Mandrill

One of Marvel’s more bizarre villains, Mandrill has tormented a wide variety of heroes and heroines. Born with ape-like features, Jerome Beecham was cast out by his parents to die. But instead he survived -- and also learned he emits natural pheromones that enslave women to his will. 

Mandrill was first introduced in 1973 as a villain for the jungle-based Shanna the She-Devil. While credit must be spread between plotter Caroline Seuling, writer Steve Gerber, and artist Ross Andru, personally I believe Gerber’s affection for truly weird characters had a lot to do with his creation.

In his first few appearances Mandrill was presented a serious geo-political terrorist with vast political ambitions. He first staged a coup in several (fictitious) African countries, with the goal of creating a safe haven for outcasts like himself. Then, alongside his fellow mutant and childhood friend Nekra, he brought his war to America, and even actually succeeded in taking over the White House! Though finally ousted by the combined efforts of Shanna, Daredevil and Black Widow, for a few brief moments, Mandrill was for all practical purposes the acting United States President.

The moment of Mandrill's greatest triumph!

These encounters with superheroes must have prompted Mandrill to rethink his game plan, because when he resurfaced again (in a terrific 1980-81 Defenders arc written by Ed Hannigan), he used his powers to enslave female superhumans, including Hellcat and Valkyrie, and put them in charge of his all-female Fem-Force army with the goal of seizing a nuclear power plant. The Defenders thwarted his plans, and to make matters worse, he actually ends up being shot by his own mother!

That must have been the final blow to his confidence, because ever since then Mandrill has been used mostly as comedic relief. From overthrowing governments and leading armies in the 1970s-1980s, the Mandrill of the 1990s-2010s has the mentality of a small-time thug, working for other criminals like Crossfire and the Hood. Rather than bombastic swagger and megalomania, he is now more inclined to calm introspection.

Nowadays Mandrill walks a fine line between the comedic and the sinister. 

This is one of those cases. 

During this period of villain decay, Mandrill has been defeated almost effortlessly by many heroes, nearly killed by Grim Reaper, humiliated by Emma Frost, put in a zoo by Alyosha Kraven, and had his eye punched out by the Punisher. (Fortunately it seems he has a strong healing factor among his powers, though this has never been officially confirmed.) Only very rarely do we see flashes of the terrifying villain he is capable of being.

For me Mandrill was one of the most fun figurines to create so far, as his hybrid simian-human body makes him very distinctive among Marvel villains. For a base, the DC Creeper figurine was perfect, but I didn’t like the awkward way his left arm extends backwards, so I reconfigured it to make both arms aggressively reach forward. His cape is lifted from the DC Raven figurine.

His face was sculpted from scratch; I tried to make it very fearsome and ape-like. Getting sharp little teeth in there was quite difficult, so I did the best I could. His costume was originally a kind of fur coat and combat gear, but since his first Defenders appearance in 1980 it has remained unchanged: a silky, loose-fitting, light blue shirt and underpants with a billowing red cape and a dramatic, standup collar. I chose to use a deep yellow for his belt, but later I realized that in the comics it's probably supposed to be gold. I also tried to create a furry texture with the paint on his legs.

One interesting decision I had to make was whether to make his cheek-folds red and his nose blue, or the opposite, with blue cheeks and a red nose. He appears both ways in the comics (see the various images above). Real mandrills have a red nose with blue cheeks, and the cover art I chose shows him this way too, so that’s how I decided to paint him. Finally I glued him onto an Eaglemoss base.

For the Eaglemoss-style cover design, I used artwork by Jon Burin from X-Men: To Serve and Protect #1 (January 2011). The Mandrill logotype appears in Defenders (vol. 1) #89 and #90 (Nov-Dec 1980).

* ESSENTIAL READING *

1. Shanna the She-Devil #4 (Jun 1973). Mandrill recruits Shanna to help him seize control of several African countries, but to his surprise, she is able to resist his control and defeat him.

2. Defenders #90 (Dec 1980). Mandrill enslaves Hellcat and the powerful Valkyrie and turns them against their teammates, in his effort to take over a nuclear plant.

3. X-Men: To Serve and Protect #1 (Jan 2011). Mandrill's most entertaining modern story finds him trying to take control of a spa full of rich, beautiful women, unaware that one of them is Emma Frost.

If we've learned anything today, let it be this.

Next up: Nothing is deadlier than... Nightshade!