The Enforcer
disclaimer: this profile contradicts established
Marvel information, providing an alternate explanation to messy continuity.
It disregards all Official Handbook information...for reasons I can't agree
with.
Nonetheless, here is his "Enforcer (Delazny)" version for you to review and make
your own decision.
The "official" Appendix profile, which does not contradict established
continuity is here:
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/enforcerdelaznysolo.htm
Real Name: Delazny (given name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Professional criminal, former student
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: "Big Jim" Galton, Ignatz Goldman, Gladiator (Potter), Water Wizard, Werewolf (Jack Russell)
Enemies: Eel (Stryke), Ghost Rider (Blaze)
Known Relatives: Charles L. Delazny (father), Dorian Delazny (probable relative)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California
(specifically) an underground base within the Hollywood Hills
First Appearance: (BTS) Ghost Rider II#21 (December, 1976)
(seen) Ghost Rider II#22 (February, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: The Enforcer possessed the normal human strength of a man of his age, height and build who engaged in moderate regular exercise. He was a poor shot with his disintegrator ring and not much of hand-to-hand combatant.
Weapons: The Enforcer wore a steel-mesh bodysuit that covered him
from head to toe. His steel face mask had infrared image amplifiers that enabled him to
see in the dark. His vest was reinforced.
The Enforcer wore an extraordinarily powerful disintegration ray
projector in his ring. The manner in which this device worked is unknown but it was
capable of disintegrating an entire destroyer with a single blast.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluze Edition #17)- Charles L.
Delazny's son was born in San Jose, California, the only son of the head of Delazny
Studios, an independently-owned back lot and soundstage where movies were once filmed
but which has more recently been used primarily for television production. One of Charles
L. Delaznys longtime associates was “Coot” Collier, a former actor who once directed
movie Westerns and later directed television programs at Delazny Studios. Collier had a
son named Carson who was the same age as Delazny’s son, and the two were schoolmates at
Hollywood High School. (Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS)- During the worst of the recession, Charles L. Delazny
borrowed heavily from racketeers to keep his studio in business. (Ghost Rider II#22 (fb)-BTS/OHotMUDE #17)- The young Delazny contacted agents of a
foreign power who hired him to wreak destruction at the San Diego Navy yards. Using the
money he was advanced, the young Delazny hired an elderly scientist named Ignatz Goldman
to create a bullet-proof costume. Wearing this outfit, the young Delazny became known
as the Enforcer. (Ghost Rider II#21 (fb)-BTS)- The Enforcer wanted to obtain a disintegrator ray
generator for his own purposes but it had already been stolen by Leopold Stryke, the
original Eel. The Enforcer then hired the costumed criminal known as the Gladiator to
steal the device from Leopold Stryke and told him that Stryke had left the device on a
certain soundstage at Delazny Studios. (Ghost Rider II#21- BTS/Ghost Rider II#22 (fb)- BTS)- The Enforcer encountered the
Eel in the alley [where the Eel had just knocked out Ghost Rider] and "appropriated"
the device from him. Leaving the Eel in that alley [where he was soon found and killed
by the Gladiator], the Enforcer brought the device to his secret underground base and
turned it over to Professor Goldman to be miniaturized. (Ghost Rider II#22)- Later, the Enforcer returned to his underground base and Goldman
gave him a medallion that was a miniaturization of the disintegration device and which
could be used as a weapon. Several hours later, the Enforcer arrived at the Belaire
mansion which was the home of "the boss" of a local criminal organization which had
gained control of Delazny Studios. After declaring that he was there to take over the
operation, the Enforcer was threatened by "the boss" but used the medallion to
disintegrate him. The gangsters quickly accepted the Enforcer as their new "boss." (Ghost Rider II#24 (fb)- BTS)- As the new "boss" of that local criminal organization,
