Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Prankster, absurdist philosopher,
(formerly) television host
Group Membership: (formerly) Wild Pack (Cat,
Paladin, Sandman)
Affiliations: (formerly) Daredevil, Dollar
Bill, Hawkeye, Impossible Woman, Nomad, Franklin Richards, Silver
Sable, Starstreak (Katie Power)
Enemies: Coney Island Cruiers, Free Spirit, Ghost Rider (Ketch), Heroes
for Hire (Cage, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing),
Impia, Jack Flag, Dr.
Karl Malus, Max the Axe, Nomad, Power
Tools, Quasar, Rose
(Richard Fisk), She-Hulk, Thunderbolts (particularly
Citizen V (Zemo))
Known Relatives: Katy (sister, deceased),
unidentified parents (deceased)
Aliases: Nomad
Base of Operations: Madcap Comedy Hour Studio,
Soho;
(formerly) the Vault;
(formerly) Bellevue Hospital, New York;
First Appearance: Captain America I#307 (July,
1985)
Powers/Abilities: Due to Madcap's exposure to
Compound X07, his body has mutated greatly. He can only feel pain under
certain conditions and has a very rapid healing factor that can heal
gunshot wounds, third degree (deep tissue) burns and other injuries
within seconds. He can survive being flattened by a steamroller, and
his recuperative powers take only seconds to recover from even this.
Should he lose a limb, he can reattach it. Madcap's eyes give off a
psionic effect that can cause others to act irrationally, to a
dangerous degree. He often uses a prop gun (his "Fungun") to channel
his power.
Height: 5'
9" Weight: 145
lbs. Eyes:
Blue Hair: Brown
History:
(Captain America I#309 (fb)) -
The man who would become Madcap was a Christian with strong beliefs in
his faith. On their
way to a field trip, the young man's church group's bus was
accidentally
rammed by an AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) tanker truck carrying
Compound X07. The man was thrown from the crash, landing in the
Compound,
while everyone else on the bus, including his sister and parents,
perished. AIM members arrived on the scene, but believed him to be
dead as well. However, his body absorbed some of the X07, and began to
heal. He was found and brought to a hospital, where he miraculously
recovered from his injuries. When he awoke, he was informed of his
family's deaths, and his mind snapped. He tried to commit suicide by
jumping in front of a moving vehicle, but after being struck, he simply
got up and watched the scratches and cuts heal as well. No longer
believing the world made sense, he sought to show others the "truth."(Captain America #307) - The young man entered Ace
Costume Shop in Manhattan, and used his powers, channeled through a
prop gun (the "Fun Gun") he'd bought, on the owner, sending the man
into a delusional hallucination. He then stole a costume and became
Madcap. Going on a rampage, Madcap attacked uptown Manhattan, causing a
massive traffic jam when he used his gun/powers on dozens of people.
Jack Monroe, the superhero Nomad, was working as a grocery stocker
nearby when the mass chaos was caused. He investigated as Nomad and
found Madcap among all of the temporarily insane people. He attacked
the prankster, and actually broke Madcap's jaw with a punch, but was
stunned to see the villain simply pop it back into place. Nomad was
shot by Madcap's gun, and also went on an insane spree before coming to
his senses. Meanwhile, Madcap escaped. On his way home from work,
Monroe did not realize that Madcap was in the next subway car.
(Captain America
I#309) - A few nights later, Madcap
pranced around Coney Park and was attacked by a gang of thugs. They
knifed him, but he recovered and blasted them with his powers before
heading home. When he arrived, he was surprised to find Nomad waiting
there for him. Nomad played to Madcap's senses and got him to explain
his origins. The next morning, the two, in civilian clothes, fled a
restaraunt without paying. Nomad's beliefs began to conflict with his
trying out Madcap's lifestyle, and he finally had to stop playing along
when Madcap blasetd a woman pushing a baby cart. Nomad saved the woman
and the baby, and attacked Madcap, trying to use his own "Fun Gun" on
him (to no effect). Not knowing that Captain America (Rogers) had
shown up to watch the events, Nomad chased Madcap to the top of a Coney
Island rollercoaster. There, the two fought, with Madcap revealing that
his powers came from his eyes, not the prop gun. Nomad used his cape as
a shroud to blind Madcap and eventually defeated him. Nomad was
congratulated on the win by Captain America.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe
Edition#7) - Madcap was incarcerated in Bellevue Hospital.
