Occupation: EMS TechnicianIdentity: Secret Legal Status: None Place of Birth: Asgard Group Affiliation: Active member of Avengers Base of Operations: New York City, New York First Appearance: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83
Height: 6 ft. 6 in. Weight: 640 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde
Known Superhuman Powers: Thor’s principal weapon is the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, one of the most formidable weapons known to man or god. Among the hammer’s various enchantments are its indestructibility and the ability to summon all the elements of storm (wind, rain, thunder, and lightning). His hammer can be thrown both as a means of flight, and as a weapon that always returns to its wielder’s hand. Thor’s superhuman strength is matched with an immunity to all human diseases, superhuman speed, agility, and simulated flight when he hurls his enchanted hammer Mjolnir.
Thor’s Origin Story
Thor is the son of Odin, All-father of the Asgardian Gods, and the elder goddess Gaea, the living embodiment of Earth itself. Thor was born centuries ago in a cave in Norway. Once Thor was weened, Odin brought him to Asgard where he was raised to be the God of Thunder and heir to the throne. As the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor commands the thunder, the lightning the wind and all the elements of the storm with his hammer Mjolnir, which was forged from the legendary, indestructible Asgardian metal; Uru. Mjolnir gives Thor the power of flight and helps him channel, focus or amplify his own godly elemental powers. Though the hammer is quite heavy by mortal standards, It can only be lifted by those deemed worthy to do so, regardless of the would-be wielder’s physical strength. After centuries of defending Asgard from its enemies, Thor became too proud and grew headstrong. It was because of this that he was banished to Midgard (Earth) by his father to teach him some needed humility. Made mortal and given the form of the handicapped human doctor Donald Blake, Thor learned what it was like to be small and frail and how to be humble and truly noble despite being mortal. When in his mortal guise of Dr. Blake he is able to transform into his true godly form by striking his walking stick (actually Mjolnir in disguise) upon any solid surface causing the transformation that changes him into Thor and his walking stick into his hammer Mjolnir. (In the past, this has now been taken away)
Originally Created by: Stan Lee, Don Rico, and Don Heck
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Russian
Sexuality: Straight
Family: None known
Lover: Hawkeye (implied)
Allegiance: Avengers; Former: SHIELD (agent), Stark Industries, KGB
Significant Relationships: Hawkeye, savior; Iron Man, ally; Nick Fury, boss
Powers: Black Widow is a human, trained in the arts of espionage and martial arts, with specialities in hand-to-hand combat and interrogation. She has the athletic prowess of an Olympic class athlete and appears nearly superhuman at times. Her weapon of choice is a wrist-mounted shooter, or anything else she can get her hands on.
Black Widow’s Origin Story
A descendant of Russian royalty, Natasha Romanov was abandoned as a child and found by soldier Ivan Petrovich. A ballerina in her youth, she joined Russia’s K.G.B. and became an elite intelligence operative, a combination of consummate skill and classified government enhancements of her natural abilities. She also became infamous as an often-wed, often-widowed heartbreaker whose husbands (beginning with test pilot turned intelligence agent Alexi Shostakov) tended to suffer “unfortunate accidents”, a quirk which may have influenced her choice of long-term code name: the Black Widow. She eventually embarked on a lucrative freelance spy career, which culminated in her infiltration of New York City’s Latverian Embassy.
Manipulating the naïve young superhero Spider-Man into helping her escape Latverian security, Natasha used the information she gathered to audition successfully for the American-based international spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. She became a mainstay of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s black ops division, often partnered with Hawkeye (Clint Barton).
After Hawkeye and the Widow led the successful extermination of over five hundred Chitauri extraterrestrial subversives, the duo was promoted to the ranks of the Ultimates]], S.H.I.E.L.D.’s celebrity super-agents, with newly falsified personal backgrounds. Alongside the Ultimates, Black Widow helped save Earth from a Chitauri plot. She and teammate ]]Iron Man (Ultimate) (wealthy playboy genius Tony Stark) became lovers during the struggle, and later began dating seriously, despite Natasha’s mutually hostile relationship with Stark’s caustic butler, Edwin Jarvis.
