STINGRAY

 

STINGRAY

Real Name: Walter Newell

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish (Vol. 1) #95, September 1967 (as Walter Newell); Sub-Mariner (Vol. 1) #19, November 1969 (as Stingray)

Powers: Oceanographer Dr. Walter Newell designed a unique suit for deep sea exploration. The armored suit, dubbed "Stingray" (which also became his code name while wearing the armor), provides him with exceptional physical powers while wearing it. Most notably, the glider-winged Stingray armor grants him superhuman strength and durability, enables him to function underwater, has limited air-gliding capability, and is equipped with electrical weaponry.

The suit is a reinforced, armored exoskeleton of super-hard artificial cartilage electrically powered, plastic-based, muscle-like tissue. The armor enhances Newell's strength to superhuman level, sufficient to lift up to 25 tons. The armor also enhances his agility and reflexes to athlete levels, augments his speed and stamina to peak human levels, and grants him significantly enhanced durability. The suit's exterior is tough enough to stop bullets at close range, albeit thin enough that the impact of gunshots can still potentially injure Newell to some extent (for instance, a close-range head shot once gave him a concussion). Back-up systems within the armor can repair minor damages as they occur, though the armor needs to be otherwise inert for a few moments during this process. The armor is controlled through a network of sensors close to the skin that follow and amplify the wearer's bodily motions via negative feedback control with the aid of an onboard computer system. The suit is powered by a small, nuclear-powered thermo-electric generator capable of normal operation for several years before requiring servicing.

Designed primarily for underwater use, the Stingray armor is equipped with an oxygen-diffusing system that provides its wearer with breathable air almost indefinitely. Two pairs of mini-turbine impellers located underneath the suit’s wings propel Stingray through the water at high speeds; as of the suit’s last known upgrade, it could travel at a rate of 60 knots (roughly 52 miles per hour) on its low-power setting. The suit’s current top speed at higher-power settings is unrecorded. The suit’s propulsion is strong enough that it can maintain high speeds, even if the wearer is carrying over 500 pounds of additional cargo or passengers. Able to withstand tons of water pressure, the armor can theoretically reach depths of well over 3,600 feet with compromising its structural integrity. The suit’s aerodynamic wings also enable the wearer to glide through air for short distances, particularly when coming out of forceful leaps of dives.

An electrical discharge device built into Stingray’s exoskeleton can emit up to 20,000 volts through the air (up to 30 feet) or water (up to 10 feet), rendering the average healthy male unconscious for about 2 hours. The armor has an internal sonar system and other sensors enabling its wearer to scan its surroundings and track various targets – for instance, a program enabling Newell to analyze and follow the ripple effect left behind by a given undersea quarry. The suit’s mask is sometimes equipped with a special amplifier enabling Stingray’s voice to be heard clearly underwater, and the mask’s interior features a computerized heads-up display that updates the wearer on the status of the armor’s various systems. Filtering and imaging software provides crystal clear vision through the one-way viewscreen of the suit’s face mask, even in the murky darkness of undersea locations. Newell wears a modified wetsuit beneath the armor and carries a short-term oxygen mask, enabling him to function underwater for brief periods without the armor if necessary.

Newell has designed and built a wide variety of high-tech submersible vehicles over the years, such as the “saucer-sub”, which is also capable of flight or hovering in mid-air, equipped with a selectively permeable transparent canopy of “ultra-polystyrone.” Newell also designed the undersea community Hydropolis, a sealed ecosystem covering six acres and capable of supporting various air-breathing life forms beneath the seas, including up to 500 varieties of plants, animals, and insects, The community’s protective biosphere is composed of porous thermal glass able to maximize heat obtained from minimal sunlight, though most of the community’s energy is gathered from geothermal vents and tidal generators. Hydropolis contains multiple distinct environmental habitats, recreating portions of the all the world’s various ecosystems, such as rainforests, savannas, marshlands, and oceans. Artificial rain is produced within these environments via condensers that extract water from outside the city. Newell has also used the artificial island Hydrobase as a mobile floating base of operations, though in its current modified form it resembles a huge conventional sea vessel. The entire Hydrobase structure can flip itself vertically to become a freestanding instrument platform, submerging much of the vessel beneath the water. While in this mode, Hydrobase can link up with Hydropolis, enabling the movement of people and materials from one structure to another.

Dr. Walter Newell holds a Ph.D. in oceanography. An exceptionally gifted intellect, he is an experienced oceanographer, an accomplished scientific researcher, and a skilled inventor of experimental oceanographic equipment. He is particularly adept at the design and construction of submersible vehicles and undersea architecture. He has also been trained in unarmed combat, marksmanship, first aid, and other skills by Initiative instructors.

