Gears Garvin

What Gears Garvin doesn't know about mechanics, he learns. Owner and sole proprietor of a New York City auto yard and repair shop, Gears is always ready with a quick fix for any mechanism that breaks down, and a quip while he works – but don't call him Oswald F. Garvin unless you want a trip to the emergency room.

After they met by chance, Machine Man was so impressed by Gears' technical aptitude that he has become one of the superhero's close confidants... though Gears' boorishness clashes with Peter Spaulding's straight and narrow sensibilities.

Fiction

Gears dropped out of high school. Jolted by Jack O'Lantern! He was once engaged to be married, but his fiancée called off the engagement after he spent the honeymoon fund on parts for his motorbike. He stood by the decision; she went on to go through three husbands, while he still had the hog, Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad! which was a Harley. Jolted by Jack O'Lantern!

Gears owned the repair shop, Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad! which was named "Garvin's Garage", Arms and the Robot! and may have done so for at least eight years. Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad!

Gears was having a normal day up until an injured Machine Man fell out of the sky and bounced on a few of his autos. Surprised to see an actual, working robot, Gears insisted that he could fix him up, despite Machine Man's protestations to leave him to recharge. By bypassing some circuitry and rewiring a muscle, Gears fixed Machine Man's injured arm, and the robot was surprised and allowed him to continue. Though Gears didn't have the parts to repair his legs, he lashed up a unicycle wheel for Machine Man to get about, allowing the hero to continue his pursuit of Ion. After the affair was over with, Machine Man set off to see Gears about the restoration of his legs. Kill Me or Cure Me

Machine Man called in on Gears after an encounter with Baron Brimstone, who had penetrated the robot's breastplate with the concentrated microwave energy of the Sol-Mac. Gears patched Machine Man back up, additionally giving him a laser-proof coating. Noting Aaron's concern about the Sol-Mac, Gears retrieved the wedding rings from his aborted engagement from the detritus of his living quarters. The gold in the rings, once flattened, was applied to Machine Man's brain casing and chest plates, providing insulation against microwaves. Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad!

After Machine Man's arm went missing in the conflict with Brimstone, Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad! Aaron regrouped at his and Peter's apartment, where Gears bickered with Peter that all they needed to do was throw together a new arm. Aaron shut down their arguing by asserting that he was a person and he wanted his arm back. After a tense silence, Gears excused himself to work on a device to track the missing member.

Aaron met with Gears at his garage after his work shift the following day. Gears had managed to whip up a power booster, worn in place of Machine Man's arm, which increased the amount of energy going into his chest circuitry and allowed him to increase the range of his radio transceivers. After Machine Man immediately received a faint signal emanating from his arm, Gears encouraged him to hop to it. Arms and the Robot!

Less than a week later, Gears drank a can and lounged in Peter's apartment waiting for their bolt-brained buddy. When Peter asked him to get his feet off the coffee table and respect Aaron's feelings, Gears accused him of only keeping their friend around to get fame from an eventual case study. Their argument was interrupted by Machine Man returning from battle. Gears played their disagreement off as Peter wanting to watch Love Boat instead of Masterpiece Theatre. When Gears noticed Machine Man was limping, he set about unfusing the circuits in his knee, which had been hit by a sonic blast.

A few days later, after Aaron had gone into an encounter with Madam Menace, Gears and Peter waited up all night for his return. When Gears asked if he'd heard from the kid, Peter responded that he wanted to be alone. Alone Against Alpha Flight! When Aaron eventually turned up, they discovered that his humanised face had been badly disfigured in his recent battle, which Gears likened to his last blind date, much to Peter's disdain. Aaron implored Gears to fix his face so he could once again walk safely among humanity and, despite bodywork not being his speciality, Gears reckoned he could rig something up with some fibreglass and putty in a few hours. As Aaron left for some fresh air, he rebuffed Peter's offer to join him, and Gears expressed that the living robot would make it, because he always does.

Early the next morning, Gears called by Peter and Aaron's apartment where he presented them with the fixed face. Though proud of his work, Gears warned Aaron that the putty needed time to harden, and Aaron headed off to work, planning to do nothing more strenuous than file some overdue reports.

A week later, on Halloween, Gears enjoyed a huge hoagie as Peter once again paced the floor, concerned that Aaron hadn't returned from inspecting Delmar Insurance's prototype super-embassy. Gears tried to tell Peter not to worry that Aaron had been grabbed by hobgoblins as he was a tough bucket of bolts, once again earning Peter's ire at his dehumanisation of their friend.

Aaron returned having overcome a plot by Jack O'Lantern. Gears examined his cerebral cortex, which Aaron had deduced was failing and causing his rage-fuelled blackouts. Gears determined that the fight that scarred Aaron's face had also made a mess of his internal circuitry. For nine hours, Gears used his mechanical intuition to effect repairs on Aaron. Gears refused to hear his words of thanks as he hated mushy speeches. When Aaron announced his intent to take a leave of absence from his day job, Gears jumped at the chance of juicing him up. Aaron didn't seem to shoot the idea down, as his new lease on life meant he was open to all the infinite wonders of the world. Jolted by Jack O'Lantern!

After leaving Delmar, Machine Man met Jocasta and fell in love with her. In a battle involving Jocasta's creator Ultron and the blue-eyed, ever-lovin' Thing, Jocasta was destroyed. Machine Man took her remains back to Gears' workshop, where he hoped Gears could revive her. The New Machine Man

Notes

Gears Garvin on Marvel Database, an external wiki

• Introduced as Oswald F. Garvin under Tom DeFalco's pen, Gears' given name appears to have changed to "Wilbur" at some stage, with it appearing at least as early as Machine Man's profile in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z issue 6  in June 2006.
  • Still, it's not the most drastic reinvention – in Iron Man issue 183  and "Emperor Doom",  he was black!