Characters : The Masked Marauder
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Attributes
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black, greying at the temples
Features: A pencil-thin moustache
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Summary
Created By: Stan Lee, John Romita, Sr., Frank Giacoia
Real Name: Frank Farnum
Current Aliases: None
Former Aliases: Mr. Dunn
Dual Identity: Known to Authorities
Current Occupation: None
Former Occupation: Building Manager, Big M (Leader of the Maggia)
Citizenship: United States
Legal Status: Incarcerated
Place of Birth: New York
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Known Confidants: None
Known Allies: Gladiator, Stilt-Man, Tri-Man (The Mangler, the Dancer, and the Brain), Steele and Hacker, Pardee, Strenk, Creach, the Tri-Animan, Cyclone, the Maggia
Major Enemies: Daredevil, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Werewolf By Night, Gladiator, Carrion
Usual Bases: None
Former Bases: New York City, Detroit
Current Groups: None
Former Groups: Leader of the Maggia
Education: College educated
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Powers & Paraphenalia
Strength Level: Normal human strength
Powers: None
Abilities: Great leadership abilities (though not so good in
the planning department), brilliant inventor of opti-blast, Tri-Man,
Bomb-droid, etc.
Equipment: Androids, truck with "hydraulic hoist", blimps,
helicopters with force field, master control headquarters, teleportation
device, and so on.
Weapons: The sight-robbing opti-blast built into his goggles.
Limitations: For all of his nifty gimmicks, the Marauder is
just a normal man who doesn't fare real well against super-heroes.
Has a tendency to be a poor planner. Makes promises to the Maggia that
he can't keep.
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Background
The origin of the Masked Marauder has never been revealed. He first
appeared as an already successful crime leader with men, money, and
resources at his command. Although he is clearly an engineering genius,
capable of creating levitation/teleportation rays, androids, exoskeleton
armor, and blinding opti-blasts, his real identity was eventually revealed
to be Frank Farnum, the manager of the Manhattan building in which the law
offices of Nelson and Murdock reside. Where did his expertise come from?
Where did he get his money to begin his organization? What were his reasons
for leading a life of crime? None of these questions has ever
been answered.
The Masked Marauder first comes to the public's attention battling
Spider-Man, prior to his big attack on the World Motors Building. He
draws Daredevil into the picture and arranges for the two super-heroes
to fight each other while he and his henchmen steal the XB-390, a new
auto engine. This plot is eventually foiled by Spider-Man and Daredevil.
Although all of his men are captured, the Marauder himself manages to
escape.
Taking on new men, culled from the New York City underworld, the Marauder
arranges to have the Gladiator sprung from prison. He intends to use
his new man as glorified muscle but the Gladiator proves very hard to tame.
In the end, the Marauder is forced to take him on as his partner. The
two villains decide to try to take over the Maggia. They present their
credentials and promise to defeat Daredevil. The Marauder creates his
Tri-Man, an android animated with the strength of the Mangler (a
wrestler), the moves of the Dancer (a safecracker) and the genius of
the Brain (an underworld figure), for the purpose of defeating Daredevil.
The plan fails when Daredevil defeats the Tri-Man instead. The
Maggia agree to take in the Gladiator but they spurn the Masked Marauder.
The Marauder's next plan is to team up with Stilt-Man to try to sniff out
Daredevil's secret identity. He ends up in a special helicopter with
Matt Murdock (who is actually Daredevil), Matt's law partner Foggy Nelson,
and their secretary Karen Page. The helicopter has a force field that
disintegrates anything that comes in contact with it. Unfortunately
for the Marauder, what comes in contact with it is his body.
The Marauder is presumed dead until he re-appears in Detroit some years
later. (He reveals that his force field disintegrator was actually a
teleportation device that allowed him to escape and start over again
elsewhere.) With his henchmen Steele and Hacker, he steals Tony Stark's
experimental space shuttle and runs afoul of Iron Man, who defeats him.
Later, the Marauder again encounters Iron Man along with Jack Russell, the
Werewolf By Night. His plans (with his new henchmen Pardee, Creach, and
Strenk) involve creating a Tri-Animan (an android powered by three
animals instead of men) to aid in his revenge again the Maggia. He
fails.
When the Marauder next appears, he has somehow become Big M, the leader
of the Maggia. In battle with Spider-Man and Daredevil, he "permanently"
blinds the web-slinger and threatens New York with his "bombdroid",
a Tri-Man carrying a nuclear device. As a blinded Spider-Man succeeds
in defusing the bomb, Daredevil defeats the Marauder in the same way he
did in their first meeting... by resisting the effects of the opti-blast
because he is already blind.
The Marauder is presumably still in prison after this latest unsuccessful
exploit.
Thanks To:
Some of the above information is extracted from the various
versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent
Marvel Encyclopaedias.
The assistance of the
Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
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By Al Sjoerdsma (E-Mail)
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