The Suit Makes The Savage

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

At first glance, our mystery villain may remind you of the Griffin, and it's a fair comparison--but the difference here is that, unlike his more bestial counterpart, the powers and abilities of the Manticore come from his costume, an exoskeleton that not only obviously gives him strength and savage rending abilities but also provides him mobility. We'll have to wait to learn more about that aspect to his makeup, however--because Hawkeye, spending time at a dude ranch in a desert canyon along with the Two-Gun Kid, appears to be in a predicament that looks immediately life-threatening!

The Manticore appears to have a singular purpose--the death of Hawkeye, even though the two have never met. So what gives? Is the Manticore a mercenary of some sort? Not exactly, though Hawkeye's death would indeed be part of a contract to fulfill a scheme to retrieve property that the Manticore's employers feel was wrongly taken from them.

Fortunately for Hawkeye, the Ghost Rider has left Los Angeles for the desert, and ends up at the same ranch in order to use its shop to repair the 'cycle he uses as Johnny Blaze. Learning from Two-Gun what happened, the Ghost Rider tracks and confronts the Manticore, though the two combatants get pretty much nowhere facing off against each other.

To give himself an advantage, the Manticore seizes Two-Gun and threatens to kill him unless the Ghost Rider withdraws; but to counter, the Rider goes into his demon act and declears that the life of Two-Gun means nothing to him, and that his murder will only result in the Manticore's torture at the Rider's hands.

But before things can go further, it's Hawkeye who brings an end to the standoff--and in defeat, we learn exactly what the Manticore is made of (or not made of, as the case may be).

Assuming it's the Brand Corporation which was backing the Manticore, you'd think anyone who could outfit this man in such sophisticated physical and technological garb would have no trouble whipping up a second Hellcat suit and saving themselves the time and trouble of designing and creating a brand new suit and commissioning a hit. The Manticore would go on to have one other appearance, unfortunately as unremarkable as what you've seen here.