POWER PLATOON

Membership: None identified. There are nine members (though only eight were ever seen active; see comments), not including Quantum.

Affiliations: Dakkamite militia (all members were formerly part of this);

Quantum (part of original group, later acted as leader)

Aquarian (formerly brainwashed to assisting them)

Stranger (former captor); Overmind (former manipulator)

Enemies: Avengers West Coast, Hyperion, Kree, Makkari, Quasar, X-Man (Nate Grey)

Aliases: The Elect, the Dakkamite Elect

Base of Operations: Currently unknown; formerly in Earth's orbit; formerly the Stranger's Laboratory World; formerly Earth

First Appearance: (Quantum seen) West Coast Avengers#12 (September, 1986);
(as the Elect) Quasar#4 (December, 1989);
(as Power Platoon) Avengers West Coast#96 (July, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Each member possesses a different superhuman power presumably in addition to superhuman strength (see comments). Those clearly demonstrated include: Durability, Growing, Optic force-blasts, Re-direct attacks, Stretching.

All of their powers are dependent on the energy of the sun and weaken it its absence. In some cases, they will even lose consciousness if the sun's rays are blocked.

History: (Adventures into Fear#17 (fb) - BTS/Quasar#4 (fb)) - When the Dakkamite scientists Hektu and Soja sent their infant son, Wundarr, to Earth, the scientists of Dakkam observed that there was something peculiar about the rays of Earth's sun that reacted to Dakkamite physiology to produce a Dakkamite with paranormal powers. The scientists reported their findings to the ruling elite of Dakkam, who directed them to undertake an experiment to determine the viability of endowing their militia with similar capacities.

(Quasar#4 (fb)) - Towards this end, a platoon of ten soldiers were elected to serve as test-subjects. They were placed inside incubator capsules and launched in solar orbit around Earth's sun. It was speculated that if exposure to Earth's sun from 93 million miles away resulted in a modicum of paranormal power, then exposure from 30 million miles away would result in even greater power. The soldiers circled the sun for an uncertain period of time, soaking up its energizing rays while sensors monitored their bodies, waiting for signs of cellular enhancement.

(Quasar#14 (fb) - BTS/West Coast Avengers#12) - All but one (or maybe two; see comments) of the Elect were taken by the enigmatic Stranger, who took them to his Laboratory planet for experimentation. The remaining member, who was left in place for uncertain reasons, was revived to find himself filled with vast power, and he traveled to Earth, where he became known as Quantum.

(Quasar#14-16) - The Elect on the Laboratory World were encountered and freed during a battle between the Stranger and the Overmind. They first encountered and attacked Hyperion when he inadvertently entered their cell. Following their release from their cell, they were manipulated by the Overmind into attacking the Stranger and his temporary allies, Makkari and Quasar. Following the conclusion of that battle, they apparently escaped the Laboratory World.

(Avengers West Coast#96-97) - The soldiers, now referred to as the Power Platoon, were next seen on the planet Earth. Quantum had been trapped in an intangible state by constantly shifting in triplicate phase by Quasar (see Quasar#4). Somehow, Quantum manged to take mental control of the Aquarian, and cause him to revert back to his virtually mindless Wundarr identity.

During the events known as the Infinity Crusade (When the Goddess sought to remake the universe), Goliath (aka Hawkeye) and Mockingbird (H'rpra) were assaulted by the Power Platoon. With assistance from War Machine, they defeated the Platoon by using a smoke arrow to block the sun's rays. However, Wundarr, serving Quantum, tore open the Platoon's prison, and freed them. The Platoon swiftly regained their powers in the sunlight and joined Quantum in battling the Avengers. However, when Qunatum ordered the Platoon to kill the Avengers, they ceased fighting. Apparently they had been seeking Quantum and had no desire to hurt anyone unnecessarily. They then flew off for parts unknown.

(Maximum Security#1) - The Platoon apparently ended up in some interstellar prison, because they were next seen during the events of Maximum Security, when a large number of interstellar prisoners were sent to Earth. They were seen in battle against Nate Grey, the X-Man.

(Maximum Security#3) - They also participated in the fight to expose the Ruul (later revealed as the Kree) and free Earth from its containment.

COMMENTS: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Mike Manley

The Elect experiment is reported as having been initiated approximately seven sun cycles ago.

Concerning the Power Platoon:
In Quasar#14, p23, pan3 Hyperion says in thoughts, "This fellow--maybe all of them--is super-strong like me!", on p24, pan1 Hyperion says in thoughts,"Well then,come on! haven't been able to really cut loose in a long time!" (someone in Hyperion's strength class can't cut loose on non-super-strong beings without killing them) and in Quasar#15, p6, pan2 Hyperion says in thoughts,"But at least they've stopped pummeling me long enough to catch my breathe!"---see unlike Kryptonians or Daxamites who all gain the same powers under a yellow sun the Dakkamites apparently all gain Super Strength as well as Different Powers.
Plus there are 9 Incubator Capsules shown in the image below but in that same issue of Quasar#4 in the previous panel there are 10 incubator capsules seen.
--Gammatotem
   There were never more than 8 active members seen in the comics. Whatever happened to the Dakkamite in the 10th capsule is unknown. Maybe he died on Stranger's Laboratory World or he is still floating around in space inside the capsule.
--Markus Raymond

Supplementary info may be gained from:

(1) Aquarian entries: OHOTMU I#1, Deluxe#1, Master Edition and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update#1 (April, 2010).
In case it's not clear from these, Wundarr (later the Aquarian) originally had an origin similar to Superman, which somehow went awry. His ship was not discovered, and he grew to adulthood uneducated and unsocialized before being released.

(2) Dakkamite race entry: also seen in OHOTMU Deluxe#15 and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update#4 (December, 2010).
Dakkam was seen to blow up, Krypton-like, in Adventures into Fear#17. I guess it got better...

(3) Quantum entries: OHOTMU Update'89#6, Master Edition.
The ending to the Avengers West Coast story was weak, weak, weak.

 

 

 

 

images:
Avengers West Coast#96, p22, pan2 (main)
Quasar#4, p19, pan5 (incubator capsules)

Appearances:
West Coast Avengers#12 (September, 1986) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Quasar#4 (December, 1989) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Dan Bulanadi (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Quasar#14-16 (September-November, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Dan Panosian & Keith Williams (#16) (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Avengers West Coast#96 (July, 1993) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Andrew Currie (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Avengers West Coast#97 (August, 1993) - Roy Thomas (writer), Andrew Currie (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Maximum Security#1 (December, 2000) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Jerry Ordway (pencils), Will Blyberg, Paul Ryan, Al Vey & Chris Ivy (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Maximum Security#3 (January, 2001) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Jerry Ordway (pencils), Will Blyberg, Paul Ryan & Mark McKenna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 09/08/2001
Last updated: 06/03/2017

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All 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.!

Back to Groups