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Scourge of the Underworld
The Scourge as depicted in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Iron Man #194 (May 1985)
Created by	Mark Gruenwald (writer) John Byrne (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Various
Abilities	Master of disguise Exploding armor-piercing bullets

The Scourge of the Underworld is the name of a series of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Writer/editor Mark Gruenwald 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 characters he deemed to be too minor, redundant, or ill-conceived.^[1] Numerous other characters have used the name, often with differing motives and loyalties.

Fictional character biography

The Scourge is originally depicted as an individual vigilante dedicated to the assassination of criminals.^[2][3][4] This person, whose true name has never been revealed, is seen over the course of several months murdering known supervillains. The Scourge approaches a supervillain in disguise, shoots him or her with an explosive-tipped bullet, then disappears. This first iteration's killing spree reaches its apex in Captain America #319, where he kills eighteen criminals at an underworld meeting held to devise a way of countering the menace of the Scourge.^[5][6]

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.^[7]

Following this story, several imposter Scourges are introduced. The Scourge's creator, Mark Gruenwald, 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Various characters have assumed the Scourge mantle since the original's death, including Frank Simpson,^[10][11] Paladin,^[12] and a brainwashed Jack Monroe and Dennis Dunphy.^[3][13][4]

Villains killed by the Scourge

References

External links

• Scourge of the Underworld at Marvel.com
• Victims of Scourge of the Underworld at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe