pusher-ka-zar-at15-fullishPUSHERpusher-ka-zar-at15-face

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human (advanced technology-user)

Occupation: Drug-dealer

Group Membership: Led own criminal gang (Bee-Jay, Percy Ronald "Vinnie" Calvin, Jazz, Rufus)

Affiliations: A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, Bossman Morgan (employed him);
    formerly "Vinnie" Calvin, Gemini (Joshua & Damian Link), Jackers (gave the Pusher Ka-Zar's location)

Enemies: Bossman Morgan (plotted to be betray Morgan, "Vinnie" Calvin, Wilma Calvin; Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder), New York Police Department, "Scratch" Riker;
    he knew of Mel Hawkins, Zack Brewer and Joshua Link (at least to recognize their faces) and considered them "zeroes";
    Jackers (thrown to the ground by the Pusher when asked for his reward in advance, and presumably never got the reward);
    indirectly Zabu

Known Relatives: "Vermin" (insult from Ka-Zar)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York;
    last seen in prison;
    formerly a couple of run down gymnasiums

First Appearance: Astonishing Tales I#15 (December, 1972)

pusher-ka-zar-at15-sparPowers/Abilities:    A third degree black belt in an unspecified martial art, the Pusher combined his strength and skill to be able to overpower three reasonably experienced fighters, but he was no match for Ka-Zar.

   On at least one occasion, he wore a strength amplifier harness, which allowed him to knock Ka-Zar unconscious when ambushing him and striking from behind.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately )
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately )
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Bald (or shaved head) with black eyebrows

History:
(Astonishing Tales I#15 (fb) - BTS) - In addition to be a drug-dealer, he got the "Pusher" name because he pushed others hard to be stronger and better fighters.


pusher-ka-zar-at16-face(Astonishing Tales I#16 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing Tales#17 (fb) - BTS) - From prison, Joshua Link manipulated his twin brother, Damian, into becoming Gemini, using him to establish an alliance with A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), as well as with the criminal Plunderer. Gemini then hired the criminal known only as the Pusher to kidnap Dr. Wilma Calvin (a former colleague of Ted Sallis), in hopes of obtaining the Super-Soldier formula and using it to take over A.I.M.

(Astonishing Tales I#15 (fb) - BTS) - Bossman Morgan apparently employed the Pusher to have his men quietly eliminate Morgan's competition on his turf. However, the Pusher secretly plotted to set up Morgan, so that he (the Pusher) could take complete control of all of the rackets.

(Astonishing Tales I#15 - BTS) - Ka-Zar interrupted "Vinnie" and his associates while they were beating "Scratch" Riker, who had been selling drugs on the Pusher's (or Morgan's) territory without giving the Pusher and his agents a cut of his profits. Vinnie escaped while Ka-Zar subdued the others.

     Vinnie subsequently caught up to Scratch and apparently gave him a drug overdose or just a bad batch of drugs that killed him.

(Astonishing Tales I#15) - At the Pusher's base, he urged one of his men to lift weights harder, as the drug officers in the town were tough and that he had to be tougher. After some of his men came back and told him that Vinnie's mission had been busted by "that wildman type we heard was in town," the Pusher considered his plans and that Morgan didn't suspect his true goals.

    The Pusher then sent his men to work out, but he was disappointed with Bee-Jay's performance and challenged him directly, allowing Rufus and Jazz to join him. Reluctant to face the Pusher due to his skills, the group nonetheless charged him, and he took out all three of them with a series of kicks and punches in four seconds. He told them that that was how conditioned they must be.pusher-ka-zar-at16-sa-rear

(Astonishing Tales I#15 - BTS) - Ka-Zar subsequently stopped Vinnie and two allies from trying to abduct Wilma Calvin (secretly Vinnie's mother). Ka-Zar and his sabertooth tiger, Zabu, overpowered the men, and Ka-Zar left them trapped in the back of a police car, guarded by Zabu.

    After learning of Scratch's death by drug overdose, Ka-Zar pressured Vinnie to tell him of his employer's location. Although Vinnie lied to Ka-Zar and sent him in another direction, Ka-Zar apparently suspected this and followed Vinnie as he ran to warn the Pusher that Ka-Zar was after him.

(Astonishing Tales I#15) - Vinnie warned the Pusher, who punished him for his failure by punching him down and warning of pain and death. Ka-Zar then dove through the window, hinting that knew that the Pusher had killed Scratch, and he swiftly beat down the Pusher's men.

    The Pusher caught Ka-Zar in the side of the head with a punch, but Ka-Zar's skills and strength allowed him to beat back the Pusher and dodge his attacks. The force of their fight soon caused the building to collapse around them, and Ka-Zar grabbed Vinnie and fled, not knowing whether the Pusher had escaped or been crushed.

(Astonishing Tales I#16 (fb) - BTS) - The Pusher escaped the collapsing building without significant injury.

