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8-Ball (Jeff Hagrees[1]) is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe of comics. The character first fully appeared in Sleepwalker #2 although he was seen on the television in #1.
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Fictional character biography
A former defense contractor who designed missile propulsion systems, Jeff Hagees took to playing pool to relieve the stress of his job. He soon amassed large gambling debts, which aroused the suspicion of his employers, who thought he was selling company secrets to raise money to pay off his debts. Although they had no proof, Hagees' employers fired him. Combining his love of pool with his engineering talents, he fashioned a criminal identity for himself as 8-Ball, engaging in a highly successful crime spree in New York. In one of his costumed robberies, he faced the alien Sleepwalker, who demanded to know what he was doing. Sleepwalker had the battle won and nearly captured 8-Ball for the police, until Rick Sheridan (the human to whom Sleepwalker is bonded) woke up and he was forced back into Rick's mind. When they next met, 8-Ball proved victorious by distracting Sleepwalker by shooting innocent bystanders. He attempted to kill Sleepwalker, although the alien hero managed to escape. Later, when Rick and Sleepwalker had switched bodies, 8-Ball and the Hobgoblin each attacked Rick, trying to kill what they thought was Sleepwalker to win a $100,000 bet. The inexperienced Rick was no match for them, which made 8-Ball realize that Rick was not the actual Sleepwalker. He fought and defeated Hobgoblin to make him stop, although by that time Rick was already dying. 8-Ball later abandoned Rick to his fate, marking his last appearance in the Sleepwalker series. At some point, 8-Ball was finally captured (presumably by Sleepwalker), and imprisoned, where he would later team up with a number of other villains against the She-Hulk, although they were defeated. 8-Ball was later assassinated by the Wrecker for Ricadonna after unwittingly stealing from her[2]. This last appearance would be the only appearance of a Sleepwalker villain outside of the original series. Powderkeg calls 8-Ball "Eightball" in She-Hulk vol. 3, #6 however he is "8-Ball" throughout the Sleepwalker appearances.
Powers and abilities
8-Ball was a brilliant engineer who created a hovercraft in the shape of pool rack and led a gang of costumed villains, named also after pool balls. He designed a cue stick that can amplify the force applied to objects it strikes a thousand times over, turning them into potentially lethal missiles. 8-Ball was known to use everything from tires to dumpsters to cars as weapons in this manner. The cover to Sleepwalker #2 portrays him blasting an entire telephone booth at the hero. 8-Ball also used explosive grenades and fireworks painted like billiard balls.
8-Ball's gang
The members of 8-Ball's gang were 6-Ball, 9-Ball and 11-Ball. Their weapons included exploding billiard balls.
Other 8-Balls
There are other characters, most minor, who have the mantle of Eightball. These include:
- Fatboys member, Eight-Ball, who was the boyfriend of the first Jubilee (Darla). He first appeared alongside the Fatboys in Daredevil vol. 1 #248.
- Mr. Pow, an agent of Oddjob, took on the mantle as Eightball and only appeared in Deadline #2.
- A member of the Yancy Street Gang, is called Eightball as well and has only appeared in Thing vol. 2, #6.
Footnotes
- ^ Daughters of the Dragon #1
- ^ Daughters of the Dragon #2
