main image, Thera, Planner and Maxov

SHADOW CONSORTIUM

Membership: Leaders: Maxov, Planner, Thera (main image: Thera, Planner, Maxov);
Superhuman operatives: Shatterforce (Murder, Strangler, Warhead), Diamondhead;
Android operatives: Armada, Dragon Man, Dr. Doom robot, Hulk robot, Nova robot;
Other personnel: Dante, Herb and Leo, hundreds of technicians, soldiers, engineers and scientists, external criminals and mobsters

Purpose: Complete domination of the Solar system and total control over future space travel

Affiliations: Condor, Daakor and other Aakon

Enemies: Mr. Benchley, Andrew Chord, Roger "Caps" Cooper, Corruptor, Bernie Dillon, Fantastic Four (Thing (Ben Grimm), She-Hulk, Ant-Man (Scott Lang)), New Warriors (Darkhawk (Chris Powell), Firestar, Justice (Vance Astrovik), Kymaera, Night Trasher (Dwayne Taylor), Speedball, Turbo (Mickey Musashi)), Nova (Rich Rider), Nova 0:0, SHIELD, Sprocket, Vanetti

Base of Operations: Mobile;
    stronghold situated on Appalachian Mountains, USA;
    raw materials warehouse in New York;
    building in New York;
    space station in the orbit of Mars (Ram's Head)

First Appearance: (Shadow Consortium as organization) Nova II#8 (August, 1994); (Shadow Consortium leaders) Nova II#9 (September, 1994)

History: (Nova II#13 (fb) - BTS) - The Shadow Consortium was a private organization with the purpose to take leadership over the entire world and of its future expansion in the solar system. It had vast resources and wealth. Its technology was very advanced and in part came from the extraterrestrial Aakon race. The Consortium had hundreds of units operating as field agents, soldiers, technicians and scientists. Its primary base was situated on the Appalachian Moutains with laboratories, training facility and so on.

    The Shadow Consortium remained hidden for years but the organization spanned the globe, counting on front-men and dummy corporations.

(Nova II#14 (fb) - BTS) - In the last months it followed a plan schemed by their Aakon allies, which gave them the necessary technological support and knowledge. The Consortium started building Ram's Head, a huge space station near Mars, with laboratories to produce strong alloys and exotic pharmaceuticals to solidify the Consortium's economic position on Earth. The station also carried an indredibly destructive weapon and it would be completed in six months.

(Nova II#9 (fb) - BTS) - The Consortium's activities were noticed by the government and by SHIELD. A commitee of the Senate employeed Mr. Benchley to investigate on the Consortium

Ram's Head(Nova II#8 - BTS) - The Consortium sent a crew of space pirates to steal a top secret US government surveillance satellite. The agents, Herb, Leo, and another one had almost completed their mission when Nova intervened and captured them. When the pirates' spacecraft was taken near an US airbase, the Consortium triggered a bomb which destroyed the craft, the satellite and killed the crewmen.
    In order to prevent other actions from Nova, and to punish him, the Consortium sent Shatterforce to dispatch him.

(Nova II#9) - Shatterforce was defeated and their member Warhead died. Thera was charged for the failure.

(Nova II#9 - BTS) - Thera sent Diamondhead to murder Benchley.

(Nova II#9) - Diamondhead killed Benchley. In the meanwhile, Maxov followed the building of Ram's Head.

(Nova II#13 (fb) - BTS) - Shatterforce was retrieved and their technological improvements started. Warhead was revived.

(Nova II#10 - BTS) - The Consortium had Diamondhead dispose of Vanetti, a crime boss whose activities were in contrast with the Consortium.

(Nova II#10) - In retaliation, the Corruptor sent a bomb to the warehouse where Diamondhead was hidden. The bomb destroyed the building and Nova fought Diamondhead who escaped, breaking all contacts with the Consortium.
    Thera dispatched three operatives to kill Nova: a Dr. Doom robot, a Hulk robot and Dragon Man.