(Astonishing Tales I#16 (fb) - BTS) - As Ka-Zar and Zabu prowled the city, they were spotted by Jackers, who knew that the Pusher was looking for him and hoped to get a hundred dollars for sharing knowledge of his location; he considered that while he had no interest in the Pusher's product, his money was as good as any.

    Meanwhile, Ka-Zar resolved to track and destroy the Pusher as if he were a rabid wolf.
pusher-ka-zar-at16-sa-punch(Astonishing Tales I#16) - Jackers found the Pusher at a slightly run-down nearby gymnasium and told him that he had spotted Ka-Zar six blocks south. When the Pusher noted that his own hunt would begin, Jackers asked for a reward, but the Pusher told him when he would get it after Ka-Zar was found. Jackers asked for the reward up front, as Ka-Zar had beat him before, and the Pusher threw him to the ground, noting he ought to bash his leaden brain in. Ranting about his being in tune with the city, the Pusher resolved to personally track and kill Ka-Zar, punctuating his point by kicking down a door. When his agents came running, he told them order a new door.

    The Pusher subsequently identified and knocked out an undercover police agent who was following Vinnie -- who had been released from custody due to the lack of evidence -- to get to the Pusher and knocked him out. The Pusher then confronted Vinnie, telling him that a solo A.I.M. agent wanted his mother, Dr. Wilma Calvin. Believing that the money from this would make him rich, and that once he controlled the drug lines, the rest of the rackets would soon follow, the Pusher told Vinnie that he needed to eliminate the failing link in his supply chain.

    However, impressed with Vinnie's courage for not flinching, the Pusher instead resolved to use Vinnie as bait in a trap for Ka-Zar.

(Astonishing Tales I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Presumably from A.I.M., the Pusher acquired a strength-amplifying harness, and he arranged to have Vinnie fight another of his agents in a region in which he suspected Ka-Zar would find them,

(Astonishing Tales I#16 - BTS) - Ka-Zar subsequently was drawn to the sounds of struggle and found Vinnie battling another man.

(Astonishing Tales I#16) - After Ka-Zar broke up the fight and questioned Vinnie, the Pusher, wearing his strength amplifier, ambushed him, punching him from behind and knocking him out. As the Pusher prepared to finish off Ka-Zar, Vinnie tried to stop him, and the Pusher swatted him away, noting how he was going to make Ka-Zar die from a drug overdose. He was confident that that would make the town know, "The Pusher is king!"pusher-ka-zar-at17-face

    Considering that Ka-Zar had saved him before and remembering his mother's teachings, Vinnie resolved to save Ka-Zar from the Pusher. Although the Pusher repeatedly battered Vinnie, he refused to give up, and his efforts gave Ka-Zar time to recover.

    Punched back by Ka-Zar, the Pusher delivered a powerful kick to Ka-Zar's head, but when he dove at Ka-Zar, the jungle lord punched him in the face, shattering teeth. Despite the Pusher's martial arts skills, Ka-Zar dodged his blows and repeatedly pummeled him into submission. Ka-Zar stopped himself short of the killing stroke, considering that murder would lower him to the depths of those he fought.

    As Ka-Zar rushed Vinnie to the hospital, the police let him go upon discovering the fallen form of the Pusher. They considered that they needed a witness who would talk.

(Astonishing Tales I#16 - BTS) - The police felt that once Vinnie recovered, he would help prosecute the Pusher.

(Astonishing Tales#17) - In the "City Criminal Detention Center," a guard escorted the Pusher to his cell, telling him that while he was awaiting trial, Ka-Zar had provided the information on him and his vicious drug ring and that he wasn't going to see daylight for a long time.

    Still in prison, Gemini mocked the arriving Pusher for his failure. Hearing the voice, the Pusher recognized it as the voice of the AIM agent who had hired him to kidnap Dr. Calvin. Considering that he had been hired outside of prison (and presumably only having seen Gemini in costume or perhaps only having heard his voice (from the body of Damian Link)), he wondered to whom the voice belonged. Scanning around and seeing Mel Hawkins, Zack Brewer and Joshua Link, the Pusher was confused, as he considered those three men to be zeroes.

Comments: Created by Mike Friedrich and Gil Kane.

    You can click on this link for a great song to accompany this profile.

    Three different artists in three sequential issues.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Pusher should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Astonishing Tales I#15, pg. 9, panel 4 (face);
          panel 6 (fullish);
       pg. 10, panel 4 (fighting Bee-Jay, Jazz & Rufus);
    #16, pg. 8, panel 5 (face);
       pg. 14, panel 1 (strength amplifier, rear view);
          panel 2 (punching Ka-Zar from behind);
    #17, pg. 5, panel 1 (face, red eyes)
Appearances:
Astonishing Tales I#15 (December, 1972) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Tom Sutton (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#16 (February, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Rich Buckler (penciler), Chick Stone (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#17 (April, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Dan Adkins (penciler), Frank Chiaramonte (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 08/15/2025
Last updated: 08/15/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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