Clash (Marvel)
Clash is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Clayton Cole was a male human born in the modern age where he was the son of Evan Cole. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2) As a young boy, he came to be homeschooled by his mother. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1) At one point, he attended a computer camp where he mostly kept to himself leading to the other kids calling him Creepy Clayton. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.1)
He attended a wrestling match between Crusher Hogan and a contender in a mask who was much smaller than his opponent. Clayton was shocked to see Crusher lose and recorded the entire fight on his phone with him being the only one to do so which he uploaded the footage onto his Utube channel that got over 3 million hits. Afterwards, he learnt that the new champion was being referred to as Spider-Man and went to attend the next match. Whilst waiting in line, he saw someone break into the building but he did not want to lose his space in the queue and thus did not confront the burglar. After Spider-Man won the match, Cole was among the crowd around him and he asked the masked wrestler for his first autograph which was when he was surprised to hear that his voice showed him to be a boy of Clayton's age. This convinced Cole that he could similarly accomplish such a life as Spider-Man through the use of technology with him fashioning his own costume and equipment. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1) This led to him forging the identity where he looked to make his own debut as a hero and at first looked to confront the Vulture. However, he was distracted after hearing about Spider-Man going to the Baxter Building to meet the Fantastic Four. Cole attempted to get the Wall-Crawler's attention but Spider-Man failed to notice Clash. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2)
Thirteen years later, Clayton was released on parole, and began secretly working for super villains as a henchmen including the Owl. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man v1 #2) Clash's latest employer was the Kree named Doctor Minerva. When Spider-Man was aided in battle Ms. Marvel and discovered that she has an Inhuman baby that she took from Doctor Minerva, Clash turned against Doctor Minerva and her henchmen. Upon recognizing him and seeing that he has gone straight, Spider-Man offered Clash a job at Parker Industries which he accepted. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #8) Clayton Cole's work at Parker Industries involved Spider-Man's globetrotting adventures like helping out against Zodiac to the infiltration of Ghost. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man V1 #3)
Afterwards, the Inhuman Ulysses Cain had a vision where Clayton Cole becomes Clash again and attacks Spider-Man. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man V1 #1) Clayton Cole later meets Sully back when he used to work for Owl and can't talk to him long without violating his parole. Later on, Clayton's parents have become displeased that their son is working as an "office drone" while his father wants Peter Parker to help with their retirement. While showing his latest project for the NYPD to Peter Parker, Clayton is told that he should talk to him if he has any problems. Upon hearing Ulysses' vision of him when he arrives in Peter Parker's office, Clayton resigns from Parker Industries. At Moynihan's Social Club, Clayton tells Sully and another person on how companies like Roxxon Energy Corporation are destroying the planet. Afterwards, Clayton meets Mendel Stromm who makes a reference to how Norman Osborn stole his work and left him poor. After providing Clayton with the number for the Tinkerer, Mendel gives Clayton a day to consider helping him in his revenge on Harry Osborn. After calling Tinkerer who makes him an updated version of his Clash suit, Clayton calls up Mendel Stromm. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man v1 #2) In his new suit, Clash arrives at Mendel Stromm's apartment where he finds Mendel Stromm in his Robot Master appearance and his robots. Robot Master then compliments Clash's outfit and claims that Spider-Man won't know what hit him. When Clash attacks Robot Master stating that he will look out for himself, Robot Master unleashes his robots on Clash even when Spider-Man arrives. Spider-Man manages to web Robot Master in the air with foam web. When Spider-Man was talking Clash into getting back to the civilized life, Robot Master rises and attacks them. While Clash flies away, Spider-Man defeats Robot Master by ripping his remote control mechanics from within his robot body, deactivating his robot army. When Clayton states that he was trying to protect Parker Industries from Mendel Stromm, Spider-Man stated that he caused harm with his technology, caused millions of dollars worth of damages, and violated his parole. Though Peter Parker did talk to Clayton's parole officer where he stated that Clayton acted in self-defense and that Clayton will have to give up on working on sonic technology. Though Clayton did not seem to agree with Spider-Man's proposal to discontinue his work on his sonic technology which leads to Ulysses' vision coming true. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Manv1 #3) After battling Spider-Man on the streets, Clash escapes and returns to the Moynihan's Social Club where he decides to become a crime boss. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4)
After the collapse of Parker Industries, Clayton was angry at Peter Parker for selling the company and the technology Cole had created. As such, he assembled a team of henchmen for attacking the Baxter Building in order to recover his technology. They broke into the building when Spider-Man and the Human Torch got into a fight over the sale of the Baxter Building. The pair later battled Clash along with his henchmen where a self-recharging power source was activated that threatened to destroy the entire block. As a result, Spider-Man, Human Torch and Clash had to work together to stop the device from detonating. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #790)
Whilst at his hide out, he received a communication from Spider-Man who asked for his help to protect his loved ones from the Red Goblin. Though reluctant, he agreed to do so with Spider-Man offering that his friends would aid him as he was sent to watch over Harry Osborn along with his family. He arrived at the scene to see that Norman Osborn had arrived and intending to kidnap them. Clayton was prepared to leave as he could not fight the supervillain alone but the Human Torch arrived with the pair combining their attack. However, this did not affect the supervillain who effortlessly defeated the pair and Clash was left bleeding on the ground though he was healed by Agent Anti-Venom. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799)
