Madcap (comics)

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Madcap is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in Captain America #307 (July 1985). He has clashed with Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, Nomad, the Power Pack, and She-Hulk.

Character History

Madcap's story begins with his entire community heading to a church picnic, when they are killed as their bus collides with a tanker truck full of Compound X07, an experimental nerve agent developed by A.I.M.. There was one lone survivor, who was taken to a nearby hospital. When he awoke and discovered all other passengers on the bus had been killed (including his sister), the deeply religious man's mind shattered as his belief in a rational universe crumbled.

Exiting the hospital, he attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of moving traffic, but found his injuries almost instantaneously healed, pushing him further over the edge. Stealing a garish costume and a toy soap bubble pistol, the newly-christened Madcap set out to convince others that life is entirely without reason.

His runin with Ghost Rider ended with him becoming subject to the Penance stare (Ghost Rider unique ability to make people feel the pain of all those they have harmed.) which had Madcap feel pain for the first time in years, promptly asking for more. His appearance in She-Hulk had a more comical tone. Writer John Byrne was using Sensational She-Hulk series as more of a comedy book, shown by her breaking the fourth wall oft and conversing with her writer/artist. When she got fed up with Madcap in her book, she quite literally ripped out a panel where he was featured, and shredded it. It's actual continuity is a bit ambigious.

Powers and Abilities

Madcap possesses two superpowers. The first is his fantastic rate of regeneration and recovery: he heals from any physical injury almost instantly, and even if he sustains enough damage to kill him (such as having his neck snapped), he will resurrect in a very short amount of time. It is unknown if he can completely regrow severed limbs; however, given that he has on at least one occasion reformed after near-total incineration, this is very likely possible. Linked to this is an inability to perceive pain.

His second power is a specialized form of emotion control that affects those he makes eye contact with. It is for this reason that he wears his garish purple-and-yellow costume and uses a distracting bubble-gun -- to draw the attention of others towards him, so they can meet his gaze. People affected by his power act in a euphoric, outlandish, uninhibited manner. This is rarely dangerous in and of itself (especially since Madcap cannot control how the person acts), though this can lead to extreme peril if the affected person decides to, for example, tap dance up the on-ramp of an interstate. The duration of the state seems to be approximately 15-30 minutes, though Madcap can keep a person "pleasantly loony" indefinitely if he continues to make eye contact with them. Most of Madcap's adversaries at first mistakenly believe the cause of this madness to be the bubble-gun itself.

External Links

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