Firebrand (Gary Gilbert) is a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. A superpowered enforcer for corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer, Firebrand is a former activist who turned to violence after believing peaceful protest produced no results. Publication history Firebrand first appeared in Iron Man #27 (July 1970), and was created by Archie Goodwin and Don Heck. Fictional character biography Gary Gilbert Gary Gilbert was born in Detroit, Michigan. A superpowered enforcer for corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer, as Firebrand he is a former radical activist saboteur who turns to violence after believing peaceful protest produced no results. Firebrand's "clenched fist" logo on his chest recalls the Black Power movement. In his first appearance in Iron Man #27 (July 1970), Firebrand describes his experiences demonstrating for the civil rights movement in a speech to Iron Man: While the story includes some positive messages about the civil rights movement, Firebrand is presented as a villain, because he sets himself outside of the existing political structure, and is willing to let innocents die to further his political and social aims. In his article "Everyday Heroism in Superhero Narratives", Michael Goodrum writes, "Having pursued tactics of accommodation without result, he turns to confrontation, asserting that there is nothing of value left in the system if it treats peaceful reformers with violence — essentially laying bare the coercive nature of power. It is Firebrand's absolutism that marks him as a villain in terms of the narrative." Firebrand accidentally killed his own father. He also won the Black Lama's "War of the Supervillains". He then fell to alcoholism and gave up political activism only to work for other villains because he "needed the work". He later gave up his costumed identity and became a "supervillain agent", brokering employment for other costumed villains. When news of the Scourge of the Underworld's initial wave of supervillain murders spread among the criminal community, Gilbert took it upon himself to gather several costumed criminals for a meeting to determine what should be done about this menace. The meeting, held at an abandoned tavern in Medina County, Ohio, known among the criminal underworld as "The Bar With No Name", turned out to be a massacre, as Scourge infiltrated the event disguised as a bartender; a few minutes into the meeting, Scourge slaughtered every criminal present, including Gilbert, with machine gun fire. Firebrand was later among seventeen of the criminals murdered by the Scourge,