MATRIX EIGHT
Membership: Gammadroid, Master of Matrix Eight, many unidentified operatives
Purpose: Accumulation of profit by developing and selling weapons
Affiliations: A.I.M., Hydra,
the Maggia;
former members of the Nazi party, especially Heinrich Zemo
Enemies: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Hulk (Bruce Banner)
Base of Operations: Formerly bunkers beneath England
First Appearance: Captain America I#257 (May, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: The members of Matrix Eight were normal men armed with handguns and anesthetic gas weapons. They had some combat experience, but were no match for Captain America at his fighting strength. Matrix Eight's base contained a number of weapons, including machine guns, heat-rays, acid pools, flame-throwers, anesthetic gas dispensers, and Adhesive X dispensers.
History:
(Captain America I#257 (fb) - BTS) - The future
Master of Matrix Eight was the former assistant of Heinrich Zemo (see
comments).
(Captain America I#257 (fb) - BTS) - Matrix Eight was established after World War II by fleeing war-criminals. Having been privy to many top-echelon Nazi secrets, these men claimed a large amount of the unrecovered Nazi gold--with that gold, they established a base, secreting bunkers beneath England. The leader of the group twisted the symbol of Nazism--the Swastika--to form the number eight, from which they took their name: Matrix Eight.
Continuing their research, they developed and tested weapons, selling them to the highest bidders, including A.I.M., the Maggia, and even Hydra.
(Captain America I#257 (fb) - BTS) - Agents of Matrix Eight observed Captain America's yearly journey to the cliffs of Northern England to pay his respects to Bucky (James Buchanan Barnes).
(Captain America I#257) - In the U.S.A., agents of Matrix Eight tracked Bruce Banner to a mid-western hotel in which he was staying. They ambushed Banner in his sleep, using gas to incapacitate him before he could become the Hulk.
(Captain America I#257 (fb) - BTS) - The agents brought Banner to Matrix Eight's base in England, where he was kept drugged. From their studies of the Hulk's power, they designed the Gammadroid (see comments).
(Captain America I#257) - Agents of Matrix Eight ambushed Captain America while he stood over a Northern England cliff overlooking the Atlantic, paying his respects on the anniversary of Bucky's apparent death. The gas they used weakened Cap enough for the agents to finish him off, and he was taken to Matrix Eight's underground base as well.
Upon Cap's revival, the Master showed him around, revealing his plan to test the Gammadroid against the hero--the Master hoped it would slay Captain America, thereby avenging Matrix Eight's beloved Baron Zemo. Having recovered sufficiently from the gas, Captain America took off, avoiding a series of attacks and death-traps until he located the drugged Banner. Cap slapped Banner repeatedly until he became the Hulk, whom Cap goaded into attacking the approaching Matrix Eight agents. Another trap doused the Hulk in Adhesive X, trapping him, but Captain America smashed at the hardened adhesive with his shield, all the while taunting the Hulk until he became angry enough to shatter his bonds.
Cap then led the Hulk to fight the Gammadroid, which the green-skinned giant rapidly disabled, while Cap activated the base's self-destruct mechanism. When another gas attack (apparently designed specifically for the Hulk, as Cap was less affected [see comments]) was used against them, Cap insulted the Hulk again, keeping him awake long enough for him to smash open an escape hatch before he collapsed and returned to human form. Cap then carried the unconscious Banner to safety (see comments).
Meanwhile, as the base began to collapse from Captain America's sabotage, the Master of Matrix Eight tried to take a container of the solvent for Adhesive X with him, but shattered pipes showered him with Adhesive X just feet away from the solvent. He remained trapped in place as the base exploded--it was said that the Master of Matrix Eight was the only one to perish in the explosion, but there was no evidence of any other members being captured.
Comments: Created by Mike W. Barr, Lee Elias, and M. Hands.
Many Hands?
In a few captions and word-balloons near the end of
the story, the group was referred to as "Matrix 8"--probably
just to save space by the letterer.
--Ron Fredricks
Sliding timescale causing aging problems: Assuming that the future Master of Matrix Eight was very young, say 18 years old in 1945 while he served Zemo, he would have been 53 years old when the story came out in 1981. In 2005 (when this profile was originally posted), he would be 78, and he looked much too fit to be that age. Perhaps he had a little bit of the Compound X which retarded the aging of Heinrich (and Helmut) Zemo.
...Or he could have been one of Zemo's assistants
during the early Modern Era, and was only continuing with the Baron's
Nazi ideology.
--Ron Fredricks
Magneto stole a large stash of the Nazi gold from Baron Strucker in Uncanny X-Men I#161.
Good idea--after being successful for decades, working with impunity, go ahead and capture both the Hulk and Captain America out of the blue.
The Gammadroid is among the Gamma Mutates in World War Hulk: The Gamma Files.
The Gammadroid may not have been a mechanical robot--when the Hulk fought it, there was no sign of damaged parts or electrical circuitry, so maybe it was actually an artificial life-form; and while Cap was carrying the unconscious Banner, he thought to himself, "That gas must have been a defense against either the Hulk or the Gammadroid going berserk..."--what use would gas be against a mechanical robot?
From it's appearance, the Gammadroid reminds me of the
Arnim Zola-created Nazi
X. Since Heinrich Zemo was known to have used other Zola-created
androids
in the past, my guess is that the Gammadroid was actually developed
for Matrix Eight by Zola (...who later created Hulk
clones).
--Ron Fredricks
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Matrix Eight has no known connection to:
The Master of Matrix Eight has no known connections to:
The Gammadroid has no known connections to:
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Standing about 8 feet tall, it was created by Matrix Eight and based on the Hulk's metabolism (see comments), it was designed to be as powerful as the Hulk, but guided solely by the Master of Matrix Eight's will. Though it was undoubtedly powerful, the real Hulk made short work of it--after tackling it to the floor, the Hulk apparently stopped it with a single punch. --Captain America I#257 |
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His true name unrevealed, he was a former assistant to Baron Heinrich Zemo (see comments); he joined other Nazi war-criminals in forming Matrix Eight. After years of designing and selling weapons with impunity, he decided to get involved with the Hulk and Captain America, which unintentionally brought a rapid end to his organization. After Captain America's sabotage caused Matrix Eight's underground base to explode and collapse, the Master paused from making his getaway to grab the solvent for Adhesive X, in the event that he encountered any of the powerful paste leaking from the base's network of pipe dispensers along the way. But when he was mere feet away from reaching the solvent, the ceiling began to crumble, and the Master was showered with Adhesive X, which glued him to the floor. Then a final explosion caused the rest of the base to collapse upon the hopelessly trapped Master--for him, the ending was presumably fatal. --Captain America I#257 |
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images: (without ads)
Captain America I#257, p3, pan3 (main image - members of Matrix Eight attack Captain America)
Captain America I#257, p3, pan4 (headshot - unidentified member of Matrix Eight)
Captain America I#257, p5, pan5 (Master of Matrix Eight and other members, holding captured Captain America in their underground base)
Captain America I#257, p6, pan5 (Gammadroid; Master of Matrix Eight [right])
Captain America I#257, p12, pan2 (Gammadroid approaches Captain America and Hulk)
Captain America I#257, p12, pan4 (Hulk tackles Gammadroid)
Captain America I#257, p4, pan4 (Master of Matrix Eight, flanked by two underlings)
Captain America I#257, p15, pan2 (Master of Matrix Eight tries to get Adhesive X solvent)
Captain America I#257, p15, pan5 (Master of Matrix Eight, glued to floor of collapsing base)
Appearances:
Captain America I#257 (May, 1981) - Mike W. Barr (writer), Lee Elias
(pencils), Mandy Hands (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
First Posted: 05/02/2005
Last updated: 12/07/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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