DOOMBRINGER
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human technology and weapon user
Occupation:
Terrorist;
Group Membership: None;
Affiliations: formerly Mr. Taylor, Tinker
Enemies: Colonel Brock (US adviser to Jiefya), Governments and soldiers of Dhakran and Khotain, Iron Fist, the Mahdi (ruler of Khotain), Misty Knight, Power Man (Luke Cage), Prince Jiefya (ruler of Dhakran), Secret Service Chief of Khotain, Colleen Wing, anybody who sought to stop his final mission of nuclear destruction
Known Relatives: Wife and baby daughter (both unnamed and deceased)
Aliases: None known, but would sometimes adopt the codenames for previous missions when engaged in operations
Base of Operations: Mobile internationally, especially in the Middle East and New York
First Appearance: Power Man and Iron Fist I#103 (March, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: Doombringer's powers were derived from a powerful exoskeleton. The armor had various capabilities, including a force field that surrounded the entire body, repelling any force thrown at it. Iron Fist suggested that Doombringer's armor was in Iron Man's class, although this was probably a slight exaggeration. The suit had adjustable weapons systems and housed a retractable Kali knife (about 10" long) mounted on the right wrist as well short retractable spikes at his knuckles, and a magenta-colored blast that delivered a fast-acting deadly poison from his left wrist. The helmet had infrared vision and a limited supply of oxygen. The exoskeleton itself was extremely strong and durable, able to withstand a fall from at least 20 storeys. The suit's metal compounds were not revealed but may have been a titanium mesh (possible Vibranium alloy to counter much of an impact) coupled with a dense hard shell over the chest. It gave the wearer enhanced strength, enough to punch Power Man back, although this may have been coupled with the force field for extra kick. The suit also had light-sensitive color adaptability that provided invisibility.
The man inside the Doombringer armor had advanced fighting and killing skills and athlete-level abilities, and when matched with his armor, made him a formidable opponent along with his stealth skills. Doombringer also displayed the competency to fly planes and activate missile launches, and had knowledge of various killing methods between different cultures from the Middle East. He stood about 6' tall.
History:
(Power Man & Iron Fist I#103-104 (fb) - BTS) - Due to a civil war, the United Nations split the nation of Khotain in two, with Khotain ruled by its religious leader the Mahdi, and Dhakran by Prince Jiefya, a member of the old royal family. Unfortunately, there remained disputed zones that sustained fighting. The USA and Russia started supporting opposite sides, with the US agent who would become Doombringer being part of the military aid afforded to Dhakran.
(Power Man & Iron Fist I#104 (fb)) - An unnamed agent became one of the best undercover assassins in the Middle East. The US assassin later known as Doombringer was encouraged to complete one final mission by Mr. Taylor and field test the new prototype armor designed by Tinker, despite the agent refusing any further assassination assignments. However, while undertaking the mission in the Doombringer armor to murder the Mahdi in a mosque, his wife and baby daughter were killed in a terrorist bomb attack by Mahdi agents on the Uni-World compound based on the disputed territory between the two countries. Doombringer then sought unbridled vengeance by triggering an atomic war involving Russia and the USA.
(Power Man & Iron Fist I#103) - In his efforts to escalate tensions and reprisal attacks between the two nations, Doombringer attacked and killed various governmental officials of Dhakran and Khotain, using the other's main killing methods of their secret police to incriminate the enemy; he would use the Kali knife on his Dhakran victims and the poison blast on the Khotain kills. This greatly increased the tension between the two countries and the UN special assistant to the Secretary General hired Power Man and Iron Fist to provide security for a penthouse gathering held later that night between the two warring leaders.
Doombringer
climbed the elevator shaft but encountered Iron Fist who was on guard
duty nearby. The two fought briefly but Iron Fist carried the assassin
over the ledge to where Power Man was, although the fall knocked the
martial arts hero out. Power Man defended the Mahdi and Prince
Jiefya from Doombringer's deadly attacks. He was initially held at bay
by Power Man who could
not get past the attacker's force field. Although he managed to
overload the force field, Power Man was knocked out by the blast.
