ALFIE
Real Name: William Leese
Identity/Class: Human (World War II era) (UK)
Occupation: Cab driver, liaison officer of the Crusaders, Nazi operative, traitor
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: The Crusaders (Captain Wings/Roger Dicken, Dyna-Mite/Roger Aubrey, Ghost Girl/Wendy Hunt, Spirit of '76/William Nasland, Thunderfist/Patrick Mason, Tommy Lightning/Thomas Lovejoy) (his dupes), an unidentified anarchist assassin
Enemies: The Invaders (Bucky/James Barnes, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Human Torch/"Jim Hammond," Spitfire/Jacqueline Falsworth, Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie, Toro/Thomas Raymond)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Code Name Alfie" (as called by
Dyna-Mite)
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout London, England, UK (he spent a lot of time driving his cab around)
First Appearance: Invaders I#14 (March, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Alfie
had no superhuman powers. However, Alfie wore a
belt which somehow was the power source for the Crusaders' weaponry.
He was also a pretty good cab driver.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red
History:
(Invaders I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Alfie
somehow became affiliated with the Nazis and was their operative in
London for an assassination plot against the king. Later, by appealing
to their sense of patriotism, Alfie recruited a group of five British
citizens and one American and turned these freedom fighters into "The
Crusaders," giving each of them (with the exception of Dyna-Mite) a
single special power which they derived from equipment they wore.
(Invaders I#14) - As part of his ruse, Alfie was driving his cab behind a remotely controlled limousine when the limo exploded. The Invaders were flying overhead in Namor's flagship, so they landed to investigate. They met Alfie, who told them it was an anarchist who threw a bomb into the car and took off running into St. James Park -- all of which was really a distraction to send the Invaders on a wild goose chase.
Meanwhile, on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, the real anarchist stopped the limousine of King George VI and tried to assassinate him, but Dyna-Mite saved the king just as the other Crusaders arrived. This event prompted the king to replace the Invaders with the Crusaders as his guard of honor for the next day's planned dedication ceremony of the battleship H.M.S. Hornblower. When Alfie heard this news report announced on his cab's radio, he laughed because his plans were coming to fruition.
(Invaders I#15) - Alfie drove to a darkened dock on
the River Thames to the Crusaders' secret meeting place and
demonstrated to them how he controlled their powers by switching off
Ghost Girl's power. He then told the Crusaders that the Invaders were
secretly traitors for the Nazis. But Alfie's whole plan was to arrange
for the Crusaders to guard the king rather than the Invaders, who'd be
more likely to catch on to an assassination plot.
Later, Alfie drove to another secluded waterfront spot -- Euro Importing LTD. -- but unknown to him, Dyna-Mite was hiding in his coat pocket, spying on him. Alfie radioed his superiors to report in, but when he signed off with a "Heil Hitler!", this confirmed the suspicions of the diminutive Dyna-Mite regarding Alfie's true loyalties. Spotting Dyna-Mite, Alfie knocked him into the river and drove off, but the tiny titan survived, crawled out of the river, and got a warning to the Invaders.
Alfie had arranged for an explosive champagne bottle to be used by the king at the ship christening ceremony. As the Invaders fought the duped Crusaders, the Sub-Mariner threw the booby-trapped bottle away, where it harmlessly exploded in the water. The Crusaders then learned the truth about Alfie's treachery.
Alfie, who was watching the ceremony in the crowd, climbed into his cab and sped away, but the Human Torch threw a fireball in his path, causing him to swerve and drive off London Bridge. The cab exploded as it plunged into the water, presumably killing Alfie.
With the power source to their equipment destroyed, the ashamed and discouraged Crusaders threw off their now-useless equipment.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Frank Robbins and Frank Springer.
The whole assassination plot had kind of a convoluted "only-in-comic-books" feel to it -- Alfie himself said to the Crusaders (in his thick Cockney accent) when their suspicions about him were aroused: "Would an enemy of Great Britain 'ave given you six super-powers instead o' six Nazis?" -- well, yeah, that WOULD have been the more simple and logical plan...but maybe the Nazis also wanted to stir up suspicions amongst the Allies about their super-heroes while they were at it.
I think that the belt that Alfie wore was actually a remote cut-off safety switch for the Crusaders' equipment rather than the power source itself -- just in case they ever turned against him -- so ironically, they may have thrown away equipment that was still functional. In fact, (purely speculative) I think someone recovered some of Tommy Lightning's equipment and used it to become Electro-Man.
The Crusaders received their own entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook.
The Crusaders were patterned after DC's "The Freedom Fighters" -- Captain Wings/Black Condor, Dyna-Mite/Doll Man, Ghost Girl/Phantom Lady, Spirit of '76/Uncle Sam, Thunderfist/Human Bomb, Tommy Lightning/The Ray.
And also worth noting is that these two issues of Invaders were a "pseudo cross-over" with DC's "The Freedom Fighters" #'s 7-9 (published around the same time), wherein the Freedom Fighters also battled a group called "The Crusaders" who were patterned after the Invaders -- Americommando/Captain America, Barracuda/Sub-Mariner, Fireball/Human Torch, Rusty/Bucky, Sparky/Toro.
Alfie's real name and nationality were revealed in the Crusaders' entry in OHotMU A-Z Hardcover#3.
Profile by John
Kaminski.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Alfie has no known connections to:
| --Invaders I#14 |
Appearances:
Invaders I#14 (March, 1977) - Roy Thomas
(writer/editor), Frank Robbins (pencils), Frank Springer (inks)
Invaders I#15 (April, 1977) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Frank Robbins
(pencils), Frank Springer (inks)
First posted: 10/09/2006
Last updated: 02/07/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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anarchist assassin