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Later World War II recruits:
Union Jack I
Union Jack I
Alter Ego: Lord James Montgomery Falsworth
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Invaders #7 (July, 1976)
- "My mission, on such forays, was to strike terror into bosche hearts by appearing as the very personification of the British flag and nation. I dare say it all proved rather effective."
Lord Falsworth was the first Union Jack and also a member of Freedom Five and later the Invaders.
- Badass Family: The Falsworth family is certainly full of them.
- Cain and Abel: He's the Abel to his brother John Falsworth's Cain, the first Baron Blood.
- Captain Patriotic: Just like Steve Rogers in America, Union Jack was this for the UK.
- Character Death: Lord Falsworth died quietly while watching the burning of Baron Blood's remains, knowing that his brother's evil had been overcome at last.
- Purple Is Powerful: One of his Union Jack costumes was purple instead of red.
Union Jack II
Union Jack II
Alter Ego: Brian Falsworth
Notable Aliases: Destroyer, Mighty Destroyer
First Appearance: Invaders #18 (July, 1977) note ; Invaders #19 (August, 1977) note
- "Don't lose heart Invaders! We'll take the Jerries yet!"
First became the Destroyer, then later followed his father's mantle as Union Jack the second. He was the brother of Spitfire, whom also became part of the team of Invaders.
- Brother–Sister Team: With his sister Jacqueline Falsworth.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Died in a car cash in 1953.
- Legacy Character: After the death of his father he took the Union Jack title.
- One-Steve Limit: One of his aliases is Destroyer, but has no relationship to either Asgard's Destroyer armor nor Drax the Destroyer.
- Primary-Color Champion: His costume is dark blue and red.
- Shock and Awe: For several months, he possessed the power to discharge bolts of electricity form his hands. The limits on this power were unknown. He acquired this power after being struck with a near-fatal bolt of lightning, generated by Thor's hammer Mjolnir.
- Straight Gay: He was in a relationship with Roger Aubrey, but thanks to the times he didn't act in what would be considered stereotypically gay.
Spitfire
Spitfire
Alter Ego: Lady Jacqueline Falsworth-Crichton
Notable Aliases: Jackie
First Appearance: Invaders #7 (July, 1976)
- "All right then, Jerries! Shall we see how two members of the 'master race' fare against one 'helpless and inferior' woman?"
Spitfire has the ability to run at superhuman speed. While running she leaves a trail of non-damaging fire behind her.
- Action Girl: Even before becoming superheroine, she was serving in England's Women's Royal Volunteer Service, a civil defense group, during World War II.
- Action Mom: She has a son, though after his Face–Heel Turn during Vampire State, she sanctions Blade's staking him, knowing that any claimed Heel–Face Turn would be false.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Her son Kenneth became her enemy.
- Arch-Enemy: Baroness Blood. It's Personal between them.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted... although she quickly recovers.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Not a pleasant past not helped by Baron Blood.
- Domino Mask: A rather large red one to cover her eyes.
- Fire-Forged Friends: In their first meeting, Blade tried to kill her. They were eventually forced to work together and seemed to have formed an unlikely friendship
- Fountain of Youth: She got rejuvenated thanks to a transfusion of blood from Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch.
- Fragile Speedster: Spitfire gets beaten up a lot in this series. Good thing she can heal.
- Going Commando: When suffering quite enough Clothing Damage, it's shown that she wears nothing underneath her costume.
- Healing Factor: Heals way quicker than humans but not anywhere near the likes of Wolverine, Deadpool, Hulk and the Juggernaut at his full power.
- Most Common Super Power: Impressive for her age.
- Official Couple: With Blade.
- Offing the Offspring: By proxy of Blade, Spitfire ordered him to stake her vampire son, Kenneth, after Kenneth led her into a trap to be enslaved by Dracula which made clear that Kenneth has been corrupted by his vampire nature.
- Our Vampires Are Different: She has been shown to possess some vampire abilities including fangs that appear when she is angry. However, she can control her blood lust and has no need to drink it. She has vampiric superhuman strength, allowing her to lift in excess of 1 ton, and can heal even severe wounds in seconds. Whether or not she has any additional vampiric abilities has yet to be revealed.
- Parental Betrayal: Inverted. Her son Kenneth led her into a trap to be mind-raped by Dracula.
- Primary-Color Champion: Her costume is mostly golden and red.
- Really 700 Years Old: She's eighty or ninety years old, but looks like the same young woman she was sixty years ago.
