LIBRA

Real Name: Gustav Brandt

Identity/Class: Human (martial artist, psychic training); German citizen

Occupation: Balance;
    former crime leader, mercenary soldier

Group Membership: Formerly the Zodiac Cartel

Affiliations: Avengers, Kang, Elder Cotati, Nick Fury, Rick Jones, Monsieur Khruul and his warriors, Damian Link, Moondragon, Priests of Pama, Supreme Intelligence;
    Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) and Songbird of an alternate future;
    presumably Oshtur;
    see also the Catalogue of Correspondences for Oshtur from Ian McNee's reading of the First Tarot;
    formerly the Brotherhood of Ankh, Espionage Elite, Immortus, Spymaster, Thunderbolts gang

Enemies: Crimson Dynamo (Alex Nevsky), Immortus, Scorpio (Jake Fury), Star Stalker, the Life Model Decoy Zodiac, the Time-Keepers
    formerly the Avengers, Lonnie Carver (later Thunderbolt), William Carver, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Rick Jones, Red Wolf (Will Talltrees), Red Wolf's father and uncle

Known Relatives: Mantis (daughter), Lua Nguyen Brandt (wife, deceased), Khruul (brother-in-law, deceased)

Aliases: The Balance, the Hooded One, Master of the Balance, Lloyd Willoughby

Base of Operations: The Between/Place Between Places
    formerly Honolulu, Hawaii;
    the temple of the Priests of Pama, Vietnam;
    Indochina

First Appearance: Avengers I#72 (January, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: Libra is physically blind, but possesses psychic senses which compensate completely for this. He is also highly skilled in the martial arts, and he knows a few moves which have proven capable of incapacitating even Mantis.

    Libra serves the Balance--the winding ways between Good and Evil, between Now and Then, between What Is and What Might Be. His studies and training have granted him a number of quasi-mystical abilities. He--and apparently only he--can access the Place Between Places, appearing and disappearing at will, and avoiding the detection of even such advanced beings as Immortus and the Time-Keepers. He can stimulate the Destiny Force with Rick Jones and even direct its use. He can sense disruptions in the balance of all things and take actions to stabilize them, though he does not always understand the exact reasons for the necessity of what he does (When you balance--on a tightrope, for instance--you cannot explain how to balance, just that it feels right). He can affect the perceptions of others, such as when he faked his own death.

Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: None; formerly Blue
Hair: Blond

History:
(Avengers I#123 (fb)) <Twenty years before the events of Avengers I#123> - Gustav Brandt was a mercenary soldier with the French Forces in Vietnam. While relaxing in Saigon, he met and fell in love with Lua. After a whirlwind courtship lasting only two months, they were married. However, as they left the church they were confronted by Lua's brother, the crimelord Monsieur Khruul, who hated occidentals (Europeans and Westerners) and led his men to try to kill them. They barely escaped with their lives.

(Avengers I#123 (fb)) - After ten months on the run, Lua, who had become pregnant, had to stop to give birth. After they delivered their daughter, they built a small hut to live in, but then Khruul's men caught up to them, using flame throwers to torch their home. Lua was killed, and Gustav was blinded by the flames, though he managed to escape with their daughter, fleeing into the jungles. After an unknown number of days, he came across the temple of the Priests of Pama, who offered to teach him to see by other means and train him towards enlightenment. However, as he was a soldier, they refused to allow him to raise his daughter, raising her themselves instead.

(Avengers I#123 (fb)) - The Priests of Pama trained Brandt who, over the course of years, learned to function perfectly without eyes. He then began to sneak away, observing his daughter's training. However, he was never allowed to communicate with her.

(Avengers I#123 (fb)) - Brandt gradually forgot his love for the daughter he no longer knew, and eventually he left the Temple, allegedly trained in body, but not in mind; his previous goals in life--money, power, love--remained untouched.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#20: Zodiac (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Cartel was founded by Cornelius van Lunt (Taurus), handpicking the eleven other members; van Lunt concealed his own identity, while he was the only one who knew the identities of the others. Each member was based in a different American city (Libra in Honolulu, Hawaii) as part of his nationwide criminal network, with the ultimate goal of world economic and political domination

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#20: Zodiac (fb) - BTS) - Libra, like the other Zodiac leaders, established a criminal organization served by numerous henchmen in his chosen base of operations and assembling for matters of collective importance.

(Avengers I#123 (fb)) - As part of the Zodiac Cartel, Brandt never again found love.

(Avengers I#72) - Libra was present with the other Cartel leaders when Nick Fury, posing as Scorpio, captured the Avengers (Captain America, Goliath (Clint Barton), Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket) and Rick Jones, and brought them to their headquarters. Yellowjacket and the Wasp summoned thousands of ants to disrupt the device holding them, and the Avengers broke free before the Cartel could execute them. Fury then unmasked and joined them in fighting off the Zodiac Cartel, who fled through a whole in the wall Aries created with the Zodiac Key; Libra's activities during the struggle were unseen.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#20: Zodiac (fb) - BTS) - Following his horoscope, van Lunt relinquished control over the group and Zodiac took on a rotating membership, with each member presiding during the period in which his or her astrological sign held prevalence.

(Avengers I#80 (fb) - BTS) - Under the direction of Aries (Marcus Lassiter), Zodiac regrouped and began plotting their takeover of Manhattan.

(Avengers I#80 (fb) - BTS) - Cornelius van Lunt led Zodiac's efforts to build to steal the land from Red Wolf's father, leading Red Wolf to pursue van Lunt's agent, Jason Birch, back to Manhattan.

(Avengers I#80 - BTS) - Having learned something of Zodiac's activities, the Avengers prepared to oppose them, though they split into three groups, each pursuing a different agenda (unaware that all three were Zodiac related).

(Avengers I#81 - BTS) - Van Lunt's men shot down the Avengers' quinjet containing Goliath (Clint Barton), the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, and Red Wolf, and van Lunt appeared to drown when the artificial dam was destroyed in the ensuing conflict.

(Daredevil I#69 - BTS) - Zodiac backed the Thunderbolts gang, directing them to dupe other African-Americans into joining a seeming revolution against oppression, when they were really just common criminals; the Thunderbolts were defeated by the Black Panther, Daredevil, and William Carver.

(Avengers I#82 - BTS) - Aries led the forces of Zodiac to ambush the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Quicksilver, and Thor), using gas to incapacitate then within Avengers Mansion, after which they were placed within stasis.

(Avengers I#82 - BTS) - Aries led the forces of Zodiac to take over Manhattan, entrapping it within a force field, and threatening to slay the entire population if they did not receive one billion dollars within 24 hours time. The Black Panther and Daredevil freed the imprisoned Avengers, and Aries was apparently slain in the ensuing conflict. The army captured Zodiac's mercenary soldiers, and the force field was deactivated. The rest of the Zodiac Cartel escaped capture.

(Iron Man I#33 - BTS, #34 - BTS) - The Zodiac Cartel, led by Capricorn, employed Spymaster and his Espionage Elite to destroy Stark Industries and to capture or kill Tony Stark.

(Daredevil I#73 - BTS) - The Brotherhood of Ankh contacted Capricorn, instructing him to use the Zodiac Key to bring others to the Ankh dimension to restore the Key's power through conflict.

(Iron Man I#35) - When Spymaster and his group failed, Capricorn reassigned him to capture Daredevil, which they did, obtaining Madame Masque in the process. Libra (see comments) joined Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius in traveling to Stark Industries, where they battled and overcame Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Kevin O'Brian with the aid of the Zodiac Key. The heroes were imprisoned alongside Daredevil and Madame Masque, and Fury.

(Daredevil I#73 - BTS) - Fury was mesmerized by the Key into using it to transport the heroes, the three Zodiac Cartel members, and Spymaster to the Ankh dimension, where they appeared before the Brotherhood of Ankh. The Law-Holder manipulated the heroes and villains into conflict, but disagreement over Daredevil's reluctance to fight under duress led the Brotherhood to send them all back to Earth.

(Iron Man I#36 - BTS) - Daredevil, Nick Fury, Iron Man, and Madame Masque defeated Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius, who were taken away by the police, while Spymaster escaped.

(Avengers I#120) - Libra participated in the Taurus-led Zodiac plot to prove their power by using the Star-Blazer to snuff out everyone in Manhattan born under the sign of Gemini (with Zodiac's Gemini protected by special means). When Gemini's twin, Damian Link, was captured by the Avengers, the other eleven broke into Avengers Mansion, used a hand-held Star-Blazer to overpower the Avengers (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision) and Mantis, and to escape with Gemini's twin; during the conflict, Libra first encountered the adult Mantis.

(Giant-Size Avengers#4 (fb) - BTS) - Recognizing Mantis and knowing that her empathic nature would make her susceptible to an assault affecting Geminis, Libra shared this information with Taurus.
    Libra later theorized that his meeting with Mantis was perhaps arranged by the Cotati, and that he knew Taurus and the rest of the Zodiac Cartel would fail against Mantis and the Avengers.

(Avengers I#120) - When the Zodiac Cartel publicly made their threat, the Avengers located them and damaged the Star-Blazer, Taurus used its remaining energy to blast Mantis.

(Avengers I#121) - The Avengers attacked the Zodiac Cartel, but Aries (Grover Raymond) cast Mantis over the edge, and the Zodiacs fled in the ensuing chaos as they rescued her. Aries, frustrated with their near defeat, gathered Aquarius, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, and Scorpio to form a coup to overthrow Taurus. Libra elected to sit the conflict out, telling them that he wished to remain the balance; the others threatened to attack him if he failed to maintain his neutrality. When Aries contacted Zodiac's funder Cornelius van Lunt to design a weapon to oppose Taurus, he learned too late that van Lunt actually was Taurus; shortly after Thor led the other Avengers (Black Panther, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision) to the rebel Zodiacs in van Lunt's designated meeting place, they were all trapped within the room as it was sealed with a force field and launched into space.

(Avengers I#122) - Despite their shared danger, Aries lead Aquarius, Cancer, Leo, Pisces, Sagittarius, and Scorpio to attack the Avengers within the orbiting death trap. Back on Earth, as Taurus revealed his actions to the remaining Zodiacs, Libra revealed that he had known on the revolt, but had neither joined with the others nor revealed their intentions to Taurus, who became disgusted with he and the others. Shortly thereafter, Libra ambushed and overpowered Gemini, and then freed and replaced Gemini's twin, Damian Link, convincing him to impersonate Gemini and keep Taurus occupied. Libra then stole the Star-Blaster ship, used it to fly up to the orbiting trap, neutralize the  force field, and free its inhabitants. Back on Earth, Taurus convinced the renegades to join with him against the Avengers who would surely imprison them.
    After the Avengers defeated the Zodiacs, Libra revealed that he had only freed the Avengers because he had thought Mantis was with him, as Mantis was his daughter.

(Avengers I#123) - Mantis denied Libra's claims, but she was shocked into silence when she ripped off his mask, exposing his eyeless face. Libra told his and Mantis' origins to the assembled Avengers, but Mantis again denied his claims and tried to attack him. After she fought her way past the other Avengers, Libra himself restrained her, using a move learned by the Priests. At that point the Avengers learned that the Swordsman had taken a quinjet to Vietnam to avenge Khruul's murder of Mantis' mother. Libra joined the Avengers and Mantis in pursuing him, but they arrived to late to stop him from being defeated by Khruul's warriors, or from being tortured and revealing the existence of the Priests of Pama.
    Libra led the others to the temple, where they found the Priests had been slaughtered by Khruul's men, while they then heard Khruul's death screams as he was slain by the Star-Slayer.

(Giant-Size Avengers#4 (fb)) - Libra told Mantis just enough of her past to make her question her life, as she was too strong to accept her destiny as the Celestial Madonna.

(Avengers I#124) - Along with the Avengers and Mantis, Libra was attacked by the Star-Slayer. After the Star-Slayer had taunted them with their helplessness against them and revealed his past defeat by the Priests of Pama, Libra pushed Mantis to try to recall anything she had learned from the Priests about how they could defeat the beast, but the mental blocks they had placed on her remained in force and she was unable to recall having even heard of the Priests. Mantis subsequently determined how to defeat the monster, though she claimed it to have been by deduction alone.

(Avengers I#125) - Returning to America, Libra said his goodbyes to Mantis, willingly going to prison, though he asked her to visit him.

(Giant-Size Avengers#3 (fb)) - Libra was taken to his jail cell, where he remained, a model prisoner while awaiting trial.

(Giant-Size Avengers#3 (fb) - BTS) - Libra mysteriously vanished from prison.

(Avengers I#132 (fb) - BTS) - Libra returned to Vietnam, mentally summoning the Elder Cotati with regards to the maturation of Mantis.

(Avengers I#130) - Appearing only as a mysterious hooded figure, Libra showed up again in Vietnam a short distance from the former temple of the Priests of Pama following the death of the Swordsman. As the Avengers (Hawkeye, Iron Man, Thor, Vision) battled the Titanic Three (Crimson Dynamo (Alex Nevsky), Radioactive Man, Titanium Man (Boris Bullski)) and the Slasher in Ho Chi Minh, Libra swung from the rooftops, flattening the Crimson Dynamo with a "barefoot kick" (he was seen soon after in sandals) to his armored body.

(Avengers I#131) - Still in Ho Chi Minh, the hooded Libra briefly observed Mantis from a distance, vanishing when she felt a presence and turned in his direction.

(Avengers I#132) - After the Avengers were teleported away by Kang, the hooded Libra touched approached the spot from which they were vanished, easily fighting off a pair of policemen who tried to take him in. Fleeing to the shadows, Libra met up with the Elder Cotati (inhabiting the body of the Swordsman) discussing Mantis' destiny as the Celestial Madonna.

(Avengers I#133) - The Elder Cotati/Swordsman attempted to soothe the worried Libra, telling him that Moondragon had nearly returned to Earth and Mantis was being instructed in the history of the universe.

(Avengers I#134) - Libra stood by the Elder Cotati as he told of the coming of the Celestial Madonna to Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mantis, and Thor as they returned to the temple of the Priests of Pama.

(Avengers I#135) - Libra, the Elder Cotati, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mantis, and Thor greeted Moondragon as she arrived in the temple of the Priests of Pama, revealing her own origins, after which the Cotati began to discuss the similarities between Mantis and Moondragon, the two potentials for the Celestial Madonna.

(Giant-Size Avengers#4) - Libra remained present while Immortus left to search for the missing Vision, after which the Elder Cotati explained why Mantis was destined to become the Celestial Madonna. Libra then explained how the similar training of Mantis and Moondragon was intended to train them to perceive the telepathy of the Cotati. He further detailed how Mantis' mundane experiences and interactions with other people and emotions, made her a more perfect human than Moondragon.
    Ultimately, Mantis witnessed the marriage of Mantis and the Elder Cotati/Swordsman (as well as the marriage of the Vision and Scarlet Witch), conducted by Immortus, after which Mantis and the Elder Cotati converted into purest energy and left Earth.

(Avengers Forever#2 (fb)) - Returning to prison willingly again, Libra again escaped. He half-heartedly resumed his criminal activities, spending most of his time studying, learning the true power of the Balance via a number of arcane texts, and mastering the arcane skills they led him to.

(Iron Man I#184) - Following an assault on Cornelius van Lunt by the Life Model Decoy (LMD) Taurus (which resulted in an encounter with Iron Man (Jim Rhodes), van Lunt contacted Libra and the rest of the Zodiac Cartel, announcing his plans to kill Iron Man. When van Lunt's initial plan failed, he recruited help from Aries (the unnamed successor of Grover Raymond). When he, too, was defeated, van Lunt recruited Aquarius (Zachary Drebb).

(Iron Man I#185 - BTS) - Iron Man, with the help of Morley and Clytemnestra Erwin and the unarmored Tony Stark, defeated and captured Aquarius. Stark then notified Nick Fury of Zodiac's activities, and Fury said he'd "scramble a security team an' put the skids under 'em pronto."

(West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb) - BTS) - Due to trouble from the Deltites and others, SHIELD was unable to follow up on pursuing Zodiac.

(West Coast Avengers II#26) - In Houston, Texas, Libra met with the rest of the Cartel at a meeting presided over by Cancer. However, Scorpio suddenly unmasked, revealing that an LMD of Jake Fury had been his own "successor," after which the rest of the LMD Zodiac ambushed the Cartel, apparently killing all except van Lunt, who escaped.

(Avengers Forever#2 (fb)) - Libra used his newfound skills to present the seeming of death, while he slipped away to the Between to further his studies.

(Avengers Forever#2 (fb)) - Libra's wanderings led him to an area of imbalance, or turmoil, in reality itself, the most significant and dangerous of all apparently caused by Immortus.

(Avengers Forever#1 (fb) - BTS) - Libra began meeting in secret with the Supreme Intelligence, who was imprisoned within the SHIELD station in the Blue Area of the Moon, discussing the upcoming pivotal event in humanity's destiny. The two agreed to assist the Avengers in foiling the Time-Keepers' efforts to slay Rick Jones.

(Avengers Forever #9 (fb)) - As Kang gathered intelligence on the operations of the Time-Keepers, he met with the Supreme Intelligence and Libra on Earth's moon, where Libra expressed his own concerns about the Time-Keepers' schemes.

(Avengers Forever#1) - Libra met with the Supreme Intelligence, discussing their plans, and questioning why the Supremor would help Earth, but received a nebulous answer. Libra then departed to inform "the one who must hear of this development" (presumably Kang).
    Kang subsequently appeared and held off Immortus' efforts to slay Rick Jones (holder of the Destiny Force), while Libra confronted Rick, touching his neck and guiding him in summoning the appropriate balance of Avengers from the past, present, and future (Captain America (from Captain America I#175), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell, from an alternate future following the defeat of the Ego-reanimated Eon), Giant-Man (Hank Pym, from the modern era), Hawkeye (from Avengers I#99), Songbird (from a future reality following a battle with Oort and his Solar Squadron), Wasp (from the modern era), Yellowjacket (from Avengers I#59)) to foil Immortus' plot.

(Avengers Forever#11 (fb)) - Libra later realized that he had chosen that particular: Captain America because his recent crisis stifled his strong personality which would otherwise have dominated the team, preventing the looseness, the improvisation that was key to this mission; Yellowjacket because he was delusional, unstable, and arrogant enough to betray the team, which would bring them to a place they needed to be; the Wasp because of her inner strength and flexibility, giving the team direction without exerting too much control; Giant-Man because he could provide the quiet stable backbone and support the team needed, as well as acting as an irritant to Yellowjacket; Hawkeye because of his status as a longtime stalwart and a consummate irritant (which would affect not only Yellowjacket, but Libra as well); Songbird, the link between the past, present, and future, with close ties to the others, who affected the choices of Captain Marvel; and Captain Marvel because he was tied to a team he desperately wanted to escape, but would ultimately become intimately tied to Rick Jones.
    In addition, he recognized the value of Kang, whose fighting spirit would conquer his predestined fate and thwart the Time-Keepers. He did not know his own part in the saga, to directly assist the Avengers, nor the reason for the assistance of the Supreme Intelligence, who would become involved with the Forever Crystal.

(Avengers Forever#2) - When the struggle against Immortus' forces came to a temporary halt, Libra and the Supreme Intelligence convinced the Avengers team to accompany Libra to the Place Between Places, where they would be safe from Immortus' and the Time-Keepers' detection and where they could catch their breath. He then explained something of his history and motivations, after which he reinforced his agreement with Kang that the Avengers remain in the Between, out of the timestream. When the Avengers strongly resisted the idea, Libra agreed to take them to Chronopolis, what he thought was the safest place for them, only to find Kang's city under siege by Immortus' forces.

(Avengers Forever#3) - Libra hid out in the shadows as the Avengers fought off a contingent of Immortus' forces, then he met with the remnants of Kang's Anachronauts and led the Avengers to Kang. He joined the Avengers in fighting against the subsequent waves of Immortus' forces, but ultimately he was forced to lead the Avengers to Kang's Sphinx time-ship to escape the imminent destruction of Chronopolis by Immortus and his transformation of Chronopolis and its temporally-powered Heart of Forever into the Forever Crystal, with which he could actually affect the timestream, rather than just creating divergent realities.

