BLITZKRIEGER
Real Name: Franz Mittelstaedt
Identity/Class: Human mutate;
citizen of Germany
Occupation: Adventurer, former mechanical engineer
Group Membership: Schutz Heiliggruppe (Hauptmann Deutschland/Vormund/Markus Ettlinger, Zeitgeist/Larry Ekler)
Affiliations: Arabian Knight (Abdul Qamar), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Hulk (Bruce Banner), Peregrine (Alain Racine), Rom, Sasquatch (Walter Langkowski)
Enemies: Death, Dire Wraiths, Everyman (Larry Ekler), Grandmaster, Red Skull (Johann Shmidt), Skeleton Crew (Crossbones/Brock Rumlow, Machinesmith/Samuel Saxon, Mother Night/Susan Scarbo, Fourth Sleeper), Shamrock (Molly Fitzgerald), Storm (Ororo Monroe), Arnim Zola
Known Relatives: Anna Mittelstaedt (wife), Johann Mittelstaedt (son), Hans Mittelsteadt (aka Courier, cousin)
Aliases: Blitzkrieg, Generator
Base of Operations: Stuttgart, West Germany
First Appearance: (As Blitzkrieg) Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#1 (June, 1982); (as Blitzkrieger) Captain America I#389 (August, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: Blitzkrieger possessed the ability to summon lightning mentally, at up to 15,000,000 volts. He could manipulate all forms of electrical energy, which he used to allow him to fly, create electrical energy shields and cages, and electrical tornadoes. He was also immune to electricity, and could sense electrical transmissions and track them to their source.
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#2) - Franz Mittelstaedt was investigating an electrical power plant when a stray
bolt of lightning struck a faulty generator and bathed him in
electricity. After emerging from a coma years later, he found he could
summon lightning at will, and decided to use his powers to become
Blitzkrieg, a crime-fighter.
(Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#1) - Blitzkrieg was among the heroes gathered by the Grandmaster and Death to serve as a pawn in their game for the Collector's life, and was chosen to serve on the Grandmaster's team.
(Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#3) - Blitzkrieg was placed on a team alongside Captain America and Sasquatch, and sent to recover a piece of the Golden Globe of Life from a jungle in South America. Blitzkrieg fought Storm, and although her lightning only helped him battle her, she was able to overcome him with an elemental assault. Blitzkrieg recovered in time to assist Captain America in searching for the Globe, and uncovered it with an electrical vortex, only for Shamrock to snatch the Globe away.
(Incredible Hulk II#279) - Blitzkrieg joined with other heroes of Earth in honoring the Hulk as he was awarded a presidential pardon.
(Rom#65, 66 - BTS) - Blitzkrieg joined with other heroes of Earth, especially those from outside America, in battling the Dire Wraiths as they launched a full-out assault on Earth and Rom. The Wraiths were ultimately all exiled into Limbo by Rom, with the aid of Forge.
(Captain America I#387/2 (fb) - BTS) - Blitzkrieger later joined the German super-hero team Schutz Heiliggruppe, and assisted in their assault on the castle of Arnim Zola to destroy the clone bodies of the Red Skull, the first step in their plan to arrest the Red Skull for war-crimes.
(Captain America I#389/2) - While Hauptmann Deutschland guarded the Red Skull, Blitzkrieger piloted their aircraft to Berlin. Blitzkrieger sensed that the Red Skull had a homing device which would lead his Skeleton Crew to him, but Hauptmann Deutschland intended to capture them as well.
(Captain America I#390/2) - Blitzkrieger joined the Schutz Heiliggruppe in battling the Skeleton Crew at an airfield in Berlin, and defended himself against the Fourth Sleeper with his electrical fields, then overloaded its electrical systems to make it seize up. Mother Night attempted to defeat him by casting darkness about him, but she was tripped by Zeitgeist. Finally, Blitzkrieger closed Crossbones inside of an electrical cage, and Crossbones was shocked unconscious trying to break out. The three heroes then gathered up the Skeleton Crew to have them tried alongside the Red Skull.
(Captain America I#391/2) - Blitzkrieger joined the Schutz Heiliggruppe in guarding the Skeleton Crew as they prepared to hold their trial.