Giving Natasha the female equivalent of his Iron Man battle armor, Stark asked her to marry him and she said yes; however, the bloody massacre of Clint Barton’s entire family by a secret traitor within the Ultimates cast a pall over Tony and Natashas’ wedding preparations.
While in bed with Tony on the morning of the Liberators’ attack, Natasha pulled a gun from under her pillow and killed Jarvis, and then proceeded to point the weapon at Tony. Tony then proceeded to activate the nanites in her bloodstream (the ones that allowed her to control her armor), paralyzing her, and then struck her in the head with a champagne bottle.
After the Ultimates defeated Loki and the Liberators, Natasha was seen recovering in a nearby hospital. However, as soon as she woke up, Hawkeye entered, and killed her, finally getting revenge for the murder of his wife and kids.
First Appearance: Captain America Comics #1 (1941) – (Atlas Comics)
Created By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Team Affiliations: Avengers, SHIELD, Invaders, All Winners Squad
Currently Seen In: Captain America, New Avengers
Powers : Because of his super soldier serum, Captain America is at the pinnacle of physical human health. Over the years, he has trained his body to be a perfect fighting machine, mastering many different martial arts and types of combat. He is highly acrobatic and uses his speed and agility to always be one step ahead of his foes.
Captain America is also known for his shield, which is made of an indestructible vibranium/admantium alloy. The disc-shaped shield can be thrown with great accuracy and rebound to its owner. It is also impervious to all sorts of attacks, physical, energy, or otherwise. Captain America is so in tune with using his shield that he is able to attack multiple targets, having it bounce and rebound multiple times.
One thing that the Avengers have made him famous for is his expertise in group tactics, always taking the role of leader in battle. His teammates have come to greatly trust in Captain America’s ability to lead them into battle, and trust him with their lives.
Finally, although not a superpower per se, Captain America is the ultimate optimist, trusting in the things that make America great. He never gives up hope in the good of humanity and will fight to his last dying breath.
Interesting Fact: Captain America’s “indestructible” shield has been destroyed and put back together again – two times.
Captain America’s Origin Story
During World War II, a young Steve Rogers tried to enlist into the military but was turned away due to his frail and sickly body. Steve Rogers was given another chance to serve his country when a General overheard his rejection and offers Steve a chance to fight the Nazis by being a part of a top-secret experiment. Steve agreed.
Steve was given a super-solider serum and was blasted by radiation. After the process, Steve’s body was no longer sickly and frail but the pinnacle of human perfection. Unfortunately, the plans for the super-soldier serum were lost when a Nazi spy killed the scientist who kept the plans secreted away in his mind. Steve was to be the first and last super soldier.
Steve underwent extensive training and was soon put into action as Captain America, fighting Hitler, the Nazi’s and his greatest foe, The Red Skull. But his work was soon cut short when fighting Baron Zemo. He was tied to a rocket with his friend and sidekick, Bucky, and was unable to escape. The rocket exploded, killing Bucky (who in later years was brought back to life as the superhero the Winter Soldier) and sending Captain America to what seemed to be an icy grave in the harsh Atlantic Ocean.
His frozen body was found decades later by the Sub-Mariner, and somehow, Captain America survived. He is a man that is ripped from his own generation, living in the future but never able to escape his past. Instead of sulking, Captain America took the opportunity to continue to fight the good fight and has gone on to lead the Avengers and become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This isn’t to say Captain America hasn’t had his share of problems with his own government. He was once asked to resign from being Captain America when he refused to become a government sponsored operative. He resigned, but later came back to stop a pan of The Red Skull to overthrow the government. He decided that the government didn’t own Captain America, the people did, and he vowed to serve them as their protector.
In the famous Civil War storyline, the basis of the 2016 Captain America film, Captain America came into opposition again with the United States Government. He was opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act, which would force all superhuman beings to reveal their identities to the government, and become paid employees, doing what the government says and when. He was in direct opposition to his long-time friend, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.
Regardless of where Captain America is, he is always working to promote freedom and the American Way. He is a stalwart ambassador of all that is good in America, and an opponent to greed, crime, racism, and hatred.
