Gibbon is the name of two

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

s appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Publication history

Created by Stan Lee and

John Romita Sr. John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine. He was inducted into the Will Eis ...

, the Gibbon first appeared in ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...

'' #110 (July 1972). The character subsequently appears in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #111, ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' #59-#60 (October–November 1981), #245-246 (April–May 1997), #252-253 (December 1997-January 1998), #256 (June 1998), ''She-Hulk'' #6 (May 2006), ''Punisher War Journal'' #4 (April 2007), #16 (April 2008), and ''Marvel Apes'' #1-4 (September–October 2008). The Gibbon received an entry in the ''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' A-Z #4 (2006)

Fictional character biography

Martin Blank

Martin Blank is a man who was seemingly born a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

with an

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

-like build and agility. Gibbon later joins a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

where he does well as an

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

. Martin Blank begins his career as a friend of Spider-Man's while wearing a gibbon suit. He even wants to be his partner, but Spider-Man laughs at him. Sick of being seen as a freak, Martin cannot take further ridicule and lashes out. He then catches the eye of

Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary ...

, who enhances the Gibbon's powers with a herb broth, also giving him a great animal rage. Gibbon was defeated by Spider-Man. Gibbon was one of the inmates at Ryker's Island. Gibbon sought revenge on Spider-Man, trying to prove himself as good as his foe. He is caught in the middle of a fight with Spider-Man and

Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

. Eventually, Gibbon helps Spider-Man by punching out the Beetle. Gibbon later joins up with other has-beens:

Kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

Grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

, and Spot to form the Legion of Losers. This team falls apart when Spider-Man carted Spot and Kangaroo to jail for bank robbery. He and Grizzly would later attempt to go hero, helping Spider-Man thwart a bank robbery by

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...

and eventually getting an

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mark ...

deal. The Gibbon has been shown as retaining his physical mutation following M-Day, but showed no sign of his former mutant abilities. Gibbon is seen as a client for the law offices that employ She-Hulk. He steals her tuna melt lunch out of the fridge. Following the "

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

" storyline, the Gibbon is a self-confessed loser at the wake of

Stilt-Man Stilt-Man is the name of multiple different supervillains in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Stilt-Man first appeared in ''Daredevil'' #8 (June 1965). He is a criminal wearing an impenetrable suit of armor wi ...

that is held at the Bar With No Name. Almost all of the supervillains at the wake are the victims of murder/attempted murder. Disguised as a barman,

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

poisons drinks and then blows up the bar. It is later mentioned that "they all had to get their stomachs pumped and be treated for third-degree burns". Martin is being considered as a "potential recruit" for the

Initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

program. Martin, nearly hairless, has spent his time since the bar attack plotting vengeance on the Punisher against the wishes of Martin's wife

Princess Python Princess Python is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Princess Python, Zelda DuBois, is a snake charmer who controls a gigantic snake to help with her crimes. She first appeared in ''T ...

(who was apparently blinded in the explosion). When Martin finds the Punisher, however, he decides his revenge is not worth throwing away his life, and hands his gun over to the Punisher, returning home. Gibbon returns as the lead character in the '' Marvel Apes'' storyline.

The Gibbon wasn’t the perfect choice just because he’s a mainstream Marvel character who can easily "pass" in an ape-filled monkeyverse, but because he’s such a
lovable loser The lovable loser is a character archetype portrayed as a sympathetic, likable, or well-meaning person for whom bad luck continually prevents their various efforts from succeeding, and from obtaining the things they feel will bring them happiness,S ...
. Nothing ever goes right for him—he never gets a break, the girl, or the glory—and suddenly he finds the fate of an entire universe in his hands. In some ways, ''Marvel Apes'' is a sprawling epic like
Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
, and the Gibbon is our
Frodo Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly a ...
— one small person dwarfed by the overwhelming forces that stand between him and his goal. He even has his own Samwise— a spunky gal-scientist (human) named Fiona Fitzhugh who literally gets sucked into this adventure along with him.

