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Quote1 It's always about money. The whole world. Quote2
Roger Gocking[src]

History

Roger Gocking bought the rights to name Porcupine and the Porcupine Armor from Hobgoblin after the death of the original Porcupine, Alex Gentry.[1]

He was present during the trial of the Tinkerer,[2] and attacked by Misty Knight and Colleen Wing while looking for information in a bar.[3] During the Civil War, Porcupine was captured by MACH IV and coerced into joining the Thunderbolts,[4] and later fought with them against a mob of normal people empowered by the Universal Wellspring.[5]

Roger Gocking (Earth-616) from Thunderbolts Vol 1 104 001

During Doctor Doom's war with Wakanda over their Vibranium supply, Gocking was employed by the Broker in Mexico to secure one of Doom's outposts.[6] He defended it from the Dora Milaje and Fantastic Four.[7] Gocking then became a target of the Scourge.[8] While working at a Baltimore shipyard under the assumed name of Roger Manning, he left his workplace as Captain America arrived and knocked him out of the way of stray bullets.[9] Steve told Roger to hide deeper inside the dock while he went to face the Scourge.[10]

Porcupine next joined the Masters of Evil,[11] but later attended a support group called Villains Anonymous that was held at a church and also attended by Boomerang, Hippo, Grizzly, Doctor Bong, Looter, Mirage, and others.[12] At another Supervillains Anonymous meeting, Grizzly and Looter talked about their run-ins with Spider-Man.[13]

Roger Gocking (Earth-616) and Benjamin Urich (Earth-616) from Spider-Woman Vol 5 6 001

Some time later, Gocking was forced to commit crimes for Cat,[14] as she had abducted his wife, Olivia, and their daughter, Kalie.[15] When Spider-Woman went to rescue them, they were living in Moon's Hollow, a small community of the families of henchmen and minor supervillains who wanted out of that life.[16] Jess defeated Cat, who herself was the wife of a heavily abusive supervillain engineer, and promised not to involve the authorities if they stopped blackmailing their supervillain husbands.[17] Roger, thanking Jess, asked to be her sidekick to turn over a new leaf and be a better father to his baby girl.[18]

During Jess' pregnancy, Roger had been doing her superheroing against other villains, despite Jess' repeated endeavors to help him out, and his repeated reminders of her pregnancy limiting her hero activities. In her last month of pregnancy, when dealing with Griffin, Ruby Thursday, Gibbon, and Shriek, Roger bested the criminals and readied them for arrest by the NYPD; Jess gave him a "passing grade" for his performance. Shortly after, he gave Jess his best wishes as she went on maternity leave.[19] After Jess' return from the maternity ward, Roger babysat Gerry during her first night to herself; only for Jess to return early, afraid something had gone horribly wrong. As Jess opened up about the feelings she had since becoming a mother, Roger shared his experience as a father, and gave assurances that things would improve.[20]

Jessica Drew (Earth-616), Roger Gocking (Earth-616) and Gerald Drew (Earth-616) from Spider-Woman Vol 6 17 001

Porcupine was approached by Hobgoblin in order to collect his dues for the armor, only to learn from Roger that he had gone straight. Hobgoblin did not take that info lightly and had the other franchisees beat him up and strip him of the armor, then toss a Pumpkin Bomb at him; which Ben Urich witnessed from his hiding spot within a nearby vent.[21] Jess believed Roger was dead and went on the warpath, although Roger had survived, having worn Jess' alien maternity protection shirt as under armor, having the foresight not to trust Hobgoblin. Immediately after surviving, Roger shaved his beard and used an old cash reserve to follow Jess from afar in case she needed backup. After saving Jess from an ambush, he explained his situation, to which a relieved Jess then kissed him. Their moment was cut short as Kinsley returned to snare Roger with his Demonic Glider and drag him away.[22]

As Hobgoblin was about to throw Roger into a fire pit, Jess raced over in time to rescue him by crashing Hobgoblin and herself into a nearby junkyard. As Hobgoblin made another escape, Jess hijacked Ringer's glider to pursue while Roger cut his snare and unbalanced Hobgoblin for Jess to ram him mid-flight. Finally together, Jess and Roger prepared to fight Hobgoblin and his men, until Carol arrived, having been called by Ben about her predicament, and chased away his men. Upon her arrival, Roger and Jess kissed, despite Carol's awkward request to renew their friendship.[23] Going home, Roger helped Jess set up for a party, but upon checking on Gerry inside, Roger found the infant playing with his inherited spider-powers. Roger chased him around the apartment, then chased Gerry up the outer wall to the party. There, as Gerry eluded numerous heroes, Roger dove off the building to catch a falling Gerry, saved by Spider-Man's timely webbing. Now accepted by her peers, Roger helped Jess clean up her apartment, and had a private party with her, Carol, and Ben.[23]

Roger was planning to propose to Jess but reconsidered upon realizing that she was distracted by super heroics. Concluding she was neglecting their relationship,[24] Roger ultimately broke up with Jessica and left her, but still kept available in case she needed help with Gerry.[25]

Roger afterward returned to crime, mugging a pizza delivery man before being apprehended by Hawkeye and Lucky.[26]

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Links and References

References

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