By Roman Chavez

April 4, 2009

Secret Invasion is over. Tony Stark is out as head of S.H.E.I.L.D. Norman Osborn is the new leader in the defense of the free world. He calls it H.A.M.M.E.R. (As of this point they have not told us what the acronym stands for.) Through his inability to avoid the Skrull invasion Tony Stark is now the worlds most wanted man. Picking up the pieces, Osborne is devout in the capture of Stark and anyone harboring him. However, Osborne is no fool. He knows the world needs a team that they can look up to and what better team than the Avengers. It’s hard to believe that anyone would follow Osborn, let alone any Avengers. He doesn’t need the real Avengers he just needs people to think that he has them.

Starting this past January Marvel Comics launched a new series titled Dark Avengers. This rag tag team is comprised of a group of impostors! Osborn has taken the good names of great heroes and turned them into a slap in the face. Among the team are Hawkeye, Wolverine, Spiderman, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Iron Patriot, Ares and The Sentry. The first five in the line up are an interesting group. They are not the same heroes that we all know and love they have just been given the namesake by Osborn. All this week we will be giving you guys character profiles on who these new players are. Those of you who already know them, we will be shedding some light for those who like comics but do not stay in the loop.

I let the series get a few issues in before I wanted to report on it. Let’s just say that the big companies can let you down and I didn’t want to get you all too hyped just yet. It follows these “Dark Avengers” as they try to play hero to the world. The team idea is really just a publicity stunt to show the rest of the world that the “Avengers” are still looking out for them. Osborn is very clear that he does not want the rest of his team talking to the press, most likely because his team is made up of mostly felons. We will fill you in on more of that later. By issue three I have to say that I am pretty pumped and I am enjoying watching this team figure things out.

To kick start our bios here is the Iron Patriot.

Norman Osborn- Alias: Iron Patriot

Origin:

Once a brilliant co-owner of a chemical manufacturer. Osborn framed his partner for embezzlement thus gaining sole interest in the company. Oscorp was all his, along with all of his partners notes. In those notes was a formula for a compound that could make him super humanly powerful. Through an accident caused by his son Harry, some of the chemicals were switched causing an explosive reaction. While in the hospital Osborn began to think more clear than ever before (Not knowing that the chemicals were slowly making him insane) he thought that he should become the new major crime boss of New York. Wanting to make Spiderman his first victim Osborn created the persona he is most commonly know for The Green Goblin.

After years of being defeated Osborn had been locked up many times. Eventually he had proven that he could be sane again, through psychiatric help and prescription drugs, Osborn was given the chance to run a government sponsored team called the Thunderbolts. The Thunderbolts were comprised of mostly reformed villains, and some villains that were forced to be there. In the fall out of the Secret Invasion Osborne assumes control of many of Tony Starks assets including his Iron Man armors and the Avengers name.

Abilities:

Iron Patriot has many of the abilities of Iron man including:

Flight
Repulsar Blast
Super Strength (about 100 tons)
Lasers
Energy Shield

Visit us Monday when we deliver you more bios on these Dark Avengers.