BANSHEE & SIRYN

 

BANSHEE & SIRYN

Real Names: Sean Cassidy (Banshee); Theresa Maeve Rourke Cassidy (Siryn)

First Appearances: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #28, January 1967 (Banshee); Spider-Woman (Vol. 1) #37, April 1981 (Siryn)

Powers: Banshee and Siryn are a father-daughter pair of mutants who both possess superhumanly enhanced lungs, throats, and vocal chords enabling them to scream louder and longer than a normal person is capable. They can also modulate the wavelength and frequency of their "sonic scream" to produce different effects (apparently, this ability is at least partially psionic and not done solely by the vocal chords). A sonic scream can be directed as concussive force, and modulated to perform other effects like shatter glass, crumble masonry, and even liquefy solid objects if the effect is sustained long enough at an intense level. By psionically causing the force of a sonic scream to be directed behind them, Sean and Theresa are able to propel themselves through the air and fly as fast as the speed of sound. By projecting a scream to disturb the fluids in someone's inner ear, they can induce unconsciousness, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, or vertigo in opponents. Banshee has used his power to generate sonic waves and map out his surrounding environment, and used sonics to disrupt electronic scanning equipment to make it incapable of properly detecting his presence. He has also cast people into a blank, trance-like state for as long as they're in range of his voice.

In her early appearances, Siryn used her powers to generate a force bubble of energy around herself for protection, and to hypnotize Angel into carrying out her bidding and battle his fellow X-Men. Later, she has also used her powers to tune in to distant noises like a directional microphone, and create a sonic masking field which prevents sound waves from being conducted through the air. This creates a safe zone "bubble" where people can talk as loudly as they want and not be overheard. She has also learned how to produce subsonic harmonics in her voice that cause adoration -- this compels people to fall deeply in love with her and makes them willing to do whatever she asks. Both father and daughter possess superhuman hearing, allowing them to still hear properly even over the sound of their own screams, and specially reinforced eardrums that are immune to the harmful effects of loud noises and various ranges of sonic frequencies.

Siryn gained undefined mystical abilities upon becoming the Morrigan, apparently a Celtic supernatural force. However, it remains unclear whether the Morrigan is merely a title passed from one woman to the next along with the necessary power, or if the Morrigan is a sentient spirit or consciousness that is hosted by these women, like a mystical symbiote.

Sean Cassidy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Dublin College. Formerly an inspector with INTERPOL and an NYPD Detective, he is well-versed in law enforcement, unarmed & armed combat, and is a highly skilled investigator. An aficionado of American country music, he has a voluminous encyclopedic knowledge of the genre.

Theresa Rourke was a member of Jamie Madrox's X-Factor Investigations (XI) detective agency. During which time, she exhibited a capacity for deductive reasoning and investigative knowledge making her a highly competent private detective. Running the organization in Madrox's stead, she demonstrated capable leadership as well.

OGRE

 OGRE

Real Name: Brian Dunlap
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #28, January 1967

Powers: No superhuman powers, the Ogre is a normal human being. He is a genius with an aptitude for inventing developed over a lifetime of studying technology. His past inventions include a pyro-projector, a repello-ray, rocket boots, wrist-blasters, cryogenic storage chambers, modified versions of Hawkeye's atomic steed, and a tesseract portal to a spatial pocket.

His time in isolation at Mt. Charteris has rendered him significantly agoraphobic and xenophobic.

CHANGELING

 

CHANGELING

Real Name: Kevin Sidney

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #35, August 1967

Powers: The Changeling’s mutant ability was to shape-shift into any person by rearranging his bodily molecules. His shape-shifting power also enabled him to alter his voice and clothing molecules so as to match that of any other living being. Charles Xavier once imparted to the Changeling a portion of his own telepathy when the former asked him to impersonate Charles for a mission. This activated the Changeling's minor telekinetic abilities that were never fully explored.

The Changeling was an extraordinary actor as well as a highly trained and efficient organizer of subversive activities.

SHOCKER

 

SHOCKER

Real Name: Herman Schultz

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #46, March 1967

Powers: No superhuman powers. The Shocker is a self-taught gifted inventor and an expert safecracker. His twin vibro-shock units use high-pressure air blasts to cause powerful concussive waves vibrations. The blasts can crumble solid concrete, shatter metal, or extensively damage a human body. The gauntlets were originally powered by a battery and shoulders belt but now each gauntlet has its own independent power source. The Shocker's heavily-padded suit protects him from the effects of his own weapons and its armor renders him bulletproof. His suit also projects a vibrational shield around itself, deflecting blows and allowing him to escape from any grasp, even that of Spider-Man's webbing. The Shocker's costume contains a remote that can detonate his gauntlets. He briefly wore a suit that incorporated the vibro-shock units into the costume itself, and retained the gauntlets as decoys but Spider-Man destroyed the suit. The Shocker formerly wore an armored suit filled with miniaturized vibro-units; using these he could fly by channeling fibroblasts through his boots and channeling vibro-blasts through his back to discourage sneak attacks. The Shocker has also used high-tech fire arms.

LEAP-FROG

 

LEAP-FROG

Real Name: Vincent Patilio

First Appearance: Daredevil (Vol. 1) #25, February 1967

Powers: Vincent Patilio invented the Leap-Frog costume using hydraulically-enhanced spring coils in his boots, allowing him to leap great heights and distances in a single bound, and absorb the impact upon landing. It was supplied power by an electronic power pack on his back, and certain versions contained an exoskeleton to boost his strength (minimally) and gyroscopes for balance, navigation and accuracy in leaps.