the Enforcer met with (or contacted) Delazny and they agreed that the Enforcer would stay
away from Delazny once Delazny "paid his price." (Ghost Rider II#22 (fb)- BTS)- The Enforcer received the third version of the
disintegration device from Goldman who had further miniaturized it until it was small
enough to be set in a ring. (Ghost Rider II#22)- The next day, the Enforcer and four members of his newly-acquired
gang left the Delazny mansion and drove south to the San Diego Naval Yards, unaware that
they were being followed by Ghost Rider. After arriving at the Navy Yards, the Enforcer
paused to brag about his disintegrator ring and the foreign power who had financed his
operation. When the shore patrol showed up and opened fire, the Enforcer left his men to
deal with them while he proceeded with his mission. He disintegrated a destroyer before
Ghost Rider (who had already taken care of the goons) knocked him off his feet. After
a brief running battle that ended with them both falling into the harbor, the Enforcer
escaped from Ghost Rider but lost his ring in the water while doing so. (Ghost Rider II#23)- The Enforcer showed up at the warehouse where the Water Wizard
was celebrating the success of his first bank robbery and offered him one million dollars
to kill Ghost Rider. The Water Wizard accepted the contract and the next day he tried to
kill Johnny Blaze while the motorcyclist was performing a stunt at Delazny Studios but
Blaze survived by briefly changing into Ghost Rider. (Ghost Rider II#24 (fb) - BTS/Ghost Rider II#23 - BTS)- At the Enforcer's request, the
Water Wizard used his power over water to create a thousand liquid creatures who combed
the bottom of San Diego harbor to find and recover the lost disintegrator ring. Guessing
that Blaze might have learned of Delazny's involvement with him, the Enforcer arranged
for the Water Wizard to ambush Ghost Rider at Delazny's estate that night. The ambush
ended with Ghost Rider being knocked out and transformed back into Blaze. (Ghost Rider II#24)- As Charles L. Delazny stood above Johnny Blaze's unconscious body,
the Enforcer appeared and revealed that he had arranged the ambush. When Delazny angrily
questioned him, the Enforcer threatened Delazny's family (including his son) and cowed
Delazny by demonstrating his disintegrator ring's power. After taking Delazny's son's
motorcycle and ordering Delazny to report it as stolen, the Enforcer tried to kill Blaze
by having him tied to the motorcycle which was then sent off a cliff. Although he saw
Blaze transform into Ghost Rider on the way down, the Enforcer was sure that no man
could have lived through the crash. (Ghost Rider II#26 (fb)- BTS)- When the police arrived, the Enforcer was taken into
custody and imprisoned for his crimes. The elder Delazny was informed that his son was
the Enforcer and this knowledge upset him considerably. (Ghost Rider II#26 (BTS))- While seeking information about the Ghost Rider, Doctor
Anthony Druid confronted Charles L. Delazny and used his powers to probe Delazny's mind.
While doing so, Druid learned that Delazny was upset because "(his) son was secretly a
criminal known as the Enforcer, who was captured and imprisoned recently!" (Pure Speculation)- While in prison, the Enforcer may have been contacted by the
Committee, a group of corrupt Los Angeles businessmen, who may have offered to arrange
for him to be quickly released.(see comments) (Spider-Woman I#19 (fb) - BTS)- A Los Angeles newspaper reported that the Enforcer
was “recently sprung from the joint."(see comments) (Pure Speculation)- Delazny disappeared after being "sprung from the joint." When
the Enforcer was seen committing crimes, some people believed that Delazny had resumed
his criminal career. However, once the Enforcer was captured and unmasked, authorities
learned that he was actually Carson Collier, Delazny's former schoolmate, who had assumed
the identity of the Enforcer and had been allowing witnesses to believe that he was the
original in order to keep his identity secret. What happened to Delazny has never been
revealed. Comments: Created by Gerry
Conway, Don Heck and Keith Pollard. The Enforcer's name was first mentioned in Ghost Rider II#21 and it was
later revealed that he was the person who had robbed the Eel in that issue but he wasn't
actually seen until Ghost Rider II#22.
