Real Name: Lt. Michael Kenneth Keane
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Former lieutenant in the U.S Army; vigilante
Group Membership: Formerly the U.S. Army Special Forces and Green Berets
Affiliations: Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Enemies: Guardian Life Insurance Company (including Mr. Matthews and several security guards);
formerly Captain America
Known Relatives: John Robert Keane (Tumbler, brother, deceased), Mrs. Keane (mother, deceased)
Aliases: Mike
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Captain America I#291 (March, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: As the Tumbler, Michael Keane was highly acrobatic and in excellent physical condition. His reflexes and agility were far above average, and he was skilled at using his acrobatic skills in a fight.
Height: Unrevealed (5'10"; by approximation, see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (180 lbs.; by approximation, see comments)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
History:
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - Unlike his brother
John, who had turned to a life of crime, Michael Keane enlisted in the
military; he gained a reputation as a skilled fighter in the U.S. Army,
and when hit, he hit back.
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - In the Army, Michael earned an outstanding record for valor, and was a thrice-decorated military hero.
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - While Michael was in the Army, his brother John used the ill-gotten gains he had reaped as the Tumbler to pay not only for his own living expenses, but also for their mother and their apartment.
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, John took out a one million dollar policy with the Guardian Life Insurance Company, which was aware of his Tumbler identity and criminal activities.
(Captain America I#291 (fb)) - After John was killed in a plot involving the Committee to Regain America's Principles and the Secret Empire (@ Captain America I#169), Michael left the Army and attended his brother's funeral. Afterwards, he promised to take good care of his mother, though he had no idea how he could support her. When she reminded him of John's life insurance policy, Michael went to Guardian Life Insurance, but they refused to pay on the policy, since John had been killed while engaged in an illegal act.
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - With John's infamous career straining his own reputation, Michael found it difficult to secure work, and bills mounted, especially when his mother became ill -- what little savings they had went to help her, but in the end, it was too little, and she died.
(Captain America I#291 (fb)) - Michael attended his mother's funeral, and he blamed the insurance company for indirectly causing her death. Soon after, he took John's costume from the closet and decided to become a new Tumbler, to force Guardian Life Insurance to pay off on his brother's policy. After training long and hard, Michael's acrobatic skills were even better than John's had been.
(Captain America I#291) - Late one night, Michael--as the Tumbler--broke into Guardian Life Insurance and stole his brother's records; but as he left the building at 4:00 AM, he was spotted by Captain America. Although he managed to hold his own against the hero and escaped, Michael failed to hold on to the bag containing the records and was forced to flee without them.
Returning to his apartment, Michael plotted means to make up for his failure, but Captain America used the insurance records to trace him back to his home. After a brief struggle followed by an explanation, the Tumbler told Cap of how his family had been wronged, and since the insurance company seemed to be engaged in fraud, Captain America agreed to help him set things right.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop through the predawn air, Cap and the Tumbler returned to Guardian, where they found security guards hauling off records to prevent further discovery. Captain America threw his shield, and the noises it created as it ricocheted back to him distracted the guards while he and the Tumbler entered Guardian's building through the skylight.
Once inside, they found files of numerous super-villains who had similar policies as John Keane (...including [in this order] Jonathon Powers (Jester), Otto Octavius (Dr. Octopus), Calvin Zabo (Mr. Hyde), Klaus Voorhees (Cobra), Silas King (Solarr), Sam Sm--[presumably Sam Smithers, Plantman], and R--; yeah, I'm not sure what alphabetical filing system they used, either).
However, Guardians' owner, Mr. Matthews, led the guards to club Tumbler with the butt of a revolver, and they took him hostage, forcing Cap's compliance; but when Matthews threatened to kill them both, Captain America knocked over a stack of filing cabinets that stunned the guards, allowing Cap and the Tumbler to trap them in the room and then to finish off the rest of the GLIC employees.
