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CONTENTS

How to use this eBook

Foreword by C.B. Cebulski

Introduction by Stan Lee

A Abomination to Azazel

The Age of Ultron

Annihilation

B Balder to Bullseye

C Cabal to Cyclops

Civil War

Civil War II

D Daken to Dusk

Dark Reign

E Ebony Maw to Externals

Empyre

F Falcon to Fury

Fall of X

Fear Itself

G Galactus to Guardians

H Haller to Hyperion

House of M

I Iceman to Iron Man

J J2 to Justice

Judgment Day

K Kaine to Kree

King in Black

L Lady Bullseye to Lyja

M M to Mystique

N Namora to Nuke

O Odin to Oya

P Page to Pyro

Q Qnax to Quicksilver

R Radioactive Man to Ryker

S Sabretooth to S.W.O.R.D.

Secret Empire

Secret Invasion

Secret Wars

Spider-verse

T Talbot to Tyrant

U Uatu to U.S.Agent

V Valkyries to Vulture

W Walrus to Wrecking Crew

War of the Realms

World War Hulk

X X-Cell to Xorn

Y Yancy to Young X-Men

Z Zabu to Zzzax

The Multiverse

Acknowledgments

Copyright

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FOREWORD

By C.B. Cebulski, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief

The term a cast of colorful characters has become commonplace in modern pop culture, but in my mind, there’s no assemblage that better embodies that term than the heroes and villains you’ll find in the Marvel Universe. And this book you now hold in your hands, the newest edition of the Marvel Encyclopedia, is clear proof of this claim!

This is the kind of encyclopedia I would have killed for as a kid. My comic collecting was limited to the monthly releases I was lucky enough to find on the spinner rack at my local drugstore. And even then, I could only get to it when my parents would drive me over, and most of the time the rack had already been heavily picked through. So I was dying for a chance to know more about all these high-flying heroes I’d read or heard about who were part of the larger Marvel Universe, whether I saw them in actual comics I bought, or read about them in Stan’s Soapbox, Bullpen Bulletins, or on checklists. Information was a bit limited back then. You clearly do not have the same problem if you’re already reading this.

This version of the Marvel Encyclopedia is newly updated with characters who’ve been created or came to prominence within the last five years. Which means that you have the latest and greatest secrets of the Marvel Universe at the tips of your fingers. As you turn through these pages, you’ll not only find histories and stories about the characters you already know and love, like Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, you’ll also be able to able to take deep dives into some of the newest additions to our mighty Marvel mythos, like the teen heroes of the Champions, the haunting Hallow’s Eve, and the supernatural students who attend Strange Academy.

The Marvel Universe as we know it today was created in 1961, with the release of Fantastic Four #1, and over the last 60 plus years, it has grown to include a collection of over 8,000 different marvelous men and women with all sorts of powers, from all walks of life. And we continue to build on that legacy each and every week as we release new comics with new stories and new heroes and villains. While that may sound daunting, I know, it’s resources like this wonderful book that make it so much easier for new readers to become fans and then eventually turn into True Believers, as Stan Lee used to say.

Each page of this meticulously designed manual was crafted to help guide you through the origins and histories of our massive Marvel Multiverse. No matter what your entry point has been to get you into our universe, the Marvel Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive compendium you’ll need to get you up to speed on these spectacular stories featuring our ever-growing cast of colorful characters that have entertained and educated fans just like yourself for generations. Welcome!

C.B. Cebulski

New York City, March 2024

Fantastic Four #1, published in November 1961, marked the dawn of the Marvel Universe.

The Champions epitomize a new generation of Marvel heroes, who have risen to build on the epic stories of their forebears.

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INTRODUCTION

by Stan Lee (1922–2018)

The Marvel Encyclopedia. I still proudly say—it ranks way up there with the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel. Just like them, it represents an epic milestone in the history of the human race. That’s why I’m so incredibly proud to be writing this intro for a book that mankind has been hungering for, a book that is—now and forever—a shining beacon of wonder, a titanic tribute to talent unleashed.

Here you’ll find more than a thousand of Marvel’s classic characters, all brilliantly illustrated, with their lives and vital statistics laid bare for your closest scrutiny and your browsing delight.

On a personal note, I must confess, when I first dreamed up some of the more prominent characters you’ll find in this volume, I never dreamed that decades later they would have achieved the fame and popularity which they now enjoy. It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of pride, mixed with disbelief, that I feel when I realize how many great movies, video games, DVDs, toys, and books are based on these heroes, villains, and far-out stories which we, in the mighty Marvel bullpen, had so much fun creating. None of us could have suspected that our creations would become so famous that we’d one day find ourselves featured in a prestigious encyclopedia.

And, speaking of this extraordinary book, when it comes to finding the hero or villain you may be seeking, the publishers have made it as easy for you as recognizing the Hulk in a crowd. They’ve put the names of each and every one in convenient alphabetical order. But what about the artwork? Glad you asked! You’ll find illustrations from the very best of Marvel’s amazing army of artists, pencilers, and inkers who have made their indelible marks on the consciousness of comic book fans worldwide.

And, naturally, the accompanying texts are written by the most acclaimed scriptwriters in Marvel’s galaxy of gifted scriveners. Every sentence is a tribute to the greatest super hero creations this side of Asgard.

But that’s not all. Realizing that some of the spectacular characters in our super hero stable have actually achieved such status and fame that they are now truly worldwide legends, the editors have wisely decided to accord these special heroes and villains full-page, double-page, or even two double-page layouts, plus a brief guide to their essential storylines.

There’s so much more that I could say, but if I do it’ll keep me from leaving my computer and reaching for my beautiful, brand-new Marvel Encyclopedia which is proudly sitting on my corner table. It might be my imagination, but I seem to see a glow around that voluminous volume, as though it’s illuminated by some supernatural aura, some mystic radiance emanating from the combined power of the fantastic characters within its pages.

I know I must be fantasizing, and yet—as I slowly reach out to touch the cover of this magnificent book, I wonder—as you may wonder, too—what magic lies within?

Excelsior!

Stan

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Abomination

abomination

FACTFILE

Real Name

Emil Blonsky

Occupation

Criminal

Base

Mobile

Height 6 ft 8 in

Weight 980 lbs

Eyes Green

Hair None

First Appearance

Tales to Astonish #90

(April 1967)

powers

Superhuman strength enables leaps of two miles; tough skin withstands small arms fire. Unlike Hulk, the Abomination’s strength does not increase with rage, and he rarely returns to human form; however he retains all Blonsky’s mental faculties.

Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Emil Blonsky became a spy and infiltrated the US Air Force base where scientist Bruce Banner (see Hulk) was stationed and discovered gamma-radiation equipment, with which Banner intended to commit suicide. Irradiating himself, Blonsky became the monstrous Abomination.

The Abomination battled the Hulk multiple times. Their struggles were interrupted when the Stranger kidnapped Abomination into space for study, and he wound up serving as the first mate of the starship Andromeda. After returning to Earth, he became the pawn of many villains, including M.O.D.O.K., Mephisto, and Tyrannus.

The Abomination later revealed his new form to his wife, Nadia, who then left him. Jealous of Banner’s apparent wedded bliss, Blonsky poisoned Banner’s wife Betty (see Ross, Betty). Years later, the Red Hulk, secretly Betty’s father (see Ross, General T. E.) hunted down and murdered the Abomination. Fragments of Blonsky’s DNA were preserved, however, and he was resurrected in a new body. He clashed with the Gamma Flight team before being recruited into the new Thunderbolts roster by Mayor Wilson Fisk.

The Abomination is even stronger than the Hulk. His body is covered with reptilian scales.

Abyss

first appearance Avengers #1 (February 2013)

Real name Abyss

Occupation Destroyer

Base Mars

Height/Weight N/A

Eyes Black

Hair Black

Special powers/abilities Abyss is made of living gas, which makes her invulnerable to most physical attacks. She can manipulate the minds of others, whom she envelops in a sphere of gas.

Abyss was a powerful creature of living gas created by an Aleph, one of the alien Builders, along with her brother Ex Nihilo. The three creatures traveled the universe together, destroying planets they judged unworthy. They came to Mars and began to terraform it into their base for the Solar System. From there, Ex Nihilo fired origin bombs at Earth, terraforming entire cities and killing everyone within. They were stopped by Captain Universe and the Avengers, and ordered to limit their work to Mars. When the Builders subjugated Ex Nihilo’s kind (the Gardeners) to mere servants, the duo sided with the Avengers and Gardeners against the Builders (see Infinity). Abyss and Ex Nihilo were killed during the collapse of the Multiverse.

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Absorbing Man

Absorbing Man

FACTFILE

Real Name

Carl Crusher Creel

Occupation

Criminal

Base

Mobile

Height 6 ft 4 in

Weight 365 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair None

First Appearance

Journey Into Mystery #114

(March 1965)

powers

Can magically duplicate within himself the physical and mystical properties of anything he touches, including various forms of energy. If his body is broken into pieces while he is in a non-human state, he can mentally reassemble it.

Seeking a pawn to use against Thor, Loki endowed brutal prisoner Crusher Creel and his ball and chain with the power to absorb the physical properties of anything he touched. Creel broke out of prison and battled Thor, as Loki intended. However, Creel overreached himself by trying to absorb the power of the whole Earth and exploded. Thanks to his new powers, however, Creel was not truly dead, and Loki magically reassembled his body.

Over the years the Absorbing Man has repeatedly battled Thor and the Hulk as well as Spider-Man and the Avengers. During the first Secret War staged by the Beyonder, Creel met Mary Skeeter MacPherran (Titania), whom he later married. He was thought killed by Sentry during the Civil War, but Creel returned, only to be depowered by Norman Osborn (see Green Goblin). During Fear Itself, a repowered Creel became Greithoth, Breaker of Wills. He was later incarcerated at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Pleasant Hill facility, before ending up in a space prison with Black Bolt. He appeared to sacrifice himself to help the other inmates escape. In fact, he escaped the prison by storing his essence in his ball and chain, and reconstituted himself back on Earth. Recruited into Gamma Flight to find and stop the Hulk, Creel rejected his orders and became an ally of the Green Goliath. He tried to become more heroic, but the thrill of crime would always be tempting…

By absorbing the properties of large or powerful objects, Creel can grow to giant sizes.

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A-Force

A-Force

FACTFILE

MEMBERS and powers singularity (1)

Body contains pocket dimension.

Dazzler (2)

Converts sonic vibrations into various forms of light.

Sister grimm (3)

Summons powerful magical item called the Staff of One.

Queen Medusa (4)

Highly durable prehensile hair.

she-hulk (5)

Superhuman strength and durability.

captain marvel (6)

Superhuman strength, flight, and energy manipulation.

Base

Mobile

first appearance

A-Force #1 (May 2015)

A-Force was the all-female security team of Arcadia, a domain of Doctor Doom’s Battleworld. After Battleworld came to an end, the team members were reborn on Earth-616. Singularity, who had perished in Arcadia, was also resurrected on Earth-616. With her arrived Antimatter, bent on destroying her. Singularity soon encountered her former teammates Captain Marvel, Medusa, and She-Hulk, none of whom remembered her. Medusa decided to protect Singularity after Antimatter killed an Inhuman. The women enlisted the help of Sister Grimm (see Minoru, Nico) and Dazzler, but when Antimatter appeared to kill Dazzler, Singularity gave herself up. Her new friends pursued; Medusa destroyed Antimatter with a bomb and Dazzler returned in time to save Singularity. The team remained together for a few misadventures, but soon disbanded.

Agent X

first appearance Agent X #1 (September 2002)

Real name Nijo (aka Alex Hayden)

Occupation Mercenary

Base Mobile

Height 6 ft 2 in

Weight 210 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair None

Special powers/abilities Augmented strength, agility, and dexterity; superhuman regenerative abilities; certain advanced mental abilities; enhanced skill as a marksman.

Agent X’s real name is Nijo, but during a bout of amnesia he adopted the name Alex Hayden. This ruthless assassin is a combined consciousness that resides in the body of Nijo but which also contains the mental powers of Deadpool and Black Swan. Agent X was created when the corpse of Nijo was revived and given Deadpool’s healing power by Black Swan, who has the ability to enter a person’s mind and unleash viruses similar to computer viruses into their brain. Agent X subsequently founded a team of mercenaries known as Agency X with his girlfriend Outlaw and Taskmaster, among others, before moving to the mutant nation of Krakoa.

AGAMEMNON

first appearance Incredible Hulk #381 (May 1991)

Real name Vali Halfling

Occupation Godlike observer

Base The Mount, a mountain base in Arizona

Height 5 ft 7 in

Weight 140 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair Brown

Special powers/abilities Virtually immortal; projects a holograph of himself as an old, bearded man so that no one suspects that he truly looks like a teenage boy.