This is what I believe the profile of the original Enforcer should be. It is not in
any way authorized by The Powers That Be at Marvel Comics nor by those involved in the
production of the current Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series. However, I
firmly believe that my theory that "the" Enforcer was actually two different men does a
better job of explaining the inconsistencies between the character's various appearances
than the explanation that was provided in the Enforcer's entry in the Official Handbook
of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #17. What I'd really like to see is a Marvel story
in which Delazny reappears as the Enforcer and explains how Carson Collier usurped his
costumed identity (beginning in Spider-Woman #19). Or maybe a criminal calling himself
the Enforcer could show up and reveal that he was actually the third man to use that
identity and its distinctive costume. Of course, since the Enforcer is not just a minor
character, he's a DEAD minor character, there's not much chance of that happening. If the Committee did arrange for the Enforcer's early release (or escape), I can think
of three different scenarios. The first scenario is that the Committee contacted Delazny
in prison and offered to arrange his release/escape if he agreed to work for them as the
Enforcer. Delazny may have agreed to this deal but, once out of prison, he reneged and
either went into hiding (to avoid the Committee and the authorities) or was killed by
the Committee as punishment for his treachery. The second scenario is that the Committee contacted Delazny in prison and offered to
arrange his release/escape if he agreed to give them his disintegrator ring (or plans
for its construction). Delazny may have agreed to this deal but, once out of prison, he
was unwilling or unable to fulfill his part and so he either went into hiding (to avoid
the Committee and the authorities) or was killed by the Committee as punishment for his
treachery. The third scenario is that the Committee wanted the Enforcer identity for use by one
of their employees (Carson Collier) and they arranged Delazny's release/escape so that
the authorities, when they heard that the Enforcer had been seen committing crimes, would
assume that Delazny had resumed his criminal career and would not suspect Collier. If
this was the Committee's motivation for springing Delazny from the joint, then they
presumably couldn't afford to allow Delazny to be seen in public or to be questioned by
the police so they would probably have just killed him and hidden the body...unless
Delazny somehow escaped/survived their attempt to murder him and went into hiding. It was the Enforcer's entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4 which
claimed that it was the Committee who had arranged the Enforcer's early release from
prison. However, that entry was written by someone who believed that "Collier" was the one-and-only Enforcer
so it could be mistaken about the Committee's involvement as well. It was the Enforcer's entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe
Edition #17 which identified him as "Charles L. Delazny, Jr." and tried to explain why
he once claimed to be "Carson Collier, Jr." when he clearly wasn't. I found that
explanation to be rather implausible and wrote this profile as an alternative. Also, I
feel that the Handbook was wrong to "make up" a given name for the character and the
idea of calling him "Charles L. Delazny, Jr." just because his father had been named
"Charles L. Delazny" strikes me as being rather unimaginative. Snood's statement. There are a LOT of diehard fans who have a lot of
trouble with the fact that OHotMUs have always been 98% resource and 2%
source (meaning that they sometimes supply new information (like real names, or
names of relatives) or explanations to connect two otherwise contradictory
stories). These fans believe that if it doesn't come from a pre-existing story
it is not "canon." These people can continue these beliefs and arguments in
their own groups, but that is not and has never been Marvel's policy. Get over
it. For what it's worth, the Marvel Chronology Project, which once listed all of the
Enforcer's appearances in a single listing, now lists two different Enforcers -
ENFORCER/DELAZNY and ENFORCER II/CARSON COLLIER. I guess that they found my theory to
be persuasive. As you can see, the MCP also doesn't accept the "Charles L. Delazny,
Jr." name as being canon. Finally, Enda80 pointed out that one of George Olshevsky's
Indexes makes a reference to the fact that Spider-Man (I think) once fought the second
Enforcer. Clarifications:
The Enforcer has no known connections to Ignatz Goldman (if that's really "the Professor's" name) has no
known connections to The Enforcer's main weapon is a ring with a disintegration ray generator set in it.
