8-Ball

(for Eight-ball, the young boy from the skater group named Fatboys whom often met Daredevil, click here).

Origin

Brilliant inventor and designer, Jeff Hagees was once a creator of missile propulsion technologies for a defense contractor. The stress of his job became too much to bare so he developed a habit. The bad habit of gambling. He had lost thousands in the pool halls. His gambling problem eventually spilled over into the work place and when his employers got wind of it they fired him. The feared he had been trading company secrets to pay of his debts.

They were wrong. He used his intellect and knowledge of the defenses he had created to give birth to the persona, 8-Ball. To get back all the money he had lost and make some sort of living 8-Ball organized a criminal syndicate and went on a crime spree in the New York area.

Creation

Eightball was created by Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins in 1991 and first appeared in Sleepwalker #1.

History

His recent capers led to him encountering his future nemesis, Sleepwalker. On two different occasions, Sleepwalker failed to capture 8-Ball, allowing his criminal activities to go on. 8-Ball became a patron of the Underworld, where he would play pool at no name bars with other villains such as Oddball. In one instance 8-Ball stole a solid gold, pool trophy and planned to have a tournament in pool for 100,000 dollars. His challenger in this tournament would be the Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin didn’t want the money though. He wanted to play for whom would be the one to kill Sleepwalker. They competed against each other and a competition to take out Sleepwalker first but they had come to realize that they weren’t fighting the actual Sleepwalker and they both backed out.

When Sleepwalker finally captured 8-Ball he was sent to a prison where he was shrunk down by Pym Particles. He was later part of a mass escape, orchestrated by the Mad Thinker. 8-Ball and the other escapees were faced with the She-Hulk when she became aware of the plan. Later, 8-Ball turned his crimes to something different. He no longer did it for the gambling debt money or money to gamble with, he had to support his grandmother.

Daughters of the Dragon

At some point, 8-Ball is finally captured and imprisoned. He teams up with a number of other villains against the She-Hulk, and were handily defeated. 8-Ball joins up with Freezer Burn, Humbug (later an ally of Misty & Colleen), and Whirlwind. They steal from Ricadonna whom is apparently very rich, by breaking into her home later at night while she is at a party. They leave with what is unwittingly a dangerous computer virus; they are caught by a hidden camera. As an act of revenge Ricadonna sent assassins and bounty hunters after these villains. 8-ball was killed by a grenade used by the Wrecker.

A second 8-Ball appeared as one of the franchise villains working for Roderick Kingsley and took part in the assault on the Goblin Cult’s territory. After the Hobgoblin ‘appeared’ to die 8-Ball and the other defected and he was later seen as part of Norman Osborn‘s show of force when he greeted the Superior Spider-Man to his lair.

Power & Abilities

8-Ball doesn’t have any actual powers or abilities. All of his offensive and defensive abilities came from the use of his weapons and equipment.

Physical Attributes & Skills Intelligence: Gifted (Just below genius)

Strength: Athletic (Strength Class over 200 lbs)

Speed: Athletic (Human level speed)

Stamina: Athletic

Agility: Athletic

Fighting Skills: Average (Level 2no traininglimited MA knowledge)

Special Skills & Abilities: Elite pool player, skilled gymnast, experienced designer of missile propulsion systems

Equipment

Synthetic and bulletproof stretch fabric costume, metal 8-ball helmet.

Pool Ball Bombs with various different effects (explosions,gas,fireworks,smoke)

Cue Stick that amplifies the force against a struck target

Transportation

The Hover-Rack ( A four man hover vehicle in the shape of a pool rack)

The Floating 8-Ball (A giant hovering 8 ball)

Alternate 8-Ball

8-Ball (Hobgoblin Franchisee)

An unnamed individual who was supplied the 8-Ball costume and equipment by the Hobgoblin.