THE COMMISSAR

Real Name: Inapplicable

Identity/Class: Terrestrial robot

Occupation: Surrogate body of Commanding General of Sin-Cong (controlled by Thahn Ng); formerly the robot served as enforcer and puppet dictator of Sin-Cong

Affiliations: Thahn Ng, Sin-Cong; former agent of the communist governments of Sin-Cong & China, specifically Major Hoy and the Commissar (see comments)

Enemies: Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff), Commissar

Known Relatives: Unidentified creators

Aliases: General Gorgo (see comments)

Base of Operations: Imperial Palace in Thoat Nhin, Socialist Republic of Sin-Cong

First Appearance: Avengers I#18 (July, 1965)








 

Powers/Abilities: The Commissar was approximately 10' tall, and possesses superhuman strength (Class 5-10) and durability. It was originally controlled by a large, pre-miniaturization, computer bank, which allowed it to fight with great skill. It has demonstrated great skill in hand-to-hand combat, principally along the lines of wrestling, as well as the use of a scimitar. Its primary weakness was the computer bank which controlled it, a design flaw corrected in recent years (though it is unknown how the robot is controlled it is presumably through mental commands). The robot temporarily received an overhaul with additional armor plates placed all over the robot body including its head.








History:

(Avengers I#18 (fb) - BTS) - The Commissar robot was built by the communist government of Sin-Cong to serve as a ruler who would inspire fear in its subjects.

(Avengers I#18) - Enraged that its subjects did not hate and fear the scheming, capitalistic, imperialist dogs of the USA, the Commissar's director, Major Hoy, sent a fake message from "radio free Sin-Cong" to the Avengers, requesting aid from "the Reds." The Avengers were only too happy to help free the oppressed people of Sin-Cong from the tyrannical rule of the evil, evil communists, and they flew to Sin-Cong. The Scarlet Witch fell through a trap door, and the other three Avengers fell victim to sleep gas. The Commissar, using Wanda as a hostage, forced the other Avengers to battle him in single combat, in front of the villagers on Sin-Cong. By defeating the Avengers, the Commissar hoped to win a propaganda victory over the USA, and to gain respect throughout the rest of Asia.







   One by one, the male Avengers fought the Commissar, and each was overpowered. Captain America finally noticed that Major Hoy would disappear behind a curtain during each of the fights. Cap then challenged the Commissar to battle the Scarlet Witch, and he revealed his plan to her. Upon her release, she set the curtain on fire, and revealed Hoy working at an elaborate control panel. She then destroyed the panel with a hex bolt, which effectively put the kibosh on the Commissar. Cap gave a speech on the evil of Commies, reminding the United States Government of the real world that comic book characters are not communist agents involved in the Seduction of the Innocent.








SECRET WARS HAPPENED

(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point the head of the comatose Commanding General Hoy, kept alive by unknown means, was placed in the belly of the Commissar robot behind unbreakable glass.

(All-New Inhumans#3) - The Commissar robot stood in a vitrine of unbreakable glass somewhere in the Imperial Palace. The young Commissar visited the robot to talk to his father's comatose head.

   The young Commissar took the Commissar robot, with extra armor and his father's head inside, to the Biotech Facilities. The robot and its former master's son stood behind while forcing Crystal and Flint, both imprisoned in unbreakable glass cylinders, to watch their spies Grid, Naja and Panacea fight to the death with soldiers and robot drones.

(All-New Inhumans#4) - The Commissar robot was present while the young Commissar made a deal with Crystal to stop the R.I.V.'s attack on Sin-Cong and then return for her judgment for the Inhumans' various crimes against Sin-Cong and the young Commissar. In the end he stood by while Crystal offered the Inhumans' aid to rebuild the country if they rebuked the young Commissar's rule. The young Commissar was imprisoned.

(All-New Inhumans#4 - BTS) - The Sin-Cong Inhuman Thahn Ng took control over Hoy's comatose head and had the head placed on top of the Commissar robot's body.

(All-New Inhumans#4) - The Commissar controlled by Thahn Ng visited the imprisoned young Commissar and vowed to rule those loyal to the true Sin-Cong while the young Commissar stayed in prison and the Inhumans helped repair the catastrophe brought on the country by the young Commissar.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and Don Heck.

Thanks to David A. Zuckerman for a correction.

Logic and the retelling of the events of Avengers I#18 in All-New Inhumans#2 make it clear that the father of the new Commissar had to be Major Hoy, who was the one luring the Avengers to Sin-Cong.

I don't know the naming conventions of Sin-Cong, but the younger Commissar, the son of Major Hoy, is probably named Hoy as well.

Sin-Cong was later revealed to be the Swordsman's place of birth, as seen in Avengers Spotlight#22.

In All-New Inhumans Sin-Cong was used as an obvious stand-in for North Korea.

