CRAZY EIGHT

Real Name: Leslie Anne Shappe

Identity/Class: Enhanced Human

Occupation: Vigilante

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Close friend of Beth Hartwell, patient of Doc Samson

Enemies: Wonder Man

Known Relatives: Joss Shappe (Speedfreek, brother), Kate (niece)

Aliases: Infinity

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California

Base of Operations: Presumably Los Angeles, California

Extent of Education: High school (at least)

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#380 (April, 1991)

Powers: Leslie had superhuman strength, durability, etc. sufficient to go one-on-one against Wonder Man. She was a skilled fighter, both in hand-to-hand combat and with the use of her swords.

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Incredible Hulk II#380 (fb)) - Leslie Shappe was high school friends and a cheerleader with Beth Hartwell. Whether through natural genetic mutation or augmentation from other sources, Leslie developed superhuman physical powers. She trained in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship and established herself as a vigilante. She began killing underworld types that had proven able to avoid the police. She chose the name Infinity for herself, to symbolize the fact that nothing ever ends, as well as her never ending struggle against criminals. To establish her name, she carved the symbol for infinity into the chest of the first man she killed. However, an uneducated police officer at the scene reported to the cameras, "there was some sort of Crazy Eight carved in his chest," which is the name that stuck.

The fact that she restricted her activities to criminals seemingly above the law won her the support of the police and government, who made little effort to apprehend her. However, when Leslie learned that her friend Beth's husband had been physically abusing her and terrifying her into keeping silent, she targeted and killed him. Unfortunately for Leslie, Beth's husband was Senator Ray Hartwell, a popular man with a potential to become a future presidential candidate. Police arrived on the scene and were able to delay Crazy Eight until the hero Wonder Man could arrive. After some struggle, he subdued her, and she was arrested and imprisoned.

(Incredible Hulk II#380) - Not wanting to reveal her friend's secret shame, Leslie refused to explain why she had killed Sen.Hartwell. It was believed that she had gone insane, and had murdered a both popular and innocent man, as well as brutally beaten his wife. Leslie's lawyer attempted an insanity plea, but Doc Samson, himself both a superhuman and a psychiatrist, interviewed her and testified that while she did not regret her actions, she knew what she was doing. As a result, Leslie was sentenced to death. She requested one last meeting with Doc Samson, and was executed in the electric chair.

After her death, Doc Samson, saw a high school picture of Beth and Leslie, realized that they were friends, and reasoned the cause of her actions.

Comments: Created by Peter David and Bill Jaaska.

This was an excellent story with a great character. Highly recommended

    I just got done rereading a lot of PAD issues of the Hulk from the early nineties, and I think I've stumbled upon a discovery. Everybody else may already
know about it, but it surprised me. Crazy 8's real name was Leslie Anne Shappe. Speedfreek's last name was also Shappe. Peter David recycles lines and
phrases a lot, but not names. I think Peter David intended for them to be related. PAD left the title in protest because he didn't want to write a savage hulk
book, but I think that he might have had further plans for speedfreek and a connection to Crazy 8 in his head, or possibly he just wanted them to be a connection for some other reason. Either way, it is a PAD type of thing to do. Nothing huge, but an interesting idea.
--Stunner

    Yeah I believe PAD has mentioned elsewhere that Crazy Eight was supposed to be Speedfreek's sister.
Let's hope PAD is around on Hulk long enough to bring Speedfreek back.
--Dr. Bruce Banner

Crazy Eight has an entry in OHotMU 2006 A-Z#2.