BLOATED BANDIT
Real Name: Judson Croker
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Secretary of the Civic Transportation Bureau
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Iron Man (Stark)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Bandit
Base of Operations: An underground cavern near Twin Lakes, oufitted with internal weaponry and padded with "bulging foam rubber."
First Appearance: Marvel Story Book Annual (1967)
Powers/Abilities: The Bandit, or Bloated Bandit, wore a suit of "armor" created of thick green rubber-like tubing. When struck, Bandit would simply bounce away from the impact. The sizable armor made the user appear quite large and bulky.
History:
(Marvel Story Book Annual (fb) - BTS) - Judson Croker, secretary of the Civic Transportation Bureau, required several companies to provide advance notice of their cargoes and routes.
(Marvel Story Book Annual (fb) - BTS) - Four consignments of Stark Industries products, representing a half million dollars, were hijacked by the Bandit (Judson) on consecutive nights. He stored his stolen goods in his high-tech underground hideout along the shoreline of Twin Lakes.
(Marvel Story Book Annual) - Several Stark Industries' directors (Cyrus P. Keeling, Elmer Q. Quincy) with secretary Alvin Barnes and Senator Lake, notified Tony Stark of the thefts; as Iron Man, Stark began investigating and deduced the approximate location of the Bandit's hideout. Seeing Iron Man coming, Bandit pushed a boulder down the hill at him, which he dodged; Iron Man then attacked him both physically and using his transistors, but the Bandit simply bounced away unharmed each time, eventually fleeing down a secret entrance into his underground headquarters. Iron Man soon followed and avoided the various weaponry the Bandit had built into the walls; finally Iron Man zapped the Bandit with "a stream of negative particles of ionic energy" which "neutralized the protective qualities of the Bloated Bandit's rubbery outer covering." When the Bandit blasted Iron Man with a stupefying gas, Iron Man used his Reverser Ray to send the gas back, knocking out the Bandit. Removing the Bandit's helmet, Iron Man discovered his identity. Removing the Bandit's armor, Iron Man handcuffed him and called the police, who then came and took him to a jail cell and collected his ill-gotten goods.
Comments: The creators of the Bandit are unclear; see first Comment below.
Marvel Story Book Annual is a 1967 British publication. The book is 93 pages total, and is mostly prose stories each with four or five illustrations (each story features one of Marvel's heroes or teams of heroes from that time), plus a number of puzzles. This particular story is an Iron Man story titled "A Cushioned Clash" and appears on pages 37-44. Credits are at the start of the book and list all authors and illustrators, so there's no way here to determine which in particular were responsible for the Bloated Bandit, but the authors are Douglas Enefer, A. Tyson, and John W. Elliott, while the story illustrations are credited to M.K. Powell, K. Leeder, and P. Limbert. I feel a need to note that the book is copyright 1967 by Marvel Comics Group, so if some Marvel writer or editor is awed by this guy, you do apparently have the rights to use him.
This story references a recent climactic Iron Man battle with the Titanium Man; given the dates of publication that's probably Tales of Suspense I#81-83.
Profile by SQUEAK.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Bloated Bandit has no known connections to
images: (as numbered)
Marvel Story Book Annual, p42 (main image)
Marvel Story Book Annual, p44 (head)
Appearances:
Marvel Story Book Annual (1967) - creators unknown (see Comments)
Last updated: 02/18/09
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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