(Avengers Forever#4) - Tiring of Libra's nebulous responses to the Avengers' queries, Hawkeye attacked him. Realizing that his own presence was hindering the Avengers' self-reliance, Libra vanished again, presumably to the Between.

(Avengers Forever#4-6 - BTS) - On their own, the Avengers discovered what Libra had wished them to find, temporal disruptions in three realities: Earth-Killraven (or a variant of it); the old west of Earth-616, immediately prior to the Avengers' "previous" struggle against the forces of Kang in the late 19th century (@ Avengers I#141-143); and an alternate Earth, which Immortus wiped from reality, to prevent a plot of the Skrulls (who were opposed by the "Avengers of the 1950s") from stimulating paranoia against extraterrestrials. In each case, Immortus manipulated events to prevent humanity from traveling into space, hoping to convince the Time-Keepers that it was unnecessary to wipe out the Avengers and a multitude of realities.

(Avengers Forever#7) - Libra appeared with Immortus' castle, intending to help the Avengers overcome the psychic/emotional assaults of Immortus, but decided he wasn't needed and departed after seeing many of them overcome them on his own.
    Libra's reasoning for choosing this specific time period's Yellowjacket became apparent when he agreed to betray the Avengers to Immortus in exchange for his persona retaining dominance when he returned to Earth.

(Avengers Forever#8 - BTS) - While the other Avengers learned of Immortus' past and motivations from the Space Phantom, Yellowjacket led Immortus to them, and he captured them.

(Avengers Forever#9 - BTS) - Kang's reverie through his past restored his motivation to fight against ever becoming Immortus, and he joined forces with Rick Jones and the Supreme Intelligence to free the Avengers.

(Avengers Forever#10 - BTS) - Yellowjacket realizes his mistake and joined back up with the other Avengers during their trial under the Time-Keepers. Shortly after the Avengers accessed the Destiny Force and broke free, Rick, Kang, and the Supremor arrived to assist them.

(Avengers Forever#11) - Libra reflected on the reasons each of his allies was tied to the Balance. He attempted to remain outside the conflict, but when the Time-Keepers slew Immortus for opposing them, and then summoned an armada of alternate reality "corrupt" Avengers to oppose the heroes, he found that his own humanity prevented him from staying out of it any further. He leapt into the battle, believing that the Balance was tilting the wrong way and that he needed to tilt it back the right way. Libra stimulated Rick Jones to release the Destiny Force, empowering each of the Avengers he had personally summoned to overpower their attackers. However, in doing so, Libra exposed his presence to the Time-Keepers, who entrapped him in an energy field and then used his ability to stimulate the Destiny Force within Rick again, this time immobilizing his allies.
    The Time-Keepers them began to forcibly "evolve" Kang into Immortus, eliminating him from the conflict. Captain Marvel managed to escape the immobilization, changing into his own alternate future version of Rick Jones, and the two variants of Rick them combined their powers to summon forth an army of Avengers from realities in which things didn't "go sour" to assist the "Avengers Forever" team.

(Avengers Forever#12) - Libra attempted to stop Kang's transformation, but was blasted into submission by the Time-Keepers. Ultimately, Kang's fighting will allowed him to forcibly diverge himself from Immortus, creating a new Immortus, as well as a new Kang who was not destined to become Immortus. Rick summoned the Destiny Force and blocked the blast from the Time-Keepers' Chrono-Cannon, saving @ 42% of the alternate realities from destruction. Kang then seemingly slew the Time-Keepers, while Captain America shattered the Forever Crystal, banishing both armies of Avengers back to their own realties.
    At the conflict's conclusion, Libra explained what Kang had accomplished, after which he sent the Avengers Forever teams back to their own reality, temporarily submerging the memories of those from the past.
    Back in the Blue Area of the Moon, Libra again questioned the Supreme Intelligence's motives, but received only further nebulous answers. Libra then vanished back to the Between to return to his researches, wondering where and when the Forever Crystal would reform, little realizing that the Supreme Intelligence had manipulated events so it would appear before him, which it did seconds after Libra's departure.

(Marvel Tarot - BTS) - Ian McNee's reading of the First Tarot noted a relationship between Libra, the other air signs, Oshtur, and numerous other objects, beings, and concepts.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, and Sam Grainger.

