EVISCERATOR

Real Name: Phil Michaels

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Serial killer (real job unrevealed)

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Judith Bitterman (by association with his brother)

Enemies: Pilar Gonzales, Jerry, Dr. Katzenbogen, NYPD (Officer Nick Caruso, Sgt. Castro, Officer Maureen "Mo" Donnegan, Dooley, Heinzucker, Det. Padraic "Paddy" McGopolan, others), Mrs. Osenenko, four unidentified victims

Known Relatives: Benedict "Benny" Irwin Michaels (brother), unidentified mother

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An apartment on 129 Avenue C. in New York City, New York

First Appearance: (BTS) Cops: The Job#1 (June, 1992); (partially seen) Cops: The Job#2 (July, 1992); (fully seen) Cops: The Job#3 (August, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Phil was a psychopath that literally eviscerated people with a large kitchen knife or a cleaver. He was naturally strong due to his size, but was pretty heavy-set and not overtly muscular or fit. He was loyal to his brother and went above and beyond to take care of him.

Height: Unrevealed (6'3"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (450 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Cops: The Job#3 (fb) - BTS) - Phil's mom always told him to take care of his mentally handicapped brother. Even after her death he dutifully followed her wish.

   Phil's brother Benny came home every night telling Phil about the bad people that bothered local activist Judith Bitterman.

(Cops: The Job#1 (fb) - BTS) - Phil began killing these people by eviscerating them like animals and was quickly dubbed the Eviscerator by the press. In a short amount of time he killed four seemingly unrelated victims.

(Cops: The Job#3 (fb) - BTS) - He took their entrails home and kept them in a locked refrigerator. He claimed to the neighbors that the fridge was locked because he didn't want his brother to overeat.

(Cops: The Job#1 - BTS) - Officers Nick Caruso and Maureen Donnegan found his fourth victim after local junkie and thief Rushin' George led them to the remains.

   They called it in and the scene was soon under investigation by Detective McGopolan, Sgt. Castro, Dr. Katzenbogen, Dooley, Heinzucker among others. To Katzenbogen it was clear that it was another victim of the Eviscerator because the victim was gutted like the others and the entrails were missing. The press also got wind of the situation and Pilar Gonzales ambushed Detective McGopolan in front of the building, but he gave her no comment.

(Cops: The Job#2 - BTS) - One day Mrs. Osenenko verbally attacked Judith Bitterman and called her a "Commie" because she wouldn't shut up and Osenenko could barely hear Pat Sajak on TV. Benny told Phil about the incident.

(Cops: The Job#2) - Phil broke into the apartment of Osenenko, who lived right next to the East Village Community Action Spearhead (E.V.C.A.S.), and with his gloves on hacked her to death with a cleaver while she police was right outside. They couldn't hear a thing because Osenenko had increased the volume on the TV so that she could hear her shows over all the talking outside. Phil removed her entrails and after packing them up, dragged Osenenko's body up the chairs and then tossed her off the building right onto the police car of Caruso, Donnegan and McGopolan. At this point the latter was already aware that all victims had some connection to Bitterman's E.V.C.A.S. He had confronted her about it and asked Bitterman for a list of all her volunteers and contributors.

(Cops: The Job#3 - BTS) - Pilar Gonzales reported that the police offered a special incentive in the form of a promotion to whoever is instrumental in catching the Eviscerator. She later made the mistake to confront Bitterman about the alleged ties between the her organization and the Eviscerator slaying, which Benny didn't like at all.

   Phil lured Gonzales and her cameraman Jerry with an anonymous tip to the E.V.C.A.S. at night and the NYPD sent Donnegan and Caruso to the Spearhead to check up on what Pilar was up to.

   Meanwhile the police followed up on a major disturbance at the Michaels brother's address and McGopolan and his men found the fridge filled with entrails. They noticed on a photograph how similar Phil and Benny looked and were told by a neighbor that Phil was the one that put the lock on the fridge.

