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Eliot Franklin

Eliot Franklin

192 appearances Β· Bronze Age Β· 1975–2025 Β· 7 key issues
Who is Eliot Franklin?

Eliot Franklin is a brilliant physicist who turned to crime, eventually gaining superhuman strength and durability through mystical Asgardian energy accidentally transferred via the Wrecker's crowbar. He became Thunderball, a founding member of the Wrecker's villainous Wrecking Crew.

Eliot Franklin made his Marvel debut in The Defenders #19 in 1975, stepping onto the Bronze Age stage with the kind of creative pedigree β€” Chris Claremont, Len Wein, and Sal Buscema among his debut's architects β€” that signals a character built to last. And last he has: with 119 catalog appearances stretching across five decades to 2025, Franklin is no footnote. He keeps genuinely dangerous company, sharing pages with the likes of Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer, and their associated hard-hitting crew, and his fingerprints are all over landmark Marvel events, from the original Secret Wars to Dark Reign: The Hood. With seven key-issue appearances to his name, collectors and fans digging into Marvel's street-level and villain-side history will find Eliot Franklin a rewarding figure worth tracking down.

Identity

Real name. Eliot Augustus Franklin

Teams & affiliations
Wrecking CrewCircus of CrimeAsgardian GodsAvengers
β˜… First appearance
The Defenders #17
Nov 1974

Trivia

  • Jim Shooter has written more of Eliot Franklin's comics than any other writer in our catalog β€” 25 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years β€” 1975–2022

The Defenders #19 β˜… 1975
The Defenders #19
Thor #304 1981
Thor #304
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12 β˜… 1983
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12
Fantastic Four #335 1989
Fantastic Four #335
Thor #418 1990
Thor #418
Venom: Deathtrap: The Vault #[nn] 1993
Venom: Deathtrap: The Vault #[nn]
Thunderbolts #1 β˜… 1997
Thunderbolts #1
Thor #28 2000
Thor #28
She-Hulk #5 2004
She-Hulk #5
Daredevil #103 2008
Daredevil #103
Captain America: No Escape #[nn] β˜… 2011
Captain America: No Escape #[nn]
Wolverines #1 2015
Wolverines #1
Black Panther #167 2018
Black Panther #167
Black Panther #4 2022
Black Panther #4

Appearances (151–192 of 192, oldest first)

Power Man and Iron Fist (2016)
#1
Captain America: Sam Wilson (2016)
#2
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016)
#8
Civil War II: Kingpin (2016)
Jean Grey (2017)
#1
Secret Warriors (2017)
#1
Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection (2017)
#2
Secret Empire (2017)
Black Panther (2016)
Avengers Epic Collection (2013)
#21
Invincible Iron Man (2017)
Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man / Giant-Man (2006)
#3
Captain America (2019)
#2
Luke Cage Omnibus (2021)
Marvel Legendary Collection (2022)
#35
She-Hulk Epic Collection (2022)
#3
The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus (2007)
Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man (2021)
#3
Marvel Super Stories (2023)
#1
Luke Cage Epic Collection (2020)
#2
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars Facsimile Edition (2024)
Wolverine Epic Collection (2014)
#14
Superior Spider-Man (2024)
The Thing: The King of Yancy Street (2025)
Venom: Original Sin (2025)
#1
The Thing (2025)
#1
La chose - Le roi de Yancy-Street (2025)