    As a true Libra, Brandt would have been born within the dates of September 22 - October 21.

    I suspect that Libra was not actually in Iron Man I#35 at all; that issue and the succeeding crossover with Daredevil repeatedly switched the names for Aquarius and Sagittarius, and Libra was nowhere to be seen when the other three invaded Stark Industries. However, it may be that Libra was their pilot and was instructed to remain aboard their ship.

    Among the books Libra was seen studying in Avengers Forever#2 were Stegamograpia by Abad Tritemio, Asclemandres by Koryn the Yaddo, Summa Diabolica- by Benedicto Cas-, (Co?)mpendium -iepicarium by ?? Gliaccius, the Malleus Maleficarium, Corpus -he--ticum, Daemonol(ogical?) Libri by Nicolas Remy, and Disquistionum M- Libri-- by De-- (many of the words were only partially seen)

    It was in Avengers Forever#2 that Libra reveals that he has never heard of Moonraker (beyond Ian Fleming's James Bond novel). Personal correspondence with Kurt Busiek confirms that he intended for Moonraker to have been one of the space phantoms sent by Immortus. That doesn't mean that there isn't more to the story, however...

    It always seemed odd to me that Englehart would flesh out Libra so well in the 1970s only to casually blow him away in the 1980s.

    Avengers I#123 gives the date of Brandt's mercenary soldier career as 1953, but that information is topical, and it should be taken as meaning 21 years before the events of Avengers I#123.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection (beyond the Zodiac) to:

Lua

    A Vietnamese woman, she met and fell in love with mercenary soldier Gustav Brandt, but was then immediately targeted for death by her occidental hating brother Monsieur Khruul. They barely escaped with their lives. After ten months on the run, Lua, who had become pregnant, had to stop to give birth. After they delivered their daughter, they built a small hut to live in, but then Khruul's men caught up to them, using flame throwers to torch their home. Lua was killed, and Gustav was blinded by the flames, though he managed to escape with their daughter, fleeing into the jungles.

--Avengers I#123 (123 (fb)

images:
Avengers Forever#2, p10, panel 3 (modern face)
        p14, panel 3 (modern full body)
Avengers I#123, cover (Zodiac appearance)
        p3, panel 5 (mercenary)
        p6, panel 1 (Lua)
        p7, panel 1 (blinded)
            panel 8 (masked face)

Appearances:
Avengers I#80-82 (September-November, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#69 (October, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#33-36 (January-April, 1971) - Allyn Brodsky & Gerry Conway (#35-36) (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#73 (February, 1971) - Allyn Brodsky & Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#120-125 (February-July, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), Bob Brown (#120, 122-123) & John Buscema (#121, 124-125) (pencils), Don Heck (#120-121, 123), Mike Esposito (#122) & Dave Cockrum (#124-125) (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#130 (December, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Joe Staton (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#131-134 (February-April, 1975) - Steve Englehart & Roy Thomas (#132) (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Joe Staton (inks), Roy Thomas (#131-132) & Len Wein (#133-134) (editor)
Giant-Size Avengers I#3 (February, 1975) - Steve Englehart & Roy Thomas (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Joe Giella (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#135 (May, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Giant-Size Avengers I#4 (June, 1975) - by Steve Engelhart (writer), Don Heck (pencils), John Tartag (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Iron Man I#184-185 (July-August, 1984) - Denny O'Neil (writer), Luke McDonnell (pencils), Steve Mitchell (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
West Coast Avengers II#26 (November, 1987) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Mike Machlan (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Avengers Forever#1 (December 1998) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Jesus Merino (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever#2-9 (January-August 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (#3-9) (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Jesus Merino (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever#10-11 (October, November 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (#3-9) (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Jesus Merino (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever#12 (February 2000) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (#3-9) (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Jesus Merino (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel Tarot (2007) - David Sexton (writer/designer), Doug Sexton (technical consultant), Jeff Christiansen (continuity consultant), Michael Short & Cory Levine (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley & Jennifer Grunwald (associate editors), Jeff Youngquist (editor)

First Posted: 01/23/2005

Last updated: 10/17/2013