Originally the generator was an "electronic gizmo" (see left) which the Eel (Leopold
Stryke) had stolen from a never-specified location. The Enforcer hired the Gladiator
(Potter) to steal it from Stryke and told him that Stryke had left it on a certain
soundstage at Delazny Studios but Stryke actually had it in the room he rented in a
flop-house. The Eel took the gizmo with him to an appointment and knocked out Ghost
Rider (who had been following him) but then the Enforcer "appropriated" the device from
him and Stryke was soon killed by the Gladiator (who was still looking for the gadget).
The Enforcer took the device to Professor Goldman who miniaturized it into a medallion
(not shown) which the Enforcer used to kill the "boss" of a local gang of racketeers.
Later, Goldman reduced the device to the size of a jewel and set it into a ring (see
right). The Enforcer used the ring to disintegrate an entire destroyer before losing it
in San Diego harbor. After the Water Wizard recovered the ring, the Enforcer tried to
use it to kill Ghost Rider but he just couldn't manage to hit him. What happened to
the ring after the Enforcer was defeated is unknown (but if Goldman and/or Ghost Rider
had any sense at all they would have destroyed it before calling the police). Presumably
the LAPD confiscated the ring when they arrested the Enforcer. - (electonic gizmo) Ghost Rider II#21 - (medallion) Ghost Rider II#22 - (ring) Ghost Rider II#22 (24) Charles L. Delazny is the owner of Delazny Studios, an independently-owned back lot
and soundstage where movies were once filmed but which has more recently been used
primarily for television production. One of his longtime associates is “Coot” Collier,
a former actor who once directed movie Westerns and later directed television programs
at Delazny Studios. Delazny had a family which included (at least) one son who was
secretly the criminal known as the Enforcer. During the worst of the recession, Delazny
borrowed heavily from racketeers to keep his studio in business. This loan enabled a
local criminal organization to gain control of Delazny Studios and use Delazny as their
"front man." (Ghost Rider II#22)- Delazny had stuntman Johnny Blaze summoned to his office. When
Blaze arrived, Delazny revealed that it was Officer Flannigan of the LAPD who had asked
for the meeting. Blaze fled the office when Flannigan tried to force him to go to police
headquarters. Later, after learning that Leopold Stryke (the Eel) had been hired through
Delazny's office, Blaze staked out the Delazny mansion until he saw the Enforcer and some
goons leaving it. (Ghost Rider II#24 (fb)- BTS)- After the Enforcer took over the local criminal
organization that had gained control of Delazny Studios, Delazny agreed to pay the
Enforcer "his price" if he'd stay away from Delazny. (Ghost Rider II#23)- Suspecting that Delazny was tied to the Enforcer, Ghost Rider
went to the Delazny estate planning to force Delazny to reveal whatever he knew about
the Enforcer but was ambushed by the Water Wizard as soon as he arrived. Ghost Rider
managed to defeat the Water Wizard but was knocked out by his foe's last attack and
reverted to human form. Then Charles L. Delazny strode from the shadows and said,
"You were a fool to come here, Blaze -- and it's going to cost you your life!" (Ghost Rider II#24)- While standing over Blaze's helpless body, Delazny was joined by
the Enforcer who revealed that he had arranged the ambush. When Delazny demanded answers,
the Enforcer threatened his family (including his son who was in college) and cowed
Delazny by disintegrating the door of the garage. When the Enforcer announced that he
was going to take Delazny's son's motorcycle and ordered Delazny wait an hour before
reporting it stolen, Delazny shakily agreed. (Ghost Rider II#26 (fb)-BTS)- Following the capture and imprisonment of the Enforcer,
Charles L. Delazny learned his son had secretly been the criminal. This knowledge upset
him. (Ghost Rider II#26)- When Delazny arrived at his office and learned that his secretary
had let someone in without an appointment, he angrily confronted the intruder, Doctor
Anthony Druid, but quickly succumbed to Druid's occult powers and apologized for being
