Surprise! That is right, we have found ourselves at another bonus update post here at Rotten Ink, and for this one I will be talking about a weird and yet cool promo comic that was released by Marvel that features a character called Exterminator who is a metal-suited pest control Orkin Man…yep, it’s as weird as it sounds. This comic was given out to young comic readers as well as customers of Orkin or just people who wrote to them to request a copy. That is one thing about the 90’s, in main stream comics there were so many weird comics being made as they were truly being used a tools to promote all types of products, films, shows and even music bands…and these types of comics are just perfect for Rotten Ink! For those wondering Exterminator is based on a character that appeared in company commercials back in the early 90’s, and us kids of the 80’s and 90’s remember this commercial as robots and cyborgs were very popular in the culture from Transformers to Robocop. So with that, let’s get this quick Bonus update started as it seems that the insects are uprising and Marvel Comics just made the call to Orkin, and they are sending the Exterminator!

Orkin is considered the top pest control company in America. They were founded in 1901 by Otto Orkin who from a young age used to go door to door and sell rat poison to residents and from there, his little business grew into a massive company that would go after not only rats but mice, roaches, ants, bed bugs, termites, mosquitoes, hornets and flies. Otto would sell his company to Rollins Inc. in 1964 in one of the first big leveraged buyouts in America. And while they have been the leader in pest control, they are also very much into educating the public about the pests that they exterminate as well as how insects are very important for the environment as they have teamed with schools, zoos, museums and even the CDC in order to get the message out. They also have done a great job of making people think about them first when it comes to pest control as the term “The Orkin Man” as well as their iconic trucks are truly iconic and part of America’s pop culture. But while they are at the top of the pest control hill, over the years they have also had their share of complaints and lawsuits with many customers calling them out for poor work as well as fraud, but they always seem to bounce back after all the bad press. So in other words, if your house is overrun with roaches, spiders or rats, make sure to give Orkin a call as maybe your Orkin Man will be the hero known as Exterminator as I heard Marvel Comics has no work for him.

Nothing goes better together than pest control and comic books, am I right? I mean when I think of Spider-Man, I think of a guy spraying chemicals to kill bed bugs…well at least Orkin and Marvel Comics do as in 1994 the two teamed up to make a promo comic to give out to customers in order to talk about insects and to educate them. I miss these type of promo comics that Marvel and DC use to do more of back in the day, and while from time to time we get an M&M comic from Marvel, they are just too few and far between. Why in the world have we never gotten a promo comic based around Burger King and all that burger place’s characters? I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. And also a thanks goes to Marvel Comics and Orkin for teaming up and making this promo comic. I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and the art and story. So if you are ready, let’s join Exterminator on his bug extermination mission.

Exterminator # 1  **
Released in 1994     Cover Price $1.75     Marvel     # 1 of 1

Deck Borate is an Orkin Man. He has become the Exterminator and is battling an army of pests in the home of The Briscoe Family and wishes they would have called him earlier before their home got this out of hand. He flashes back to when he first arrived at the home and the family told him about strange trash they have found around the home that is wrapped up like a Mummy, and this causes Deck to become The Exterminator as he needs to get to the root of the issue. The Exterminator shrinks in size and heads into a crack in the wall, as he knows this house is under attack from Pharaoh Ants and while looking around he finds hundreds of ant eggs that are in the shape of pyramids and he sets little chemical bombs to kill the eggs and get the infestation under control. As The Exterminator tries to leave the crack in the wall before the bombs go off, he is attacked by other pests that are under control of the Queen Pharaoh Ant, but he is able to use his high tech extermination weapons to save himself and bring down even more house pests. The Exterminator is just about the leave the crack when a house fly attacks and he has run out of his supplies, but thanks to a spider who captures the fly, he is able to escape just as the bombs go off killing the eggs. Once out The Exterminator turns back into normal Orkin Man Deck Borate and informs The Briscoe Family that the first mission to clear their home of pests is complete.

What a strange and yet fun comic based of a hero cyborg character from a commercial that aired in the early 90’s for the company Orkin as they really wanted to hammer home that these pest control workers really are the hero of your home if it’s infested. The plot has The Exterminator shrinking in size to kill pests in a family home and after running into some nasty bugs he does his job and helps treat the home so they can start their quest to being pest free. The Exterminator is a metal suited Orkin Man whose real name is Deck Borate, and his goal is to truly exterminate pests as well as educate people about insects and rodents and how to keep them out of your house. But while he is in a metal suit and is caring tons of supplies to make bugs suffer, he also sure does think about dying a lot as several times as the pests get close in his mind he thinks that it’s the end for him. It’s also weird that he shrinks down to insect size and when leaving the crack in the wall almost gets stomped on by the father of the Briscoe Family before returning back to normal size. The main baddie of this short promo comic is The Queen Pharaoh Ant who has laid several mounds of eggs and has all the other pests in the home from flies to rats under her control, and while we never get to see her, we know that she is truly the one calling the shots and is leading the infestation of the Briscoe home. While she is powerful, she is no match for The Orkin Man who wipes out her bloodline in that home in minutes with his insecticide bombs. Most of the comic’s action is very quick and pits The Exterminator against the Pests and the “fights” really are just him spraying them with his insecticides, and when he is about to have a showdown with a fly, he is saved by a spider that catches it in its web. This comic is also a flipbook as the other side has Spider-Man fighting Humbug at the museum; it’s a cheesy Spidey adventure that is a nice bonus to this promo comic. One other fun thing about the copy of this comic I have is that it comes with a letter from Orkin to the original owner who had requested a copy from them…pretty neat stuff. The cover is fun and shows The Exterminator in the wall crack fighting insects and looks like your normal 90’s Marvel Comics release. The interior artwork is good and done by Pete Garcia and is your normal Marvel in-house style as it’s simple and yet affective in promoting Orkin and bringing The Exterminator into the Marvel Universe. This is a really goofy read but really is a fun promo comic that does its job of advertising Orkin as well is a must have for Spider-Man collectors as the other side story features a new story of the Wall Crawler. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Garcia in this comic.

So as you can see, while The Exterminator might not be a hero on the scale of Captain America, Spider-Man or Iron Man, he is saving one home at a time from the evil bugs and rodents that are infecting them…just imagine if he would have stuck around for more appearances in the Marvel Universe and if they would have made him a member of The Avengers or the West Coast Avengers! Or even better they should have placed The Exterminator in New York and have him fight the insects of Hell’s Kitchen and team with Daredevil…yeah, I am just being silly. So let’s wrap this bonus update up, as we need to get back to normal programing and that means starting Wrestlemania Month with a R.W.I update event showcasing Phantasio! So as always, read a comic or three, watch a movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. I wonder what kind of wrestling magic is in store for us on the next update.