BLACK KNIGHT

 

BLACK KNIGHT

Real Name: Dane Whitman

First Appearance: Avengers (Vol. 1) #47, December 1967

Powers: Dane Whitman began his career as the Black Knight by appropriating his criminal uncle's paraphernalia. He rode Aragorn, a horse genetically engineered using eagle DNA to have wings and the ability to fly. His paralyzer pistol released a burst of anesthetic gas that temporarily put victims into a coma. Finally, the multi-purpose power lance contained .45 caliber machine guns, flamethrowers, electrical bolts, concussion blasters, lassos and grappling lines, and white-hot metal rings that encircled an opponent and burned into them. Later, though, he proved himself worthy of wielding the Ebony Blade of the original Black Knight, his ancestor Sir Percy of Scandia. The blade was forged by Merlin himself out of a meteorite, and was physically and mystically honed to be virtually indestructible and capable of cutting through any substance. The sword could deflect blasts of pure energy, or by angling the blade properly he could use it to absorbing energy blasts and re-channel them by swinging the sword. It could also disrupt magic, cutting through mystical barriers and spells. However, the blade also came with a blood curse, compelling anyone who used the blade to kill someone to continue killing more and more.

After spending a great deal of time in the Crusades, Dane returned to the present with a mystical steed named Valinor. The blood curse had risen to great power during his time then, however, and Dane went to Doctor Strange for help. Strange had to turn Valinor into a normal horse (the impure atmosphere of Earth was poison to a steed raised in Avalon), and he dispersed the blood curse's active effects on Dane's mind. Without a horse, Black Knight began using an atomic steed captured by the Avengers, a high-tech flying saddle used by the Knights of Wundagore. As time passed, though, Dane somehow began to be transformed into a living extension of the blade itself -- his body become indestructible, and sharpened so that a single pass of his hand could cut through solid metal. He also began to stiffen, though, and wore an exoskeleton to enhance his body's limited range of movement back to normal levels. Soon even the exoskeleton became ineffective, and Black Knight became a petrified statue. Dane's friend Victoria Bentley attempted to use her meager sorcery skills to reanimate him, using the armor of Sir Percy as a catalyst for her spell. The process went slightly wrong, and Victoria ended up resurrecting Percy himself in Dane's body. The original Black Knight would animate Whitman's body so long as he was wearing his full suit of armor and helmet. Removing the helmet would put Percy into dormancy and allow Whitman to control his own body for a few brief moments until the petrification settled back in, immobilizing him once more. Sir Percy was skilled in using both the Ebony Blade and its magic, and used the power of the sword to return Valinor back to his winged state without any consequences. Eventually, Sir Percy transferred his consciousness directly into the blade itself, an act which enabled Dane and Valinor to continue operating independently, without any inhibiting spells holding them back.The Black Knight decided at this point that the Ebony Blade was too dangerous to continue using, so he constructed an energy blade to use in its stead calling the Sunsword. This sword hilt projected a tight beam of electromagnetic energy approximately two feet long. By modulating the Sunsword's field intensity, Dane could cause it to strike like a razor sharp blade or a cylindrical rod, blunted around all sides. The Sunsword could also conduct a disruptive neurosynaptic charge, scrambling his opponent's nervous system on contact. This could simply create intense pain, cause paralyzing numbness, or even kill a normal person when at maximum intensity. The Black Knight could also jerry-rig the blade's energy flow, reversing it so that the energy fed back and covered his hand in a sheath, increasing the force of his punches and also conducting the neuro-shock this way.

After spending time in the Ultraverse and returning to the Marvelverse just after Onslaught, Dane was chosen by the Lady of the Lake to be the Pendragon of our age. This gave him certain mystical senses, allowing him to detect the presence of sorcery and see through "glamour" illusions cast by magic wielders. He wore an amulet around his neck shaped like a sword crossing a shield. By saying the name of "Avalon!" out loud, the Knight would instantly be clad in a new lightweight but nigh impenetrable suit of armor, wielding the Shield of Night and the Sword of Light. The shield could absorb energy directed at its face, channel the power through his suit, and project it back out through the sword. Saying "Avalon!" again would displace the armor and weapons back to whence they came, a trick which could allow him to instantly reclaim a lost helmet or sword by displacing them, then summoning them again so that they reappeared back in his possession. He also had a new horse, Strider -- a magical steed capable of flying faster than the speed of sound and even sustaining itself underwater.

Later, the Black Knight has abandoned the weapons and paraphernalia he received from Avalon, and once again began employing the Ebony Blade. His heart was transformed to stone by a "lady" he knew (possibly Sersi or the Lady of the Lake) to harden him against the blade's corrupting influence. For a time, the Ebony Blade was replaced with another enchanted sword, one imbued with the fang of a vampire. This copy was nearly sentient, attempting to corrupt Dane with its own bloodthirst and manipulating him into believing he still wielded the Ebony Blade. Eventually, he reclaimed his true sword. He also employed a photonic shield generator in his glove, producing a energy field from the back of his hand to absorb attacks in battle.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

 

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Real Name: Mar-Vell

First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes (Vol. 1) #12, December 1967

Powers: Captain Marvel is a pink-skinned member of the Kree race. Due to the fact that Hala, the Kree homeworld, possesses roughly 50% greater gravity than Earth, Mar-Vell and other Kree have enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes compared to humans. When he first came to Earth, he wore the official militia uniform of the Kree Empire, made of a vibration-distorting fiber that insulated him from physical impact. On his wrist he wore a U-beam projector capable of generating a blinding flash, a darklight blackout cone of energy, or a coherent beam of force. He could also chose to lace the projected beam with magnetic particles, turning anything it struck into a powerful electromagnet, drawing metal objects towards it. The small belt jets he wore on his sides enabled him to fly.

