DAVID HEIMERDINGER
Real Name: David Heimerdinger
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Unspecified role in the Roadside Carcass Removal Department (see comments)
Group Membership: Formerly HAMMER
Affiliations: Miranda Bayer, zombie animal cyborgs, zombie human cyborgs
formerly Norman Osborn
Enemies: Captain America (James Barnes), Deathlok L17 of Reality-10511, Fantomex, Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr), Norman Osborn, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Roadside Carcass Removal Department (location unrevealed; Wolverine and Captain America/James Barnes flew a quinjet to get there from Manhattan)
First Appearance: (Unidentified) Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 (December, 2009)
(last name revealed) Wolverine: Weapon X#13 (July, 2010);
(first name revealed) Wolverine: Weapon X#14 (August, 2010);
Powers/Abilities: A genius of some degree in computer technology, bioengineering, and who knows what else, Heimerdinger designed the means to computerize the brains of corpses of people and animals, creating very rudimentary cyborgs with limited mechanized functions.
He controlled an army of such warriors until they were slaughtered, after which he had as pets/test subjects some presumably zombie(?) animal cyborgs.
Heimerdinger is wont to cringe and collapse when threatened physically.
Height: Approximately 5'3" (he looked to be about Wolverine's height)
Weight: 125 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
History:
(Dark
Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 (fb) - BTS) - Heimerdinger worked on plans
for cyborg beings created from computerizing the brains of corpses.
This was dubbed (by Heimerdinger or others as Project: Deathlok).
(Wolverine:
Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Working for Norman Osborn's HAMMER
organization, Heimerdinger computerized the brains of corpses; wishing
men who had been in peak physical condition, they used mostly soldiers (see comments).
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 (fb) - BTS) <According to Osborn> - Osborn provided Heimerdinger with "all the money and the corpses he asked for."
(Wolverine: Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Heimerdinger's "zombie cyborgs" were used in a few test missions along the US border, hunting illegals, and their kill ratios "showed promise."
(Wolverine: Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Heimerdinger was certain that he could -- given time -- make it all work as desired.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 - BTS / Wolverine: Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to gain possession of the World, Osborn insisted Heimerdinger's zombie cyborgs be put into action, despite Heimerdinger's warning Osborn that his zombie cyborgs weren't properly field-tested.
(Wolverine: Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Osborn sent Heimerdinger's zombie cyborgs into the World.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 (fb) - BTS) - Sensing it was under attack, the World created Weapon XVI (aka Allgod), a living religion virus that attacked the faith reserves, putting any being with any type of faith under its control.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 - BTS) - Seeking to thwart Osborn, Noh-Varr (aka Marvel Boy) informed Wolverine of this plot, and the pair flew to the World to oppose, but Wolverine swiftly fell under the influence of gas from a tank labeled Weapon XVI and pursued Noh-Varr alongside the artificial created/evolved superhuman breeding stock of the World (also under Allgod's influence) and a number of the zombie cyborgs.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 - BTS) - The nature or the World (or perhaps it was Allgod's influence) prevented communication to and from the zombie cyborgs within.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1) - Frustrated, Osborn berated Heimerdinger, who assured him their forces had infiltrated the World but that transmissions were hampered. Osborn grabbed Heimerdinger and -- in much more colorful language -- assured him that his fate rested in the hands of his creations.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 - BTS) - Also an utter atheist, Fantomex (also a creation of the World) joined forces with Noh-Varr, leading him to the World's brain and having him kiss the brain, convincing it that they were not a threat. As a result, the World released its hold on Wolverine.
Heimerdinger's zombie cyborgs then confronted and engaged Fantomex, Noh-Varr, and Wolverine, who made short work of them.
With communications now more possible, Osborn was furious with the zombie cyborgs' ineffectiveness.
When the last of the zombie cyborgs, Agent D-18, obtained a portion of
the World's brain, Wolverine cut off the arm holding the brain fragment
before stabbing D18 in the chest. As the heroes headed off, however,
D-18's hand, complete with the brain fragment, began crawling away.
(Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1) - As Heimerdinger tried to calm the enraged Osborn, noting that D-18 was still active; just then, however, a truck ran over D-18's hand, and the brain fragment was left on the road.
Osborn chided Heimerdinger as a waste, noting that nothing would ever come of Project: Deathlok
(Wolverine:
Weapon X#13 (fb) - BTS) - Osborn stripped Heimderdinger of his funding and exiled him to the Roadside
Carcass Removal Department. He was also apparently stripped of his
Ph.D. or whatever (he noted, "I'm not a doctor anymore.")
Forced to make do with the materials at hand, Heimerdinger began creating cyborgs from a number of animals; they were presumably animal carcasses with computerized brains, but that is not confirmed.
Presumably because people had been leaving roadkill and/or other dead animals on the doorstep of the Roadside Carcass Removal Department, Heimerdinger (or possibly someone else, if anyone else even worked there) posted a sign on the door, "DO NOT LEAVE DEAD ANIMALS ON OUR DOORSTEP!"
Comments: Created by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic, and Tom Palmer.
The Roadside Carcass Removal Department may be a false name, as it looked like a temporary name was placed over a placard, but it may just be the three-dimensional nature of the placard that made it look that way.
H.A.M.M.E.R.: The acronym that wasn't.
When noting they used mostly soldiers as subjects for his corpse brain computerizations, Heimerdinger said, "I believe," indicating that he thought so but wasn't 100% certain.
The use of zombie cyborg soldiers is strongly reminiscent of those used in Hudlin's Black Panther #5-6 (August-September, 2005). I don't recall a connection being directly made, but it sure seems likely....especially given that 4-5 years real time is roughly equivalent to 1 year Marvel Time, which puts that story perhaps a year or less distant from the Dark Reign story.
Heimerdinger...it's fun to say. His first name was revealed in Wolverine: Weapon X#14.
We don't know how/if slaying Heimerdinger affected Reality-10511's
future. It may be that the Deathlok program was always just based on
his work.
It seemed like the Deathloks gained
additional powers after Heimerdinger's death, perhaps indicating that
whoever took over his work made them even better.
It's
not like -10511 is the true future of Reality-616, it's just one
potential reality, and elements from Reality-616's past varied from
-10511's; however, we did see at least one example of someone
apparently fading from existence in -10511's future when his -616
counterpart perished in the modern day. Maybe they had Doomlock devices
to prevent divergences from the timeline....or something...or not.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
David Heimerdinger should be distinguished from:
(Wolverine: Weapon X#14 (fb) - BTS) - Employed by Norman Osborn's HAMMER organization, scientist Dr. David Heimerdinger mechanized the corpses of soldiers, seeking to build an army of obedient cyborgs.
(Wolverine: Weapon X#14 (fb) - BTS)) - With one of their number one priorities being the development of a risk management department to face the challenges of a corporation their size, such as resistant governments, stubborn populaces, and illegally powered insurgents, Roxxon began development of the Peaceloks, based on the preliminary work of the late Dr. Heimerdinger.
Roxxon used the minds and bodies of executed murderers "for that extra 'zing,'" but early efforts were "less than successful, as their cyborgs fed on and slaughtered normal people (possibly their creators).
images: (without ads)
Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1, story pg. 9, panel 2 (at computer terminal)
Wolverine: Weapon X#13, pg. 15, panel 1 (RCRD placard);
panel 2 (partial upper body with
hand over eye...and one of his best images);
pg. 16, panel 1 (face; cut off mid-forehead);
panel 5 (animal zombie(?) cyborgs);
pg. 18, panel 1-2 (punched through chest, and his
only full-body image...nearly dead and thrown off of Deathlok's fist)
Appearances:
Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine#1 (December, 2009) - Jason
Aaron (writer), Esad Ribic (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Jody
Leheup (assistant editor), Jeanine Shaefer and John Barber (editors)
Wolverine: Weapon X#13-14 (July-August, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ron Garney (penciler - no inker listed); Jody Leheup (assistant editor), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)
Last updated: 02/26/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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