First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #78
Membership: Grim Reaper, Count Nefaria (leaders), Power Man, Swordsman, Man-Ape, Living Laser, Whirlwind, Nekra, Ultron-12, Black Talon, Mister Hyde, Absorbing Man, Tiger Shark, Grey Gargoyle, Wonder Man, Radioactive Man, Unicorn, Skullbuster II, Volga Belle, Moonstone
BEFORE
- Eric Williams was a small-time Maggia enforcer before the death of his brother Simon, also known as Wonder Man. Eric blamed the Avengers for Simon’s demise and made contact with the recently constructed Ultron-5. The killer android outfitted Eric with technology to become the Grim Reaper and seek revenge on their shared foes. [Avengers (1st series) #52]
- Swordsman, Power Man, Living Laser and Man-Ape were all super-villains with a history of conflict with the Avengers. [Avengers (1st series) #19-22, 29-30, 34-35, 62, 65, Annual #1]
CHRONOLOGY
The Grim Reaper wanted revenge against all the Avengers for the death of his brother, Simon. He recruited Swordsman, Power Man, Living Laser and Man-Ape as the Lethal Legion, with reward money promised for each member they defeated and captured. The vengeance-crazed Reaper only wanted to kill all the Avengers at once to satisfy his hatred. The Man-Ape’s first attack against Captain America alerted the team to the threat, so he next kidnapped Monica Lynne to lure the Black Panther into his trap.
Once the Panther was captured, the Grim Reaper allowed T’Challa to overhear his plans and temporarily escape. Black Panther used a convenient communications console to radio the Avengers about where the Lethal Legion would strike next, ensuring the Avengers would disassemble to better fall into the Legionnaires’ separate traps. The Grim Reaper then cut the transmission and easily recaptured the Black Panther.
Swordsman and Power Man ambushed Goliath and the Scarlet Witch in the sewers under Avengers Mansion. They used a light-beam to temporarily blind the heroes, and Goliath stunned himself and Wanda when he rammed into a pipe at giant-size. At the nearby power plant, Captain America and Quicksilver ran afoul of Man-Ape and Living Laser. They too were defeated, netting the Lethal Legion a quartet of new captives. When Power Man tried to raid Avengers Mansion alone, however, he was overpowered by the returning Vision. The synthezoid then swapped costumes with Power Man to infiltrate the Legionnaires. His plan to free his teammates was aided by the Grim Reaper’s madness when Eric Williams discovered for the first time that the Vision’s brainwave patterns were derived from his brother, Simon. The Reaper smashed open the gas-filled chamber, threatening “Vision” and the other Avengers, who together made quick work of the surprised Lethal Legion. [Avengers (1st series) #78-79]
IN-BETWEEN
- Count Luchino Nefaria was another long-term Avengers foe, leader of one of the Maggia crime families. [Avengers (1st series) #13] However, his success with organized crime failed to grow to accommodate the rise in super-heroes, and he was beaten time and again by the Avengers, X-Men and others. After a brazen attack on NORAD, he was believed dead in a plane explosion. [X-Men (1st series) #94-95]
- Power Man went to prison for a time. When he was released, he learned that Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, had begun using the name “Power Man” professionally. Josten challenged Cage for the right to the name and lost the match. [Luke Cage, Power Man #21]
CHRONOLOGY, con’t.
With his assets at an all-time low, Count Nefaria threw everything into Kenneth Sturdy’s Project N. Tired of relying upon super-powered lackeys, Nefaria wanted to achieve super-powers for himself. First, he recruited Erik Josten, the former Power Man, with the promise of amplifying his dwindling 
powers. Nefaria’s charisma helped convince Josten to free Whirlwind and the Living Laser from prison, and then rob a bank to acquire the funds necessary for Dr. Sturdy’s process. This new Lethal Legion were promised that Project N would increase their individual powers, so long as they served Nefaria.
