Grey Gargoyle

Origin

Paul Duval was a young chemist from France whose experiment went awry after he noticed the solution he was working on turned blue instead of red. A strange foreign substance had affected the mixture and Duval accidentally spilled the potion on his right hand. The chemical felt like liquid fire as it started to transform his hand into stone. Duval’s left hand turned into stone after he touched his right hand. Duval accidentally touched his face and realized he has become a man of living stone. Duval started to test his stone spell in public and transform strangers into stone statues. Duval discovered that the people he turned into stone would revert back to human form after one hour and would use his new found power to become a great thief.

Mayor Story Arcs

The Grey Gargoyle versus Thor

The wealth he had accumulated provided very little satisfaction so Duval set his mind to steal Thor’s immortality. Duval traveled halfway across the world to seek out Thor and would land at JFK International Airport. Duval was the only man that left the plane and the steward was horrified when he saw all the passengers inside had turned into stone. Duval took a cab ride to the center of town and thanked the driver by transforming him into stone as well. Thor would hear a report on the radio regarding the stone passengers from the plane and the statuesque taxi driver found at the corner of 53rd and Madison.

Thor found some officers carrying the frozen taxi driver and told them he would like the stone figure taken to Dr. Donald Blake for detailed examination. Thor changed into his civilian persona as Donald Blake and discovered a faint heartbeat from the statue. Blake realized that these statues would eventually become human again and vowed to stop the man behind these attacks. Duval saw the place where Thor took the statue of the taxi driver into and would transform himself into the Grey Gargoyle. Duval would reach the office of Dr. Donald Blake and display his power to Blake by changing a paper airplane into a deadly weapon with his touch. Dr. Blake ran into an elevator and transformed into Thor when he reached the rooftop.

The Grey Gargoyle would find Thor and tell him he wanted his enchanted hammer to possess immortality. A fight ensues and Duval manages to stun Thor when he ignites the gas fumes from a service station by striking his stone hands together. Duval tries to pick up the enchanted hammer but cannot lift it despite his superhuman strength. Thor recovers and tries to retrieve his hammer back from the Grey Gargoyle. Duval is close enough to touch Thor and transforms him into a motionless, stone statue. Duval is forced to retreat when officers attack him with flame throwers. The lifeless statue of Thor would topple over as Duval escapes and his enchanted hammer strikes the ground causing the god of thunder to become flesh and blood once more.

Blake would use a 3-D projector with special modifications invented by Tony Stark to help locate the Grey Gargoyle. Blake mounted the device onto his motorcycle and could project the image of Thor as he rode around the city. Blake could control the actions of the projected image to make it move like a living being. The Grey Gargoyle would reveal himself as he tried to attack the flying image of Thor. Duval grew suspicious when the image of Thor remained in air without his enchanted hammer. Duval notices Blake on a motorcycle with the mounted projector. Duval hijacks a delivery truck and chases after Blake as he heads towards the Hudson River. Blake leaps off a wooden pier and the Grey Gargoyle follows him into the dark, murky water. Duval’s stone body is too heavy and a wake caused by a nearby ship drags him deeper into the river until he disappears.

The Grey Gargoyle would return months later when some men find his statue at the bottom of the Hudson River and bring it back to a local museum. One of the men speculated that the statue was created by an ancient tribe when the river was no more than a dry, arrid plain. Both doctors see the statue move and would fall victim to the Grey Gargoyle’s touch. Duval is free once more and seeks battle with the thunder god until he possesses the secret to his immortality. During that time, Thor would give up his birthright to be with the woman he loves so his father, Odin stripped his son’s powers away. The Grey Gargoyle would crash into Don Blake’s office and demand where he can find Thor. Blake and his love, Jane Foster try to run away but the Grey Gargoyle is in close pursuit.

Duval’s ability of limited flight allows him to track Blake and Foster as they try to camofloge themselves in the crowd. Duval indiscriminately touches anyone that gets in his way until he traps Blake and Foster in a blind alley. The Grey Gargoyle wanted to give them his special touch where they would remain in stone forever. The trapped couple would receive some assistance from an unknown archer in the shadows and hit the Grey Gargoyle with an arrow that explodes in blinding light. It allows Blake and Foster to escape in their car but Duval quickly recovers and chases after them. Blake and Foster are forced to run away on foot when Duval turns the car into stone.

As Blake tries to crawl away, the arm of his benefactor would touch him and grant him the ability to become Thor for only thirty seconds. Blake strikes his cane on the pavement and becomes the Norse god of thunder once more. Thor defeats the Grey Gargoyle when he taps into the main power source of a traffic light with his uru hammer and sends a bolt of electrical energy into his stony frame. Thor had fused Duval’s stone molecules together and the Grey Gargoyle looked like a clump of molten slag. It turned out that Odin sent Honir the Hunter to assist his son against his fight with the Grey Gargoyle.

Further Criminal Activities

The Grey Gargoyle would be one of numerous super villains to attack Reed Richards and Susan Storm on their wedding day. The Grey Gargoyle and his evil cohorts would battle members of the Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men and some solo heroes like Dr. Strange, Nick Fury and Daredevil. Reed Richards would use a sub-atronic time displacer to transport the horde of villains back to the immediate past and return them to where they were before they attacked with no memory of what has happened since.

The Grey Gargoyle would escape from prison when his power of limited flight returned. Duval was still obsessed with the destruction of Thor and had plans to steal a new cobalt super-weapon created by Stark Enterprises. Duval believed he could finish Thor once and for all with this weapon and gain immortality once he possesses the enchanted hammer. The Grey Gargoyle would break into the factory while Tony Stark and Jasper Sitwell of SHIELD are present.

Duval turns numerous guards into statues while Sitwell tries to incapacitate the Grey Gargoyle with a weaponized gas pen. Stark barricades himself behind a steel door and changes into Iron Man. Duval shatters the gas pen and comes after Sitwell until he is struck by Iron Man’s repulsor rays. Duval bombards his iron foe with pieces of stone plaster until he gets close enough to touch Iron Man. The metal Avenger becomes a stone statue and Duval carries Iron Man to the roof of his building. The Grey Gargoyle throws Iron Man off the roof and watches him plummet to his impending doom. Iron Man is saved when Jasper Sitwell drives a sand truck underneath the falling Avenger and his fall is cushioned by the pile of dirt. Grey Gargoyle proceeds into the factory and finds the new cobalt weapon but sets off an alarm when he breaks the plexiglass container. The Gargoyle’s touch wore off on Iron Man and the two would meet in battle inside the factory.

The cobalt weapon is dropped during the fight and Sitwell attempts to grab it from Duval when the ceiling suddenly collapses. The Grey Gargoyle escapes with the cobalt weapon and Sitwell is turned into a stone statue. Duval uses his new weapon on some security guards when Iron Man tosses a tarpaulin over his enemy. The tarp drapes over Duval and he accidentally turns it into stone with his touch. Duval runs in a blind panic but smashes into a wall and shatters the tarp. Iron Man blasts Duval with his repulsors but the Grey Gargoyle turns the energy beams into stone when they hit his exposed palms. The stone beams are now used as a weapon against Iron Man when Duval throws his new found shaft of stone like a spear. The Grey gargoyle is about to use the cobalt weapon on Iron Man but Stark sets his chest transmitter to the exact frequency he needed to short circuit the cobalt ray device. The cobalt power is feeding back to the Grey Gargoyle and Duval reverts to his normal form. Iron Man passes out from the strain but the cops cuff Duval and sent him back to prison.

Element X

The Commissioner asked Captain America for his help after seven officers and several city officials disappeared. Captain America agreed to play an undercover cop to serve as a decoy and hopefully lure out the man behind the kidnappings. Rogers was patrolling one evening and met Reverand Garcia after he scared off some young hoodlums. Rogers spoke to Reverend Garcia for a brief moment when he noticed a shadowy figure up on a building rooftop. Rogers changed into Captain America and followed the figure into a stone cutter’s storage yard which was littered with various stone statues. Captain America discovered the stone statue of Reverend Garcia moments before the Grey Gargoyle leaped out of the shadows. A fight ensued and Grey Gargoyle even turned Captain America’s shield into stone. Duval was forced to retreat when Falcon and Redwing provided some assistance.

The missing officers and city officials were found and changed back to normal after one hour. Falcon and Redwing would find Duval’s secret laboratory surrounded by various chemicals. During the fight, Falcon is turned into a stone statue but is allowed to move due to a change Duval had made to the original formula. Duval added a tranquilizer serum to chemicals that made Sam Wilson docile and obedient. The Grey Gargoyle wanted to create a vast army of stone soldiers to serve him and help him obtain a powerful chemical called Element X. SHIELD had Element X in a special hover-copter lab that was hidden inside a mountain. SHIELD was planning to work on Element X in orbit because one drop was powerful enough to blow up the planet. The only thing that acted as a shield against Element X was solid stone and Captain America realized that the Grey Gargoyle would become the most dangerous person on Earth if he got his hands on Element X.

Captain America would find the Falcon as a living statue near a construction site and be forced to defend himself against his friend. Wilson collapses during the fight and Captain America takes him to Nick Fury’s heli-cruiser to get medical attention. Sharon Carter was the head of SHIELD’s Psyche Squad and was telling Rogers that Falcon was dangerous and should not be on board. Rogers wouldn’t listen to her and told her his partner needed help regarding his stone appearance. Suddenly some alarms went off and it was coming from central control. Falcon was still under the command of the Grey Gargoyle and brought him aboard the ship with a vortex beam. Duval had turned the crew into stone and went after Fury and Carter. Fury ordered Agent 13 to activate plan D which was a self destruct sequence on the heli-cruiser. Dury the chaos, Duval turned Fury and Carter into stone.

The automatic pilot was taking the cruiser to the mountain stronghold where Element X is hidden but Captain America did not know the secret code word while they entered SHIELD’s defense perimeter. The cruiser was battered by cannon blast and the Grey Gargoyle glided into the stronghold while Captain America saved Wilson, Fury and Carter. The Grey Gargoyle entered the scientific complex and managed to subdue numerous guards while he searched for Element X. Duval would find the canister containing Element X and turned it into stone to prevent it from exploding. Captain America and Falcon engaged the Grey Gargoyle near the hover-lab and Redwing was able to retrieve the stone canister containing Element X. Falcon and Redwing flew into the orbital stone laboratory and Duval was in close pursuit. Duval entered through the rocket hatch and saw Falcon with the canister. Duval was knocked in the back of the head by Cap’s shield and the super soldier activated the diaphragm hatch lock. Captain America, Falcon and Redwing exited the rocket while the Grey Gargoyle was trapped inside. Duval unwittingly touched the steel lock with his right hand and turned it into solid stone. Carter and Fury launched the hover-lab into space and the Grey Gargoyle was trapped inside as it orbit miles away from the planet.

The Grey Gargoyle would return to Earth after he altered the orbiting hover-lab’s circuits to create a crude radio transmitter and made contact with superiors from AIM. They used their super weaponry to blast Duval’s orbiting prison in space and the Grey Gargoyle crashed into the ocean near New York encased in a protective shell of stone. The Grey Gargoyle and AIM worked together to steal a guided missile telemetry system and would come into conflict with Captain America, Spider Man and Nick Fury. AIM created an anti-gravity missile that would be shot into space and activate a satellite designed by Duval whose power beam was capable of turning entire cities into lifeless stone. Captain America and Spider Man found the hidden headquarters of AIM but were overwhelmed and turned into stone. The Grey Gargoyle had the stone statues of the web-slinger and the super soldier chained to the AIM missile. The Grey Gargoyle activated the countdown and was moments away from blasting his two foes into space. However, Captain America and Spider Man reverted back to normal within minutes after Duval’s touch because of a unique venom the Viper had injected into Rogers some time ago and the web-head’s radioactive blood. Captain America tackled Duval and tossed him away from the control panel. The chain that was used to bind the heroes onto the rocket got caught around the Grey Gargoyle’s ankle and Duval was launched into space when no one could stop the countdown.

The rocket’s trajectory was heading into the Stygian Void of space where the frigid vacuum would have destroyed the Grey Gargoyle. Duval touched the chain and freed himself from the missile. Duval had no means of propulsion and drifted helplessly in space for months until he was discovered by some space pirates. He was taken aboard a ship called the Bird of Prey whose leader, Captain Sklaar wanted their stone captive to be one of his slaves. Duval refused to serve anyone and challenged Sklaar into combat. Duval turned Sklaar into a stone statue during the fight and smashed him into pieces. Duval declared himself the new captain of the ship and anyone who opposed him would suffer his touch of stone. Duval and his crew would come across an unidentified vessel whose passengers turned out to be one of his hated enemies, Thor. The Thunder God was accompanied by other Asgardians including Lady Sif, Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun of the Warriors Three and the Recorder. The pirates attacked the ship and the Grey Gargoyle eventually entered the fray. Thor was forced to surrender when Duval had turned Sif into stone and threatened to smash her into rubble. The Grey Gargoyle turned their captives into statues and took them aboard his ship. The spell of stone lasted for one hour and the Asgardian prisoners woke up with shackles around their neck that absorbed any force expended against them and return it to the wearer three-fold.

Return of the Gargoyle

The Grey Gargoyle would survive in space when he coated himself with cosmic particles and wreckage he had turned into stone. Duval let his established trajectory return him back to Earth and would land in the coastal marshes of Brooklyn’s Jamaica Bay. Duval had an encumbering shell around him and emerged from the water looking like a humanoid rock creature. Duval would head towards Manhattan and seek passage through the subway tunnels. A SWAT team encountered Duval’s monstrous form but their firearms were useless against his rocky exterior. The Avengers saw the attack on television and responded. Captain America was swatted away by the monster but was saved by Daredevil. The Scarlet Witch noticed the rocket pack on the creature’s back and activated it with her hex bolts. The monster was propelled towards Iron Man and the Vision. Both Avengers struck the creature at the same time and shattered it into a hundred pieces. Iron Man was looking at the rubble when Daredevil picked up two distinct heartbeats and warned him to get away from the pile of rocks. It was too late, Daredevil and Iron Man were transformed into stone and the Grey Gargoyle emerged from the rubble.

Duval thanked the Avengers for freeing him from his makeshift life-support system and attacked the heroes. The Grey Gargoyle retreated after he had some debris collapse onto two Avengers and knocking out Ms. Marvel with a kick. The Grey Gargoyle returned to the apartment he used to rent when he lived in New York months ago but a new tenant named Margot Neil was living there. Duval crashed into her apartment and trapped her inside when he turned the door into solid stone. Duval explained to Margot his origin and was planning to augment his formidable powers with some chemicals he stashed behind a mirror. Duval would only find liquor behind the mirror because Margot threw the chemicals away when she moved in. Duval was enraged and wanted to crush her head into jelly but the Falcon intervened and a fight ensued. Duval turned Redwing into stone and Margot hid underneath a table during the fight. The Falcon was about to fall prey to Duval’s touch but the rest of the Avengers came to the rescue. Scarlet Witch tried a new hex configuration which turned the Grey Gargoyle’s stony exterior back to human flesh. Duval is helpless and Beast knocks him out with a left hook.

Spider Man would come to Ryker’s Island prison to investigate a number of baddies who’ve gotten out within the past year. Peter Parker wanted to build his credibility as a photographer for the Daily Bugle so he stashed his costume nearby and enters the prison through a vent with only his camera and civilian clothing. Parker sees three prisoners trying to escape and snaps some photos of the Grey Gargoyle, Jonas Harrow and a man named Armand Dubroth. These three try to reach a boat near a prison exit but Parker picks up a steel bar and hurls it towards Duval. The Grey Gargoyle sees the flying object and catches it. Duval turns the steel bar into stone and crushes it with his super strength. The three criminals fear they may get caught so they return to their cells and Parker is found by two guards. Parker’s camera was placed inside Warden Alexander Rue’s office but it was stolen by a janitor and he pawned it at Smitty’s on Ninth Avenue. Matt Murdock would be Parker’s lawyer and wanted the case against him dismissed but Dubroth testified against Parker and told the judge that he was the man who engineered the breakouts.

The judge ordered Parker be held for trial and bail was set at fifty thousand dollars. Parker tells Murdock that his camera has all the evidence he needed to clear his name. Parker sets bail and returns home to get his old Spidey suit. Dubroth, Harrow and Duval shakedown the janitor and reveals to them the whereabouts of the camera. It turned out that DuBroth was working with Warden Rue and they were allowing criminals to use the prison as a base of operations. They needed that camera back because the pictures could bring their entire operation down. Spider Man returns to Ryker’s and retrieves his stashed costume when he notices the Grey Gargoyle and Harrow departing the island on a small boat. Spider Man follows the two foes to Smitty’s pawn shop and engages them when they break into the store. Spider Man defeats Harrow and webs both of Duval’s hands onto the pavement. The store owner returns and provides Spider Man with the film from his camera.

The Grey Gargoyle would serve some time at Ryker’s Island penitentiary with other super criminals including Electro, Sandman and Dr. Octopus. Each prisoner was placed inside a specially designed cell produced by Stark International to negate their individual powers and abilities. Tony Stark provided a tour of Ryker’s upgraded security measures to a small news crew and a consumer activist named Mr. Barger. Duval was imprisoned behind magnetically sealed walls that he couldn’t touch. Dr. Octopus would escape when an extra set of tentacles made out of adamantium came to life and liberate his master from his cell. Otto Octavius would free Grey Gargoyle, Electro and Sandman. They hold the prison facility under siege and wait for Iron Man to arrive so they can ambush him. Iron Man would eventually arrive and is confronted by the four criminals. Iron Man strikes Sandman with a repulsor blast causing him to disperse in a cloud of dust. Electro is blinded by the sand and accidentally hits the Grey Gargoyle with an electric bolt.

The Grey Gargoyle calls Electro an idiot and turns him into stone. The Grey Gargoyle charges after Iron Man but the golden Avenger grabs both of Duval’s wrists and breaks them. Iron Man picks up the Grey Gargoyle and embeds Duval into the concrete floor with a powerful slam. Iron Man would eventually defeat Dr. Octopus and the Grey Gargoyle returns to prison.

Agent Freeman from the FBI informed Captain Marvel that several super powered criminals have been broken out of prison including the Grey Gargoyle, Moonstone, Whirlwind and Mr. Hyde. Duval was locked up in Leavenworth but escaped when somebody tunneled into his cell. Janet Van Dyne was asked to come to the Passaic County Jail to speak to Rita DeMara who was being held there and asked Paladin to come along. Janet was asking Rita where she got the Yellowjacket outfit during their first encounter but refused to answer any questions until her lawyer and assistant arrived.

The lawyer asked the Avenger and Paladin to leave but Janet recognized Duval’s face underneath the fake goatee. Duval’s assistant turned out to be Screaming Mimi and she unleashes a hypersonic shriek. Duval unveils his costume underneath his suit and attacks Paladin. Duval knocks Paladin through the wall and places a stone desk on top of him. Duval, Mimi and Rita escape in a van but the Wasp catches up to them and blows out a tire. The Grey Gargoyle rips a tree out of the ground during the fight and turns it into stone when the Black Knight arrives and slices the tree in half. The Grey Gargoyle comes after the Black Knight but writhes in pain when he touches the ebony blade. The Black Knight lays out the Grey Gargoyle with a right punch, Screaming Mimi is apprehended but Rita DeMara manages to escape.

Duval would open up a gallery under the name of Paul St. Pierre and display statues of young, beautiful women in a state of shock or fear. Jim Rhodes and Marcy Pearson check out the gallery when Marcy felt a chill when one particular statue looked liked an old girlfriend of hers. Tony Stark was a fan of Pierre’s work and received an invitation to a party he was throwing at his rental estate in San Diego. Marcy couldn’t sleep one night because one statue looked so much like her friend Cinda. Marcy tries to contact her friend but receives no response so she goes to Cinda’s home. Cinda was a reporter and had notes on her tape recorder about possible crimes committed by Paul St. Pierre. Cinda was doing a story on missing persons and was able to match photos of several missing women to the statues on Pierre’s brochure. Marcy found out that Cinda set herself up with Pierre so she could get proof but has been missing for over three weeks. Marcy finds the invitation to Pierre’s party and attends as Cinda Kendrick. Duval would greet Tony Stark and his date when they arrive but excuses himself when Marcy arrives. Duval looks at the invitation and notices Cinda Kendrick’s name on it. Marcy sneaks out of the party and looks into the studio and notices no clay or sculpting tools around. Duval confronts

Marcy and transforms himself to the Grey Gargoyle. Duval reveals to Marcy that he was turning the women he seduced into living stone and wanted her for his next masterpiece. Marcy tries her best to defend herself but she eventually falls prey to Duval’s touch. Rhodes tells Stark that he was going to San Diego to look for Marcy. Stark tells Rhodes that there have been strange doings in San Diego and couldn’t shake the feeling that he met the St. Pierre character before. Stark received a St. Pierre statue from his friend Rae a few days earlier and decided to get a small chip from the back of the statue’s heel for data. Stark noticed that the statue was covered with a clear polymer to protect the finish but was astounded when he looked at the piece under a microscope. The piece looked organic and Stark discovered that the stone chip was alive when it started to move. Stark heard a shriek and the statue reverted to human form. Stark knew this was the work of the Grey Gargoyle and the polymer coating on the statues prevented the victims from changing back to human form.

Duval’s attempt for physical immortality was always thwarted by Thor and other costume heroes so he decided to settle for historic immortality through his artistic statues. Duval decided to make one final appearance at a harborside hotel in San Diego where he was the guest of honor. Rhodes found a clue regarding Marcy and her friend’s involvement with St. Pierre and confronted Duval with a gun at the ceremony. Duval turns the gun into stone and changes into the Grey Gargoyle. Duval picks up the statue of Marcy and launches it off the stage but Iron Man arrives in time and catches it. Grey Gargoyle runs off and tries to escape through the crowd at Seaport Village. Iron Man douses Duval with titanium foam that hardens in seconds after being exposed to air but the Grey Gargoyle breaks free seconds later. Iron Man was able to swoop down from behind and lift Duval off his feet. Iron Man places Duval’s right hand into a kid’s big gulp cup and it becomes a solid stone mitt. Iron Man tries to confine Duval in a grassy area so he can’t break the mitt but the Grey Gargoyle manages to reach a nearby yacht. Duval turns the yacht into stone and the couple on board begin to sink. Grey Gargoyle escapes while Iron Man saves the two passengers. Duval commandeered a nearby taxi after turning the driver into stone and headed back to Paris. Duval was somewhat pleased since this gallery venture was profitable. All of Duval’s victims would revert back to human form with no adverse physical effects from their ordeal.

Acts of Vengeance

Dr. Doom would hire the Grey Gargoyle to kidnap Bruce Banner because the Hulk was a wild card during the Acts of Vengeance and Doom figured it would be easier to keep an eye on him if he was solid stone. Doom gave Duval a gamma cell detector which enabled him to locate anyone who was heavily gamma irradiated. Duval’s artist identity as Paul St. Pierre was exposed but he believed he could rebuild his reputation with men like Dr. Doom as patrons or possible subjects. The gamma detector would go off during his plane flight and Duval would transform the passenger sitting next to him into stone when he was asking questions about the device. Banner was working as a janitor at the Yucca Flats Nuclear Research facility and was there to do some quiet research on ridding himself of the Hulk.

Duval would follow Banner’s car after he left the research facility. Duval placed a police siren on top of his car and pulled over Banner. Duval turned Banner into stone and placed him in the back of his car. As Duval drove off, Banner’s stone body started to change into the Hulk and the gamma giant caused an accident near some construction workers on the road. Duval changes into the Grey Gargoyle and grabs a jackhammer. The Grey Gargoyle places the jackhammer onto the Hulk’s gray body but the gamma bruiser smashes the tool and sends Duval off his feet. Duval can’t believe that the Hulk is able to move even in a stone state. The Hulk slowly approaches and Duval smacks him down with a stone slab. The Hulk is having a hard time getting up so Duval runs him over with a steam roller. The Grey Gargoyle believes he has triumphed over the Hulk until the steam roller is lifted off the ground. The Hulk quickly recovered due to his healing ability and his super metabolism shook off the Grey Gargoyle’s petrifying touch. The Hulk slams the steam roller to the ground and would dump some tar over Duval’s body. The tar mound turns into stone but Duval breaks free his right arm. The Hulk grabs the Grey Gargoyle’s right arm and bends it backwards. The Hulk allows the Grey Gargoyle to run away with a broken arm.

She-Hulk would be at a FBI safe house in upstate New York with a criminal named Woziah who was under the witness protection program when they are attacked by the Grey Gargoyle and Killer Shrike. Someone hired these assassins to eliminate Woziah and She-Hulk was caught in the middle. Grey Gargoyle was upset at Killer Shrike for leaving him the mundane task of dealing with the guards. Grey Gargoyle decided to make things difficult for Shrike by bringing in their back up into play, Dragon Man. The android was out of control and started to destroy the roof of the safe house. Dragon Man lit up the house with his flames and accidentally set Killer Shrike on fire. Shrike jumped into a stream but got knocked out by She-Hulk. Grey Gargoyle crept behind the emerald beauty and turned her into stone. Duval wanted to know what would happen if his statue got smashed into pieces while She-Hulk was trapped in her frozen state. Duval wondered if she would still feel pain when she converts back to human form after one hour or would she simply die.

Grey Gargoyle had a plan and attracted Dragon Man’s attention by shooting him with Killer Shrike’s gauntlet. The first thing the android saw was the frozen statue of She-Hulk and he was about to vent his rage upon it. Dragon Man was about to crush the statue to pieces until he was incapacitated by an electric taser from a man clad in armor called Surge. Grey Gargoyle attacked Surge with a branch he turned into a stone javelin and threw at the armored warrior. Surge grabbed the spear in mid-air but it allowed Grey Gargoyle the opportunity to touch his foe’s chest. To Duval’s amazement, Surge’s body remained unharmed and failed to turn into stone. Surge had laced his body with a forceshield to protect himself and then he proceeds to knock Duval out with a punch.

Fight against Asgard

Zarrko and his faithful Servitor would come into conflict with the Thor Corps when he had plans to use his radical time stabilizer to collapse all the time lines into a single entity. The Thor Corps which consisted of Beta Ray Bill, Dargo and Thunderstrike smashed into Zarrko’s ship. Zarrko would open up various corridors of time to summon suitable pawns to dispose of the Corps. Various foes of Thor including the Grey Gargoyle would attack the Thor Corps. The Grey Gargoyle attacked Beta Ray Bill but Duval was smacked away by his enchanted hammer, Stormbreaker.

The Grey Gargoyle would be one of numerous villains invited by the Brass Bishop and the Chess Set to an auction located inside an abandoned airstrip. The Chess Set wanted to auction the bodies of Silver, Auric and a government scientist named Hedison after they obtained a highly potent cocktail of energies after the Sphinx imploded within the Target Technologies. The auction was interrupted by Alpha Flight and Spider Man. Grey Gargoyle was taken down when Heather Hudson absorbed Klaw’s emissions into her battlesuit and returned it back to her enemies. The Grey Gargoyle was apprehended and sent back to the Vault.

Code Blue needed some assistance with the apprehension of the Grey Gargoyle so Duval would come into conflict with the Fantastic Force. Devlor, the Inhuman powerhouse slugs Duval with an uppercut and then Huntara kicks her stone enemy. Duval petrifies a street pole and throws it towards Vibraxas. The projectile is shattered with a low yield vibrational thrust and the Grey Gargoyle is apprehended after Psi-Lord uses his telekinesis to isolate Duval from potential targets. Code Blue place the Grey Gargoyle in special cuffs and take him away.

The Grey Gargoyle would be hired to steal some chemicals from Osborn Chemicals because he needed the money to rebuild his laboratory. Duval believes the common thefts are beneath him but does what is necessary to achieve his goal. During the theft, the Grey Gargoyle comes into conflict with the Black Widow. Her widow stings are just an annoyance to the stone skinned villain and throws a petrified bag of fertilizer towards the Russian beauty. Natasha evades the stone projectile as it crashes into the chemical barrels Duval was stealing. Duval is in enraged and leaps towards the Black Widow but she is carried away by a swinging Daredevil. Natasha punches Daredevil in the stomach and tells him to leave her alone. Duval confronts the Black Widow on a metal catwalk and turns it into stone. The scaffold cannot bear the weight of the Grey Gargoyle and it collapses. Natasha is struck in the face by some stone debris and becomes disoriented. Natasha struggles to stay on her feet as Duval approaches. Suddenly the lights go out and Daredevil attacks Duval in the darkness. Natasha activates a switch and the Grey Gargoyle is saturated by a chemical compound that turns into a stone cocoon when it comes into contact with Duval’s palm. The Grey Gargoyle is trapped and the Black Widow blast a breathing hole for Duval until he is apprehended.

The Grey Gargoyle would come into conflict with the Thing after Grimm met a beautiful woman at a Yancy Street bar. The Thing chased after the Grey Gargoyle and noticed that he was turning innocent civilians into stone. The fight took place over the Brooklyn Bridge and the Thing was gaining the upper hand until he saw the female he was with earlier that evening. The distraction allowed the Grey Gargoyle to touch the Thing and turn him into a stone statue. Duval asked the lady if he passed the initiation test but was confronted by the rest of the Fantastic Four. Invisible Woman placed a shield over Grimm while Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch took on the Grey Gargoyle. Duval was able to touch Reed Richard’s face but it had no effect because Invisible Woman placed a shield over his hands. Susan Richards placed the Grey Gargoyle inside an invisible bubble when he tried to run away and smashed him against the bridge. Duval muttered the words “Senso, help me” before he passed out but the Fantastic Four had no idea what it meant at the time. Grimm would stay in statue form for hours and was brought back to the Alexandria Space Station for some testing. The Thing’s rocky exterior would come off and reveal Ben Grimm in human form. Apparently the Grey Gargoyle’s powers had integrated with Diablo’s aurum potable in Grimm’s system and turned him back to a normal human being.

The Grey Gargoyle would come to the school of Tara Olson when the media said Thor was seen in that area. Tara and her friend Amanda noticed that the interior of the school had turned into stone. Tara went into the restroom and transformed into Thor Girl. Tara flew to the roof and noticed a stone statue of a security guard. The Grey Gargoyle turned Thor Girl into stone when she was distracted and smashed her to pieces with her own hammer. Duval now possessed Thor Girl’s hammer but wasn’t sure if immortality was finally his so he wanted to see if he could cheat death. Duval jumped out of his building window and survived the fall but wasn’t quite convinced he was immortal. Duval knew he could never pick up Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir but was able to wield Thor Girl’s hammer with ease. Duval believed the hammer he had was a fake until he discovered how to fire bolts of energy with his new weapon and the ability to fly. Duval now believed he had an enchanted hammer and was truly immortal. The Grey Gargoyle would come into conflict with Jake Olson as Thor until a one man executioner called Desak entered the mix. Desak was after the Designate, Tarene but Duval told the god killer that he had killed her. The Grey Gargoyle told Desak he was a God but that would be a statement Duval would truly regret. Desak unleashed a blast of energy from his axe and struck down Duval. The Grey Gargoyle would recover and fire a bolt of energy at Desak with Tarene’s hammer. Desak inched closer and closer until he smacked Duval away with his axe. Desak picked up Tarene’s hammer and told Duval that he sensed no godliness or immortality within him. Desak had no interest with the Grey Gargoyle and Duval fled the scene when he failed to obtain immortality.

Grey Gargoyle would be incarcerated inside Pym’s experimental penitentiary commonly known as the Big House which was an entire prison shrunk down to miniature size. Mad Thinker devised a plan with numerous criminals inside the prison to escape by using a reducing gas to decrease their size so they could stow away on She-Hulk’s skin. Grey Gargoyle is seen crashing to the floor when She-Hulk scratches the skin on her hands.

The Grey Gargoyle would be contained at the newly designed Vault super prison inside the Negative Zone. Reed Richards help build the new prison with the help of Andrew Lewis, the man that designed the original Vault. Andrew was unaware that his wife, Maureen was a hideous alien monster and was in cahoots with the Mad Thinker. Maureen would reveal her true identity when she visited the prison and opened up all the cell doors. Grey Gargoyle and numerous villains were free but would come into conflict with the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk and Hercules. Most of the villains surrendered and returned to their cells when they realized they could not win and escape. Several prisoners including Grey Gargoyle, Klaw, Sphinx, Hydro-Man and Dragon Man continued to fight. The villains were incapacitated when Andrew Lewis activated a neural scrambler during the riot.

The Grey Gargoyle would have a meeting with Mallory Book at the Superhuman Law Offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg and Holliway regarding an assault on Duval by Thor Girl for casing the Diamond Exchange. Duval is upset because he never committed a crime and was within his rights to sue Thor Girl. However, Duval’s meeting with Mallory Book was interrupted by Awesome Andy.

Grey Gargoyle would be pursued by the New Warriors and tries to escape from them one, late evening. Duval is trapped in an alley and prepares to fight back until he is struck by some electric bolt. Duval slowly gets up and is confronted by a super sized Wondra. She picks up the Grey Gargoyle and tells him to relay a message to all his friends that “this is only the beginning”. The Grey Gargoyle is found the next morning shrunk to the size of a candy bar, tied up and gagged with a calling card taped on him that has the initials NW on it. Duval is currently a member of the “Hood’s Gang”. The Superior brainwashed Mortar into believing Grey Gargoyle is her father.

Fear Itself: The Worthy

The Grey Gargoyle wanders around Paris thinking about his life as a super powered criminal and the little success he has achieved while turning numerous civilians into stone. Grey Gargoyle remembers the humiliating defeats by numerous heroes and wonders if he will ever regain villainous glory when a mystic hammer falls from the heavens. Grey Gargoyle touches the hammer and is transformed into one of the Worthy.

Iron Man goes to Paris to investigate the mysterious object that crashed into that city and discovers the people on the streets have been turned into stone. Iron Man finds a survivor and the man tries to tell him that its not safe and “he’ll come back”. Suddenly the Grey Gargoyle appears as the Worthy, Mokk Breaker of Faith and is responsible for the carnage and emits a flash of light that turns the civilian into stone. Iron Man realizes during the fight that the Grey Gargoyle had the ability to turn people into stone but he has become more powerful and more ruthless. The Grey Gargoyle keeps uttering a strange language as he punishes Iron Man throughout the city. Iron Man keeps crashing into stone bodies and all his attacks do nothing but annoy the Grey Gargoyle. Iron Man starts to lose consciousness when the Grey Gargoyle smashes his mystic hammer into Iron Man’s face. Iron Man eventually wakes up and discovers he has been buried under thousands of stone bodies.

Powers & Abilities

The Grey Gargoyle has the ability to transform any organic or inorganic object into stone by touching it with his right hand. The process is instantaneous and the maximum volume of matter which can be transformed at a single touch is 10 cubic feet but the volume seems to differ the past several years. Their have been instances when the Grey Gargoyle has transformed an object into stone that measures more than 10 cubic feet like trees, yachts and even buildings with a single touch. The Grey Gargoyle has mastered his stone touch and could even revert energy into stone when exposed to his right palm. Those turned to stone revert back to their normal state after one hour and do not suffer any ill-effects other disorientation upon returning to normal. A person is susceptible to severe trauma and even death when damaged in stone form. If a person in granite form is shattered into pieces and not properly reformed after one hour, then they will revert back to normal form as a bloody mess. The same issue occurs when an arm or leg is broken off in statue form because that person will be missing that limb upon reversion to normal. Duval has to touch himself with his right hand to transform into the Grey Gargoyle. The Grey Gargoyle is endowed with all the physical properties of stone with his sentience and mobility intact. The Grey Gargoyle has superhuman strength and resistance to impact and temperature extremes in stone form. He also retains his normal speed and reflexes in granite form. Despite being in stone form, the Grey Gargoyle possesses the ability of limited flight and can perform a standing jump of about twenty feet with his powerful legs.

The Grey Gargoyle as one of the Worthy possesses superhuman strength, durability and resistance to injury. He can emit a beam of light from his body that transforms any living being into stone who is caught within his blast. He possesses one of the mystic hammers that can inflict tremendous amount of damage with a single strike.

Other Versions

Marvel Adventures

Grey Gargoyle would be involved in a story taking place in the Marvel Adventures comics which are standalone stories and does not take place in the current Marvel Universe continuity.

Grey Gargoyle would portray himself as an exhibit in the Manhattan Museum of Art’s Collection when Peter Parker and a number of students are there for a class trip. Peter Parker, Flash Thompson and Liz Allen are admiring the Alexi Caan wing where famous art around the world was being displayed including the classic representation of the Greek goddess of love, the Venus de Milo which was on loan from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Parker’s spider-sense went off as he walked by the Grey Gargoyle so he decided to perform an experiment by placing a burning match to the statue’s face. Parker and the museum guide would see the flame move and realized the statue was breathing. Duval smacked the two men down and told them he was a thief who was planning to pose as a statue until the museum closed to complete his assignment. Duval was forced to defend himself when he was approached by two guards so he turned a painting into stone and knocked them out with it. Duval was going after the Venus de Milo statue when he was webbed by Spider Man. Duval freed himself from the web cocoon when he turned it into stone and tackled the wall-crawler. Flash tried to help Spider Man against the Gargoyle but Duval would transform Liz into a stone statue when she tried to run away. Duval tossed the frozen Liz into the air and Spider Man prevented her from breaking when he created a giant web cushion. Duval was able to retrieve the Venus de Milo statue and cause the ceiling to collapse when he kicked down two pillars in the museum. Duval escaped with the statue by a helicopter provided by his employer while Spider Man protected himself, Flash and Liz with a web shield. Duval provided the Venus statue to his employer, Alexi Caan who had plans to make this statue perfect. Caan had kidnapped a spokesmodel for Venus hand creme named Heather Silver and wanted Duval to petrify her arms so he can place them onto the Venus de Milo masterpiece. Duval refused to kill an innocent woman and turned Caan into stone with his touch. Spider Man found the model safe with the statuesque Caan next to her. Spider Man finds the Grey Gargoyle scaling down the building when he loses his footing and starts to fall. Spider Man shoots a web-line towards Duval but he touches it with his hands and it turns into stone. The web-line crumbles and Duval apparently falls to his doom. Spider Man reaches the bottom of the building and sees pieces of stone debris scattered around the streets. Spider Man is unsure whether Duval was truly killed or somehow survived the fall and escaped.

Alternate Versions

Earth X

He gets into a confrontation with most members of the team Excalibur, turning them into stone mid-battle. The Grey Gargoyle is neutralized and the heroes are thought lost to stone forever.

Paradise X

However, as detailed in this limited series, years later, yet another Grey Gargoyle is fetched from an alternate dimension and undoes the work above.

Other Media

Television

• He appeared in the Mighty Thor, segment of The Marvel Super Heroes and he was voiced by Chris Wiggins.
• Grey Gargoyle appeared in Iron Man: The Animated Series, where he was member of the Mandarin‘s army alongside with MODOK, Whirlwind, Blacklash and others. He was firstly voiced by Ed Gilbert and then by Jim Cummings.
• Grey Gargoyle made his appearance in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in episodes “The Breakout”, “The Man in the Anthill”, “This Hostage Earth”. He was a fugitive from the Big House and one of Baron Zemo‘s Masters of Evil. After petrifying Queen Karnilla so that the Masters could steal the Norn Stones, Grey Gargoyle was betrayed and seemingly murdered by Enchantress and Skurge. However, issue #2 of the show’s tie-in comic later revealed that the Grey Gargoyle had actually survived his body being smashed to pieces by Skurge, and that he’d subsequently conquered Nornheim. He was eventually defeated by the Avengers and taken back to Earth. The character was voiced by Troy Baker.
• Grey Gargoyle appears in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode “Doomsday.” Here, he is one of guardians created by the Makluans to protect the Ten Rings. He is destroyed in the Latverian temple by Doctor Doom, who claims the ring the Gargoyle was protecting.

Video Games

• Grey Gargoyle appears in The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom’s Revenge as a boss character.
• He is one of the bosses in Marvel Ultimate Alliance and has special dialogue with Spider-Woman. He was voiced by Tom Kane.
• He also appeared in PS2, PSP and Wii versions of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Joe Roseto.
• Grey Gargoyle is featured as a boss in the Facebook game Marvel Avengers Alliance.

Merchandise

• Grey Gargoyle was featured in ToyBiz’s action figure line for Iron Man: The Animated Series.
• Grey Gargoyle has been featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Bowen Designs produced a Grey Gargoyle bust.
• Grey Gargoyle has been featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line.