Abner Jenkins

Abner Jenkins was a bored mechanic who stumbled upon an alien beetle carapace and reverse-engineered it into a suit of armored wings and pincers, becoming the original Beetle — a small-time criminal who repeatedly clashed with Spider-Man and the Human Torch.

Few characters in Marvel history have logged as remarkable a journey as Abner Jenkins, who first crashed onto the Silver Age scene in The Amazing Spider-Man #21 back in 1965, conjured by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Over six decades — from the swinging sixties straight through to 2025 — he's accumulated 157 catalog appearances and a dozen key issues that collectors genuinely prize, a testament to a character who has refused to be forgotten. He's most at home in the pages of Thunderbolts and The Avengers, where he keeps electrifying company alongside the likes of Spider-Man, Melissa Gold, Songbird, and Karla Sofen. If you want a character whose Marvel history reads like a master class in reinvention and longevity, Abner Jenkins is absolutely worth your time.