(Cops: The Job#3) - Benny stabbed Pilar's cameraman Jerry to death after he tried to access the E.V.C.A.S. through the backdoor and then dragged his corpse inside the building up the steps. Judith heard the ruckus, but didn't check what was going on. Officers Caruso and Donnegan arrived at the scene and found the front door open. Donnegan found Pilar and Benny while Caruso headed to the backdoor, which was also open. Donnegan tried to warn Caruso when she saw Phil behind him, but it was already too late and Caruso was stabbed in the gut by Phil. Donnegan shot Phil in the shoulder, but he just shook it off. NYPD's Heinzucker and Dooley arrived and immediately opened fire on Phil and shot him a dozen times. They claimed they had warned him to drop his knife, which was a lie. Phil didn't survive the encounter to the shock of his brother Benny. Caruso died on the scene after McGopolan and more police arrived.

(Cops: The Job#4 - BTS) - Heinzucker and Dooley lied about the shooting and claimed that they were forced to shoot Phil because Donnegan was too incompetent and begged them to after failing to save her partner Caruso from Phil.

Comments: Created by Larry Hama, Joe Jusko, Mike Harris & Jimmy Palmiotti.

Is Cops: The Job canon? No heroes were seen, but there isn't anything that would explicitly rule it out.

This profile was completed on 11/18/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary event.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Eviscerator and the Michaels brothers have no known connections to:

Benedict "Benny" Irwin Michaels

(Cops: The Job#3 (fb) - BTS) - Benny was mentally handicapped. His mom always told his brother to take care of him, which he did dutifully.

(Cops: The Job#1 (fb) - BTS) - Benny was a loyal follower of local activist Judith Bitterman.

(Cops: The Job#3 (fb) - BTS) - Every night Benny came home and told Phil about the bad people that bothered Judith.

(Cops: The Job#1 (fb) - BTS) - Phil murdered four of those people and was dubbed the Eviscerator because he always removed the victims' entrails.

(Cops: The Job#1) - Benny was right behind Judith Bitterman at the East Village Community Action Spearhead (E.V.C.A.S) when she confronted Officers Caruso and Donnegan about only guarding the rich while victimizing normal folks. Benny cheered her on.

(Cops: The Job#2) - Judith got in the face of Officers Caruso and Donnegan again when they passed by the E.V.C.A.S and Benny was right there with her to cheer her on. He got pretty mad at Mrs. Osenenko for telling Judith to shut up and calling her a communist. He also didn't like how Officer Donnegan talked to Judith.

(Cops: The Job#2 - BTS) - Benny presumably told Phil how Mrs. Osenenko had talked to Judith earlier that day because Benny ended up killing her.

(Cops: The Job#3) - Pilar Gonzales interviewed Judith Bitterman and asked her about the possible ties between the Eviscerator and the E.V.C.A.S. Judith denied any connection and gave no comment to the last victim getting thrown off the roof right next to the Storefront. Benny was right behind Judith and got so mad at Gonzales that he pushed away the cameraman. Judith then left with Benny.

(Cops: The Job#3 - BTS) - Benny presumably told Phil about the incident because Phil set up a trap for the reporter at the E.V.C.A.S. later that night.

(Cops: The Job#3) - Officers Caruso and Donnegan arrived at the scene and Donnegan was surprised by Benny when she had Pilar cornered. He held her by the arm and wanted to talk to her about something, which distracted her long enough for Phil to stab Donnegan's partner Caruso. Pilar hit Benny to free Donnegan from his grip so she could shoot Phil. Moments later Phil was shot a dozen times by Heinzucker and Dooley of the NYPD to Benny's shock. Phil died in front of his brother.

--Cops: The Job#1-3

Mrs. Michaels

She was the mother of Benny and Phil. She always told Phil that he had to take care of his mentally handicapped brother, which he did even after her death.

--[Cops: The Job#3 (fb)]

images: (without ads)
Cops: The Job#3, p22, pan2 (main)
Cops: The Job#3, p21, pan1 (head shot)
Cops: The Job#3, p16, pan4 (Benny, body shot)
Cops: The Job#1, p8, pan1 (Benny, head shot)
Cops: The Job#3, p18, pan2 (mom with her boys)

Appearances:
Cops: The Job#1-4 (June-September, 1992) - Larry Hama & Joe Jusko (writers), Mike Harris (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Don Daley (editor)

First Posted: 09/16/2026
Last updated: 11/18/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters