Thursday, August 27, 2015

Pig On Board

Mutation in The Marvel Universe is a bit of a deus ex machina, really. How can a man produce metal claws from his body? Mutation! How can a woman bend space and time? Mutation! But once and while you get a mutant who can understand any language, or a mutant who can learn and memorize anything. Or-in this case-be the perfect trucker. This week's Z-Lister is Razorback!
Created by Archie Goodwin, Bill Mantlo, and Sal Buscema, and first appearing in "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #12" in 1977, Buford T. Hollis was a mutant trucker from Arkansas who travelled to New York and fought Spider-Man. After their fight, Razorback explained he was in New York looking for his younger sister who had joined a cult. The cult leader was The Hate-Monger (lame villain), but turned out to be The Man-Beast (equally as lame) who Razorback and Spider-Man defeated.
Later on, Razorback would assist a female trucker named Tayrn in stealing a NASA spaceship to find Tayrn's lover Ulysses Solomon Archer, who had gone into space to become "a space trucker". She-Hulk snuck aboard too. Archer ended up mating with a fellow astronaut, and Razorback and She-Hulk teamed up to stop Xemnu The Titan from turning Archer's unborn children into an alien. After that adventure, Razorback, his new lover Tayrn, and Archer would be hired by NASA to pilot this spacecraft.
Yadda yadda he was an Avenger in Arkansas, yadda yadda he was a Skrull, yadda yadda lets talk superpowers! Razorback is a competent fighter and his suit has an electrified fin on the back (hence Razorback). His mutant ability is his technologically advanced mind, he can operate any machine and/or pilot any vehicle just by putting his hands on the wheel. He's credited as the greatest pilot in the Marvel Universe. He lost this mutant ability after "M-Day", but retained most of his operational knowledge.
This is a very silly character, but he is also the perfect example of what comic books provide: funny, weird, and one-of-a-kind stories. Razorback is one of those obscure character who I want to see get more recognition, a cameo here or there. Sure he's depowered, but what if a superhero needs to carpool or the X-Men need a secret weapon that nobody would expect? Razorback has potential to be the next Squirrel Girl in his ridiculous awesomeness. Maybe he can be the next villain for the next Spider-Man reboot. What? Fine, we'll do the Green Goblin again, gosh!
Thanks for reading!

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