The Beetle
First appearance: Strange Tales #121 (as Beetle); Incredible Hulk #449 (as Mach 1)

Years ago a young airplane mechanic named Abner Jenkins spent his days designing new and innovative projects for the flight processes, only to have them be turned down flat out by his superiors. That constant flow of rejection and ridicule lead to Jenkins creating a flight suit of his own design and using it towards criminal ventures in order to survive. Calling himself the Beetle and wearing a flight pack and pilot's helmet, Jenkins fast became a regular foe of such heroes as Spider-Man and the Human Torch and a frequent member of such criminal groups as the Masters of Evil and the Sinister Syndicate.

Despite his attempts at hitting the big time, Jenkins remained a second-rater, his most dastartly act a manipulation of the minor criminal the Ringer. It was not until a venture with his fellow Syndicate members, wherein Jenkins took on the role of hero in the European nation of Belgrium, that Jenkins began to question his own long-time ways. Years later, after a steady flow of defeat and murdering crooked doctor Jared Goulding, Jenkins became a member of what would have been Baron Zemo's new Masters of Evil only to have formed around the time of the fall of the heroes to Onslaught. That team would become mock heroes the Thunderbolts, 'heroes' plotting to take over the world.

Calling himself Mach 1, Jenkins not only found himself drawn to the role of hero again, but also found himself drawn to fellow 'Bolts member Melissa Gold, formerly the criminal Screaming Mimi. Following his deflection from the defeated Zemo and will to become a hero, Jenkins left the team to serve prison for Goulding's murder, but was released soon after to aid the team, and was given a completely different face as the result of botched plastic surgery. Now fully reformed, Jenkins served proudly as the hero Mach 2, until giving up his identity for a time until returning as Mach-3 to defeat the villainous Gravitron.

Powers and Abilities: As the Beetle, Jenkins had various power weapons at his disposal, as well as the ability for flight due to a advanced jet-pack. Jenkins armor is similar in his Mach 1-3 identity, except that unlike his old armor, the newest Mach suit has space capabilties.

REFERENCES: Thunderbolts: Distant Rumblings, Strange Tales #123, Amazing Spider-Man #21, Fantastic Four Annual #3, Avengers #26-28, Daredevil #33-34, Amazing Spider-Man #94, Daredevil #108-109, Daaredevil #140, Spectacular Spider-Man #16, Defenders #63-65, Iron Man #126-127, Spectacular Spider-Man #58-60, Marvel Two-In-One #96, Avengers #228-230, Amazing Spider-Man #280-281, Iron Man #223-224, Iron Man #227, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #17-18, Fantastic Four #334, Spectacular Spider-Man #164, Deadly Foes of Spider-Man #1-4, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #12, Web of Spider-Man Annual #8, Captain America #412-413, Iron Man #285, Silver Sable #21-22, Sensational She-Hulk #59, Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #1-4, Spider-Man Unlimited #9, Spider-Man Unlimited #12, Thunderbolts Annual '97, Incredible Hulk #449, Tales of the Marvel Universe, Thunderbolts #1-3, Spider-Man Team-Up #7, Thunderbolts #4-23, Thunderbolts #26, Thunderbolts #29, Thunderbolts #39-present

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