In truth, Project N was designed to steal the Legion’s powers and transfer them to Count Nefaria. After the Avengers failed to foil the bank robbery, Whirlwind, Living Laser and the former Power Man returned to Nefaria’s dilapidated townhouse to subject themselves to Project N. Feeling supercharged at first, the Legion assaulted Avengers Mansion and brought the fight directly to the Avengers for a showdown. After only a short bout, however, the trio exhausted themselves and collapsed. Count Nefaria emerged in the aftermath, having acquired 100x the power of the Lethal Legion. [Avengers (1st series) #164] Despite his vast strength, Nefaria was eventually brought down by Thor, Vision and the combined power of the Avengers. [Avengers (1st series) #165-166]
IN-BETWEEN
- For a time, it appeared as if Kenneth Sturdy deliberately sabotaged Project N, causing Nefaria to age uncontrollably when he betrayed the doctor who granted him his powers. Nefaria was reduced to a wizened old man before seemingly meeting his end. [Iron Man (1st series) #115-116]
- Thoroughly humiliated, Josten’s strength never recovered from Nefaria’s energy drain. He became a low-level Smuggler for a period of time [Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1st series) #49] Eventually, he sought out Dr. Karl Malus to experiment on his powers. Malus boosted Josten’s ionic energy to Wonder Man’s levels, then infused him with Pym Particles to create Goliath III. Despite his newfound might, Goliath was soon captured by the newly formed West Coast Avengers. [Iron Man Annual #7]
- The Grim Reaper continued to hound the Avengers over the years. He arranged for the voodoo priest called the Black Talon to reanimate Wonder Man as a zombie to unsettle the Vision. [Avengers (1st series) #151-152] Surprisingly, the zombie regained self-awareness, with Wonder Man returning to life as an independent living being of ionic energy. Now there were two Avengers arguably based on the Reaper’s beloved brother, a fact he struggled to accept.
- Ultron-5 evolved over the years through several iterations, last facing the Avengers on Battleworld as Ultron-11.
CHRONOLOGY, con’t.
The Grim Reaper planned to finally resolve what he considered Wonder Man and Vision’s irreconcilable claims regarding Simon Williams. While Vision was based on Simon’s brain wave patterns and Wonder Man was Simon reborn, Eric Williams thought they were both abominations. He assembled Ultron-12, Black Talon, Man-Ape and the Reaper’s lover Nekra Sinclair as the 
Lethal Legion. Ultron-12 and his robots made several attacks on Avengers West before invading Avengers Compound. Ultron and Man-Ape managed to free Goliath, recruiting him for the Legion, and kidnapped Wonder Man and Hank Pym, who was visiting. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1] Meanwhile, Black Talon and Nekra raised an army of zombies in a failed effort to kidnap the Vision as well. [Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #1]
Grim Reaper and the Lethal Legion explained to their captives that the Reaper intended to employ the Black Talon’s rituals to revive a new zombie based on Simon Williams. Ultron-12’s machinery was designed to copy brain wave patterns, but the robot altered it for a new purpose. The Reaper wanted to copy the minds of Vision and Wonder Man simultaneously, “editing out” any thoughts or memories that weren’t in common, leaving what he believed would constitute a “pure” version of Simon Williams. Ultron amused himself with the idea of destroying the Vision (and now Hank Pym as well) once the Grim Reaper was done with them. The Reaper’s plan was mad, for a start, and his overt racism started to grate on both Man-Ape and Black Talon. (Disturbingly, the Reaper loved Nekra, an albino black woman, for being “the purest white” he knew. Meanwhile Nekra, whose mutant strength was powered by hatred, loved the Reaper because of the strength of his obsessive hatred for the Avengers. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #2]
The Avengers came searching for their missing members, and Ultron-12 brought down their Quinjet near the Reaper’s base. The entire group present was captured, but then escaped when Wonder Man fought back against the mind-scan and their reserve member Mockingbird showed up to open the energi-cage. Man-Ape, Black Talon and his zombies abandoned the Reaper, taking much of the Legion’s manpower. Vision and Wonder Man teamed up to pursue the Grim Reaper in the cave network surrounding them, and they grew closer as brothers as a result of the Reaper’s trials. Eric Williams couldn’t stand seeing Simon have a brother other than him, and blindly ran from the two of them, only to fall to his death in an underground pit. [Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #2] Nekra and Ultron-12 escaped, but Goliath was recaptured by the Avengers. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #3]
IN-BETWEEN
- Following his death, the Grim Reaper returned as an undead entity several times thanks to Nekra’s devotion and her tutelage from Black Talon. However, he abandoned her and left her for dead to assert his independence as a zombie. [Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #12, Avengers West Coast #65] He gained supernatural power through deals with demon entities, but eventually was brought back to life thanks to the Scarlet Witch’s hex power. After this, the Grim Reaper reverted to a more traditional tech-based villain. [Avengers (3rd series) #11]
- Nekra survived the Reaper’s attack and moved on. She had a brief affair with Mr. Hyde when locked up in the Vault. [Avengers: Deathtrap The Vault]
- At the start of Dark Reign, Norman Osborn (the former Green Goblin) took over the Fifty States Initiative from Tony Stark. Lauded as a war hero from the Skrull invasion, Osborn was extremely popular at the time, and Wonder Man essentially torpedoed his public appeal by speaking out against the insane former super-villain. [New Avengers (1st series) #51]
CHRONOLOGY, con’t.
