LODESTONE
Real Name: Andrea Haggard
Identity/Class: Human mutate, citizen of the United
States
Occupation: Professional criminal
Group Membership: Dr. Henry Pym's Lethal Legion (Black Ant/Eric O'Grady LMD, Blizzard/Donald Gill, Bullet/Buck Cashman, King Cobra/Piet Voorhees, Mortar/Liana Feeser, Oddball/Orville Bock, Piecemeal, Speed Demon/James Sanders, Sunstroke/Sol Brodstroke, Supercharger/Ronald Hilliard);
formerly Masters
of Evil (Aqueduct,
Bison, Black
Mamba, Blackwing, Boomerang, Cardinal, Constrictor, Crimson
Cowl/Justine Hammer, Cyclone,
Dragonfly,
Eel, Flying
Tiger, Gypsy
Moth, Hydro-Man, Icemaster,
Joystick, Klaw, Man-Ape,
Man-Killer,
Quicksand, Scorcher,
Shatterfist,
Shockwave,
Slyde,
Sunstroke, Supercharger,
Tiger
Shark
Affiliations: Allegra Bazin, Philippe Bazin, Doctor
Marin, Mark Twelve (Ultron Mark Twelve), Dr. Henry Pym;
formerly Ultron
Enemies: Darkhawk (Chris Powell), Headset
(Steve Rubino), Thunderbolts (Atlas/Erik Josten,
Charcoal/Charlie
Burlingame, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Jolt/Hallie Takahama, Moonstone/Karla
Sofen, Songbird/Melissa Joan Gold), Ultron;
formerly Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Avengers Inc. ("Victor Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve, possessing Whirlwind/David Cannon, Janet Van Dyne), Luke Cage, Stinger (Cassie Lang), Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Vision, Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Mount
Charteris, Colorado;
formerly Althea
Island, the Caribbean;
formerly New York
City, New York;
formerly Philippe Bazin's hidden lab, Brooklyn, New York
First Appearance: Darkhawk I#7 (September, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: Andrea Haggard initially
possessed no superhuman abilities save for a latent magnetic resonance.
As a subject of Project: Lodestone she gained control over
electromagnetic energy. She could easily lift up and hurl objects as
heavy as jeeps. She can manipulate all kinds of metal, including the
iron in the blood of her enemies. By manipulating her mostly metal costume,
she can fly or walk on air. Haggard suffers from mental and emotional
problems that at times make her unstable, though she has been taught
visualization techniques to help her manage some of her more violent
outbursts. Bazin's scientists implanted control devices inside her head
that can generate crippling pains via remote control.
Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 125 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed, purple while using powers
Hair: Blonde (see comments)
History:
(Darkhawk I#6 - (fb) - BTS) - Mentally unstable criminal
Andrea Haggard was noticed by crimelord Philippe Bazin after his
associate Doctor Marin had concluded she possessed a latent genetical
potential for manipulating electro-magnetic energies. She was recruited
by Bazin for Project: Lodestone, which took place inside a hidden
laboratory in Brooklyn.
(Darkhawk I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Prior to her transformation, Marin trained
Andrea to improve her mental condition. He taught her visualization
techniques to help control both her anger and her power. He also
designed a damper coat for her, which doubled as a costume, that helped
her regulate both her powers and her emotions.
(Darkhawk I#8 (fb) - BTS) - To make sure the unstable
Haggard would be loyal, control devices were implanted inside her head
that could be activated by remote control. If Andrea ever disobeyed an
order or even displeased Bazin, he could subject her to torturous pains
at a moment's notice. However, Bazin also had other, unrevealed, holds
on her.
(Darkhawk I#6 - BTS) - After Bazin survived an attack by Darkhawk (Chris
Powell), who invaded Bazin's home to kill the crimeboss for sending an
assassin after his mother Grace, the crimeboss ordered the accelerated
advancement of Project: Lodestone. Some time later, he was contacted by
Doctor Marin, the project's lead scientist, who informed him they were
ready to proceed.
