The Wrecker
Real Name: Dirk Garthwaite
First Appearance: Thor 148
What's His Problem? A petty criminal, Dirk broke into a hotel room that had, of all cosmic entities, Loki in residence. Putting on Loki's helmet, Dirk was mistaken for the God of Evil by Karnilla, who teleported in just long enough to bestow some magical powers and checked out before realizing the powers had been given to the wrong bad guy. Finding he had supernatural strength, Dirk naturally enough took off after Thor to beat the Thunder God's head in. Only in comic books, folks...
Powers: Like all the members of the Wrecking Crew, the Wrecker has extra-tough skin and tremendously augmented strength. Before his power was reduced to a quarter of what it was when first granted by Karnilla, the Wrecker could go toe-to-toe with Thor without suffering too much of a beating. The Wrecker uses a crowbar as a focusing point for his strength, and as a handy blunt instrument. The crowbar has at times contained the mystical power at the root of the Wrecker's strength, although at other times Dirk seems to get along just fine without it.
Favorite Quote: "Why're things so blamed complicated?!" (Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 126. Unable to visit his dying mother, and cross because his blackmail scheme just got foiled by Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, Dirk wonders what a crook has to do to get a break).
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: As a mainstay villain of the Marvel Universe, the Wrecker has had run-ins with just about everybody. He has gone one on one with the God of Thunder and, with his Wrecking Crew, tackled the Avengers, Captain America, the Defenders, Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four, Misty Knight, Iron Fist, Spider-Man and even the new "super-hero" team the Thunderbolts.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: His mom was perfectly happy to talk things over with Dirk, but always wanted him to give up his life of crime and sent him a letter saying so from her deathbed (Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man 126). While he had a stint with the Masters of Evil (during which Avengers mansion was trashed, and Hercules and Jarvis were almost killed), the Wrecker is mostly associated with the super-villain team the Wrecking Crew, whose members include Thunderball, Piledriver, and Bulldozer. The four of them ended up sharing the power originally held only by the Wrecker after they all grabbed the Wrecker's crowbar during a lighting storm, and a lighting bolt striking the bar re-distributed the power more-or-less equally amongst them. Only in comic books, folks ... wait, did I say that already?
Most Despicable Act: Much to the annoyance of his teammate Thunderball, who thinks all this power is wasted on someone with such small ambitions, Dirk has never been much more than a petty crook. He was successful enough to send his mom monthly checks of $10,000 and more, but was crushed after her death to find she never cashed any of them. Although his mother's demise gave him pause, the Wrecker quickly returned to crime and was one of the Masters of Evil who beat Hercules almost to death in Avengers 274.
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