Humberto "Reptil" Lopez first appeared during the Fifty State Initative under Tony Stark. He helped Tigra combat Stegron, and was saved Moon Boy from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were intent on experimenting on him. Reptil planned to go home to his grandfather, but was captured and experimented on by Norman Osborne and Baron Von Blitschlag, leading to his time in the Avengers Academy on the fall of H.A.M.M.E.R. and the beginning of the Heroic Age.
Featured in these Comics
History
Humberto Lopez is a young boy who had registered with the Fifty State Initiative and was living with his grandfather. When S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Valerie Cooper was putting together a squad to go after Stegron in his plot to reanimate dinosaur fossils. With the help of Baron Von Blitzschlag attaching a device to increase Humbertos's dinosaur empathy, the team locates Stegron. When discovering that Stegron and his dinosaur herd are going to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in South Dakota, Tigra's group intercepts them. However, Stegron took control of Komodo's mind and told her to attack her teammates. Reptil acts hot-headed during the fight and attacks Stegron, but is beaten down. Stegron and his dinosaur herd escape. Reptil suffers a mild concussion and Dr. Cooper tells him that his rash behavior allowed Stegron to escape and he endangered the lives of his teammates. When it comes to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Wyoming, Stegron's dinosaurs are taken down by a combination of good teamwork and Reptil's abilities. It turns out that Stegron was attacking various S.H.I.E.L.D. bases to locate Moon-Boy (who had been captured from the Savage Land). Stegron was only targeting Moon-Boy so that he can gain control of Devil Dinosaur. Reptil tells Tigra that Moon-Boy is innocent and doesn't deserve this. Tigra tells Reptil there is something they can do but he has to make a tough choice. Tigra tells the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist and agents that Moon-Boy was eaten by one of the dinosaurs and Reptil was sent home because he just got in the way and was completely useless.
Soon after this as part of the Heroic Age event, Reptil is captured and taken to the USA and imprisoned in a government facility. Under the orders of Norman Osborn, experiments are performed on Reptil in an attempt to see if enough stress could turn his whole body into a dinosaur until the word of Norman Osborn's fall. As the agents of the H.A.M.M.E.R. began destroying all the evidence about Norman's clandestine and illegal projects, Reptil manages to escape as the agents were ready to murder him. As Reptil escapes the facility he is approached by Justice and Hank Pym who invite him to become part of the Avengers Academy.
