The Heckler was created by Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum and first
appeared in HECKLER #1.
PERSONAL DATA
Alter Ego: Stu Mosely
Also known as: Swift Justice, The Haunting Avenger, The Duke of Disdain, The
Sultan of Swipes, Mr. Heckler, Ol' Heckster, Hecky, The Big Heck
Occupation: Coffee shop owner, Adventurer
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: None whatsoever!
Base of Operations: Delta City
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
HISTORY
Not much is known about the Heckler. If it hadn't been for the fact that
his secret identity was revealed halfway through his first issue, he could
have been just about anybody: Your best friend, or the guy next door, or that
fleeting shadow in the alley, or that guy who hangs around your copy shop
wearing bermuda shorts with dress shoes and black socks. He could even have
been you... but alas he is not. In fact he is just a plain old ordinary (well
maybe not that ordinary) coffee shop owner named Stu Mosely.
Exactly why he chose to become the Heckler or even if it was of his own choice
is not known. Maybe it was just the ages old case of a bored bored coffee
shop owner looking for a little fun. However, part of the reason why Stu Mosely
became the Heckler might be found in the fact that he was born in the thirteenth
sign of the Zodiac... Hecklelarius the Heckler. To be born under this unusual
sign your day of birth have to fall between Pisces and Aries on a leap year...
or at least that's what the believers of this sign claim.
The Heckler's secret identity is a closely guarded secret, that is known
by but a few including Legde, Mr. Dude and everybody who has read about his
adventures in "The Heckler" and those that have since been told
about it. Considering the sales of the book and the fast cancellation that
can't have been be more than about a dozen.
POWERS AND ABILITIES
Stu Mosely has an amazing ability to arrive at a destined location at the
right time. In other words, he is a very punctual guy and hates to be late!
As the Heckler he has an amazing ability to piss a lot of people off (mainly
bad guys though) by constantly mocking and making fun of his opponents. On
the other hand a lot of people (mainly his fans) find him extremely funny.
Heckler is also a master of disguices and once put on a purple dress over
his regular outfit and cunningly decieved the intergalactic Cosmic Clown into
believing that he was not the Heckler.
The hero of Greek legend has, needless to say, appeared in many different
incarnations at DC. This version, by Gerry Conway, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez,
and Wally Wood, wandered the devastated lands of an Earth devastated by nuclear
and natural disaster, tying in with other DC features as diverse as the Atomic
Knights and OMAC/Kamandi.
Hercules Unbound (1975-1977) was the creation of Gerry Conway, who wrote issues #1-6, with art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Wally Wood. The
premise had Herc breaking free from millennia of imprisonment about a month
after the outbreak of World War Three. In short order, Herc befriends a blind
teenager, Kevin, and his dog, Basil (#1). With issue #2, the trio makes it
to Paris, where they meet the rest of the series entourage — Dave Rigg, Jennifer
Monroe and Simon St. Charles.
Ares lurks in the background for the entire six issues, finally confronting
Herc in #6. In the end, they declare a truce, with Ares being granted his
freedom in exchange for restoring the life to Basil (killed in #5).
Walt Simonson pencilled the latter six issues, with inks by Wood (#7-8) and
Bob Layton (#9-10) and Walt himself (#11-12). David Michelinie scripted #7–9,
the last of which featured the death of Dave Rigg and revealed the approximate
date that the war had begun — October, 1986.
That, of course, had been the date established in John Broome's "Atomic
Knights" series. In mid-1976, Paul Levitz had penned an article that
attempted to place all of DC's apocalytic futures into a single timeline (Amazing World of DC Comics #12). The Knights/Hercules connection worked just fine,
since both presented a near-future society that wasn't all that different
than our own. The problem was the suggestion that the pre-1986 society was
the highly advanced world of OMAC and that, eventually, Kamandi would exist
in that world. Indeed, HERC #4 & 5 had even introduced humanoid animal
races and mentioned their KAMANDI #16 origin.
Unfortunately, Hercules Unbound #10 (by Cary Bates)
tried to bring all the series together by picking up plot threads from OMAC #8 and featuring the Atomic Knights. By the end of that issue (set in early 1987),
one of the Knights (Bryndon) was dead — despite his having survived well
into the 1990s in the original series.