The son of Loki and a mortal mother, Vali traded the pick of his future offspring with the alien Troyjan race in exchange for knowledge of immortality. He later founded the Pantheon, an interventionist think tank whose members included many of his other children, some adopted. However, when Agamemnon’s betrayals became known to the Pantheon, he attempted to slay them all. He died during that battle, but he returned with the rebirth of the Norse Gods (see Gods of Asgard) after Ragnarok and worked with Amadeus Cho’s Olympus Group. He captured Wolfsbane when she was pregnant so he could steal her child, but the monstrous baby killed him soon after its birth.

AGENTS OF WAKANDA

first appearance Avengers #10 (November 2018)

Base Wakandan Helicarrier

Founding Members Okoye, the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Man-Wolf (John Jameson), Ka-Zar, American Eagle (Jason Strongbow), Roz Solomon, Gorilla-Man (Kenneth Hale), Fat Cobra, Broo

With the demise of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, led by Black Panther, needed extra support, and the Agents of Wakanda was formed. Team members were recruited for their specialist skills in espionage, suitable for stealth missions and intelligence-gathering across the world and far beyond. While the agents’ Director Okoye had doubts about some of the recruits she was tasked by T’Challa to assemble, the addition of founding Avenger The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) was a welcome steadying influence. The unlikely team assisted the Avengers with intelligence on Namor’s scheming and during the War of the Realms.

AGENT ZERO/MAVERICK

first appearance (as Maverick) X-Men #5 (February 1992)

Real name Christopher Nord (changed to David North)

Occupation Secret agent; mercenary

Base Berlin, Germany

Height 6 ft 3 in

Weight 230 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair Brown

Special powers/abilities Can absorb kinetic energy and utilize it for superhuman strength or release it as concussive blasts. Possesses aging suppression and enhanced healing factors.

Born in East Germany, Christopher Nord became a freedom fighter against the oppressive postwar Communist regime. He was recruited by the CIA for its Weapon X project and changed his name to David North. By the early 1960s, North partnered with Logan and Victor Creed, the future Wolverine and Sabretooth, in the CIA’s Team X. Later, North became a mercenary code-named Maverick. After nearly being killed by Sabretooth, Maverick reluctantly rejoined the Weapon X project, which saved his life. Nord subsequently became the project’s leading special operative, Agent Zero. He lost his powers on M-Day and retired, and now works as Maverick once more.

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The Age of Ultron

The end of an era

After the events of Annihilation, Ultron—the human-hating, artificially intelligent robot created by Hank Pym—returned to Earth in the inactive body of a Galadorian Spaceknight. The Intelligencia found it and tried to activate it, but the Avengers intervened. During the ensuing battle, Ultron reawakened in his new body and escaped.

issue #1

With New York destroyed and the rest of the planet about to follow suit, Hawkeye rescues Spider-Man, and brings him beneath Central Park to reunite with the surviving Avengers.

Ultron Returns

Free on Earth once again, Ultron assembled an army of Ultron Sentinels and launched a swift and horrifying attack on New York City. The initial assault killed many of the world’s most powerful heroes, and the rest—including Captain America, Emma Frost, Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Luke Cage, She-Hulk, and Wolverine—were forced underground. Hammerhead and the Owl captured Spider-Man and tortured him to learn the location of other Avengers so they could sell them to Ultron, but Hawkeye mounted a bloody and successful rescue attempt before they could do so.

Under the guidance of Captain America, Luke Cage knocked out She-Hulk and pretended to try to sell her to Ultron, in order to get inside the Adamantium robot’s headquarters. Cage discovered that Ultron ruled over his Sentinels via a dismembered Vision, controlling him remotely from the future. She-Hulk sacrificed her life so Luke could escape and tell the others what he had learned. The Avengers traveled to the Savage Land to evade Ultron. There they met with Ka-Zar and other scattered heroes, including Black Widow, Moon Knight, Monica Rambeau (see Photon), Quicksilver, Red Hulk, and Valkyrie. Despite being caught in a nuclear bomb explosion, Cage had reached the Savage Land first and, before he died, he told them Ultron’s secret. Black Widow led the others to a safe house Nick Fury had set up in the Savage Land long ago. They found him waiting there for them, along with Doctor Doom’s time platform.

A team of heroes mounted an ill-fated assault against Ultron in the future. Believing the effort was doomed to fail, Wolverine and Invisible Woman waited for the others to leave and then went back into the past to kill Hank

Pym before he could create Ultron. When they returned to their time, they found themselves in an alternate universe, which had been transformed into a dystopia by Pym’s death. Disheartened, Wolverine and Invisible Woman returned to the past. Wolverine stopped his past self from killing Pym, and they worked with Pym to implant a virus into Ultron at his creation and then erase Pym’s memory of doing so.

This time around, when Ultron was awakened, Pym—alerted by a message from his past self—worked with Iron Man to trigger the failsafe virus and deactivate Ultron before he could escape.

Ultron created thousands of Ultrons, and they set about conquering the world one city at a time.

Luke Cage cradles the dead body of She-Hulk—killed by Ultrons.

With two Wolverines from different universes trapped in the past, the one from The Age of Ultron sacrificed himself so the other could return to his repaired timeline.

Ultron hated humanity and wanted to see the entire race extinguished.

A Different Time

The death of Hank Pym caused a butterfly effect that created a whole new universe, in which a cyborg Iron Man led S.H.I.E.L.D. in a war that pitted his technology against the magical forces of Morgan Le Fay. In this world, Earth’s mightiest heroes were the Defenders, which included Cable (Cyclops), Captain Marvel (the Wasp), Colonel America (Captain America), Doctor Strange, Hulk, Star-Lord, the Thing, and Wolverine. This world’s Iron Man told Wolverine how he could repair the timeline and defeat Ultron. During an attack by Le Fay’s army, Invisible Woman and both Wolverines escaped and set out to implement that plan.

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Agents of Atlas

Security team with a shady reputation

Agents of Atlas

FACTFILE

original MEMBERS GORILLA-MAN

The body of a gorilla with the mind of a man.

HUMAN ROBOT

Super-strong, self-repairing robot with a force-field, a death ray, and telescopic, electrified limbs.

NAMORA

Amphibious, super-strong woman.

THE URANIAN

The original Marvel Boy.

VENUS

A siren with super-toughness and a hypnotic voice.

JIMMY WOO

Secret agent.

BASE

The Temple of Atlas, inside a huge cavern beneath San Francisco

First Appearance

Agents of Atlas #1

(October 2006)

ESSENTIAL STORYLINES

• Agents of Atlas Vol. 1 #1–6 Jimmy Woo reunites the team to fight against the Golden Claw and discovers the Claw’s master plan.

• Agents of Atlas Vol. 2 #9–11 Jimmy Woo accidentally breaks a truce with the Asian splinter group of the Atlas Foundation and sparks a Dragon Clan War.

• Atlas #1–5 Aliens from the Echo World attack 3-D Man with innocents they’ve possessed and lead to the discovery of Earth-9904.

In 1958, FBI agent Jimmy Woo formed a group of heroes called the G-Men to rescue President Eisenhower from the Golden Claw. Working with S.H.I.E.L.D. decades later, Jimmy reformed the team to investigate an organization known as the Atlas Foundation, based in the Temple of Atlas. They discovered that the Golden Claw was in fact Plan Tzu, direct heir of Genghis Khan and the leader of the Atlas Foundation. Tzu had chosen Jimmy as his own heir, and he’d spent the past few decades working as Jimmy’s enemy, forcing him to become properly prepared. Shocked by this revelation, Jimmy nevertheless agreed to take over the Atlas Foundation and turn it into a force for good, at which point Tzu allowed his adviser—a golden dragon known as Mr. Lao—to devour him.

Dark reign

The team fought the Skrulls during the Secret Invasion, but once Norman Osborn (see Green Goblin) rose to power during the Dark Reign, Jimmy decided to retain the Atlas Foundation’s villainous reputation so he could work to destroy Osborn’s takeover of the US government from within, starting with robbing Fort Knox. Jimmy’s insistence on leading his team in the field led Mr. Lao to appoint a second-in-command: Temugin, the son of the Mandarin. To help run the organization, Jimmy in turn hired his old friend Derek Khanata, one of the many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Osborn had fired.

Agent Jimmy Woo’s influence turned the Atlas Foundation into a force for good.

New faces

During the War of the Realms, Woo assembled a new team, led by super-strong genius Brawn (Amadeus Cho), to protect the Pacific Rim from the Queen of Cinders and her army of fire goblins from Muspelheim. With that threat quelled, the new Agents of Atlas stayed together to become the protectors of a brand new city, Pan, an amalgamation of Asian districts from cities around the world linked by portals. However, this utopian conurbation was secretly powered by the magic of a dragon taken from Atlantis, and the Agents of Atlas were in the firing line when an enraged King Namor came to take the beast back to the ocean. Jimmy Woo arrived with backup in the form of the original Agents of Atlas lineup, and as hostilities between Pan and Atlantis escalated, revealed that the Agents, like other powerful organizations on Earth, are advised and even controlled by dragons. The Agents of Atlas managed to broker peace in the Pan-Atlantis war and protect their new city, but team members Amadeus Cho and Shang-Chi departed, unhappy at being manipulated by Woo.

AGENTS OF ATLAS

1 Sword Master

2 Wave

3 Shang-Chi

4 Crescent

5 Aero

6 Amadeus Cho

7 White Fox

8 Luna Snow

9 Silk

A similar team appeared in What If? #9 (June, 1978) as the 1950s Avengers of Earth-9904.

Ahab

first appearancE Fantastic Four Annual #23 (1990)

Real name Dr. Roderick Campbell

Occupation Geneticist

Base Mobile

Height 6 ft 1 in

Weight (as Campbell) 166 lbs (as Ahab) 222 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair Brown

Special powers/abilities Possesses a robotic body, and wields psionic harpoons that cause those struck to feel pain, to be enslaved to his will, or to perish.

In a possible future, Ahab created a process by which captured mutants were turned into slaves known as Hounds and used to hunt down their fellow mutants. Ahab’s body was rebuilt cybernetically after he was critically injured during the escape of his best Hound, Rachel Summers, into the past. He later joined Apocalypse and became Famine in the Four Horsemen. Later, Ahab traveled to Earth-616 to try to kill all of the X-men.

Air-Walker

first appearance Fantastic Four #120 (March 1972)

Real name Gabriel Lan

Occupation Herald of Galactus

Base Various

Height 6 ft 1 in

Weight 210 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair White

Special powers/abilities Command of the Power Cosmic, the fundamental force of the universe, enables a variety of powers, including force blasts, interstellar flight, and ability to walk on air.

Chosen by the planet-devouring Galactus to become his latest herald after the betrayal of the Silver Surfer, Xandarian starship captain Gabriel Lan was endowed with the Power Cosmic, becoming Gabriel, the Air-Walker. As the Air-Walker, Gabriel served his master for several years, seeking out worlds for Galactus to consume in order to survive. After the Ovoids killed the Air-Walker, Galactus transferred his mind into a robotic body. However, Galactus did not care for the results and replaced him with Firelord. Since then, Air-Walker’s robotic body has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Perhaps this last rebuild could mean the end of him.

Ajak

first appearance The Eternals #2 (August 1976)

Real name Ajak

Occupation Adventurer

Base The City of the Space Gods, Andes Mountains

Height 6 ft 1 in

Weight 220 lbs

Eyes Gray

Hair Black

Special powers/abilities Superhuman strength, virtual immortality and invulnerability; could psionically levitate, rearrange the molecular structure of objects, and project cosmic energy.

As chief diplomat and priest linking the powerful Eternals of Earth with their Celestial space god creators, Ajak has interpreted the Celestials’ messages for a million years. When she lost her link to the gods, she tried to create a new one by resurrecting the Progenitor, a Celestial who had died on Earth when the planet was still new. Once awoken, this Celestial threatened to judge the world and destroy it for being unworthy (see Judgment Day), but when Ajak challenged it to judge itself, it found itself wanting. It imbued Ajak with its godly power and she became Ajak Celestia.

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Allan, Liz

Allan, Liz

FACTFILE

Real Name

Elizabeth Allan

Occupation

Businesswoman

Base

Mobile

Height 5 ft 9 in

Weight 135 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair Blond

First Appearance

Amazing Fantasy

#15 (August 1962)

Elizabeth, aka Liz, Allan was a talented CEO who formed her own multinational and multibillion-dollar business empire. Liz was a popular student at Midtown High, and Peter Parker (Spider-Man) had a crush on her, but they went on to become good friends. After high school, Liz became a nurse and cared for her stepbrother Mark Raxton (Molten Man). Soon, she met and fell in love with Harry Osborn. They married and had a son, named Norman Osborn after Harry’s father.

After the seeming deaths of Harry and Norman Osborn, Liz took over the role of CEO of Osborn Industries, but lost this position when Norman returned from the grave to take back the company. Eventually, Liz formed her own corporation named Allan Chemicals that specialized in scientific research. Following her successes in the field, Liz was able to purchase the majority stake in Horizon Labs, which was then folded into her business. Then, Liz agreed to merge her company with Oscorp to become Alchemax, with Liz as CEO.

Liz used her new role to carry out experiments with the Carnage and Anti-Venom symbiotes, hoping to turn their enormous yet dangerous potential into something positive. Unbeknown to her, her son Normie was infected with a portion of the Carnage symbiote and could change into the Red Goblin, and when she tried to foil a break-in at her top-secret labs, Liz too was transformed. Merging with the Carnage and Anti-Venom symbiotes, she became the powerful Misery, apparently able to regenerate and reshape her body at will—unlike some, retaining control over her symbiote suit without losing herself.

In high school, Liz sometimes joined in when Flash Thompson mocked Peter Parker. She soon matured and befriended Peter.

Bonded to the Misery symbiote, Liz gains incredible physical strength.

Aleph

first appearance Avengers #1 (February 2013)

Real name Aleph

Occupation Destroyer

Base Mars

Height Varies

Weight Varies

Eyes Yellow

Hair None

Special powers/abilities Aleph possesses superhuman strength, speed, and senses. He can fly and project energy blasts. His metal body is nearly invulnerable and he can reconfigure it at will.

Aleph is one of a powerful set of living robots created by the Builders, the oldest race in the universe. Tasked with purging worlds filled with unfit forms of life, he traveled the galaxy until he found a worthy people, at which point he released the seeds that grew into Abyss and Ex Nihilo. He escorted them to many other planets, debating the fate of their peoples with them. On Mars, Aleph oversaw the planet’s terraforming and advocated the razing of the Earth. When Captain Universe ordered the trio to stand down, Aleph refused, and she destroyed him with a touch.

All-Winners Squad

First appearance All-Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946)

members and powers

Captain America Superior strength, speed, agility, and endurance.

Human Torch Can control fire and can fly.

Namor Increased strength, can fly, can breath in air or water.

Whizzer Can run at super speed.

Miss America Superhuman strength, can fly.

Following World War II, the heroes of the All-Winners Squad decided to stay together to fight crime in the US rather than foreign enemies. They battled and stopped Adam-2, an android who designed a robot army. Later they faced Future Man, a time traveler from the year 1,000,000 who hoped to destroy humanity in order to allow his race to inhabit the Earth. The Squad also battled the She-Hulk, who had traveled back in time to help some gangsters acquire an atomic bomb.

THE ALL-WINNERS SQUAD

1 Miss America

2 Captain America

3 The Human Torch

4 Namor, the Sub-Mariner

5 Whizzer

Alpha

first appearance Amazing Spider-Man #692 (October 2012)

Real name Andrew Maguire

Occupation Student, super hero

Base Pittsburgh, PA

Height 5 ft 8 in

Weight 150 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair Blond

Special powers/abilities Alpha is energized with Parker Particles, which give him superhuman strength and speed, as well as the ability to project energy, create force-fields, and fly; however, he can usually only use one power at a time.

Andy Maguire was a student at Midtown High in Queens. On a field trip to Horizon Labs to see Peter Parker (see Spider-Man) debut his latest discovery, Andy was accidentally infused with a blast of Parker Particles. Spider-Man took Alpha under his wing, but after a disastrous fight in which Alpha helped the Avengers bring down Terminus but endangered countless innocents, Spider-Man de-powered Alpha and sent him home. Andy’s parents divorced soon after, and he moved to Pittsburgh with his mother. When Doctor Octopus took over Spider-Man’s body, he gave Alpha back 10 percent of his powers so he could study the effects. Alpha decided to use his powers to protect Pittsburgh.

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Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Amatsu-Mikaboshi

FACTFILE

Real Name

Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Occupation

God of Evil

Base

The Void

Height Variable

Weight Variable

Eyes Gold (variable)

Hair Black (variable)

First Appearance

Thor: Blood Oath #6 (October 2012)

powers

An immortal god with superhuman strength, endurance, invulnerability, and speed. He manipulates magical energy and can change shape at will. He can also teleport and fly.

Amatsu-Mikaboshi—also known as the Chaos King—is the Shinto (Japanese) God of Evil. He represents the void that existed before the creation of the universe, and he works to return it to that state of nothingness. He long desired Kusanagi, the legendary Grasscutter Sword, but it was kept from him for centuries until Thor and the Warriors Three liberated it. The blade wound up on Earth, where Mikaboshi finally claimed it.

He used the sword to capture Yomi (the underworld) and then sought to conquer the Gods of Olympus. The Olympians banded together with the other Japanese gods to thwart Mikaboshi, but not before he mortally wounded Zeus, the leader of the Olympians. Despite this, Mikaboshi joined the God Squad that Athena assembled to defeat the Skrull gods during the Secret Invasion. While it seemed that Mikaboshi died in that battle, he survived and went on to defeat the gods of several alien civilizations before returning to Earth.

During the Chaos War, Mikaboshi murdered Nightmare and stole his powers, putting all sleeping mortals into a coma as he prepared his assault on the surviving gods. Hercules assembled a new God Squad to stand against the Chaos King. At the last moment, he knocked Mikaboshi through a portal into an empty alternate universe known as the Continuum, which the Chaos King now rules.

Mikaboshi used Ares’ son Alex against him, taking the boy’s form so he could get close enough to attack Zeus.

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Alpha Flight

Canada’s foremost super hero team

Alpha Flight

FACTFILE

original members

Guardian

Electromagnetic battlesuit allows him to fly, surrounds him with a powerful force-field, and permits him to throw bolts of electromagnetic force.

Vindicator

Geothermic battlesuit allows her to fly, cause the earth to erupt volcanically, and blast a lavalike substance from her hands.

Shaman

Withdraws needed objects from enchanted medicine pouch.

Sasquatch

Superhuman strength and imperviousness to harm.

Puck

Trained fighter, skilled acrobat.

Snowbird

Transforms into various Canadian animal forms.

Base

Tamarind Island, British Columbia

First Appearance

Uncanny X-Men #120

(April 1979)

Essential STORYLINES

• Uncanny X-Men #120–121 Alpha Flight ambushes the X-Men in an attempt to recover the AWOL Wolverine for the Canadian government.

• Alpha Flight #12 Guardian is seemingly killed during Alpha’s battle with Omega Flight.

• Alpha Flight Vol. 3 #1–6 With the real Alpha Flight missing, Sasquatch assembles a new team of off-beat heroes.

Conceived as the Canadian government’s answer to the recent spate of superhuman activity within the United States, Alpha Flight was the brainchild of James MacDonald Hudson, soon to be known first as Vindicator, then as Guardian. Inspired by the Fantastic Four, Hudson and his wife Heather convinced the Canadian government to found Department H, which would be tasked with assembling a team of superhumans indigenous to the Great White North.

The Alpha Flight team roar into action.

wanted: a leader

The project was implemented using a three-tiered training system. New recruits or those whose powers proved unstable would be assigned to Gamma Flight. Those whose command of their abilities required further training formed the basis of Beta Flight. The front line—the active members whose job it would be to rout any superhuman threats to the nation— were Alpha Flight. Hudson intended that the man known as Logan (see Wolverine) or Weapon X would lead Alpha Flight. However, that task fell to Hudson himself when Logan was recruited by Professor X to become a member of his X-Men team. Alpha Flight endured a rocky relationship with the Canadian government, being cast aside then drafted back into military service. While the Beta and Gamma Flight units produced heroes to serve with Alpha Flight, such as Puck, the programs were perverted to form the nucleus of the sinister Omega Flight. Alpha Flight soldiered on through deaths and resurrections, strange transformations, sudden reversals, and numerous roster changes—loyal to their mission of protecting their homeland.

In the aftermath of M-Day, a man known as the Collective blazed across Canada, bursting with the energy of all the mutant powers lost that day. Alpha Flight assembled to stop him, but Guardian, Major Mapleleaf, two Pucks, Shaman, and Vindicator were killed, leaving only Sasquatch alive. During the Chaos War, Guardian, Marrina, Shaman, and Vindicator returned from the dead to help Aurora, Northstar, Sasquatch, and Snowbird protect Canada. They later reunited with the first Puck to defeat the Master of the World, who’d taken over the Canadian government.

ALPHA FLIGHT (2011)

1 Shaman

2 Guardian

3 Sasquatch

4 Aurora

5 Marrina

6 Northstar

7 Puck

8 Snowbird

Under Captain Marvel’s leadership and aboard the Alpha Flight Space Station, the team later became Earth’s first line of defense against threats from outer space.

American eagle

first appearance Marvel Two-In-One Annual #6 (1981)

Real name Jason Strongbow

Occupation Champion of the Navaho Tribe

base Navajo Reservation, Arizona

Height 6 ft

Weight 200 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair Black

Special powers/abilities Superhuman strength, speed, and endurance; shoots a crossbow with specialized bolts.

While protesting the mining of a sacred mountain, Jason Strongbow and his brother Ward encountered Klaw, whose sonic blast reacted with uranium in the rock and mutagenically enhanced the brothers. As American Eagle, Jason tracked Klaw to the Savage Land, where he defeated the villain with the aid of the Thing, Ka-zar, and Wyatt Wingfoot, but at the cost of Ward’s life. Jason refused to register with the US government during the Civil War and fought the Thunderbolts to stay free. He badly injured Bullseye before he escaped. Later recruited to the Agents of Wakanda, a team of stealth operatives, he also fought—unsuccessfully—with other heroes for possession of the Phoenix Force.

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A-Next

A-Next

FACTFILE

founding Members

Thunderstrike Super-strong, generates thunder blasts of concussive force.

MAINFRAME Program that lives within mobile armored, multi-weaponed, super-strong robot body.

STINGER Flies, shrinks, generates bio-electric blasts.

J2 Super-strong, nearly unstoppable and indestructible.

Edwin jarvis Director of operations.

ADDITIONAL Members American Dream, Ant-Man, Blue Streak, Crimson Curse, Freebooter, Hawkeye, Jubilee, Katie Power, Sabreclaw, Scarlet Witch, Speedball, Thena, Warp

Base Avengers Compound

First Appearance

A-Next #1

(October 1998)

On Earth-982, the Avengers disbanded. Ten years later, Kevin Masterson, son of Thunderstrike, visited Avengers Compound to find that Jarvis had kept his father’s enchanted mace for him. Loki stole the mace and so inspired the formation of a new Avengers team, each member being related to a former one. Team membership varied as A-Next faced off against the Defenders, the Soldiers of the Serpent, Kristoff Vernard (Doctor Doom’s adopted son), Argo, Iron Man, Red Skull and Doctor Doom, and the Revengers. They’ve also worked with Spider-Girl and the Fantastic Five.

A-NEXT

1 Blue Streak

2 Spider-Girl

3 American Dream

4 Sabreclaw

5 J2

Anaconda

first appearance Marvel Two-In-One #1 (June 1980)

Real name Blanche Blondie Sitznski

Occupation Freelance criminal

Base Mobile

Height 6 ft 2 in

Weight 220 lbs

Eyes Green

Hair Blond

Special powers/abilities Able to stretch her limbs, wrap them around people or objects, and exert enough power to crush one-inch thick steel. Few humans can break free from her grasp.

Former steelworker Blanche Sitznski underwent bioengineering changes at the mutagenics lab of the Brand Corporation and became Anaconda. She then joined the Serpent Squad to help retrieve the Serpent Crown. After some time as a mercenary, she joined Sidewinder in the Serpent Society crime organization. She did stints with the Femizons and the Six Pack before joining Viper’s Serpent Society and Helmut Zemo’s Army of Evil.

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Ancient One

Ancient One

FACTFILE

Real Name

Yao

Occupation

Sorcerer Supreme

Base

Kamar-Taj, Tibet, China

Height 5 ft 11 in

Weight 160 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair Bald, with white beard

First Appearance

Strange Tales #110

(July 1963)

powers

Vast natural talent allied with years of training made him the greatest sorcerer in Earth’s dimension; capable of astral projection, mesmerism, and illusion-casting; able to hurl bolts of energy and possessed of extraordinary longevity.

Five centuries ago, the master sorcerer called the Ancient One was a young farmer in the Himalayan village of Kamar-Taj. He studied sorcery with another villager, Kaluu. When Kaluu sought to use his powers for conquest, the youth thwarted him, and henceforth dedicated his life to opposing evil sorcerers. He eventually became Sorcerer Supreme of Earth’s dimension.

Though magic greatly extended his life, the Ancient One knew that his death was inevitable and sought to train a successor. He accepted Baron Mordo as a pupil, although he was aware of Mordo’s potential for evil. Then the American surgeon Stephen Strange arrived, hoping that the Ancient One could cure his injured hands. Instead Strange found a new vocation and asked to become the Ancient One’s pupil. Under the Ancient One’s tutelage, Doctor Strange ultimately became the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth dimension.