(Daredevil I#234 (fb)-BTS) - Madcap escaped from
Bellevue, walking out the door one night.
(Daredevil I#234) - Madcap busted up a group of gun
smugglers working for the Rose (Fisk), but not without getting shot
between the eyes (though he quickly recovered). He was approached by
Dollar Bill, who offered to make
Madcap a star on his cable access televison show. The Rose put a $5,000
bounty on Madcap's head for botching one of his operations. Daredevil,
who had come across the crazed smugglers, began investigating Madcap as
well. Dollar Bill put Madcap on his The Dollar Bill Show, where Madcap
displayed his powers by plunging a knife into his stomach and pulling
it out. After it immediately healed, Madcap blasted Dollar Bill with
his powers. The next day, after the effects wore off, Dollar Bill took
Madcap out onto the streets of the city. One of the Rose's men
recognized him and called his boss. A cab under their employ struck and
ran over Madcap, but he got right back up. Madcap was then abducted by
more of the Rose's men just as Daredevil arrived. Madcap was tied
to a post by the men, and a man named Max the Axe entered the room,
brandishing a very large axe. He swung it into Madcap's chest, just
before Daredevil burst in. The gangsters threw molotov cocktails into
the room, hoping to burn Daredevil alive. When Daredevil went to
retrieve Madcap, the prankster was still alive. Daredevil opted to save
the life of the unconscious Max instead, and Madcap was burned alive in
the ensuing fire, singing the entire time. His body burned beyond
recognition, Madcap was taken to the morgue, but he still managed to
recover. He showed up later that night at Dollar Bill's apartment and
suggested they change the name of his show to the Madcap Mystey Hour.
(Power Pack I#34) -
While watching television, Katie
Power (of Power Pack) and Franklin Richards (in his "dream form" astral
form) came across the Madcap Mystery Hour. Both were amused by this
adult acting silly. Franklin's dream form materialized in front of
Madcap and asked if he and Katie could go on an adventure with him, and
Madcap agreed. Katie recovered Franklin's body from his home and woke
him up. The trio then hit the streets, and soon came across a garbage
truck. Madcap "investigated" the vehicle and got his head stuck in the
compactor. Once freed, his flattened head returned to normal and the
three continued their fun. After a while, though, Katie and Franklin
realized that Madcap was acting irresponsibly and was dangerous. After
trying to lecture him, he left them to continue his ways.
(Sensational She-Hulk#9) - Madcap went to Central Park, where
he proceeded to draw a crowd before leaping head-first off a roof onto
the ground. The She-Hulk, who was in attendance, recognized Madcap, but
was too late to stop him from using his powers to turn the crowd into
lunatics. She-Hulk gave chase, but Madcap soon hit her with his powers
as well. She managed to snap out of it, but he zapped her again, this
time channeling through his Fun Gun prop. Again her superhuman system
shook off the effects, but he got her a third time. As he tried to
impress a group of New Yorkers by stabbing himself in the head,
She-Hulk grabbed him and leapt away. She then beat the living hell out
of him. Madcap popped back up, as his broken bones quickly healed. He
taunted She-Hulk some more, but she declined to fight him, not seeing
the point. What happened to Madcap after this is unknown.
(Avengers Spotlight#29/1 (fb)) - Madcap returned to
Hell's Kitchen, with Dollar Bill in tow. They were looking for
Daredevil while taping episodes for the Madcap Comedy Hour. The Power
Tools, agents of Karl Malus, arrived and kidnapped Madcap before
assaulting Bill.
