InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "what of the warts?"

Doop (xdoop) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-05 15:52:00

Entry tags:

char: scorpion/venom/mac gargan, creator: brian reed, creator: chris bachalo, creator: joe kelly, creator: mike deodato, creator: paulo sequeira, creator: warren ellis, group: thunderbolts, publisher: marvel comics, title: amazing spider-man, title: thunderbolts

When did Mac Gargan become an evil sociopath?

I'm not saying he's a saint, but when did this guy... (Thunderbolts #116)

...turn into a guy who eats prostitutes? (Amazing Spider-Man #596 and Sinister Spider-Man #1)

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	foxhack 2009-07-05 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	So, Bendis eats prostitutes? (I'm guessing it's a side effect of the symbiote messing with his head.) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	xammax 2009-07-05 08:10 pm UTC (link)
	I know you guys blame Bendis for alot, but this isn't his fault. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-07-05 08:14 pm UTC (link)
	I think Foxhack was saying that the bald Gargan looks like Bendis. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	xammax 2009-07-05 08:19 pm UTC (link)
	Hmmm... I guess. Has he been working out? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	foxhack 2009-07-05 08:40 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think this particular... development was Bendis' idea. I DID look up the author before making that comment! Come on, gimme a little credit here. ;P (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-07-05 09:09 pm UTC (link)
	I think Gargan, if you're going to compare his appearance to a writer, looks more like Morrison, or BKV, than the rather heftier Bendis. (There are a LOT of bald comic writers.) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foxhack 2009-07-05 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, but out of all of 'em, Bendis is the one that's most associated with the current Marvel storylines. ;) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	xdoop 2009-07-05 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	I guess that's the most likely explanation, though I think he was more interesting under Ellis when he was more conflicted and not a total monster. And he isn't this evil in the actual Dark Avengers title, so I don't know. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlbarnett 2009-07-05 08:23 pm UTC (link)
	In Amazing Spiderman Family he watches as a man he couldv'e saved falled to his death (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	werehawk 2009-07-06 06:33 pm UTC (link)
	um...fell (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlbarnett 2009-07-06 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	dont's know where that came from (Reply to this) (Parent)

	venommelendez 2009-07-25 10:51 pm UTC (link)
	This is written by Brian Reed, not bendis. Jesus christ. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-07-25 10:57 pm UTC (link)
	As I said above, "I think Foxhack was saying that the bald Gargan looks like Bendis." (Reply to this) (Parent)

	foxhack 2009-07-26 07:16 pm UTC (link)
	Okay, I removed my comment, it was way too harsh, but seriously, read the rest of the thread. It was a joke making fun of how MacGargan looks a bit like Bendis in that picture. NOTHING MORE. (Reply to this) (Parent)

trelas
2009-07-05 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Personally I don't see it as a far step from the Thunderbolts characterization. Gargan has been constantly shown to be succumbing to the symbiot more and more, as he doesn't have the mental strength or conviction Eddie Brock had. So for him to have lost his control over that matter and even embracing it is, to me, fitting to the path we have been shown so far concerning the character.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-07-05 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	It'd be one thing if he was just more savage and was eating people, but he seems sleazy and like a sexual predator here. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	foxhack 2009-07-05 08:44 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, the "prim and proper package" comment was what made me think that Gargan is just losing his mind thanks to the symbiote. He had control, but now he doesn't. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sandoz_iscariot 2009-07-05 08:37 pm UTC (link)
	Ew. (Reply to this)

stig
2009-07-05 09:03 pm UTC (link)

AIRC, in his debut as the Scorpion he refused to take the antidote that would restore him to normal, turning him into less of a simplistic hired detective killing Spider-Man for $10,000, and more of an amoral predator who believed he couldn't be beat - as written by Stan Lee:

"His body has attained the maximum level of superpower! His brain has been altered until its standards are those of the predatory beast! He has become the embodiment of all that is evil!!" (Etra exclamation marks Stan's.)

Add that to being attached and addicted to a flesh-eating symbiote monster that ups your already healthy strength levels and gives you other abilities...and, yikes.