Later, the Ancient One sacrificed his mortal form to save the world from a demon, but after a period working as a servant of Eternity in his astral form, he was forced to return to the Earthly plane. Alive once more, the Ancient One dedicated himself to recording all his magical knowledge in a great library, and also became a teacher at his protégé’s new project, the Strange Academy.

Angar

first appearance Daredevil #100 (June 1973)

Real name David Alan Angar

Occupation Criminal

Base San Francisco

Height 6 ft 10 in

Weight 155 lbs

Eyes Brown

Hair Brown

Special powers/abilities As Angar, his scream induces hallucinations and memory loss. As Scream, a creature of pure sound, he has flight, sound manipulation, and invulnerability.

Disillusioned social activist David Angar volunteered to be exposed to technology brought to Earth by Moondragon, which gave him a hallucination-inducing scream. Moondragon’s malevolent partner, Kerwin J. Broderick, hired Angar to kill Daredevil and Black Widow, but Angar failed. Becoming a criminal for hire, Angar spent time in prison and lost his powers. Master Khan later reinstated them, but the police gunned Angar down during a robbery. The Fixer later used Angar’s essence to create Scream, a being of pure sound, who joined the Redeemers (see Thunderbolts). At his request, his teammate Songbird dispersed him permanently.

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ANGELA

Annihilus

FACTFILE

Real Name

Aldrif Odinsdottir

Occupation

Adventurer; hunter

Base

Asgard; Heven; Hel

Height 6 ft 2 in

Weight 480 lbs

Eyes White

Hair Red

First Appearance

Age of Ultron #10

(March 2013)

powers

Asgardian with superhuman strength and speed; invulnerable to the elements, including outer space; flies faster than light and carries a bow and sword; protected by ribbons that move as if alive; a formidable warrior.

Angela is the daughter of Odin and Freya, but was raised in the Tenth Realm of Heven as an angel with no knowledge of her lineage. In the distant past, Heven and Asgard had waged war against each other, during which Odin’s daughter, Aldrif, was seemingly killed. It transpired that Aldrif survived and was taken by the angels to Heven and raised as Angela. However, by then Odin had exiled Heven from his reality, leaving only the Nine Realms rather than ten. After learning of her true heritage, Angela tried to forge her own path. A ferocious warrior who can go toe-to-toe with Thor, she traveled into Hel to rescue her beloved, Sera, even becoming Queen of that realm for a time. However, she did not desire that level of power, and instead preferred to fight as part of a team. A spell with the Asgardians of the Galaxy was followed by membership of Strikeforce, an off-the-books organization assembled to deal with threats considered too weird for the Avengers.

Anger, Dirk

first appearance Nextwave #1 (March 2006)

Real name Dirk Anger

Occupation Leader of HATE

Base Mobile

Height 6 ft 1 in

Weight 225 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair Brown

Special powers/abilities Controls HATE and its resources. Ages very slowly.

General Dirk Anger was the director of the Highest Anti-Terrorist Effort (HATE), an organization dedicated to battling the terrorists of SILENT. Through the use of various, experimental longevity drugs, the mentally unstable Anger lived for more than 90 years. He recruited a group of heroes to form Nextwave, HATE’s strike team, but they went rogue after they discovered that SILENT was actually funding HATE through its Beyond Corporation subsidiary, a fact Anger knew all about. He was last seen commanding the Aeromarine (HATE’s mobile control center) on a kamikaze course into Nextwave’s Shockwave Rider airship, killing everyone but his targets.

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Annihilus

ANGELA

FACTFILE

Real Name

Annihilus

Occupation

Conqueror; destroyer

Base

Sector 17A of the Negative Zone

Height 5 ft 11 in

Weight 200 lbs

Eyes Green

Hair None

First Appearance

Fantastic Four Annual #6

(1968)

powers

Exoskeleton can withstand vast external pressure (up to 1,500 psi); can breathe in the vacuum of space; his wings enable him to fly at up to 150 mph.

In the Negative Zone, a Tyannan ship crashed on the planet Arthros and released some spores. One of them grew into an insect-like being called Annihilus. Wielding the Cosmic Control Rod, he became ruler of the Negative Zone. The Fantastic Four regularly stymied his attempts to conquer the Earth.

Annihilus launched an invasion he called the Annihilation Wave, aiming to destroy Earth. He was killed by Nova but reborn with his memories intact and soon took control of the Negative Zone again. When the Human Torch was killed in the Negative Zone, Annihilus recovered his body and revived the Torch to force him to aid him to reach Earth again. The Human Torch instead led a revolution against Annihilus’s rule and took the Cosmic Control Rod from him, which the Torch then used to lead the Annihilation Wave to stop a Kree invasion of Earth. But when the Human Torch allowed free elections in the Negative Zone, Annihilus won the leadership by a landslide.

When a force known as the Scourge, led by the Void (see Sentry), invaded the Negative Zone from the Cancerverse, Annihilus was forced to turn to old enemies for help. He fought alongside Nova, the Fantastic Four, and other heroes to stop the Scourge’s legions.

DK Annihilation

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Annihilation

This means war...

The Annihilation Wave, an overwhelming force from the strange dimension known as the Negative Zone, broke through the Crunch to attack the positive matter universe. The Wave, composed of countless insectoid starships and warriors, first destroyed the Kyln, a ring of artificial moons that served both as a super-prison and as a generator of nearly limitless power. Then it destroyed the planet Xandar and the Nova Corps, leaving Earth’s Richard Rider (Nova) as the galactic police force’s only survivor.

issue #1

Richard Rider (Nova), the last survivor of the Nova Corps, leads the Kree defense—and later the entire United Front—against the invading hordes of the Annihilation Wave.

the galaxy at war

With the help of Quasar and Drax the Destroyer, Nova discovered that Annihilus, who led the Annihilation Wave, had allied with Thanos to conquer the galaxy. After killing Quasar, Annihilus took his Quantum Bands and drove off the others. Annihilus freed from Kyln two ancient beings known as Aegis and Tenebrous, whom Galactus had imprisoned there. The Silver Surfer joined with Galactus and his former heralds to fight his foes but lost.

