Who the Clix? Tombstone

Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.

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Appearances in Heroclix: Spider-Man and Venom Absolute Carnage, Deadpool and X-Force, Classics, Secret Invasion, Mutations and Monsters
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #36
Team Affiliantions: Sinister Syndicate, The Hand
Created by: Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk

Lonnie Thompson Lincoln has a hard time growing up in Harlem as the only African American albino. After years of bullying from his peers, he turns the tables after hitting puberty and suddenly becoming taller, stronger and meaner than everyone around him. He quickly begins running small time rackets and fleecing students for their lunch money, gaining the attention of the school paper, edited by none other than Robbie Robertson. This is the first time the two men come into conflict, with Lonnie intimidating Robertson into pulling the story, but it is not the last.

Lonnie graduates from petty crimes into more serious fare and becomes a hitman and mob enforcer. Deciding to use his albino skin to his advantage, he has his teeth filed to points and gives off the menacing appearance of a vampire. After a few years, Lincoln kills a man only to turn around and see that his old friend Robbie Robertson had seen the whole thing, as the man was going to feed Robertson information. Tombstone threatens Robertson's life if he goes to the police and so Robbie keeps this murder a secret for decades.

Tombstone eventually returns to New York City after years working for criminal organizations across the country. He now works for the Kingpin and makes sure to visits the old neighborhood. Robbie Robertson sees him and finally musters the courage to go to the police with his old story. This is enough to put Tombstone in prison but not before Tombstone brutally assaults Robertson. After Tombstone is apprehended, Robertson is sentenced to Lewisburg State Penitentiary for suppression of evidence.

When Tombstone learns of Robertson's imprisonment he uses his criminal connections to arrange a transfer and begins to terrorize Robbie. Tombstone kills Bruiser, a fellow inmate that had taken to protecting Robbie before breaking out of the prison. He is confronted by Spider-Man but is able to overpower the wall crawler. Tombstone is about to possibly kill the hero before Robertson interjects and knocks them both into the Susquehana River. Tombstone fares better than Robbie and takes him to a nearby Amish farm so that his old enemy can recover enough to put up a decent fight. Once Robbie heals enough for Tombstone to kill him, Robertson manages to stab the villain with a pitchfork and escapes. Tombstone returns to New York and joins a new group headed by Hammerhead and the Chameleon. Soon, Tombstone saves Robertson from the Hobgoblin just so he could have the satisfaction of killing the newsman himself. Tombstone is apprehended again and Robbie is given a full pardon for his part in bringing the thug to justice.

Robertson and Tombstone later run into each other at the Osborn Chemical Plant. Tombstone intends to gain his vengeance but is shot by Robertson before being trapped in a chamber containing a new mutagenic gas. Tombstone absorbs the gas and is enhanced to superhuman levels of strength, endurance and agility. After breaking out of the chamber he thanks Robertson and calls off his vendetta, considering them even.

With real powers, Tombstone begins to work for more supervillains. He battles against Daredevil, Punisher and Taskmaster before being hired by the Green Goblin to be apart of the Sinister Twelve. He battles against Deadpool and is part of the Hood's criminal army. He later agrees to help Doctor Octopus and ends up coming into conflict with Menace. The female Beetle reveals to her fellow Sinister Six members that Tombstone is her father when she asks him for help against the Owl.

Tombstone injures a friend of Yuri Watanabe but is able to receive a lenient sentence from a judge whose wife;s life is saved by Tombstone's illegal connections. Mister Negative helps Watanabe get both Tombstone and the judge put in jail only for Tombstone to arrange for the judge's murder. Black Cat and the Enforcers are in the same jail and manage to break out, during which Tombstone is shot in the chest.

After all of this, Tombstone returns to Harlem and is approached by Mr. Fish. Fish warns Tombstone that Black Cat is building an army and is going to come after his territory. Alex Wilder approaches the two criminals and warns them that he is going to start a new Pride in Harlem, determined to finish his father's old unfinished business. After securing some mystical connections, Alex beats Tombstone up and sends Mr. Fish to Hell. Tombstone manages to recover and enlists Black Talon to retrieve Mr. Fish from Hell.