Not So Happy

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

If you're ever injured, and your doctor tells you that your only chance for survival is for the surgical team to use an experimental device made by Tony Stark called the Enervator, it's time to switch doctors. Otherwise, you're looking at a fun romp through the city as the Freak--one of those adversaries that Marvel can pull out of a hat from time to time to cause general chaos and havoc for the hero, then later have the reset button pushed to bring everything back to normal.

Stark Enterprises employee Happy Hogan has unfortunately borne the brunt of these transformations, due to having some accident or illness that only Stark's Enervator device can help with. Given that the Enervator uses cobalt rays, and the fact that Stark has never been able to work the bugs out of the device, you can probably guess where this is going. So it's no stretch that when Happy is wheeled into surgery, you know he's going to lumber out as the Freak:

Which, of course, brings Iron Man into the fray, in a desperate attempt to stop his friend's rampage without hurting him. Given the Freak's super-human strength, that's good for about two issues' worth of battling.

Ex-prizefighter Eddie March has also been a victim of the Enervator, and suffered the same transformation into the Freak, despite Stark's precautions:

In fact, no matter how many people (including Stark himself) voice misgivings about using the device, the Enervator is always given the green light:

To make matters worse, Stark is often willing to roll the dice with using the device because he thinks he's fixed it:

You know, the last advice you want to hear from an engineer whose device you're relying on to save a loved one is to "cross your fingers and pray":

These battles between Iron Man and the Freak typically end with Iron Man luring him back to the lab where the Enervator can be used to drain off the excess energy and return Happy to normal. Yeah, I know--you'd think that a machine that both mutates and cures could be tinkered with to prevent the mutating, especially when that tinkerer is Tony Stark. But despite Stark's assurances that, really, it's okay, the Enervator is completely safe this time, Happy still ends up getting his Freak on.