Looking to succeed where his father had failed, the new Baron Zemo assembled his own Masters of Evil to strike out at Captain America and the Avengers. Instead of stopping when he had enough super-villains to equal the Avengers' current roster, Helmut Zemo recruited a virtual army of foes to oppose Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Membership: Helmut Zemo, Moonstone, Absorbing Man, Titania, Fixer, Yellowjacket, Goliath, Mr Hyde, Blackout, Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver, Bulldozer, Whirlwind, Screaming Mimi, Grey Gargoyle, Blackout (Allies) Black Mamba, Trapster, Mongoose
First appearance: Avengers (1st series) #270 (recruitment), #273 (full roster)
Before
- Helmut Zemo was the son of Heinrich Zemo, founder of the Masters of Evil. As the Phoenix, Helmut attempted to take revenge on Captain America for his father's death, but his face was horribly melted by his own Adhesive X. After that encounter, Helmut assumed the cowl and bearing of Baron Zemo. [Captain America (1st series) #168, 276]
- While incarcerated at Project: PEGASUS, Moonstone met the mentally unstable criminal Blackout. Using her skills as a psychologist, she manipulated Blackout into doing her bidding. Despite a run-in with the Avengers, the two of them managed to escape incarceration thanks to Blackout's Darkforce teleportation powers. [Avengers (1st series) #236-238]
- When the heroes and villains of Earth fought on Battleworld for the Beyonder's amusement, Doctor Doom created new minions named Titania and Volcana from the civilians transported from Denver. Titania formed a partnership with the crooked Absorbing Man, and started a feud with She-Hulk. After being defeated in battle by the unlikely Spider-Man, however, Titania developed a pathological fear of facing the web-slinger again. [Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3-7]
- A professional thief named Rita DeMara used her electronics skills to remotely activate Hank Pym's Yellowjacket costume inside Avengers Mansion, causing the suit to literally walk itself out the door. Using the equipment for herself, DeMara became the criminal Yellowjacket II before being captured by the Wasp. [Avengers (1st series) #264]
Chronology
Avengers (1st series) #270: |
Taking advantage of public outcry against the Avengers for allowing the Sub-Mariner as a member, Moonstone posed as a young widow who lost her husband to Namor's rage, stirring up the protestors into a mob. The Avengers got wise to her antics, however, and Moonstone was captured and turned over to the authorities. In fact, the "officers" who detained her were actually the Absorbing Man and Titania, who offered Moonstone a position in the new Masters of Evil. |
Avengers (1st series) #271: |
While the Wasp and her friend Paladin grilled Rita DeMara at the police station over her Yellowjacket equipment, the Grey Gargoyle and Screaming Mimi appeared to recruit DeMara for the Masters of Evil as well. Although they managed to escape the building, the arrival of the Black Knight ensured the capture of the two Masters. Only Yellowjacket managed to escape, thanks to the return of her costume and shrinking equipment. |
Avengers (1st series) #273: |
Baron Helmut Zemo, son of the Masters' founder, is revealed to be behind the new incarnation and continued marshalling his forces. In addition to Moonstone, Absorbing Man, Titania and Yellowjacket, he added the Fixer, Goliath, Whirlwind, Tiger Shark, Mister Hyde, Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver and Bulldozer to his growing army of Masters. At Moonstone's request, he liberated Blackout from confinement as well so that his Darkforce abilities could be used as a counter to the powerful Captain Marvel. Zemo foresaw Moonstone's ambitions, however, and when she attempted to use her control over Blackout to claim leadership of the Masters, he was ready. The Fixer had prepared a brain wave circuit in his headband that allowed Zemo control over Blackout that superseded Moonstone's own psycho-conditioning. After firmly establishing the pecking order, the Masters of Evil prepared to strike. With all the Avengers lured away from the Mansion, the majority of Baron Zemo's forces sieged their headquarters under cover of darkness, claiming the building and taking Jarvis hostage. |
Captain America (1st series) #324: |
Perhaps because he recognized how difficult Whirlwind had been to past Masters, Baron Zemo dispatched him alone to intercept Captain America in America's south. Whirlwind recognized he was not expected to complete his mission, and so he made his own arrangements. He upgraded his equipment with the help of the Tinkerer, and a chance encounter with the Trapster gave him a partner for his attack on Captain America. The two villains ambushed Cap in North Carolina on a deserted stretch of highway, pasting him to the street so that Whirlwind could dice him up with his new buzzsaws. Despite their planning and numbers, however, Whirlwind and Trapster were beaten and captured by the Sentinel of Liberty. |