With their mission completed by the first light of morning, Captain America called the police to report their findings, and the Tumbler was overcome by emotion. When the police arrived, Cap introduced the costumed Michael to them as New York's newest crime-fighter, but the Tumbler disagreed, saying that he had done what he had to do, and that the costume was going back in the closet.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Herb Trimpe, and Jack Abel.
I think that costume definitely belongs in the closet...
One of the Tumblers was pulled forward in time to fight in JLA/Avengers#4 for Krona, but it is unknown which one it was.
Michael's height and weight are based on his brother's, figuring he'd have to be about the same size to fit into John's costume.
And in regards to Michael and John's fraternal
relationship: It was never revealed which one was the elder brother...
or I guess they could also have been twins.
--Ron Fredricks
New and additional images plus the sub-profiles by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tumbler (Michael Kenneth Keane) is connected to but should be distinguished from:
...but has no known connections to:
Mr. Matthews has no known connections to:
The Guardian Life Insurance Company has no known connections to:
|
Possibly widowed or divorced, she (first name unrevealed) was the mother of two sons--John and Michael--and they lived in a New York City apartment. Michael joined the military and became a decorated soldier; but John led a life of crime, using his acrobatic skills as the Tumbler; John supported his mother with his ill-gotten gains, and he had also taken out a million dollar life insurance policy on himself, naming his mother as the beneficiary. After John's death, Michael left the military to care for his mother; when she mentioned John's policy, Michael went to the Guardian Life Insurance Company to collect on the account, but they refused to pay because John had been killed while engaged in an illegal act. When Mrs. Keane took ill, she was unable to get proper medical care due to low finances, and she died shortly afterward; blaming the insurance company for indirectly causing his mother's death, Michael took on the identity of the Tumbler to get revenge on Guardian Life Insurance. (Comment: This is the only panel in which she appeared.) --Captain America I#291 (#291 d |
|
Matthews (first name unrevealed) was an executive with Guardian Life (founded in 1882), and he secretly sold million dollar life insurance policies to various super-villains, the first being John Keane (aka the Tumbler); but Matthews was actually committing fraud, for he never intended to pay any of the beneficiaries, figuring that none of the relatives would dare go to court and press for payment knowing the nature of the decedent's crimes. Following John Keane's death, Keane's brother Michael attempted to collect on the policy because he needed the money to pay his mother's medical bills; but Matthews refused to pay, as John was killed while engaged in an illegal act, and Mrs. Keane died shortly afterward. |
|
|
Michael Keane blamed Matthews' company for indirectly causing his mother's death, so he took on his brother's former identity as the new Tumbler and broke into the insurance company's building to steal John's insurance files. Worried that his fraud scheme would be discovered, Matthews had his security guards begin to move all the insurance policy files to another location. But aided by Captain America (Steve Rogers), the Tumbler returned and exposed Matthews' corrupt business practices to the law. (Comment: For a partial list of some of the other super-villain policy-holders, see the main profile.) --Captain America I#291 |
|
images: (without ads)
Captain America I#291, cover (main image - Tumbler attacks Captain America)
Captain America I#291, p17, pan5 (headshot - Michael Keane)
Captain America I#291, p20, pan2 (headshot - Tumbler)
Captain America I#291, p8, pan3 (Tumbler practices his moves)
Captain America I#291, p7, pan2 (Mrs. Keane, speaking to Michael Keane)
Captain America I#291, p7, pan4 (Mr. Matthews, speaking to Michael Keane [right])
Captain America I#291, p7, pan6 (Mr. Matthews)
Captain America I#291, p2, pan1 (Tumbler jumps from Guardian Insurance building)
Captain America I#291, p14, pan1 (Captain America and Tumbler approaching Guardian Insurance building)
Appearances:
Captain America I#291 (March, 1984) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Herb Trimpe
(pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
First posted: 05/08/2005
Last updated: 07/06/2026
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.!