(Avengers
Spotlight#29/1) - Dollar Bill requested
Daredevil visit him in the hospital regarding his friend's kidnapping,
but Hawkeye showed up instead. Dollar Bill played the videotape showing
the abduction. Hawkeye traced the license plate on the car in the video
to a nightclub called Scuzz. There, he ordererd a drink, but the
bartender pulled a lever, dumping Hawkeye through a trap door, where he
found Madcap chained and hanging from the ceiling. Hawkeye was attacked
by the Power Tools, but managed to free Madcap. No sooner than that,
that the Power Tool member Handsaw severed Madcap's arm. He tried to
mesmerize her, but Malus had equipped her (and the rest of the Tools)
with special glasses. He managed to get the glasses off her and drove
her temporarily insane, leading to her attacking her partners. Hawkeye
and Madcap escaped the building before a self-destruct timer Malus had
set before his departure, but Madcap went back in to retrieve his arm.
The building blew up and Hawkeye wrote the prankster off as dead. Just
then, Madcap re-emerged and attached his arm back in place. Having felt
actual sensations from Malus's equipment, Madcap then leapt off, hoping
to find the doctor.
(Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular#1/3) -
The Impossible Woman brought her child Impia to Earth in hopes of
having Reed Richards "cure" her so she would be "fun." While looking
for Richards, the two witnessed Madcap dive from a tall building,
smacking into the concrete below. Madcap picked himself back up and
presented himself to the two aliens. Impossible Woman, desperate for
someone to show Impia how to have fun, begged Madcap to teach her.
Madcap agreed, in exchange for 20 hen's lips. Impossible Woman took off
to go find some, leaving Impia with Madcap. Quasar, who had previously
encountered the two aliens, arrived, only to be zapped by Madcap's
powers. Quasar began to go on a crazy rampage, and Impia begged Madcap
to stop him, but he refused. Impia managed to save Quasar and calm him
down. Madcap escaped down a sewer manhole.
(Marvel Year-in-Review 1992) - Madcap was present in the Bar With No Name when an employee dressed as Scourge shot at everyone to get the bar cleared for the night. Madcap happily dug some bullets out of his chest, and remarked "In most bars when they want you to leave, they just stop serving the drinks."
(Ghost Rider III#33) - Madcap realized that by
continuing his Madcap Comedy Hour show, he wasn't fully showing
humanity the joke of life. He went to Grand Central Station, where he
performed atop an information booth. When a security guard tried to get
him to come down, Madcap zapped him. The crazed guard then began wildly
firing his gun, shooting several people. Dan Ketch was nearby and came
across one of Madcap's victims. Transforming into Ghost Rider, he tried
to stop the carnage and confronted Madcap. He swung his chain at the
prankster, and it wrapped around Madcap's neck. Madcap fell, snapping
his neck. As Ghost Rider observed, Madcap healed and tried to blast him
with his powers, but they had no effect. Ghost Rider than forced the
Penance Stare upon Madcap, who felt its pain. Ghost Rider left, but
Madcap soon recovered. Having felt actual pain again, Madcap promised
to spill more innocent blood so that he could receive the Stare again.
(Captain America I#442) - Madcap appeared in New York's Central Park with a bomb strapped to his chest. Declaring that he had lost all will to live because random acts no longer allured him, he intended to blow himself up. The young heroes Free Spirit and Jack Flag observed him and Jack Flag tried to stop him by placing Madcap into a headlock, but Madcap escaped thanks to being triple-jointed, and set off his explosives. Jack Flag was badly burned by the blast, but his superhuman durability enabled his survival. When Madcap saw that they had both survived, he accused Jack Flag of trying to get in on his act.
(Thunderbolts Annual '97 (fb)) - Madcap was among
the superhumans briefly released from their cells in the Vault when the
Thunderbolts (actually the Masters of Evil) turned the power off and
then rounded up the escapees (in an effort to cover up their retrieval
of Moonstone (Karla Sofen)). Citizen V (Baron Helmet Zemo in disguise)
personally defeated Madcap, and all of the escapees were returned to
their cells.
