The Scourge of the Underworld is the name of a series of fictional characters appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Writer/editor

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald ( ; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Career Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics f ...

originally created the Scourge in 1985 as a plot device intended to thin the criminal population of the Marvel Universe, in particular eliminating those

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

characters he deemed to be too minor, redundant, or ill-conceived. Numerous other characters have used the name, often with differing motives and loyalties.

Fictional character biography

The Scourge is originally depicted as an unnamed vigilante dedicated to killing criminals. His killing spree reaches its apex in ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

'' #319, where he kills eighteen criminals at an underworld meeting held to devise a way of countering him. When Captain America captures the Scourge, he claims to be the brother of the Enforcer, whom Scourge killed because his criminal activities shamed their father. He claims that this crime led to him creating the Scourge persona with help from a private investigator only identified as Domino, who provides him detailed information on supervillains. Immediately after making this confession, the Scourge is murdered by an unseen assailant. Following this story, several imposter Scourges are introduced. The Scourge's creator,

, explained that while he wanted to resolve the mystery of the Scourge sooner rather than later, he feared that if he brought the Scourge back too soon he would run out of low-tier villains for him to kill and would have to either start killing off mid-tier villains or create new villains for the sole purpose of being victims of the Scourge. In 1993, Gruenwald wrote a four-part '' U.S. Agent'' miniseries to resolve the mysteries involving the Scourge of the Underworld. The series revealed that the various Scourges belong to an organization that Thomas Halloway established following his retirement. Various characters have assumed the Scourge mantle since the original's death, including Frank Simpson,

Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

, and a brainwashed

Jack Monroe Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence when a post on her blog ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now rena ...

and Dennis Dunphy.''Captain America'' (vol. 6) #12 (July 2012)

Villains killed by the Scourge

References

External links

Scourge of the Underworld
at Marvel.com * {{Spider-Man characters Characters created by John Byrne (comics) Characters created by Mark Gruenwald Comic book terrorist organizations Comics characters introduced in 1985 Fictional assassins in comics Fictional mass murderers Fictional serial killers Marvel Comics male supervillains Vigilante characters in comics