(Darkhawk I#7) - Bazin was present when Doctor Marin subjected Haggard
to the final stages of the Lodestone transformation process. As the
power levels rose in her, the excited Andrea began to manipulate all the
metal objects around her, gleefully killing two scientists by
manipulating the iron in their bloodstream. She was then rocked by a
sudden jolt of pain, generated by Dr. Marin's control device that Bazin
was operating. Marin told her to use the techniques he taught her to
regain her composure and also to put on the damper coat. She complied
and, as her emotions were subsiding, she apologized to the men and
announced Lodestone was ready for her first assignment. Bazin,
satisfied, told Marin to quickly instruct and train her in the use of
her powers before sending her after Darkhawk. Some time later, Lodestone
was sent on her mission to retrieve Darkhawk's source of power: his
chest mounted amulet. Somehow sensing its nearness, she zoned in on
Chris Powell who had only moments earlier removed the amulet from his
person in a failed attempt to use its regenerative properties to help
his wounded, unconscious friend Headset (Steve Rubino). Before he could
reclaim the amulet, he was ambushed by Lodestone who held him in her
magnetic grasp and demanded Powell produce the Darkhawk or else he'd die
in his place.
(Darkhawk I#8) - Powell
lied to Lodestone, claiming he'd seen the Darkhawk run off westwards.
Satisfied with the answer, Lodestone let the teenager go, but promised
him she'd return to kill him if she found out he wasn't telling the
truth. While the increasingly more erratic Lodestone headed west,
walking on air and using her powers against everyone she encountered,
Powell quickly recovered the amulet from Headset and became Darkhawk
again. He tried to fight Lodestone, but was ill prepared for her
magnetic powers throwing everything from cars to bent up lampposts at
him. In the end, Darkhawk grew concerned for the wellfare of the
bystanders which allowed her to pin him down. She proceeded to focus her
magnetism on his chest amulet, trying to yank it out. Just as she felt
the jewel budging, she was rocked with pain coming from her brain
implants. Bazin had been monitoring the fight from his limo and decided
to stop her from damaging Darkhawk and the amulet. With both
superpowered opponents knocked out, Bazin took them to his Brooklyn
laboratory where Doctor Marin and his team began their tests to find a
way to safely remove the crystal. Lodestone visited with Darkhawk during
a break and gloated over his present situation. She laughed off the
hero's claims that the "pain-gizmo" inside her head made her as much
Bazin's prisoner as he was. Haggard explained that even without Bazin's
hold over her, she still wouldn't waste her power on doing good. Their
conversation was cut short when an alarm blared, causing Lodestone to
head up a security detail to see what was going on. It turned out to be
the unexpected arrival of Bazin's daughter Allegra who had come to get
some cash from her dad to buy a new car. The precocious teen flipped out
over Lodestone's costume and asked if she was her father's girlfriend.
"Hardly", scoffed the villainess only to be alerted to Darkhawk who had
freed himself. Lodestone gleefully attacked, her electromagnetic powers
scrambling the nearby machinery and erasing all the gathered data on the
Darkhawk amulet. Bazin, remote control in hand, ordered Lodestone to
quickly recapture him which she tried to do, even fighting on after a
piece of flying shrapnel caused the crimeboss to drop the device.
Lodestone overpowered the weakened Darkhawk who was ready to drop. But
at the last possibe moment, Lodestone was overcome with pain and fell to
the floor, completely unresponsive. Darkhawk quickly made his escape,
but before he did he noticed that Bazin's daughter Allegra was
responsible for taking the magnetic menace down.
(Darkhawk I#14) - Lodestone continued to work for Bazin. She acted as
his bodyguard on Althea Island, a Caribbean vacation home for the
world's wealthiest. Bazin had kidnapped Mike Powell and brought him
there to settle a personal vendetta. Their dealings were interrupted by
Mike's son Chris who, as Darkhawk, had come looking for his father.
