REDBLADE
Real Name: Redblade
Identity/Class: Human magic user (Native American, Old West)
Occupation: War Chief/Medicine Man
Group Membership: Huachaqua Apaches
Affiliations: Many loyal warriors
Enemies: Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), Dum Dum Dugan, Nick Fury, white men generally
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Chief Redblade
Base of Operations: A hideout near Puma, Arizona in the United States of 1883
First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare I#49 (February, 1990)
Powers/Abilities: He was a powerful medicine man who knew much about using the magic of his gods. He could use magical bolts to strike and dehydrate his foes. He was able to charge himself electrically or create storms upon calling to the spirits of the wind. He used spirit arrows to kill people by killing their spirit body (astral form) and used the spirits of the dead buffalo on the astral plane to drive his opponents' astral forms away from their body. Another ability of Redblade was the transformation into a giant beast (see third picture). With a powerful spell that could only be used under a full moon he was able to bestow his own magical powers onto others to create an army of super powered warriors.
Although these were the spells Redblade used in this story, they probably weren't the only ones he knew.
History:
(Marvel Fanfare I#49/1) - Redblade, the chief and medicine man of the Huachaqua Apaches, was driven past the brink of madness by the evil the white men did to his people. He planned to empower some of his most loyal warriors with magical powers to fight back against the white men. In a nightly ceremony under a full moon, his warriors gathered around Redblade, who was surrounded by ceramic vessels containing the elements he needed for his magic. The time travelling Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan disturbed the ceremony and broke the vessels. Redblade hit Dum Dum with a beam to strike him down from his horse and dried him out with another one. Nick Fury followed with an attack of his own, but his revolver was empty and after a short hand-to-hand fight, his hands got burnt by an electrical charge from Redblade. Dr. Strange arrived levitating over Redblade's warriors and everyone was scared except for Redblade who started a storm to blow Dr. Strange away. This first attack failed, but Redblade had more to offer and used spirit arrows to kill Dr. Strange through his astral form. Dr. Strange left his body before they hit and met a stampede of buffalo spirits on the astral plane. While he fled from them Redblade transformed into a monstrous being and attacked Dr. Strange's defenseless body. Dr. Strange returned to his body before Redblade could destroy it and shot Redblade with an enchanted golden bullet. Redblade became human again and lost at the same time his vast magical powers. Unconscious he was carried away by his warriors after Dr. Strange gave a speech to them about meeting the future with courage.
Comments: Created by Alan Weiss.
In a flashback in this story Dr. Strange told Fury and Dugan that the first time he saw the abnormality in the time stream caused by Redblade's power was upon his return from an adventure in World War 2 with Fury and his Howling Commandos in Dr. Strange II#50.
Dr. Strange told Fury and Dugan about the outcome of Redblade's plan and the terrible aftermath for all Native American nations. This could mean that in an alternate timeline Redblade had succeeded. In this reality Redblade's warriors would've driven back the white men and the following Indian Wars would've lasted around ten to twenty years longer until the weapons created and later used in World War I were used to extinguish all Native Americans. But this isn't a proven fact and it is possible that Dr. Strange just suspected this terrible outcome or that he simply lied to get another win over a great sorcerer from the past (I don't trust Stephen).
Redblade had some cool moves like changing into the beast you can see on the right.
The Apaches living in Arizona were the Chiricahua and not Huachaqua.
I think "Huachaqua" was merely a semi-fictionalization of "Huachuca Mountain Chiracauha" (which is a real-life tribal band).
--carycomic
Profile by Markus Raymond
CLARIFICATIONS:
Redblade has no known connection to:
images:
Marvel Fanfare I#49, p29, pan1 (main)
Marvel Fanfare I#49, p32, pan7(head shot)
Appearances:
Marvel Fanfare I#49 (February, 1990) - Alan Weiss (writer/artist), Al Milgrom (editor)
First Posted: 09/19/2005
Last updated: 11/02/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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