Avengers (1st series) #274: |
Back at the mansion, the unsuspecting Black Knight walked into an ambush and was quickly beaten senseless by Mister Hyde. Next, the Masters of Evil faked a distress signal from the Wasp to Captain Marvel, calling her back to the mansion alone. Blackout's Darkforce powers proved effective against the Captain, banishing her to the Darkforce Dimension before she could stop him. Meanwhile, Captain America tried to call in his encounter with Whirlwind to the mansion. When "the Wasp" showed a lack of interest in his report on the other end of the line, Cap became suspicious and reported to Jan directly at her New Jersey estate. Realizing the mansion may have been compromised, the Wasp entered their headquarters surreptitiously and learned about the Masters' plans from the captive Jarvis. She and Captain America covertly intercepted Hercules before he re-entered the mansion to warn him. However, Baron Zemo had privately hired Black Mamba of the Serpent Society to take Hercules on a day cruise, filling him with drugged liquor all afternoon. The Lion of Olympus could barely stand, and his chauvinistic distaste for taking orders from a female chairperson was also heightened. Refusing to listen to caution or reason, Hercules attacked the mansion directly, forcing Wasp and Cap to back him up without a plan. In his weakened state, the combined might of seven super-strong Masters beat Hercules within an inch of his life. Additionally, the Fixer reprogrammed the mansion's defenses to capture Captain America, and the Wasp barely managed to flee before the entire building was encased in one of Blackout's Darkforce constructs. Zemo cast the mortally wounded body of Hercules out onto the street to further weaken the morale of the remaining Avengers. |
Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #283: |
While most of the Masters of Evil occupied the Avengers Mansion, Titania and Absorbing Man remained at large to further Zemo's schemes. While making a jewelry heist on her own time, however, Titania was confronted by Spider-Man and fled in a panic due to her past defeat by him. Hating being so afraid, she planned to have Absorbing Man eliminated the bug for her. The pair were dispatched by Baron Zemo to pick up a new recruit at LaGuardia Airport. When she saw Spider-Man at the scene, Titania deliberately started a fight with the wall-crawler to get Absorbing Man to come to her rescue. Creel realized what was going on, though, and he deliberately started to lose the fight to Spider-Man. When it looked like Spider-Man overpowered Crusher, Titania was forced to overcome her fears and step in to defend her man. With it now impossible to make quiet contact with their new recruit, Titania and Absorbing Man cut their losses and escaped. |
Avengers (1st series) #275: |
Once Tiger Shark realized his personal foe Sub-Mariner was on a leave of absence from the Avengers, Zemo allowed him to depart without further notice. Hoping to further demoralize Captain America, Baron Zemo sent Titania and Absorbing Man to attack the hospital where the critically injured Hercules was being treated. He and Mister Hyde then gathered a series of personal mementos from Cap's room, such as his original shield and photos of his mother and Bucky, and destroyed them in front of the Avenger. Finally, Hyde began brutally beating on the captive Jarvis while Captain America watched helplessly. Back at the hospital, Ant-Man and the Wasp defended Hercules from the Masters' attack. Despite the power differential, the diminutive heroes managed to beat Absorbing Man and Titania, winning their first real victory against the Masters of Evil. |
Avengers (1st series) #276: |
Captain Marvel finally managed to escape from the Darkforce Dimension by using the Shroud's access to that realm as a doorway to travel back to Earth. She and the reserve member Thor rallied to the Wasp's side to take back the mansion. They tunneled into the mansion from below, freed the captives and began dispatching the Masters one-by-one, taking out Mister Hyde and Fixer. When Thor confronted the Wrecking Crew, he use his hammer to begin reversing the Norn magic that gave them their powers, leaving them powerless. He was distracted by Goliath before he could rob the Wrecker of his original power, though. The mystic Doctor Druid also owed the Avengers a debt, and made his own way to the mansion, psychically overpowering the weak-willed Blackout to drop his Darkforce barrier. When Captain Marvel confronted them on the roof, Moonstone fled in a panic. While trying to avoid Captain Marvel, she crashed head first into a canyon wall, breaking her neck in the process. |
Avengers (1st series) #277: |