Seeing his old enemy was cause enough for Bazin to call in Lodestone who
happily attacked Darkhawk. The hero was at a distinct disadvantage
against her after having recently lost his armor's amulet. Lodestone
threw a number of jeeps at him, which he was able to shred with his
wrist mounted claws. She then tried to use the shrapnel he'd created to
attack him. Lodestone was gaining the upper hand, thanks in no small part
to the fact Darkhawk had fought Venom (Eddie Brock) only hours earlier. When Bazin
decided he wanted to kill Darkhawk, grabbing a rifle from a knocked out
guard, Mike Powell tried to stop him. In response, Bazin stabbed Powell
with a knife and left him to die. Bazin then ordered Lodestone to keep Darkhawk steady while he aimed
for the hero's chest. Lodestone cheerfully complied but before Bazin
could fire, Mike Powell used his last strength to shoot the crimelord in
the back, killing him. Seeing her boss get shot rattled Lodestone
enough for Darkhawk to generate a darkforce blast, knocking the villain
unconscious before he himself collapsed from the strain.
(Darkhawk I#15) - While Lodestone and Darkhawk were unconscious, local
authorities reached the scene of the crime. They decided to lock up the
metal manipulating menace by placing her in plastic restraints.
(Darkhawk I#29 (fb) - BTS) - During a mission on behalf of Zarrko the
Tomorrow Man in transtemporal Chronopolis, Darkhawk thought back to his
fight against Lodestone and Bazin during which his father had died. The
whistful hero thought to himself he'd do anything to go back in time and
prevent Bazin from killing his father.
(Thunderbolts I#24 (fb) -
BTS) - Lodestone was recruited into the Crimson Cowl's new, army like
incarnation of the Masters of Evil. She moved to the team's base in
Mount Charteris, Colorado.
(Thunderbolts I#24) - Lodestone attended the meeting of the Masters in
Mount Charteris where the Crimson Cowl presented her plan to use weather
manipulation technology to extort the world's governments. Unbeknownst
to the Masters of Evil, Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts had infiltrated
their base, but seeing all the Masters together gave the heroes
considerable pause.
(Thunderbolts I#25) - Lodestone was ambushed by Hawkeye who shot her
from behind with an electro-arrow which short-circuited her armor,
knocking out Haggard in the process. She was then stripped of her armor
and placed with Man Ape, Joystick, Shatterfist and the Constrictor. The
Thunderbolts used their costumes to disguise themselves, with Songbird
hiding her sonic carapace's flangs under Lodestone's shoulderpads.
(Thunderbolts I#25 - BTS) - Lodestone remained incapacitated for the
remainder of the Thunderbolts' fight against the Masters of Evil, which
ended in the villains' defeat. She was arrested and incarcerated along
with the other Masters.
(Dark Reign Files#1) - Acting on orders from Norman Osborn, the living
computer Quasimodo analyzed a wide variety of villains, compiling files
on their possible uses in Osborn's new organization. After going over
Lodestone's file, the cybernetic creature concluded she was an aimless,
power-seeking and mentally unstable individual that could easily be
manipulated to serve Osborn if he so desired. He also reminded Osborn of
Haggard's control device that could easily be used to keep her in check
if she proved difficult.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Avengers Inc.#5 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Henry Pym, still partially influenced by Ultron, created robotic ants with each possessing part of Ultron's code inside them. He sent these ants to a list of criminals, including Lodestone, to temporarily place them in a state of seeming death and play a sound file that made it seem like they were victims of the Scourge of the Underworld. As a consultant coroner Pym then picked up Lodestone and gained his cooperation after he regained consciousness 40 hours after his seeming demise. She became part of Pym's new Lethal Legion, who were assembled to destroy Ultron. She was unaware that Pym had actually been duped by Ultron into creating the team so Ultron could use their bodies as hosts.
(Avengers Inc.#4) - Avengers Inc. (Janet Van Dyne and "Victor Shade") and Moon Knight found Pym's hideout and were introduced to his new Lethal Legion, including Lodestone. In front of the Lethal Legion "Shade" seemingly turned on Pym by sticking his arm through him because "Shade" was Ultron.