(Captain America I#393) - When the Skeleton Crew broke lose, Blitzkrieger and the others prepared to recapture them, but were tricked into letting them go by Zola's bioplastoids of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.
(Alpha Flight I#108 - BTS) - Blitzkrieger couldn't attend the Pan-European Conference on Superhuman Affairs for unspecified reasons; a German delegate apologized to Alpha Flight's Sasquatch for Blitzkrieger's absence.
(Captain America I#442) - Blitzkrieger participated in a mission to Buenos Aires to investigate the deaths of several heroes and villains in South America (see comments). He was confronted by Zeitgeist, who presented him with a picture he had taken of the future, displaying Blitzkrieger's lifeless body. Zeitgeist then killed Blitzkrieger--Blitzkrieger was subsequently avenged by his teammate Vormund, who slew Zeitgeist.
Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Bill Mantlo, Steven Grant, John Romita Jr. and Pablo Marcos.
When Zeitgeist killed all the others, he apparently stabbed them with a sword; yet the deceased Blitzkrieger appeared to have no visible wound, so the manner of his death was unspecified.
And those South American heroes and villains murdered
by Zeitgeist included Captain
Forsa, Defensor,
El
Condor, La
Bandera, Machete (Ferdinand Lopez), Ojo
Macabra, and Zona
Rosa.
--Ron Fredricks
Alas, poor Blitzkrieger. But since the OHOTMU says he had a son, perhaps one day he'll take up his father's mantle?
Blitzkrieger's name became a problem in
Germany. Read more about it in the comments of Schutz
Heiliggruppe profile.
--Markus Raymond
Contest of Champions writer Steven Grant revealed that the series was supposed to have the characters broadly international, but Marvel didn't have many international heroes at the time who weren't X-Men. Bill Mantlo brought in Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant to help out creating new characters. Blitzkrieger was one of the characters created by Steven Grant.
Steven Grant: "In 1980, Marvel had a deal to do Olympic-themed treasury editions. Bill and I did the Hulk & Spider-Man at the Winter Olympics, which was published. We then worked with Mark on the Marvel Suuper-Heroes Summer Olympics Special. Then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and in protest President Carter pulled the US from the Moscow Olympics. Nothing to tie into, book went into the drawer for awhile. At some point, after tons of resistance, Marvel was convinced to try the mini-series format. Jim Shooter pulled "Summer Olympics" from a drawer, and Bill (Mantlo) & JR2 (John Romita Jr.) rewoked it into a three issue mini. But that was months after it had already been done. The main reason MSH&SO was chosen as the mini-test was that it was already done, for the most part, so the company would have to spend minimal more money to publish it. The number of characters were a bet-hedger. But it made Marvel gung-ho on minis...BTW pretty sure Mark did the rough designs for all the new characters, to prescribed specifications. JR2 did more polished takes. I'm constantly having people at conventions bring copies to sign and asking "Did you expect when you were working on CoC it would have the impact it did?" I tell them, truthfully, "We didn't even know we were working on Contest of Champions..." (I believe Jim (Shooter) named it).
In Marvel Atlas#1 it was revealed that Courier and Blitzkrieger were related.
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Blitzkrieger should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions I#1, p20 pan1 (main image - Blitzkrieg)
Captain America I#389/2, p5, pan4 (headshot - Blitzkrieger senses Red Skull's homing device)
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions I#3, p17, pan4 (Blitzkrieg creates electrical vortex)
Captain America I#442, p1, pan5 (Zeitgeist shows Blitzkrieger a picture of his dead body)
Captain America I#442, p2, pan1 (Vormund holding Blitzkrieger's dead body)
Appearances:
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions#1-3 (July-August, 1982) - Mark Gruenwald, Bill Mantlo & Steven Grant (writers), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#279 (January, 1983) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Mark Gruenwald (pencils), Greg LaRocque (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rom#65 (April, 1985) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Steve Ditko (pencils), P. Craig Russell (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Captain America I#390-391 (August-September, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Larry Alexander (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#393 (October, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Larry Alexander & Rik Levins (pencils), Bud LaRosa & Dan Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Alpha Flight I#108 (May, 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (artist), Rob Tokar (editor)
Captain America I#442 (August, 1995) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave Hoover & Sandu Florea (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
First posted: 07/07/2004
Last updated: 01/04/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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