,  

veneer-manmaker-dc1-front-kneesup VENEER

Real Name: Unrevealed; Veneer may or may not be his real surname

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Unrevealed;
    former Manmaker project co-coordinator

Group Membership: Formerly Manmaker (Kulls (including M'Lish), Red Skull (allegedly Johann Shmidt; see comments) and his robot duplicate)

Affiliations: Formerly the Cyclaedians (Elaes, Id-Sister, X-Beast, others unidentified), Die-Cut (Czorn Yson)

Enemies: Angels of Death, Beast (Hank McCoy), Crone, Die-Cut, Id-Sister, Red Skull (allegedly Johann Shmidt; see comments), X-Beast, other Beasts created in the Beastswarm (Cerebro-Beast/S'Reeb was the only other one identified), R'vyl, Sister S'Veer, and other "failed" results from the swarmhosts;
    formerly the Kull robots (including M'Lish)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Mr. V'Neer (by M'Lish and the other Kulls, as well as the X-Beast);
    "Creep" (from X-Beast)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed
    formerly Cyclaedea, a secret sanctuary in the Greek Islands;
    formerly Manmaker's mobile Swarmcenter, apparently Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Die-Cut#1 (November, 1993)veneer-manmaker-dc1-greetbeast

Powers/Abilities: Veneer's mutant power allows him to charm and disarm others to some degree.

    He is patient and praising of others, distracting them from arguments and confrontation.

    He may or may not have some degree of enhanced healing.

    He had experience with and access to the gods and technology of Cyclaedea and Manmaker, including some sort of hover-air-platform

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'4-5'6"; both the 5'11" Beast and Die-Cut towered over him, but I think Beast's height may have been overestimated; if not, maybe he's 5' or lower)
Weight:  Unrevealed (perhaps 130-150 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (based on his personality; likely brown)
Hair: Bald/shaved, with thin/short mustache/goatee

History:
(Die-Cut#1 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer was an agent of Manmaker, a project to explore human potential, following the chaos theory and believing that they could only create the best in man if they were prepared to unleash the worst. They would take promising individuals (the "swarmhost") and unlock the whole spectrum of their potential: The chaotic forces of creation would naturally produce many abhorrent failures, but they would also hit astounding peaks of human potential and produce a new race of human gods. 

(Die-Cut#3 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer and Manmaker used an unidentified being as a swarmhost, with the ideal result being Elaes, who was transported to Cyclaedea, while the monstrous R'vyl was condemned by Veneer. 

    Although Veneer presumed R'vyl to have been slain or to had faded when as "chaos-force could not sustain all its children," R'vyl and other such "failed" aspects were transported to the Dump, a secret "Hell" under the surface of Mars, overseen by M'Lish of the robotic Kulls. 

(Die-Cut#2 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer and Manmaker  used others as swarmhosts, after which they killed the swarmhost.

(Die-Cut#1 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer was tasked with capturing the Beast (Hank McCoy) as one of their subjects. 

(Die-Cut#1 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer or one of his agents invited the Beast to view the anthropology exhibit at an unspecified, presumably Manhattan museum.

(Die-Cut#1) - Veneer greeted McCoy as "Mr. Beast," (see comments) telling him he was the nicest person he had ever met and that he had a picture of him on his wall at home. When McCoy noted how he appreciated being invited to a civilized occasion, as he was usually summoned for battle, Veneer noted that that was a waste of his brilliant mind. Veneer then went on to discuss how man had succeeded at caging the beast inside him, but that this was akin to imprisoning a wild animal in a cage and that one should let one's true/natural self out.

    Veneer then turned his head toward Manmaker's Id-Sister, who approached McCoy, asking for a donation and catching him off guard with an incapacitating energy blast. Veneer complimented her on a "beautiful piece of work," and noted how she was so gentle with her victims. When Id-Sister noted that humans did not enjoy pain, Veneer replied that they could enjoy each other's pain, which he found a much more satisfactory arrangement.
veneer-manmaker-dc2-mostlyfull-latob
(Die-Cut#1 (fb) - BTS) - Veneer sent a number of Manmaker's Kull robots to reclaim a box containing the head of Manmaker's leader, who had apparently been decapitated by a group of A.I.M. and Hydra agents that then fled with the head.