Norman Osborn had dealings with the Hood, whose syndicate oversaw most of the super-villains in the New York area and beyond. However, some super-villains weren’t willing to exist at 
Osborn’s sufferance. The Grim Reaper assembled a new Lethal Legion of villains who held grievances against Osborn, including Nekra, Mr. Hyde, Tiger Shark, Absorbing Man and Grey Gargoyle. They started a campaign of terror across Manhattan, targeting OsCorp and other holdings connected to Norman Osborn’s image.
After some time, Eric reached out to his brother Simon to join the fun. Wonder Man had his own problems with Osborn, after being blacklisted in both Hollywood and the Initiative. Wonder Man agreed to join the Lethal Legion, provided they accepted a change in direction. Instead of targeting replaceable assets, they would abduct the man himself. Eric thought Simon’s old contacts could get them in touch with Nick Fury, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who went underground for his own brand of justice. If they could get Osborn to Fury, the man would surely get what was coming to him. The other Legionaries were reluctant to work with an Avenger, but they eventually came around. The only exception was Absorbing Man, who walked out rather than accept Wonder Man’s presence.
Creel eventually came around though, once the plan took shape. The Lethal Legion attacked Avengers Tower, drawing out most of Osborn’s registered Avengers. Surveillance told them the Iron Patriot wouldn’t get his hands dirty with them, and he always kept the Sentry nearby. Absorbing Man had a grudge against the Sentry, so he returned to the Legion in order to infiltrate Avengers Tower during the commotion. Creel got his hands on Sentry first, thanks to the element of surprise, neutralizing Osborn’s bodyguard and powering up in the process. After that, Wonder Man only needed to fly like a missile through the Tower and snare Osborn before anyone was the wiser.
The Lethal Legion’s personal disputes arose once Osborn was their prisoner, however. Mr. Hyde was eager to beat on their helpless prisoner. Grim Reaper and Wonder Man fought with Hyde to restrain him, and the other Legionnaires let it happen in the hopes of finally breaking Hyde. During the scuffle, Osborn escaped his bonds and rallied the Avengers, taking the entire Lethal Legion into custody. Rumors spread on the Raft that one of the Legion sold out the rest, and the conspiracy seemed real when the Grim Reaper was stabbed to death in the commissary.
However, the Grim Reaper had actually been working with Osborn from day one. Norman needed a team of villains to make his Avengers seem pure by comparison. But he had just made a deal with the Hood’s people, so who was left? The Reaper had the credibility needed to assemble the team, and his plotting put the Lethal Legion on the path to fulfilling Osborn’s need for them. To obscure his own involvement in the end, the Grim Reaper made sure to die publicly, leaving his teammates and the world unaware that his supernatural powers remained, allowing him to return from the grave. It was Osborn who suggested adding Wonder Man to the mix, but Eric Williams ultimately had only a token showing of regret for leaving Nekra and his brother behind bars while he sped off to Europe with Osborn’s money to start a new life. [Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3]
Without their treacherous leader, the Grim Reaper, the Lethal Legion from Osborn’s era also reformed as a criminal gang. Absorbing Man, Tiger Shark, Mr. Hyde and Grey Gargoyle were caught by the Avengers in the middle of a dockside theft. [Hawkeye: Blindspot #1]
Grim Reaper did not remain free indefinitely and eventually found himself back in the Raft. During a prisoner transport through the city, Cable arranged for a breakout for his own purposes. He shot down a Raft aircraft with Grim Reaper, Living Laser, Whirlwind and the Radioactive Man aboard, using an EMP to neutralize their inhibitor collars. This quartet identified as the Lethal Legion when they fought with the Avengers on the streets in an effort to remain free. Still, they were only a distraction for Cable’s plans, and were quickly rounded up. [Avengers: X-Sanction #1-4]
Count Nefaria returned to life several times since his first Lethal Legion, but the ionic power he inherited from Josten was always in flux. He waxed and waned from god-like power to being nearly incapacitated, relying upon a vampiric need to consume outside energy. In one of his weaker periods, he recruited a new Legion with Whirlwind, Living Laser and Grey Gargoyle as his associates. Nefaria’s dream of fueling his own immortality rested on the Catalyst, a new and renewable energy resource devised from Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S. [Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #41]