- Required Secondary Powers: She has enhanced endurance and toughness and all the usual secondary powers required for super speed.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Upon completing their first mission together, Blade attempts to apologize to Spitfire for trying to kill her (on the quite reasonable grounds that she was a superpowered vampire, since he didn't know that she was one of the good guys), but before he could finish she kisses him.
- Stiff Upper Lip: Just as expected from an English noble woman. (Lying in a pool of her own blood, having broken nearly every bone in her body) "Can't move. Probably bought it. How terribly dull."
- Supernaturally Young Parent: After she becomes vampire, she probably looks younger than her own son (who also becomes vampire eventually).
- Super-Speed: Possesses the ability to move at superhuman speeds. She can run in excess of the speed of sound. She has become slightly faster after she began manifesting her vampire abilities.
Miss America
Miss America
Alter Ego: Madeline Joyce-Frank
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (November, 1943)
Miss America was a Golden Age hero and part of the superhero teams the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad.
- Came Back Wrong: Revived by the Pitiful One to fight against X-Statix. She eventually came to her senses and was allowed to pass on to the afterlife.
- Captain Patriotic: She's essentially the female equivalent of Captain America.
- Death by Childbirth: Died from radiation poisoning caused by her son Robert Jr.
- Gravity Master: Miss America possessed the ability to psionically negate the effect of gravity around herself, allowing her to float into the air. In coordination with planned jumps, she could simulate the power of flight.
- Happily Married: She and her husband Robert were very happy.
Whizzer
Whizzer
Alter Ego: Robert L. Frank
Notable Aliases: Jack Robinson
First Appearance: USA Comics #1 (August, 1941)
The Whizzer is a war-time superhero possessing superhuman speed. Acting as a member of the Invaders and Liberty Legion during World War II, the Whizzer continued his crime-fighting career decades after the war and even joined the Avengers. Was at one point believed to be the father of the Maximoff twins before later retcons.
- Atrocious Alias: It didn't sound as bad in the 1930s, now however...
- Badass Family: His wife Madeline Joyce Frank and son Robert Jr. were superheroes with superpowers as well.
- Killed Off for Real: Died fighting his enemy Isbisa. His death allowed his son's radiation levels to be cured.
- Primary-Color Champion: His costume was mostly yellow with some blue as well.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Can do this thanks to his super speed.
- Retired Badass
- Super-Reflexes
- Super-Speed: He was one of the first speedsters in the world.
The Vision
The Vision
Alter Ego: Aarkus
Notable Aliases: Destroyer of Evil, Mr. Aarkus, Aarkus the aetheric one, Original Vision
First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (November, 1940)
- "It is a new age. An age of heroes. An age in which we all have contributions to make, in many and varied ways. Yet, though we pursue separate destinies, I have no doubt that should this world have need of us... should freedom ever again be threatened... the Invaders will answer the call."
Created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon during The Golden Age of Comic Books, The Vision, later called Aarkus, was an extra-dimensional being who was brought to Earth by Professor Enoch Mason. Possessing a menagerie of powers, and an Anti-Hero by nature, he served both the Axis and the Allies at different times, before joining up with the World War II team The Invaders.
In truth, he had been sent to Earth to ensure that the Cosmic Cubes would survive and reach sentience. Brainwashed by the villain D'Spayre, he turned to villainy and corrupted a cosmic cube to evil purposes. Only with the help of The Avengers could Doctor Strange restore him to his original self.
He served as the inspiration for the second Vision.
- The Ageless: Has been stated to be unaging.
- Bald Mystic: Just like the current Vision, he's a bald extra-dimensional being, which makes him inherently supernatural. Overlaps with Chrome Dome Psi since he has the telepathic abilities of mind reading and mind control.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Partially why he turned to villainy. The other reason being...
- Came Back Wrong: He and some of the other Invaders were brought to the present with the cosmic cube. Being an extra-dimensional being to begin with, this affected him in some unforeseen ways.
- Elemental Powers: Can turn his body to smoke, as well as restrain people with it.
- Flying Brick: Doesn't use it quite as often as his mental powers, but he is also incredibly strong.
- An Ice Person: Possesses the psychic ability to cool or instantly freeze things to death by slowing down molecular action. This is both a long and close range attack, have been shown to work by touch and by blast.
- Intangibility: Turning into smoke gives you this.
- Legacy Character: The Vision was created in the 1960's as one to both him and the first Human Torch..
- Mind Control: Can take temporary control of any person.
- Mind Reading: Part of his abilities.
- Recycled In Space: Originally an obscure WWII character, he has since been reimagined as the guardian of the Cosmic Cube, making him a much bigger part of the Marvel Universe than he ever was previously.
- Shapeshifting: Can do this when it suits him.
