Litterbug (comics)

Litterbug is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics. His first appearance in the mainstream Marvel Universe was in Morlocks #1, created by Geoff Johns and Shawn Martinbrough.

Fictional character biography

The man who would become Litterbug was an Army Engineer involved in the U.S. Sentinel Program. At some point he himself mutated, and he was forced to go AWOL to avoid being killed by his former friends. He made his way to Chicago, and became involved with the Postman's Morlocks.

Two Chicago Police officers were called to investigate some suspicious noises, and one of them came across Litterbug, Electric Eve and Postman stealing food from a convenience store. Postman erased the officer’s memory of what he had seen, and the group left through a massive hole Litterbug dug in the floor, but Litterbug hung back a moment to rip up a “Buy American” poster on the store wall. As the Morlocks made their escape through the sewers, a young gang-banger known as Cell suddenly evolved while fleeing from the police, becoming a single-celled organism, and draining into the sewers, right at the Morlock’s feet. As the police arrived to kill Cell (as was part of their duty to kill mutants), Litterbug and the others rallied to his defense, and the officers were quickly defeated. Litterbug then dug a new escape tunnel through solid stone, as the others explained to the confused Cell that he was now a mutant. Terrified, Cell wanted to go home, and asked "Who’s gonna stop me"? "Sentinels". Litterbug replied grimly. As Postman introduced the Morlocks to Cell, his advice on Litterbug was “Don’t stare.”

Litterbug and Postman sat alone, as Postman heated up a jagged strip of metal. Litterbug told him to burn off his Army tattoo, which Postman did, and the Morlock’s clicking screams resounded throughout the tunnels. Later, Angel Dust asked Litterbug if he was alright, and Postman said he’d be fine, as Litterbug rubbed the ugly, flaming welts that now covered his tattoo. The Morlocks decided to risk going above ground, as each (except Cell), had a final wish to fulfill before they fled into the tunnels forever. Litterbug filled Postman in on the fact that Sentinels would take seven and a half minutes to lock on to a mutant signature, giving each Morlock that amount of time to fulfill their wish. When Angel asked how he knew that, Litterbug replied that he’d been watching them, but Angel Dust didn’t really believe him. Shatter’s wish was first, and Litterbug dug a hole beneath the local Dog Pound, so that Shatter could rescue his dog, Hank. Next was Electric Eve’s wish, supposedly to get her Grandmother’s ring back from her old “employer”, a pimp and pusher named Ricky. Litterbug and Trader defeated the guards as Electric Eve went to see Ricky. However, there was no ring, and Eve killed Ricky for mistreating her. As Eve and Postman argue, the Sentinels arrived and shot Shatter, blowing off his left arm.

Postman carried the wounded Shatter as the others fled, when Trader suddenly realized that Litterbug was not there. They ran back to find he had apparently been crushed beneath a giant Sentinel’s foot. As the Morlocks feared the worst, scraping sounds were heard inside of the Sentinel, and Litterbug tore his way out of the giant robot’s left eye, jumped to the rooftop where the other Morlocks were standing, and dug them an escape tunnel. Later, back in their abandoned subway station hideout, Litterbug glared at Eve while Postman chided her for endangering them all, and making them accessories to murder. As Trader defended Electric Eve, the police stormed in, shooting Trader dead when he took a bullet meant for Electric Eve. A cop then shot Litterbug, "I-I got me the ROACH!". The bullet bounced off of the mutant's armored shell, and Litterbug turned and tore into the cops. Infuriated by the police’s cruelty and the death of Trader, Postman completely wiped all of the surviving cops’ minds. As Postman was overcome with remorse, Litterbug tried to reason with him, "They were going to kill us." Later, Litterbug tore apart a metal hospital door so that Postman could say goodbye to his comatose wife, and supported Shatter as Angel went to see her parents one last time. As the Morlocks wished that they could do something, anything, so that they could be free of the Sentinels, at least for a while, Litterbug replied, “We can do something”, and explained that the Sentinels had a Central Command Center, that without it, all the Sentinels would stop working, giving them a window of escape. When Eve asked how he knew so much about Sentinels, Litterbug tearfully revealed his darkest secret, “I was a mechanic in the army. I helped build those things.”

Angel Dust and Electric Eve bitterly pummeled Litterbug, as he tried to explain that he was just a soldier, doing what he thought was his patriotic duty, and that he was a different person now. “You know what I want to do up there? I want to take apart…what I helped build. We can do we can shut down the operation in Chicago. Then we can get out of this town… krkr. It’s our only chance to escape.” Cell countered that it was impossible, but Shatter said that nothing was impossible, as his arm regenerated in front of their eyes, then stated, “Litterbug’s not our enemy. He’s our brother. An’ we need to start actin’ like it." That night, Litterbug emerged from the sewers, and ran across the rooftops, hoping to gain the attention of a Sentinel. He didn’t have to wait long, as a trio of Sentinels soon arrived, Litterbug led one away from the others, where Electric Eve zapped it with her electrical powers, and Shatter crystallized its oil, freezing it in place. Litterbug and Angel Dust climbed inside the Sentinel’s “head”, and Litterbug directed Angel Dust on how to rewire the systems to manual, asking her “Ever hear… of the Trojan Horse?” The Morlocks then sent a false message to Sentinel headquarters, saying that they had been killed. As the Sentinel came in to land, Doctor Metellus, the project director, came to personally inspect his “prize”, the Sentinel’s visual record of the slaughter, which he normally watched privately for his own twisted pleasure. His assistant, Slater, heard a strange noise, and was horrified as the Morlocks (and Hank the dog) tore their way out of the Sentinel’s chest. Metellus was perversely happy, at the sight of the Morlocks. As the rows upon rows of Sentinels in the base activated, Litterbug began tearing them apart left and right, then aided Electric Eve in destroying the Central Control, causing the Sentinels to crash into one another, explode, and otherwise meet destruction. As the Morlocks fled, Cell went back, sacrificing his life to stop Metellus. Angel Dust decided to return home, as the other surviving Morlocks (and Hank the dog) stole a van and headed “South. As far South as we can get,” as Postman put it, and they headed out of Chicago.

Litterbug is one of the few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after the M-Day.

During Ed Brubaker's "The Extremists" arc, Litterbug reappeared alongside of some fellow Morlocks under the leadership of Masque and besides Litterbug, now consisting of Bliss, Erg and Skids and a recently captured Leech.

Utopia

Litterbug later appeared as a resident of Utopia, together with Toad, Bliss and Dragoness.^[1] He was one of the mutants, who were rallied by Cyclops to fight against the attacking Nimrods.^[2]

During the "First To Last" arc, Litterbug joins Toad's leadership alongside Masque and Bliss to locate information being kept from them by the X-Men.

Powers and abilities

He possesses an armored body similar to that of a cockroach, with hard, chitinous plates covering the entire length of his body. He is virtually invulnerable to most attacks, save fire and presumably laser or energy blasts. His massive razor-sharp claws and fangs can rip, tear or dig through just about any substance, including Sentinel armor, he also has superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability. Litterbug possesses advanced knowledge in mechanics from his time in the military.

Other versions

A character named Litterbug with the same powers and affiliation with the Morlocks debuted in X-Men Millennial Visions vol. 2, however, that is an alternate universe.

References

External links

• Uncannyxmen.net issue summaries of the Morlocks limited series
• Uncannyxmen.net character bio on Litterbug
• Litterbug at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe