Puff Adder (character)
Gordon Fraley is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Tom Morgan, the character first appeared in Captain America #337 (January 1988).[1] Fraley is a mutant, a subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities. His power allows him to increase his body mass, enabling him to grow up to 10 feet in height and weigh more than five tons.[2] He is a supervillain depicted primarily as a member of the Serpent Society.[3] The character is known under the codename Puff Adder. Publication history
Gordon Fraley debuted in Captain America #337 (January 1988), and was created by Mark Gruenwald and Tom Morgan.[4] Fraley was originally intended to appear in Thunderbolts #104 and on the cover of Avengers: The Initiative #1, but was omitted from the artwork in both cases. The Civil War Files #1 and Mighty Avengers #1 later confirmed that he had been recruited into the Initiative off-panel.[5] He subsequently appeared in several Marvel series, including Guardians of the Galaxy (1990),[6] and Captain America: Steve Rogers (2016).[7] Fictional character biographyGordon "Gordo" Fraley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Large and strong but not very bright, Puff Adder is a mutant with the ability to inflate, or "puff," his body mass, enhancing his strength greatly, and making him a dangerous adversary for superheroes. As a member of the fourth Serpent Squad, Puff Adder attempts to rob a Las Vegas casino, and battles Captain America, the Falcon, Nomad, and D-Man.[8] With the Serpent Squad, he is freed from jail by Sidewinder.[9] Puff Adder is inducted into the second incarnation of the Serpent Society as a double agent of the Viper during her invasion of the group. Puff Adder and the Viper's agents then betray Sidewinder, and encounter Captain America again.[10] With Coachwhip and Rock Python, Puff Adder is sent to steal the Falcon's uniform in order to regain admission into the Serpent Society, and he battles Battlestar and the Falcon.[11] Alongside Anaconda, Puff Adder serves as bailiff at the Serpent Society's trial of Diamondback. With Anaconda and Rock Python, Puff Adder is sent to Diamondback's apartment to apprehend her. He battles Captain America and seemingly overpowered him.[12] Puff Adder crash-lands a Serpent Saucer on Diamondback's apartment. He abducts Diamondback, Asp, and Black Mamba. Rock Python and Puff Adder are thrown from the Serpent Saucer by MODAM, and Puff Adder is injured in the fall. He is interrogated by Captain America and Paladin about the abduction of Diamondback and her friends.[13] As a member of the Serpent Society, he develops a romantic relationship with Anaconda.[volume & issue needed] He also serves briefly with Doctor Octopus' Masters of Evil. He participates in the attempted takeover of the Avengers Mansion while the other heroes are distracted by the events of the Infinity War. There, the team encounters the Guardians of the Galaxy. Puff Adder is given permission to "play with" Yellowjacket and Nikki but is stopped by Major Victory before he can touch them.[14] After a brief fight, both teams are overwhelmed with alien doubles of absolutely everyone involved. Out of necessity, the two teams work together to destroy wave after wave of doubles. After the last wave, Doctor Octopus wants his team to continue fighting but Puff Adder, along with the rest, turn on him. They do not want to hurt the others who just helped save their lives. The team chases Doctor Octopus out of the mansion.[15] He is seen as member of the Serpent Society under Cobra's leadership. After the group captures and chains Captain America and Diamondback (really an L.M.D.) in this underground New York headquarters, the pair escapes. S.H.I.E.L.D. subsequently takes Rattler and the rest of the Society into custody. He appears in "Brand New Day" as one of the villains in the "Bar With No Name". He is one of many to get in on the super-hero related gambling action headed by the man known only as 'The Bookie'.[16] He is a member of the Serpent Society, who are engaged in a bank robbery. He is instantly defeated by Hope Summers after she copies his powers and knocks him out with a single bolas.[17] As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Puff Adder appears as a member of Viper's Serpent Society under its new name of Serpent Solutions.[18] Puff Adder appears in the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, where Helmut Zemo recruits him and the members of Serpent Solutions into his Army of Evil.[19] During the "Hunted" storyline, Puff Adder and several members of the Serpent Society are captured by Kraven the Hunter, Taskmaster, and Black Ant and forced to participate in a murderous hunt set up by Arcade.[20] During the "Devil's Reign" story line, Puff Adder and Coachwhip appear as members of Mayor Wilson Fisk's incarnation of the Thunderbolts at a time when Fisk has outlawed superhero activity. They, alongside the Thunderbolts unit, attack Spider-Woman, only to be fought off by Spider-Woman as she gets Lindsay McRabe to safety.[21] Powers and abilitiesPuff Adder possesses the ability to increase his size and mass, generally enlarging to about two and a half times his normal weight and increasing his height by roughly one-third. He can also emit acidic gases through jaw control, which are capable of corroding steel in seconds. In addition, he has been depicted with changing skin and hair color. Within the Serpent Society, Adder is regarded as its most skilled pilot.[22] Other versionsGuardians of the GalaxyAn alternate version of Gordon Fraley appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy. When the Magus, the dark counterpart of Adam Warlock, attempted to conquer the universe, he enlisted Anthropomorpho in the Dimension of Manifestations to create doppelgängers of Earth's superheroes.[23] One of these duplicates was modeled after Puff Adder.[24] This doppelgänger joined a group of evil counterparts of the Masters of Evil and the Guardians of the Galaxy in an assault on Avengers Mansion, but the group was ultimately defeated.[15] In other media
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