(Heroes for Hire I#10 (fb)-BTS) - Needing to protect a
biotechnician/geneticist named Professor Wolfgang Hessler, Silver Sable
put together a special Wild Pack team to guard the scientist while in
Symkaria. Unbeknownst to anyone, the man Sable hired believing him to
be Nomad (Jack Monroe), was actually Madcap in disguise.
(Heroes for Hire I#10) - Heroes for Hire were sent to
retrieve Hessler, and confronted the Wild Pack. In the middle of the
battle, Madcap revealed his true self.
(Heroes for Hire I#11) - The Wild Pack managed to
defeat their enemies, though Deadpool escaped. Later, he returned,
using his image inducer to pose as Madcap. He confronted the real
Madcap and punched him hard enough to snap his neck. He recovered in
time to try to battle again, but one of his adversaries, Cage, reverted
to a mind-control planted by the Master of the World, and Cage and
Hessler teleported away.
(She-Hulk II#6 (fb)) - Madcap was among several superhumans (mostly criminals) sitting in the offices of the law offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. He was reading a magazine.
(Ghost Rider VI#33 - BTS) - Deacon and Blackout considered him as a possible agent in their fight against Ghost Rider (Blaze).
Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary and Dennis Janke.
Snood has him down as appearing during "Enemy of the State" in Wolverine III#26-28, but I don't see him in the crowds or referred to in dialogue --Prime Eternal
Profile by Madison Carter with Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Madcap has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#, page, panel
(main image)
Captain America I#309, page, panel (unmasked)
Captain America I#309, page, panel (eye powers)
Power Pack I#34, page, panel (flattened)
Avengers Spotlight#29, story 1, page, panel (reattaching arm)
Other Appearances:
Captain America I#307 (July, 1985) - Mark Gruenwald
(writer), Paul Neary (penciler), Dennis Janke (inker), Mike Carlin
(editor)
Captain America I#309 (September, 1985) - Mark
Gruenwald (writer), Paul Neary (penciler), Dennis Janke (inker), Mike
Carlin (editor)
Daredevil I#234 (September, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald
(writer), Steve Ditko (penciler), Klaus Janson (inker), Ralph Macchio
(editor)
Power Pack I#34 (January, 1988) - Howard Mackie
(writer), Larry Alexander & Louis Williams (pencilers), Tony
DeZuniga (inker), Carl Potts (editor)
Sensational She-Hulk#9 (December, 1989) - Richard Starkings & Gregory Wright
(writers), Bryan Hitch (penciler), Al Milgrom, Walt Simonson & Bob
Wiacek (inkers), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Avengers Spotlight#29 (February, 1990) - Howard Mackie (writer), James
Brock (co-writer, penciler), Roy Richardson (inker), Mark Gruenwald
(editor)
Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular#1 (August, 1990) - Mark
Gruenwald & Howard Mackie (writers), Rurik Tyler (penciler), Romeo
Tanghal (inker), Craig Anderson (editor)
Ghost Rider III#33 (January, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Bret
Blevins (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Captain America I#442 (August, 1995) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave
Hoover and Sandu Florea (pencilers), Danny Bulanadi (inker)
Thunderbolts Annual '97 (1997) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Chris Marrinan
(penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Heroes for Hire I#10 (April, 1998) - John Ostrander (writer), Pascual
Ferry (penciler), Jaime Mendoza (inker), Mark Bernardo (editor)
Heroes for Hire I#11 (May, 1998) - John Ostrander (writer), Scott Kolins
(penciler), Dan Panosian (inker), Mark Bernardo (editor)
She-Hulk II#6 (May, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Will Conrad (artist),
Tom Brevoort (editor)
Ghost Rider VI#33 (2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Tony Moore (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Last updated: 09/03/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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