Boomerang Released From Prison!

Thinking about the worst thing about being a super-villain and the first thing that comes to Boomerang’s mind is the Punisher. Unlike other vigilantes, the Punisher kills villains. However, he concludes the worst thing about being a villain is all of the meetings.

Case in point, Boomerang is heading a meeting with his Sinister Six and they are voting on if the bathroom in their hideout should remain uni-sex. That’s when they start talking about how confusing it is to call themselves the Sinister Six when they only have five members.[1] Boomerang tries to justify it, pointing out that having a sixth member would require them to take less of a cut from their crimes. He also says that it ads an air of mystery because people will wonder who their sixth member, saying it could be anyone. Speed Demon takes offense when Beetle calls this stupid. When Shocker suggests they call themselves the Sinister Syndicate, this is dismissed by both Boomerang and Speed Demon, who call that team a bunch of losers, even though they were both founding members.[2]

The other thing that Boomerang hates is dealing with lawyers. Shortly after his meeting with the Sinister Six he meets with his lawyer, Steven Partridge. Fred is furious that Partridge was off on vacation in Cancun instead of securing his bail when he was arrested. Steven promises to make good on this mistake promising he can work out a deal to ensure that Fred only gets a slap on the wrist. However, he warns Fred to stay out of trouble until then.

Boomerang dismisses this because crime is how he earns money and a guy’s got to eat. Soon after his making a deal with a fancy restaurant that was failing as a business. They would rob the more successful business across the street in exchange for whatever they want from out of the kitchen pantry. While Boomerang terrorizes the chef, the rest of the Sinister Six enjoys a high class meal they otherwise couldn’t afford. With Overdrive on lookout, Speed Demon tries to convince the Beetle to do a sex tape with him, it doesn’t go very well. When Shocker goes to check on Overdrive he spots his teammate fleeing the scene in a van. This is because the Punisher has arrived prompting everyone to flee.

When Boomerang comes out of the kitchen he is drunk on wine and doesn’t appreciate the gravity of the situation when the Punisher approaches him. The Punisher tells him he likes to hear his final words and challenges Myers to say something he hasn’t heard before. Pulling off his mask, Fred pleads with the Punisher, saying he doesn’t want to die with a boomerang on his head. As it turns out, this isn’t really the Punisher but the Chameleon who had decided to play a prank. However, the matter is serious and after smacking Fred with the butt of his gun and reminds Fred that he still owes him a job and here he is doing a heist behind his back. He warns Myers to stop fooling around and hand over what he promised, the head of Silvermane.[3]

Boomerang jumps ahead of the story, deciding to save that story for later. After his encounter with the Chameleon, he meets up with the Sinister Six and convinces them that he survived an encounter with the Punisher because the vigilante’s weapon jammed. He then tells them that his “brush with death” made him realize that he let them all down. He uses this sympathy to convince them that they are destined for bigger and better things and suggests that they go looking for the head of Silvermane. The other members of the team think this is a myth but Myers insists that it is real. They all agree to look for it, even the Shocker who is binge drinking and upset about something. Little does Fred realize is that the Shocker witnessed the his conversation with the Chameleon.

The following day, Fred is attending his parole board hearing with a hang over and a fresh black eye. Steve Partridge assures him that this will be a cinch, but Myers wants to get it over with. Addressing the parole board, Fred pulls a speech out of his ass touching on everything from a troubled childhood to an absent father he manages to bullshit himself out of real trouble. The parole board decides to overlook his recent violations and assign him a new parole officer. It turns out to be Mach-VII, who used to work with Boomerang before he reformed and became a hero.[4] This causes Fred to openly vomit.

Recurring Characters

Sinister Six (Boomerang, Beetle, Overdrive, Speed Demon, Shocker), Chameleon, Mach-VII, Steve Partridge, the Punisher

Continuity Notes

1. The Shocker states here that he misses the Living Brain, who was the sixth member of this iteration of the Sinister Six when they first banded together in Superior Spider-Man #1. Spider-Man captured the robot and has since been using it as his assistant.

2. Speed Demon and Boomerang were both founding members of the Sinister Syndicate in Amazing Spider-Man #280.

3. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #618-620, Silvermane seemingly perished in a trash compactor during a battle between the Maggia and the Owl’s gang. It turns out that Silvermane’s head did survive and we’ll see it next issue.

4. Abner Jenkins started his career as the original Beetle back in Strange Tales #123. He was also a founding member of the Sinister Syndicate and worked with Boomerang in the past. Eventually, the Beetle joined the Thunderbolts as Mach-I in Thunderbolts #1. This group comprised of members of the Masters of Evil who were pretending to be heroes. Despite their original motivations, Abne’s reformation became legitimate after posing as a hero for a time.

Topical References

• Speed Demon refers to the Affordable Care Act as “Obamacare”. This should be considered topical because Obama has been out of office since 2017. Although it is still colloquially refered to as Obamacare by some, this is quickly becoming a dated reference.

• Boomerang is depicted drinking a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The vintage is identified as 2006 and priced at $450 a bottle. This is topical for a number of reasons. Willamette Valley is a real world winery and the vintage and the price reflect the year this comic was originally published.