(Nova II#11) - The Doctor Doom robot subverted his programming and the self-destruct mechanism implanted in the Hulk and itself. They attacked Nova and the Fantastic Four. Thera, not sure of the outcome, decided to use an invention of Dante: Armada.
The mission failed, the Dr. Doom and Hulk robots were destroyed, Dragon Man escaped and Armada was damaged and returned to base.

(Nova II#12) - Nova placed a new satellite for SHIELD into orbit, a perfect replica of the one destroyed by the Consortium.

(Nova II#12 - BTS/Nova II#13 (fb) - BTS) - Thera, using a false message, duped Starthief and the Inhumans to attack Nova and Nova 0:0 on the Moon.

Ram's Head(Nova II#13) - Nova survived and came back to Earth. In the meanwhile, the Consortium offered Condor leadership of their superhuman operatives. Condor was intrigued by the extraterrestrial level of technology but he did not accept.
    In the same moment, scientists were trying to rebuild the Hulk robot from its broken pieces.

    A supply warehouse of the Consortium, full of raw materials and also storing special weapons was discovered by SHIELD. Nick Fury sent the New Warriors to assault the place, and they defeated the mobsters guarding it.
   The presence of the new satellite further delayed the plans of the Consortium. The Aakon agents noticed it and stepped in to take control.

(Nova II#14) - Shatterforce was operative again but Planner reassigned the Nova sanction to the Aakon agents. Warhead menaced the Aakons who punished him severely.
   Maxov discovered that the Ram's Head was actually an Aakon bomb that would cause the Deathstorm, a planetary cataclysm.
    Just then the New Warriors, thanks to Nova 0:0's help, found the stronghold on the Appalachians and a battle started. In the chaos Thera shot Maxov, wounding him, and the Aakon went on with their plans evacuating only the essential personnel. Daakor distracted the New Warriors detonating a bomb. Most of the personnel died, Planner, Thera and some technicians were transported to Ram's Head, orbiting around Mars.

(Nova II#15) - Some technicians learned that Ram's Head was a weapon intended to destroy Earth and tried to organize a mutiny. Their chief technician was executed by the Aakon.

(Nova II#16) - Ram's Head was activated and created a Sun similacrum. The sun started producing gigantic abnormal flares and created a black spot of unknown energy destined to engulf and destroy Earth. Nova succeeded in shielding Earth, absorbing the dark, lethal energies and releasing them where Earth would not be touched. In the ensuing explosion, Ram's Head with all its crew, Aakon and humans, was annihilated.

Comments: Created by Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor).

    The Shadow consortium did probably do some business with Dr. Doom. The robot they used was not of their own making.
    The Hulk robot, too, came from an external source. Let's point out that Nova met a lot of robots in all the volumes of his series, but his one wasn't an ordinary robot. It was very resistant and it took a disrupting device powered by Nova's gravimetric pulse to damage it. Could it be the one empowered by the Uni-Mind? It is the same one rebuilt and later used by the Reanimator.

Profile by Spidermay.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Shadow Consortium has no known connections to

Maxov has no known connections to any other character with a similar name.

Planner has no known connections to

Thera has no known connections to

Mr. Benchley has no known connections to

Vanetti has no known connections to any other character with a similar name.

Daakor has no known connections to

Maxov

Normal human, Maxov (also called Maxoff) was director of the Ram's Head creation.

Maxov quarreled with Thera because the failed missions involving the governemt satellite delayed his schedule.

When Maxov learnt of the destructive potential of Ram's Head and of its purpose he tried to warn his partners but Thera shot at him, but he survived. He also survived the stronghold explosion and was taken into custody by SHIELD.

--Nova II#9 (Nova II#8 - BTS, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16

Planner

Normal human, Planner was director of diplomatic relations, personnel acquisitions, finance accounting and checked the scheduling of all operations.

