Membership: Lenore Castle, Victor GuillermosPOWERLINE
Membership: Lenore Castle, Victor Guillermos
Purpose: promotion of a healthy image of Shadows to the public
Affiliations: Ripley Weaver (mentor), Gordon
Castle;
"Long Green" Gary Grant, Donald Hudson, Merchants,
Bertha, "Mangler" Mike, Yaisa and the shadows of Amana;
the Order of St. George (including
Michael Devlin);
briefly allied with Doctor Zero and Dirk
Ravenscore
Enemies: Henry Clerk, Gray Man, jellyfish shadow, Lenard, Nagas, The Ravenscore family (Dirk, Eric, Tyler), Sabnak, Shadow Killer (Buddy), Skigger
Base of Operations: mobile across Earth-Shadowline
First Appearance: Doctor Zero#1 (April,
1988);
(individuals named): Powerline#1 (May, 1988);
(Powerline named): Powerline#3 (September, 1988)
Powers/Abilities: Alone, Lenore and Victor's powers are nearly inconsequential. Combined--either by direct contact or by a linkage when in the near vicinity of each other--their powers are greatly amplified. They can fly at great speeds, project bursts of energy, form powerful shields, etc.
They both possess reasonable hand-to-hand combat skills taught to them by Ripley.
History:
(Powerline#1 (fb)/ Critical Mass#1/2(fb)) - At a party held by
the Ravenscores in South America, Victor and Lenore met. Each
having been a victim of the cruelty and tyranny of the
Ravenscores, they formed an immediate bond. After making contact,
each felt a surge of energy. A jealous Eric Ravenscore started an
argument with Victor, which escalated into a full out battle
between Eric Ravenscore and Ripley Weaver. Ravenscore blasted off
one of Ripley's hands, and Victor then used his powers to shield
Ripley from death at Eric's hands. Lenore joined her power with
Victor's and they held off his power and then flew into the
night, escaping with Ripley from the Ravenscore family. The three
made their way across the country.
(Dr. Zero#1) - Lenore, Victor, and Ripley were observed by Dr. Zero in Guyani during his struggle with Kara Janisery, a Knight of the Order of St. George. He judged Ripley as inconsequential, but the power of Lenore and Victor to be remarkable.
(Powerline#1) - The traveled to the USA aboard a cargo ship of Ripley's friend, former wrestler "MANGLER" Mike. In New York, Ripley saw his old associate from the Order of St. George, Barnabbas, and decided to head out, to avoid getting involved with that group again.
(Powerline#2) - Ripley brought Victor and
Lenore to Nebraska, where they met his old friend Bertha, who
designed costumes for them. They then used their powers to save
the passengers of a school bus that was trapped on a washed out
bridge.
Upon arriving in California, they were attacked by Lenore's
mother, who had been mutated into monstrous and violent form by
Dirk Ravenscore. When they finally calmed her down, she crumbled
into dust.
(Powerline#3) - Ripley brought the emotionally
distraught Lenore and Victor to his friend Yaisa, a Shadow with
some medicinal abilities. Lenore's life began to fade until
Victor joined his energies with her, reviving her.
Ripley then hired his old promoter, Gary Grant, to promote Lenore
and Victor as the superhero team, Powerline. They publicly used
their powers to repair the damaged landing gear of an airborne
plane. The plane still came down roughly, but its landing was
slowed enough that the Powerline kids were able to safely
retrieve all of the passengers.
(Powerline#4) - After a series of public appearances, Powerline was hired by Donald Hudson to protect him from assassination. They fought off the three would-be assassins--a trio of Shadows, named Lenard, Nagas, and Skigger--but in the process, Ripley slew Nagas. Lenore and Victor were appalled by his behavior.
(Powerline#5, 6) - The three traveled to Amana, where they learned that a society of Shadows were being slowly exterminated. In the process of investigation, they were ambushed by the Shadow Killer, who turned out to be a young Shadow named Buddy. They managed to fight off, expose, and subdue Buddy, who was then adopted by Yaisa, who hoped to rehabilitate the youth.
(Powerline#7) - Deciding to settle things with
the Ravenscores, the three headed back to Venezuela aboard
MANGLER Mike's ship. The ship was boarded by a strange,
jellyfish-like Shadow, which could cause others to see their
heart's desires, dulling them into bliss, as it slew them. The
creature nearly overcame Lenore, but Victor joined with her and
drove the creature off the ship and back into the ocean.
Victor and Lenore shared their first kiss.
(Powerline#8) - As they approached Venezuela, a contingent of agents of the Ravenscores attacked them, sinking Mike's ship. Everyone made it to safety, but they were split up by the time they reached the shore. Working separately, they overcame the various agents. Ripley overpowered Eric Ravenscore, but stopped himself from killing him, which allowed Eric to gain the upper hand. Eric caused a large rockslide which appeared to crush Ripley and the Powerline kids. Eric and his agents left, thinking the others dead, after which they freed themselves from the rock pile, having been saved by the creation of a force field. They decided to let Eric believe they were dead for the time being.
(Critical Mass#1/2 // Powerline#9) - Ripley renewed his acquaintance with Barnabbas, after which the three ambushed the Dirk Ravenscore and his agents in his home. Dirk himself escaped, but they did recover Gordon Castle, Lenore's father, who had been his prisoner and slave for the last several weeks.
(Critical Mass#2 // St. George#9) - Ripley met John Nighthunter, and told him of the fall of the Ravenscore empire. Gordon, Lenore, Ripley, and Victor then set out in pursuit of Dirk Ravenscore.
(Critical Mass#3 // Powerline#10) - They tracked Dirk to Hong Kong, where he hired an assassin, Sabnak, to kill them. They managed to defeat Sabnak, and convinced him to direct them to Dirk. They cornered Ravenscore and planned to kill him, but he bargained for his life with knowledge of the plan of Henry Clerk. They agreed to leave him alone in exchange for the knowledge, and they did: they left him alone on an ice float in the Arctic.
(Critical Mass#4/2 // Powerline#11) - Lenore and Victor enjoyed some R & R back at Casa Castle in California. Victor and Ripley went out in search of information on Clerk's plots and were nearly killed by the Gray Man. Lenore planned to quit and hopefully have a peaceful life with Victor, but Ripley showed her documents of her father's involvement in the events that led to the murder of Victor's family. Ripley threatened to show these documents to Victor unless she continued to participate in the Powerline. Lenore acquiesced.
(Critical Mass#6 // Powerline#12) - The four traveled to the Abbey of the Order of St. George to enlist them in defeating Clerk's plots. They then teleported back to New York and retrieved Michael Devlin to join the struggle. Shortly after their return the Abbey was assaulted by a maddened Dr. Zero.
(Critical Mass##6/2 // St. George#12) - The four helped with damage control as the Order, and most specifically Michael Devlin, managed to bring Dr. Zero to his senses. He joined with them in preparation to take down Clerk.
(Critical Mass#6/1-3 // Dr.
Zero#13/Powerline#12/St.George#13) - Victor, Lenore, and
Gordon located and somewhat forcibly recruited Dirk Ravenscore to
assist in the struggle against Clerk--although they were forced
to promise him his freedom and return to the civilized world in
exchange. They then channeled their energies into Ravenscore, who
in turn used his power to amplify the abilities of others on
Gordon Castle, enabling him to teleport Clerk's nuclear plant--in
mid-meltdown--into outer space. Gordon, however, was pulled along
with his massive energy output, and teleported into space as
well.
Ripley joined with Nighthunter, Devlin, and others in evacuating
the facility and the town before it would be teleported away.
As a result of losing her father, Lenore suffered from Hysterical
amnesia. A covert group known as the Merchants saw to it that
only the Powerline group received credit for saving the world.
While Victor was now content to retire and spend time with
Lenore, Lenore now felt an obligation to act as a hero in the
Powerline.
COMMENTS: Created by Archie Goodwin, D. G. Chichester, Margaret Clark, and David Ross.
Powerline#9-13 were supposed to be part of the Shadowline crossover Critical Mass. Instead, due to poor sales, Epic cancelled the three Shadowline series and instead published the story as the double-sized, seven issue limited series Critical Mass.
It is reasonably likely, although unconfirmed, that the events of the Shadowline series detailed above, took place in real time, from approximately May 1988 - July 1990 (from Powerline#1 - Critical Mass#7). That would place the slaughter of the Guillermos family @ 1986.
When Ripley's metal hand was cut off, it was picked up by your friend and mine--Shreck. You might know him better as Terror.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Lenore Castle has no known connection to:
Ripley Weaver, the Ripper, has no known connection to:
Lenore Castle
Lenore is the daughter of Gordon and Elizabeth Castle, a wealthy family from California.
Unaugmented, her power is limited to floating on the air.
