When the Avengers and Fantastic Four bit the big one during ONSLAUGHT, the world (or New York, at least) was short on super-teams who could take on those larger threats. Iron Fist and Luke Cage reformed the Heroes For Hire with a slew of recognisable friends padding out the line-up and making them an almost Avengers-level force. But the team the caught the most attention was the Thunderbolts - a band of brightly-coloured new heroes with oddly familiar powers. But it turned out they weren't just familiar. We'd actually met them before...
Let's take a look back at the stories that introduced Baron Zemo (originally going by the name Phoenix), the Beetle, the Fixer, Goliath (previously known as Power Man and the Smuggler), Moonstone and Screaming Mimi - disperate villains who will eventually become members of the Masters of Evil in various incarnations before becoming a team of 'heroes' with a darker agenda...
This was going to be a single post, but these six villains made a substantial number of appearances between 1964 and 1996 so I've had to split this up over two entries...
- Issue listings in blue & black: The must-read Beetle, Fixer, Moonstone, Phoenix/Baron Zemo, Power Man/Smuggler/Goliath & Screaming Mimi stories from this time period, along with any often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
- issue listings in grey: Part of the pre-Thunderbolts chronology, cameo appearances or stories of note that non-essential or no longer considered 'required reading'.
- Chronology: Every appearance of these characters from this period is included in chronological order - mapping out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
- Spoilers: The are some spoilers in the story overviews, though I've tried to keep them to a minimum - just be warned!
Captain America: The Medusa Effect #1 (1994)
Helmut Zemo: World War II circa 1943; young Helmut Zemo fights alongside his father, Baron Heinrich Zemo, against Captain America and Bucky when the two American target his Medusa Effect weapon.
Thunderbolts: Distant Rumblings #-1 (1997)
Norbert Ebersol, Melissa Gold, Abner Jenkins, Erik Josten, Karla Sofen, Helmut Zemo: Just before the modern Heroic Age; Baron Heinrich Zemo teaches his son, Helmut Zemo, about leadership; Erik Josten works as a soldier in Zemo's post-war army; Norbert Ebersol becomes the Fixer and makes his bid to join Hydra; disgruntled mechanic Abner Jenkins proposes a suit of armour that's rejected by his boss; Melissa 'Mimi' Gold runs away from her abusive father; psychiatrist Karla Sofen attends a lecture from Dr Leonard Samson and manipulates one of her clients during FLASHBACK.
Strange Tales #123[1/2] (1964)
Beetle: First appearance of the Beetle/Abner Jenkins and Beetle Armour Mark I; Abner Jenkins uses his Beetle armour to commit a series of thefts until he's brought down by the Human Torch and the Thing.
Amazing Spider-Man #21 (1965)
Beetle: The Beetle is released from prison and immediately seeks revenge on the Human Torch by kidnapping his girlfriend Dorrie Evans; Spider-Man gives chase, but the Torch mistakenly believes Spidey is in on the kidnapping; they apprehend the Beetle together and free Dorrie.
Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965) / Marvel: Heroes & Legends (1996)
Beetle: The Beetle is among the villains employed by Doctor Doom to sabotage Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl's wedding during THE WEDDING OF REED & SUE.
Strange Tales #141[1/2]-143[1/2], 145[1/2] (1966)
Fixer: First appearance of the Fixer/Norbert Ebersol and Mentallo/Marvin Flumm; Fixer forms an alliance with rogue former-SHIELD agent Mentallo and assault the SHIELD Helicarrier; the duo capture Nick Fury and the Fixer reveals his loyalty to the secret organisation called THEM; SHIELD and Tony Stark use their own tech to defeat Fixer and Mentallo during T.H.E.M.
Avengers #21-22 (1965)
Power Man: First appearance of Power Man/Erik Josten; one of Baron Heinrich Zemo's agents, Erik Josten, investigates the machinery the now-deceased Zemo used to create Wonder Man; the Enchantress uses the machine to grant Josten the same ionic powers, transforming him into Power Man; together they frame the Avengers until Captain America catches up with them and clears the team's name; the experience leads to Cap quitting the Avengers.
Avengers #26-28 (1966)
Beetle: First appearance of the Collector/Taneleer Tivan; first appearance of Giant-Man/Hank Pym as Goliath; the Collector brainwashes the Beetle and uses him as a pawn to kidnap the Wasp and fend off the Avengers; the defeated Collector teleports away with the Beetle during AMONG US WALKS A GOLIATH.
Avengers #29 (1966)
Power Man: Asian Communists brainwash the Black Widow who then leads Power Man and the Swordsman against the Avengers during AMONG US WALKS A GOLIATH.
Avengers #30 (1966)
Power Man: First appearance of the Keeper of the Flame/Lann and Prince Rey; the Avengers track down the brainwashed Black Widow and her crew; the Black Widow saves Hawkeye from Power Man when her love for the Avenging Archer breaks her programming.
Tales of Suspense #88[2/2] (pp.-16) (1967)
Avengers #38 (1967)
Tales of Suspense #88[2/2] (pp.17-19) (1967)
Power Man: Power Man and the Swordsman are employed by the Red Skull to attack Captain America during BACK FROM THE DEAD.
Alpha Flight Special #1 (1992)
Power Man: Egghead first forms his Emissaries of Evil, bringing Power Man and the Swordsman into the line-up; the Emissaries demand control of Canada or they will unleash a nuclear bomb; the Emissaries are defeated by the newly formed Alpha Flight, led by the Wolverine, though a team member sacrifices himself to save his country.
Avengers King-Size Special #1 (1967)
Power Man: The Mandarin forces Power Man and the Swordsman and a number of other villains to destroy various landmarks around the world; Iron Man, Goliath and the Wasp defeat the duo.
Daredevil #33-34 (1967)
Beetle: Having escaped the Collector, the Beetle returns to a life of crime and attracts the attention of Daredevil; the Beetle's goons capture Daredevil and the Beetle plans to unmask him on live TV in Montreal; Daredevil escapes and defeats the Beetle and his men.
Avengers #78-79 (1970)
Power Man: First appearance of the Lethal Legion; the Man-Ape defeats the Black Panther and takes him back to the Grim Reaper's new team, the Lethal Legion, which includes Power Man and Swordsman as members; Power Man gives the Grim Reaper a file that reveals the brainwaves of Wonder Man (the Reaper's brother, Simon WIlliams) were used in the Vision's creation; the Avengers defeat the Lethal Legion.
Amazing Spider-Man #94 (1971)
Beetle: After escaping from prison, the Beetle kidnaps May Parker while carrying out one his robberies; Spider-Man rescues his Aunt May and takes the Beetle back to jail.
Captain America #168 (1973)
Phoenix: First appearance of Phoenix/Helmut Zemo; a villain named Phoenix takes Captain America prisoner and unmasks, revealing himself to be Helmut Zemo, the son of Baron Heinrich Zemo; Phoenix blames Cap for the scarring of his father's face with Adhesive-X which drove him mad and his eventual death while fighting the Avengers; Falcon interrupts Phoenix's plans to drop Cap into a vat of Adhesive-X, only for the villain to fall into the vat himself; Captain America and the Falcon assume Helmut Zemo is dead.
Power Man #21 (1974)
Power Man: The new Power Man (Luke Cage) is challenged by the villainous Power Man (Josten) for the right to use the name; Cage beats Josten and becomes the one, true Power Man.
Daredevil #108-109 (1974) / Code of Honor #1 (1997)
Beetle: First appearance of the Black Spectre; the Beetle's latest robbery attempted is thwarted by both Daredevil and agents of the Black Spectre during THE BLACK SPECTRE.
Captain America #192 (1975)
Karla Sofen: First appearance of Karla Sofen; after training under criminal psychologist Doctor Faustus, Karla Sofen becomes one of his crew; Sofen avoids capture when Captain America puts a stop to Faustus' plans to take over Manhattan Island.
Daredevil #140 (1976)
Beetle: The Gladiator joins forces with the Beetle as they plan their revenge on Daredevil; the Beetle is seriously wounded in the fight due to Gladiator's blind rage, facilitating an easy win for Daredevil.
Marvel Two-in-One #27 (1977)
Fixer: The Fixer and Mentallo are revealed to have returned and seek out the Thing, using him to activate Doctor Doom's time machine and plucking Deathlok from the timestream; their plan to use Deathlok to assassinate the President is stopped by Nick Fury and the Fantastic Four during DAY OF THE DEMOLISHER.
Avengers #164 (1977)
Power Man: Count Nefaria convinces Erik Josten to give up working in a warehouse on the docks in favour of having his ionic powers increased and returning to his Power Man identity; Power Man rejoins the Lethal Legion and attacks the Avengers on Nefaria's behalf, only to lose his powers mid-battle.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #16 (1978)
Beetle: The Beetle makes a failed attempt to steal a briefcase full of heroin and cash, but Spider-Man prevents him from succeeding.
Defenders #63-65 (1978)
Beetle: When the existence of the Defenders is made public, a group of villains form their own Defenders in order to sully the group's name; the Beetle is among the team of villains; a slew of heroes wanting to join the real Defenders themselves defeat the villainous Defenders, but it's a messy victory.
Incredible Hulk #228-231 (1978-1979)
Captain America #230 (1979)
Incredible Hulk #232 (1979)
Moonstone: First appearance of Karla Sofen as Moonstone; first appearance of Fred Sloan; having used her stills as a psychiatrist to take the gravity-defying Moonstone from the original costumed villain also called Moonstone (Lloyd Bloch), Karla Sofen used the object to become the new Moonstone; she takes a job at Gammabase working undercover for the criminal Corporation but her first mission is halted by the Hulk; Moonstone is later introduced to the head of the Corporation who takes her to Alcatraz where the Hulk and Captain America shut down the Corporation's entire operation during THE CORPORATION.
Marvel Two-in-One #54, 56 (1979)
Screaming Mimi: First appearance of the Grapplers (Letha/Hellen Feliciano, Poundcakes/Marian Pouncy, Screaming Mimi/Melissa Gold & Titania/Davida DeVito); Thundra begins her wrestling career by defeating the Grapplers; Titania and the Grapplers are hired by Nth Command to infiltrate Project: PEGASUS; but are defeated by the Thing, Quasar and Giant-Man.
Iron Man #126-127 (1979)
Beetle: First appearance of Ling McPherson; Justin Hammer is revealed to be financing super-criminals in exchange for half of their profits; the Beetle revealed to be among the villains outfitted by Hammer who sends him and a whole army of villains after Iron Man; Iron Man uses the Beetle's finger-tentacles to swing him around and take out the Leap-Frog, defeating them both in one hit.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #49[1/2]-50[1/2] (1980)
Smuggler: First appearance of Power Man/Erik Josten as the Smuggler; with his strength reduced, Josten takes on the identity of the Smuggler, returning to the docks to deal in the black market; Spider-Man shuts down the Smuggler's operation.
Micronauts #24-25 (1980-1981)
Fixer: The Fixer and Mentallo create an artificial intelligence to take control of the Micronauts' ship and turn it against them.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #54 (1981)
The Smuggler's activities have put him in the crosshairs of the Maggia for smuggling on their turf; the Smuggler teams up with Spider-Man to save himself and expose the Maggia, but gets shot in the back.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #58-60 (1981)
Beetle: First appearance of Beetle Armour Mark II; the Beetle kidnaps the Ringer and attaches a bomb to him in order to coerce him into attacking Spider-Man; the Ringer is defeated, but explosion from the device only melts the device itself; donning new armour after his last suit was used against him by Iron Man, the Beetle teams up with the Gibbon due to their mutual desire for revenge against Spider-Man; Gibbon turns against the Beetle and helps Spider-Man bring him down.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #61 (1981)
Moonstone: Moonstone tries to steal the Enervator device from Dr Curt Conners and uses it to boost her powers; the device becomes unstable while Moonstone is battling Spider-Man and she's ultimately defeated.
Dazzler #13 (1982)
Screaming Mimi: Dazzler spends a short time in prison while waiting to stand trial for the murder of Klaw; the Grapplers harass Dazzler in jail but she makes short work of them.
Marvel Team-Up #118 (1982)
Fixer: Professor Power employs Mentallo to psychically attack Professor X when he's unable to heal his son, Matthew Power; the Fixer comes to Mentallo's aid when Spider-Man joins the fight on the physical plane.
Avengers #222 (1982)
Moonstone: First appearance of the Egghead's Masters of Evil; Moonstone joins the new Masters of Evil as field leader; defying Egghead's orders, the group attack the Avengers and are soundly defeated.
Captain America #275-276[1/2], 277[1/2]-278[1/2] (1982-1983)
Baron Zemo: First appearance of Phoenix/Helmut Zemo as Baron Zemo; Helmut Zemo is revealed to be alive and has picked up the mantle of Baron Zemo; Zemo joins forces with Arnim Zola, kidnaps Captain America's friend Arnie Roth and sends Vermin and an army of Protoid mutates to battle Captain America; Zemo reveals he knows Cap's civilian identity; Vermin and the Protoids turn against Zemo during YESTERDAY'S SHADOWS.
Marvel Two-in-One #96 (1983)
Beetle & Screaming Mimi: The Mad Thinker alerts the super-villain community - including the Beetle and Screaming Mimi - to the Thing's weakened state, sending them all to attack him; the heroes come to the Thing's defence during CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE.
Avengers #228-230 (1983)
Moonstone & Beetle: The Egghead sends his Masters of Evil - with Beetle joining the team - to attack the courthouse and free Hank Pym to make it look like he's a member of their group; Hank single-handedly defeats the Masters of Evil and clears his name; the Masters are jailed.
Avengers #236-238 (1983)
Moonstone: Confusion caused by the Lava Men allows Moonstone and others to escape their cells at Project: PEGASUS; Moonstone manipulates Blackout into casting his Darkforce power when the Avengers come to apprehend them, only for it to send both villains into the Darkforce Dimension.
Captain America #290 (1984)
Baron Zemo: First appearance of Mother Superior/Sinthea Schmidt; Mother Superior locates Baron Zemo and takes him with her to taunt Steve Rogers' friend Arnie Roth and pay a visit to the Red Skull.
Dazzler #32 (1984)
Moonstone: Moonstone and Blackout emerge from the Darkforce Dimension on the Moon where Moonstone seeks out more artefacts that might increase her power in the Inhumans' hidden city Attilan; the Inhumans and Dazzler defeat the duo and return them to Project: PEGASUS.
Code of Honor #3 (1997)
Moonstone: Moonstone is among the villains who take advantage of the disappearance of the major heroes (having been transported to Battleworld).
1985 #3 (2008)
Screaming Mimi: Screaming Mimi is among the villains trying to escape to Earth-1219.
1985 #6 (2008)
Baron Zemo: Zemo is among the villains trying to escape to Earth-1219.
Avengers Annual #13 (1984)
Fixer: Captain America defeats the Fixer when he tries to steal experimental weapons from a military base.
Iron Man Annual #7 (1984)
Goliath: First appearance of Smuggler/Erik Josten as Goliath; Erik Josten gets Karl Malus to up his power set and put him in the big leagues; growing to a gigantic 60 feet, Josten becomes the new Goliath, destroys Malus' labs and rampages through Los Angeles; the West Coast Avengers use sonics to knock Goliath unconscious, causing him to shrink to 20 feet tall.
Spider-Man/Human Torch #4 (2005)
Beetle: Spider-Man and Black Cat take down the Beetle.
Captain America #293-299 (1984)
Baron Zemo: Zemo undergoes training with Mother Superior and the Red Skull, brainwashes Steve Rogers' friend David Cox to turn him into the Slayer and kidnaps Arnie Roth for a second time; Zemo assists in a mental attack on Captain America, forcing him to reenact his last encounter with Helmut Zemo's father, but ultimately turns against Mother Superior; Mother Superior brings Zemo down with a psionic attack and leaves him to die in Skull-House when it explodes.
Captain America #308 (1985)
West Coast Avengers #1-2 (1985)
Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2 (1985)
Goliath: Man-Ape frees Goliath to make him part of the new Lethal Legion; the Vision, Scarlet Witch and West Coast Avengers take down the Legion during FAMILY TIES.
West Coast Avengers #3 (1985)
Goliath: Goliath is returned to normal size and imprisoned at Avengers Compound.
Thunderbolts: Marvel's Most Wanted
Avengers #21-22
Captain America #168
Incredible Hulk #228-229
Marvel Two-in-One #56
Strange Tales #123, 141-143
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