panthrax-aru-mainPANTHRAX

Real Name: Alex Mitchell (see comments)

Identity/Class: Feline humanoid (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed (see comments)

Group Membership: Anti-Registration Undergound (All-Out/Unarmed Training Automaton Attacker/Richard Taine, Awe-Striker/Cecily Johnson, Basic Black/Norman Gentry, Battlestar/Lemar Hoskins, Brain Spasm/Dennis Hoxie, Canasta/Henry Cavanaugh, Captain Kinship/Edward Randlebuck, Dahntu/Charles Luc Phan, Freeware/Kurt Duryea, Gladiatrix/Robin Braxton, Green Guardswoman/Natalie Bell, Harbormaster/Sean Beckett, Haunter/Mark Runnemyer, Human Haze/Steve Cochrane, Iguanid/Tom Boldstep, Johnny Justice/Jonadab Megyscol, Kruzado/Dorothy Cardoza, Lawman/Leon Frankfurt, Leather Angel/Andrew Mussawyr, Masked Rose/Josie Tyler, Natural/Beru Addison, Network/Valerie Martin, Orange Crusher/Andy Gardner, Peace-Lover/Barry Kanczeski, Qiblah/Jared Nelson, Saint Hildegard/Sonya van Jagt, Scorecard/Bill Merrick, Skybolt/Zack Zimmerman, Solo/James Bourne, Spaceheat (Charles Yaméogo), Staten Island Star/Russell Feldman, Stone-Tough/Ted Pendleton, Tosser/Ferris Hartke, Typeface/Gordon Thomas, U.S. Annie/Harriet Best, Warbug/Bernard Van Buren, Winter Woman/Angela Stover, Xantippe/Mandy Atkinson, Zapster/Langley Saint-Margaret, others); see comments

Affiliations: See comments

Enemies: (At least formerly) S.H.I.E.L.D. and its "Cape-Killers"
    see comments

Known Relatives: See comments

Aliases: See comments

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    previously an unidentified Anti-Registration Underground safehouse in Manhattan, New York
    see comments

First Appearance: (BTS) Civil War: Front Line#5 (October, 2006);
    (seen, unidentified) Civil War: Front Line#6/2 (November, 2006);
    (identified) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (2010)

Powers/Abilities: See comments. We could only see that he had a tail.

Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed (see comments)
Hair: Black (see comments)

History: See comments.

(Civil War: Front Line#4 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14: Anti-Registration Underground (fb) - BTS) - Following the Stamford disaster -- where hundreds had perished during a battle between New Warriors and four Raft escapees -- Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) and others worked with US officials to develop the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), outlawing any crimefighting activities by unregistered super heroes. 

    Vigilante Typeface, although his identity was already known, resolved to fight a perceived assault on freedom, and he organized an Anti-Registration Underground, beginning with ex-government operative Battlestar and anti-terrorist Solo, to support super heroes who continued fighting crime without SHRA approval. Their ranks were soon supplemented by mystic-armored Freeware; bodysuit-enhanced Green Guardswoman; Masked Rose, leader of super-team TJAW (Truth, Justice, and the American Way), empowered by accidental mutant blood exposure; exoskeleton-empowered Network; and cyborg Skybolt. Via a covert interview with Alternative reporter Sally Floyd, ARU members publicized their perspective, and several other anti-registration heroes joined, including the cat-like Panthrax.

(Civil War: Front Line#4) - As the ARU members debated whether to seek and join Captain America (Steve Rogers)'s Secret Avengers, a better organized and equipped anti-SHRA unit, or to remain independent. Armored S.H.I.E.L.D. Cape-Killers, accompanied by Iron Man, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Wonder Man (Simon Williams) and at least ten unidentified flying heroes, raided the base. Caught by surprise, few ARU members managed to effectively fight back against their more powerful and organized opponents. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. captured over 40 members, the Harbormaster, the Awe-Striker, Canasta, Dahntu, the Green Guardswoman, and the Tosser evaded capture, as did the Masked Rose, who had been absent seeking new recruits. 

(Civil War: Front Line#5/2 - BTS) - ARU prisoners, such as Typeface, were seen being sent to the Prison 42.

