COURIER

Real Name: Sergeant Hans Mittlesteadt

Identity/Class: Human mutate, East German Citizen

Occupation: Former agent of German government

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Black Widow (Natasha Romonoff), Lynx, Peregrine, SHIELD II, Wolverine;
former superiors in the German governemt (now enemies)

Enemies: Imus Champion, the Fleshtones, and They (the Easterner, Meridian, and the Occidental);

Known Relatives: Katharina (wife), Franz Mittelstaedt (cousin, Blitzkrieger)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile across Earth; formerly based in East Germany

Appearances: Marvel Comics Presents I#123 (1993)

Powers: Courier is able to generate and release mega-kilowatts of bioelectric energy. He is experienced and well-trained in the use of this power and can control the force he uses down to extremely fine detail. He can fire destrucitve blasts of raw electricity as well as repolarize a human body's natural bio-electric current, temporarily incapacitating them. His powers presumably enable him to maintain his physical vitality, as he is, at a minimum, in his late sixties, yet is an excellent physical specimen. His strength level is at least athlete, but may even be enhanced human.

Mittlesteadt is also trained in conventional armed and unarmed combat, and is proficient in espionage as well. He is an experienced, confident, and capable agent. In addition, he is willing to fight against something he feels is wrong, rather than blindly following orders. This may be a result of the wisdom of age: He seems likely to have been an unquestioning soldier in the past.

History: Courier's origin is unrevealed. He is believed to have gained his superhuman powers as a result of "enhancement" by others, but the circumstances surrounding this have not been disclosed. It is known that he has served the German government faithfully for more than fifty years, presumably following World War II. In that time, he has never failed to deliver a package.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#124 (fb) - BTS) - Courier was sent to recover the woman known as Lynx, who had escaped from the laboratory of the German scientist, Dr. Reigert Ilves. Ilves had created a Panacea drug, able to cure all forms of disease, and injected it into Lynx. Realizing that removing all disease from the world would cause rapid overpopulation, and other problems, as well as the fact that the Panacea would soon be sought by a number of opposing factions, Ilves burnt down his own laboratory, killing himself and destroying all evidence of his research. The German government, seeking to regain what had been created by one of their own, sent Courier to bring Lynx back to them.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#123-124) - Wolverine, investigating rumors of the Panacea drug, arrived too late to save Ilves, but did find and free Lynx. Courier dropped both of them and began to take Lynx back to his superiors, but Wolverine revived and confronted him a second time. As they fought, Peregrine abducted Lynx, taking her back to his employer, Imus Champion.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#125-126) - Having explained the concerns with the Panacea drug to Wolverine, Courier and he tracked Peregrine to Champion's facility. All three of them were subsequently attacked by the Fleshtones, agents of Champion sent to kill Peregrine to eliminate any witnesses to the location of the Lynx. After defeating the Fleshtones, they were then confronted by the Black Widow, who was sent as an agent of SHIELD to recover the Lynx for them. They managed to convince the Widow to help them recover Lynx from Champion, but agreed to allow SHIELD to take her once they had succeeded. The Widow had claimed that Lynx would be given her freedom and both hidden and protected from those who wished to capitalize on her.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#127-129) - Courier and Wolverine, believing that SHIELD would imprison and experiment on Lynx, broke her out of the SHIELD Helicarrier. While Courier held off the SHIELD troops, Wolverine escaped with her, taking her to the Canadian wilderness. After their escape, Courier investigated Champion's Southern California base, where he again encountered Peregrine, and the two agreed to observe him to prevent him or others from gaining the Lynx or the Panacea. They both infiltrated his crew of operatives, and accompanied Champion to the Anarctic base of They, the organization for which Ilves had worked when he created the Panacea. They's had created the Malaigent, a deadly disease capable of reversing even the Panacea, and planned to use it as a threat to the world powers. At the same time, Wolverine and Black Widow, having traced They as the ones responsible for the creation of Lynx, arrived at the base as well and attacked both They and Champion's men. Courier and Peregrine revealed themselves and joined the battle, and the four of them succeeded in destroying the base, all evidence of the Malaigent, and possibly even killing They.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#130) - Lynx apparently cured herself of the Panacea, by consuming the only existing sample of the Malaigent. Courier was punished for failing his government by the abduction of his wife, Katharina, and the threat on her life unless he followed their rules. Courier slew the man who threatened him, Gruber, and then hired Peregrine to help find his wife.

Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell and Dennis Jensen.

Blitzkrieg, FRANZ Mittelstaedt, a West German citizen, @ Marvel Super-Heroes: Contest of Champions I#1...I'm not sure if there was some subconscious or conscious thought between the similarities in name, nationality, and powers...coincidence...a joke on Saturday Night Live's Hanz and Franz...who knows?

In Marvel Atlas#1 it was revealed that Courier and Blitzkrieger were related.

Clarifications: Courier has no known connection to:

• Courier, Jacob Gavin Jr., the associate of Gambit, @ Gambit I#1