CONQUER-LORD

Real Name: Mr. Quinn

Identity/Class: Human weapon user

Occupation: Criminal mastermind, assassin, leader of a small band of criminals ("Goon Squad")

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Charles Thurston (candidate for mayor), Merkins, Weasel

Enemies: Marlene Alraune, city mayor, Moon Knight

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City, USA

First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight I#28 (June, 1976)

Powers/Abilities: Conquer-Lord possessed a large muscular physique and was master of many forms of martial arts. He was a skilled assassin and marksman adept at multiple types of guns and hand-to-hand weapons. He wore body armor, including a type of chainmail. Conquer-Lord liked to toy with opponents and set up death traps to test their fighting skills while providing him with an advantage. He also had a number of pets, including two large rats and a pit filled with crocodiles or alligators.

History:

(Marvel Spotlight I#28 - BTS) - Mr. Quinn ran a small criminal empire in New York and for unknown reasons had a vendetta against Moon Knight. He was able to acquire his secret identity and various video files that he had stolen from a group called the Committee. He sent a man named Merkins to gain access to Steven Grant’s (Moon Knight) mansion so he could be spied upon and dealt with when the time came. Wishing to increase his criminal empire, he financed a candidate to run for mayor who would be under his control.

(Marvel Spotlight I#28) - Conquer-Lord sent seven cops on his payroll to break into the offices of Charles Thurston, his candidate for mayor, to implicate the present mayor of burglary to better his chances of winning. However, Moon Knight interrupted this attempt. Reviewing the tapes of Moon Knight with his informant, Weasel, Conquer-Lord activated a trapdoor beneath Weasel who fell into a pit of alligators as the villain wanted to be the only one who knew Moon Knight’s secret identity and did not wish others to do so.

Learning that Moon Knight had stopped his hired cops from carrying out their mission, he decided to go to a contingency plan and just kill the mayor himself. He then donned his costume armor and armed himself with a high powered rifle before setting up on a nearby roof close to the mansion that the mayor was in. Conquer-Lord sent some of his men through the front door as a distraction. As he began to pull the trigger, he was attacked from behind by Moon Knight. Although his aim was off, he did strike the mayor with a bullet but did not mortally wound him. He was knocked to the ground and while trying to fight off Moon Knight, he grabbed Marlene Alraune, who was attending the party with the mayor and used her as a hostage to make his escape.

(Marvel Spotlight I#29) - Conquer-Lord returned to his secret hideout and tied Marlene up before dangling her over a pit of crocodiles, telling her that in one hour, she would fall to her death when the sandbags that kept her aloft completely drained of their contents.

Merkins, Steven Grant's new valet, was discovered to be a snitch by Moon Knight and was followed by the hero to Conquer-Lord’s hideout. Conquer-Lord instructed one of his henchmen to shoot Merkins for failing his duties and for bringing Moon Knight to his base of operations. He then set a trap to kill Moon Knight and lured him into a room designed like a giant chess board. The coloured spaces on the floor were rigged to explode if stepped on incorrectly and Conquer-Lord had his chess pieces armed with small missiles and flame throwers. Although having the upper hand, his traps failed and he tried to escape through a portal on the ceiling. Moon Knight, following closely behind, dodged an attack that forced Conquer-Lord to fall through the hole to be trapped in the chess room. He was quickly grabbed by Moon Knight and gave up. He was then tied up. The police were alerted by Moon Knight who then left with Marlene. However, it is not known if the police arrived to arrest him since he did have officers on his payroll.

(Hulk!#13 - BTS) - Conquer-Lord's slides on the Moon Knight were subsequently obtained by agents of the terrorist Lupinar, and used to brief him prior to his own encounter with Moon Knight.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench (writer) with Don Perlin (art).

The Conquer-Lord's henchmen were never named and had no specific title. I thought since they played an integral part in the story and deserved to be given a name for their group. I named them the Goon Squad because in a few panels in the story, they were referred to as goons.

Hulk!#13 was reprinted in Moon Knight Special Edition#1.

Thanks to Prime Eternal for providing some additional details on the Hulk! issue.

Profile by AvatarWarlord72.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Conquer-Lord has no known connections to:

• any other "Conquer" or "Lord" characters

Merkins

Merkins was a criminal employed by Mr. Quinn and was sent to spy on Moon Knight. He was hired to be a new valet for Steven Grant (Moon Knight) and over time reported on him to the Conquer-Lord. However, he was discovered by Steven Grant while spying on him from behind a closed door and was intentionally allowed to escape so he could be followed to Conquer-Lord’s hideout. He was then ordered to be killed by one of Conquer-Lord's henchmen for failing and allowing Moon Knight to follow him to his whereabouts.

--Marvel Spotlight I#28 (Marvel Spotlight I#28-29

Weasel

Weasel was an employed thief and snitch who was somehow able to illegally obtain the video files on Moon Knight that held his secret identity. Returning to Mr. Quinn with the files, he began to irritate his boss who became angry with him and sent him plummeting to his death in an alligator pit. Conquer-Lord felt he had served his purpose and the only one to know Moon Knight’s secrets would only be himself.

--Marvel Spotlight I#28

Goon Squad

Conquer-Lord had a heavily armed squad of highly trained mercenaries and criminals who acted as both bodyguards and assassins. Some of them were even crooked cops who were on his payroll. Seven cops were sent undercover by Conquer-Lord to implicate the mayor of burglary but were foiled by the actions of Moon Knight. When this failed, Conquer-Lord sent some to act as a diversion at a party in a mansion so he could assassinate the mayor from a nearby rooftop using a high powered rifle. Conquer-Lord commanded one of them to kill Merkins for failing and then to bring Moon Knight to their location. All were defeated at the hands of Moon Knight when he stormed Conquer-Lord’s hideout.

--Marvel Spotlight I#28 (Marvel Spotlight I#28-29

images: (without ads)
Marvel Spotlight #28, p17, panel 1 (Conquer-Lord)