When self-taught engineer and career criminal Herman Schultz wanted an edge over his competition, he created powerful vibro-shock gauntlets and a protective suit to go with his new alias, the Shocker. Despite being one of Spider-Man‘s least powerful recurring villains, Shocker is a successful heister in the Marvel Universe, but over in the Ultimate Universe he was one of the most successful running gags in comics.
First appearing in Ultimate Spider-Man #8, this version of the Shocker was introduced attempting to raid a money transport. Rather than the padded suit Shocker wears in the mainstream Marvel Universe, he sported a purple trench coat, protective goggles and a pair of powerful vibro-shock gauntlets – a weapon which prompts Peter to ask whether this new villain goes by “The Vibrator.” It was a minor altercation for Spider-Man, but it set the tone for all of Shocker’s future appearances.
Shocker later reappeared in Ultimate Spider-Man #35 where his attempted bank robbery and standstill with the police was stopped by Spidey wearing the Venom symbiote. Peter not only remembered Herman but also shrugged off the effects of his shock gauntlets thanks to his new costume before knocking him unconscious with a single kick. His next two appearances in Ultimate Spider-Man #67 and Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1 saw Herman up to his old tricks but had Spider-Man receive assistance from other Marvel heroes. The first had Herman knocked out by Wolverine – who had switched bodies with Spider-Man – and the second had Herman’s robbery interrupt a first date between Peter and X-Man Kitty Pryde, who was able to short out Shocker’s weapons with little effort. In Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2, during his latest defeat of the Shocker, Peter inquires why he isn’t in jail, and a crying Herman is dropped off with the police after a lawyer explains to Spider-Man that he can’t just leave criminals to be found. In Ultimate Spider Man #112, Shocker is being chased by the police after pulling off another robbery but he and his accomplice are defeated and captured yet again.
It isn’t until Ultimate Spider-Man #122 that the Shocker is able to accomplish his first victory against Spider-Man. Hiding a vibro-shock unit in his belt buckle, Shocker is able to incapacitate and kidnap Peter. Taking him to an abandoned warehouse to torture, Herman reveals that he was once an MIT graduate who worked at Roxxon Industries designing weapons. He decided to get what he deserved after being fired by a company who had cheated him out of his work and earnings. The once-genius inventor lets his rage get the best of him and Peter is able to get free and knock him out yet again, but it’s only now – after more than 120 issues – that he finally sees the Shocker as a flawed, injured human rather than a joke.
It’s a brilliant long-term move on the part of writer Brian Michael Bendis, who until this point only used Shocker‘s appearances as comic beats in larger stories. Having taught the audience to see Herman as a harmless joke, the villain is given both incredible humanity and a genuinely vicious edge by this single issue, which engages with the themes of adulthood, corruption, and optimism that characterized Bendis’ long run on Ultimate Spider-Man.
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