Abner Ronald Jenkins, also known as the Beetle, MACH-1, MACH-2, MACH-3, MACH-IV, MACH-V, MACH-VII and MACH-X, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Carl Burgos, he debuted in Strange Tales #123 (August 1964) as the original Beetle, a supervillain wearing an armor plated, mechanical suit he had designed himself after growing frustrated with his ordinary job as an aircraft mechanic and deciding to turn to crime. Although in his first appearance he fought the Human Torch and the Thing of the Fantastic Four, later storylines established Jenkins as a recurring foe of Spider-Man, usually working as a henchman for various criminal organizations opposing the hero. Jenkins later formed his own criminal organization known as the Sinister Syndicate. After abandoning his Beetle persona, Jenkins was recruited into the Thunderbolts—a supervillain team assembled by Helmut Zemo to pose as heroes to gain access to the technology of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, groups which had both seemingly perished while fighting Onslaught. Jenkins became known as "MACH-1", using a modified version of his Beetle armor that was designed for faster flight and higher altitude. The Thunderbolts were introduced in Incredible Hulk #449 (January 1997), and although they originally went along with Zemo's plan, later storylines depicted them as disobeying him due to enjoying the attention and adulation they received as heroes. Jenkins was convinced to give himself over to authorities to serve out an outstanding prison sentence in exchange for the Thunderbolts being granted immunity. During his time in jail Jenkins helped the authorities out, which led to him working for the government after his release from prison. He later began working at the Raft maximum security prison as head of security and re-joined the Thunderbolts, now a team of reformed criminals trying to earn time off their sentence by working for the government. The character has been adapted from the comics into several other forms of media, such as animated television series and video games. Publication history Abner Jenkins first appeared as the original incarnation of the Beetle in Strange Tales #123 (August 1964), and was created by Stan Lee and Carl Burgos. As MACH-1, he later joined the supervillain team, the Thunderbolts, who were masquerading as superheroes to conceal their true goals, in Incredible Hulk #449 (January 1997). In subsequent storylines, however, all members of the team,