In the aftermath, Clayton grew tired of being disappointed by people and not being given a chance to redeem himself by superheroes. Thus, he decided to fully embrace the life of a supervillain and even embark in a career as a terrorist. This saw him targeting an international gathering of delegates who he took hostage where he intended to money, arms and secrets from them in order to impress the Ten Rings organization. His activities drew the attention of Ironheart who managed to defeat him leading to Cole being arrested where he passed on a medallion of the Ten Rings to the superhero. (Ironheart v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After being inspired by Spider-Man, he came to craft a costume for himself and chose to operate under the name Clash. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.1) Clayton came to refer to the title of the Spectacular Sultan of Sound for his masked persona. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2)
As a teenager, he wanted his name to be a household name with him wanting to be become more famous than Tony Stark, Richard Feynman and Jagger. Cole intended to become the first billionaire/physicist/rockstar. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1)
As a young man, he became a fan of Spider-Man and was the first person to take footage of him as a wrestler along with getting his first autograph that he kept framed in his room. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1) This came to inspire him to become a masked costume figure as well in order to meet with Spider-Man. However, after one encounter, he became disenchanted with the Wall-Crawler and came to see him as a fake hero who as only concerned about money. He came to believe that Spider-Man never cared about him despite Cole being a devoted fan at first. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2) Clayton believed that he was responsible for making Spider-Man famous as he was the one that took his first video that he posted online. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.3) According to Max Shiffman, Clayton was the first person to get Spider-Man's autograph. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1)
Despite his criminal acts, Clash did not see himself as a bad guy and wanted to stop disasters from occurring. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #790)
Clayton Cole was the son of Evan Cole with this father having encouraged him as a young boy to attend the science fair. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2)
At Parker Industries, he dated an administrative assistant named Donna whose son Tyler was fond of Clayton. (Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man v1 #2)
Powers and abilities
He was noted for being a smart person who was a star athlete, chess champion, and spelling bee champion. Cole did not attribute this as being hard and he achieved it with hard work and endless hours of home schooling. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1)
Clayton was responsible for crafting a specialised suit for him to operate. It had the ability to tap into the police band allowing him to hear their communications. Sonic-blast boots were able to generate sound waves that he could use to hop and manoeuvre. These could also be generated by his hands allowing him to better control his movements when jumping through the air. Clash could also vary the settings of his sonic blasts where it could direct enough force to send a person crashing into a wall. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2) Alternatively, he could create a cushion of sound in front of him to protect him from physical strikes. Clash was able to record sounds a person made in a fight, weaponise it and send it back at his opponent as part of a sonic attack. For his purposes, Clayton came to record all his sound files on a drive which he could play out in the field to help charge his suits sonic abilities. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.3)
Clash could also generate null and harmonic frequencies from his devices. He could muffle the sounds he created allowing him to sneak away from the scene. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #790)
Among his creations included:
- Sonic Pulse Generator : a machine Cole created that could augment and redirect sound that helped keep it aloft in the air. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.2)
- Sonic Transducer : a device that converted sound into other types of energy. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #790)
He had the means to create a null-sound pocket over a localised area that blocked any sound from going out.
At one point, he had a gang consisting of his henchmen for robberies where he referred to them as Vox Populi (Latin: Voice of the People). (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #25)
Notes
- Clayton Cole was created by Dan Slott and Ramon Perez where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1 (June, 2014) and debuted as Clash in Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1.1 (July, 2014).
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Clayton Cole appeared in the setting of the 2017 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Yuri Lowenthal. He was shown as a young genius student inventor who worked alongside his best friend Herman Schultz with the pair working on sound and shock technology. After the creation of the Osborn Academy, both applied but Norman Osborn stated he only wanted one of the two rather than have them enter as a pair. This caused the two to erupt in a fight with them using their respective equipment against one another. The battle damaged part of the Oscorp building and went into the streets with Spider-Man attempting to stop them. During the fight, the pair were attacked by he Jackal who stole their technology but the villain was defeated by Spider-Man. Cole and Schultz ended up becoming friends again with no charges pressed against them though Norman Osborn decided to admit Herman into the academy with Clayton being left disappointed.
Video games
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Clash appeared in the setting of the video game tie-in where he was voiced by an uncredited actor. This incarnation was a street thug who is a friend of Herman Shultz that can be found in an alley along with a group of other street thugs. He has a special dialogue with Spider-Man in the game and he tells him how to find Schultz and get information about Dennis Carradine.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v3: (2014)
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Ironheart v1:
External Links
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