SCRUNCH
Earth-148611

Real Name: Lovejoy (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-148611) human paranormal

Occupation: Escaped mental patient

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Deanie, Mrs. Kaminski

Enemies: Ken Connell

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Mr. Lovescrunch"

Base of Operations: Mobile in Pennsylvania, USA;
    formerly Woodville State Hospital, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, USA

First Appearance: Star Brand I#4 (January, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Scrunch had superhuman strength, possibly allowing him to lift up to a ton with ease. He was prone to violent outbursts of rage, which seemed to be the result of Deanie's influence upon him. Scrunch had unidentified mental troubles, likely explaining why he was never observed speaking.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'8)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 230 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Star Brand I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Lovejoy was among those people who became a paranormal following the cosmic "White Event." Suffering from unidentified mental troubles, Mr. Lovejoy was sent to the mental hospital at Woodville State Hospital in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. At Woodville, he was befriended by two other patients who had paranormal abilities: a young man named Deanie and an older woman called Mrs. Kaminski. Eventually, the three used their abilities to break out of Woodville. Deanie dubbed Mr. Lovejoy "Scrunch" because Mr. Lovejoy was experiencing violent outbursts in which he "scrunched" objects. Deanie had the ability to increase rage and was at least partially responsible for Scrunch's violent outbursts.

(Star Brand I#4) - On October 30, 1986, Mrs. Kaminski left the other two in order to raid a supermarket in Scott County. Using her ability to project terror, she caused a small panic in the supermarket as she took a bag of groceries then exited. Ken Connell, wielder of the Star Brand, happened to hear the commotion and watched Mrs. Kaminski as she left the supermarket and felt the effects of her power. He followed her back to Scrunch and Deanie, who were hiding in the woods.

    Scrunch was angrily tearing apart a tree as Mrs. Kaminski returned. She accused Deanie of tormenting him but Deanie claimed Scrunch "just gets mad." Mrs. Kaminski threatened to return Deanie to Woodville unless he left Mr. Lovejoy alone. Deanie promised to stop and, as a peace offering, gave Scrunch some of the food Mrs. Kaminski brought, calling him "Mr. Lovescrunch," which Deanie thought was clever because he loved to "crunch" his food. Mrs. Kaminski opined that Mr. Lovejoy was probably sorry he ran into them but Deanie insisted Scrunch liked him: "He's my pet! He's my dog!"

    Ken Connell calmly walked up to the trio's campfire and suggested he escort the three of them back to Woodville. Deanie asked Mrs. Kaminski to send him away and she agreed, projecting her fear power against Ken. Ken struggled to maintain his calm but while he didn't run away from them, he was also left standing still, focusing his willpower. Realizing Mrs. Kaminski's powers were failing to remove Ken, Deanie used his power on Scrunch to cause a sudden outburst of anger, causing Scrunch to attack Ken. Ken, who had never met a fellow paranormal before, proved to have superior strength to Scrunch and easily tossed him aside. Ken questioned Mrs. Kaminski about where their powers came from.

    Accusing Scrunch of letting him down, Deanie projected "all" his rage into him, causing him to grow even more enraged. As Ken was still facing Mrs. Kaminski and fending off her power, he was unprepared when Scrunch attacked him from behind, wielding a tree trunk as a massive club. Although Ken's powers shielded him from serious injury, Mrs. Kaminski's power left him groggy and unable to fight back. He attempted to flee but couldn't focus well enough to fly. Scrunch caught up to Ken and beat him with the tree trunk until Ken passed out. When Ken awoke, they were gone. Ken searched for the trio but completely lost their trail.

Comments: Created by Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr. and Al Williamson.

    Scrunch, Deanie and Mrs. Kaminski were the first paranormals Ken met in Star Brand.

    The Official Timeline of the New Universe incorrectly claimed that Deanie's power was unrevealed.

    While Scrunch's eyes are colored brown in the original issue, the digitally colored version on Marvel Unlimited (see above headshot image) has them colored as blue...  --Proto-Man

    This profile was created to mark the passing of Jim Shooter, creator of Star Brand and much of the conceptual work behind the New Universe during his lengthy term as Marvel's editor-in-chief (1978-1987). Shooter passed away on June 30, 2025.

    Promotional text for Star Brand I#4 referred to Deanie as "Tantrum" and Mrs. Kowaloski as "Hysteria" but these names did not appear in the comic.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Scrunch should not be confused with:

Deanie

Deanie was a former patient at the Woodville State hospital. The reasons for his detainment at Woodville were not revealed. He most frequently used his rage-inducing power on Mr. Lovejoy, whom he dubbed "Scrunch." He claimed that he loved Scrunch but viewed him as a pet and would apparently inflict violent outbursts on Scrunch from a perverse sense of fun. Deanie only bowed to Mrs. Kaminski as an authority figure, addressing her as though she were his mother. When Ken Connell attempted to return Deanie, Scrunch and Mrs. Kaminski to Woodville, Deanie used his powers on Scrunch to force him to attack Ken. After Scrunch's first attack was easily parlayed by Ken, Deanie used "all" of his rage on Scrunch, causing an outburst that ultimately left Ken unconscious, permitting the trio to flee.

Deanie had the paranormal ability to generate rage in others.

--Star Brand I#4

Mrs. Kaminski

Mrs. Kaminski was a former patient at the Woodville State Hospital. The reasons for her detainment at Woodville were not revealed. She befriended Deanie and Scrunch and Deanie reacted to her as a surrogate mother. However, she disliked the way Deanie used his powers on Scrunch and, after they escaped Woodville, she threatened to return Deanie there because he kept tormenting Scrunch. After stealing groceries from a supermarket by using her fear-inducing powers, Mrs. Kaminski drew the attention of Ken Connell, who felt the sensation of terror coming from Mrs. Kaminski and followed her from a distance when she returned to Deanie and Scrunch. When Ken confronted the trio, Mrs. Kaminski tried to make him depart by using her power on him but by using his willpower, Ken was able to resist her. However, this left Ken open to attack from behind by Scrunch, who beat Ken unconscious. While Ken was unconscious, Mrs. Kaminski, Deanie and Scrunch fled.

Mrs. Kaminski had the paranormal ability to generate feelings of terror or dread in others, which usually caused them to flee from her in a panic.

--Star Brand I#4

images: (without ads)
Star Brand I#4, page 23, panel 3 (Scrunch, main)
Star Brand I#4, page 21, panel 6 (Scrunch, face)
Star Brand I#4, page 22, panel 6 (Deanie)
Star Brand I#4, page 19, panel 5 (Kaminski)

Appearances:
Star Brand I#4 (January, 1987) - Jim Shooter (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Michael Higgins (editor)

First posted: 07/02/2025
Last updated: 07/02/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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