Vermin is one disturbing, screwed up dude.
Vermin is a genetically twisted guy that hangs around in sewers and eats things. “Things” in this instance being people or animals or whatever he comes across. Vermin doesn’t care. People probably taste better, but nobody is going to be accusing Vermin of having a particularly discerning palate.
Raise your hands if you think we don’t have enough cannibals in Marvel Legends!
When the Jackal figure came out a while ago most people thought that parts of him could be used for either a Beast or a Vermin. While we’ve since been shown the error in our ways concerning Beast, there is still time on the docket for Vermin to show up. Truthfully, between the two, the Jackal body is more suited to a Vermin than anyone else, to the degree where I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up yet. I hope the ML team isn’t averse to the character.
Vermin’s first appearance was in Captain America #272. His guilt-free cannibalistic actions were so abhorrent that they even caused Mr. Calm and Steady himself to lose it an almost bash his brains in, before pulling himself back from the brink of ratmanicide. I got that issue off the rack in 1982 and didn’t know at the time that it was Vermin’s first appearance. He felt like a character that had been around a long time before, but in hindsight it makes sense that it was the first time he showed up. Rats ain’t right anyway, and this comic was f***ed up in all the right ways. “Captain America as horror comic” isn’t something that you expect, but there it is.
Vermin would show up quite a bit afterwards, mainly dwelling in the sewers and being completely disturbing. He was similar to a lot of villains like Lizard where he was a human who had been mutated into something grotesque and monstrous, except much more of a inhuman freak than the Lizard ever was, less a supervillain than a monster. Vermin had a tragic backstory—abusve father which created this split-personality which was very Hulk-like in its beginnings—but the result was a rat-controlling face eater.
He made a particularly disturbing appearance in the Kraven’s Last Hunt storyline, where his previous human intelligence had dwindled down to phrases like licklicklick and so forth. Yeah, Marvel’s version of New York is an awesome place to live with guys like this just under the street.
Vermin actually hasn’t been devoid of figures. Back at the very end of the five-inch times Vermin was a single-carded figure in their “Dark Side” line. I don’t remember ever seeing him. This was one year before Spider-Man Classics would come along and reinvigorate Marvel toys in a new scale with far more articulation, so Vermin’s time in the spotlight was fleeting.
The Jackal body is almost there. The torso, arms and hands would work. He’d need newly sculpted torn pants, but he could keep the same feet. He’d also need a new head. The bonus would be that if these parts were made for Vermin, they could be reused for an updated Werewolf by Night figure. I’m surprised the previous Werewolf by Night figure wasn’t repurposed into a Vermin figure. I wouldn’t mind if WbN was made first and then Vermin came later. I’m in the market for both. All we need is those ripped pants and the figures are practically done.
He says optimistically.
Reagardless of who comes first, Vermin is one of those characters that really needs to get a place in an upcoming Spider-Man wave at some point. With some specific reuse and a few new parts he’d be a unique character to add to the collection.
Unique and disturbing.