rude because he'd recently been upset about his son. Druid probed his mind and learned
that Delazny was upset because his son had secretly been the Enforcer and that Delazny
didn't believe that the Ghost Rider was a supernatural being. Delazny was depicted as balding in his first appearance but later issues showed him
with a full head of hair. Charles L. Delazny is presumably related to the Dorian Delazny who was (apparently)
the head of Delazny Studios in Astonishing Tales I#21-24 but I've never read those issues
and I'm not aware of any story in which their exact relationship is defined. - Ghost Rider II#22 (23,24,26) Galton was one of the Enforcer's henchmen. When the Enforcer wanted to kill Blaze and
make it look like an accident, it was Galton who tied Blaze to the motorcycle, locked
the throttle open and pushed the starter button, thus sending the bike and Blaze over a
cliff. Later, at the Enforcer's underground base, Galton stayed out of the way when Ghost
Rider showed up to battle both the Water Wizard and the Enforcer. It wasn't until both
of them were unconscious that Galton tried to sneak up behind Ghost Rider with a metal
pipe but was instead knocked out by Professor Goldman (who had his own metal pipe). - Ghost Rider II#24 Ignatz Goldman (called only "Professor" in the stories) was "a rather nondescript
scientific genius" employed by the Enforcer to miniaturize a disintegration ray generator
into smaller, more practical forms which could be used as weapons. Goldman may have
created the Enforcer's bullet-proof costume and may have helped design the Enforcer's
secret underground base. At some point, Goldman realized that it wasn't prudent to anger
his employer. Eventually, the Enforcer decided that Goldman was the only remaining threat
to his plans (since, as the creator of the disintegator ring, he could likely find a way
to nullify its power) and was about to eliminate him when Ghost Rider showed up. After
the battle, Goldman repaid the favor by knocking out "Big Jim" Galton as he was about to
strike Ghost Rider from behind. Despite this, Goldman was terrified of Ghost Rider and
begged him to stay away. His fate since then is unknown. - Ghost Rider II#22 (24) images: other appearances: Last updated:
04/23/05 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. Non-Marvel Copyright
infoHistory:
Hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps, Delazny's son enrolled in
the University of Southern California film school, only to become heavily involved in
dealing narcotics. Developing criminal contacts, Delazny dropped out of school to pursue
a career in crime.
Returning to his underground base with the Water Wizard, the Enforcer
revealed that he planned to use Delazny's business to launder the money he was going to
make from the crime-empire that he was building. The Enforcer then stated that he had
decided to eliminate the person he saw as the only remaining threat, the man who created
his ring, and was about to disintegrate Goldman when Ghost Rider showed up. After a
brief battle, both the Water Wizard and the Enforcer were knocked out by Ghost Rider
who then removed the Enforcer's mask but didn't recognize him. Johnny Blaze later called
the police and told them where to find the criminals.
--For the most part I leave this profile alone, but this is B.S., pure and
simple. Certainly no one ever named their child something Sr. or Jr.? Is that
what you are proposing? That is a VERY poor argument and I think it detracts
from an otherwise reasonable theory. Secondly see below:
Seriously. Get over it. Marvel policy >> your own policy. The end.
Enforcer's Disintegrator Ring
Charles L. Delazny, Sr.
"Big Jim" Galton
"Professor"
Ghost Rider II#24, page 11, panel 5 (firing disintegrator beam)
Ghost Rider II#24, page 17, panel 2 (Enforcer unmasked)
[OR OHotMU II#17, page 20, panel 2 (Enforcer unmasked)]
Ghost Rider II#21, page 10, panel 5 (electronic gizmo)
Ghost Rider II#22, page 12, panel 6 (disintegrator ring)
Ghost Rider II#26, page 6, panel 2 (Charles L. Delazny)
Ghost Rider II#24, page 3, panel 4 ("Big Jim" Galton)
Ghost Rider II#22, page 5, panel 6 ("Professor")
Ghost Rider II#22-24 (February-June, 1977)
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