With the help of Drax, Gamora, Ronan the Accuser, and Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Nova formed and led the interstellar alliance called the United Front. After Thanos captured Moondragon, Drax went to rescue her and discovered that Annihilus had turned Galactus and his heralds into a weapon that could destroy planets. Drax freed the Silver Surfer, who in turn freed Galactus. Furious, Galactus attacked the Annihilation Wave. Meanwhile, with the Skrull Empire destroyed, Ronan and the Super-Skrull freed the Kree Empire from the control of the traitorous House Fiyero, which had kept the Supreme Intelligence trapped between life and death. Finishing the Supreme Intelligence off, Ronan took control of the empire.

With the Annihilation Wave decimated, Nova, Phyla-Vell, and Star-Lord hunted down Annihilus. Phyla took the Quantum Bands from him, and Nova killed him with his bare hands. Later, though, Annihilus’ lieutenant Ravenous revealed an infant insectoid he believed to be Annihilus reborn.

The Silver Surfer made the ultimate sacrifice to stem the tide of the Annihilation Wave. After nearly dying at the hands of other elder beings, he returned to the service of Galactus.

Drax the Destroyer was killed by Paibok the Skrull before the Annihilation Wave even began. He returned in a new body to seek his revenge, accompanied by his new friend Cammi.

Nova left Earth to help defend the planet Xandar against the Annihilation Wave. Failing at that, he drew on the power of the entire Nova Force to challenge Annihilus himself.

The Super-Skrull failed to keep the Annihilation Wave from destroying his people’s homeworld, but he sacrificed himself (temporarily) to keep the Harvester of Sorrows from obliterating any other worlds.

Ronan the Accuser was framed for treason but still rose to become the leader of the Kree. He ultimately had to kill the Supreme Intelligence and take control of the Kree Empire himself.

Another Conquest

Soon after, the Phalanx attacked and conquered the Kree Empire, using a techno-organic virus to control their subjects. Star-Lord formed a team (a prototype of the Guardians of the Galaxy) to help fight this threat. Phyla-Vell (now the new Quasar) and Moondragon hunted for a savior who could defeat the Phalanx: a young, regenerated Adam Warlock. Warlock brought the women to meet the High Evolutionary. Soon after, Ultron attacked, killing Moondragon and revealing himself as the driving force behind the Phalanx invasion. Later, Ultron forced the High Evolutionary to transfer his mind into Warlock’s body.

Meanwhile, Ronan, Super-Skrull, and a Kree named Wraith—who can protect others from the Phalanx infection—went to the Kree world controlled by Ravenous and shielded an army of robotic Kree sentries. They then sent them to destroy the Phalanx. At the same time, Nova, Drax, and Gamora reappeared with Warlock of the Technarchy, which had created the Phalanx.

The Technarchy Warlock forced Ultron from Adam Warlock’s body. When Ultron reassembled himself into a gigantic body, Wraith trapped Ultron’s mind within it, and Quasar slew it, ending the war.

The Annihilation Wave

The invasion forces that Annihilus assembled in the relative safety of the Negative Zone proved to be the largest fighting force the galaxy had ever seen. At the height of its powers, it destroyed nearly all of the mighty Skrull and Kree Empires and even captured the Silver Surfer and Galactus. At the moment known as Annihilation Day, Annihilus’ forces destroyed the Kyln super-prison and launched their war on the positive-matter universe.

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Angel

The avenging angel

Angel

FACTFILE

Real Name

Warren Kenneth Worthington III

Occupation

Hero and Chairman of Worthington Industries

Base

Formerly Krakoa; formerly New York State (Avengers Tower), Manhattan, New York

Height 6 ft

Weight 150 lbs

Eyes Blue

Hair Blond

First Appearance

X-Men #1 (September 1963)

powers

Feathered wings can carry up to twice his weight and bear him to 29,000 feet; able to fly up to 150 mph; enhanced lungs enable him to breathe at high altitudes; possesses extraordinary eyesight and blood has healing qualities.

ESSENTIAL STORYLINES

• X-Men #54–6 Warren Worthington’s origins are shown—from a private schoolboy who grows wings to a member of the X-Men.

• X-Factor #10–15, Thor #373–4 Angel’s wings are amputated and he is driven to suicide.

• X-Factor #21–25 Apocalypse appoints Angel as his Fourth Horseman, Death.

Warren Worthington was born into a wealthy family. At private school, during his late teens, Warren noticed wings budding from his shoulder blades. Fearful of attracting attention, he strapped them to his body but secretly began experimenting with flying. When a fire started in his school, Warren flew to the rescue of his schoolmates disguised in a nightshirt and blond wig. He was mistaken for an angel and so, when he headed to New York City to become a costumed crimefighter, he took the moniker Avenging Angel.

While in X-Force, Warren not only defeated Apocalypse but became his heir.

itinerant X-Man

Warren soon joined Professor X’s fledgling band of X-Men. He inherited vast wealth and went on to become a media playboy. Warren used his fortune to provide backing to the Champions of Los Angeles, the Defenders, and later X-Factor. While with X-Factor, Warren’s wings were damaged battling the Marauders, became infected, and had to be amputated. Warren became depressed after losing his wings and attempted suicide. Saved by the mutant warlord Apocalypse, Warren was offered the chance to grow new wings of steel if he became one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen—Death. Warren agreed, but this Faustian pact brought him into direct conflict with his X-Men friends. Only the apparent death of his old friend Iceman brought Warren to his senses. Following this epiphany, Warren’s metal wings molted to reveal feathers. Returning to the X-Men, Warren rechristened himself Archangel. For a while, Warren could morph back and forth between his Angel and Archangel personas at will.

Following Apocalypse’s death, Warren was forced into becoming the new Apocalypse. Archangel had two children with Pestilence, another Horseman that Apocalypse had created. These children became the Apocalypse Twins. Archangel was seemingly killed by Psylocke but was later found alive, with no memory of his past life. This individual was later revealed to be just half of the real Warren, who had been split into two entities—the dark, vengeful Archangel and his peaceful human side. After Clan Akkaba and Genocide (Apocalypse’s son) created clones of Archangel, Psylocke and an X-Men team stopped the villains, rescued their friend, and helped merge the two aspects of Warren into one. Professor X later gave Angel more control over his form and restored his memories.

Warren was reborn on Krakoa after dying in a mission to stop Mother Mold. He fought the Cotati during their attempted invasion of Earth (see Empyre) and became CXO of the X-Corporation, tasked with maintaining Krakoan wealth and liaising with human businesses and the United Nations.

Warren’s skin gained a blue pigment during his time working for Apocalypse.

A young version of Angel was brought forward in time with his teammates. This Angel gained powerful