Porcupine

Origin

Alexander Gentry, was originally a scientist who worked as a weapons designer for the United States Army, conceived the idea of designing a battle-suit in imitation of a porcupine: the suit would be covered with quill-like projections for defense. The suit would be able to shoot its quills, or gases, flames, chemicals, paralysis-inducing pellets, or weapons from quill-like tubes, at an opponent. Gentry spends months working overtime to create his porcupine battle-suit. He is proud of his achievement when the suit was finished, and believes his invention is worth a fortune. Yet Gentry also believes that the government would pay him, one of its employees, virtually nothing for his creation. Angrily, Gentry decides to keep the porcupine battle-suit and to use it to become wealthy through crime. Thus Gentry became the Porcupine, one of the first costumed professional criminals of his generation.

Creation

Porcupine was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck

Character Evolution

Alexander Gentry

Alex Gentry was one of the first generation Marvel villains of the silver age who appeared in the early 60's fighting Hank Pym. His many other opponents included the X-men where he teamed up with the Eel, the Scarecrow, the Plantman, and the Unicorn. Captain America where he teamed up with Batroc the Leaper and the Whirlwind. He fought Cap again with his former partners the Eel, Plantman, and Scarecrow. He also fought Iron Man and the Defenders on two separate occasions. Gentry even went up against the Wasp, Hank Pym, and Nighthawk in a blotched fashion show heist.

The original Porcupine died a hero and was honored in Avengers Mansion as an Avenger even though that is a fact that has long since been forgotten and neglected since Marvel. Cap did him mighty proud by honoring him as a fallen hero."I will point out that the Porcupine had a few victories in his time even though it has always been written that he never won. He did beat Ant-Man. He did beat Giant-Man. He did beat the Beast. He beat Doctor Strange. He basically won the battles, but they won the wars. The same could be said for every super villain". The legacy of the original Porcupine Alex Gentry lives on.on

Major Story Arcs

The Death Alex Gentry

After his latest fight with Iron Man, his original armor was destroyed by his own concussion grenades during his stint working for Justin Hammer. He completely revamped his armor and streamlined it. He tested it against Cap and was soundly defeated by Cap. He did defeat the Nomad with his new armor. After many defeats he decided to retire and sell his new armor to the highest bidder. After no one would take it off his hands, Captain America offered to buy it if he helped him find the Serpent Society. Reluctantly Gentry did. Unfortunately for him he was drawn into the battle with four members of the Serpent Society and his opponent was Diamondback who wanted to avoid fighting Cap. When he decided to flee he accidentally fell on one of his own quills and it punctured his heart.

After Cap defeated the Rattler, Death Adder, and Copperhead, he found Gentry dying. Gentry told Cap he was going to die as he lived, like one big loser. Cap reassured him that he was no loser and indeed was a hero for helping Cap defeat the Serpent Society. No one knows if he even heard this because he died there on the spot. Cap honored him and buried him in a grave reserved for fallen Avengers. His armor was also placed on the second floor of Avengers Mansion above a plaque reading "Armor of The Porcupine. Honored Avenger."

Aren't you suppose to be dead?

Porcupine and a number of costume criminals appear as witnesses in court when the Trapster decides to sue the Tinkerer for consumer fraud. Some criminals like Porcupine and the Taskmaster appear on the behalf of the Tinkerer and a brawl ensues when Taskmaster tells the court that the problem is with the users and not the weapons. A huge melee breaks out and She-Hulk is forced to intervene when the brawl crashes into her case in court. During the fight, She-Hulk asked the Porcupine "Aren't you suppose to be dead?" Porcupine replies "You're right, I am" and drops dead on the floor.

You Only Die Twice

Arnim Zola created numerous proto-husks from DNA samples of deceased heroes and villains including Porcupine whom he called his Corpse Corps. These resurrected husks would secure riches to fund his genetic experiments but come into conflict with Deadpool after Animus steals some files from him. The merc with a mouth shoots Turner D. Century in the knee and he accidentally sets the Porcupine on fire with his umbrella flamethrower . Deadpool destroys most of the proto-husks and defeats Arnim Zola.

Powers and Abilities

Power Armor Suit

His original Porcupine armor was bulky and very unusual looking. It was based on a Porcupines natural defenses. Hence the Porcupine quills for protection. He also had an array of weapons he used as well. His main weapon was firing his quills from multiple plastic tubes on his armor. He did this by pressing studs on his belt buckle. Other weapons included an array of gases. Smoke screens. Hypnotic disks. Acetyline torch. Electrical bolts. Lasers. Rockets. Concussion grenades. His original armor also had an exoskeleton that augmented his strength somewhat that was never determined. His armor also had a gas mask for protection against his own weapons as well a limited oxygen supply. He also had limited flight. He would actually fire his rockets and then to control his flight would fire a suction cup quill into a building or something solid to control his flight.