The Sportsmen were foes of Alec Swan, also known as Firearm. They first appeared in Firearm #1, from Malibu Comics.
Contents
Origin and Motivations
The Sportsmen are a group of wealthy superpowered Ultras. At birth or puberty, they all developed superpowers and the instinct to keep them a secret. These powers assist them in rising to the top at school and in the business world. Eventually, they all become leaders in various industries, all based on the West Coast. Through their work, they came into contact and began informal meetings. They pooled money to purchase a 'small' forest retreat.
The group come to believe they are evolved, far better than the 'common breed' of humanity. They begin kidnapping military men, for the enjoyment of the hunt. They choose overweight men, for the Sportsment are cannibals, who 'like a little fat with our meat'.
As the leader of the Sportsmen, Davenport, says, according to Shaw, "Every impulse we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us...the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." Later, Davenport learns from Alec Swan that it was really Oscar Wilde who said this.
Hunting Alec Swan
While investigating the disappearance of Arnie Tate, Swan battles Marley, one of the Sportsmen. Eventually he kills him. Swan is captured anyway and taken to the Sportsmen's estate. All but two of the surviving Sportsmen are there, the missing are away on business. He learns that Arnie 'was delicious' and that he will become the next victim of the hunt. Swan protests, saying that he is not overweight, but this is taken care of via Tate's overweight fiancé, Claire Brody. She will also be the guarantee of Alec providing sport. They promise that she will be let free if Alec puts up a fight.
Swan is sent out into the woods, with signs literally pointing the way to a firearm, but not -his- firearm, which is currently being kept in the Sportsmen's trophy room. Andre, a close friend of Marley, is the first to pursue. Alec swiftly kills him. Several other Sportsmen soon die.
Swan then attempts to escape by stealing a car, which the Sportsmen had rigged to explode. Swan escaped at the last moment.
Defeat
The Sportsmen, thinking Swan dead, prepared to feast on Claire Brody. Swan, meanwhile, infilatrates their citadel and saves Claire. He ambushes the Sportsmen at their dinner table. Taken by surprise, Swan was able to battle them on equal footing. Swan is attacked by the Sportsmen's staff members and kills them all. In the end, only Edwin Mosley, a member who had wings growing out of his back which allowed him to fly, escaped Swan, distracted and attracted by a mysterious light in the sky. Davenport met his end at Swan's hands.