Cancer

Cancer is the name of several supervillains in the Marvel Universe, most of whom are members of the supervillain organization Zodiac.

Jack Klevano

Cancer
Real Name	Jack Kleveno
First Appearance	Avengers (Vol. 1) #72 (January, 1970)
Creators	Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema
Team Affliations	Zodiac
Aliases	None
Base of Operations	Houston, Texas
Powers	None
Skills and Abilities	Fighting Experience, Experienced Crime Boss
Paraphernalia	Claws

The first man to take on the identity of Cancer was a man named Jack Klevano as part of the Zodiac Cartel.  

Origin

Little is known about the specifics of Jack Klevano's past save that he was one of eleven criminals approached by Taurus to join his criminal gang Zodiac and became the head of Zodiac's Houston, Texas branch.

Biography

Not much is known about Jack before he joined the Zodiac Cartel after being recruited by its founder, Taurus. As every member of Zodiac was based in a different city, Cancer was put in charge of building a power base in Houston, Texas and then acting as a branch of the Zodiac Cartel and forwarding their goal of political and economic domination of the world. Like all member of the Zodiac Cartel, he acted as leader on the dates of the star sign he is named after (from July 16th-August 15th) for every year he was a member. Later, he appeared at a gathering of the Zodiac after the member Scorpio had defeated and kidnapped all of the Avengers to be executed by the Zodiac leaders. However, when it was revealed that Scorpio was actually Agent Nick Fury, agent of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., who kidnapped the Avengers as part of a plan to defeat Zodiac, the Zodiac members made a hasty retreat when they realized they could not defeat Nick Fury and the Avengers.

Later, Zodiac regrouped under Taurus' orders and began working toward taking control of Manhattan, which lead them into conflict with the Native American superhero Red Wolf and the Avengers, which lead to another loss for the Zodiac, though again, Cancer was able to escape, as were most of the team members.

In their third battle with the Avengers, many Zodiac members, Cancer included, plotted to usurp leadership of the Zodiac from Taurus and approached the Zodiac financier to gain his support, only to learn that he was Taurus all along. The Avengers and the Zodiac traitors were sent into a trap that launched them into space and were forced to work together to get home. Once they returned, they tried to kill the Avengers, only to be defeated and sent to jail.

Cancer later escaped (how he escaped was never revealed) and was scene plotting against Iron Man with the rest of the Zodiac members. He was not seen again until he and the rest of the Zodiac members met at Cancer's base to discuss a mysterious, "fake" new Zodiac gang. However, it was part of an ambush and Jack Klevano and the rest of the Zodiac Cartel were murdered.

Skills and Abilities

Criminal Leadership - Jack Klevano, like the rest of the members of the Zodiac, is known for their skills as a criminal leader, as Jack lead the entirety of the Houston branch of the Zodiac, as well as the Zodiac itself during the period when it is the sign of Cancer.

Tools and Weapons

Claws - Cancer's costume had crab-like pincers specially designed for combat.

Cancer (LMD)

Cancer
Real Name	Cancer
First Appearance	Defenders (Vol. 1) #49 (July, 1977)
Creators	David Kraft, Keith Giffen
Team Affliations	Zodiac
Aliases	None
Base of Operations	Unknown
Powers	Robot Physiology, Super Strength and Durability
Skills and Abilities	Programmed to Fight
Paraphernalia	Various built in weapons.

Cancer II was an artificial lifeform created to help take over the previous Zodiac cartel.

Biography

The second Cancer was an android created by the villain Scorpio, as part of his "Theatre of Genetics" who created an entirely new Zodiac team from "Life Model Decoys", a form of android usually used by S.H.I.E.L.D. Scorpio created them to both be a new team under his control and his "friends". However, shortly after their creation, Cancer was destroyed by the Hulk in a battle against the Defenders and what remained was taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. as evidence.

A second LMD Cancer was created by Scorpio once more, with the aid of his Scorpio Key and was used by Quicksilver who, in a bout of temporary insanity, tried to destroy the Avengers for perceived wrong-doings. This Cancer was destroyed by the Wasp, who attacked his weak point (some water vents) with her bio-sting, short circuiting it.

A third android Cancer was created by Scorpio, this time made with the intent to attack what remained of the original Zodiac Cartel in Dallas, Texas. In the end, all of the remaining members of the original Zodiac were murdered (including the original Cancer), save for Van Lunt, who escaped and sought the aid of the West Coast Avengers. The Avengers hunted down the new Zodiac and stopped them from attacking a cattle auction in Wichita. Cancer battled the Moon Knight and Hawkeye, but later fled after Cancer destroyed the Sagittarius, never to be seen again.

Powers

Robot Physiology - Like all members of the second incarnation of the Zodiac (save for Scorpio), Cancer is a Life Model Decoy, a kind of robot originally employed by  S.H.I.E.L.D.

Cancer (Ecliptic)

A new Zodiac made its presence known in Canada and later battled Alpha Flight. Lead by an old woman named Ecliptic (who had the power to see the future), this incarnation was bent on kidnapping Alpha Flight member Madison Jeffries, but were in turn murdered by the mercenary group Weapon X. Little of this version of Cancer is known.

John King

John King became the most recent person to take on the role of Cancer. John King was initially an ally of criminal Parker Robbins, as well as his cousin, before he became the super-criminal known as the Hood. When Parker found the magical hood that gave him superpowers (by killing the demon who wore it before, who was attacking John at the time), John remained his closest friend and confidante, even when the Hood rose up the ranks and became the leader of his own criminal empire. He remained the Hood's right-hand man until the siege of Asgard left the Hood's empire in ruins and the Hood himself was on the run with Madame Masque. John was captured by the Avengers, who used him to track the Hood and Madame Masque so they could finally capture them and send them to jail.

Now a prisoner, King was surprised to find himself offered great power by the death-obsessed god Thanos as the new Cancer for his own Zodiac team, which King would lead.