On the roof, Baron Zemo caught Doctor Druid off-guard with his paralyzing ray, and tried to get Blackout to send the entire mansion into the Darkforce Dimension. Druid remained mentally active, however, and freed Blackout from Zemo's mental control. As Druid encouraged Blackout to resist Zemo's commands, the conflict with the brain wave circuitry in Zemo's headband eventually overloaded Blackout's mind, causing a cerebral hemorrhage that apparently killed him. Goliath and Wrecker fell in battle with Thor, while Captain America captured Yellowjacket as she attempted to escape. Back on the roof, Captain America had a showdown with Baron Zemo, who became mad with rage as his plans fell apart around him. When he fell off-balance while lunging at Cap, Zemo toppled over the side of the roof and fell three stories to the pavement below.
|
West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #16: |
Having eluded the Avengers in New York, Tiger Shark hooked up with Whirlwind in San Francisco to steal a psycho-circuit device. When the Shark was captured by Tigra and Hellcat, however, Whirlwind went after the circuit alone. With Hank Pym directing the action, the female felines nabbed Whirlwind as easily as they did his partner. |
Afterwards
- The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition erroneously listed the Dreadknight as a member of the above Masters of Evil team. Presumably he was meant to be the shadowy figure Titania and Absorbing Man tried to recruit from LaGuardia. This potential member was later identified as the Mongoose. [Thor (1st series) #391]
- Baron Zemo's injuries were severe, and he remained in a neck brace during his next encounter with Captain America in the Bloodstone Hunt. [Captain America (1st series) #357-362]
- Moonstone's injuries also left her hospitalized for a time, until she recovered and tried in vain to revenge herself on Captain Marvel. [Captain Marvel (2nd series) #1]
- The Wrecker reunited with the Wrecking Crew shortly after the siege on the mansion, restoring their powers. The group squared off against Spider-Man and Spider-Woman before being defeated again. [Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1st series) #125-126]
- Yellowjacket II became an unlikely honorary member of the Avengers during the Evolutionary War. When an old Avengers emergency alert went off in her stolen costume, Yellowjacket was forced to respond to Avengers Mansion because she didn't know how to turn it off. She joined an ad hoc team of Avengers led by the Captain as they confronted the High Evolutionary's forces. [Avengers Annual (1st series) #17]
- Although declared dead on the scene, Blackout's status was eventually elevated to merely "brain-dead," leaving him in a perpetual vegetative state for many years. [New Thunderbolts #15-17]
Membership
Baron Zemo the 13th (Helmut Zemo)
first appearance: Captain America (1st series) #168
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: expert military strategist and tactician, exposure to Compound X has increased his lifespan by decades, carries a laser "disintegrator" pistol
Absorbing Man (Carl “Crusher” Creel)
first appearance: Journey into Mystery #114
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #270
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #270, 273, 275, Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #283
special power: 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
Titania II (Mary “Skeeter” MacPherran-Creel)
first appearance: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #270
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #270, 273, 275, Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #283
special power: alien radiation bombardment increased the overall mass and resilience of her physiology, giving her superhuman strength, endurance, resistance to physical harm and temperature extremes, and an accelerated healing ability
Moonstone II (Karla Sofen)
first appearance: Captain America (1st series) #192
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #270
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #270, 273-277
special power: merged with Kree lifestone that gives her superhuman strength, endurance, reflexes, and invulnerability, flight, allow 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
Screaming Mimi (Melissa Joan Gold)
first appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #54
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #271
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #271
special power: vocal chords bionically augmented by RoXXon Oil so that she can emit sonic frequencies that cause hallucinations, scramble mechanical systems, render others unconscious, influence thoughts and actions, creates sonar waves or pinpoint relayed sound, and produce an omni-directional sonic wave that liquefies matter
Grey Gargoyle (Paul Pierre Duval)
first appearance: Journey into Mystery #107
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #271
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #271
special power: 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
Yellowjacket II (Rita DeMara)
first appearance: Avengers (1st series) #264
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #271
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #271, 273-277
