Scavenger (comics)

The Scavenger is the name of two DC Comics supervillains with no known connections with each other. The first Scavenger was Peter Mortimer, an Aquaman villain who debuted in Aquaman #37 (January 1968), and was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy.^[1] He is re-introduced in the New 52 series Aquaman by writer Geoff Johns and artist Paul Pelletier.^[2]

The second Scavenger first appeared in Superboy (vol. 4) #2 (March 1994), and was created by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett.

In his first appearance, the first Scavenger was seeking the Time Decelerator, an alien device left on Earth, that transports him to a timeless, limbo-like dimension.^[3][4] He then escapes and is transported to Skartaris, where he gains mystical powers and battles the Warlord.

In his next appearance, the Scavenger reforms and befriends Aquaman.^[5] However, a later encounter with Hawkman retconned his redemption, stating that Peter Mortimer was secretly part of a pedophile ring who videotaped himself raping young boys and girls. Moreover, he now calls himself Barracuda and explains that he was the avatar of the barracuda, just as Hawkman is the avatar of the hawk. After Barracuda attempts to kill both Aquaman and Hawkman, Hawkman kills him.^[6]

In The New 52, after the events of Throne of Atlantis, Mortimer begins scouring the ocean floor for Atlantean technology and weaponry to sell to the highest bidder. He, along with villains such as the Weapons Master, the Key, the Scarecrow, Captain Cold, and the Cheetah were all attacked, captured, tortured, and interrogated by the villain David Graves who intended to acquire information on the members of the Justice League.

Mortimer was among the villains recruited by the Crime Syndicate of America during the events of the Forever Evil story arc, and was later captured along with several other members of the Secret Society by the reformed Justice League in the aftermath of the Crime Syndicate's defeat.

The second Scavenger first appeared in Superboy (vol. 4) #2. He is an old man, with a wide range of weaponry at his disposal.^[7] Little of the man's history has been revealed, except once during "Superboy and the Ravers" he mentioned he was one of the men who originally were the Argonauts and challenged the gods, which led to his dilemmas later in life. He believes he is being persecuted by an enemy from his past, and stockpiles weapons and gadgets to be ready when the enemy strikes. The identity of the nemesis has never been revealed and only made one appearance near the end of Superboy's series in which the enemy's identity was never revealed; Scavenger suffers severe paranoia, and believes anyone who tries to stop him is working for his nemesis. He later joins the Secret Society headed by Alexander Luthor. Scavenger and other villains, including Red Panzer, are sent to Gotham City, where they go on a murderous attack against law enforcement officers.^[8]

Scavenger somehow survives to the 30th century (at least in the post-Zero Hour version of future history), where he fights Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. By that time he has acquired the equipment of various 20th century superheroes.

An alternate universe variant of Scavenger appears in Flashpoint. This version is a member of Deathstroke's pirate crew before being killed by Aquaman.^[9][10]

• A group called the Scavengers appears in Legion of Super Heroes as technology thieves allied with Alexis Luthor and Grimbor the Chainsman who are enemies of the titular Legion.
• An original incarnation of Scavenger named Petyr Mortikov appears in Aquaman: King of Atlantis, voiced by Andrew Morgado.

The Flashpoint incarnation of Scavenger appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

Scavenger appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[11]