Even worse was the final two-parter's explanation for Kevin's mysterious
powers (hinted at in Conway's run) — he'd been killed in issue #1 and replaced
by an Anti-Ares! (AWODCC #12 had hinted at another possibility: Kevin's
"rather extraordinary ancestry.") These events were later written off as part of Gardner (Atomic Knight) Grayle's fantasy
in DC Comics Presents #57.
Conway later wrote Hercules into present-day Wonder Woman #259-261 (1979), dressed
in the Lopez-designed outfit (Simonson had introduced a new one in #11) though
Herc was a villain in this context.
The Homeless Avenger was an unnamed vigilante who took vengeance upon those
criminals who preyed upon the homeless in New York City. The Homeless Avenger
would stop crimes against the homeless and then kill the perpetrators, usually
using whatever weapons the criminals had intended to use to threaten their
victims.
The Vigilante and Black Thorn went out on the Homeless Avenger's trail, but
received little help from the homeless community itself, who viewed the masked
man as a hero and a protector. Black Thorn wanted to use force to get information
from the homeless men and women, but Vigilante refused to let her do so.
In the mean time, the Homeless Avenger stopped a homeless man from being
killed by a thug in the subway, throwing the miscreant on the tracks in front
of a train. The homeless man, obviously confused and mentally ill, took out
a gun and shot the Homeless Avenger in the shoulder. While fleeing the scene,
a Subway cop tried to apprehend the masked man, but in the scuffle the Homeless
Avenger killed the officer with his own gun and fled the scene.
After an argument on the ethics of the case with the Vigilante, Black Thorn
went out on her own to extract information from the homelss people who had
refused to help them earlier. She almost caught up with the Homeless Avenger
on a rooftop, but he unknowingly eluded her (after tossing an attack off the
roof). Black Thorn didn't know (or care) that the Vigilante was pursuing her
as well.
Later that morning in Grand Central Station, a bunch of thugs accosted a
homeless man sleeping against the wall, not realizing it was actually the
Homeless Avenger. He killed one of them and announced himself to the whole
terminal, which roused nearly thirty creeps who had known people the Homeless
Avenger had killed. As they were about to attack him, Black Thorn arrived
and knocked out five of the attackers with tranq thorns, wanting to collar
the Homeles Avenger herself. As she turned her gun on the Homeless Avenger,
the Vigilante's nunchakus flew out and knocked her weapon out of her hand.
As the rest of the terminal watched, the Vigilante and Black Thorn argued
and then fought, with the Vigilante finally knocking her out. The Vigilante
offered his help to the Homeless Avenger against the crowd closing in on him,
but the masked man refused, saying that the Vigilante had done enough already.
The Vigilante left carrying Black Thorn.
The newspaper headline the next day announced that the Homeless Avenger had
been slain in the subway.
Comments:
There were really very few details ever given about the Homeless Avenger.
We were never even told his real name. All we know is that he was a fairly
good hand-to-hand combatant and that he had a dedication to returning dignity
and respect to the many homeless people who inhabited New York City. A truly
noble cause, though definitely NOT enough to justify the extremes that he
went to in order to achieve it.
The Homeless Avenger incident was one of the last in a series of events that
brought Adrian Chase's career as the Vigilante to an end. After allowing a
police officer to fall to his death in VIGILANTE #37, Chase's mind and dedication
to his role as the Vigilante was slowly eroding as he found himself becoming
nothing more than a costumed killer. After escaping the authorities one final
time, and apparently killing a police detective that he knew back when he
was a District Attorney, Adrian Chase committed suicide in order to stop himself
from becoming everything he most hated.
Appearances:
Vigilante #48 (December 1987)
Vigilante #49 (January 1988)
Vigilante #50 (February 1988 - mention on first page only)
Human Cannonball
Created by Tom DeFalco, the Human Cannonball was Ryan Chase, a would-be
super-hero who grew up in the circus, training for his goal and developing
a rocket belt and helmet that enabled him to blast through the air like a,
well, human cannonball. Ryan wore a green shirt (with a yellow CB emblem)
and tights, black pants, gloves and helmet and violet boots that came up to
his thighs (SUPERMAN FAMILY #188).
