10 Comics Secrets We Still Can't Explain

9. Scourge Of The Underworld's Identity

Mother Box
Marvel Comics

Back in 1985, Mark Gruenwald had a little problem he needed to take care of; namely, there were too many crummy villains in the Marvel Universe. To take care of the issue, he created a new kind of plot device in the form of a character he called "The Scourge of the Underworld."

He first appeared in Iron Man #194, and he remained a useful took for several months. His MO was to show up in disguise to a supervillain, shoot them with an explosive-tipped bullet, kill his target, and say the catchphrase, "Justice is served!"

That went on for a little while, but killing one bad guy at a time was taking too long, so in Captain America #319, he upped his game. Scourge managed to waste eighteen criminals in one hit, which took place during a meeting of bad guys on how to deal with the Scourge — problem solved!

The thing about the original Scourge (There would be more over the years) is that his identity was never revealed. He showed up, massacred a bunch of bad guys, and disappeared without a trace.

It's possible he may show up someday in the future, should the Marvel Universe be flush with low-level villains again, but it seems unlikely that his identity will ever be revealed.

Contributor
Contributor

Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com