Gibbon is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
Created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., the Gibbon first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #110 (July 1972). The character subsequently appears in Amazing Spider-Man #111, The Spectacular Spider-Man #59-#60 (October–November 1981), #245-246 (April–May 1997), #252-253 (December 1997-January 1998), #256 (June 1998), She-Hulk #6 (May 2006), Punisher War Journal #4 (April 2007), #16 (April 2008), and Marvel Apes #1-4 (September–October 2008). The Gibbon received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4 (2006)
Fictional character biography
Martin Blank
Martin Blank is a man who was seemingly born a mutant with an ape-like build and agility. Gibbon later joins a circus where he does well as an acrobat. Martin Blank begins his career as a friend of Spider-Man's while wearing a gibbon suit. He even wants to be his partner, but Spider-Man laughs at him. Sick of being seen as a freak, Martin cannot take further ridicule and lashes out. He then catches the eye of Kraven the Hunter, who enhances the Gibbon's powers with a herb broth, also giving him a great animal rage. Gibbon was defeated by Spider-Man.
Gibbon was one of the inmates at Ryker's Island. Gibbon sought revenge on Spider-Man, trying to prove himself as good as his foe. He is caught in the middle of a fight with Spider-Man and Beetle. Eventually, Gibbon helps Spider-Man by punching out the Beetle. Gibbon later joins up with other has-beens: Kangaroo, Grizzly, and Spot to form the Legion of Losers.
This team falls apart when Spider-Man carted Spot and Kangaroo to jail for bank robbery. He and Grizzly would later attempt to go hero, helping Spider-Man thwart a bank robbery by White Rabbit and eventually getting an action figure deal.
The Gibbon has been shown as retaining his physical mutation following M-Day, but showed no sign of his former mutant abilities.
Gibbon is seen as a client for the law offices that employ She-Hulk. He steals her tuna melt lunch out of the fridge.
Following the "Civil War" storyline, the Gibbon is a self-confessed loser at the wake of Stilt-Man that is held at the Bar With No Name. Almost all of the supervillains at the wake are the victims of murder/attempted murder. Disguised as a barman, Punisher poisons drinks and then blows up the bar. It is later mentioned that "they all had to get their stomachs pumped and be treated for third-degree burns".
Martin is being considered as a "potential recruit" for the Initiative program.
Martin, nearly hairless, has spent his time since the bar attack plotting vengeance on the Punisher against the wishes of Martin's wife Princess Python (who was apparently blinded in the explosion). When Martin finds the Punisher, however, he decides his revenge is not worth throwing away his life, and hands his gun over to the Punisher, returning home.
Gibbon returns as the lead character in the Marvel Apes storyline.The Gibbon wasn’t the perfect choice just because he’s a mainstream Marvel character who can easily "pass" in an ape-filled monkeyverse, but because he’s such a lovable loser. Nothing ever goes right for him—he never gets a break, the girl, or the glory—and suddenly he finds the fate of an entire universe in his hands. In some ways, Marvel Apes is a sprawling epic like Lord of the Rings, and the Gibbon is our Frodo— one small person dwarfed by the overwhelming forces that stand between him and his goal. He even has his own Samwise— a spunky gal-scientist (human) named Fiona Fitzhugh who literally gets sucked into this adventure along with him.