wolverine and Ms. Marvel rescued Julie, who told them weakly that there were other kids still kidnapped.

(Ms. Marvel III#8 (fb) - BTS) - Julie fell into a coma after getting back to the school.

--Ms. Marvel III#7 ([Ms. Marvel III#7 (fb)], [6], 7, [8 (fb)]

Megagator

(Ms. Marvel III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Inventor sent out robots to find and attack Ms. Marvel, but she successfully evaded them all. He weaponized several alligators and set up a base in the sewer under Jersey City. He made one giant alligator, which he called the Megagator.

(Ms. Marvel III#6) - Ms. Marvel found holograms of the Inventor and Knox, and the live alligators in the sewer, and the Inventor explained that he wanted to test Ms. Marvel, not kill her. The holograms disappeared when Wolverine entered, and the hero helped Ms. Marvel defeat the armed alligators, but the Megagator then attacked.

(Ms. Marvel III#7) - While the Inventor monitored things, Wolverine and Ms. Marvel struggled against the Megagator until Wolverine killed it.

--Ms. Marvel III#6 ([Ms. Marvel III#6 (fb)], 6-7

images: (without ads)
Ms. Marvel III#11, p1, pan2 (main)
Ms. Marvel III#5, p21, pan1 (face)
Ms. Marvel III#10, p5, pan2 (in giant battle armor)
Ms. Marvel III#4, p21, pan4 (Doyle)
Ms. Marvel III#7, p18, pan2 (Julie)
Ms. Marvel III#7, p3, pan2 (Megagator)

Appearances:
All-New Marvel Now! Point One#1/5 (March, 2014) - G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Devin Lewis, Sana Amanat & Stephen Wacker (editors)
Ms. Marvel III#1-5 (April-August, 2014) - G. Willow Wlson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Sana Amanat (editor)
Ms. Marvel III#6-7 (September-October, 2014) - G. Willow Wilson (writer), Jake Wyatt (artist), Sana Amanat (editor)
Ms. Marvel III#8-11 (November, 2014-February, 2015) - G. Willow Wlson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Sana Amanat (editor)

First Posted: 09/19/2021
Last updated: 09/18/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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