Puck (Marvel Comics)

Puck is the codename of two fictional characters, a father and daughter pair who are both members of Alpha Flight, in the Marvel Comics universe

Puck (Eugene Judd)

Puck
Puck in his dwarf state. Art by John Byrne
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Alpha Flight # 1 (August, 1983)
Created by	John Byrne
In-story information
Alter ego	Eugene Milton Judd
Species	Altered Human
Team affiliations	Alpha Flight Beta Flight
Notable aliases	Geno
Abilities	Superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, durability Skilled fighter

Puck (Eugene Milton Judd) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. Puck first appeared in Alpha Flight vol. 1 #1 and was created by John Byrne.

Fictional character biography

The first character to use the codename is a man whose real name is Eugene Milton Judd. He was born in 1914 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He spent years traveling the world as a soldier of fortune before joining Alpha Flight.

During his time with Alpha Flight, he encountered a new city deep in the Arctic Circle. There his team and the X-Men discovered a mystical wellspring. Several humans associated with the X-Men gained vast powers via the wellspring. Puck was cured of his dwarfism and now had trouble walking because his center of balance was off. Later, he learned that the powers came at a price too high to bear, such as the loss of all creativity among all affected and the deaths of all mystics, which included Puck's friend Shaman. The trickster god Loki was behind all this and eventually was persuaded to remove all effects of the well, which unfortunately included Puck's new height. A thought balloon indicated that the pain associated with his dwarfism was now worse than ever.

Later, during the events of the Infinity War, Puck was brainwashed and taken by the cosmic powered villain the Goddess. He was paired up with the affected Spider-Man when an invasion force of superheros planned to attack the Goddess' fortress. This specific pairing was to teach Spider-Man brutality in the face of his 'former' friends. Puck is swiftly taken out of the fight, defeated by Firestar. Due to the effects of the resulting clash, all brainwashed heroes were later freed.

Puck would be brainwashed again by members of his own government, who desired to have an Alpha Flight completely under their control.

Later, a time-displaced version of Alpha Flight is brought forward in time and winds up remaining in the present. While these versions take up the mantle of Alpha Flight, the original Alpha Flight leaves to transport a clutch of Plodex eggs to their homeworld.

Along with Major Mapleleaf II, Puck Jr., and the time-displaced versions of Guardian, Vindicator, and Shaman, the time-displaced Puck is brutally attacked by The Collective", in New Avengers #16. Their bodies are left in the Yukon Territory as the Collective continues on to the United States. The time-displaced Puck was later confirmed dead by Sasquatch, while the original Puck is presumedly still on the Plodex homeworld with the other members of Alpha Flight.

Powers and abilities

The original Puck had enhanced agility and superhuman strength rivaling that of Spider-Man. He was also a trained soldier and formidable hand-to-hand combatant. His trademark attack is a cartwheeling motion. Spinning on his hands and feet at great speeds, he is able to slam into and knock down human-sized enemies with ease.

After a run-in with The Master of the World his body was altered and compressed, resulting in his tissue becoming akin to compressed rubber. Also, his aging is vastly slowed; Judd resembles a man in his thirties.

Origin

Judd's superhero origin began when he was hired to steal the Black Blade of Baghdad. The Blade was actually a prison for an ancient sorcerer called Black Raazer, and Judd accidentally freed him.

Judd was able to trap Raazer once more using some ancient mysticism and the light from his own life force. However, this caused the 7' tall adventurer to shrink to about 3' 6" in height. This was because the Black Blade had the ability to take life force from others, which caused a physical reduction in size. It has also granted him immortality. At some point, he became friends with the American playboy Dan Kane, otherwise known as Captain Terror. When Captain Terror was defeated in the Spanish Civil War by the 1930s El Aguila, a fellow hero fighting on the opposite side, he retired, but Puck fought El Aguila for revenge. [2] He also formed a friendship with noted author Ernest Hemmingway and became an accomplished bullfighter. Eventually joining Alpha Flight, he adopted the codename 'Puck.'

Intended origin

Creator John Byrne had originally intended for the original Puck to be a dwarf with no superhuman powers, merely great fighting and acrobatic skills; subsequent writer Bill Mantlo would later retcon that Puck's small stature was due to mystical influences. Byrne commented on this, stating, "Of course, [Mantlo] then went on to do the 'origin' of Puck, with the whole 'demon inside' thing being based, apparently, on the single reference Puck had made to being in constant pain, something which Bill failed to grasp was an effect of the condition -- achondroplasty, called by name in the same issue that referenced the pain -- which caused Puck's dwarfism." [3]

Byrne has also stated that Puck was based "very, very loosely on a friend who was short (but not as short as Puck) and occasionally bald." [4]

Other versions

Earth X

In this alternate future, Puck is seen as one of the many heroes in the afterlife. They all rally to fight the forces of Mephisto and Thanos, in an attempt to stop their genocidal plans.

Marvel Zombies

In the Marvel Zombies comics set in the universe of Earth-2149 the zombified Alpha Flight attack the X-men and are eventually killed by Magneto. Puck is pictured in the foreground of a large panel depicting Alpha Flight attacking the X-Men and Puck is apparently attacking Nightcrawler. Puck is destroyed moments later by Magneto.

Puck (Zuzha Yu)

Puck
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Alpha Flight v3 #1 (2004)
Created by	Scott Lobdell
In-story information
Alter ego	Zuzha Yu
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Alpha Flight
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, agility, coordination, endurance Ability to redirect kinetic energy Skilled fighter

In 2004, Marvel began a new Alpha Flight series which featured a female character named Puck. The series was cancelled due to poor sales before any significant background was established for the new Puck. The character, whose real name was Zuzha Yu, was a mutant who worked at a bar near McGill University in Montreal and was supposedly the daughter of the original Puck. She agreed to join the reformed Alpha Flight after losing an arm-wrestling match with Walter Langkowski, alias Sasquatch.

Zuzha named herself Puck after the character in William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' with the same name.

She was one of the members of Alpha Flight killed by The Collective.

Powers and abilities

Zuzha had superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, agility, coordination, endurance, and could redirect kinetic energy.

She was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.

Name

• John Byrne has stated that Judd is named after a hockey puck. However, during Mantlo's run writing Alpha Flight, he confirmed that the character chose the name because of the Shakespearean character.
• Zuzha is named after the Shakespearean character.

External links

• Spotlight on Puck I at UncannyX-Men.net
• AlphaFlight.net - Alphanex Entry on Puck I
• AlphaFlight.net - Alphanex Entry on Puck II