Boomerang (Frederick "Fred" Myers) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #81 (July 1966). Frederick Myers is a character of Australian origin. He is a former superstar baseball pitcher who became a supervillain under the codename of Boomerang. He also took the mantle of Outback as a career criminal.
Fred Myers was a recurring antagonist of the superhero Peter Parker / Spider-Man. He has been a member of the Sinister Six, the Sinister Twelve, and the Thunderbolts, at various points in his history. The character also created his own team called the Boomerang Revenge Squad. The supervillain later evolved to become an occasional ally of Spider-Man.
Publication history
1960s
Frederick Myers debuted in Tales to Astonish #81 (July 1966), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. He appeared in the 1975 Iron Fist series. He appeared in the 1997 Thunderbolts series.
2010s
Frederick Myers appeared in the 2010 Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot series. He later appeared in the 2013 Superior Spider-Man series. He later appeared in the 2013 The Superior Foes of Spider-Man series. He appeared in the 2018 Amazing Spider-Man series. He appeared in the 2019 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man series.
2020s
Frederick Myers appeared in the 2021 Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom one-shot. He later appeared in the 2021 Sinister War series.
Fictional character biography
Fred Myers was born in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, and was raised in the United States. As a young boy he developed a love for baseball, and spent years training and perfecting his pitching arm. By the time he was a young adult, Fred had realized his dream of pitching for a major league team. However, he foolishly began accepting bribes and was drummed out of the major leagues after being discovered. Shortly thereafter, Myers was contacted by the Secret Empire, an international criminal organization that saw the potential of his skills. Myers agreed and was given a new costume and an arsenal of deadly boomerangs, from which he derived his new code name. He battled the Hulk after taking Betty Ross hostage to get plans, but the Hulk rescued Betty. Boomerang fell off a cliff, seemingly to his death.
After the Secret Empire collapsed, Boomerang returned to his native Australia and laid low for a few years, perfecting his deadly aim and making modifications to his weapons. Once he was ready, he returned to America and began offering his services as a freelance assassin-for-hire. His first mission was to assassinate Iron Fist, though he was defeated. He was next hired as part of a large group of superhuman criminals employed by Libra to battle the Defenders. He was hired by Viper to participate in a plot against S.H.I.E.L.D., and battled Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Shang-Chi, and the Black Widow. Boomerang next sought to kill Spider-Man in order to impress the Kingpin of Crime and thus gain employment, but he was defeated by the wall-crawler and apprehended by the police. He was seen next helping the Punisher escape from prison. Boomerang was eventually released from prison. He was hired by Max Stryker to coerce Bruce Banner into using an experimental cancer cure that uses gamma rays on Stryker, but wound up battling the Hulk, Banner's alter ego, instead.
Boomerang was then recruited by Jack O'Lantern into the Sinister Syndicate. As part of that team, he battled Spider-Man, Silver Sable, and the Sandman. Then, he was hired by Louis Baxter III to attack a yacht, and again battled Spider-Man. He then battled Hawkeye at the instigation of a disguised Loki. Next, he teamed with Blacklash and Blizzard II to help Iron Man battle the Ghost. He was then employed by Justin Hammer, and battled Cardiac and Spider-Man. With the Sinister Syndicate again, he participated in a crime spree. During these events, Boomerang vied with Speed Demon for Leila Davis's affections. Boomerang was among several of the hired killers who responded to an open bounty on Matt Murdock that was put out by Samuel Silke as part of an elaborate plan to usurp the Kingpin's empire. After defeating Shotgun, Daredevil detects Myers on an adjacent rooftop. Boomerang in hand, Myers hesitates when he realizes Daredevil has discovered him, and then runs away. Daredevil follows him, beats him, and threatens him when he finds the picture of Matt Murdock in Myers' pocket. Myers subsequently tried to sue Murdock for $1,000,000 over the beating.