Planner made contact with the Aakon. He contacted Condor and wanted to create a whole branch of superhumans in the organization.

Even when the Aakon took control of the Ram's Head operation, Planner hoped to remain in charge. He understood that the Deathstorm could destroy Earth but accepted to become their vassal. He died in the explosion of Ram's Head.

 --Nova II#9 (Nova II#8 - BTS, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16

Thera

Normal human, Thera was director of the field operations

Thera failed in eliminating Nova, using Shatterforce, and using the robots and Armada.
Understanding that her low results could compromise her position in the Consortium, Thera betrayed Maxov shooting him, hoping to take his place. In the end she saved him because she died in the explosion of Ram's Head.

 --Nova II#9 (Nova II#8 - BTS, 9, 10, 11, 12 - BTS, 13, 14, 15, 16

Nova robot

Nova robot

A robot identical to Nova. It had at least enhanced strenght and durability and could fly. It was patterned on the first uniform of Nova.

The robot was only one among the many ones that the Consortium had built and/or acquired and/or fixed.
The Nova robot was used only as demonstration by Thera, who let Dr. Doom robot destroy him with only one energy blast.

--Nova II#10


Dr. Doom robot

Dr. Doom robot

    An android, not only identical to Dr. Doom's appearance but also in his behaviour.
    The robot had several weapons, energy blasts and fields, jets, but its most dangerous feature was its artificial intelligence, so similar to Doctor Doom's, so complex that it defied the one given to it by the Consortium.

    The robot was not built by the Shadow Consortium.

    The Dr. Doom robot was sent alongside a Hulk robot and Dragon Man to destroy Nova. The hero was lucky because when the robots found him he was in the Fantastic Four's headquarter.

    The robots attacked the Four Freedom's Plaza, clashing with Nova, She-Hulk, Thing and Ant-Man. The Dr. Doom robot retained so much of its previous programming that its hate for the Fantastic Four ovewhelmed the Consortium programming and he developed its own plan of attack. It also modified Hulk's programming.
    Doom's primary target became the Fantastic Four, and the robot put the Thing into serious trouble until Nova, helped by Ant-Man, destroyed it with a disrupting signal powered by a gravimetric pulse.

--Nova II#10 (Nova II#10, 11

Hulk robot

Hulk robot

A robot identical to the Hulk. It had superhuman strength (Class 75) but was more vulnerable than the real Hulk. The intelligence level was as low as the first, bestial Hulk's.

(Nova II#10 / Nova II#11 - BTS) - The robot was programmed to kill Nova, but the Dr. Doom robot slightly changed its program, to force it to obey to the Doom robot's orders.

(Nova II#11) - The Hulk robot primarily attacked Nova but also tangled with She-Hulk, who, in the first moments, believed it was her cousin.

Hulk robot was damaged by the disruptor blast, powered by Nova's gravimetric pulse. It escaped into the sewers.

(Nova II#13 - BTS) - Days later pieces of a Hulk robot were examinated by the Shadow Consortium engineers in the Appalachian base.

(Nova III#3) - The Hulk robot was used by Reanimator to go after Nova, but Nova took it down.

(Wolverine II#149) - Reanimator used a Hulk robot, possibly the same, again, but it got his head knocked off by Nova.

--Nova II#10 (Nova II#10, 11, 13 - BTS, Nova III#3, Wolverine II#149

Shadow Consortium pirates

Herb and Leo

    Herb and Leo were normal humans trained to pilot a spacecraft, for spacewalk and even to fight in the void of space.

    Herb, Leo and another pirate were the crew who stole a US government satellite. They were reached by Nova and also tried to shoot at him but they were overpowered and were forced to reenter Earth's atmosphere and fly near a Californian Airbase. There Nova left them in custody of the US Air Force but the Consortium could not allow that the satellite and their agents were captured, so they had the spacecraft explode, killing them all.

--Nova II#8

Dante

Dante

    Normal human, Dante was an engineer.
    He created Armada.