Iron Fist then rejoined the fray and rushed to stop the killer's blade
attack on Jiefya. However, Colonel Brock stepped between them and took
the lethal slash instead. Doombringer
then sought to escape by jumping over the rooftop and fell 20 storeys
down into the murky water. His attempted assassinations led to the
leaders' resolve not to seek peace and escalated tension not just
between the two nations, but also their superpower allies.
(Power Man
& Iron Fist I#104)
- Power Man and Iron Fist searched the sewer spillways under Manhattan
but Doombringer, having survived the fall because of the suit, used his
oxygen supply to stay underwater and evade them. He then remembered the
tragic events that led to the current situation.
(Power Man & Iron Fist I#104 - BTS) - Doombringer stealthily followed the two heroes and made it to the airport before they did, overpowering and replacing the pilot assigned the task to take Iron Fist, Power Man and Tinker to Dhakran, and repaired his armored suit on the way.
(Power Man & Iron Fist I#104) - Doombringer alighted from the plane after it landed and made his way to the missile command center. Power Man, Iron Fist, Wing, Knight and Tinker made their way inside to find that Doombringer had butchered his way through to gain access to Dhakran's missiles, intending to use them to trigger World War III. Interrupted by the heroes, Doombringer attacked Power Man and Iron Fist before using the suit's protective coating to effectively turn invisible and promptly made his way to the command center, killing more but leaving the Mahdi and Jiefya fighting each other. Doombringer then activated the missiles into launch mode, turning half of them against Russia and the other half at the US fleet. Doombringer asserted his newfound understanding to the heroes of the treachery of Uni-World and mania of the two fanatical leaders. However, Doombringer was distracted by Wing's thrown katana, affording Iron Fist the opportunity to swing over. Cage pulled down the walkway, spilling Doombringer to the floor, as Iron Fist destroyed the launch controls. Doombringer then escaped down an access corridor to launch the missiles from inside the silo, a blast door blocking any chance for the heroes to follow. The missiles misfired in their silos, their warheads unarmed. It was presumed that Doombringer was killed in the resultant explosion.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin (writer), Greg LaRoque (penciled) and Andy Mushynsky (inker).
Although the missiles exploded in their silo, it was never actually shown, nor confirmed, that Doombringer died in the explosion (admittedly, no body could be recovered after such a blast). Perhaps there was meant to be a way out for the character to return (although the cover did state: “The End of Doombringer”)? It is possible that, as Doombringer rushed to the silos, blast doors were shut either end of the access corridor, trapping Doombringer in the middle, sparing him from the explosion, and he used his stealth capabilities to escape. But too much time has elapsed for his vengeful return.
Given that the suit's force field was trashed in PM&IF#103, and appeared as new in the following issue, it suggests that the exoskeleton was easy to repair (potentially from parts kept in the utility belt). Maybe there were more suits of Doombringer armor, despite being termed “one-of-a-kind”, stashed away waiting to be found. Indeed, someone else may yet discover the armor akin to the Torpedo-Turbo connection.
The Doombringer helmet is reminiscent of Force's helmet circa Iron Man I#140.
Dhakran is the name of a village in Oman.
Tinker, Taylor, soldier, spy...
In his book, "Hegemony or Survival" (2003), Noam Chomsky lists various efforts by notably the US Government over the last 50 years to undermine and destabilize certain regions and countries to maintain US hegemony, particularly the Middle East. So the US Government front manipulating events in the Middle East in PM&IF is extremely relevant and believable. Chomsky's book is a bit heavy on the facts but highly recommended reading.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Doombringer name has no known connections to:
Prince Jiefya was the royal leader of Dhakran and ruled with the aid of the US Government including military assistance. He was stubborn and pretentious but was easily manipulated by Uni-World and willing to purchase arms from anywhere to secure stronger offensive capabilities. He sought atomic missiles that were delivered by Uni-World but were actually Soviet in origin. Jiefya qas at the penthouse meeting where Doombringer attempted to kill him. He hated the Mahdi and was later involved in a direct but pathetic confrontation with the Mahdi in the missile command center.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#103 (104
Colonel Brock stood taller than Power Man, making him about 6'8" tall, and was a US military adviser to Prince Jiefya. He had military training but retired early from the special forces, and sought to intimidate others including Power Man and Mahdi. When Doombringer sought to slash Jiefya open with his Kali knife, he stepped in between and took the brunt of the attack himself. He died at the rooftop gathering, his blood gushing out.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#103
The Mahdi was the Islamic religious leader who ruled Khotain, which had become aligned with Soviet Russia. He was almost assassinated while praying in a mosque (curiously Doombringer was about to use the Khotain knife weapon for this). The Mahdi's agents were responsible for the blast in the Uni-World compound that killed Doombringer's wife and daughter. The Mahdi was at the rooftop meeting when Doombringer attacked. He later learnt of Dhakran arming itself with atomic weapons and sought to escalate the war with the opposing nation. He was advised by his Russian allies to capture Dhakran's missiles so that they might be used to attack the US fleet nearby and was directly involved in the attack. He hated Prince Jiefya and was later involved in a direct but pathetic confrontation with him in the missile command center.
