Mach IV
Mach IV is a comic book character that first appeared in Strange Tales #123
Growing tired of his mechanic job Abe Jenkins created a suit of armor and became the beetle. Originally a criminal he changed his ways while in the Thunderbolts.
History
Abner Jenkins was a great mechanic at an aircraft parts factory. He became bored of his low paying job. So he decided to build a super suit. he used it for fame, wealth, and adventure. Jenkins lured the Human Torch and the Thing into battle, thinking if he beat half of the Fantastic Four he would become famous. The Human Torch and the Thing defeated him and the Beetle was sent to jail. After he had finished his prison term, he was given back his Beetle equipment since there is no law against a man owning an armored costume. He wanted to gain revenge on the Human Torch so he searched for him, he followed the Human Torch, studied him, and then knew what he must do. He attempted to kidnap The Human Torch's girlfriend Doris. When the Beetle arrived at Doris's house, he encountered Spider-Man. The two fought, but the Beetle was able to eventually make a getaway. When the Human Torch arrived, he saw webbing thought Spider-Man was responsible for the kidnapping of his girlfriend. He then chased Spider-Man, who led him to the Beetle. They eventually caught the Beetle and he was sent back to jail.The Beetle's original battlesuit was trashed after an encounter with Iron Man. Shortly afterwards he designed a more sophisticated suit. He hired the Ringer so that he could analyse Spider-Man's fighting style and strategies and program them into his battle computer. Unfortunately for him, he put a vital system right on his helmet and Spider-Man snapped it off causing the suit to shut down.
Beetle would spend several years being beaten by Spider-Man, Iron Man and Daredevil. The Beetle's armor was upgraded by Justin Hammer (one of his regular employers) and thus brought him to the attention of Iron Man during his Armor Wars. None of his Mark II armors would last long after the original was negated.
From Villain to Hero
Abner came to the attention of Baron Zemo who was organizing a new Masters of Evil. When the majority of the worlds heroes sacrificed themselves to stop Onslaught, the Masters of Evil came up with the idea to impersonate a new team of Heroes. They became the Thunderbolts. Abner took up the identity of Mach I. Their plan was to gain the trust of the peopl and gain access to sensitive equipment that would help them take over the world. During their time as Heroes many of the Masters of Evil started to like the admiration and respect they were earning in their new roles.
Abner also became interested in Melissa Gold, the villainess formerly known as Screaming Mimi, now going by Songbird. The two became a couple much to the displeasure of Baron Zemo. The Black Widow, suspecting who the Thunderbolts really were, cornered the duo when they were alone and related to them a story of redemption and how several of the Avengers themselves were once villains to saw the light. Before Songbird and Mach I could decide what to do the heroes returned from Counter-Earth and Zemo outed them to the world. The Thunderbolts initially went along with Zemo (as the heroes were after them) and when Zemo set his plan into motion most of the team turned on him. After stopping his plan the Thunderbolts went on the run and tried to prove that they had really turned over a new leaf and wanted to be the heroes they had tried to be before.
Punishment for his Crimes
Hawkeye inserted himself into the group and seeing the potential in this team tried to broker a deal for to get them pardoned. Unfortunately the government didn't go for it but Hawkeye didn't tell them this. Part of the deal included Abner turning himself in for a murder he committed while he was the Beetle. Reluctantly, even after Songbird offered to flee with him, he agreed to turn himself in. Abner know doing so would be extremely risky as many of the inmates knew that he had turned against them and even put them in prison. Some despised him before that simply because they already didn't like him. Abner however managed to survive, even coming once again to the attention of former employer Justin Hammer.
Mach II - IV
Upon his "release" Abe's looks were changed by the Fixer to go with his new identity of Matthew Davis. Abe's new face at first caused some friction with his girlfriend Songbird (as Fixer had transformed him from a Caucasian to African-American) but she grew used to it. His features eventually returned to normal and he is still working with the Fixer. After the Thunderbolts stop Special Agent Gyrich from killing all metahumans with nanobots the Thunderbolts were all issued pardons in exchange for never donning their costumes again. They were unable to keep this promise as Graviton returned and killed all of the Redeemers, thus the V-Battalion issued the Thunderbolts new version of their uniforms and armors. Abe's Mach III armor was designed by the V-Battalion (as opposed to the two developed by himself and the Fixer). The battle with Graviton landed the Thunderbolts on Counter-Earth where they were heroes. Upon returning Abe decided (much to Melissa's chagrin) to return to prison to serve out the remainder of his prison sentence (despite already having a Presidential Pardon).
Upon his official release he re-created the Thunderbolts (which had temporarily dispanded) to help give other villains seeking redemption a chance (or in some cases a chance to be in the spotlight for the other side). He designed and once again renamed himself Mach IV
Equipment
Mach IV's armor grants him super strength, flight and multiple weapons systems. Possessing no super human powers Abe relies on his intellect and mechanical skills to continuously improve the suit.
Alternate realities
Earth-2149
In the Marvel Zombies reality Abe appears alongside the Thunderbolts and is wearing the MACH I armor. The group is fighting a zombie Thor and then Nova. He was later killed by Human Torch's flame blast.
| Super Name: | Mach IV |
| Real Name: | Abner Ronald Jenkins |
| Aliases: |
Aaron Jeffries Abe Jenkins Beetle Mach 1 Mach 2 Mach 3 Mach V Matthew Davis |
| Publisher: | Marvel Publishing |
| Gender: | Male |
| Character Type: | Human |
| 1st Appearance: | Strange Tales #123 |
| Appears in: | 142 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
