History
Quincy McIver was a young man who was initiated into the life of a criminal by his older brother, John. During his first mission, he was ambushed by the cops, and out of fear of his brother, Quincy dove into the river, trying to swim as far as he could until he would drown. However, he was instead hit by a police boat, and he lost his arms and legs by the ship’s propeller. All he wished to do was kill himself, but he was unable to without any limbs. The last time he saw his brother, he told him he was going by John Bushmaster, and leaving the island. He left Quincy, who had nothing left for him. After a few days, he was contacted by Seth Voelker, also known as Sidewinder, who promised to restore Quincy’s mobility.
After undergoing several experiments, Quincy awoke with a brand new body — that of a snake’s. While he had arms, he was told by Sidewinder he would also be given legs after a year of testing out that body. When Roxxon’s Brand corporation went out of business, Quincy knew he would never get his legs, and took the name of his brother, who had been killed by Luke Cage. He then joined Sidewinder’s Serpent Society, where he found friendship and meaning to life.
Creation
Bushmaster was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in 1985 and first appeared in Captain America # 310.
Major Story Arcs
Atlantis Attacks
Cobra would take a job from Ghaur and Llyra to obtain four objects containing arcane mystic powers. Cobra would split up members of the Serpent Society and send them to various locations to retrieve these objects. Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Rattler and Black Racer would come into conflict with Longshot, Psylocke, Storm and Dazzler of the X-Men over a magical rock located in Iceland. Bushmaster goes after Dazzler who is wearing Diamondback’s uniform but doesn’t realize it was actually Diamondback due to a magical body switch. Diamondback convinces Bushmaster it was really her when she reminds him that she saved his life during one mission. Bushmaster realized her words were true and went back into their Serpent ship to sit out the remainder of the conflict. The X-Men are teleported away into Mr. Jip‘s lair when they find all four mystical items. Bushmaster and the rest of the Serpent Society are double crossed by Sidewinder and Diamondback, leaving them broke and battered.
The Thunderbolts Army
During the Civil War, Bushmaster would be captured by members of the Thunderbolts. Bushmaster registers under the Superhuman Registration Act and join the Thunderbolts Army. The Thunderbolts had to fight off cities filled with civilians who were suddenly empowered when the Grandmaster opened up the Wellspring of Power. The Thunderbolts were broken up into numerous squads and sent to various locations throughout the world. Bushmaster was part of the Epsilon squad which also consisted of the Whiplash, Tatterdemalion, Zaran , Batroc and Cobra. This group was responsible of maintaining order in Tokyo.
Hunter/Hunted
Bushmaster would be a captive of Al Kraven, the son of Kraven the Hunter when he began to collect super-humans with animal themed powers and abilities. Kraven had explosives strapped to their necks and began to strip his captives of their humanity with the use of his jungle chemistry. Kraven would release all his drug induced captives and let them run amok when the Punisher gets involved.
Battle Scar
An open contract was placed on Staff Sergeant Marcus Johnson who was wanted dead or alive because his blood was needed by Orion, the former leader of LEVIATHAN. Johnson came into conflict with other contracted enemy agents like Deadpool and Taskmaster. Johnson found himself surrounded by Bushmaster and the Serpent Society during his fight with Taskmaster at a construction site. Johnson tried his best to fight back but was simply overwhelmed and finally struck down by Rattler’s tail. Cottonmouth wanted to bite off the head of Johnson until he was shot in the head by Deadpool. The Serpent Society and Deadpool continued there fight until SHIELD showed up and they were all placed under arrest.
Avengers vs X-Men
Bushmaster and several members of the Serpent Society break into the Isotope Bank in San Francisco and hold several people hostage. Hope Summers responds to the police call and flies to the bank on her own. Hope runs into Bushmaster as she enters the bank through a vent. Hope confronts the rest of the Serpent Society and tells them that she severed Bushmaster’s arms with her knife during their scuffle.
Powers & Abilities
Bushmaster has bionic enhancements to his arms and snake tail that grants him enhanced speed and strength. Bushmaster also has two single claws that protrude above his forearms with the capability of injecting venom into his victims whenever they are slashed or stabbed. Bushmaster has also demonstrated the ability to ensnare or coil his opponents with his tail.
Other Media
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Bushmaster appears as one of the members of the Serpent Society in the episode, “Ultron-5.” He is depicted as much more snake-like than the comics version. He briefly battles Iron Man, but has his cyborg arms destroyed by Captain America. Bushmaster soon engulfs Captain America’s body. He is presumably defeated, or possibly escapes the confrontation.