 | |
| The Orb | |
| Aliases: | Orb The Orb |
| Continuity: | Marvel Universe |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Type: | Criminal |
| Occupation: | Motorcycle stunt performer |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Human |
| Associations: | Orb's gang |
| Status: | Formerly deceased |
| First: | Marvel Team-Up #15 |
Drake Shannon is a fictional motorcycle stunt rider turned professional criminal featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is known by his super-villain code-name, The Orb. He is part of the mainstream Marvel Universe and is associated with the Ghost Rider line of comic titles. He first appeared in the "If an Eye Offend The..." story from Marvel Team-Up #15 in November, 1973.
Biography[]
This guy looks like 25-yards of bad road, which is actually what caused him to look like this!
Drake Shannon was a motorcycle stunt rider and the partner of Craig "Crash" Simpson. Together, they founded their own motorcycle stunt show. Both men had different attitudes towards their craft however, and Simpson found Shannon to be reckless and "a menace on wheels". Before long, the two men realized that they could no longer work together. They decided to settle their differences with a cross-country race; the winner would retain ownership of the stunt show. During the race, Shannon tried to hedge his advantage by knocking Simpson's cycle off the road. Instead, he ended up crashing his own bike and went skidding across asphalt for twenty-five yards - on his face. The incident left him horribly disfigured. [1]
Two decades later, Drake Shannon embarked upon a scheme to take back what he felt he was owed - the Simpson Motorcycle Stunt Show. He came into contact with a weapons dealer and armorer named Sunset Bain, who outfitted him with a helmet designed to look like a giant eye-ball. The helmet was capable of generating a laser blast, and could also be used to hypnotize people. With that, Drake Shannon became a costumed criminal calling himself The Orb. He began gathering various henchmen, all of whom were proficient motorcycle riders. [1]
The Orb monologues to Roxanne Simpson.
The Orb and his gang raided a motorcycle stunt show at Madison Square Garden starring Johnny Blaze. One of the security guards tried to draw his gun, but the Orb hypnotized him into holstering his weapon. He then turned his hypnotic eye upon the audience, forcing them to maintain rapt attention upon the actions of he and his cronies as he faced off against Johnny Blaze's alter ego, the Ghost Rider. Speeding along on his own cycle, the Orb kidnapped Johnny Blaze's partner, Roxanne Simpson. To cover his escape, he had the mesmerized audience members walk out into the performance area, forcing the Ghost Rider to skid to a halt to avoid hitting any innocents. The Orb then began speaking through the hypnotized spectators, offering forth an ultimatum. He would free Roxanne Simpson in exchange for ownership of the motorcycle stunt show that bore Johnny Blaze's name.
The Orb's gang.
One of the spectators from the show was Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, who was unaffected by The Orb's hypnotic trance. Spider-Man teamed up with Ghost Rider to go after Shannon. They chased him through an abandoned power plant and an underground subway track until finally facing off with him at Grand Central Station. The Orb was racing with Roxanne on his bike, but a blast of Hellfire from Ghost Rider dislodged his grasp, enabling Spider-Man to safely snag her with his webbing. The Ghost Rider continued his pursuit, but as The Orb ventured underground, he sped right into the path of an oncoming train. The Ghost Rider tried to save him, but there was nothing he could do. He veered off as Drake's bike was demolished by the train. It had appeared at first that The Orb had perished, but Drake Shannon miraculously survived. [1]
The Orb and his criminal gang hijacked an armored truck. He used his laser-eye to blow a hole through the side. While his men collected all of the money, he then hypnotized the guards into forgetting everything that had happened. The Orb then went to his tech-supplier, Madam Menace. Madam Menace upgraded his laser-eye components, and he field tested its capabilities on some android facsimiles of Ghost Rider. [2]
Nothing surprises The Orb!
The Orb later sent his men to rob the Quentin Carnival so as to bait the real Johnny Blaze into a trap. Ralph Quentin alerts Johnny to the robbery, and Blaze took off after them in his cycle. When he came upon The Orb, the villain blasted a hole into the ground, sending Blaze tumbling into it. [2]
Blaze transformed into the Ghost Rider and emerged, but the Orb was ready for him. He fired tiny eye-missiles at him that caused the Rider searing pain, but the Ghost Rider managed to shrug them off. He then unleashed Hellfire, defeating the Orb and his men. Rather than kill the Orb however, the Ghost Rider decided to let him live. He destroyed his motorcycle then mockingly told him that it was twenty miles until the next town. [2]
Abilities[]
Powers[]
- None: Drake Shannon is by all accounts a normal human being with no superhuman abilities to speak of.
Skills[]
- Motorcycle riding: Drake Shannon is proficient a motorcycle riding and performing related stunt work.
Weaknesses[]
- Disfigurement: Due to the accident that occurred during his race with Crash Simpson, Drake Shannon's face is horribly disfigured. He is truly butt-ugly.
Equipment[]
- Laser gun: Madam Menace outfitted The Orb with a good ole fashioned laser gun. His original laser gun was melted by the Ghost Rider's Hellfire however.
- Mini-missiles: The Orb later began using eye-shaped mini-missiles that could cause extreme pain to even a supernatural target upon impact.
- Orb helmet
- Energy projection: The helmet emits an energy blast from its optical center.
- Hypnosis: The helmet gives Drake Shannon the ability to hypnotize multiple people at once, forcing them to obey his commands.
Associations[]
- Orb's gang - Founder
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Drake Shannon was created by writer Len Wein and artists Don Perlin and Ross Andru.