Currently Seen In: Incredible Hulk, Marvel Age: Hulk
Powers: When Bruce Banner changes into the Hulk, he becomes an unstoppable beast of near unlimited strength, power, and destruction. The Hulk’s strength is probably the greatest in the Marvel universe, with many foes falling to his thunderous attacks. The Hulk is also able to leap great distances traveling for miles before bounding upwards again.
For his size, the Hulk is incredibly fast and can run great distances at extreme speeds. He generally travels by jumping as described above though. The hulk is also highly resistant to damage, being near impervious to most forms of damage. Very little has been known to faze the Hulk, except those of the same power level as the Hulk such as The Thing, Thor, Abomination, and others.
Even when the Hulk is damaged, he heals quickly, and his endurance makes him an untiring creature capable of immense destruction. The Hulk is truly a marvel, both in his capability to defeat any enemy that would get in his way and as a being capable of destroying much that mankind has worked so hard to create.
Interesting Fact : In “The Incredible Hulk #1” The Hulk was not green, he was grey!
Hulk’s Origin Story
Bruce Banner was a top scientist for the military that was working on a gamma bomb, a weapon of massive destructive power. During a test of the gamma bomb, Bruce noticed a young teenager by the name of Rick Jones had entered the test site. Bruce rushed to aide the young man, and in pushing Rick into a trench, exposed himself to the rays of the gamma bomb. The result of this exposure would be to transform gentle Bruce Banner into the destructive monster known as The Incredible Hulk.
The Hulk has gone through many different personality transformations during his lifetime. At first, the Hulk had very little of Bruce Banner in him and was easily angered, making him a threat to mankind. Banner was able to control the beast for a time and went on to help form the Avengers in the process. However, his control would wane, and the Hulk continued to threaten the world.
Another gamma powered being, Doc Samson, who was also a psychiatrist, attempted to treat Banner. He successfully freed Bruce from the Hulk persona, but when the Hulk threatened to continue to destroy all around him, Bruce reformed with the Hulk, shattering his persona in the process. What emerged was the Grey Hulk, known as “Mr. Fixit.” This version had the intellect of Banner but maintained the savage side of the hulk.
Doc Samson further tried to help Banner, and through hypnosis, helped him to create the, “Professor Hulk.” This entity appeared to have the full intellect and personality of Bruce Banner, but the powers of the Hulk. After much inner battle, Bruce has had to make a deal with the three main personas of the Hulk, each taking turns to control the beast.
Recently, The Hulk has gone back to being more like his earlier incarnation, easily angered with a limited intellect. This Hulk became part of a scheme from S.H.I.E.L.D to help them destroy a satellite called the Godseye, a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon that had fallen into the hands of the terrorist group Hydra and had the ability to replicate the strength of any enemy it faced. The Hulk succeeded but was soon to be betrayed by his new employers.
The Illuminati, a group of superhumans – including Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Iron Man and Nick Fury – working to protect mankind and operate behind the scenes to better the world, saw an opportunity to rid the earth of The Hulk. When he was picked up by a shuttle to return to earth, he was sent into a wormhole destined for a desolate planet. Instead, he landed on Planet Sakaar, where The Hulk became known as The Green Scar and unintentionally helped to lead a revolution against the corrupt emperor. On this planet, The Hulk found peace, love, and people who adored him. This all ended when the ship that had taken him to Sakaar exploded, killing millions, including his new wife. The resulting explosion destroyed the planet, and the Hulk swore vengeance on those he deemed responsible for the death of his loved ones.
Arriving on Earth, he systematically defeated Black Bolt, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and The Sentry before the Hulk before he finally changed back into Bruce Banner with New York torn into pieces. When one of his own Warbound, the insectoid Miek, turned on the Hulk, revealing it was he that had detonated the ship, Banner changed back into the Hulk, consumed with rage. He then asked Iron Man to stop him as he feared he would destroy the world in their rage. Iron Man turned all the defensive satellites upon The Hulk and defeated him.
With The Hulk imprisoned, a new red Hulk has emerged, as well as a new Abomination. It seems the only one who can stop these threats could be The Incredible Hulk.
