MARTIN RHEINHARDT
Real Name: Martin Rheinhardt
Identity/Class: Human (Pre-Modern era)
Occupation: Imperial Wizard of the Swords of the New Dawn, newspaper editor
Group Membership: Swords of the New Dawn
Affiliations: Asa Coolidge, Ambrose Fisher, Bob Linnaker, Beauregard Montclair IV
Enemies: Night Raven, Abraham Lincoln Brown
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Shanghai, Alabama, 1980s
First Appearance:
(mentioned) Daredevils#11/3 (November, 1983)
(appears) Mighty World of Marvel II#7/3 (December, 1983)
Powers/Abilities: Martin Rheinhardt was a smallish, heavyset man, but he was in at least moderately good physical condition, able to scale a water tower. He was capable of maintaining and operating an M16 assault rifle, though he demonstrated no great skill with it. His costume consisted of a white and gold knee-length robe with a tall, peaked KKK-style mask.
History:
(Daredevils#11/3) - In late summer of
1983, Martin Rheinhardt came to the attention of Night Raven when he was filmed
heading a demonstration of the white supremacist group the Swords of the New
Dawn. Because of behind-the-scenes dealing by the Southern Fascist leader
Beauregard Montclair IV and the Dragon Tong ruler Yi Yang, the rally included
the formation of the twenty-third hexagram of the I Ching: Falling Apart.
Late that summer, Rheinhardt met with Montclair, Montclair's attorney Ambrose
Fisher, and a man named Bob Linnaker at Asa Coolidge's hotel in Shanghai to
finalize the plans for the assassination of African-American presidential
candidate Abraham Lincoln Brown, who was due to speak in Shanghai that night.
(Mighty World of Marvel II#7/3) -
Montclair confirmed with Rheinhardt that the Imperial Wizard was willing to
shoot Brown himself, and turned him over to Linnaker for final instructions.
Once that was concluded, he returned to his cabin and dressed in his Imperial
Wizard robes. Night Raven had stowed away in his pick-up truck, but did not kill
him then as he realized he needed to interrogate
Montclair as soon as possible to determine how Yi Yang was involved
in the plot.
Rheinhardt proceeded to the stadium at which Brown was giving his speech. The
Swords of the New Dawn then instigated a riot, causing Brown's security to rush
him to his limousine for his safety. Rheinhardt had taken up a position in the
water tower nearby, and waited for Brown to pass.
(Mighty World of Marvel II#8/3) - As Brown and his security detachment hurried out of the stadium, Rheinhardt opened fire, but only succeeded in downing one of the guards. The return fire from the security men sent Rheinhardt screaming to his death on the ground below. Shortly thereafter, however, the Dragon Tong assassin Ghost Tiger destroyed Brown, his limo and the security team with a well-placed grenade.
Comments: Created by Jamie Delano.
See Wikipedia's entry on the I Ching for more on the famous Chinese canonical text.
In case it isn't clear, the Swords of the New Dawn were basically a diversion from their inception, having been created by the Southern Fascists to keep attention off the real Dragon Tong-enacted plot to kill Brown - though Rheinhardt clearly did not appreciate this.
Clarifications: Martin Rheinhardt, the Imperial Wizard of the Swords of the New Dawn, has no known connection to
Daredevils#11/3 (November, 1983)
Mighty World of Marvel II#7/3 (December,
1983)
Last updated: 06/25/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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