Plantman

Plantman's History

Samuel Smithers, a.k.a Plantman, was born in London and was orphaned at very young age. At some point during his childhood, he left the orphanage he was raised in. He went to work as a lab assistant to a well-known London botanist who was exploring the low-order mental activity of plant life. After ten years, the botanist died and Samuel came to the U.S., in hopes of continuing his work: an invention to make plant life smart enough for human beings to speak with and understand

He did not have the proper education needed so Smithers went to work as a gardener in Glenville, Long Island, New York. He worked for Mr. Evans, who eventually fired him because he was spending more time working on his invention than gardening. Not long after, lightning struck his plant ray gun, giving it the power to control and animate all plant life. It was revealed later that this incident occurred because of the intervention of the plant-like race H'ylthri from the mystical city of K'un-Lun.

He made a disguise and called himself Plantman. Smithers then thought out a suitable revenge for his former boss Mr. Evans, framing him for robbery. However, Evans' daughter Dorrie was dating the Human Torch, who thwarted Plantman and cleared Evans' name. Even though the Human Torch destroyed Plantman?s ray gun, Smithers escaped.

He then created another ray gun, even stronger than his first. He challenged the Human Torch to a duel in the botanical garden, but was defeated and taken to prison. Smithers allied himself with the Maggia and other super-powered crmininals and unsucessfully fought the X-Men. as well as Captain America (and his partner the Falcon).

Later, he, along with the Porcupine and the Eel attended the Celestial Mind Control Movement established by Nebulon in the hopes of turning around their failing criminal careers. Smithers quickly left, as he thought that the movement was nothing more than a fraud. He devised a plan to kidnap millionaire Kyle Richmond, who was in hospital recuperating from brain surgery, and ransom him for fifty million dollars. He was opposed by Richmond's teammates, the Defenders, and was soon forced to retreat. He decided that he couldn't do it alone and returned to the Celestial Mind Control headquarters. When he saw his friends who were brainwashed by the movement, he changed his mind and wanted to leave. This time, however, Nebulon blasted him unconscious.

Smithers later branched out on his own to become a mastermind of a larger criminal operation. He developed his "Pretty Poison" which he field tested on his long-time nemesis Captain America. The toxin placed the Captain in a debilitating, life threateing coma. The Falcon and Spider-Man were able to track down, defeat Plant Man, and acquire an antidote just prior to Captain America succumbing to the poison's effect. He also clashed at various times with the Micronauts, the Avengers, Alpha Flight, Hawkeye, the Fantastic Four and the She-Hulk, amongst others.

Smither's more closey allied with the H'ylthri when he worked with their representative Sssesthugar. The two worked to bring the H'ylthri to Earth to conquer mankind and set up their species as the dominant new world order. However, Smithers was betrayed by the H'ylthri and left for dead. He gave his ray gun to Namorita who was able to use it and stop the H'ylthri invasion. .

Smithers eventually became a more productive member of society. Despite his affinity for things green, he served as a valuable member of the Thunderbolts.