Previous History:
Powerline#3 (fb)) - In the Black Forest of Germany, Lenore's
mother collapsed. When she searched for aid, she ran into the
powerful Shadow who would become known as Dr. Zero. He may
have tried to seduce her, but this was seen only as a dream
sequence while Lenore was in a state of delirium. However, they
both recall meeting each before at a later date.
(Powerline#1 (fb)) - Lenore was heavily encouraged to date Eric Ravenscore, to promote a relationship between their two wealthy families.
(Powerline#1 (fb)) - At a party at the Ravenscore, Lenore was turned off by Eric's aggressive approach and she met Victor Guillermos, whose powers somehow connected with and magnified her own. Eric was furious at her interested in Victor, and a fight broke out. Lenore joined powers with Victor to fly to safety, carrying with them Victor's injured uncle, Ripley.
History continues under group entry.
Victor Guillermos
Victor is the son of Christina and Michael, and part of a family of Venezuelan Shadows, which also included his sister, Barbara Guillermos.
Unaugmented, his power is limited to forming weak shields of brief duration.
Previous History:
(Powerline#1 (fb)) - The Guillermos family was ambushed and
slaughtered by the Ravenscores, another family of Shadows, who
sought to rule via criminal interested. Michael used his
telekinetic power to hurl Victor to safety and he fled into the
Jungle. He sought out his relative in the USA: his uncle, Ripley
Weaver.
(Powerline#1 (fb)) - Two years later, Victor accompanied Ripley to a party at the Ravenscores, where he sought to convince others to promote a Shadow to oppose the public image of Dr. Zero. A powerful fight broke out, and Victor found that he could link and amplify his powers through Lenore Castle. They flew away with Ripley after he was injured by Eric Ravenscore.
History continues under group entry.
Ripley "RIPPER" Weaver
Ripley is a 732 year old Venezuelan Shadow and the uncle of Victor Guillermos.
He can transform his hands into a form or organic steel and may possess superhuman strength. He lost his left hand in a fight.
Previous History:
(Powerline#1(fb)-BTS) - In the past he served as part of the
Order of St. George, which opposed the actions of the Shadow who
would become known as Dr. Zero, as well as attempting to
manipulate world events toward their goals.
(Powerline#1 (fb)) - In the 1980s (and for an uncertain
time period prior to this), Ripley worked as a professional
wrestler, pretending that his superhuman powers were just stage
tricks. During this time, he befriended another wrester,
"MANGLER" Mike.
(Powerline#1 (fb)-BTS) - Ripley adopted his nephew Victor Guillermos after his family was slain by the Ravenscores.
(Powerline#1 (fb) ) - Two years later, Ripley decided that the Shadows must find a better representative than Dr. Zero, who had begun posing as a "super-hero." To this end he attended a party held by the Ravenscore family to try to convince the man Shadows present to help with his plan. At that party, an argument degenerated into a fight with Eric Ravenscore, who fired an energy blast through his normal wrist, cutting off his left steel hand. Ripley was saved by the combined power of Victor and Lenore, who held off the attacks of the Ravenscores and their allies and fled to safety.
History continues under group entry.
Appearances:
Doctor Zero#1 (April, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Denys Cowan (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#1 (May, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), David Ross (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#2 (July, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), David Ross (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#3 (September, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), David Ross (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#4 (November, 1988) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), David Ross & Gray Morrow (pencils), Al Gordon (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#5 (January, 1989) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#6 (March, 1989) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#7 (May, 1989) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Powerline#8 (July, 1989) - Howard Mackie (writers), Mike Manley (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Steve Buccellato (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (EIC)
Critical Mass#1/2 (January, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Marc McLaurin (managing editor), Carl Potts (executive editor)
Critical Mass#2/1 (February, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Kyle Baker (artist), Marc McLaurin (managing editor), Carl Potts (executive editor)
Critical Mass#3 (March, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Marc McLaurin (managing editor), Carl Potts (executive editor)
Critical Mass#4/2 (April, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Marc McLaurin (managing editor), Carl Potts (executive editor)
Critical Mass#6 (June, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Gray Morrow (artist), Marc McLaurin (managing editor), Carl Potts (executive editor)
Story 2 - Jorge Zaffino (artist)
Story 3 - Dan Lawlis (pencils), Al Williamson (inks)
Story 4 - James Sherman (artist)
First Posted: 02/09/2003
Last updated: 12/25/2010
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!