DR. EARL COWAN

Real Name: Earl Cowan

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Engineer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Red Ronin

Enemies: Avengers (Beast, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Jocasta, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man, Yellowjacket), Behemoth, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Stark International, Detriot, Michigan

First Appearance: Avengers I#197 (July, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Earl Cowan was a gifted engineer, and could operate the Red Ronin armor.

History: (Avengers I#198 (fb)) - Dr. Cowan grew up during the "Cold War," and his family owned a fallout shelter, fearing what might happen should a nuclear war be instigated. Cowan became increasingly alarmed at the state of the world, and came to believe that mankind would be destroyed by its own fear.

(Avengers I#197) - Dr. Cowan worked on the Stark International project to rebuild the robot Red Ronin after it was damaged by the Mega-Monsters. Cowan became attached to the armor during his time repairing it, and came to believe that it could help him end the threat of nuclear war by uniting humanity in a common purpose-- against him. When Red Ronin was supposed to be turned over to a test team, Cowan knocked out his superior, Karnkowski, and stole aboard Red Ronin. After ensuring that only he could operate Red Ronin, Cowan set out

(Avengers I#198) - As Cowan led Red Ronin through New York on his way to Russia, he was attacked by the Avengers and by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Behemoth vessel. The Wasp and Yellowjacket managed to enter the control room of Red Ronin, but Cowan ejected them with fans he had designed to keep out gas attacks. As the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. stepped up their attacks, Cowan set Red Ronin to "destroy" mode. Iron Man finally brought Red Ronin down with a massive blast of electrical power that knocked Cowan out. However, Red Ronin was still in "destroy" mode and had now been damaged, making Cowan unable to change its setting.

(Avengers I#199) - When Cowan awoke he tried to halt Red Ronin, only to find he could not, and became alarmed when he realized how many innocent people could be harmed by him. When the Beast and Jocasta invaded the control room he explained the situation and they began to look for a way to shut Red Ronin down. Finally, the Beast simply removed a plug from Red Ronin's control room that shut him down. Dr. Cowan was institutionalized.

Comments: Created by David Michelinie and Carmine Infantino.

Avengers I#197 was the second comic I ever owned, arriving just weeks after Amazing Spider-Man I#207. I love the comics from that era.
--Snood

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dr. Earl Cowan should not be confused with:

• Cowboy, Luke Merriweather, of the Thunderiders, @ Team America#2
• "Cowboy Town", of Other-Earth, @ Fantastic Four I#272
• Buck Cowen, Jack Russell's best friend, @ Marvel Spotlight I#4
• Elaine Cowen, Buck's sister, @ Werewolf by Night I#31
• Cowgirl, Deb Lowry, of the Grapplers, @ Thing I#33

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!
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