Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)

Ashcan
Name	Alexander Woolcot
Current Alias	Ashcan
Affiliation and Relationships
Relatives	Fritz Woolcot (father, deceased); Evelyn Woolcot (mother); Dylan Pattinson (adoptive father)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′2″ (1.57 m)
Weight	105 lbs (47.63 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Strawberry Blond
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Energy-altered human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	New York City
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Student
Education	Junior high school
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Peter David, Mark Beachum
First	Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #112 (December, 1985)
First	Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #112 (December, 1985)

History

Alexander Woolcot is the son of a research scientist, Fritz Woolcot, who would regularly beat him, especially if Alex interrupted his experiments. One of Alex's teachers saw bruises on the boy and threatened to report Alex's father to the authorities, but Alex's father threatened to claim that the teacher had been abusing Alex. One day, Alex felt himself drawn to one of his father's machines, and put his hand into some glowing energy that was emanating from it, which gave him a shock and exploded, much to Fritz's anger.

Alex's teacher showed up with a reporter, Joy Mercado, from the Daily Bugle to expose Fritz's abuse. Fritz struck the teacher, and the stress caused energy to build up inside Alex after his accident. The energy build-up was sensed by the hero Spider-Man, who tried to intervene, only to find the tingle suddenly vanished.

Later, Alex's father tried to beat him, but the energy build-up within Alex was released and he disintegrated his father, leaving only a pile of ash. Distraught, Alex fled his home for the streets of New York. On the streets, a pedophile tried to abduct Alex, but fled when Alex blew up a car and an electricity generator with his power, causing a blackout.

When a pair of police officers approached him, Alex exploded their car, and the cops reported a mutant attack, drawing the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Worried about him, Alex's teacher contacted the Daily Bugle, hoping that its photographer Peter Parker could contact Spider-Man (not knowing that Parker himself was actually Spider-Man). Spider-Man found Alex, who attacked him using his powers attracting the attention of a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mandroid who tried to capture Alex, but were opposed by Spider-Man and Alex. They beat the Mandroids, but Alex was subsequently gunned down by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and seemingly killed.

However, Alex was actually shot with tranquilizers and taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D., who placed him in protective care in Colorado, with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent posing as his father. Alex's mental health was in a precarious state, and he came to believe the agent was his real father. The situation was changed, however, when a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Clay Quartermain broke in to the house to use the agent's computer to track some gamma bombs. Quartermain and his allies Bruce Banner and Rick Jones overpowered the agent posing as Alex's father, but when they surprised Alex, he blasted Banner with his power, causing him great pain despite the fact he was in his super-strong Hulk form at the time. The Hulk was enraged, but calmed towards Alex when he found out about his abusive father, a situation Banner empathized with. Then, Alex realized the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent wasn't his real father. After their brief heart-to-heart, Hulk returned Alex to his adoptive father, who swore to care for him.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Energy Discharge: Alex can produce blasts of energy from his hands.

Matter Disintegration: Alex can disintegrate most forms of matter with these energy bolts. His bolts are easily able to completely disintegrate a normal human being, and proved capable of even causing severe pain to the superhumanly strong and durable Hulk when he was blasted with one.

Trivia

• The issue in which Alex seemingly died, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #118, had one page cut by editor Jim Owsley, a page in which it would've been revealed Alex survived. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man writer Peter David decided to bring back Alex and got to explain how did he survive two years later, in Incredible Hulk #339

See Also

• 7 appearance(s) of Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)
• 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)
• 1 quotation(s) by or about Alexander Woolcot (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Alexander Woolcot on Marvel.com
• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/ashcanaw.htm
• All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1