The Marvel UK Avengers#15 reprinted the U.S. Avengers I#18, and depicted the Commissar in his combat leotard; in the actual story, we only get a decent shot of him when the Commissar is in a totally unsuitable spreadeagled mid-leap pose, and the Appendix entry only shows partial shots of him in this outfit. And perhaps because they felt the word Commissar wouldn't be widely known by UK children, they changed all uses of that word to General, up to and including in the story title, and one the cover expanded that to give him a name, Gorgo. Since he was passing for a human, maybe his fake identity was that of Commissar General Gorgo? That cover art is by Ron Wilson and uncertain inkers; comics.org speculates perhaps Mike Esposito and/or John Tartaglione.
--Loki

Profile by Snood. Inhumans update by Markus Raymond.

Clarifications:

The robot Commissar should not be confused with:


Commissar

(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - Already a grown man he often embarrassed his father with his infatuation with candy.

(All-New Inhumans#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Commissar despised his father's genetic experiments to create a superhuman army. As soon as he took control over the country the Commissar discontinued genetic experiments and instead invested in technology again. He partnered with Hydra, who sold weapons and technology to Sin-Cong until the terrorist organization's collapse. Hydra's collapse actually proved advantageous for Sin-Cong as it left the country with more money to spend elsewhere to become a world power.

(All-New Inhumans#1) - Sin-Cong was a violently xenophobic, heavily militarized country ruled by the Commissar. Swain informed Crystal when the Terrigen cloud hit Sin-Cong.

(All-New Inhumans#2 - BTS, 4 - BTS) - The Commissar organized the execution of all NuHumans in Sin-Cong, including Thahn Ng and his non-Inhuman family, who tried to save him.

(All-New Inhumans#2) - Showing off Sin-Cong's impressive military machinery the Commissar welcomed Crystal and a contingent of Inhumans as guests in his country and allowed them to freely explore the country's civilian areas and interview anyone they wanted to see that nobody in Sin-Cong was affected by the Terrigen cloud because Sin-Cong was a country of pure humans. Accompanied by military personnel the Inhumans found no evidence for Terrigenesis in Sin-Cong. As expected the threat of repercussions from the military made the people of Sin-Cong deny seeing any Terrigenesis or even hear rumors about it.

   That evening the Commissar had dinner with the Inhumans and was glad he was proven right that Crystal and the others had found no evidence for Terrigenesis in Sin-Cong. The Commissar made a toast and told the story about his father fighting the Avengers and showed the genetic monstrosities he created after the lost battle and Crystal offered to take them off his hand and give them medical care. He sent in soldiers to take the Un-Humans back to their cells because they were still his subjects and he knew what was best for them, but the Hulk-like Un-Human broke free to jump up to the Commissar and Crystal and take the Inhumans' offer for help. He was shot by a robot for embarrassing the Commissar in front of guests and when the soldiers threatened to kill him Flint had enough and stopped them, which angered the Commissar. Crystal pretended she and not Flint interfered because she was a mere woman overwhelmed by the Commissar's brutal show of force. The Commissar showed some understanding, but ended the dinner nonetheless because it was tainted by dishonor. The Inhumans left and the Commissar was applauded by his followers.

(All-New Inhumans#3) - The Commissar visited the robot with his father's comatose head inside to vent about how his father never understood that he needed candy to calm his anxiety. When a soldier told him Inhumans attempted to break in to Sin-Cong's Biotech Facilities the Commissar ordered him to trigger the gas vents when their guard was down and to prepare the heavy artillery for them when they woke up. The Commissar considered himself and Sin-Cong's technology already the winner against the Inhumans.

(All-New Inhumans#3 - BTS) - The Commissar had Crystal and Flint captured and imprisoned in unbreakable glass cylinders at Sin-Cong's Biotech Facilities where he waited with the Commissar robot, soldiers and robot drones for Crystal's spies Grid, Naja and Panacea.

(All-New Inhumans#3) - The Commissar, riding a walker robot, mocked the Inhumans and their underhanded tactics and sent his soldiers and robot drones to attack the three spies to show Crystal and Flint the true superiority of Sin-Cong's technology.

(All-New Inhumans#4) - The Commissar called the R.I.V.'s attack on Sin-Cong an act of war. Crystal promised to shut it down and return to face judgment. The Commissar released her and mocked her for abandon her threats so easily for the lives of her "pets".

   Crystal returned as promised after stopping the R.I.V.'s attack, but the Commissar had no interest in the cease fire she suggested and demanded an unconditional surrender and a full confession of the Inhumans' espionage and assassination attempt on himself. Crystal instead promised the people of Sin-Cong the Inhumans' aid to rebuild their country if they rebuked the Commissar's leadership. The soldiers turned on the Commissar and arrested him. As his last act of revenge he released poison gas to kill the Inhuman Flint, who was still trapped inside an unbreakable glass cylinder. Flint was saved by Panacea.

   The Commissar was later visited by the Commissar robot under the command of his father's head, who had been comatose for years. The former leader told his son that the young Commissar would stay in his cell while the Inhumans repaired the catastrophe the Commissar had brought on this country and that he would now rule the people loyal to the true Sin-Cong. Though he was sure something was wrong with his father's sudden awakening the young Commissar wasn't aware that his father was controlled by the Sin-Cong Inhuman Thahn Ng.

