Hi there, I will be posting each week about a different comic book character that the public might not know about, including facts and trivia that even the most diehard fans might not know. So without further ado.

 

PENANCE

Name: Robert “Robbie” Baldwin.
Imprint: Marvel Comics.

Former Alias: Speedball.
Group Affiliations: Thunderbolts (formerly New Warriors prior to Civil War.)

Powers & Abilities: He could absorb energy from his surroundings, such as kinetic activity, electricity, even the transnormal radiation signatures of other super-beings, such as She-Hulk. This energy was then harnessed as kinetic release, causing explosive force to radiate from his body, firing lance-beams of pure force from his hands, or even allowing him to fly. Penance initially required physical pain in order to activate his powers.

Bio: Penance came into existence right around the start of Civil War, when he was another hero going by the name Speedball. He was a member of a no-name superhero team called the New Warriors who were part of a reality television show. During one of their “missions”, the villain Nitro caused an explosion that not only killed the entire New Warriors team minus Speedball, but single handedly started the superhero Civil War fiasco. He was found over 500 miles away from the blast site, his Speedball powers being the only thing keeping him alive and thus burning out as a result. After determining his powers were evolving into something more than just kinetic energy fields, he registered with the United States government as a registered hero under the alias Penance, and ordered a new suit of armor that featured 612 internal spikes that caused him constant pain, symbolic of the 612 deaths he felt responsible for. While only sixty of these spikes actually broke his skin, the spikes are symbolic of the children that died in Nitro’s explosion. He joined the newest incarnation of the Thunderbolts shortly after. After the Civil War ended, he found that his old Speedball powers seemed to be returning, and decided to become Speedball once again.

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