Real Name: Victor ConradVICTORIUS
Real Name: Victor Conrad
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: former scientist
Group Membership: former biologist for
A.I.M.,
former leader of the Cult of Entropy
Affiliations: Creator of Jude the Entropic Man; former ally of Gemini (Joshua/Daniel Link) and the Plunderer;
Former user of the Cosmic Cube
Enemies: Captain America, Ka-Zar, Man-Thing, Bobbi Morse, Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S., S.H.I.E.L.D. I, Thing, Wundarr (later the Aquarian)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Scientist Supreme (title for the leader of AIM)
Base of Operations: formerly an AIM fortress in upstate New York; a laboratory somewhere in England
Education: Ph. D.
First Appearance: Astonishing Tales#18 (June, 1973)
Powers: Victor Conrad had peak human strength
and other physical abilities, comparable to Captain America. He trained
himself extensively in various forms of combat, including Boxing,
Karate, Savate, and a whole lot of sh!# you ain't never heard of!
He patterned his initial armament after the Roman Gladiators, including
maces, battleaxes, and spears, and he was somewhat ambidextrous. He
maintains the stamina of a man half his age (he was fifty).
Victorius briefly had access to the virtually limitless power fo the
Cosmic Cube.
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 235 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White (balding)
History: (Astonishing Tales#20 (fb) ) - Victor Conrad was a scientist who sought to recreate the Super Soldier Serum which had created the original Captain America. When the United States government told him that the experiment was closed and that they weren't interested, he turned to the criminal organization, AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics). Conrad was initially a skilled athlete, trained in numerous forms of combat, and planned to turn himself into the next Super Soldier. He spent decades trying to recreate the formula, and as time wore on, his tone turned to flab, and he saw his dreams fading away. Then he somehow recovered the lost notes from the original Project: Rebirth, long hidden in obscure Nazi files, and began his work with new zest.
(AstTales#18)
- Conrad finally successfully recreated the Super Soldier Serum, but
upon his discovery, he was confronted by an agent of S. H. I. E. L. D.
(Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement
Division), who had traced the lost notes. Conrad called in AIM guards,
and the ensuing gunfight mortally wounded the SHIELD agent, as well as
a few of the AIM guards. Following his orders to destroy the formula to
prevent others form obtaining it, the SHIELD agent set off a bomb that
blew up the laboratory. Conrad, however, consumed the formula, which
allowed him to make his way out of the burning building. He survived,
revitalized into a paragon of physical perfection (that one's for you, Stan!).
(AstT#20(fb) ) - Conrad quickly retrained himself, putting the skills he knew into harmony with his new body. At the same time, AIM was without a leader after one of the apparent deaths of MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing). Using his physical abilities and scientific training, Conrad filled the void of leadership within AIM, finally gaining the respect for which he had longed. However, MODOK turned up alive (surprise!), and reasserted his rule. Conrad, unwilling to surrender so easily, allied himself with Parnival Plunder, aka the Plunderer, and Gemini in order to form a coup sufficient to oppose MODOK.
(AstT#19-20)
- Following instructions of his two allies, Conrad, now calling himself
Victorius, kidnapped Bobbi Morse of SHIELD in order to force her to
tell him of SHIELD's progress in re-creating the same formula that had
empowered him. Ka-Zar, who was interested in Bobbi Morse at the time,
was on the phone with her when she was abducted. Ka-Zar went to Nick
Fury, who used Morse's hidden transmitter to locate her, and Ka-Zar
came to the rescue. Ka-Zar quickly took out his brother, the Plunderer,
and Gemini, as well as the AIM guards. Ka-Zar and Victorius fought back
and forth, each gaining the lead, until Victorius finally put the
kibosh on Ka-Zar.
Victorius ranted about his origins while he set Ka-Zar up for an
excessively elaborate execution. Meanwhile, agent Morse got free and
called for back-up from SHIELD (I forget why they didn't come along in
the first place). Zabu (Ka-Zar's pet Sabretooth tiger) rushed in after
Victorius, but was stopped with the old lance-that
shoots-knockout-gas-trick. Between the diversion of Bobbi and Zabu, and
Victorius' long-winded origin, Ka-Zar recovered and tackled Victorius
again. As Ka-Zar held his own against Victorius, he taunted him that
chemicals could not replace what age had taken away from him. Furious,
Victorius rushed Ka-Zar, who ducked under him, sending him flying out
of the AIM HQ (which was in the form of a castle), and landing in its
moat. You'd assume SHIELD picked him up after that...but you'd be wrong.
