PESTER

Real Name: Pester

Identity/Class: Human/Mutant

Occupation: Homeless person

Group Membership: Morlocks

Affiliations: Anna Johnson, Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Enemies: Firebrand (Broxtel), the Marauders

Known Relatives: unnamed son, Ent (husband), Mother Inferior (mother-in-law)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A homeless shantytown on the upper west side of Manhattan; formerly, the Poseidon Hotel; formerly, the Morlock Alley

First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man I#77 (June, 1991)

Powers/Abilities: Pester has superhumanly strong jaws and sharp teeth, and is able to gnaw through rope, wood and even metal. She possesses tracking abilities, hyper keen senses and the ability to sonically communicate with rats.

Weaknesses: Pester is extremely small and can speak only limited English.

History: (Web of Spider-Man#77)- After a series of bizarre accidents at a homeless shelter in the old Poseidon Hotel, Spider-Man snuck under the stage to investigate. He saw a small figure, Pester, heading deep into the building accompanied by a horde of rats. Following the woman, he came to the sub-basement, where Ent, Mother Inferior, Baby and Anna were. Thinking Baby to be Anna’s, Spidey tried to “rescue” him, only to realize he had made a mistake when Anna handed the baby to Pester. As Anna explained that these were just Morlocks who had escaped from the Mutant Massacre, Firebrand attacked the fundraiser above them, and the sub-basement ceiling started to come down.

(Web of Spider-Man#78)- As the ceiling started to cave in, Ent and Spider-Man tried to hold it up. They realized that Mother Inferior was too big to move, and they tried to go back for her, but, realizing that there wasn't enough time, Mother Inferior sacrificed herself, using her rats to push them from the collapsing room to safety. As the group looked for a way out of the rapidly flooding room, Pester went to investigate a small hole in the rubble, and it collapsed, only Spidey’s spider senses and speed saved her from being crushed. Spider-Man recommended that Ent and Pester swim under the water line and make a hole in the debris, which caused the water pressure to wash them out of the flooding basement. They rode on a web-raft for a short time, until Pester saw a light, and told Ent to stop the raft, “Stop…Stop! Light!”, which the super-strong mutant does by digging into the wall with his bare hand. They climbed up onto the dance floor, where the Daily Bugle staff and their families were trapped, and Ent and Spider-Man brokd down a wall so that they could all escape. After Spidey, Cloak and Dagger defeated Firebrand, who was promptly arrested, Ent, Pester, and Baby found a new home and family among the local homeless “Home….”.

Comments: Created by Terry Kavanagh, Alex Saviuk, Keith Williams, Bud LaRosa, and Kevin Tinsley.

I certainly hope that Baby was smaller when he was born; he’s depicted as the same size as his mother! Though he is not outright named, I believe that Ent and Pester’s baby is named Baby, as that is how his mother refers to him. “Baby! Baby!” This would not be an unusual name for a Morlock, they had, among others Tar Baby, Ape, Chickenwings, Mole, even Pester and Mother Inferior are not standard human names.

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Pester should not be confused with:

• Pestilence, of the Axi-Tun's Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, @ Giant-Size Fantastic Four#3
• Pestilence, F.R. Crozier, Alpha Flight enemy, @ Alpha Flight I#36
• Pestilence, formerly Plague of the Morlocks, @ X-Factor I#15
• Pestilence, alias assumed by Caliban, @ Cable II#73
• Pestilence of Earth-Mutant X's Horsemen of Apocalypse, @ Mutant X#19