Stilt-Man

Real Name: Wilbur Day

First Appearance: Daredevil 8

What's His Problem? Your garden variety disgruntled employee, Wilbur Day stole a hydraulic ram design invented by his employer, Carl Kaxton, and used it to construct a strength-augmenting exo-skeleton whose legs could telescope to many times their normal height. Embarking on a criminal career as the Stilt-Man, Day tried to frame Kaxton for his crimes but was exposed and defeated by Daredevil. Stilt Man has since battled DD and many other heroes in pursuit of criminal gain.

Abilities: Day is a gifted mechanical engineer and inventor with some skill in unarmed combat. He is also a moderately talented disguise artist.

Weapons: Stilt-Man's armor augments his strength to slightly superhuman levels and protects him from most forms of physical injury. The armor's legs can telescope to incredible heights, enabling him to rob tall buildings in a single stride. Day's elongated limbs allow him to cover great distances quickly, and to reach targets otherwise inaccessible from the ground. By retracting a leg and quickly extending it again, Day can batter his foes like a human piledriver. If the legs become mired in a viscous surface or otherwise immobilized, Day can escape by detaching the lowermost segments of the legs and stepping free of them.

Favorite Quote: "No one will ever cage the Stilt Man again!" (Champions 12. Stilty said this (perhaps in a Scarlett O'Hara accent) after eluding the aforementioned Champions; a few pages later, Black Goliath ripped off one of his stilts and beat him senseless with it.)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: Stilt Man's sworn enemy is Daredevil, but he has also faced Captain America, the Falcon, Thor, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Black Goliath, the Champions, She-Hulk, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four.

People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Stilt-Man was a member of the original Emissaries of Evil along with Electro, Gladiator, Leap Frog and Matador. His past allies also include the Masked Marauder and Blastaar. One non-villain who has some respect for Stilty is Spider-Man, who once saved Stilt-Man's life and was surprised when Day later returned the favor. (Editor's Note: Sean's being a bit generous here. Spidey saved Stilty's life; in return, Stilt-Man decided not to step on Spidey while the Web-Slinger was unconscious. Not quite the same thing!)

Most Despicable Act: Stilt-Man usually fails to pull off most of his despicable acts, but they include the attempted murders of Daredevil, Foggy Nelson, the Falcon, Black Goliath and Blake Tower. Though a failure as a hired assassin, he has enjoyed some success as a common thief.

by Sean McQuaid