 --Nova II#11



Benchley

Mr. Benchley

Benchley was a normal human.

He investigated about the Shadow Consortium for a senate committee.
He discovered something important because the Consortium sent Diamondhead to kill him.

--Nova II#9



Vanetti

Vanetti

Vanetti was a crime boss in New York.

    Vanetti was an associate of the Corruptor but his business was in contrast with the Shadow Consortium.
    The Consortium ordered Diamonhead to kill Vanetti, and the criminal executed the order by throwing Vanetti out of his office's window, from the 20th floor.

--Nova II#10
Daakor and Aakon

Daakor and the Aakon

Daakor was an Aakon warrior, agent of the Aakon Empire.

Daakor and other Aakon agents provided the Shadow Consortium with their technology, in a wide scheme to annex Earth's solar system to the Aakon Empire.

Their ultimate goal was to unleash Deathstorm. To do so the Consortium had to build Ram's Head for them near Mars. The Aakon knew from the start that its use would destroy most of the life on Earth but they hid this aspect to the leaders of the Shadow Consortium.

(Nova II#13) - When the project of Ram's Head was delayed too much, thanks to Nova, the Aakon took control of the project and also of the operations to kill Nova.

(Nova II#14) - Warhead's grudge against Nova made him revolt against orders and attacked one of the Aakon who knocked him down with a single energy blast.

When the New Warriors attacked the base, Daakor sacrificed almost all the personnel, detonating a bomb, and escaping with Planner, Thera and only the technicians essential to finish the work on Ram's Head. With an escape-pod, the fugitives reached Ram's Head. In the meanwhile, two other Aakon went to kidnap Robert Rider.

(Nova II#15 (fb) - BTS) - The Aakon on Earth were fought by Nova 0:0, who saved Robert Rider, but he was hit by an energy beam that weakened him so the agents escaped.

(Nova II#15 - BTS) - The Aakon on Ram's Head enslaved the human technicians to finish the destructive station.

(Nova II#16 - BTS) - Ram's Head was completed and the Deathstorm triggered, Nova and Nova 0:0 fought the Aakon soldiers in the space around Mars and in the space station. Nova understood that the destructive weapon used a simulacrum of the Sun, so he flew between Earth and Sun and succeeded in absorbing the dark energy of the Deathstorm. Unable to contain the deadly energy, he released it near Mars and the explosion annihilated Ram's Head with the Aakon and all the other men. Nova 0:0 died from the wounds received during the battle to save Nova.

--Nova II#13 (Nova II#13, 14, 15-16 - BTS

images: (without ads)
Nova II#9, p21, pan2-3-4 (Thera, Planner and Maxov)
Nova II#14, p8, pan4 (Base on the Appalachian Mountains)
Nova II#15, p12, pan3 (Ram's Head)
Nova II#13, p8, pan1 (recruits)
Nova II#10, p21, pan4 (Nova robot)
Nova II#11, p20, pan5 (Dr. Doom robot)
Nova II#11, p21, pan3 (Hulk robot)
Nova II#8, p1, pan2 (Herb and Leo in spacesuit)
Nova II#10, p14, pan5 (Dante)
Nova II#9, p20, pan3 (Benchley)
Nova II#10, p6, pan5 (Vanetti)
Nova II#14, p17, pan6 (Daakor)

Appearances:
Nova II#8 (August, 1994) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Geoff Senior (pencils and inks), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#9 (September, 1994) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#10 (October, 1994) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#11 (November, 1994) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#13 (January, 1995) - Chris Marrinan (writer), Dario Carrasco jr. (pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#14 (February, 1995) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Tom Breevort (editor)
Nova II#15 (March, 1995) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Tom Breevort (editor)
Nova II#16 (April, 1995) - Chris Marrinan (writer and pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Tom Breevort (editor)

First Posted: 09/27/2011
Last updated: 09/27/2011

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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