EVERYMAN

Real Name: Larry Ekler

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Enemy of superhumans

Group Membership: None; formerly Schutz Heiliggruppe

Affiliations: Doctor Faustus (Johann Fennhoff), Maggie, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards)

Enemies: Angel (Simon Halloway), La Bandera, Blitzkrieger, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Captain Forza, El Condor, Defensor, Machete (Ferdinand Lopez), Mr. Fantastic, Ojo Macabra, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Vormund, Zona Rosa

Known Relatives: Milton Josh Elker (father, deceased, see Comments), Carol (mother, deceased)

Aliases: Zeitgeist, "Spirit of the Times", Time Spirit

Place of Birth: Central City, California (see comments)

Base of Operations: Mobile, including Berlin, Germany and South America;
   formerly the Fenhoff Institute;
   formerly Hell's Kitchen, New York

First Appearance: (as Everyman) Captain America I#267 (March, 1982); (as Zeitgeist) Alpha Flight I#78 (December, 1989)

Powers/Abilities: Although highly charismatic and persuasive when he was lucid, Eklar was mentally unstable and homicidal.

As the costumed Everyman, Ekler carried a triangular shield (somewhat similar in shape to Captain America's original shield), and wielded a fencing foil which could fire blasts of electrical energy.

While later clad in conventional clothing, Eklar wore a blank face-mask and wielded the Absorbascann.

As the costumed Zeitgeist, he could time-shift (see comments), enabling him to appear and disappear between instants; he used a time-shifting camera, and a holographic projector belt which allowed him to change appearances, and become invisible.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 169 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Reddish blond

History:
(Marvel Team-Up I#132 (fb) - BTS) - Years ago, Reed Richards was a close friend of Milton Ekler, and was at his side when Milton's son Larry was born--Larry grew up affectionately referring to Richards as "Uncle Reed"; however, the two friends drifted apart after college--Milton had to drop out in his senior year to raise his son alone after his wife died.

(Captain America I#267 (fb)) - Milton worked a grueling and low-paying job at a factory, but he never stopped believing in the American dream, no matter how bleak his life was, and he encouraged Larry to believe the same. However, when Milton died penniless, without even enough money to pay for his funeral, Larry's mind snapped--he became determined to lead a revolution that would make people realize that the American dream was a falsehood, kept alive only to keep people in line.

(Captain America I#267) - To exemplify the struggles of the common man, Larry adopted the identity of the flamboyantly-garbed Everyman, and became the leader of a gang of similarly disillusioned young people who shared his ideals, including Maggie and her brother Ira. When Ira attempted to assassinate Captain America in public, only to fail, Everyman promised his other followers that Captain America would die.

   To make his debut, Everyman contacted the media and publicly challenged Captain America to a midnight duel at the Statue of Liberty; when some policemen attempted to arrest him, Everyman used his electrified fencing foil to kill them during his televised challenge.

   Captain America met Everyman at the Statue of Liberty, where Everyman's own shield proved no match for Cap's indestructible shield, breaking on the first blow. He managed to singe Captain America with one of his foil's blasts, then turned to the onlookers in triumph; but Captain America was not down, and he struck Everyman. Realizing that he was outmatched, the desperate Everyman took Maggie as a hostage, and explained to Captain America how he would become someone people would remember--as an example, he spat upon Captain America's chest, declaring that that footage would make the news across the globe. When Cap demanded for him to let Maggie go, Everyman replied that he would kill her anyway-- just because he could! Convinced the villain was totally insane, Captain America was able to overcome Everyman by playing off his pride--after demonstrating his acrobatic fighting skills, Cap suggested that he was Everyman's superior. Outraged, Everyman raised his arms in protest, then Cap threw his shield and knocked the foil from Everyman's hand, and the villain was subsequently knocked out when the shield ricocheted off a brick wall and hit him from behind on his head. Everyman was then taken into custody by the police, who were eager to take a cop-killer off the streets.

(Marvel Team-Up I#132 (fb) - BTS / Marvel Team-Up I#133 (fb) - BTS) - After learning of Milton's death and Larry's insanity, Reed Richards took responsibility for Larry, and paid for his care at what he believed to be the world's finest psychiatric institution: the Fenhoff Institute. However, that facility was under the control of Dr. Faustus, who used his psychology skills to manipulate Ekler to his own ends. Arming Ekler with his Absorbascann, Dr. Faustus sent him to assault Reed Richards as part of a plot to drive Richards mad.

(Marvel Team-Up I#132) - Larry arrived at the Baxter Building, pretending to have been declared sane and released from the Institute. Realizing Larry was definitely not sane, Reed was nonetheless unprepared when he returned to find Larry wearing a featureless mask. Larry physically battered Reed and then used the Absorbascann to neutralize his superhuman intellect. Later, Spider-Man found the injured Reed and helped him track down Everyman, who was standing outside the 42nd Street Library and using the Absorbascann to drain energy from those around him, making  him powerful enough to fight off the police. He continued to use the device to defeat Spider-Man and Mr. Fantastic, but Spidey was able to force him to see that the Absorbascann was not making him one with the common man--rather than uniting them, it was draining the life of the people within range, slowly killing them. Under Spidey's advice, Ekler fled, and once he was far enough away, everyone began to revive.

(Captain America I#442 (text page)) - Ekler wound up under Dr. Faustus' care again, and Faustus used his contacts within the Secret Empire to supply Ekler with the technology to create the identity of Zeitgeist (see comments). Dr. Faustus sent Ekler out as the Zeitgeist to assassinate super-villains.

(Alpha Flight I#78) - Zeitgeist tracked down the South American super-hero Captain Forza and killed him--this event was sensed at the time by Dr. Stephen Strange.

