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Attributes

Height: 5' 10"

Weight: 160 lbs

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Features: None

Summary

Created By: Len Wein, Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia

Real Name: Robert Farrell

Current Aliases: None

Former Aliases: Robert Johnson (in ASM #183)

Dual Identity: Not generally known

Current Occupation: Mercenary

Former Occupation: Air Force Janitor

Citizenship: U.S.

Legal Status: No current criminal record

Place of Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Marital Status: Single.

Known Relatives: Mother, six siblings.

Known Confidants: Family, Spider-Man

Known Allies: Spider-Man, Silver Sable, Prowler, Sandman, Puma, Will O' The Wisp

Major Enemies: Spider-Man, Big Wheel, Skinhead, Bounty Hunter

Usual Bases: None

Former Bases: None

Current Groups: Silver Sable's Wild Pack (at times)

Former Groups: Outlaws

Education: Currently a College Student

Powers & Paraphenalia

Strength Level: Medium-sized adult in peak physical fitness

Powers: No innate super-powers

Abilities: A very high natural talent for technologically creative tasks.

Equipment: Jet-powered skateboard with gyroscopic stabilisers. Magnetic boots keep him well-glued to the board, which doesn't seem to have too much trouble sticking to vertical and even inverted surfaces. The board is remote controlled via the Rocket Racer's head-set.

Weapons: Rocket Racers gloves are each capable of firing up to four micro-rockets simultanously for a hard-to-dodge barrage of high-impact mini-explosions. The gloves also provide him with a rocket-powered punch which packs quite a whallop.

Limitations: Rocket Racer seems to lack the ability to make long-term plans. His energies are poorly directed, and his lack of education or business sense keep him from the success which his various other talents could have provided him.

Background

A closer examination, however, makes Robert Farrell seem less of a cut-and-dried villian. His early talent for science and technology seemed to indicate a promising future, however financial pressure saw him leave after high-school and join the air force. His mother's illness and hospitalisation pushed Robert, as the oldest of seven siblings to find a faster way to make money.

He developed his skateboard and gloves and set out on a spectacularly short-lived life of crime (Amazing Spider-Man #172). With some help from the Tinkerer to soup-up his equipment, his second attempt brings him eventually to the attention of the courts (Amazing Spider-Man #182 and #183). His bail was paid by a bail-bondsman who forces the Racer eventually to crime once more. Spider-Man and Racer manage to save each other's lives from the bondsman's hired mercenary, the Bounty Hunter, and the repented Robert Farrell is given a merciful sentence by the courts. After serving his short time, Robert was given a full scholarship at ESU, where he currently continues his studies.

Since his rehab, Robert donned the Racer costume multiple times, this time as a do-gooder. He was a member of the Outlaws, that included the also rehabs Prowler and Will O' The Wisp, the hitman with a strong sense of honor Puma, and the shifting Sandman (who was rehabed by then, but decided to be evil once again recently, in a Mackie/Byrne typical twist) all united under the leadership (and payroll) of Silver Sable, or working independently sometimes. Among his heroic deeds, we include when he (with the Outlaws) helped Spidey to clear his name after the Chameleon framed him, when he (also with the Outlaws) helped Spidey against the Avengers, and then helped them all against the evil that originally manipulated them against each other, and when he teamed-up with Spidey to take out Skinhead.

Having been missing from the books for several months (since the Great Game, I think), Robert makes a small appearance in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #13, where someone steals his (once again improved) suit, and plans to use it for criminal purposes. Of course, since he was spawned by Mackie, it wasn't a big surprise that they simply never used the Rocket Racer II from that issue onwards. Typical, once again.

In Robert's most recent appearance, in Spider-Man: Tangled Web #5, we have what seems to be another Marvel screw up, as both him and the Gibbon are shown in jail, making fun of the Rhino. The thing is, both Robert and the Gibbon are currently considered rehabilitated, and are heroes in their free time. Continuity goofed up once again. Well, nothing we're not used to already, right?

Thanks To:

The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

Character Appearances