(Die-Cut#1 (fb) - BTS) - Beast was transported to Manmaker's mobile Swarmcenter.

(Die-Cut#1) - After the alien Die-Cut destroyed a number of Kulls trying to kill "Santa" (one of the A.I.M. or Hydra agents who had stolen the head), Die-Cut opened a portal to a pocket dimension to which he shunted "Santa" and the box. Veneer then introduced himself, telling Die-Cut he was very pleased to and had always wanted to meet him (and that his picture was on his every wall). Although Die-Cut tried to dismiss him, Veneer offered him a job on his elite Kull squad (who were much classier than the B-team they had sent for this job) and then introduced him to Id-Sister, who incapacitated him. 

    While the Kull's noted that the guy with the head was missing, Veneer replied that Die-Cut was quite the nicest man he'd ever met and that they must win him over to learn his associate's whereabouts.

    Back at Manmaker's mobile Swarmcenter, Veneer came across a confrontation between Kulls M'Lish and K'Tass. When M'Lish noted the K'Tass was no longer fit for duty, Veneer acknowledged that it was part of their master's code that the Kull should forever prune itself. When he suggested that if M'Lish could prove that K'Tass was not up to it, M'Lish swiftly responded by decapitating K'Tass.

    Veneer then introduced M'Lish to K'Tass' replacement, Die-Cut, explaining that they had to incapacitate him to get him there and that while he was in stasis he was having Manmaker's "great vision" muzaked into his subconscious; Veneer noted that he was certain when Die-Cut awakened he would be one of them.

    After Veneer noted the need for a swift conversion as they were only moments away from the Beastswarm, McCoy broke free, and so Veneer ordered Die-Cut's release.

    As Veneer argued with McCoy that they could control their results, Die-Cut agreed to aid Manmaker -- hoping human evolution would outpace the machines/robots of which he was paranoid -- and he subdued McCoy.

    Id-Sister subsequently confessed to Veneer that she had released the Beast, as she had been having bad dreams about the Beastswarm and she didn't feel that it was safe. Veneer assured her that their master knows best.

    During the Beastswarm, the Kulls attempted to slay the most monstrous version -- which subsequently pronounced itself the X-Beast, the ultimate resolution of man and beast -- but the anti-robot Die-Cut stopped the Kulls, as he saw more value in the living creature than their mechanical bodies. However, that monstrous version then attacked Die-Cut, but Veneer urged Die-Cut not to retaliate, as this was indeed the being they had sought...and that he was sure that he was a very nice person (while the X-Beast held an arm it had ripped off from another member of the Beastswarm).
veneer-manmaker-dc2-air-platform
(Die-Cut#2) - As the X-Beast gnawed on someone's leg, Veneer told him he wouldn't ask what or who he was eating, as his creators forgave him, and they wanted him to come to paradise with them. Telling Veneer to bug off as he didn't hang around with losers, X-Beast took off, and Veneer told the Kulls to go after him but not kill him.

    When Die-Cut considered walking away from Manmaker as he could not work with the robotic Kulls, Veneer changed the subject, complimenting Die-Cut on having defended the X-Beast and praising his ability to see that he was the "one." At Die-Cut's query, Veneer explained that the other creations from the Beastswarm were being taken below, and that the "imperfect creations" would soon fade as "the chaos-force could not sustain all its children."

    As Die-Cut removed McCoy's memories of the Swarmhost, Veneer noted that he didn't think such sensitive memory surgery was possible, but he added that it wasn't necessary, as they usually killed the swarmhost. Die-Cut considered that Veneer was a "funny kind of idealist." Id-Sister subsequently appeared and surprised Veneer by noting that she was much more powerful than intended, which she demonstrated by returning to Cyclaedea under her own power.

    Veneer subsequently accompanied Die-Cut a number of Manmaker agents aboard some sort of air-shuttle in search of the X-Beast. They found the X-Beast at a restaurant where he had devoured one of the patrons, and he greeted Veneer, noting that now that his appetite was sated that he kind of liked them. When Veneer scolded him, noting that if everyone behaved like that life would be impossible, the X-Beast told him he was welcome to try to stop him. Nonetheless, not wanting to hang around with normal people, he agreed to accompany Veneer back to his paradise.

