AUSTIN WHELTON
Real Name: Austin Whelton
Identity/Class: Human werewolf;
pre-modern era (last seen active in 1973)
Occupation: Big game hunter
Group Membership: Unidentified hunting group
Affiliations: Formerly Tom Burke, Troy Ferman;
the unidentified werewolf who transformed him could be considered an ally or an enemy
Enemies: Tom Burke, Troy Ferman
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Hunting cabin in an unspecified jungle location
First Appearance: Chamber of Chills#7 (November, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Austin presumably shifted between human
and werewolf form during a full moon (at least); his werewolf form was
savage and more than willing to prey on others (even former allies).
His werewolf form apparently possessed
super-human strength,
speed, durability, agility, reflexes, stamina, and senses; the limits
of these abilities are unrevealed.
He was presumably vulnerable to
silver and magical assaults, and possibly to wolfsbane, etc. He was
resistant to injury from conventional injury, such as a lead and/or
steel bullet.
His bites and scratches transformed other into werewolves within
minutes. If is unclear whether this is only true of those who survive
his attacks, or whether his victims can return from death to become a
werewolf.
Austin Whelton was otherwise an experienced big game hunter, skilled at
tracking and in the use of a rifle.
Height: Unrevealed (no one of known height for
reference; he appeared comparable in height to two other hunters)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Apparently blue (seemed to have reddish sclera, with unclear iris color as a werewolf)
Hair: Light brown (darker brown as a werewolf)
History:
(Chamber
of Chills#7 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
hardcover#13: Werewolves entry) <1972> - Based out of their hunting cabin in an unspecified jungle location, Austin Whelton and Troy
Ferman took the solid silver trophy in the annual big game hunting contest, bagging the largest cat in the competition's
history. 
(Chamber
of Chills#7 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
hardcover#13: Werewolves entry) <1973> - Despite Whelton and
Ferman's championship, others questioned whether Tom Burke -- regarded
by many as the greatest big game hunter and who had not competed due to
being hospitalized following being mauled by a wolf (actually a
werewolf) -- might have won
had he been able to compete. Tired of Burke's ongoing ranking as the
greatest despite their recent successes and seeking to hunt the most
dangerous game (a human), Whelton and Ferman invited Burke to their
hunting lodge with the plan to prove their superiority by hunting him.
(Chamber
of Chills#7) - Though suspecting treachery, Burke traveled to the
hunting lodge, where
Whelton and Ferman greeted him, with Whelton noting that the big cats
were out in force this season. After they revealed their true
intentions, Burke called them mad, and Whelton noted that they were
sick and tired of his being hailed as the greatest despite their
trophy. After Whelton informed Burke they were going to lay the issue
to rest by hunting him, they sent Burke -- at gunpoint -- running into the woods with a 10
minute lead.
(Chamber
of Chills#7) - Seeing the depths of Burke's bootprints, Whelton noted
how Burke must be running scared, but then they found Burke's boots
laying on the ground, after which the tracks changed to non-human
footprints. Hearing a howl, Whelton noted that there weren't wolves in
the jungle, but Ferman told Whelton it must
have been a werewolf that mauled Burke and that Burke was now a
werewolf. Whelton was skeptical and accused Ferman of being hysterical
and losing his nerve: "Shut
up, you gutless old woman! I came out here to hunt Burke, and if a wolf
gets in the way before I reach him...well, I've taken out wolves before!"
Whelton ignored Ferman's insistence that this was not a normal wolf and
told him to either be silent or to slink back to the outpost.
Ultimately, Ferman rushed back to the outpost alone to fashion a silver
bullet, while Whelton continued the hunt.
On his own, Whelton considered that he wanted to hunt the most
dangerous game, which might actually be werewolf rather than man. He
followed the tracks to a tree where they stopped, and in the darkness,
he could only wonder if Burke was up in the tree; indeed, the werewolf
Burke crouched in the tree above him.
Ignoring Whelton's panicked efforts to explain the hunt as a joke, the werewolf growled as he leapt at Whelton, who fired his rifle at his attacker.
(Chamber
of Chills#7 (fb) - BTS) - Whether the bullet struck him soldily or
not, the werewolf Burke was unaffected and tore into Whelton, leaving
him incapacitated.
(Chamber
of Chills#7) - Hearing the shot fired, Ferman rushed out and
found the fallen Whelton. Believing Whelton to be dead, Ferman noted
that Whelton had paid for not believing.
(Chamber
of Chills#7 - BTS) - Having fashioned a silver bullet from the
hunting trophy, Ferman vowed the werewolf would die for killing Whelton.
(Chamber
of Chills#7 (fb) - BTS) - As Ferman rushed off following the
werewolf tracks, Whelton revived as a werewolf and followed him.
(Chamber
of Chills#7) - As Ferman lost the werewolf's tracks in rocky
ground, the werewolf Whelton growled at him from a tree above.
Believing this werewolf to be Burke, Ferman warned him he had the means
to kill him in his rifle, but the werewolf leapt at him nonetheless.
Ferman fired and the bullet struck the werewolf in the chest; though
the momentum carried the werewolf to crash into Ferman, its growl
turned into a death rattle, and it transformed back to human before
perishing. Horrified to see that Whelton had been this werewolf, Ferman
realized what had happened, and as he heard howling in the distance, he
lamented that he had not had time to make more than one silver bullet.
Comments: Created by Doug Moench, Ron Wilson, and Jack Abel.
He is referred to as "Wheldon" on the cover.
He received the first name "Austin" in the Werewolves entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
During the time when Ferman and Whelton are hunting Burke side by side,
there is confusion as to which man is which. The speech balloons
sometimes don't point to the speaker clearly, but it becomes clear and
consistent once they separate. The Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe confirmed that Burke first turned
Whelton into a werewolf, and that the Whelton-werewolf was shot by
Ferman.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Austin Whelton should be distinguished from:
- Longhost (Pvt. Roger Welton) - M-Branch's X-Force--Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger#10
images: (without ads)
Chamber of Chills#7/2, pg. 2, panel 3 (human face);
pg. 5, panel 1 (full body, in shadows);
pg. 7, panel 5 (werewolf body, profile, shadows);
pg. 8, panel 1 (werewolf full body, rear view);
panel 2 (werewolf face)
Appearances:
Chamber of Chills#7 (November, 1973) - Doug Moench (writer), Ron Wilson (penciler), Jack Abel (inker); unlisted editor
First Posted: 09/14/2017
Last updated: 09/14/2007
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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