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MARAUDERS
Earth-295

Membership: Arcade, Dirigible (Wilson Fisk), Owl (Leland Owlsley), Red (Norman Osborn)

Purpose: Terrorists

Aliases: None

Affiliations: Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), Mikhail Rasputin (see comments)

Enemies: Clint Barton, Gwen Stacy, Anthony Stark

Base of Operations: Mobile throughout Eurasia;
    formerly New York City, New York

First Appearance: X-Universe I#1 (May, 1995)



History:

(X-Universe I#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Marauders were a band of cybernetically enhanced humans who willingly became freelance terrorists who target fellow humans for sport and profit. Apocalypse tolerated the Marauders because their actions damaged their own kind.

(X-Universe I#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Marauders made a name for themselves throughout Europe and Asia, often attacking and raiding relief efforts and other low-risk targets. Though they fashioned themselves to be terrorists, they were mostly known in the field as notorious cowards with power.

(X-Universe I#1 (fb) - BTS) - When the Marauders learned of an ongoing Red Cross relief mission in Wakanda's capital, they decided to attack and raid the once prosperous kingdom.

(X-Universe I#1) - Led by Dirigible (Wilson Fisk), the Marauders flew in on their airsteppers. Firing off a series of explosives to announce their presence, they immediately caused numerous casualties among the refugee population. Pressing the attack, Dirigible ordered Arcade, Red and the Owl to fire their wrist-mounted weapons at the helpless women and children who gathered at the camp. Dirigible readied himself to hurl deadly electrical blasts into the crowd, but he was opposed by American relief worker Gwen Stacy who managed to hit his power pack with her pump rifle. The bullet caused the pack to overload which led to Fisk exploding on the spot.

(X-Universe I#1) - Stacy then found herself facing the sadistic Arcade who didn't seem to mind the death of Dirigible. He was much more interested in her pump rifle, explaining that he used to own one as well. Before Arcade could attack, he found himself crushed by half a dozen giant relief packages dropped from the loading bay of the newly arrived Stark Cargo Transport piloted by Clint Barton.

(X-Universe I#1) - Barton, guided by Anthony Stark, then focused the ship's weapon systems on Red and the Owl. Once he had solid target locks, Barton managed to hit both mercenaries and their power packs. They were killed in the ensuing explosions.

(X-Universe I#1- BTS) - After the attack was over, Wakandans rushed to get supplies from the dropped relief packages, ignoring the splattered corpse of Arcade that was left alone to bleed out into the soil.

Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell & Terry Kavanagh, Carlos Pacheco, Cam Smith.

Considering Earth-295's divergence point from Earth-616 is the death of Charles Xavier, this means that technically the members of Earth-295's Marauders largely had the same past as their counterparts on 616. However, since this has not (yet) been confirmed on panel, none of that is included in the profile.

Though their link is not confirmed in the story, the cybernetically enhanced Marauders look like they're a part of Mikhail Rasputin's Stryfe Force, a small army of enhanced humans that could be made to obey his every whim.

Admittedly, the Marauders barely had any impact on the overall story of X-Universe, which in itself was a pretty minor part of Age of Apocalypse to begin with. But look how at the level of care and attention the late, great Carlos Pacheco (1961 - 2022) gave them. They're virtual nobodies, but they looked so good... Even as relatively early as 1996, Pacheco was already a master of his craft, a skilled professional who clearly loved what he did and someone we sadly lost way too early.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Marauders of Earth-295 should not be confused with:


Arcade

Before the rise of Apocalypse, the man known only as Arcade made a name for himself as an assassin. As a member of the Marauders, Arcade combined his love of weapons with a penchant for cruelty. He was quick to attack and liked to toy with his victims. During the Marauders' attack on Wakanda, he briefly interacted with Gwen Stacy, even complimenting her on her weapon of choice: an old-fashioned pump rifle. Arcade was squatted by relief packages dropped by Clint Barton piloting the giant Stark Cargo-Transport.

--X-Universe I#1










Dirigible

The unofficial leader of the Marauders. Before the rise of Apocalypse, Wilson Fisk was publicly known as a humble dealer in spices. However, he was secretly operating in the underworld, ready to become a kingpin of crime. When that was no longer an option in En Sabah Nur's America, Fisk decided to use his wealth to buy himself into the high lord's good graces. Outfitted with an airstepper that allowed flight and wrist-mounted blasters that generated electrical blasts, he became known as Dirigible. Fisk led the attack on Wakanda, ordering the Marauders to fire on any and all refugees. Fisk did not count on American relief worker Gwen Stacy who fired her primitive pump rifle at him. She managed to overload power pack, causing him to be blown to bits.

--X-Universe I#1










Owl

Leland Owlsey joined the Marauders as the mysterious Owl. He did not speak much, instead he preferred to let his razor sharp claws do the talking for him. Owl used airsteppers for flight and also had access to the team's standard wrist mounted blasters which he used to casually kill Wakandan women and children. Owl was shot out of the sky by Clint Barton piloting the giant Stark Cargo-Transport.

--X-Universe I#1










Red

Influential business man Norman Osborn chose to survive the rise of Apocalypse by buying himself a place in the new world order. Outfitted with technology, including airsteppers and wrist-mounted blasters, he served on the Marauders as Red. He had no qualms about killing those less fortunate than him, willingly shooting Wakandan women and children when the team attacked a relief mission. Red was shot out of the sky by Clint Barton piloting the giant Stark Cargo-Transport.

--X-Universe I#1











images: (without ads)
X-Universe I#1, p6, pan3 (main)
X-Universe I#1, p7, pan2 (attacking)
X-Universe I#1, p11, pan2 (Arcade crushed)

X-Universe I#1, p8, pan2 (Arcade)
X-Universe I#1, p7, pan1 (Dirigible)
X-Universe I#1, p10, pan5 (Owl)
X-Universe I#1, p10, pan7 (Red)


Appearances:
X-Universe I#1 (May, 1995) - Scott Lobdell & Terry Kavanagh (writers), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Marie Javins (editor)


First Posted: 01/05/2025
Last updated: 01/05/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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