(Avengers Inc.#5) - "Shade" aka. Ultron Mark Twelve purged Pym's system from Ultron's code because he felt that Ultron was sending a signal to take him over. He couldn't prevent the takover of the assembled Lethal Legion, including Lodestone. Vision, Valkyrie (Jane Foster), Luke Cage, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Stinger (Cassie Lang) and Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne) joined the battle against the Lethal Legion, but Lodestone was kept out of the fight by Ultron and instead used to build a body from scrap metal for Ultron. Ultron Mark Twelve purged the Ultron code from her to free her and took over the body she had formed for the evil Ultron to become Mark Twelve. Because the threat was still not over Pym took the Lethal Legion to Sub-Atomica to keep planning the destruction of Ultron.
Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth, Mike Manley & Ricardo Villagran.
What is it with magnetically empowered women and the color
green? Taking a page from Polaris' fashion guide, Lodestone decided on a
swanky green and purple outfit, with a stylized version of Magneto's
helmet to boot. She's only made a handful of appearances to date, which
is somewhat of a shame considering her power levels. Also, just how a
woman who manipulates metal and is basically a walking EMP could ever be
held in check by a piece of electronics inside her head is a mystery for
the ages...
A lodestone is a piece of iron ore that is naturally magnetic (the
mineral magnite for the geologically enthused among us). A fitting name,
given the fact Haggard already had the latent potential to control
magnetic forces. Just what does Lodestone look like without her armor?
In her origin story, she is shown to be greenish and bald but when she
was stripped off her costume in Thunderbolts
I#25, she turned out to be a blonde, caucasian woman.
Also, though completely unconfirmed, I'd like to offer that Lodestone's
alleged mental instability might have been caused by her (latent)
magnetic powers. Both Magneto and Polaris have been known to suffer
psychological problems and bouts of irrationality linked to their mutant
abilities messing up their brain's neuro-electrical make up.
Profile by Norvo. Updates by Markus Raymond & Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Lodestone should not be confused with
Doctor Marin was a brilliant scientist and surgeon in the employ of crimelord Philippe Bazin. After he detected the latent potential to manipulate electromagnetism in Andrea Haggard, he worked with her in Project: Lodestone. This Bazin backed operation got fast tracked when the crimeboss wanted a superhuman operative to help him claim the power of the vigilante hero Darkhawk. Haggard was eventually transformed into Lodestone, though Marin had also implanted a control device inside her head that could give off intense pain via remote control should she disobey orders. After Bazin was satisfied Lodestone's transformation had succeeded, he ordered Marin to quickly train her in the use of these newfound abilities. Later, after Lodestone had captured Darkhawk for Bazin, Marin and his team worked to discover the secrets of the hero's semi-mystical amulet. However, all their findings were accidentally erased when Lodestone used her electromagnetic powers in close proximity to the machinery fighting the escaped Darkhawk.
--Darkhawk I#6 (Darkhawk I#6-8
images: (without ads)
Darkhawk I#8, p3, pan4 (main image)
Darkhawk I#7, p11, pans 1&2 (moments after transformation)
Darkhawk I#8, p17, pan 1&2 (is not Philippe Bazin's girlfriend)
Thunderbolts I#25, p15, pan4 (taken out by Hawkeye)
Thunderbolts I#25, p17, pan6 (without costume)
Darkhawk I#7, p10, pan6 (Doctor Marin)
Appearances:
Darkhawk I#6 (August, 1991) - Danny Fingeroth
(writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Ricardo Villagran, Bob Wiacek & Bud
LaRosa (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#7 (September, 1991) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Ricardo Villagran (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#8 (October, 1991) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Mike Manly & Ricardo Villagran (inks), Nel Yomtov
(editor)
Darkhawk I#14 (July, 1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Ricardo Villagran (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#15 (May, 1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Ricardo Villagran (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#29 (July, 1993) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Tod Smith
(pencils), Ian Akin (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Thunderbolts I#24 (March, 1999) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Mark Bagley
(pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Thunderbolts I#25 (March, 1999) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Mark Bagley
(pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Dark Reign Files#1 (April, 2009) - Michael Hoskin (head writer), Mark
Bagley (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Avengers Inc.#4-5 (February-March, 2024) - Al Ewing (writer), Leonard Kirk (Artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 04/18/2015
Last updated: 03/08/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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