MAGICIAN
Real Name: Unrevealed, last name presumably
Guardineer
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Professional criminal, magician
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His assistant, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Beetle (Janice Lincoln), Giant-Man (Raz Malhotra), Grizzly (Max Markham), Hijacker (unrevealed), Marlena Howard, Machinesmith (Samuel Saxon), Ms. Thing (Darla Deering), Slug (Ulysses X. Lugman), Voice (Jason Cragg), Whirlwind (David Cannon)
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: Lee Guardineer (Magician,
father), Chastity Guardineer (stepmother), unidentified step-sibling or
step-siblings
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Miami, Florida
First Appearance:Astonishing Ant-Man#2 (January,
2016)
Powers/Abilities: The Magician is a skilled stage
magician, using much of the same equipment as the original Magician. He
wears a top hat that can contain much larger volumes of mass than it
appeared, apparently via some form of technology. He carries a number of
playing cards, which he uses as throwing weapons. He also uses a number
of trained and genetically-modified rabbits (including Mister
Jinglesnout) and doves to attack his foes.
Height:
Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
History: (Astonishing
Ant-Man#2 (fb) ) - Lee Guardineer, the super-criminal known as the
Magician, had a son. When Lee was defeated by Giant-Man and sent to
prison, he made his son promise to "redeem the family name - and
continue the mortgage payments - through magic!" Guardineer's son honed
his skills, becoming the new Magician.
(Astonishing Ant-Man #2) - In Miami, the Magician was hired by pop star Darla Deering's publicist, Marlena Howard, via the Hench app to fight her client for her new reality show. He "auditioned" to be pop star Darla Deering's opening act; however, he was rejected sight unseen to give him motivation to attack her. He returned later for Deering (who also moonlit as the adventurer Ms. Thing), only to find her arguing with her ex-boyfriend Ant-Man. Although he soon regretted not attacking during the show, he nevertheless unleashed his rabbits and doves on the duo. Unprompted, he explained his origin to them...which gave them time to deal with his pets. As soon as he finished, Ms. Thing knocked him out with a single punch.
(Astonishing Ant-Man#8) - The Magician was summoned to a
pool hall via the Hench app for another job; although he had doubts
about his ability as a super villain, he went anyway, and met fellow
villains Hijacker, Voice, and Whirlwind. The trio welcomed him; when he
explained that he was just starting out, they invited him to play cards
as they gave him some helpful advice about which villains to work for,
which super heroes to avoid, and how to stay out of trouble with the
IRS. Magician ended up winning - because he cheated out of force of
habit - but when the others noticed the card up his sleeve, they beat
him up until the Beetle stopped them. The villains assumed she was their
employer until she revealed that they had actually been hired by Ant-Man
- who all four promptly attacked.They got the better of the hero, and
were prepared to execute him when the Beetle intervened, explaining that
he really did have a job for them.
(Astonishing Ant-Man#9) - At Hank Pym's old secret lab, Magician and his fellow villains brawled about their cut of the proceeds until they were introduced to Lang's other allies: Machinesmith, Grizzly, Ms. Thing, and Giant-Man. The Magician chatted with Giant-Man, who laid out his origin. Later, Machinesmith laid out the plan to rob Cross Technological Enterprises' Miami campus, and the heist crew set out. Magician and Whirlwind infiltrated the facility disguised as delivery men; while Whirlwind took down the wiring, the Magician used his doves to befoul the security cameras with bird poop. With the security neutralized, the Magician and the others began the robbery while Lang set out to rescue his daughter, Stinger.
(Astonishing Ant-Man#10) - Whirlwind and the Magician,
ignoring the list Machinesmith had given them, simply stole the most
expensive-looking equipment they could find. They returned to the
getaway van, where they unloaded their loot - and learned that, much to
Machinesmith's displeasure, they had not stolen
CTE's high-tech weaponry, but mostly junk, including their dehumidifier.
When Stinger entered the van, looking for help rescuing Ant-Man, who had
been captured by CTE, the Magician and his fellow villains bailed out
with their loot.
Comments: Created by Nick Spencer and Ramon Rosanas.
The Magician does not appear to have any actual magical
skills, but his bottomless top hat seems to indicate that he has more
high-tech equipment than his father ever had.
While his father was a very traditional stage magician in appearance, the new Magician's long hair and constant shirtlessness owe more to contemporary conjurers, like David Blaine and Criss Angel.
Main image cleaned up by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Minor Irritant.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Magician should be distinguished from:
...but has no known connections to:
(Astonishing Ant-Man#2) - The Magician's assistant
accompanied him to his fake audition to open for Darla Deering; however,
she did not join him when he attacked Deering and her ex-lover Ant-Man.
--Astonishing Ant-Man#2
images: (without ads)
Astonishing Ant-Man#2, p13, pan2 (main image)
Astonishing Ant-Man#8, cover (headshot)
Astonishing Ant-Man#2, p5, pan1-3 (using hat)
Astonishing Ant-Man#2, p6, pan1 (assistant)
Appearances:
Astonishing Ant-Man#2 (January, 2016) -
Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (art), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing
Ant-Man#8 (July, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Brent Schoonover
(art), Wil Moss (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man
#9-10 (August-September, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas
(art), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 12/22/2018
Last updated: 12/25/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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