Spider-Tracer: Rock You Like a… Cyclone?

You learn something new everyday, Spidey fans! So, apparently, hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are basically all the same thing; the term used for a tropical storm system with winds over 74 mph all depends on the geographic location of said storm. According to the World Health Organization, Cyclones take place in the south Pacific and Indian Oceans, just in case you were curious. Don’t say I never taught you anything, gang! 

And, before you ask, no, we won’t be going over the nuances of hurricanes and typhoons. Why, you ask? Because this month we’ll covering the Spider-Man villain known as, you guessed it… Cyclone! 

You’re probably guessing, based on all that cyclone information I provided to you, that Cyclone must certainly come from a region near one of the aforementioned oceans, and… you’d be wrong. He’s French! Why the moniker of Cyclone then? I… really don’t know. Perhaps he just liked the fact that it was composed of less letters and syllables than the word hurricane! I’ll let you decide, dear reader. 

 

 

Debuting in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #143 (and showing up in the following issue, as it was a two-parter), it’s revealed to us that Cyclone’s real name is Andre Gerard, a former NATO scientist. Gerard created a weapon capable of delivering powerful force winds, but NATO wasn’t interested, as they received their more unconventional weaponry from the United States. 

As is the case with most of these disgruntled scientists in the Marvel Universe, he decided to use his weapon, which he incorporated into a suit, to become a supervillain! 

 

As some of you may recall, a few years ago, I did an article detailing some of the worst things J. Jonah Jameson had done over the years. One of those things included hiring the second Mysterio, Daniel Berkhart, to go after Spider-Man. After his defeat, Berkhart threatened to tell the cops about Jameson’s involvement, and Jameson soon fled to France until things cooled off. However, I doubt being kidnapped by Cyclone was what Jameson had in mind! Cyclone hoped to ransom JJJ back to the Daily Bugle for a million dollars. Joe Robertson was to deliver the money in stocks to Cyclone for Jameson’s safe return. 

 

Spider-Man intervened, but was easily defeated by Cyclone, who then escaped with Joe Robertson in tow! Peter Parker was then instructed to take the million dollars to a designated location for both Jameson and Robertson. Sure, he’s a jerk, but at least Cyclone was nice enough to sweeten the demand with a 2-for-1 deal; you can’t beat that, right?

Unfortunately for Cyclone, Peter Parker wasn’t grateful for the deal, nor is he a very good listener, and instead of showing up with the ransom money, Spider-Man showed up again!

 

 

Thankfully, Spider-Man learned from his initial battle with the windy supervillain, and set up a fan that, when turned on, countered Cyclone’s winds, which sent the villain flying into a wall. Ouch. Not the most glorious of ways to be defeated, is it? Just ask Sandman about getting beaten by a vacuum cleaner (although that was later said to have been on purpose; whether you believe that or not is up to you!). 

Cyclone was later freed from prison by the Maggia to work for them, and under the Masked Marauder, to be precise. With his weaponized costume returned to him, the villain was dispatched after receiving a call for help from a Maggia gang member on the run. Soon, Cyclone arrived on the scene to encounter the heroes giving the gangster trouble: Spider-Man and Moon Knight!

 

 

 

Cyclone, not being a very forgiving sort, sought to finish off Spidey and his newfound lunar ally! Believing the heroes dead in the initial encounter (silly Cyclone…), Cyclone used his powers to drain the air from the gangster’s lungs, killing him for violating the Masked Marauder’s rule about not calling by phone. That’ll sure teach him, I guess. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t probably the coolest thing Cyclone ever used his powers for. Why he never attempted to use this trick on Spider-Man before or after this, is beyond me. 

With both heroes alive, Moon Knight decided to call in a little help from Stark Industries before the two heroes headed to Grant’s Tomb, where the Maggia was holding a meeting. The closed confines of Grant’s Tomb were less than ideal for Cyclone to use his powers, but that didn’t stop him from using them anyway. As a result, he only succeeded in taking out fellow members of the Maggia. 

Having been waiting for Cyclone to use his powers, Moon Knight pulled out a pill he’d received from Stark Industries earlier and tossed it into the villain’s vortex. The pill released a gas that significantly dropped the temperature around Cyclone, and, as a result, he was sent flying into… another wall. At this point, I’m beginning to see that Cyclone has more in common with Wile. E. Coyote than a Marvel supervillain. 

As was the case with Mirage (remember him from one of my earlier articles?), Cyclone was later murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld in “Captain America” #319. 

 

A proto-husk (this was after “The Clone Saga”, and the word “Clone” was a bit of a dirty word at Marvel at the time) of Cyclone was created by Arnim Zola, along with ol’ Mirage, in “Deadpool” #0, but these were murdered easily by the Merc with a Mouth. 

 

Later still, Cyclone was returned to life (along with Mirage, and other victims of the Scourge of the Underworld, because… why ruin tradition?) in the pages of “The Punisher” Volume 7, #5.  After an initial battle with the gun-toting vigilante, Cyclone later had his throat cut by the Punisher and was left to die in a burning building.

 

 

This being comics, and given that Cyclone has returned to life in some form or another over the years (even showing me the body won’t necessarily convince me at this point), it’s entirely possible that he might just return someday. 

It’s worth noting that a second Cyclone, Gregory Stevens later appeared and worked for Justin Hammer (he first appeared in “Marvel Comics Presents” #97), but he hasn’t been seen in quite a while. 

 

And finally, a version of Cyclone also appeared in “Spider-Man: Far from Home” as a monstrous illusion of Mysterio. 

 

What sayeth you, Spidey fans? Would you like to see Cyclone return to menace Spidey again for the first time in over 40 years? Let me know in the comments section below!