Partnership Tombstone | Alter ego Janice Lincoln Partnerships Tombstone | |
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Created by Ed BrubakerJackson Butch Guice Similar Tombstone, Beetle, Abner Jenkins, Boomerang, Speed Demon | ||
Janice Lincoln (also known as the Beetle) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is the daughter of Tombstone.
Contents
Publication history
Janice Lincoln first appeared as the new Beetle in Captain America #607 (August, 2010), and was created by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Jackson Butch Guice.
Beetle features as one of the main characters in Superior Foes of Spider-Man where her real name is revealed.
Fictional character biography
Janice Lincoln is the daughter of the super powered mobster Tombstone. Janice's mother was an ex-girlfriend of Tombstone during his early days in organized crime. Janice grew with a semi regular life with Tombstone showing up sporadically, usually to help out with bills and schooling. Janice idolized her father and his criminal activities, but was forbidden to take part in them. After building a successful career as a defense attorney, she was appointed to defend Baron Zemo, at which point she volunteered to work for him as the new Beetle. Janice's armor is also revealed to have been built by the Fixer. Baron Helmut Zemo and the Fixer provided Janice with the Beetle armor and a nano-virus as part of their plan to destroy the new Captain America. The new female Beetle is seen at the end of Captain America #606. She emerges from the rubble of an explosion she causes to confront Captain America (Bucky) and Black Widow. The new Beetle fights Bucky and Black Widow in a short battle and is defeated. Bucky unmasks her, and realizes she is culpable in using the nano-virus on him. She is imprisoned in The Raft, where she reveals that she knows Captain America and Bucky are one and the same. While Janice resists Bucky and the Widow's attempts to interrogate her for the identity of her employer, the Fixer asks Zemo whether they should punish her for her failure. Zemo is merciful, saying that she knows no information that would hurt them. Janice is left to her own devices, and the heroes still manage to piece together Zemo's identity. However, Zemo still exposes Captain America's true identity to the general public.
As part of the Marvel NOW! event, she is now a member of Boomerang's Sinister Six. After being defeated by Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Peter Parker's body), Boomerang is secretly contracted by the Chameleon to recover the head of former Maggia leader Silvermane from the Owl. To this end, Boomerang deceives the team into agreeing to help him. However, after the original Beetle, the reformed Abe Jenkins, is assigned to be Boomerang's parole officer, the team vote him out and Janice as their new team leader. Speed Demon's vote is motivated by his unrequited attraction for her. The others note that the Beetle becomes more despotic as team leader, but attribute this as a reaction to the pressure to succeed and avoid incarceration. Boomerang secretly notifies Power Man and Iron Fist of the Sinister Six's whereabouts. Janice and her teammates are arrested, but Boomerang frees them in transit to jail and reclaims his leadership role. In this appearance, her first name is revealed to be Janice.
After assaulting the Owl's base the Beetle, Overdrive and Speed Demon were captured by the villain and interrogated. The Beetle tried to blackmail the Owl into releasing them while covertly dialing for back-up. Unimpressed the Owl got ready to execute her when reinforcements arrived in the form of Tombstone, where it is later revealed that she is his daughter.
Janice appears at Stark Industries after the events of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, claiming to have reformed, and applying for the open Head of Security position alongside Prodigy, Victor Mancha, and Scott Lang. After seducing Iron Man, Janice tries to assassinate him at the behest of an unidentified client, but she is disarmed by Lang, and pursued and presumably apprehended by Iron Man. Weeks later, Janice appears in Miami, where she and a despondent Lang have a drunken tryst as the world is destroyed by the Incursions heralding the Secret Wars.
Powers and abilities
The Beetle suit grants superhuman strength and durability, allows the wearer to fly and stick to walls. Janice's armor seems to be loosely based on the armor designed by the Tinkerer for Abe Jenkins after his original Beetle armor was destroyed by Iron Man. However, the Zemo/Fixer costume does not seem to have the electro-byte offensive capability or the internal battle computer of Jenkins' suit. In her initial appearance, she uses military-grade weaponry to ambush Bucky and the Black Widow.
In other media
Janice Lincoln is featured as a boss in Spec Ops 31 of Marvel: Avengers Alliance.