(Civil War#6 - BTS) - The Secret Avengers and the Superhuman Registration Act resistance arrived at Prison 42 to free the prisoners.

(Civil War#7/Amazing Spider-Man I#538/Civil War: Front Line#10-#11 - BTS) - The Secret Avengers penetrated Prison 42, freeing many prisoners. When the combined anti-registration forces were confronted by Iron Man's pro-registration forces, Secret Avenger Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) teleported both groups to Manhattan. Freed ARU prisoners took part in the battle between the pro and anti-registration heroes, spanning from the Negative Zone prison to the streets of New York. In the ensuing battle, which caused severe damage, the Thunderbolts' Venom (Mac Gargan) apparently killed Typeface. Other fatalities may also have occurred. Following Captain America's surrender to forestall further civilian risk, Battlestar and possibly others avoided recapture.

    The government offered amnesty in return for registration. Although Gladiatrix rejected the offer, Network registered under the 50 States Initiative, while Solo also registered but pursued independent interests. Presumably additional ARU members followed Gladiatrix's example, others followed Network's or Solo's, and still more remained at large.

Comments: Created by Paul Jenkins and Steve Lieber;
    Codename, real name, and nature provided by Ronald Byrd

   During the production of the Civil War: Battle Damage Report (2007) writer Paul Jenkins provided Ronald with authorization to provide identities, real names for the various background Anti-Registration Underground characters, and to flesh them out as much as he wanted. Ronald provided identities and real names for the Anti-Registration Underground entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (2010). There wasn't room to provide much more than that in that entry. However, Ronald had backgrounds and histories in mind for these characters when he provided their names.
    While the information is unofficial until it sees print, here is the full story behind Panthrax:

REAL NAME: Alexander Omega Newman "Alex" Mitchell
ALIASES: The Private Cat's-Eye, Subject Mu
IDENTITY: Publicly known
OCCUPATION: Licensed private investigator
CITIZENSHIP: USA
PLACE OF BIRTH: Wahoo, Nebraska
KNOWN RELATIVES: Pamela Hennison (nee Newman, nee Mitchell, birth mother), Anderson Mitchell (adoptive father), Wilhelm "Will" Hennison (stepfather), Connie Cotter (ex-wife), George Itell Mitchell (adopted son), unrevealed number of artificially developed life-forms ("siblings")
GROUP AFFILIATION: Mitchell Investigations; formerly Anti-Registration Underground
EDUCATION: High school graduate, private investigator's license
SHRA CLASSIFICATION: Artificial Life-Form / Mutant / Science-Based Mutate / Cyborg
FIRST APPEARANCE: (BTS) Civil War: Front Line #5 (2006); (seen, unidentified) Civil War: Front Line #5 (2006); (identified) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (2010)

HISTORY: Over thirty years ago, an as yet unidentified organization, working from fragmentary notes recovered from various criminal geneticists of earlier decades, developed a method of creating near-microscopic artificial life-forms, similar to human zygotes, although the life-forms could only survive for seconds after creation before expiring. Paying several young women to become surrogate mothers to such zygotes, the organization's bio-technology division subjected the zygotes to multiple experimental procedures both during and after implantation. In one such procedure, during the creation of a zygote designated "Subject Mu," they infused the zygote with human mutant genes during the creation process, allowing it to survive long enough to be implanted in a surrogate mother, Pamela Newman. When Mu developed into an embryo, Newman's body attempted to reject it, but the scientists used an experimental form of proton radiation to strengthen its bond to Newman's system, with no known deleterious effects upon Newman herself. Mu subsequently developed into a healthy fetus with human DNA, although it underwent multiple physical alterations in utero, preventing the scientists from accurately predicting what its ultimate form would be.

    For unrevealed reasons, the heads of the organization cut its bio-technology division's funding, promptings its scientists to accelerate the artificial life-forms' development as rapidly as possible before their superiors ended the project. In Subject Mu's case, they injected experimental nanites into Newman's bloodstream, through which they immediately passed into Mu's body, bonding with his skeletal structure and accelerating his growth to full-term, allowing Newman to safely give premature birth to to a cybernetically enhanced mutated mutant life-form: a predominantly human-looking infant covered with short black fur, possessing tiny claws and a catlike tail. Upon closure of their bio-technological division, the organization heads, in order to avoid humanitarian considerations in detaining test subjects, simply released the surrogate mothers, regardless of whether the life-forms they carried had reached viable stages or not, following only partially successful attempts to remove their memories of any details about the organization. Soon afterward, Newman, the only mother known to have given birth to a healthy child, whom she named "Alexander," married a longtime friend, Anderson Mitchell, in order for her son to have a father, and he formally adopted the boy.

