Digger

Origin

Roderick Krupp is gravedigger gone bad and normally resides in the Tower of Shadows. Not much is known about him or why his skin is green. But he does tell stories of burying people alive and killing them. These actions gave him the name Digger. The Shroud contacted and asked Digger to join the Night Shift. While with the Night Shift, Digger is shown burying people up to their necks, not completely. It is unclear whether this was intentional (and perhaps an attempt at making the subject matter a bit less grisly and a bit more family friendly), or if his work was just unfinished.

Creation

Digger was created by Jim Steranko and first appeared in Tower of Shadows issue 1 (1969).

Major Story Arcs

The Night Shift

Digger would be recruited into the Night Shift by the Shroud and battle numerous super-humans with this group. The Night Shift would battle alongside Captain America and take down the Power Broker when they discovered he was dumping his failed augments into the sewer system of Los Angeles. The Night Shift would come into conflict with the West Coast Avengers on a few occasions. Digger was telling a bad-time story to the Calamari brothers as he buried them under a cement street. His ghastly task was suddenly interrupted by Mockingbird and a fight ensued. Digger was no match for this west coast beauty and was taken into police custody. The Night Shift heard the news of Digger's defeat and decided to retaliate against the West Coast Avengers. The Shroud was absent at the time so the deputy leader, Dansen Macabre wanted to teach those glory-grabbers a lesson. Their attempt at revenge was a failure and the Night Shift was defeated.

New Management

A new Hangman would take over as leader of the Night Shift and all the current members were supernaturally augmented by the powerful demon, Satannish in exchange for their souls. The powered up Night Shift gang defeated and captured Hawkeye, US Agent and Julia Carpenter as Spider Woman. Digger was currently in prison since his encounter with Mockingbird on Hollywood Boulevard. Digger wanted out and overpowered three prison guards. He conveniently found a shovel on a dirt mount inside the prison yard and used it to catapult himself over the prison wall. This was a set up by Iron Man and he allowed Digger to escape from prison so he could lead them to the rest of the Night Shift gang. Digger led Iron Man and the Living Lightning to the Tower of Shadows and they were able to rescue their teammates. Satannish was later conjured up during a national televised fight between the West Coast Avengers and the Night Shift. Digger and the rest of his teammates were getting stronger after Satannish appeared. The Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange told the Night Shift members that the Hangman offered their souls to the demon so he can become a movie star. The Night Shift members agreed to give up their demon-given energies to power up the West Coast Avengers. Digger and the rest of the Night Shift decided to help the Avengers and they attacked Satannish together. Satannish was forced to leave the earthly plane and all members of the Night Shift lost their augmented abilities.

Sometime after this Digger battled and narrowly lost to Spiderman.

The Blazing Skull confronts Digger in Los Angeles and wanted him to answer some questions. A fight ensues and the Blazing Skull knocks out Digger when he gets slammed into a brick wall. Captain America intervenes and wants to talk to the Blazing Skull because he thinks he is connected to the Red Skull. Needle, Misfit and the Brothers Grimm interrupt their fight and take on both men for messing with Digger. However, his Night Shift buddies are taken down by Captain America and the Blazing Skull. Digger wakes up and immediately surrenders after seeing his teammates on the ground.

Midnight Sons and Zombies

The Hood has recently enlisted the Night Shift to accompany him on an assignment to the island nation of Taino. Black Talon has captured the Zombie, Simon Garth and Z-Pool (zombie Deadpool) after they escaped quarantine from the ARMOR agency. Black Talon wanted to sell his undead captives to the Hood because their zombie disease could possibly be weaponized. Morbius created a vaccine against this infection and brought his team, the Midnight Sons to Taino so they can stop this threat. The Night Shift attack the Midnight Sons as they approach a cemetery. Digger smacks Morbius in the face with his shovel and draws blood. Morbius is angry and filled with bloodlust. He charges Digger and impales his head with his own shovel. The Midnight Sons switch their dancing partners and Digger gets slashed up by the Werewolf, Jack Russel. Some residents of Taino are infected by Z-Pool after he bites a guard's finger. A zombie army approaches the superhumans and Morbius uses his vaccine on the undead. The zombie virus mutated into a superbug strain when it came into contact with the vaccine and emerged as a green cloud of death. The zombie virus was airborne and it transformed Digger and the rest of the Night Shift into zombies. The Hood and the Midnight Sons joined forces to stop this zombie army. It would take the magic of Jennifer Kale and voodoo sorcery of Black Talon to bottle up the zombie cloud. They directed the virus-mind into the body of Simon Garth and successfully contained the infection. Digger and the rest of the Night Shift reverted back to their human form and left Taino with the Hood.

Versus Moon Knight

Digger would reunite with the Night Shift when they are hired by Snapdragon to eliminate Moon Knight and Echo in Los Angeles. Digger and the Night Shift fail to kill Moon Knight which would lead to their ultimate demise. Digger and the Night Shift would be confronted by the new West Coast Kingpin, Count Nefaria where he incinerates them for being so incompetent and moronically stupid.

Powers & Abilities

Digger appears to have been augmented by some magic and possesses a degree of superhuman durability and resistance to injury. It appears that he feels no physical pain and can function normally despite massive traumatic injuries inflicted upon him. Digger was able to stand and fight after his shovel was thrusted into his head during a confrontation with Morbius. It's possible he got powered up by the Hood after he received the Norn Stones from Loki.

Weapons:

Digger carries a shovel as a weapon. Digger was provided with a special alloy shovel that made it virtually indestructible when he was augmented by Satannish.

Other Versions

Max Comics: Dead of Night

Digger would later be used to serve the function of "Crypt Keeper"-styled narrator introducing each issue of the Marvel Max "Dead of Night: Man-Thing" miniseries.