HOWLER

Real Name: Louis "Luke" Garrow

Identity/Class: Presumptive human (possibly a mutant, mutate, or magically-empowered being); pre-modern era

Occupation: Criminal, laborer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Chimera (Zuhn), several other unidentified Skrulls;
    briefly paid to work with Axis, Positron, and Scythe

Enemies: First Line (Black Fox/Robert Paine, Kid Justice, Liberty Girl, Yankee Clipper/Patrick Carney)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile (wanted in several US states)

First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation#6 (September, 2000)

Powers/Abilities: When exposed to moonlight, Garrow transformed into the savage, feral creature known as Howler. He typically lost the power of speech and some degree of control, but devices that filtered select harmonics granted him greater degrees of conscious control. Howler had some degree of superhuman strength (Class 10). His strength and savagery were enhanced by exposure his degree of exposure to moonlight. When on the surface of the moon, he became completely savage and was strong enough to tear a super-strong man in half.

    Skrull "Lifeboat technology" allowed Howler and his allies to operate on the moon's surface without wearing spacesuits.

Height: (Human) roughly 6'2"; (Howler) roughly 7'2"
Weight: (Human) 250 lbs.; (Howler) roughly 400 lbs.
Eyes: Brown?
Hair: (Human) gray; (Howler) white

History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - Garrow worked primarily in heavy lifting.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - At nighttime, Garrow turned into a giant form he called Howler, losing his power of speech.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - In both of his identities, Garrow was wanted in several states.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - The moment Garrow was spotted in Dallas, the FBI alerted the First Line of his presence.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4) <November 21, 1963> - Meeting with Mr. Winget (secretly the skrull Zuhn), head of the aerospace company Winget Co in an industrial park east of Dallas, Garrow questioned what Winget would want with him, at which point Winget activated a device that bathed Garrow in energy stimulating moonlight, but with select harmonics designed to improve Garrow's conscious control of his Howler form. Posing as another were-being, Chimera, Zuhn proposed an alliance.
    That evening, Chimera and Howler broke into a Stark Industries plant, which turned out to be a set up by the First Line. Liberty Girl drop kicked Howler in the head, and the Yankee Clipper flattened him with a punch. After Chimera slew Liberty Girl, Effigy slew Chimera. The First Line waited for the police to arrive to pick up Howler, while Effigy got rid of Chimera's body so no one would learn he was a Skrull.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#6) <July 16, 1969> - Employed by a trio of Skrulls posing as humans, Howler objected to the involvement of fellow superhumans Axis and Typhoon, fearing that he would have to split his fee. One of the Skrulls assured Howler he would receive full payment, but then Axis complained about having to work with "sub-humans." Howler rushed Axis, telling him to say his prayers, but Axis punched him across the room, saying, "I do, animal. Every night." Calling Axis a pious fascist and threatening to mail him back to Germany in a baggie, Howler tore up a piece of machinery and hurled it at Axis, but Positron blew the machinery to pieces and broke up the fight. One of the Skrulls then reminded them of their compensation of their mission, to destroy the Apollo 11 ship as it landed on the moon.

    As the Skrull ship approached the moon, Howler began to feel really odd.
    Arriving on the moon, the criminals encountered the arriving First Line. Upon seeing Blackjack, a now re-formed criminal, Howler rushed to kill him. Axis tried to shove Howler aside, telling him this was a job for a super-MAN, but the now savage Howler tore Axis in half. Scythe then cut Howler down, possibly slaying him.

Comments: Created by John Byrne, Roger Stern, and Al Milgrom.

    In case you're not familiar with the series, Marvel: The Lost Generation started with issue #12 and then worked backwards to #1, each story taking place sometime before the last.

    In Marvel: The Lost Generation#6, Howler had yellow fur. In Marvel: The Lost Generation#4, Howler had white fur. No explanation...not sure if it was coloring error, of if there was some explanation.
Maybe using Chimera's device long term turned him more yellow?

    Thanks to John Holstein for pointing out the explanation of how Howler, his allies, and the First Line were active on the moon without spacesuits:

Marvel: The Lost Generation # 6, page 15 panel 1. Effigy says "No need ( for space suits ),Oxbow. Those tubes at the back of the chamber are part of the ship's "Lifeboat Technology( seen on page 22 panel 1 )"---they temporarily supercharge the body's natural electromagnetic aura while hyper-oxygenating its tissues."
    The Villains ( Howler, Scythe, Typhoon, Axis & Positron ) working with the Skrulls probably used the same technology.     

    You'd think with Howler's amped up power level on the moon that he could have recovered from a sword slash.

    Howler seemed more likely to a be a mutant or mutate rather than a werewolf. Presumably the sun's light, reflected off the moon's surface, is what gave him his powers.

    Fin Fang Foom444 noted: The name "Luke Garrow" would seem to be a play on the French "loup-garou", meaning "werewolf".

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Howler has no known connections to:

• "HOWLER" (    ) - @ 1959, alien infant, briefly lost on earth, cried for its parents, discovered by Charlie Fox, hunted by army, easily defeated them before being reclaimed by its parents--Tales of Suspense I#6/1
• Howler, (Zed) a Z'lyzlayan Fantastic Four ally @ Fantastic Four III#33
• Howling Commandos, World War II soldiers @ Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#1
• Howling Commandos, SHIELD monster soldiers @ Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos#1
• Howling Commandos Private Military Commandos, @ Secret Warriors#1
• "Howling Vessel", encountered by Silver Surfer @ Marvel Comics Presents#69/4
• Howlin' Wolf, Marvel's version of the famous musician @ Marvel Comics Presents#65/4