- Story-Breaker Power: He doesn't appear much, this probably being a contributing factor. Each of his powers alone would count as a story breaker power by itself.
- Super Smoke: Can turn into smoke.
- Super-Toughness: His extra-dimensional body makes him impervious to close range gun shots.
- Teleportation: Can teleport at will and is capable of manifesting anywhere in the world, as long as there is smoke, vapor, and/or gas for him to emerge from.
Blazing Skull
Blazing Skull
Alter Ego: Mark Anthony Todd
Notable Aliases: Steve Valiant, Richard Stetson, Smoking Head, Ghost Rider 1945
First Appearance: Marvel Comics #5 (March, 1941)
A war-time hero, the Blazing Skull was an ally to the Invaders and remains active to this day although with far less sanity. In modern times he has fought alongside Thin Man's Invaders squad and the Defenders.
- The Ageless: In his normal form he no longer seems to age.
- Flaming Skulls: Just like the Ghost Riders, his head is a flaming skull, hence his codename.
- Healing Factor: Possesses a healing factor which has caused him to have not physically aged at all since the Second World War.
- Military Superhero: He's a soldier that fought during WWII.
- The Needless: In his normal form he no longer seems to age and can go at least several days without food or water.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Is nearly indestructible.
- Older Than They Look: Hard to tell thanks to the flaming skull, but he's a WWII veteran whose powers have kept alive for decades.
- Playing with Fire: Can generate heat and flame.
- Sacrificial Lion: One of the many members of the Ducky's Dozen killed by Zombies during Marvel Zombies Destroy, although possibly one of the better known thanks to previous appearances.
- Super-Strength: Possesses superhuman strength.
Silver Scorpion
Silver Scorpion
Alter Ego: Elizabeth Barstow
Notable Aliases: Betty Barstow, Scorp, Betty Barlow
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April, 1941)
Golden age character and honorary member of the Invaders. Betty Barstow, a secretary for private detective Dan Harley, wore a superhero-style costume to a masquerade ball, and along the way used her jiu-jitsu skills and investigative acumen to solve a case her employer had turned down. Enjoying it, she continued to be a masked crimefighter.
- Badass Cape: Wore an impressive red cape.
- Color Animal Codename: Silver Scorpion.
- Dented Iron: In old age she started suffering from early stages of Alzheimer.
- Combat Stilettos: Wears heeled boots.
- Honorary True Companion: She was never an official Invader, but worked with them more than once.
- Super Wrist-Gadget: Fires the "scorpion sting" from wrist-mounted blasters.
William Nasland/Spirit of '76/Captain America II
Spirit of '76 / Captain America II
As Spirit of '76
Alter Ego: William Nasland
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Captain America Comics #49 (August, 1945) note ; Invaders #14 (March, 1977) note ; What If? #4 (August, 1977) note
- "I don't need anything but my good American fists, buddy!"
A man from Pennsylvania who initially served as part of the short-lived WW2 team the Crusaders, and took up the mantle of Captain America after Steve went missing in action. His tenure was short-lived, and he died in the line of duty.
- Badass Cape: As Spirit of '76, he wore a cape which was fireproof and bulletproof.
- Badass Normal: Unlike most of his successors, he had no superpowers of any kind.
- Canon Immigrant: Originally, the story of William becoming Cap was just a What If...? story, but it made its way into continuity anyhow.
- Domino Mask: Wore one as part of his Spirit of '76 costume.
- Expy: As the Spirit of '76, he was designed to be a counterpart of the Freedom Fighters' Uncle Sam.
- Killed Off for Real: He was killed in 1946 by one of Adam-II's robots, trying to protect a young John F. Kennedy.
- Legacy Character: Second person to succeed Steve Rogers as Captain America.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Although unlike Steve's adamantium-vibranium shield, William's was just a regular steel shield.
- Signature Headgear: Wore a tricorn as the Spirit of '76.
- Retcon: A bit of Roy Thomas's continuity soothing, to explain a few discrepancies.
Bucky II
Bucky II
Alter Ego: Fred Davis Jr.
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #30 (June, 1976) note ; What If? #4 (August, 1977) note
- "What if we can't live up to what these costumes mean to people?"
A baseball player who took up the mantle of Bucky to trick the Red Skull when the Invaders were brainwashed. Months later, he officially became the second Bucky.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: After murdering him, Leo Novokov used Fred's blood to write "Only one Bucky left" on the wall.
- Killed Off for Real: In his old age, he was eventually killed by Leo Novokov, a former sleeper agent of the Red Room, in an attempt to flush the real Bucky Barnes out who was stated to be dead.
- Legacy Character: Second person to take the Bucky codename after James Barnes.
