HAMMER & ANVIL

 

HAMMER & ANVIL

Real Names: Leroy Jackson (Hammer) & John Anvil (Anvil)

First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #182, December 1974 (both)

Powers: Leroy Jackson and Johnny Anvil were chain gang prisoners who were granted an energy synthecon by a benevolent alien, a metallic cable binding them from one wrist to another. The device feeds off of ambient kinetic energy, converting it into stored physical power for them to utilize, giving the partners a regular Class 100 strength and near-invulnerability to physical harm. Given the apparently variable length of the cable from one panel to another, it had to be at least partially telescopic. The original synthecon was destroyed by the Hulk, but was later rebuilt for Hammer and Anvil by their employers, the Deterrence Research Corporation.

The original cable produced a lethal dose of raw energy on contact if anyone other than the wearers touched the synthecon, and also created a psychic and physiological link between Hammer and Anvil, making it impossible for them to remove it as it linked their two life forces. As a result, they were nearly driven mad when it was severed the first time. The reconstructed D.R.C. synthecon did not initially create a psychic link between the two, and was destroyed twice again without damaging their minds. However, the final version they wore apparently did recreate the link between their life-energies, and so Anvil died merely because Hammer was shot in the face by Scourge.