Augustus “Pug” Pugliese is a self-made man. By working a bouncer at The Velvet Morgue, one of New York’s most famous nightclubs, he puts himself through college, graduating from the NYU School of Law. He specializes in superhuman law at Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, where he puts both sets of skills to use.
Self-Made Law Man
While working as a bouncer, members of the Maggia crime family beat him after he asked them to leave. Luckily, Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, saved him from a grisly fate. Inspired by the hero, he studies law to look out for members of the superhuman community like Spidey did for him, all to pay it forward.
A Capable Lawyer
Pug is a capable lawyer who uses his knowledge and skills in the law to win cases, such as a settlement for Spider-Man against J. Jonah Jameson, fulfilling a debt he felt he owed the infamous wall-crawler.
Potential Offenders
While Pug defends defendants and plaintiffs through the Superhuman Law Office at GLK&H, he is sure to make some enemies but thus far, none have made themselves known.
Courtroom Colleagues
Pug’s closest allies are his courtroom colleagues Mallory Book, Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk, whom he harbors a crush on but can’t bring himself to ask on a date, and the sentient Awesome Android, AKA Awesome Andy. At GLK&H, he works under the direction and guidance of senior partner Holden Holliway. When Book replaces Holliway, the law firm becomes known as Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Book (GLK&B) and Pug stays on staff.
A Strong Sense of Justice
When Pug heard that Holliway hired She-Hulk and that she made a deal to practice law as her alter-ego Jennifer Walters, he asked to be transferred to the Superhuman Law Office to look out for her. He helped Jen move out of the Avengers Mansion and accidentally set off the intruder alarm, prompting the security system to attack him. Jen as She-Hulk saved him. Jarvis came running and assumed Pug was one of Jen’s boyfriends to which they both denied. Pug then acknowledged his idiocy after being saved by her.
Jen helped Pug meet Spider-Man face to face, which was all part of Pug’s plan to offer him a legal way to take out one of his biggest enemies: J. Jonah Jameson who consistently printed lies about the wall-crawler in The Daily Bugle. He later met up with Jen to work out with her, but he really wanted to ask her out on a date. When they met up, she was She-Hulk and he changed his mind about asking her out. He then asked if she’d take on the Spider-Man case as first chair, noting that he wanted to win the case more than anything and called her twice the lawyer that he is.
He spent weeks learning from Jen before the trial against Jonah for spouting libel. Just before the trial started, Pug worked up the courage to ask Jen out, but he was interrupted by Jonah’s son and astronaut Col. John Jameson, who beat him to the punch. Jen accepted and realized it was a conflict of interest and handed first chair back to Pug. Pug rose to the occasion, questioning the witnesses including Spider-Man himself who testified against Jonah. Though while in the middle of the proceedings, they got word from GLK&H’s super-speedsters that MacDonald “Mac” Gargan, AKA Scorpion, and an army of spider-robots were on their way. Jen complimented Pug on his work thus far in the courtroom before departing with Spider-Man to fight Scorpion. When Jonah was called to the stand, Pug put him through the ringer, calling him out for funding the creation of the Scorpion and other actual menaces to society. Pug then brought Peter Parker to the stand and brought up the fake photos he supplied to the Bugle, making the Bugle look even worse. Afterward, Pug and Jen were approached by Spider-Man who wanted to settle by dropping all monetary damages and forgo future claims if Jonah and Parker were to hand out public apologies for one day dressed in chicken suits. Jonah settled. Despite not winning any money in the case, Pug was pleased with his win. When Jen asked him about what he wanted to ask her prior to the trial starting, he said it could wait.
While Jen was off adventuring as She-Hulk, Pug watched over and fed her goldfish Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When she returned, he attempted to ask her on a date again, but it didn’t pan out. They’d later become roommates. but Pug eventually sought a way to remove his romantic feelings for her by imbibing a magical tonic. Unfortunately, the side effects left him bound to a witch who he couldn’t identify.