After being exiled from the Kree for sympathizing with Earth, Mar-Vell was approached by the mysterious entity known as Zo, who infused him with exotic radiation that gave Captain Marvel superhuman strength and durability, the power to teleport himself from place to place on a planet's surface or across intergalactic distances, and an illusion-casting power allowing to create convincing visual and auditory projections to fool his opponents. After making his way to Hala, he discovered "Zo" was actually a construct of insurrectionists Zarek and Ronan, attempting to overthrow the Supreme Intelligence with him as a pawn. Instead, Mar-Vell threw himself on a negation grenade protecting the Intelligence. For his bravery, the Intelligence didn't kill him, gave him his classic costume, and sent him on his way back to Earth. On his way, though, Mar-Vell's molecules abruptly reversed polarity (a delayed effect from the grenade) and he was tossed into the Negative Zone. On the Supreme Intelligence's direction, he used his illusion powers to lure young Rick Jones to a hidden Kree outpost on Earth, and beckoned him to place a pair of nega bands onto his wrists. The Supreme Intelligence ensured a psychic link and molecular bond were forged between Jones and Mar-Vell, beginning the most important era of Captain Marvel's life.

Mar-Vell and Rick were in constant mental contact with each other, with one always in the Negative Zone and one on Earth. By banging the bands together, Rick could trade places with Captain Marvel, sending himself into the Negative Zone surrounded by an aura of energy that prevented him from bumping into the anti-matter there and exploding. The nega bands performed a similar relief for he while he was in the positive universe. Mar-Vell could bang the bands together and switch back with Rick, or they would automatically exchange places after he was on Earth for three hours. Everything that had happened since the negation grenade apparently eradicated all traces of Zo's influence on Captain Marvel, removing his superhuman powers. The nega bands, however, gave him a new set of abilities: They enabled him to harness his own psionic energy and utilize it to give himself superhuman Class 15 strength, endurance, reflexes, durability, the power to fly and survive in the vacuum of outer space. Marvel's connection to Rick was temporarily terminated at the onset of the Kree-Skrull War when he had the Fantastic Four use their Negative Zone portal to retrieve Rick, so that they both could exist in the positive universe at once. By the end of the war, however, Rick was critically injured in battle. Mar-Vell sacrificed his own life so that the Supreme Intelligence could physically fuse his molecules with Rick's, enabling Mar-Vell's healthy mass to replenish and fill in the damaged areas of Rick's own body. Captain Marvel was supposedly dead at this point, but months later he made contact with Rick mentally, explaining that his consciousness existed without a body, tied to Rick's own existence.

Working with a scientist he contacted, Rick determined that exposure to solar radiation would bring Mar-Vell back to corporeal form. The theory was correct, and the two of them once more began switching back and forth between Earth and the Negative Zone. Captain Marvel now had new powers thanks to the solar radiation treatments -- he could now absorb sunlight and use it to amplify the nega bands' power, more than doubling his strength and physical levels. He could also radiate blinding flashes of light from the bands or photonic force blasts. At night, away from a constantly replenishing source of solar energy, Mar-Vell operated at roughly half strength.During an extended war with the Titan, Thanos, Captain Marvel was contacted by the entity known as Eon and tapped to become Protector of the Universe. This gave him the power of Cosmic Awareness, which put him in touch with the pulse of the universe. Technically, this power gave Mar-Vell access to all knowledge in the universe, providing he knew where to look for it. In practice, he only employed it in certain ways. he could focus on someone's psi-signature or a residual energy signature and follow it back to its source. His intuitive abilities were enhanced, making his guesswork far more accurate than the laws of probability normally allowed. he also occasionally received flashes of knowledge or inspiration as his subconscious happened to locate information in the universe relating to something he was thinking about, giving him sudden bursts of clairvoyance that told him where a certain person or item was, what was about to happen in his presence or at some other location, etc.

As Captain Marvel and Rick's bond developed, they developed new abilities through the nega bands. The could now trigger the switch at will, without having to bang the bands, and could separate on command as well, splitting from their molecular bonding to operate independently on Earth for as long as they wanted. While they were bonded, though, Mar-Vell was now capable of harnessing Rick's psionic energy in addition to his own, boosting his powers even further. With intense concentration, one partner could even animate the unconscious body of the other, controlling it from across the dimensional barriers as if it were their own. This wasn't meant to last, however, and as Captain Marvel flew by a black hole, it all went down the crapper. The black hole messed up their link considerably, costing them all of their new abilities and preventing Rick and Mar-Vell from even talking to each other anymore mentally. What's more, the positive energy field which protected them in the Negative Zone was on the fritz, and neither of them could spend more than a few hours in the Zone at a time without having to switch out (Captain Marvel's body had readjusted to being positive matter at some point during his adventures). Ultimately, he figured out how to beat this problem by attacking the Super-Adaptoid, getting it to mimic his nega bands, and then banging those bands together, summoning Rick from the Negative Zone while casting the Adaptoid into that anti-matter universe forever. A few years later, however, Captain Marvel died of cancer.