special power: body suit allows her to communicate with and control insects, fire electrostatic bolts from her gauntlets, uses vibration-generating wings to fly, and draw Pym Particles from subspace to shrink down to an insect-size
Fixer (Paul Norbert Ebersol)
first appearance: Strange Tales (1st series) #141
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: battle vest carrying explosives, jamming signal beacons, ultrasonic emitters, missiles, cerebral scanners, mind control pods, anti-gravity disks, and an assortment of electronic devices
Mister Hyde (Calvin Zabo)
first appearance: Journey into Mystery #99
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: uses a hormonal chemical formula to transform himself into a physical powerhouse with superhuman strength, stamina, durability, recuperative powers, and gigantic proportions
Goliath III (Erik Stephen Josten)
first appearance: Avengers (1st series) #21
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: 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
Tiger Shark (Todd Arliss)
first appearance: Sub-Mariner (1st series) #5
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-275, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #16
special power: 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 dorsel fin and razor tipped fangs and claws
Blackout (Marcus Daniels)
first appearance: Nova (1st series) #19
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: infusion with Darkforce radiation made him a living generator of that substance, allowing him to direct Darkforce into concussive blasts or quasi-solid projections that absorb heat and other energies and are unaffected by gravity, enabling him to levitate them in mid-air and fly by riding on floating disks, also capable of opening inter-dimensional apertures into the Darkforce dimension, banishing people or objects into oblivion
Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite)
first appearance: Thor (1st series) #148
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: infused with magical power by Karnilla, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm, the ability to project an enchanted aura to repel projectiles, and enchanting his crowbar so that it is indestructible, can teleport himself and others over great distances, and psychically linked to him so that he can sense its presence and influence people who hold it
Thunderball (Eliot Augustus Franklin)
first appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm and an enchanted wrecking bar that's indestructible and returns to his hand after thrown
Piledriver (Brian Philip Calusky)
first appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm, and piston-like hands and feet that could create shockwaves upon impact
Bulldozer (Henry Camp)
first appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
All Masters IV appearances: Avengers (1st series) #273-277
special power: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, and resistance to physical harm, wears an armor-plated helmet that he uses for head-butting and smashing through barriers
Whirlwind (David Cannon)
first appearance: Tales to Astonish #50
first Masters IV appearance: Captain America (1st series) #324
All Masters IV appearances: Captain America (1st series) #324, West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #16
special power: 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
Associates
Trapster (Peter Petruski)
first appearance: Strange Tales #104
first Masters IV appearance: Captain America (1st series) #324
special power: fires adhesive paste or frictionless solvent from a hand gun, wrist-shooters, or finger nozzles, using it to encase or bind his opponents, lasso objects from a distance, launch gumballs of putty, climb walls and ceilings, slide across smooth surfaces, or slip up his opponents, occasionally uses electrical mini-generators, sonic smasher, explosive spheres, gravity intensifier, and an anti-gravity flying platform
Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy)
first appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #64
first Masters IV appearance: Avengers (1st series) #273
special power: bionic augmentation provides her with mesmerizing abilities to coerce someone into seeing her as their one true love and triggering orgasmic euphoria so that they submit their will to the image's provocative behavior, a power which can be combined with her talent to summon a semi-solid supply of Darkforce to create a "Darkforce lover" which will passively asphyxiate her victim, or can also create a "second skin" where the Darkforce is cloaked in her own self-image and attacks her opponents directly through constriction and suffocation
Mongoose
first appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #283
first Masters IV appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #283
special power: heightened strength, speed, agility, endurance, hyper-keen animal senses, and serrated fangs, wears claws gloves that emit a sedative gas