Armada

ARMADA

Real Name: David Breyer

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Corporate thief, criminal, inventor

Group Membership: Hammerhead's "villain army" (Hammerhead, Answer (Nicholson), the Ani-Men (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man), Aura (Herd), Bloodshed, Clown (Franklin), Commanda, Discus (Stuart), Electro (Dillon), Great Gambonnos, Kangaroo (Hibbs), Man-Mountain Marko, Mindblast, Mauler (Doyle), Override, Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt), Spot, the Squid (Callahan), Trapster, Will O' The Wisp, others)

Affiliations: Absorbing Man, Answer (Nicholson), Armadillo, The Cat (Prowler), Chameleon, Doombot, Dragon Man, the Eel (Lavell), Gibbon, Grizzly (Markham), Masked Marauder, Mysterio (Beck), Princess Python, Professor Power, Prowler (Brown), Puma, Rhino, Ringer (Kraft), Rocket Racer, Shocker (Schultz), Stilt-Man (Day), Will O' the Wisp, Xandu, as well as his "friends" (Anita, Diane, Elizabeth, Laurie, Mary, Penelope, Shirley, Stephanie, Tricia, others)

Enemies: Mr. Hanks, Iron Man (Stark), Shakim Panzos, Punisher (Castle), Professor Ramirez, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man (Reilly)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile;
    formerly Ryker's Island prison, New York, USA

First Appearance: Sensational Spider-Man I#0 (January, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: A corporate thief of high esteem, Armada's suit gave him flight abilities, enhanced strength, various firearms and projectiles, and control over a number of hovering robotic drones whom Armada considered his only "friends." Armada's "friends" (also referred to as "the girls") were capable of independent action as long as Armada's armor was active, and had built-in image inducers. Armada's technological expertise was such that he was able to reprogram the sophisticated CPU of a Doombot. When not wearing his suit, Armada possessed the strength and other abilities of a man his age, height and build, and required the use of glasses when bereft of his technological enhancements.

History:  

(Sensational Spider-Man I#0) - Known from his reputation as an expert corporate thief, Armada was hired by Mysterio to steal the Digital Imagery Transmission (D.I.T) chip, a device able to take thoughts and reproduce them electronically. Disabling the defense screen at the Neural Port Complex with the assistance of his "friends" (hovering robotic drones that Armada identified by name), he made his way past a security guard and into the lab of Professor Ramirez, the inventor of the D.I.T chip. After his "friends" procured the chip, Armada prepared to kill Ramirez when Spider-Man, who was at the neighboring Centennial University, stopped him. Destroying one of the drones, identified by Armada as "Diane," Armada became infuriated and fled with Ramirez and the D.I.T chip. Dropping Ramirez mid-air, Spider-Man snagged the chip with his webbing before catching the professor. Lunging at Spider-Man to get the chip back, Armada was webbed up and left unconscious, his drones able to get away with the chip.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#408 (fb) - BTS) - Armada was arrested following his defeat by Spider-Man and imprisoned at Ryker's Island.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#408) - Two of Armada's drones, "Mary" and "Anita," posed as Guardsmen and called Armada for questioning. Donning the armor that the drones had brought with them, Armada easily escaped and set out to avenge himself against Spider-Man. Given the wall-crawler's location by Mysterio, who was tracking Spider-Man for his hypnotic television station (created via the D.I.T chip), Armada encountered a gang that had been recently beaten by Spider-Man, offering to assist them in their revenge.

    Spider-Man believed the gang members to be demons as a result of Mysterio's hypnotic spell, giving Armada the opportunity to send his "friends" after him. Firing beams of glowing electricity at Spider-Man, which left him writhing in agony, Shakim Panzos, who Spider-Man had saved from the gang earlier, shot at Armada, who laughed off the attack. The distraction gave Spider-Man an opportunity to recover long enough to leap on Armada and tear his armor apart. With his armor disabled, Armada's drones shut down.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#413 (fb)) - Armada was captured once more and held in the same cell as Mysterio. With the assistance of one of Armada's "friends" and some of Mysterio's tricks, they were easily able to escape their cell.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#413 (fb) - BTS) - Armada rebuilt his armor and used his technological expertise to create giant robotic versions of popular toys, powered by his "friends." He placed Spider-Man in an enormous child's bedroom, previously built as a set for Mysterio's ill-fated television venture.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#413) - Spider-Man awoke in the child's bedroom, believing himself the size of a bug. He quickly had to defend himself against an attack from toys brought to life. As Spider-Man mowed through them, Armada, observing the events from a ceiling-mounted light fixture hideaway with Mysterio, argued that his darlings were never supposed to be at risk. Mysterio reassured Armada that Spider-Man wouldn't be able to last much longer, but Armada argued that they should have put a bullet through his head when they had the chance.

    As Spider-Man destroyed one "toy" after another, Armada, witnessing what he considered the deaths of his only friends, flew out of the fixture and at Spider-Man. Spider-Man leapt onto Armada and aimed him toward the fixture. Armada was rendered unconscious by the impact and was webbed up by Spider-Man.

(Civil War: War Crimes) - Armada joined Hammerhead's "villain army," designed to take advantage of the superhero civil war. Before they could begin doing so, however, their headquarters was raided by Iron Man and a small army of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The group disbanded following the raid which resulted in the capture, hopsitalization and death of several members.

(Punisher War Journal II#4 (fb) - BTS) - Armada avoided capture and recovered a Doombot, which he sought to reprogram.

(Punisher War Journal II#4) - Armada continued to fine-tune the Doombot with the Shocker's help in the supervillain bar memorial for Stilt-Man. Taking part in the friendly brawl between the other villains, Armada was the first to realize that the Cat had vomited up blood, wondering aloud if the Doombot was actually a medical doctor. Moments later, the villains realized that the bartender was the Punisher in disguise and the bar went up in flames.

 

Comments: Created by Dan Jurgens (writer/pencils) and Klaus Janson (inks).

It's mentioned in She-Hulk II#17 that many of the Punisher's victims had their stomachs pumped and were treated for burns following the bar massacre. It's not clear if Armada survived, but some of the victims, including Armadillo, the Chameleon, the Shocker and the Rhino, have shown up since, so the odds are fairly good he survived.

Armada's "friends" weren't seen on-panel in Civil War: War Crimes and Punisher War Journal II#4, but it's likely they were nearby all the same. Kudos to the folks behind both titles for dusting Armada off. Sure he was killed off in PWJ, but that was an off-panel explosion and those don't count.

His real name was revealed in Mysterio (Beck)'s profile in OHotMU A-Z Hardcover#8.

Profile by G Morrow.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Armada has no known connections to

images: (without ads)
Sensational Spider-Man I#0, p24, pan1 (Armada, original armor)
Sensational Spider-Man I#0, p10, pan4 (Armada unmasked)
Amazing Spider-Man I#413, p12, pan2 (Armada, second armor)

Other Appearances:
Sensational Spider-Man I#0 (January, 1996) - Dan Jurgens (writer/pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#408 (February, 1996) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#413 (July, 1996) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Civil War: War Crimes (February, 2007) - Frank Tieri (writer), Staz Johnson (pencils), Tom Palmer & Robin Riggs (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Punisher War Journal II#4 (April, 2007) - Matt Fraction (writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)

First Posted: 12/30/2007
Last updated: 03/10/2011

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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