Wrecking Crew (comics)
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The Wrecking Crew are a team of four fictional supervillains that exist in the Marvel Comics Universe. They first appearanced in Defenders #17 (November 1974).
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[edit] Membership
- Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite) - the leader and wields an indestructible crowbar with magical properties. He both fears and hates the Thunder God, Thor.
- Bulldozer (Henry Camp) - has an armoured metal helmet and fights by ramming his victims head-first.
- Piledriver (Brian Philip Calusky) - fights with his over-sized pile-driving fists.
- Thunderball (Dr. Eliot Franklin) - the thinker on the team and wields a huge demolition ball on a chain.
- Excavator (Ricky Calusky) - the teenage son of Piledriver and a temporary member. Wielded what he claimed was an enchanted shovel, even though it broke in his first battle.
[edit] Fictional team history
When Dirk Garthwaite, the original Wrecker, reclaimed his powers by gripping his enchanted crowbar in a lightning storm, a bolt stuck the tool as three other men held it. Although this quartered the Wrecker's prodigious strength, the team remained together and remained a formidable force. Their powers are of mystical origin, and Thor is one of their common opponents. The Wrecking Crew have also been members of one incarnation of the Masters of Evil, and were among the supervillains involved in the first Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars. They were amongst the first villains faced by the Thunderbolts, and the Wrecker especially hates the team, considering them to be traitors. (Wrecker served in the Masters of Evil with more than one Thunderbolt, most notably Goliath (now Atlas).
At one time, the power left the Crew. Desperate, they struck a deal with mad geneticist Arnim Zola, who gave them the ability to power up from outside sources(such as lightning or psionic attacks). They attacked the Avengers, but were defeated.
Some time later, the group journeyed to L.A. in an attempt to fill the power vacuum left with the defeat of The Pride. The group also included Excavator, the teenage son of Piledriver, who now also shared in the supernatural strength of the group. The Runaways attempted to rescue the young man, possibly to recruit him, but he stood by his father and was defeated along with the rest of the group.
Recently, in New Avengers #7, the Wrecker recovered his original indestructible crowbar. This apparently restarted his mystic abilities. He was defeated by the New Avengers[1], but since then has apparently escaped. He presumably then shared his abilities with the rest of the Wrecking Crew.
During the Civil War event, the Wrecking Crew members were all forced to join the Thunderbolts or else had to face jail time.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Ultimate Wrecking Crew
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe version, they are briefly seen near the start of Ultimate Spider-Man #86 as what seems to be a clean-up crew for super-human battles, as they were inquiring about the battle between Omega Red and Spider-Man. No name was given for them, but the names of the Wrecking Crew appeared on their name tags. The nature of their powers and other facets of their history is unknown.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Video games
Wrecker appeared in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series games for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo.
All four Wrecking Crew members appear in Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