    En route to Cyclaedea, their ship was assaulted by locust people, whom Veneer recognized as people he knew who had been grotesquely transformed, followed by the either similarly transformed or else simply created Angels of Death, both of whom Die-Cut fought off. After they landed, one of Veneer's men reported how they had been having apocalyptic visions and could not contact the master. Other Cyclaedeans (godlike products of previous hostswarms) then approached, and Veneer assured X-Beast that they would accept him with his animal vivacity, paraphrasing Billy Joel, "We love you just the way you are." M'Lish silenced Veneer, noting that no one could quote Billy Joel in paradise.

    Id-Sister then appeared and began transforming Veneer and the Cyclaedeans, but she then became distracted with Die-Cut, who saved her when she subsequently collapsed from power overload, leeching off some of her energy to another dimension. Veneer thanked Die-Cut, and they took the inert Id-Sister to a lower level laboratory to treat her.

(Die-Cut#2) - X-Beast and M'Lish soon after ambushed Die-Cut -- still exhausted from his encounter with Id-Sister -- taking him prisoner in the Dump, a Hell-ish counterpart to Cyclaedean's "Heaven"; M'Lish intended to rule the Dump with X-Beast would rule Cyclaedea.

(Die-Cut#3) - In Cyclaedea's Manmaker Central base, Veneer asked X-Beast about the missing Die-Cut and M'Lish; explaining that he was not accusing the X-Beast, Veneer nonetheless noted that possibility had sprung to his mind that he might have done away with them. X-Beast assured Veneer he loved those guys; however, with them both missing, X-Beast noted that Veneer was going to need a new security chief...and since there was no one to stop him, he declared himself "more or less boss around here." Unable to do anything to oppose X-Beast, Veneer weakly complimented X-Beast on his offer.

    X-Beast continued that since all matters involving their mutual safety were his concern, he suggested they start by making sure that Id-Sister never woke up. Veneer countered that despite her unpredictable nature, Id-Sister was their most beautiful creation, but X-Beast interrupted, intimidating Veneer and reminding him who was in charge; nonetheless, he assured Veneer that he wouldn't kill anyone...unless he absolutely felt like it. Considering how many things were going wrong at once, Veneer resolved that he needed to speak to the master. 

    Veneer reported X-Beast's plans to kill Id-Sister to the Master -- some version, robotic or otherwise of the Red Skull (Johann Shmidt; see comments) -- who noted that he saw all and knew everybody's secrets and that even in a community of gods, the strong must quash the weak. Veneer suggested that they should have compassion, but the Master noted that he only wanted to observe compassion and to see it fail.

    Having decided that Id-Sister that she should serve as the next host for the chaos-swarm, the X-Beast had her transported to the Swarmcenter. Veneer interrupted him, insisting that the Master had forbade any of the spawn of the chaos swarm from being re-spawned. X-Beast argued that he had heard that the master had literally lost his head (he did, but that didn't stop him), and he lifted Veneer into the air, telling him to get out of the way as he was blocking progress.veneer-manmaker-dc4-xbslash

    Watching remotely, the master considered that the chaos forces were too unstable and that any attempt to use a goddess as a host was unthinkable. He further resolved that because he kept himself hidden, his creations had begun to doubt his existence. Meanwhile, the decapitated head then burst out of its containment box and forced Die-Cut's ally Santa to follow his orders (see comments). They joined up with Die-Cut, at which point the Red Skull head revealed its identity and named itself as the master/creator of Man-Maker.

(Die-Cut#4 - BTS) - The Red Skull head apparently slew everyone in the Dump, except Die-Cut and Santa, for defiling his vision, after which the real(?) Red Skull showed up and deactivated the robot head, noting that it had believed itself to have been him.

