BARON BRIMSTONE

Real Name: Baron Walther Theodoric (possibly)

Identity/Class: Human magic user/technology user

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Employer of the Satan Squad

Affiliations: Armadillo, "Hammer" Harrison, Man-Ape, "Snake" Marston, Orka, Owl, Sandman (William Baker), Stilt-Man (Wilbur Day), Derin Vitali, Whirlwind, unrevealed demon master;
    former pawn of Dr. Doom

Enemies: Duke Dawson, Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire (Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze, Misty Knight, Silver Sable/Silver Sablinova), Machine Man, Paladin, Pamela Quinn, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Baron Walther Theodoric (possibly)

Base of Operations: His estate in Westchester, New York, U.S.A.;

Ryker's Island's prison, Maximum Security unit;
briefly the French Riviera;
briefly Utopia Cay (island resort)
 

First Appearance: Machine Man I#16 (August, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Baron Brimstone wore a harness beneath his cloak that granted him the ability to teleport, to generate "eldritch blasts" and to create a force field capable of repelling conventional small arms fire. However, the Baron has apparently had some magical training, and has demonstrated the ability to levitate himself and hypnotize others. The harness apparently also augmented his ability to enter the Quasi-Universe, a portion of interdimensional space possessing an alien environment very similar to the Dark Dimension. Baron Brimstone has also used spherical grenades containing explosives and knock-out gas.

Height: 5'9" Weight: 170 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Red

History:
(Machine Man I#16) - Baron Brimstone successfully stole the Sol-Mac, a solar powered microwave emission device, from the Chem-Solar Corporation, with the intention of mass producing the device as a weapon and selling it to various underworld figures. Chem-Solar security and Machine Man, who had been on hand as Aaron Stack to study the corporation's security arrangements on behalf of Delmar Insurance, were unable to stop Baron Brimstone.
    The Baron next organized a meeting of various non-Maggia affiliated criminals in order to recruit them into his Satan Squad. One of the criminals present, Duke Dawson, took exception to Baron Brimstone's leadership and met with Delmar Insurance agent Pamela Quinn, agreeing to sell her Brimstone's whereabouts. Brimstone sent his two lieutenants, "Snake" Marston and "Hammer" Harrison, to assassinate Dawson, however, and the two took Quinn back to Brimstone for interrogation. Machine Man tracked down the Satan Squad. After the robotic hero defeated Harrison and Marston, Brimstone attempted to escape in a helicopter, hurling Pamela Quinn in order to distract Machine Man. Machine Man rescued Quinn and still managed to get aboard the helicopter, defeating several other of Brimstone's henchmen and knocking the Baron unconscious. Baron Brimstone was then turned over to police custody.

(Marvel Team-Up I#99) - Sentenced to Ryker's Island's Maximum Security unit, Baron Brimstone hypnotized a guard into freeing him and then freed the Sandman, hoping to use the villain to get revenge on Machine Man. The two escaped Ryker's and soon after reappeared at Delmar Insurance, hoping to use Pamela Quinn as bait to trap Machine Man. The pair managed to kidnap her, despite interference by both Spider-Man and Machine Man, although Spider-Man managed to place a "spider-tracer" on Quinn unobserved.
    Tracking Baron Brimstone and the Sandman down to Brimstone's estate in Westchester County, Spider-Man and Machine Man engaged the villains in battle. Brimstone led the web-slinger into the Quasi-Universe, an alien realm existing in interdimensional space, but the two were shunted back to Earth once Spider-Man damaged the harness beneath Brimstone's cloak. The heroes defeated the Sandman while Baron Brimstone took advantage of the distraction to repair his harness and escape, abandoning his ally.

 

 

 

 

(Avengers I#251 - BTS) - Apparently hoping to avoid further entanglements with crime-fighters in favor of getting rich, Baron Brimstone successfully robbed a casino on the French Riviera. A group of Carribean-based casino owners hired Paladin to bring him to justice.

(Avengers I#251) - Hoping to emulate his success on the Riviera, Baron Brimstone next targeted the island resort of Utopia Cay, gaining the confidence of the island's guests, including Janet Van Dyne, as Baron Walther Theodoric. Inviting the resort's guests to his yacht, Brimstone teleported himself and four armed henchmen to the cashier's office of the casino with the intent to rob it. The Wasp had hidden herself in the folds of Baron Brimstone's cloak, however, and Paladin had already arrived on the scene. Paladin made short work of Brimstone's henchmen and, after the Wasp damaged his harness, also knocked the Baron unconscious.

(Fantastic Four I#336) - Baron Brimstone, along with the Armadillo, Man-Ape, Orka, the Owl, Stilt-Man and Whirlwind, was compelled by Dr. Doom's Aggression Enhancer machine to attack the Fantastic Four as they testified before a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Superhuman Activities. All were quickly defeated and taken into police custody.

(Heroes for Hire III#2 (fb) - BTS) - Baron Brimstone struck a deal with a demon to sell cursed, soul devouring Demonica weapons on Earth. Brimstone chose Russian arms dealer Derin Vitali as his middle man in New York City.

(Heroes for Hire III#2) - When Misty Knight's Heroes for Hire organization, in form of Silver Sable, interfered with Vitali's arms dealings at the West Side Dock in NYC Baron Brimstone teleported Sable, Vitali and his men to a small airport in Miami. Ghost Rider came to Sable's aid and Baron Brimstone ordered Vitali and his men to use the Demonica weapons against them because the demon bullets could even wound Ghost Rider. Silver Sable resisted using a Demonica weapon and tossed it to Brimstone, who tried to use it himself, but Sable had emptied the gun before tossing it to him. Without any bullets to shoot a portal opened and pulled Baron Brimstone down to Hell where he had to deal with his master.







Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco (writer) and Steve Ditko (penciler & inker).

    Fantastic Four I#335-336 show how the government has long been considering registering superheroes, not just since the New Warriors confrontation with Nitro and the other villains in Stamford, Connecticut, as depicted in Civil War#1.

The legislators at the hearing during Acts of Vengeance in Fantastic Four included Paul J. Grant, Patrick Mullet, P. Aubrey Becton, Rep. Scott Martin, and James Pertierra. The legislation was called H.S. 39110.  Other speakers named were General Neddington and Hamilton Nathanson.
    --Per Degaton

Profile by Odd Rob, with clean-up by Grendel Prime, and images by Danny Wall (main) and Snood.
    Thanks to Danny for photoshopping the main image into a much nicer form!

Clarifications:

Baron Brimstone has no known connections to:

images:
 Avengers I#251, p18, panel 4 (full body)
Marvel Team-Up I#99, p10, panel 1 (face)
       cover (Quasi-Universe)
Heroes for Hire III#2, p10, pan4 (new outfit)

Machine Man I#16 (August, 1980) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Steve Ditko (penciler & inker), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#99 (November, 1980) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Jerry Bingham (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Avengers I#251 (January, 1985) - Roger Stern (writer), Bob Hall (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Fantastic Four I#336 (January, 1990) - Walt Simonson (writer), Ron Lim (penciler), Mike DeCarlo (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First Posted: 09/16/2005
Last updated: 02/15/2015

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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