I'd note that a canon explanation for Ellis' characterization is that the symbiote has been shown to have a signficant healing power for its host; presumably, it detoxed the scorpion juice in his brain in order to pave the way for its own addictive grip.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-07-05 09:45 pm UTC (link)
	I was just gonna mention that. It was made clear that he was already that way. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	xdoop 2009-07-06 12:26 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, but that was the Silver Age. Didn't they say the explosion made Doc Ock evil as well? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stig
2009-07-06 05:18 am UTC (link)

But they're both slightly accurate; the ingestion of animal tissue can cause you to become ill due to tissue regeneration, and the brain can become damaged or traumatized in the wake of an explosion, causing emotional problems for the victim.

Although the writers still thought to retcon it into "His Mum Died The Other Day, He Wasn't Concentrating". Adds that creepy Oedipus complex to the mix and establishes that even a genius can make mistakes, be they generated by grief rather than anger.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	tanetris 2009-07-05 09:17 pm UTC (link)
	Someone's been watching too much hentai. You see that one tendril that goes behind the "You're helping us" part of the speech bubble? Follow that to the lower-right. You tell me where it goes. Note also that he felt compelled to remove her shoes to lick her feet. (Reply to this)

janegray
2009-07-05 09:18 pm UTC (link)

God, I hate the Disposable Sex Worker trope.

It's bad enough when they fridge women to give heroes an excuse to angst, but at least in those cases the deaths aren't supposed to be masturbatory material. When they kill prostitutes, somehow the scene always looks "sexy", like guys are supposed to jerk off over the woman getting brutalized to death. The second and third scans in particular are so tasteless they make me feel like puking.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	queenursula 2009-07-05 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	The woman gets saved in the second scan. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	moneyless_jew 2009-07-06 06:15 am UTC (link)
	It's Venom. Gargan's been losing it for a long time, and he did eat people during Ellis' Thunderbolts run. Typical symbiote. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-07-06 02:07 pm UTC (link)
	Like I said, "It'd be one thing if he was just more savage and was eating people, but he seems sleazy and like a sexual predator here." (Reply to this) (Parent)

ex_menagerie993
2009-07-06 01:34 pm UTC (link)

Didn't the symbiote used to feed on part of the human brain? I mean even the somewhat mild Spider-Man was having moments of snapping and extreme anger as I recall. Give that sort of thing to someone with less self control and you end up with brain eating (90's Venom), and now Gargan just eats people full stop. (Wonder what the original creator of the suit would think of that turn of events).

Second scan: Charlie Brown and Matt Gargan get along. "Wine more day" is just cute. How do those high heels stay on without a back strap of some sort? And I'm terribly amused that there's a prostitute in a sei fuku.

Third scan: Naaaaaughty tentacles! Kind of wonder how that got past editing.

Fourth scan:
I've never been to a strip club. Do you often get cave girl strippers? Because that, in and of itself, is kind of awesome in its own way.

When someone asks you, "so if you went missing, who'd come looking for you?" you should run, not sit around asking questions. It wouldn't have helped but that is totally what I would do. Especially in a creepy black speech bubble sort of voice.

(Reply to this)

psychop_rex
2009-07-07 12:33 am UTC (link)

Other people have already said it, but - yeah, I'm pretty sure this is Gargan losing his mind due to the symbiote's influence. That's always been one of his main characteristics, really - he was this poor schlub of a P.I who got hoodwinked into being a supervillain for the promise of a little extra cash. He's always had more muscles than brains or willpower - it's hardly surprising that being the host of a crazy brain-starved alien bodystocking is proving deleterious to his mental well-being.

(Reply to this)

	venommelendez 2009-07-25 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	It's pretty clear it's the symbiote messing with him and He's done worst before. This is Gargan we're talking about. If this was Eddie Brock you'd have a point. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-07-25 10:57 pm UTC (link)
	When has he done worse before? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	hypnosnake 2009-11-16 11:43 pm UTC (link)
	I miss when Gargan's whole motivation was just wanting the suit off and the superpower thing reversed. (Reply to this)

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