However, the Lethal Legion’s grand return would only become a footnote in another figure’s ascension. A vigilante named Sin-Eater returned to life with supernatural powers. His enchanted shotgun could kill even super-beings, letting him assimilate their powers and their sins. Those he killed would return to life in a matter of hours, powerless and utterly remorseful for any and all past misdeeds. He intervened on Count Nefaria and the Lethal Legion when they attacked Empire 
State University to acquire the catalyst, murdering them all on his crusade to cleanse the Earth of sin. The Lethal Legion was packed off to Ravencroft Asylum, repentant and broken. [Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #46-47] After the Sin-Eater’s final defeat, however, their sins and powers returned to them. [Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #56] Not long thereafter, the Sin-Eater took part in the Sinister Six War, forming his own “Sinful Six” with Whirlwind, Living Laser, Grey Gargoyle and two more of his former victims, Juggernaut and Morlun. [Sinister War #3-4]
Count Nefaria recovered from the Sin-Eater affair, but his ionic powers were still operating at a reduced level. He devised a plan to use P.E.G.A.S.U.S.’s ionic catalyzer with the Weird Engine of the Eternals’ omnicide specialist Uranos as a power source. This combination was intended to 
transform everyone nearby into living ionic batteries for him to feed off of and regain his god-like strength. To support his rise to power, Nefaria chose to have open try-outs for his new Lethal Legion. At his Westchester mansion, he observed applicants for a battle royale, including Unicorn, Skullbuster II, Volga Belle, Death-Shield, Eclecta, Psi-Borg III, Guillotine and the Split-Second Squad team of Cap’n Skragg, Pecos, Sweet William and Joe the Gorilla, among others.
Unbeknownst to Nefaria, several young mutants from Krakoa targeted him as a morally agreeable target for home invasion burglary and infiltrated his applicants. Escapade and Scout reached the final round of try-outs as “BlasterDame” and “Fisticuss,” along with Unicorn, Volga Belle and Skullbuster. The last member recognized Escapade from her time with the Reavers, and the young mutants were uncovered just as their third ally, Cerebella, found the Weird Engine in Nefaria’s vault. The mutants realized they needed to keep the Weird Engine out of Nefaria’s hands, as the furious crime lord assembled Unicorn, Volga Belle, Skullbuster and one last recruit Moonstone as his Lethal Legion.
The elder New Mutants Mirage, Wolfsbane, Karma, and Galura got involved in their students’ 
heist after it turned serious. The New Mutants’ psychics kept the Lethal Legion fighting amongst themselves as they played “hot potato” with the Weird Engine, but they also uncovered Nefaria’s plan for it. Even the scientists who identified the Engine for him warned Nefaria his plan wouldn’t work. It would only kill the people he targeted and him as well. Count Nefaria pressed forward regardless, and intended to release the ionic catalyzer and Weird Engine at the Chavetz Center future expo in New York. He managed to activate the machine, but inevitably overloaded on ionic power. The New Mutants were able to shut down the machine and toss Nefaria into the harbor, where his ionic energy erupted without hurting anyone. [New Mutants: Lethal Legion #1-5]
MEMBERSHIP
Grim Reaper (Eric Williams)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #52
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #78-79, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1-2, Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #1-2, Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3, Avengers: X-Sanction #1
Powers: Equipped with a mechanized scythe able to spin like a rotor blade, emit a concussive plasma bolt, coma ray, anesthetic gas, or an electrical shock; intermittent supernatural abilities including immortality or absorbing life energy to restore himself from death, and pacts with mystical principalities providing him with spellcraft such as scrying, transmogrification, reanimation, mind control, energy projection, and more
Living Laser (Arthur Parks)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #34
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #78-79, #164, Avengers: X-Sanction #1-2, Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #41, 46
Powers: Laser diode implants transform him into living energy, enabling him to project lasers as blinding light, heat, concussive pulses, cutting beams, or a disintegrating effect, alter his constructed appearance, create solid-light holograms and protective shields, pass through solid matter, render himself invisible, and fly at light speed
Notes: Originally, the Living Laser employed mechanical or cybernetically implanted laser emitters. He later transformed by accident into a being of pure energy, which was his form in X-Sanction. The Laser regained the ability to become human at will by the time of the Lethal Legion / Sinful Six affair.