Though too cocky for his own good, the Human Cannonball overcame his early
blunders to become an effective, charming partner for Lois Lane (SF #189,
191). He was a central player in the battle to free the DNA Project from the
control of the evil Adam (#192-194).
The Human Hurricane
Although the story shows no credits, the Grand Comic Database lists the
artist as Bernard Bailey.
House Of Mystery #155 (Dec 1965)
Mitchell Anderson, science student, holds down one of Earths strangest —
and most dangerous — jobs. Each working day, Mitch volunteers for new experiments
to determine if Man can defy nature, and perform rescue work in fierce, raging
hurricanes. He buckles on a temperature control belt, dons a special environmental
suit, and is exposed to artificially generated hurricane conditions.
One fateful Saturday, as Mitch tests his temperature control belt, he gets
perspiration in his eyes. He gropes his way towards the small room where his
hurricane suit is kept, but accidentally enters the wrong doorway, that of
the electrical control room. Mitch hits one of the switches and, in a split-second
of terror, is bathed in burning heat rays. An alarm brings help, and Mitch
is rescued from harm. One of the scientists remarks that the heat rays couldve
agitated Mitchs molecules to an extent where it mightve been fatal.
Shortly, as if nothing had happened, Mitch dons the hurricane suit and enters
the wind tunnel. The scientists increase the winds until they exceed 200 miles
per hour. Mitch is relieved that the special alloys, woven into his suit,
protect him from the debris that is breaking off of the deteriorating test
houses. When he begins to feel a chill, Mitch turns up the heat dial on his
temperature control belt, but something totally unexpected happens. With a
great explosion, Mitch bursts out of the hurricane suit, and begins flying
through the air! An incredible force cracks open the ceiling of the lab, hurling
the helpless volunteer skywards. With his hands flailing about wildly, Mitch
accidentally hits the temperature control knob, and the gale forces surrounding
him begin to die down. He falls gently to the ground, landing upright on his
feet.
After Mitch returns to the lab, he is astounded to discover that the scientists
have examined his torn suit, and have concluded that the explosive force came
from within. They believe that, when Mitch turned up the heat, it agitated
the molecules in his body, which in turn agitated the molecules around him
with hurricane force! The scientists tell Mitch that he must sit tight until
they can examine him. They fear that if he started to get overheated in a
crowded area, he could become a deadly menace.
Just at that moment, a man rushes frantically into the room. He informs everyone
that, a few minutes earlier, a strange hurricane force had broken a weather
balloon loose from its moorings. A weather man is trapped aboard. Feeling
responsible, Mitch turns up the temperature knob on his belt, and flies up
after the balloon. Mitch maneuvers around the drifting craft until his hurricane
forces drive it safely back to land. Soon after, back at the lab, Mitch tells
the scientists that, until he is cured of his affliction, he can at least
use his powers to do some good.
Mitch is as good as his word. When a spreading forest fire threatens nearby
towns, he uses his powers to snuff out the raging inferno. When a private
yacht, caught in a storm at sea, heads for crushing reefs, he generates enough
lift to pick the boat right up out of the water, carrying it to safety.
The next day, however, Mitch begins to worry that his wild molecules could
be killing him. One of the scientists from the lab tells Mitch that a specialist
is being driven over to evaluate him. Unfortunately, the car carrying the
specialist is forced to turn around when it is threatened by a devastating
tornado. The driver quickly finds a phone to call the lab, and tells the scientist
that the tornado is heading towards a local town. Mitch jumps to his feet
and turns up the heat knob, determined to stop the twister with his own hurricane
power. He boldly enters the tornado, experiencing forces he could hardly have
imagined. Just as Mitch is about to reach the limit of his tolerance, the
twister is neutralized. But the heros success is not without a cost. His powers
suddenly disappear, and he falls to the ground, landing unharmed on a large,
thick haystack.
Later, after several tests are performed at the lab, Mitch is told that the
tornado has somehow knocked his molecules back into order. Although his unique
powers appear to be gone for good, Mitch is simply relieved to know that he
has been given a clean bill of health.
