Eliot Franklin (Clown) (Earth-616)

Circus of Crime[]

Eliot Franklin was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of a man named Corky. When he began his criminal career, he joined the Ringmaster's Circus of Crime, working as a circus clown, comedian, juggler, and unicyclist. Their first major crime spree involved the Ringmaster hypnotizing entire towns while Clown and the rest of the troupe robbed everyone of their wealth. They attempted this on Rick Jones but he summoned the Hulk through a mental link they shared. Upon his arrival, the Clown and others managed to subdue the Hulk and chain him up until he broke free as the FBI arrived to arrest Clown and the circus.^[6]

When the Circus of Crime acted independently of the Ringmaster, the Clown often served as the leader.^[7] For a time he broke from the Circus, setting himself up as a professional hitman, and clashing with Deathlok when he tried to kill his former friend the Ringmaster (who had reinvented himself as a political candidate).

Gamma Corps[]

Later the Clown underwent Gamma mutation to become the Gamma Corps' Griffin.^[5]

Griffin and the rest of the Gamma Corps were attacked by a haywire Hulk A.I., who wanted to kill them as part of the plan of the original Hulk to neutralize every Gamma-powered mutate from the Earth, even though the original Hulk's plan didn't include lethal force. After following the haywire A.I. to Fort Knox, Hulk saved the Gamma Corps from their deaths, but later stripped them of their powers.^[8]

None after being depowered by the Hulk.

Expert juggler & unicyclist. Marksman and skilled in the use of short blades.^[9]

• Mental Instability: Eliot appeared to be incapable of taking things seriously and wouldn't stop telling jokes even when being severely beaten. He was the only member of Gamma Corps to realize he was being recruited to tackle the Hulk and gleefully signed up with no questions or reasoning. Even whilst facing the Hulk, who had little problem fighting him one-on-one, he was unable to stop joking, prompting the Hulk to call him insane and point out that his insanity was his only reason for him signing on to Gamma Corps when compared to the others.^[5]

As the Clown, he used a gas-emitting cane and juggling implements

Formerly a unicycle

Griffin's powers mimic those of both Harpies (Betty Ross and Marlo Chandler)

• Eliot's father Corky, was a performing clown for the Quentin Carnival and was a close friend of Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze.
• For a brief period of time, Franklin was known as the "Funny Man".^[10]