KINGPIN

 

KINGPIN

Real Name: Wilson Fisk

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #50, July 1967

Powers: No superhuman powers. The Kingpin possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. The Kingpin is virtually as strong as it is possible for a man of his age, height, and weight to be without having superhuman powers. His great bulk does not consist of fat, but of muscles that have been developed to enormous size, as in a sumo wrestler. The Kingpin can lift (press) approximately 650 pounds. The Kingpin has extraordinary skill in hand-to-hand combat. His fighting skills and unusual agility for a man of his size compensate for the great difference between his human level of strength and Spider-Man's superhuman strength when the two engage in unarmed combat, (Spider-Man also has inhibitions about using his full strength against an opponent without superhuman powers for fear of killing him or her).

The Kingpin sometimes carries a walking stick which contains a concealed laser beam weapon that fires a short pulse of 300 watts, enough energy to vaporize a handgun. The walking stick can also be used to fire a concentrated spray of sleeping gas. The Kingpin's diamond stickpin also contains a small, highly compressed container of sleeping gas which is effective when fired directly into an opponent's face at close range. The Kingpin uses the stickpin gas as a last resort.

The Kingpin is a genius-level intellect with high skill in organizing and planning and self-educated to college-level in political science.

RONAN THE ACCUSER

 

RONAN THE ACCUSER

Real Name: Ronan

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #65, August 1967

Powers: Ronan the Accuser is typically the most powerful and most senior of all the Kree Accusers, an elite corps of Kree government officials whose responsibility is to prosecute, judge, sentence, and execute all Kree below the aristocratic class accused of crimes.

Ronan has undergone minor genetic engineering to make him larger and more fomidable than the average Kree, granting him Class 10 strength as well as enhanced endurance and resistance to physical injury. His body armor further boosts his strength to Class 60-70 range, provides additional resistance to damage, protection from hazardous atmospheres and the vacuum of space, and can project an aura of negativism which makes him invisible to the naked eye. In addition, it enables him to levitate and walk on air, and his gloves can generate a powerful electrical current or intense cold strong enough to send a person into temporary suspended animation.

Like all Accusers, he carries a cosmi-rod capable of manipulating cosmic energy for various purposes, only his is the most powerful of all the rods, dubbed the Universal Weapon. It can directly apply cosmic force as blasts from the nozzle on the end of the rod, discharging blinding light, stun blasts to render beings unconscious, concussive bolts capable of toppling buildings, and even totally disintegrating solid matter in instants. The Universal Weapon can manipulate gravity, causing projectiles to suddenly shoot off course or weighing down opponents with ever-increasing levels of gravitational force. It can also cast time-motion displacement fields which can contain and immobilize targets in a localized temporal distortion while moving them about in an energy field tethered to the rod itself. The rod can rearrange molecular structures according to the will of the user, altering someone's clothing from one set of garments to another or causing a metallic deck to reshape itself into a giant cage to envelop and contain a target. Ronan can use his rod to sense the presence and flow of energies in his general area, and drain energy away from existing sources, forcing mechanical systems to shut down, disabling Captain Mar-Vell's belt jets, or snuffing the Human Torch's flame by absorbing the heat away from his body. It can also be used for protective measures, casting an energy shield outwards to blunt force or energy before it reaches Ronan, or create a more powerful cone of invincibility, a solid and opaque energy construct materialized as a makeshift "courtroom" for confronting the Fantastic Four without interruption. The Universal Weapon also demonstrated teleportational powers, enabling it to transport Ronan and allies from one location to another, or summon the FF into his presence from various different places around Manhattan.

COBALT MAN

 

COBALT MAN

Real Name: Ralph Roberts

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #31, April 1967

Powers: Ralph Roberts was a scientist who originally patterned a suit of armor similar to Iron Man’s, but constructed from cobalt alloys. His cobalt-powered armor magnified his strength to Superhuman Class 10 level and shielded him from physical harm. It had boot jets enabling flight capabilities, an internal oxygen supply, and recoil beams in his palms which worked as typical concussive force blasters.

The armor's biggest drawback was that the cobalt power supply was unstable, and would produce the deadly radioactive isotope cobalt-60 after two hours of continuous use.

Years later, he developed radiation poisoning due to his experiments, but managed to mutate himself into a super-being by exposing himself to the fallout of a hydrogen bomb test. His physical body mass swelled and his skin began glowing with an inner blue light. Using a modified version of his Cobalt Man armor to harness his power, he now possessed Class 100 strength, superhuman durability, self-generated recoil beams from his hands and the power to fly. He still had the capacity to explode, though. Extended use of his powers would build the Cobalt Man’s energy up to nuclear capacity, causing him to become highly volatile, a walking C-Bomb.

MUTANT MASTER

 

MUTANT MASTER

Real Name: Unrevealed

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #37, October 1967

Powers: The Mutant Master was a member of the extraterrestrial Sirians and his true form was a cephalopod creature with ten tentacles, two of which had five smaller tentacles on their ends, resulting in hand-like appendages. Its tentacles were covered with suction-discs. He was proficient with his race's advanced technology. Not including his tentacles, his body was roughly six feet tall.

As the Mutant Master, he wore a robot-like exoskeleton to appear human. In most cases, his costume required that he remain seated within his mobile platform with only his "arms, shoulders, and head" showing (though, on at least one occasion, he employed a cloaked costume in which he could pass as a human walking around). His mobile platform contained a number of weapons, including lasers, detonators for pre-placed explosives, an expanding force field, etc., and it enabled him to travel via directed hovering.