(Die-Cut#4) - Veneer told X-Beast of the master's message, a warning that if he tried to use the chaos-force on Id-Sister he would be punished: "This is your...err...last chance...so to speak." X-Beast then delivered his own message by slashing Veneer's abdomen, but although lying on the floor and bleeding, Veneer maintained his composure, assuring X-Beast that he knew that deep down he was a caring person. Veneer further asked X-Beast to consider that creation had its cycles and while mankind was in its spring, the master wished them only to jump into their summer (meaning to advance society). Finally, Veneer warned X-Beast that he might hit the end of human evolution and create something from the very edge of existence: "Something so incredibly un-nice that it might devour them all. X-Beast ignored Veneer's warnings, noting that he was the only one with the guts to take the project to the max and insisting that Veneer's master was dead and that he (X-Beast) was the natural successor. veneer-manmaker-dc4-left

(Die-Cut#4 - BTS) - Watching remotely, the Red Skull prepared to purge that whole section of Manmaker. However, unwilling to see Id-Sister sacrificed as well, Die-Cut blocked Red Skull, delaying him until the chaos-force had been activated, and from its use was spawned the Crone -- the winter and decline of mankind, the awful aftermath of godhood. 

    Die-Cut and the Red Skull teleported to Cyclaedea, where they and X-Beast struggled to resist and eventually overcame the insanity-inducing energies released by the Crone.

    When the "gods" of Cyclaedea rejected the Red Skull as their master and noted that they had evolved above him, he returned to his chambers, where he sent out a final chaos-wave that destabilized their young and somewhat unstable nature, destroying them. The Red Skull then departed, leaving Manmaker and Cyclaedea to be consumed in flames. 

(Die-Cut#4) - Having escaped the devastation and recovered from his injuries, Veneer asked Die-Cut for lift of there. When Die-Cut asked what had happened to Id-Sister, Veneer noted that he had seen her Crone state disappear in the final chaos-wave, and he speculated that perhaps she was destroyed or perhaps she had evolved utterly beyond their comprehension. Santa asked if the death of all of the Manmaker gods made him glad to be human, and Veneer agreed, although he clarified that he was slightly more than human, specifically a mutant. 

    Die-Cut ultimately asked Veneer if he believed in the Red Skull, and Veneer replied "He was a nice man, but not (I am forced to admit) as charming as you! You don't have a picture or yourself I could frame, do you?"

(Die-Cut#4 - BTS) - Die-Cut apparently left Veneer on Cyclaedea as he teleported away with Santa.

Comments: Created by Glenn Dakin and Bernard Custodio under the Marvel UK imprint.

    So...this Hydra or AIM member -- called Santa because of his white beard -- had been part of a group that assaulted Manmaker, decapitating their master, the Red Skull (actually a robot duplicate of him) and keeping his head in a box. Santa recovered the box after hooking up with Die-Cut but spent most of the series trapped just outside reality by Die-Cut to hide him. And then the "real" Red Skull exposed the head as a robot duplicate and revealed his involvement.
    It's cray.
    I'll profile the rest of the characters from this series in the coming months, but I don't know that it will be any more clear.

    I am very skeptical that this was the "real" Red Skull (Johann Shmidt)...more likely an android or some other variant.

    Veneer refers to a superficial covering, which seems an apt name for this guy.

    It is extremely ignorant and disrespectful to call a doctor "Mister." If you don't know that person is a doctor, that's understandable, but otherwise...please appreciate the title he or she has worked hard to achieve.

    This profile was completed on 04/03/2022, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Veneer should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Die-Cut#1, pg. 5, panel 1 (greeting Beast);
        pg. 11, panel 2 (front; knees up);
    #2, pg. 1, panel 3 (mostly full, oblique; facing away);
        pg. 8, panel 3 (riding air platform);
    #4, pg. 6, panel 2 (slashed by X-Beast);
        pg. 21, panel 3 (left behind on Cyclaedia)

Appearances:
Die-Cut#1 (November, 1993) - Glenn Dakin (writer), Bernard Custodio (artist), Jacqui Papp (editor)
Die-Cut#2 (December, 1993) - Glenn Dakin (writer), Bernard Custodio (penciler), Paul Scott (inker), Jacqui Papp (editor)
Die-Cut#3 (January, 1993) - Glenn Dakin (writer), Bernard Custodio (penciler), Paul Scott (inker), Jacqui Papp (editor)
Die-Cut#4 (February, 1994) - Glenn Dakin (writer), Bernard Custodio (artist), Jacqui Papp (editor)

First posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 04/03/2022

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

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