    As an adult, Alex Mitchell became a successful private investigator, sometimes clashing with mobsters, gang members, and other professional criminals. During a particularly high-profile case, an unidentified member of the media, hyperbolically declaring Mitchell to be more dangerous to criminals than a panther and an anthrax virus combined, dubbed him "Panthrax," a nickname that Mitchell regarded with indifference.

    Following the passage of the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), Panthrax declined to register because, despite his superhuman abilities, he considered himself a conventional private investigator, not a super-hero. Government officials disagreed, and he was forced to go underground to avoid arrest. Traveling to Manhattan, he was eventually recruited into Typeface's Anti-Registration Underground and was present when SHIELD raided the ARU's safehouse and arrested most of its members, including himself. 

    He was detained in the Negative Zone Prison 42, indicating he maintained his refusal to register following his arrest. 

    However, when Captain America (Rogers) and the Secret Avengers freed several prisoners, Panthrax chose to remain in his cell, unwilling to potentially worsen his legal situation by participating in a breakout. 

    Following the SHRA's repeal, he was granted amnesty, released without incident, and resumed his investigative work.

HEIGHT: 6'2"
WEIGHT: 144 lbs.
EYES: Orange
HAIR: Black

ABILITIES/ACCESSORIES: Panthrax has roughly the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of a cat, enabling him to lift perhaps 1000 - 2000 lbs., run at a speed up to 45 mph, and making standing leaps of 30 feet or more. His skeletal structure is threaded with near-microscopic metallic filaments, rendering his bones remarkably flexible and thus difficult to break. He has blunt two-millimeter claws on his fingertips, which he can use for concussive force but which are unsuited to cutting or slashing. Panthrax is covered with black fur less than a millimeter thick, giving him the appearance of having jet-black skin; his fur allows him to endure temperatures as low as 0°C without discomfort, without interfering with his human-level ability to endure higher temperatures. He has a four-and-a-half-foot-long, semiprehensile tail, which he can use to lift or move lightweight objects and to briefly ensnare an opponent.

    Under ordinary circumstances, Panthrax's senses function on the same level as any healthy human male of his age; however, he can enhance his senses to at least twenty times the human norm. He can only enhance one sense at a time, and enhancement of one sense for five minutes or longer can result in a proportionate diminishment of his other senses; when he ceases to consciously enhance a sense, all five of his senses immediately return to normal human level. Even without enhancing his senses, he possesses unusually keen night vision. He is a experienced private investigator with moderate training in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship, as well as detailed knowledge about mainstream criminal activities in the USA and in other nations.

 Profile by Ronald Byrd, Snood, and Multi-Tasking Mike Fichera.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Panthrax should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Civil War: Front Line#6/2, page 14, panel 1 (posterior view, prison uniform)

Appearances:
Civil War: Front Line#6/2 - (October, 2006) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Steve Lieber (artist), Molly Lazer, Aubrey Sitterson (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Civil War#6 (December, 2006) - Mark Millar (writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Civil War#7 (January, 2007) - Mark Millar (writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines, John Dell & Tim Townsend (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (June, 2010) - Jeff Christiansen & Mike Fichera (head writers/coordinators), Markus Raymond & Mike O'Sullivan (coordination assistants), Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid, Michael Hoskin, Ronald Byrd, Markus Raymond, Mike O'Sullivan, Madison Carter, Kevin Garcia, Gabriel Shechter, Jacob Rougemont, Rob London, Rich Green, Chris Biggs, David Wiltfong, Jeph York, Mark O'English, & Mike Gagnon (writers), John Denning (associate editor), Alex Starbuck (assistant editor), Theodore Kutt (copy editor), Mark D. Beazley (editor, special projects), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editor)

First posted: 05/16/2022
Last updated: 05/16/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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