He used a number of bases stocked with advanced weaponry. His primary base was the a giant mobile floating sphere which appeared to be a giant rock, and was invisible to radar. His technology included his androids (armed with hand-held weapons); the Arachnoids (spider-like warriors armed with paralysis and destructive rays); Magno-Disks, egg-shaped flying crafts; the Oblivio-Ray machine, a will-destroying device; a Predicto-Scope, a device for displaying possible future events; a robot armed with a machine gun and a flame-thrower; a small yet lethal explosive device able to be discharged remotely or if tampered with; large telescreens used to monitor the operations of Factor Three and their enemies; a multiple viewscreen monitor; an invisible-force hemisphere; a stun-ray; transparent prison cylinders; sleep-mist; an ultra-high frequency radio generator (which transmitted directly to mutants); a power-inhibiting control helmet; and a shock-ray. He presumably traveled to Earth via a warp-drive starship.

ADAM WARLOCK

 

ADAM WARLOCK

Real Name: Adam Warlock

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #66, September 1967 (as Him); Marvel Premiere #1, April 1972 (as Adam Warlock)

POWERS: Adam Warlock, originally known simply as Him, was an artificially engineered humanoid created with an affinity for cosmic energy. Adam's metabolism is bolstered by cosmic power in a process similar to, but not the equal of, Cosmic Eternals. Since the beginning, Adam has had the powers of self-healing and self-evolution thanks to his natural cocoon. This biological construct is used by Adam to shield himself from considerable harm or accelerate his healing powers in instances where his wounds are near-fatal and too serious for his natural healing abilities to deal with. He can weave it around his entire body in a matter of moments. Adam enters into a state of hibernation inside this cocoon, and often emerges from it having undergone some form of mental or spiritual transformation.

The power of Him was initially awe-inspiring, with superhuman strength enough to battle Thor, the power to project concussive force or completely obliterate entire mountainsides, and cast solar vortexes which allowed him instantaneous travel between space and dimensions. He also had certain psychic perceptions, could animate unliving matter to shape as he chose, and form reflective energy fields to repel all forms of attack. This rampant overuse of his own cosmic energies was costly, though, and upon another death-rebirth cycle within his cocoon, he tempered his various abilities to more reasonable levels. Him took the name Adam Warlock for the first time here, and accepted a gift from the High Evolutionary to help channel his powers: the Soul Gem, an emerald jewel placed upon his brow. The gem harnessed spiritual energy from Adam and the people around him, giving Warlock excess reverses of strength based upon the strength of his convictions, and the belief other people had in him. On the other hand, his stamina would quickly become depleted if he fell victim to self-doubt, or loss the faith of those who followed him. At this point, Warlock possessed a natural Class 4 strength, superhuman endurance, reaction time, durability, and recuperative powers. He was also capable of directed levitation, but little else on his own power. Instead, he allowed his excess cosmic energy to be funneled through the Soul Gem's ability to access his spiritual energy, using the jewel as a conduit for his own powers. Warlock could use the gem to boost his strength to Class 40 levels, and similarly increase all his other physical powers and boost his flight speed to faster than Mach One. The gem also sustained his natural ability to survive in the vacuum of space, and he could reach sub-light speeds once outside of atmosphere. Warlock can travel faster than the speed of light by locating naturally-forming wormholes and space warps, traveling down them to move across galaxies under his own power. He also was capable of molecular manipulation. By stimulating molecules he could generate intense heat, ignite or douse flames, project concussive pulses, liquefy or even totally atomize solid matter. While battling the Man-Beast and the New Men, he most often used his molecular power for controlled devolution, reverting the animal men back into mere animals. It was similarly useful for reversing the transformations of the Hulk-like Brute. Warlock could even perform advanced molecular reconfigurations, like sculpting sheer rock into a lifelike human statute, or reconstructing a suspension bridge that was broken in two.

Eventually, Warlock lost much of his power after realizing that the Soul Gem was like a karmic vampire, feeding endlessly off of the cosmic-spiritual energy he was channeling through it. It even became impossible for him to remove the gem from his brow, as it had coaxed enough of his soul into itself to render him near lifeless when separated from the jewel. Warlock's molecular powers were now completely gone, as he rededicated his natural energies to controlling the Soul Gem better. The Gem hungered for the souls of other beings, and could consume them in an instant, leaving his victims terminally incapacitated for all eternity. Warlock had to fight the Gem's attempts to influence him into using this power. Still, he gained new skills from probing the jewel's capabilities, such as the power to sense other people by their spiritual energy, and even temporarily revive the recently deceased so as to coax information out of them. Ultimately, Adam died and had his soul consumed by his own gem. Since being restored to the physical plane of existence, Adam Warlock has proven to have greater control over the Soul Gem than before. Using it since his resurrection, he has been able to focus cosmic energy as concussive bolts or protective shields, and can non-fatally manipulate the gem's own power to karmically disrupt the anima centers of other beings, causing madness or simple unconsciousness. Adam Warlock has purged all good and evil from his soul, and exists in a state of being that places him outside the realms of chaos and order. This gives him certain psychic senses and abilities, as well as a unique perspective on the universe which often surprises his opponents.

