I heard the rats in New York were big, but this is ridiculous. Introduced in Captain America #272 (1982) by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, Edward Whelan was a that suffered abuse from his father and was living on the streets when he was captured by Baron Zemo and Arnim Zola. They experimented on him turning into a rat and human hybrid. He was sent to stalk and capture Captain America but was defeated. He was taken to SHIELD but escaped and returned to Zemo. Cap was worried about him and followed him but was captured by Zemo. Vermin was of no use to Zemo anymore so Zemo left him tied up next to Cap and sent two mutants to attack them. Vermin defeated the mutants and went after Zemo, wounding the villain. He returned to New York but was eventually captured by Cap with the help of Spider-man.

He was sent to Ravencroft but escaped. During Kraven’s Last hunt, Kraven, dressed as Spider-man, captured and beat Vermin. Kraven presented Vermin to Spider-man hoping the hero would finish Vermin but Spider-man refuse allowing Vermin to escape. Spider-man went to capture Vermin while Kraven stayed behind, commiting suicide. Vermin would resurface later and confronted his abusive father. He would later turn himself in and sought help at Ravencroft. Zemo and Zola returned by Vermin would fight alongside Spider-man to defeated the pair. He eventually started to recover and began working for Ravencroft but when Judas Traveler attacked, his Vermin persona returned.

When Kraven’s daughter, Anastasia, went into the sewer that Vermin called his home, he attacked her only to be beaten. He fled and encountered Spider-man, who was dress as Daredevil, and attacked him. After he recognised Spider-man, he help him local the new Kraven. but she defeated him and captured him. After joining the Hood’s gang, He would later join the New Revengers and sent to fight the New Avengers.

He eventually found himself in the sewers again where he would kidnapped people for company or food. He was captured by Taskmaster and Lizard, who had Curt’s mind, and forced to show them the way to Central Park, which was blocked off in the original Kraven’s Great Hunt. He was eventually captured by Kraven and Arcade, who was working with the Hunter, injected him with a formula that allowed him to create copies of himself. He was sent to fight Spider-man, nearly killing him before Kraven stopped him. He would later fight Moon Knight.