After one robbery gone wrong, Herman was arrested again, but was sent to the prison workshop, where he used the resources around him to project and build gauntlets that sent out shock waves which quickly opened safes as well, giving himself a one-up on the authorities. The Shocker had the ability to shock his enemies with his hand held vibro-shock units, but because the vibrations were so fierce, he wore a heavily insulated suit. During his first outing as the self-styled "Shocker" he ran into and defeated Spider-Man (albeit the hero was suffering a broken arm at the time).[5]
Little Girl Boy Dad Vibro Vibro School
The Shocker became a member of the Masters of Evil with Radioactive Man, Tiger Shark, Moonstone, and the Beetle to incriminate Dr. Henry Pym, who was then on trial for treason. Unfortunately they were defeated by the Avengers.[7] The Shocker was later hired by the Nazi war criminal Baron von Lunt to kill Dominic Fortune, and built the vibro-shock units into his entire uniform to do so.[8]
Vibro-Shock Gauntlets: The Shocker has two vibro-shock units that, when activated by a thumb trigger, can project a concentrated blast of air that has been vibrated at an intense frequency. This allows the Shocker to both effectively throw long range vibrational punches, as well as vibrating the structure of something in order to weaken or destroy it. Holding the thumb triggers down for an extended period of time increases the intensity, speed, and even spread of the air blasts. The vibro-shock units were created to open safes by "shaking" them open silently and quickly. Shocker also has a vibrational shield that deflects blows to him & allows him to slip from many a grasp. The feedback from the Shocker's gauntlets is extremely intense (the initial test almost killed him.) To guard himself from this, Schultz developed a protective costume consisting largely of yellow quilt patches designed to absorb the shock. The vibro-shock units can add power to his punch via a trip-hammer vibration shock, making his blows a dozen times more potent than normal.[29]
At one point, the Shocker upgraded his equipment so that his vibro-shocks came from micro-circuitry emitters throughout the costume, so that he was no longer dependent on the gauntlets for his powers. He continued to wear the gauntlets as a deliberate ruse against Spider-Man and other heroes, leading them to think the gauntlets were still his Achilles' heel.[31] Other upgrades over the years boosted Shocker's overall abilities, or provided new ones such as flight.[32][33] Shocker has repeatedly gone back to his original power levels and gauntlets, however, implying that these upgrades were unstable or expensive to maintain.
Ruby and her older brother, Malcolm Byron (later nicknamed "By") Stevens, were raised by their eldest sister Laura Mildred (known as Mildred; later Mildred Smith), who died of a heart attack at age 45.[11][12] When Mildred got a job as a showgirl, Ruby and Byron were placed in a series of foster homes (as many as four in a year), from which young Ruby often ran away.[13] She attended various public schools in Brooklyn, where she received uniformly poor grades and routinely picked fights with the other students.[14]
Stanwyck's first sound film was The Locked Door (1929), followed by Mexicali Rose, released in the same year. Neither film was successful; nonetheless, Frank Capra chose Stanwyck for his film Ladies of Leisure (1930). Her work in that production established an enduring friendship with the director and led to future roles in his films.[23] Other prominent roles followed, among them as a nurse who saves two little girls from the villainous chauffeur (Clark Gable) in Night Nurse (1931). In Edna Ferber's novel brought to screen by William Wellman, she portrays small town teacher and valiant Midwest farm woman Selena in So Big! (1932). She followed with a performance as an ambitious woman "sleeping" her way to the top from "the wrong side of the tracks" in Baby Face (1933), a controversial pre-Code classic.[35] In The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), another controversial pre-Code film by director Capra, Stanwyck portrays an idealistic Christian caught behind the lines of Chinese civil war kidnapped by warlord Nils Asther. A flop at the time, containing "mysterious-East mumbo jumbo", the lavish film is "dark stuff, and it's difficult to imagine another actress handling this ... philosophical conversion as fearlessly as Ms. Stanwyck does. She doesn't make heavy weather of it."[36]
Shocker later stole an ancient stone tablet with an inscription for a formula that could restore youth, that had been earlier stolen by the Kingpin.[10] Likely Schultz's most ambitious solo exploit was his attempt to hold New York City for ransom by blacking out various electrical grids to spell out his name, and extort one million dollars from the city.[11] He then made one million dollars by harassing a stock broker.[12] Shocker later joined Egghead's Masters of Evil (with Radioactive Man, Tiger Shark, Moonstone, and Beetle) to incriminate Dr. Henry Pym, then on trial for treason. The Masters battled the Avengers in this encounter; Shocker was brainwashed and purposely abandoned by Egghead to deliver a false testimony,[13] and subsequently cooperated with the authorities in exonerating the ex-Avenger.[14] Shocker was later hired by the Nazi war criminal Baron Von Lundt to kill Dominic Fortune, and built the vibro-shock units into his entire uniform to do so.[15] Shocker was hired by the Chameleon and Hammerhead to induce Electro to join their organization.[16] Shocker later attempted to steal thousands of charity dollars at the celebrity fund raiser for the New York City Library.[17] He's captured by Spider-Man and sent to prison. He later escapes with the help of fellow inmate Boomerang. By this time, he's developed severe confidence issues and has become terrified that the Scourge of the Underworld is going to kill him. A tipping point occurs when Spider-Man apprehends him and seems to not take him seriously. Enraged, Shocker defeats Spider-Man and is about to finish him off when a Scourge imposter intervenes, causing Shocker to flee.[18] When he next appeared his confidence issues are gone. He aims to hunt down Scourge himself and kill him first.[19]
The Shocker wears a pair of gauntlets he designed with vibro-shock units known as "vibro-smashers" that, when activated by a pump-action thumb trigger, can project a concentrated blast of compressed air that vibrates at an intense frequency. This creates a series of rapid-succession high-pressure air blasts that result in a series of powerful impacts. This allows Shocker to both effectively throw long range vibrational punches from a distance, creating destructive vibrations that can crumble solid concrete and cause extensive damage to the human body and its internal organs, as well as throw shock waves which vibrate the structure of something to weaken or destroy it. A lesser known ability of the gauntlets allows Shocker to make incredible leaps, by directing the air blasts toward the ground in front of him. Holding the thumb triggers down for an extended period of time increases the intensity, speed, and even spread of the air blasts.
The Herman Schultz incarnation of Shocker appears in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: Homecoming, portrayed by Bokeem Woodbine.[84][85] This version is an employee of Adrian Toomes' salvaging company before it went out of business following Damage Control being established and the group turned to crime. Additionally, Schultz is the second individual to use the Shocker alias after Toomes accidentally kills the first, Jackson Brice (portrayed by Logan Marshall-Green),[86] and wields a modified version of Crossbones' vibro-blast emitting gauntlet. Schultz assists Toomes in his criminal operations until he is defeated by Spider-Man and arrested by authorities. 2ff7e9595c
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