Rag Doll (Peter Merkel Jr.)
| Rag Doll | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Villains United #1 (July 2005) |
| Created by | Gail Simone (writer) Dale Eaglesham (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Peter Merkel Jr. |
| Team affiliations | Secret Six |
| Abilities |
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Rag Doll (Peter Merkel Jr.) is a supervillain and anti-hero in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Villains United #1 (July 2005), and was created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham. He is a member of the Secret Six and the son of the original Rag Doll, Peter Merkel.
Fictional character biography
Peter Merkel Jr. is the son of Peter Merkel, the original Rag Doll.[1] However, he does not inherit his father's abilities, and instead has cybernetic implants to replicate them.[2] A member of the Secret Six, an antiheroic team, Rag Doll has a strange relationship with a Parademon who refers to him as "Clown". It considers itself Rag Doll's guard-dog, threatening to hurt or kill anyone who threatens him.[3] The Parademon is killed while protecting the Secret Six during a battle with the Secret Society of Super Villains.[4]
The Six, with new members Jeannette and Bane, are hired to retrieve a card that supposedly gets its owner out of Hell free. They are attacked by many supervillains who want the card, most acting under orders from Junior, a mysterious mob boss who controls the West Coast. In a confrontation, it is revealed that Junior is Rag Doll's sister Alex.[5]
After Bane declares himself the new leader of the Six and fires Scandal, the sixth member becomes Black Alice, a Goth teen with the power to copy the abilities of other magic users. After Alice infiltrates a cult and is uncovered, Rag Doll saves her life and she begins a flirtation with him, much to Bane's chagrin.[6] After Catman's son is targeted for murder, all of the pre-existing team members leave the Six to help him, leaving Bane and Jeanette to create a temporary Six until the others return.[7]
Rag Doll later accompanies the rest of the Secret Six when they go to Oolong Island to defeat the Doom Patrol and take over the island. He nearly kills Negative Man, but is defeated after being attacked by a seagull. Rag Doll captures Bumblebee, but she is rescued by Elasti-Girl.[8]
It is later revealed that the Get Out Of Hell Free card that the Six had obtained was stolen from Scandal's safe, and Scandal correctly deduced the only one capable of stealing it was Rag Doll. When Scandal confronts and almost kills him, Rag Doll reveals to her he stole the card hoping to use it to resurrect the Parademon, saying that Scandal's choice to use it for Knockout was misled and selfish. He then uses the card to transport himself to Hell and set an ambush as his teammates were sure to follow.[9] He explains that due to his emerging protectiveness of Black Alice, he had fled partly because of his fear of finally gaining a measure of sanity. He discovered after arriving that, due to being born without a soul, he was prophesied to rule in Hell, commanding a legion of demons. After the Six decide to fight for Knockout rather than becoming lords of the Underworld at Rag Doll's side, Blaze herself intervenes. After Rag Doll decides that Scandal's love is more important than his friendship with the Parademon, the team departs with Knockout in tow.
Following Bane's decisions to retake Gotham, starting by eliminating several of Batman's closest allies, they are betrayed by the Penguin who was forcibly recruited due to his knowledge of Gotham's inner workings. A small army of superheroes arrive at the warehouse the Six are operating out of, and when given the choice to surrender they immediately fall to infighting. Rag Doll is the only one to understand that they have to stand together because they deserve each other. Deciding to go down fighting, they all ingest Venom, which Bane as a recovered user still carries. After a short but brutal battle in which they injure or knock out multiple heroes, the entire Secret Six is taken down with brutal force.
The New 52
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Peter Merkel Jr. first appears as an inmate of Arkham Asylum.[10] He is later hired to "kill" Barbara Gordon's roommate Alysia Yeoh and her friends, under the pretense that they are eco-terrorists. Operating as Rag Doll, he pursues Alysia, but Batgirl stops him and beats him. During the confrontation, Rag Doll realizes that the whole situation is a set-up and he reveals that he did not kill anyone. Later, he confronts and kills his employer for lying to him.[11]
Powers and abilities
Through a series of surgeries, Rag Doll had his biological joints replaced with artificial ones. These joints allow him to bend, compress, and contort in ways even master contortionists cannot. Rag Doll requires a special emollient to keep his artificial joints from tearing through his skin. He often wields a knife and is an adequate hand-to-hand fighter.
Other versions
An alternate universe variant of Rag Doll appears in the Flashpoint tie-in Deadman and the Flying Graysons. This version works at Haly's Circus before being killed in an Amazon attack.[12]
In other media
Rag Doll makes a non-speaking appearance in the Harley Quinn episode "Icons Only" as an entertainer at Las Vegas.
References
- ^ Villains United #1 (July 2005)
- ^ Villains United #3 (September 2005)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 2) #1 (July 2006)
- ^ Villains United #6 (December 2005)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 2) #5 (December 2006)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 3) #16 (February 2010)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 3) #20 (June 2010)
- ^ Doom Patrol (vol. 5) #19 (April 2011)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 3) #31 (May 2011)
- ^ Resurrection Man (vol. 2) #6 (April 2012)
- ^ Batgirl (vol. 4) #31 (July 2014)
- ^ Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1 (August 2011)