Gibbon, apparently restored to his simian appearance with the related abilities, is left with his personal life in shambles. His attempts to side with the heroes are frustrated by his ineptitude, and even Princess Python, previously a caring and loving wife, has now become fed up with the meek loser Gibbon is reverting to. Out of boredom and depression, he replies to an ad posted on the ''Daily Bugle'' by Fiona Fitzhugh, a spunky and cheery young scientist hoping to study the nature of superpowered individuals. Her experiments fling both of them into a reality populated by simian version of the Marvel Heroes, and destroy the machines that could have been used to bring Gibbon back. Fiona supposes, due to Gibbon having his powers since birth, instead of gaining them in puberty as the majority of the mutants (thus making Gibbon more similar to mutants like

Multiple Man James Arthur Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Len Wein, he first appeared in '' Giant-Size Fantastic Four'' #4 (February 1975). ...

and Nightcrawler), and being "drawn" to that particular reality, that Gibbon may be connected somehow to the Simian World. While Fiona asks for help from the simian version of the Fantastic Four, Gibbon is inducted by Spider-Monkey into the Ape-Vengers. Despite their friendly facade, the Ape-Vengers are far more ruthless and bestial than their human counterparts. The Gibbon sets out to discover the truth, with the help of a cadre of dissident simian heroes: the Ape-Vengers are under the thrall of

Baron Blood Baron Blood is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Baron Blood, John Falsworth, first appeared in ''The Invaders'' #7 (July 1976). The second incarnation, Victor ...

, who in this reality stole the appearance and the powers of Captain America, using his influence to prey over villains' and dissidents' blood at his leisure. Along with Speedball and

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

, despite being now pursued by Baron Blood and his followers, Gibbon manages to free Captain America from the iceberg in which he was entombed since the 1940s, gaining his help in battling the impersonator. Eventually, he and Fiona make their way back home. Later while now resembling a man-sized Gibbon, he travels with Gorilla Girl, Fiona, and several other allies as

Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional character, fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July ...

seeks to exploit the potential of the now somewhat-accessible 'ape' universe. Fiona works to provide the Gibbon with various means of disguise to hide his simian nature. During the " Hunted" storyline, Gibbon is among the animal-themed superhumans that were captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant for

's Great Hunt that is sponsored by

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

and his company Arcade Industries. Vulture spoke to Gibbon telling him not to ally with Spider-Man. Vulture turned against Gibbon as the Hunter-Bots move in on Gibbon. Gibbon was mortally wounded by a Hunter-Bot. As he laid dying, he reflected on his life while also coming to the conclusion that Princess Python never loved him. Spider-Man showed up and showed him some comfort by seeing to it that Gibbon did not die alone. Vulture lied to the other animal-themed characters that Gibbon sacrificed his life for them until Spider-Man showed up and mentioned what really happened to Gibbon.

Unnamed criminal

Martin Blank later sold his costume to

Roderick Kingsley Roderick Kingsley is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally created by Roger Stern and Mike Zeck for '' Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man'' #43 (June 1980), the character was later b ...

who gave it to an unnamed criminal. Gibbon was present with

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

(who was actually Roderick Kingsley's butler Claude) when he led his forces into fighting the Goblin King's Goblin Nation. After Hobgoblin was killed by Goblin King, Gibbon was among the villains that defected to the Goblin Nation. Gibbon was seen with the other former Hobgoblin minions at the Bar with No Name where they encounter Electro. Gibbon later appears as a member of the Hateful Hexad alongside Bearboarguy, Ox, Squid,

Swarm Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...

, and

. During the Hateful Hexad's disastrous fight against Spider-Man and

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

, the battle is crashed by Itsy Bitsy who stabs Gibbon.

Powers and abilities

Blank has a gibbon-like appearance, with superhuman strength, speed, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance and endurance. He had previously worn a gibbon suit during his career.

Reception

* In 2020, '' CBR.com'' ranked Gibbon 10th in their "Spider-Man: 10 Weirdest Animal Villains From The Comics That We'd Like To See In The MCU" list.