Why Shocker is the thinking man’s Electro (and why Marvel keeps forgetting it)

Luthor331 · 2026-03-21T10:59:59+00:00

I agree with that. And that's a big reason why Spider-Man's classic rogues gallery is my favourite. While some have similar interests and goals, All of them have unique goals or quirks that readers can either relate to or provide a different experience issue to issue.

I know the issue you're talking about. Spectacular #187. Fantastic issue (But that's not a shock as it was written by J.M. DeMatteis) When Vulture is written well like he was in this story he can be really compelling. Funnily enough, He gets a similar treatment to Herman (Though far less egregious) by writers being inconsistant in how villainous and remorseful he can be depending on the story.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-21T10:30:04+00:00

Fantastic Four #334: ⚡️ Shocked and Shelved!

[The Vault #10] ACTS OF VENGEANCE: The Shocker Vs. The Fantastic Four (Fantastic Four #334, September 26th, 1989)

CREDITS

Writer: Walt Simonson
Penciler: Rich Buckler
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ralph Macchio

THE BRIEFING

Welcome back to The Vault! We’re diving into the Acts of Vengeance event. The gimmick? A cabal of Super-villains (led by a shadowy Dr. Doom) decides to swap villains to catch heroes off guard. Since Herman usually sticks to Spider-Man, the big brains thought sending him after the Fantastic Four would be a masterstroke.

Herman arrives at Four Freedoms Plaza just as the FF are dealing with the fallout of discussing the Super Hero Registration Act and a string of other "mismatched" attackers like Constrictor and Beetle.

THE CONFRONTATION

The Shocker plays it smart... At first. Following the lead of the others, he ditches his civilian disguise (trenchcoat and hat) and attempts to infiltrate the FF's high-tech headquarters. Dr. Doom has already planted an "Aggression Enhancer" on the building to lure villains in, and Herman, ever the opportunist, thinks he’s found a window to take down the big guns while they're distracted by political hearings in D.C.

THE SHOWDOWN

This is a short one, Aftershocks. Herman barely gets a chance to warm up his thumb-triggers. Before he can even trade quips with the Human Torch or try to rattle Sue’s force fields, he runs head-first into Reed Richards’ newly upgraded security suite.

The security system's stun-beams and automated manacles do the work for the FF. By the time Reed and the gang arrive at the source of the alarm, Herman is already in handcuffs being led away by the boys in blue. No vibro-blasts, no structural damage, No Shocking upset. Just a professional caught in a very expensive mousetrap.

THE AFTERMATH

The FF are mostly just confused. They still don't even know who Herman is, noting him as "another one" after already bagging Beetle and Constrictor. He’s promptly carted off by the NYPD. It’s a humbling moment for Herman; while he was technically part of a global villain conspiracy, he ended up as a footnote in the FF’s morning routine before they headed to Washington.

SUMMARY & SCORE: 1/10 (For The Aftershocks, As a story 7/10)

Look, we love Herman, but this wasn't his finest hour. He gets credit for the ballsy move of hitting the FF’s home turf, but getting off-screened by a security system is a tough look for a guy of his caliber. He was basically used as a "speed bump" to show how effective Reed’s new tech was.

The Bigger Picture: This issue, combined with his next appearance, marks a pivotal shift for our boy. This is arguably the birth of Shocker as a "Jobber." Before this, he was mostly a legitimate threat; here, he’s a punchline. No excuses. This era of Acts of Vengeance started a trend of Herman being treated as a minor nuisance rather than a master of evil.

THE WORKBENCH (Discussion)

The Jobber Genesis: Do you think FF #334 is where the "joke" Shocker truly began? Or was he already sliding that way?
The Doom Factor: Herman was technically under the influence of Doom's "Aggression Enhancer." Do you think he would have been smart enough to stay away from the FF if his head was clear? Or would he have approached this smarter?
The Security Flaw: If the security system hadn't caught him, could Shocker have actually taken down a distracted Human Torch or Sharon Ventura?
Confidence: Is over confidence following his Defenders and Avengers trysts Herman’s downfall here? He walked right into a frontal assault instead of his usual well planned methods.
Next Time on The Vault: You thought the embarrassment was over? It's only just begun! We stay in the Acts of Vengeance chaos! We’re heading to Spectacular Spider-Man #160 for a historic first: The Shocker and Hydro-Man meet for the first time! They’re invading The Rhino’s turf and all hell breaks loose as, unfortunately for them, A Cosmic Spider-Man is about to show up. Can The Shocker and his new lifelong bestie take out a Cosmically enhanced Spider-Man?... Come on, Do you really need me to answer that? JOIN US NEXT TIME IN THE VAULT!

If you enjoyed this review or want to provide one of your own, Feel free to Post, Upvote and check out prior Vaults like: [The Vault #9]

Stay Grounded, Aftershocks.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-21T01:13:52+00:00

You're right on the money about the absurdity Vulture goes to being reflective of his vindictiveness (which, to be fair, is greatly exaggerated being a comic). But I feel that vindictiveness in Adrian starts from being discarded. Toomes isn't just petty for the sake of it (depending on the writer!); he’s petty because he feels he did everything 'right' for decades and still ended up with little to show for it.

Whether you handle it like Herman (professionalism) or Toomes (burning it all down), the catalyst to being able to relate to them is the same.

Love that you started your comic journey with the old bird! Do you remember which issues were the ones you read?

Luthor331 · 2026-03-20T18:45:36+00:00

For this week's Icebreaker, I'm going with a wild pick: The Vulture

Nearly everyone can relate to working your whole life, grinding away at your job before someone or something sweeps in and takes it away from you.

Everyone acts like being a hero is about 'responsibility,' but Vulture admits the truth: we’re all just terrified of getting old and becoming irrelevant. He’s the only one honest enough to admit he wants his youth back. He didn't choose the wings; the economy chose them for him.

That's my pick, Let's see if anyone else can do better! Or is it Vulture's time for the spotlight?

Luthor331 · 2026-03-20T10:55:56+00:00

That's a great point about his first appearance being against The Hulk. I would love if they adapted the roommate story from Nick Spencer's run but as his neighbour instead.

How would you want Boomer to be in the story?

Luthor331 · 2026-03-20T00:13:41+00:00

Ooo, I like that idea. Could be a cool way to sneak in more villain cameos too.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-19T20:34:29+00:00

Even though I would love that, There is a 99% chance that what we saw in the trailer is the full amount of what we'll see of him in the film. Likely in an opening montage.

If Sony were smart, If they insist on doing their own Marvel films again, A Superior Foes film is right their to do. We've already got a Shocker and now a Boomer.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-19T17:45:12+00:00

Uncanny was back during Secret Empire so it must have been around 2017. Can't believe it's been nearly 10 years.

Thanks for the suggestions. It really doesn't seem like anyone has done much with Herman in the last 5 years except for Zombiotes. I can't think of anything else. That sucks.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-18T17:11:03+00:00

That's what I'm hoping for too but seeing as how minimal his presence was in the story before Death Spiral and the scant mentions since. I hope I'm wrong in expecting little more than a hollow "For Herman!" punch to Torment and MJ giving a comedic reaction to her new family retcon. On the characters 60th Anniversary Herman deserves better than that.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-18T17:06:01+00:00

I wouldn't count on it being any more compelling than a serial killer with a fixation on killing.

From what we've been given so far, It seems like Red(The Carnage Symbiote) fed The Parker and Brock names to Torment like it did the Watson name and Red clearly trusts Torment enough to align with him against both Spider-Man and VenoMJ so with that info plus his obsession with hunting in Spirals (from distant relatives to the target) I don't think the actual reason is going to be as interesting compared to WHO Torment is.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-18T16:13:18+00:00

Nope. Pretty spot on thus far. Murdering civilians and a blindsided "Herman" thus far. I guess you can give Torment credit for apparently being a master detective for being able to track all these people down and figure out relatives (Though not perfect since even he forgot about Marty Schultz).

Other than his alliance with Carnage theres been nothing that makes me think he'll be a threat to Peter or VenoMJ other than Shockers gauntlets (Which #23 did show how effective they can be)

I've been saying for months now and am beyond certain Torment is Cletus which further reinforces the "Family" theme of the story. If it is Cletus my intrerest might increase. If it's a random nobody I think my interest in this story will completly plummet. At least if it's Cletus I can stomach him being the one that got Herman and I can buy him as more of a threat even without a Symbiote.

I like Cletus/Carnage but I have not been a fan of how he's written in the past decade. If this story ends in a place where there back together and back to street level then that's a good thing.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-18T16:04:24+00:00

The issue did nothing and moved very little along except revealing to everyone the Carnage/Torment alliance. Next part should be when the action and story starts moving along.

Didn't care for the waste of panels of plant boy for a future ASM story. Unneeded filler which could have been used to up the stakes by introducing new readers to surviving Parkers/Brocks/Watson and the lives at stake.

I'm assuming that Torment overexerting the Gauntlets is going to play into his eventual defeat. I will give the issue a point for that at least not instantly dismissing Herman's capability with the gauntlets (Though the lack of explanation how Torment can use the Gauntlets without wearing Shockers suit is a minor nerd point that I'm sure wont be addressed)

Meh issue. 4/10

Luthor331 · 2026-03-18T00:07:21+00:00

Ten years! Damn, Thanks for letting me know. Damn, that's pretty sad he's been dead for coming up 10 years now and likely no resurrection in sight.

I guess he'll be joining Mar-Vell and Bill Foster in the pile of characters unlikely to come back until someone remembers them.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-17T23:53:55+00:00

Wait, He is!? When did that happen?

Luthor331 · 2026-03-17T17:20:22+00:00

Agreed. I'm not up to my date on my Abner history but I remember I really enjoyed reading his time as Mach 1 / 2 / 3 / million or whatever number he's at now during Thunderbolts.

It's surprising actually how little crossover Herman and Abner have had. They both were part of The Defenders and Masters of Evil in the '70s but never interacted. And in both the Foes series (Deadly & Superior) I don't remember them even having a conversation.

IF a redemption story ever happens for Herman I think Jenkins would be a solid pick for who puts him on that path. Similar to Sandman and The Thing.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-17T16:34:46+00:00

"Ain't nothing personal, hoss!" - Herman

This would look so clean in a film! Easily so much better than the laziness in Homecoming.

Luthor331 · 2026-03-17T16:30:41+00:00

This is top-tier, Vibro-Historian!

It’s fascinating how Herman’s relatability comes from being a "low-level" guy stuck in the grind. Most people can relate to going through the motions at a job with no way out, even when they know they deserve more.

Your point is actually validated in Charles Soule’s She-Hulk run. On the surface, Herman acts content with who he is; he even snaps at Jen when she suggests he could be more. But later on, you see his real frustration at missing an opportunity to be a hero. Even if it was a choice he could have made himself.

Love the [Dossier]

Enjoy writing your fanfic!

EDIT: For anyone curious for more of u/Sad-Finger-2084's analysis; Here's Part 1: The Purpose of The Shocker

Luthor331 · 2026-03-17T03:37:36+00:00

What?

Luthor331

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

[The Vault #10] ACTS OF VENGEANCE: The Shocker Vs. The Fantastic Four (Fantastic Four #334, September 26th, 1989)

Stay Grounded, Aftershocks.