Warlock had later gone through another period of healing and resurrection through his cocooning, after his empathic senses responded to the death unleashed by the Annihilation War, forcing him into his recuperative state. He maintains his natural powers of superhuman strength, durability and flight, but mainly utilizes his newly discovered abilities as a quantum magician, able to manipulate energies that look and act like magic. The reason for a formerly science-based being would be suddenly manipulating arcane forces is unclear, although its uncertain if that is truly what Adam's power is. He can sense souls and spiritual energy, and his powers can be magnified dramatically based on the amount of spiritual energy he has to draw upon. He can also manipulate true magic as well, though, absorbing energy from spells cast around him, disrupting enchantments or turning them back on his attacker. His energies can be released as illumination, a concussive blast or "obliteration charm", create an immobilizing field to contain opponents, used to gather and return other forms of energy back at their source, or shaped around his fists to magnify the force of his blows. It can also be formed into a hollow sphere for protection and superluminal transport by jumping through subspace. He has also cast spells of healing or transmute matter, altering the elemental composition of large masses or performing simple tricks like conjuring up a uniform. Adam is sensitive to psychic and electromagnetic energy at this point. He was able to detect the presence of a nearby teleportation sequence the moment the Phalanx arrived, scan for the High Evolutionary's power trace to locate him, and analyze the energy manipulating properties of the quantum bands. He can also detect rifts in the fabric of space-time, the growing menace caused by the Fault and the breakdown of natural laws throughout the cosmos.

SUPREME INTELLIGENCE

 

SUPREME INTELLIGENCE

Real Name: Inapplicable

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #65, August 1967

Powers: The Supreme Intelligence is the permanent ruler of the alien Kree and their empire. It is a massive cybernetic/organic computer network system comprised of 5,000 cubic meters of computer circuitry incorporating all of the Kree Empire's greatest minds in the areas of science, philosophy, politics, and military action. Their brains were preserved cryogenically and the aggregation of those brains created a single composite collective intelligence with a near-immeasurable data processing capacity, feeding knowledge and understanding from the cryogenically preserved brains. When wishing to interact with it, the Kree address it within its terminal chamber, where a holographic image is projected onto a gigantic monitor screen.

Supremor (the Supreme Organism) has existed for nearly a million years, and so its collection of knowledge and experience is virtually immeasurable. That combined mental energy can also be harnessed for psionic means, giving the Intelligence certain telepathic powers. It is capable of probing the thoughts and memories of sentient beings, communicating with them telepathically, and projecting subliminal thoughts into their minds in order to subtly guide their actions. This power is unhindered by distance, letting Supremor interact with minds in another galaxy entirely, yet its ability to interface with alien minds such as humans or Shi'ar is somewhat limited, prompting it to transmit its communications and influence primarily through their dreams. It can tap into the subconscious minds of sentient beings even when awake, though, and summon forth animated constructs from their memories. The Intelligence once forced Captain America into battle with six of his greatest foes, tangible phantoms pulled from his own mind to do battle with him, and later pulled a similar trick individually with each of a squadron of Avengers. The Supreme Intelligence can also teleport people across intergalactic distances, summoning them into its presence and later sending them back home. Whether this is an expression of its psionic powers or a mechanical system triggered cybernetically by the entity is uncertain.

"Supremor" is also the name of the physical manifestation, or avatar, of the Supreme Intelligence. The Supremor androids are largely based on the design of the Kree Sentry servitors, only aesthetically modeled to resemble a humanoid version of the Supreme Intelligence. Supremor is animated by a small portion of the Intelligence's life-force, acting as a quasi-independent extension of its creator's will, capable of individual thought and action in situations yet always bound by the Supreme Intelligence's guidance. The Supreme Intelligence is capable of animating at least three Supremor androids simultaneously. Supremor possesses Class 100 strength, superhuman endurance, lightning-fast reflexes, and considerable resistance to all manner of physical injury. He can project blasts of concussive force and mass-intensifier beams that impose tremendous weight down on an opponent. Supremor is also capable of using the elastic and prehensile tentacles on his head and backside to leech the intellect out of fallen opponents, storing their consciousnesses within him until he can transfer their minds into the Supreme Intelligence's own vast data-banks.

CANDY SOUTHERN

 

CANDY SOUTHERN

Real Name: Candace Southern

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #31, April 1967

Powers: No superhuman powers, Candace "Candy" Southern was a baseline human being. A skillful businesswoman, a witty charmer, and a natural leader, the highly athletic Candy was also a strong swimmer, an avid dancer, and a good tennis player. Agile, resourceful, and quick-thinking in times of crisis, Candy had completed a self-defense course at the learning annex and was familiar with firearms, though she avoided physical confrontations if possible. A dabbler in amateur architecture and computer programming, she helped design the original Defenders' expanded renovated headquarters and its high-tech security system.

A capable automobile driver and cook praised for mixing delightful blends of coffee, Candy had vast financial resources, especially when she and Warren Worthington III (Archangel) were a couple with access to both of their family fortunes. She also served as the chairwoman and vice president of Worthington Enterprises. They shared multiple residences worldwide, most notably their mountaintop Aerie in New Mexico, a Colorado mountaintop mansion, a penthouse apartment in upper Manhattan, and several residences in San Francisco. After her consciousness was assimilated into the collective intelligence of the techno-organic Earth-based Phalanx, she gained a techno-organic duplicate of her human body which presumably had the enhanced strength, shape-shifting, and matter assimilating capabilities typical of the Phalanx.