Man-Ape (M’Baku)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #62
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #78-79, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1-2, Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #2
Powers: Bathed in the blood of the sacred white gorilla, endowing him with great size, strength, agility, endurance, and durability
Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #19
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #78-79
Powers: Carries a sword equipped with a flame jet, force blast, electro-bolt, disintegration ray, and spray of anesthetic gas
Notes: Swordsman I reformed, joined the Avengers, and died between the first and second rosters of the Lethal Legion.
Power Man / Goliath III (Erik Josten)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #21
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #78-79, #164, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1-3, Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #2
Powers: Ionic bombardment treatment transformed him into a being of pure ionic energy, combined with Pym Particle saturation to give him superhuman strength, limitless endurance, invulnerability, and lets him draw on extra-dimensional mass to increase his size and strength even further
Notes: Erik Josten was the most consistent member of the Lethal Legion prior to reforming and becoming Atlas of the Thunderbolts.
Count Nefaria (Luchino Nefaria)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #13
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #164, Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #41,46, New Mutants: Lethal Legion #1-5
Powers: Ionically-empowered with immeasurable strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, invulnerability, flight, ionically-charged laser and concussive blasts from his eyes, and the power to feed off of other ionic beings, strengthening himself while weakening them to the point of death, or exerting control over them through a mental link
Notes: By absorbing the strength and durability of Power Man, the speed of Whirlwind, and the lasers of Living Laser (which suddenly became eye beams), Count Nefaria was deliberately patterned as an homage to Superman.
Whirlwind (David Cannon)
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #50
All Legion Appearances: Avengers (1st series) #164, Avengers: X-Sanction #1, Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #41,46
Powers: Mutant with superhuman reflexes and able to rotate himself at phenomenal speeds, allowing him to spin at high velocities to propel himself forward, deflect projectiles, direct jet streams of hurricane force wind, and create small tornados, uses wrist-mounted buzzsaws and shuriken launched from his belt
Ultron-12
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #54
All Legion Appearances: West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1-3, Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #2
Powers: Sentient android with great strength, endurance, and durability, ionic concussive blasters, optical lasers, magnetic tractor beams, disintegration ray, energy absorption and storage cells, and an encephalo beam that hypnotizes humans to control their behavior or implant long-term post-hypnotic suggestions
Black Talon (Samuel David Barone)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #152
All Legion Appearances: Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #1-2, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #2
Powers: Voodoo houngan able to commune with the spirits of the dead and reanimate flesh, creating zombies that cannot be killed and respond to his verbal commands
Nekra Sinclair
First Appearance: Shanna the She-Devil #4
All Legion Appearances: Vision & the Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #1-2, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #2, Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3
Powers: Emotionally-derived increases in strength, endurance, reflexes, and durability
Wonder Man (Simon Williams)
First Appearance: Avengers (1st series) #9
All Legion Appearances: Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3
Powers: Ionic bombardment process grants him superhuman strength, speed, endurance, reaction time, invulnerability, flight, and energy-based powers to produce light, heat, explosive force, and virtually teleport by relaxing into pure energy
Absorbing Man (Carl Creel)
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #113
All Legion Appearances: Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3, Hawkeye: Blindspot #1
Powers: Enchanted potion gave him the power to transform the entire composition of his body by absorbing the qualities of anything he touches, allowing him to duplicate the exact substance and properties of matter or convert into a being of pure energy by absorbing energy signatures
Mr. Hyde (Calvin Zabo)
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #99
All Legion Appearances: Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3, Hawkeye: Blindspot #1
Powers: Uses a hormonal chemical formula to transform into a physical powerhouse with superhuman strength, stamina, durability, recuperative powers, and gigantic proportions
Grey Gargoyle (Paul Pierre Duval)
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #107
All Legion Appearances: Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3, Hawkeye: Blindspot #1, Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #41,46
Powers: Chemical solution changed his right hand into a state of flexible granite and enables it to transform his entire body into the same superhumanly strong and durable state, or alter other people and objects into a similar, immobile stone form
Tiger Shark (Todd Arliss)
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner (1st series) #5
All Legion Appearances: Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #1-3, Hawkeye: Blindspot #1
Powers: Restructured with the genetic patterns of an Atlantean and a tiger shark, giving him superhuman strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, thick resilient flesh with high resistance to physical harm, gills for breathing underwater, strength that increases while in contact with water, aquatically adapted vision, a large dorsal fin and razor tipped fangs and claws
Radioactive Man (Chen Lu)
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #93
All Legion Appearances: Avengers: X-Sanction #1
Powers: Exposure to a massive amount of specific-particle radiation turned him into a living nuclear reactor, able to sense sources of radioactivity, augment his physical strength, release ambient radiation to cause nausea, sickness and cellular decay in others, drain radioactivity from his environment, generate incinerating heat and blinding or hypnotic flashes of light, and channel hard radiation into focused concussive energy, protective force screens, and explosive charges
Unicorn (Milos Masaryk)
First Appearance: Tales to Suspense #56
All Legion Appearances: New Mutants: Lethal Legion #2-5
Powers: Hyper-activator augmented his strength, speed, endurance, durability, and healing powers, organic or mechanical power horn emits beams of force, heat, magnetic attraction, or electricity
Notes: Unicorn I has a confusing continuity. He ambiguously died back in 1982, with several successors turning up in later years. However, some stories began using “the original Unicorn” who now had a biological “power horn” like Unicorn II, but later went back to his old costume and apparently mechanical headpiece.