--All-New Inhumans#1 ([All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) ], [All-New Inhumans#2 (fb) ], All-New Inhumans#1-3, [3], 4


Major Hoy

(Marvel Atlas#1 - Sing-Cong) - After Wong-Chu departed Sin-Cong to lead other rebels and terrorist factions Chinese military adviser Major Hoy stepped in to manage Sin-Cong's government.

(All-New Inhumans#2 (fb) - BTS) - As Sin-Cong's Commanding General Hoy believed the world was entering a super-powered arms race and had the Commissar robot built.

(Avengers I#18 (fb) - BTS) - Major Hoy employed the government built robot known as the Commissar to serve as the country's new figurehead leader, taking advantage of the robot's superior physical capabilities to intimidate locals.

(Avengers I#18) - Enraged its subjects did not hate and fear the Americans Major Hoy sent a fake message from "radio free Sin-Cong" to the Avengers, requesting aid from "the Reds." The Avengers were happy to help free the oppressed people of Sin-Cong, but ended up as prisoners themselves. After Hoy revealed the Scarlet Witch trapped in an unbreakable glass cage with a death switch Hoy could press at any time, the other Avengers were forced into single battle with the Commissar in front of an audience. After the three male members were overpowered Captain America finally noticed that Major Hoy would disappear behind a curtain during each of the fights. He challenged the Commissar to fight the Scarlet Witch as well. Hoy released her for her battle and she set the curtain on fire, and revealed Hoy working at an elaborate control panel. She then destroyed the panel with a hex bolt, which short-circuited the Commissar. Hoy fled the scene, fearing repercussions from Peking for his failure.

(Marvel Atlas#1 - Sin-Cong) - Major Hoy returned to China in disgrace.

SECRET WARS HAPPENED

(All-New Inhumans#2 (fb) - BTS) - After his defeat at the hands of the Avengers Commanding General Hoy believed Sin-Cong needed its own superhuman army and inspired by American propaganda experimented on "volunteers" to mutate them into the Un-Humans. The experiments cost Sin-Cong almost half of their treasury.

(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - Hoy was often embarrassed by his adult son's infatuation with candy. At some point he was about to sell Sin-Cong's innovative unbreakable glass to make cell phone screens, but the deal never went through.

(All-New Inhumans#4 (fb) - BTS) - Hoy willingly made a huge sacrifice for his people.

(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - Hoy fell into a coma and his head, kept alive by unknown means, was placed in the belly of the Commissar robot behind unbreakable glass.

(All-New Inhumans#3) - The comatose head of Hoy was still in the Commissar robot's belly when his son visited to vent of about Hoy's past dislike for his son's infatuation with candy.

(All-New Inhumans#4) - The comatose head was inside the armored Commissar robot while his son made a deal with Crystal to stop the R.I.V.'s attack on Sin-Cong and then return to face his judgment for the Inhumans' various crimes against Sin-Cong. In the end his son was imprisoned when Crystal promised the Inhumans' aid to rebuild Sin-Cong if they rebuked the Commissar's leadership.

(All-New Inhumans#4 - BTS) - The Sin-Cong Inhuman Thahn Ng took control over Hoy's comatose head and had it placed on top of the Commissar robot.

(All-New Inhumans#4) - Controlled by Thahn Ng Hoy visited his son in prison and vowed to lead the people loyal to Sin-Cong while his son stayed in prison and the Inhumans repaired the catastrophe the young Commissar had brought upon the country.

--Avengers I#18 (Marvel Atlas#1 - Sin-Cong, [All-New Inhumans#2 (fb)], [Avengers I#18 (fb)], Avengers I#18, Marvel Atlas#1 - Sin-Cong, [All-New Inhumans#2 (fb)], [All-New Inhumans#3 (fb)], [4 (fb)], [3 (fb)], All-New Inhumans#3, 4, [4], 4


images:
All-New Inhumans#4, p20, pan3 (main image, controlled by Thahn Ng)
Avengers I#18, p15, pan3 (head shot)
Avengers I#18, p5, pan7 (body shot)
Avengers I#18, p20, pan6 (destroyed)
All-New Inhumans#3, p9, pan6 (comatose head in robot body)
All-New Inhumans#4, p4, pan5 (yellow armor)
All-New Inhumans#2, p5, pan2 (Commissar, son)
Avengers I#18, p5, pan6 (Major Hoy)
All-New Inhumans#4, p4, pan4 (Commanding General Hoy, comatose)


Appearances:
Avengers I#18 (July, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Don Heck (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
All-New Inhumans#1-2 (February, 2016) - James Asmus & Charles Soule (writers), Stefano Caselli (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
All-New Inhumans#3-4 (March, 2016) - James Asmus & Charles Soule (writers), Stefano Caselli (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)


First Posted: 12/28/2001
Last updated: 03/03/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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