History
Joe Smith was a regular citizen who wanted to be a professional fighter, but after failing in both boxing and wrestling realized he could not last in the ring. Even though he was ridiculed by the other fighters, Joe befriended his manager Tommy Tomkins, who procured Joe a job as a movie extra.[2]
During a scene, an arc light fell into a puddle of chemicals Joe was standing in, shocking Joe and temporarily giving him super strength. The shock also caused Joe to develop a temporary aggressive personality, and he attempted to take out his frustrations with society on those around him. Spider-Man happened to arrive and fought with Joe, and after a period of time Joe lost his aggression and powers. After the fight, it was publicly announced that Joe's manager was able to get him a larger role in a weekly television series.[2]
In reality, instead of getting a large movie star role, Joe was signed on as the star to a low-budget science fiction film titled "The Alien and the Ozone", directed by Cecil Vigarro. Joe's acting skills were still poor, but the filming of this movie was interrupted when the supervillain Mysterio appeared, who had built his lair in the same abandoned movie studio where the crew was filming. When Mysterio took to the air on a giant, flying, mechanical sphinx, Joe grabbed onto the bottom of the sphinx and tried to stop Mysterio by punching him. Joe was cast off of the sphinx but saved from the fall by Spider-Man. When Mysterio landed the sphinx, Joe entered inside of it and found Mysterio's ex-romantic interest, Betsy Schneider. The two immediately fell in love at first sight, and when the two of them heard that Mysterio was going to blow up the entire sphinx, Joe figured out how to stop the detonation by unplugging the control source.[3]
Sometime later in Joe's Hollywood career, he starred as a character named "The Crimson Bat" and began a romance with Liz, the show's script-writer. The two were eventually married and the show was canceled. Liz gave birth to a son, Joe Jr, who had birth defects, and as a result of the shock the couple divorced. Joe Jr. died from his birth condition, setting Joe off again only to be helped by the superhero Captain America. As a result of the experience with his son, Joe worked at a children's center to help similar kids.[4]Attributes
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Powers
- Superhuman Strength: Joe gained and lost his incredible strength numerous times through his career. While his powers are active Joe possesses Class 10 superhuman strength[1] that enables him to easily overpower opponents like Captain America and perform incredible leaps.[4]
- Superhuman Durability: Joe also possesses incredible resistance to damage[1] and can jump off tall buildings and land with no damage.[4]
Abilities
Weaknesses
See Also
- 9 appearance(s) of Joseph Smith (Earth-616)
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Joseph Smith (Earth-616)
- 5 image(s) of Joseph Smith (Earth-616)