His title relates to the prophesied redeemer of Islam, although there do seem to some differences between Shi'ites and Sunnis in this respect.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#104 (fb) (103-104
Mr. Taylor was the Director of the Uni-World Trading Corporation, a front for a secret US Government intelligence organization. He was a shrewd manipulator of global events but because Uni-World had been disgraced, dealt with the Soviets to deliver missiles to Prince Jiefya. He was behind sending Doombringer's wife and child to the compound in the disputed zone between Khotain and Dhakran to use as leverage to get the agent to field test the new Doombringer suit. He was concerned that this agent had now gone rogue with the specially designed suit of armor and was also concerned that the suit could have been traced back to Uni-World. He sought to escape the potential fallout and ran from his Washington DC hotel into the fist of Bob Diamond, who had been asked by Colleen Wing and Misty Knight to prevent Taylor from fleeing.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#104 (fb) (103-104
Tinker developed the Doombringer suit and was there when his boss, Mr. Taylor, encouraged the agent to don the new armor as one last assignment, also implying that others (i.e. his wife and infant child) might suffer if he did not take on the mission. Tinker also suggested to Mr. Taylor to sacrifice Colleen Wing and Misty Knight as a pretext for further US involvement in the region.
He was later confronted by Power Man and Iron Fist, threatening them with a nerve gas pellet, but was disarmed and accompanied them to Dhakran on a private Uni-World jet in an effort to thwart Doombringer's efforts of global annihilation. He was thoroughly intimidated by Luke Cage, explaining the situation that it Uni-World's intention to maintain US power in the world by destroying the opposition with acceptable losses that could mount to millions if atomic war broke out. He led them to the Mahdi's palace then Dhakran's missile command center where he was staggered by the guards butchered by the rogue US agent. He was left in the missile command center with Prince Jiefya and the Mahdi.
His later whereabouts are unknown, but he could easily have gone off to work for Stark Industries, Department H, AIM or Hydra.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#104 (fb) (103-104
Secret Service Chief of Khotain
The unnamed Secret Service Chief of Khotain helped coordinate the capture of Colleen Wing and Misty Knight who had been sent to retrieve sensitive documents from the destroyed Uni-World compound that revealed the USA had smuggled atomic warheads under the pretense of building a nuclear power plant for Dhakran. He then had the two women taken to the dungeons at Mahdi's palace for later public execution. He was accompanied by six armed and highly trained guards who were quickly knocked out by Iron Fist. He ran away into the guard room only to find that Power Man had taken care of them as well. He appeared quite shaken that his soldiers could be so rapidly overcome. It was stated that he was not a coward, but he clearly knew when the odds were stacked against him. Luke Cage pumped him for information and learnt that Khotain jets were attacking Dhakran.
--Power Man and Iron Fist I#104
images:
(without ads)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, cover (main image)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#104, p5, panel 3 (head)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, p5, panel 3 (shooting)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, p20, panel 1 (force field)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, p12, panel 3 (Jiefya)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, p13, panel 1 (Brock)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103, p13, panel 3 (Mahdi)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#104, p16, panel 2 (Tinker)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#104, p5, panel 3 (Taylor)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#104, p12, panel 4 (Security Chief)
Appearances:
Power Man and Iron Fist I#103-104 (March-April, 1984) - Archie Goodwin
(writer), Greg
LaRoque (pencils), Andy Mushynsky (inks), Dennis O'Neil (editor)
Last updated: 01/29/06
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