ABOMINATION

 

ABOMINATION

Real Name: Emil Blonsky

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish (Vol. 1) #90, April 1967

Powers: Emil Blonsky bombarded himself with a more concentrated and intense dosage of gamma radiation than Bruce Banner himself had received from the nuclear explosion that had first turned him into the Hulk. Like Banner, Blonsky had some unknown genetic factor in his body that saved him from being killed by a great dose of gamma radiation. Instead, the radiation had an immediate mutagenic effect upon Blonsky, transforming him into the monster whom General Ross's daughter dubbed the Abomination.

The Abomination has two toes on each foot, webbed ears, and a ridged brow. He was once doused in toxic waste, giving his skin a melted appearance. He possesses Superhuman Class 100 strength that surpasses that of the Hulk at the Hulk's normal "calm" functional level. But whereas the Hulk has a specially adapted adrenal gland whose secretions trigger the release of far greater amounts of physical strength than that of the Hulk's normal level to correspond to his heightened emotional states, the Abomination does not. Hence, the Abomination's strength does not fluctuate like the Hulk's. The gamma radiation that mutated Blonsky's body fortified his cellular structure and added, from some as yet unknown source, over 800 pounds of bone marrow and tissue to his body. Unlike the Hulk, the Abomination is a standard gamma mutate possessing a single form and intelligence, rather than switching between an original and altered form and personality like the Hulk.

In addition to great strength, the Abomination's body possesses a high degree of resistance to injury, pain, and disease. The Abomination's skin is capable of withstanding great heat without blistering (up to 3,500° Fahrenheit), great cold without freezing (down to -175° Fahrenheit), and great impacts without injury (he can survive direct hits by field artillery cannon shells). It is possible to injure him, however: for example, the Abomination could not survive the detonation of a nuclear warhead from ten feet away. The Abomination's highly efficient physiology renders him immune to all terrestrial disease. The Abomination can hold his breath for long periods, the limits of which have yet to be defined. Extreme pain or cold (beneath the limit mentioned above) or extended lack of oxygen can cause him to enter a coma-like state of suspended animation, in which he can survive, perhaps indefinitely. Like the Hulk, the Abomination can use his superhumanly strong leg muscles to leap great distances. The Abomination has been observed to cover 2 miles in a single bound.

It's noteworthy to mention that in comparing the mutated forms of gamma-irradiated subjects such as the Hulk, the Abomination, Doc Samson, the She-Hulk, Patchwork, and the Leader, different frequencies of gamma radiation affect different human beings in different ways. The effect that intensive gamma radiation has on most people is cellular deterioration and eventual death, but there are others whose genetic constitution enables them to mutate so as to gain superhuman powers. The type and extent of mutation is determined by four factors: The frequency of the gamma rays, the amount of the gamma rays, the subject's latent mutant potential, and the subject's psychological make-up. The subject's potential for mutation is dictated by certain mysterious "interstitial" segments of DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid), the molecules which carry a living organism's genetic code. Under the action of mutagenic influences, such as gamma rays, the segments can trigger many body wide restructuring events. As for the subject's psychological make-up, it has been theorized that the gamma radiation somehow acts to mold the subject's mutated form according to repressed desires within his subconscious.

Hence, Emil Blonsky's mutated form is the physical embodiment of his own self-loathing. Hence, these four factors contributed to the extremely non-human appearance of the Abomination, the neanderthalic appearances of the Hulk, and the relatively normal appearance of Doc Samson, whose only aberration is his hair color. Why gamma radiation tends to produce mutate forms of a greenish hue is not yet known. Also, Doc Samson's strength is at least partially governed by the length of his hair, but that governing itself is at least partially psychological in nature.

RHINO

 

RHINO

Real Name: Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #41, October 1966

Powers: Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich was a mafia enforcer who was subjected to several months of chemical and radiation treatments that ultimately granted him a natural superhuman physique increased further by the enhancements of his Rhino hide suit. He possessed at least Class 40 strength, superhuman speed (in the sense that he could run over 60 mph after building momentum, not a true "speedster" like Quicksilver or the Speed Demon), as well as considerable stamina and resistance to physical injury. The Rhino suit was a polymer armor that gave him even greater durability, acting as living armored hide that resisted impact, penetration, and temperature extremes. The horns on the cowl were reinforced to function as ramming and striking weapons. The suit was bonded to his skin initially, complete with hidden flaps that could be opened for waste disposal. After his original suit was destroyed fighting Spider-Man, the Leader exposed him to gamma radiation, restoring his powers and giving him upwards of Class 80 strength and a new armored uniform.

Over the years, the Rhino's overall strength and durability have fluctuated, as has whether the suit was bonded to his skin or not. There was a period where his suit was bonded to his skin until a doctor helped surgically remove it. He demonstrated great strength and durability even unarmored, and had an upgraded suit made with the assistance of Justin Hammer. It may have been necessary for the Rhino to receive chemical treatments on a regular basis to maintain his full power. When he retired circa Spider-Man's Brand New Day, he was still super-strong, but at a greatly diminished capacity until he put the suit back on again.