Boomerang is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. While he has never been particularly notorious on his own (possibly due to his similarities to the more popular villain Bullseye), he has been a member of several prominent supervillain teams and clashed with several heroes throughout his career.
| Boomerang | |
|---|---|
| File:Spideyboomerang.jpg Boomerang on the cover of Spectacular Spider-Man #144 (November 1988). Art by Sal Buscema. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales to Astonish #81 (October, 1965) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Fred Myers |
| Team affiliations | Secret Empire, Silver Samurai, Kingpin, Sinister Syndicate, Sinister Twelve |
| Notable aliases | Fred Slade |
| Abilities | No superhuman powers, but is a world-class pitcher armed with a variety of lethal boomerangs. |
Biography
Fred Myers was born in Australia and raised in the United States. As a young boy he developed a love for baseball, and spent years training and perfecting his pitching arm. By the time he was a young adult, Fred had realized his dream of pitching for a major league team. However, he foolishly began accepting bribes, and when this was discovered he was drummed out of the major leagues. Now aimless, Myers was shortly thereafter contacted by the Secret Empire, an international criminal organization who saw the potential his skills could bring. Myers agreed and was given a new costume and an arsenal of deadly boomerangs, from which he derived his new codename.
After the Secret Empire collapsed, Boomerang returned to his native Australia and laid low for a few years, perfecting his deadly aim and making modifications to his weapons. Once he was ready, he returned to America and began offering his services as an assassin-for-hire. He has been employed by the Silver Samurai, the Kingpin, and Justin Hammer, among others. He has been a member of the Sinister Syndicate, the Masters of Evil, and the Sinister Twelve. Among the superheroes Boomerang has battled with are Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Iron Man, the Hulk (his original enemy), Nick Fury, the Thunderbolts, and, most notably, Spider-Man.
Powers and Weapons
Fred Myers has no superhuman powers, but he has the strength, agility and endurance of a professional athlete from his days as a baseball player. He can throw projectiles with nearly unerring accuracy, and his aim is nearly the peak of what a non-superpowered human can accomplish. Only characters like Bullseye and Hawkeye can match his accuracy.
Boomerang's most dangerous assets are, naturally, his arsenal of specialized boomerangs. He has modified and improved on them over the years, but the most common ones are exploding boomerangs (with enough explosive power to destroy an automobile), razor-bladed boomerangs, and boomerangs that release large doses of tear gas to disable a target. Boomerang also has jet boosters in his boots that allow him to fly through the air at speeds up to 30 miles per hour.
Ultimate Boomerang
The Ultimate version of The Boomerang appeared briefly in Ultimate Spider-Man. Spider-Man saved him from being shot by the Ultimate Punisher during a heist. Boomerang offers Spider-Man thousands of dollars to save him from the police, but Spider-Man webs him up along with his would-be assassin.
Ultimate Boomerang is also a recurring enemy in the City Missions in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game.
Other Media
Boomerang appears as a member of the Masters of Evil in the 6th episode of the animated series The Avengers: United They Stand. He also makes an inexplicable appearance as the boss of the first level of the first X-Men video game.