Created By: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, and Don Heck
Powers: Without his suit of armor, Tony Stark has no supernatural powers. He is only limited by his imagination. Tony is a brilliant engineer and has used his talents to create a powerful suit of armor that enables the wearer to fly, shoot beams of energy from his hands and chest, and resist the vacuum of space. The suit also protects the wearer from damage and grants superhuman strength.
The suit is constantly being redesigned to face the new challenges that Tony Stark meets on a daily basis. There are specialty suits that have been made such as the Arctic, Stealth, Space, Hulkbuster, and Thorbuster armors. There have been nearly 40 different variations of the Iron Man armor in the current reality of the Iron Man comics.
Iron Man’s Origin Story
Young Tony Stark was a prodigy of mechanical engineering genius. At 21, he took over his father’s company and launched it into a hugely successful corporation. During a testing of new technology in Vietnam, Tony was hit by a piece of shrapnel from a booby trap. The shrapnel was lodged near his heart and without help, Tony would die.
There, he was captured by a communist leader and imprisoned, forced to make new weapons for the overlord. Also imprisoned with him was Professor Ho Yinsen, a renowned physicist. Together they built the first suit of armor that would become Iron Man. Professor Ho even made the chest plate of the armor with a device to help Tony’s heart keep beating.
Tony used the armor to escape, although in the process, Professor Ho sacrificed his life to give Tony the time to charge it to full capacity. Tony escaped with James Rhodes (now War Machine) and returned to America to become a part of the Avengers, taking his fathers teachings of giving back to the world to heart and using his new armor to aid mankind. He wasn’t without his own demons though, as he struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.
In the midst of being a hero and working with the Avengers, Tony also continued to grow his company into a multi-billion corporation. He developed and sold technology that went to S.H.I.E.L.D. and other organizations, such as the Avengers Quinjet. His success continued to grow, and this to let him being targeted by Obadiah Stane, another billionaire with his own weapons design business.
Obadiah sought to ruin Tony, eventually taking over his company. This set things in motion and Tony ended up becoming homeless forced him to return to the bottle and he even gave up being Iron Man, turning it over to his friend Jim Rhodes. Stane even discovered designs of the Iron Man armor and began to create his own version, called the Iron Monger. Stane planned on selling multiple suits to the highest bidder.
Eventually, Tony got his life together and began a new company and resumed being Iron Man again. He even started a new company called Circuits Maximus. This enraged Stane and led to a battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger. When Stane lost, he committed suicide and this led Tony getting back his company and life.
Later, when more and more villains began to surface with armor based on the Iron Man armor, Stark took it upon himself to stop the use of the technology based on his designs and started what is now know as the “Armor Wars.” He went after the supervillains and even the government agencies that were using similarly powered armor and deactivated them, taking back what he thought was rightfully his.
With such global threats on the horizon, Tony helped start the Illuminati, a group of other superpowered beings that worked to control the fate of the world. The group is comprised of Iron Man, Black Bolt, Sub Mariner, Professor X, Reed Richards, and Dr. Strange. They were responsible for recovering the infinity gems, items when combined with the Infinity Gauntlet, would grant the bearer godlike powers. They were also responsible for sending the Hulk into orbit, which in turn started World War Hulk.
Tony Stark was also a major player in the Civil War, where the government wanted heroes to register themselves, making their identities known and essentially becoming S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Many heroes balked at this, not wanting to give up their identities or become pawns of the government and so went underground. The heroes eventually split into two groups. There were those for the registration, led by Tony Stark himself, where he was made the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and those against, led by Captain America. The war split the Marvel universe down the middle and climaxed in a giant battle in New York City, but when Captain America saw the carnage this was causing the American people, he called a cease-fire and turned himself in. He was later assassinated going to the courthouse for trial, a thing that Tony himself feels responsible for.
Lately, Tony Stark is concerned with the fact that there have been Skrulls that have infiltrated agencies and super-powered groups. The main problem is that these Skrulls are undetectable to anyone, and therefore everyone is suspect. He is working against the Skrulls, bringing in the brightest that the world has to offer to find a way to stop this secret invasion.
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