(Marvel
Two-In-One#43(fb)) - When Conrad emerged from the moat, he had lost his
motivation, and his future loomed dark and empty. For months he
wandered about, searching for a purpose in life. Then he chanced upon
the literature of the Cult of the Entropists. He was struck by the
rightness of their teachings--that the way of the universe is ever
towards atrophy and decay. Seeking them out, Victorius regrouped the
Cult, who had been left leaderless after the death of their leader
Yagzan. He brought them back together by promising to bring about their
goal of universal decay. When he learned that Project: PEGASUS (Potential Energy Group, Alternate Sources, United States) held the Cosmic Cube, Conrad knew he'd found the tool he needed.
BTS - Conrad infiltrated Project: PEGASUS, gaining access to some of their higher experiments.
(MTIO#42) - Project scientists used the power of the Cosmic Cube to interface with the juvenile mild of the Dakkamite man-child known as Wundarr. Victorius sabotaged the experiment, sending a powerful backlash of energy through Wundarr, which rendered him comatose. Victorius then stole the Cube and used its power to return to the Cult in the swamps outside Citrusville.
(MTIO#43(fb)) - Victorius used the Cube to reform the remains of Yagzan into a being unlike any other. He called the Earth itself to congeal about Yagzan's skeletal form, and the soil, slime, and stone coalesced into a form which personified the philosophy of the Cult: Jude the Entropic Man.
(MTIO#42-43) - Captain America and the Thing used
Project equipment to trace the Cube's energy to Victorius, Jude, and
the Cult. Victorius had the power to blast the heroes to smithereens,
but could not resist a challenge of physical might against Captain
America. He set aside the Cube, removed his robe, and decided to fight
Captain America, Super Solider against Super Soldier. The emotions
generated by those near the fight drew the attention of the Man-Thing.
As the two fought back and forth, the Man-Thing came forward and
grasped the Cosmic Cube. At the same time, Jude convinced Victorius
that the combat was pointless, and turned his entropic powers against
the two heroes. They fought Jude with such force, and demonstrated such
will, that he saw that perhaps mankind was not yet ready for him.
Jude
decided to give his gift of entropy to someone who would appreciate it,
Victorius himself. Victorius, meanwhile, flipped-out when he saw the
Cube in the mindless Man-Thing's hands, and tried fruitlessly to pry
the Cube from its claws. Jude reached for Victorius, who did not want
death for himself and was terrified. Jude's entropic energies, the
power of the Cosmic Cube, and the energies of the Man-Thing ("Whosoever knows Fear...Burns at the Touch of the Man-Thing")
interacted quite violently, releasing a powerful burst of energy. All
that was left was a radiant crystal of the forms of Jude and Victorius,
which released energy that stimulated the plant growth about them.
The Man-Thing reformed, and approached the crystalline form, the
energies of which began to cause it to return to human form. However,
unable to comprehend what was going on, the Man-Thing lost interest and
wandered away, reverting fully into its swamp form.
Comments: Created by Mike Friedrich and Dan Adkins.
The Cube was temporarily inert after releasing its energies, and was sent back to Project: PEGASUS.
When Wundarr finally recovered from Victorius' assault, he evolved from his immature, child-like form into the enlightened, peace-loving Aquarian.
So what became of the crystalline form of Jude and Victorius...they're both cool characters, and I'd love to see them again. Too bad we won't.
Too many frickin' acronyms in this entry!
Go rent "I'm Gonna Get You, Suckah!"
Bobbi Morse, aka Agent 19, went on to become the Huntress, and later Mockingbird, the former wife of Hawkeye. Back in 1973, she was still forced to play the role of the damsel in distress, despite being a trained agent of SHIELD.
The Cosmic Cube that Victorius used is the one that went on to become Kubik.
Victorius has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook.
Clarifications:
Victorius has no known connection to:
Appearances:
Astonishing Tales#18 (June, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Dan Adkins (pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales#19 (August, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Dan
Adkins & Jim Starlin (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Roy Thomas
(editor)
Astonishing Tales#20 (October, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Marie
Severin & Werner Roth (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Roy Thomas
(editor)
Marvel Two-In-One#42 (August, 1978) - Ralph Macchio (writer), Sal
Buscema (pencils), Alfredo Alcala & Sam Grainger (inks), Roger
Stern (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One#43 (September, 1978) - Ralph Macchio (writer), John Byrne (pencils/inks), Roger Stern (editor)
First Posted: 11/30/2001
Last updated: 08/01/02
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.!