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The Strongman is the name of three different fictional characters appearing in
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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 ...
.


Publication history

The Bruce Olafson incarnation of Strongman first appeared in '' Incredible Hulk'' #3 (September 1962) as a member of the Circus of Crime, and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The character subsequently appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #16 (September 1964), ''The Avengers'' #22 (November 1965), ''Thor'' #145 (October 1967), ''Ghost Rider'' #72-73 (September–October 1982), ''The Sensational She-Hulk'' #1 (May 1989), and ''X-Men and Power Pack'' #3 (February 2006). The Strongman appeared as part of the "Circus of Crime" entry in the '' Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #2.


Fictional character biography


Bruce Olafsen

Bruce Olafsen was born in
Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, but later came to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and became a naturalized American citizen. As a longtime member of the criminal organization Circus of Crime, Bruto the Strongman works as a circus strongman and weight-lifter. He has particularly strong biceps and teeth. Bruto first assisted the Circus of Crime to rob the people that attended the circus and were hypnotized by Ringmaster with one of the attendees being Rick Jones. When Hulk came bursting through the tent, Strongman and the rest of the Circus of Crime attacked Hulk where Ringmaster manages to hypnotize Hulk to be part of his next circus act. The next day, Hulk escapes Ringmaster's control and defeat the Circus of Crime before leaving with Rick upon the arrival of Thunderbolt Ross' army. Strongman was later seen with Ringmaster when he hypnotizes Daredevil into serving him. Spider-Man manages to break Daredevil free of the hypnosis as they both defeat the Circus of Crime. Strongman was seen at the Circus of Crime when Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch wanted to join a normal circus, unaware that it was a front. Strongman joins the Circus of Crime into fleeing when they claimed that the three superheroes were trying to rob their circus. When Strongman is laid out upon straining himself upon trying to lift an elephant, Ringmaster had to hold auditions for a temporary strongman to cover for Strongman. Strongman was present when Ringmaster forced Black Goliath into joining the Circus of Crime and fighting Power Man leading the two of them to be hypnotized. After the hypnosis was undone, Power Man fought the rest of the Circus of Crime and freed Black Goliath from their control while turning the hypnosis against them enough to leave them for the police. Strongman was with the Ringmaster when the Circus of Crime attacked Hulk and the ex-Circus of Crime members on a deserted island. After freeing the ex-Circus of Crime members, Hulk defeats them. Strongman was with the Circus of Crime when Ringmaster hypnotized Dragon Man into serving him. The Circus of Crime is defeated by Hulk again where they managed to escape. Strongman was with the Circus of Crime when they were seen in Bagalia. In '' Secret Empire'', Strongman and the Circus of Crime join Helmut Zemo's Army of Evil.


Percy Van Norton

The second Strongman, Percy Van Norton, is a
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
and a member of the Battle-Axis who possesses drug-induced super-strength. He is loosely based on the character of the same name from ''Crash Comic Adventures''.


Spider-Squad's Strongman

The third Strongman appears as a member of the Spider-Squad, who Anton DeLionatus used in a failed attempt to gain money before being defeated by Spider-Man.''Amazing Spider-Man Annual'' #11 (August 1977)


Powers and abilities

The Bruce Olafsen incarnation of Strongman has no superhuman powers, but is strong and a skilled wrestler. The Percy Van Norton incarnation of Strongman possesses superhuman physical abilities derived from drugs.


In other media

* The Bruce Olafsen incarnation of Strongman appears in the ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
'' episode "Carnival of Crime". * The Bruce Olafsen incarnation of Strongman appears in the '' Avengers Assemble'' episode "Crime and Circuses", voiced by Adrian Pasdar. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.


References


External links


Strongman
at Marvel.com * Strongman at Marvel Wiki {{Steve Ditko Characters created by Stan Lee Characters created by Steve Ditko Comics characters introduced in 1962 Fictional circus performers Fictional immigrants to the United States Fictional Swedish people Marvel Comics supervillains