Skullbuster II (Cylla Markham)
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #260
All Legion Appearances: New Mutants: Lethal Legion #2-5
Powers: Cybernetic augmentation gives her increased strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes, molybdenum steel wrist claws, on-board targeting computer, plasma burst discharges, thermite launchers
Volga Belle
First Appearance: Darkhawk (1st series) #16
All Legion Appearances: New Mutants: Lethal Legion #2-5
Powers: Transform into a monstrous state with superhuman strength and highly-resistant armored skin
Moonstone (Karla Sofen)
First Appearance: Captain America (1st series) #192
All Legion Appearances: New Mutants: Lethal Legion #3-5
Powers: Merged with Kree Lifestone that gives her superhuman strength, endurance, reflexes, and invulnerability, flight, allows her to survive in the vacuum of space, morph the cosmetic appearance of her costume, and the ability to manipulate gravity fields to send her molecules into an intangible state, and redirect photon packets to produce blinding flashes of light and fire concussive laser blasts
Notes: Moonstone previously worked for Nefaria in Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #3-4 shortly before he recruited her for the Lethal Legion as well.
ALTERNATE VERSIONS
Most versions of the Lethal Legion over the years fit into the above paradigm: a group of Avengers villains gathered by either Grim Reaper or Count Nefaria, who also aren’t the Masters of Evil. However, the Lethal Legion’s name has occasionally been applied to groups which are largely distinct from classic Legions in one form or another.
The first example comes from Marvel Age Annual #1, a comedic story where an impressively random group of super-villains showed up at the Marvel Comics Offices and started a brawl in the Bullpen. This Lethal Legion was apparently led by the Porcupine and included Whirlwind, Beetle, Unicorn, Trapster, Sabretooth, Batroc the Leaper, Thundra, Gorilla Man, Attuma, somebody in the Black Tiger costume, a lizard person, and three of the Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Piledriver, and Bulldozer).
Another Lethal Legion appeared in Avengers West Coast #98-100. As Mephisto and Satannish battled over possession of various souls, Satannish reanimated four of the most evil souls under his jurisdiction as a team of modern super-villains. Led by his servant the Hangman, the Lethal Legion of Zyklon, Coldsteel, Cyana and Axe of Violence were actually Heinrich Himmler, Josef Stalin, Lucretia Borgia and Lizzie Borden, vying for a chance to return to life if they brought Satannish souls sweet enough to replace their own.
Next, from Avengers (1st series) #675-690, came an alien Lethal Legion assembled by the Grandmaster to face the Challenger’s existing team of competitors, the Black Order. The Legion included Glah-Ree (Captain Glory of the Kree), the Blood Brothers, a new Metal Master (replacing an old Hulk foe), the Rigellian Mentacle, and completely new characters Drall and Ferene the Other.
Finally, Hank Pym worked behind-the-scenes in Avengers, Inc. #1-5 to assemble his own Lethal Legion. This grouping of super-villains was gathered as his army against the inevitable return of Ultron, his creation. However, this plan was subliminally placed in his mind by the Ultron Imperative, nearly leading to Ultron’s return in the first place. The villains included his initial partner Black Ant (Descendant and LMD version of Eric O’Grady, or Ant-Man III), Oddball II, Sunstroke, Mortar, Piecemeal III, Lodestone, Supercharger, Bullet, Cobra II, Speed Demon and Blizzard.