(Captain America I#387/2 (fb) - BTS) - Zeitgeist became a member of the Schutz Heiliggruppe to use as a cover identity. With the team, he helped destroy Arnim Zola's clones of the Red Skull kept at Zola's castle in Switzerland.

(Captain America I#388/2 - BTS) - Zeitgeist helped his teammate Hauptmann Deutschland capture the Red Skull by teleporting both of them to their aircraft.

(Captain America I#390/2) - When the Skeleton Crew came to rescue the Red Skull, Zeitgeist helped defeat them, using his power to strike down Machinesmith without him being aware of his presence.

(Captain America I#393) - When Machinesmith broke himself and the rest of the Skeleton Crew free, the Schutz Heiliggruppe prepared to battle them, but were tricked by Zola's bioplastoids disguised as Thor, Iron Man and Captain America into allowing them to take the Skeleton Crew into their custody.

(Captain America I#442 (fb) - BTS) - Zeitgeist continued his serial killings in South America, slaying Defensor, La Bandera, Machete (see comments), El Condor, Ojo Macabra, and Zona Rosa--this brought the Schutz Heiliggruppe themselves to Beunos Aires to investigate.

(Captain America I#442) - When Blitzkrieger investigated the killings, Zeitgeist confronted him and presented him with a photograph of his own death; he then slew Blitzkrieger with the foil he had used as Everyman.

   Next, wearing a slightly differently-colored Everyman costume (but with a "Z" on the belt, presumably for "Zeitgeist"), he slew the brother of the original Angel (who was now a homeless bum) on the New York subway. He declared that as the Angel was the first costumed hero, he would be the first to die (see comments).

   Zeitgeist led Vormund to the home of the original Angel, Thomas Halloway, head of Scourge Inc., having convinced Vormund that Halloway was behind the murders. Using his image projector, Zeitgeist appeared to the elderly super-heroes gathered there as Vormund, to turn them against the real Vormund; then he set after Captain America to kill him. However, Captain America's armor protected him, and he shrunk Zeitgeist's foil using Pym Particles. Captain America tracked Zeitgeist down using the enhanced vision supplied by his armor, and Zeitgeist fled... right into the arms of Vormund. Vormund redirected the thrust of Zeitgeist's sword back at him, which resulted in Zeitgeist stabbing himself through his own heart.

Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck and John Beatty.

   Everyman's father was named Milton in Marvel Team-Up I#132 and Josh in #133, so Milton Josh Ekler is presumably his true name.

   Machete somehow survived his off-panel death at the hands of Zeitgeist, only to die on-panel in U.S. Agent II#1.

   Zeitgeist made a mistake when he stated that the Angel was the first costumed hero. Diagetically, Phantom Rider, the Freedom's Five, Night Raven, et al. would have preceded him.
--Per Degaton
You're correct, but the Angel (Thomas Halloway) was the first hero published by Marvel Comics--I think. I ASSume it was a(n) homage to that.
--Snood

   Rather than his powers being technologically-based, my theory is that Larry Ekler's time-shifting abilities as Zeitgeist were innate--since he was born in Central City, maybe Larry was still there when Harvey Jessup began to build his Salvation Generator, and Larry somehow absorbed some of the time-shifting radiation from that device; I'd further speculate that Dr. Faustus and the Secret Empire only helped Ekler to develop these latent powers. And perhaps he just used an ordinary commercially-available camera to take pictures from the "future," then used his powers to shift the photographs back to the "present".

   The whole idea of Zeitgeist revealed to be Everyman doesn't really work for me--I think it was just a case of Mark Gruenwald tying up a previous writer's unresolved storyline, because when he went after Captain Forsa in the Alpha Flight story, the killer stated: "I am a Zeitgeist..."--that would imply to me that there were others like him... perhaps there was another story in development in the Alpha Flight series, and the Zeitgeist who killed Captain Forsa was intended to be a renegade agent of the Time Variance Authority, or perhaps the Space Phantom.

   But I can't give Everyman/Zeitgeist's attire any points for originality--first, he looked like The Question in Marvel Team-Up, and then the costume he wore as a member of Schutz Heiliggruppe resembled the one worn by DC's original Clock King.
--Ron Fredricks

Zeitgeist has an entry in OHotMU 2006 A-Z#12.

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Prime Eternal and Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Everyman / Zeitgeist should not be confused with:

Everyman's girlfriend Maggie has no known connection to:

Zeitgeist's time-shifting camera has no known connections to:

Maggie

Coming from an impoverished background, Maggie (last name unrevealed)  and her brother Ira lived in a world that never went beyond roach-infested apartments and dead-end jobs. They became followers of Everyman, because they believed his rhetoric that the American dream was a lie.

But after Everyman sent Ira in a failed attempt to assassinate Captain America, Maggie objected to Everyman's use of violence for his cause.

Later, Maggie was among the crowd of onlookers when Everyman faced Captain America in a midnight duel at the Statue of Liberty. When Everyman found he was no match for Cap, he seized Maggie as a hostage and threatened to kill her, but Captain America saved her.

After Everyman was defeated, Maggie changed her outlook--although she realized that she might never be rich and famous, she thought Everyman was only preaching a message of despair, and Captain America's view represented helping people out of despair.

--Captain America I#267

Zeitgeist's time-shifting camera

Somewhat resembling an ordinary Polaroid instant camera, it somehow produced photographs Zeitgeist took in the near future.

He used the photographs primarily as a distraction, to show various superhumans their deaths before they actually occurred. While stalking his victims, Zeitgeist presented the "future" photos of their dead bodies to them, then used his fencing foil to fatally stab them; afterward, he took a picture of the deceased superhuman, and left the photograph on or next to the corpse. (presumably that photo itself had been shifted back to the "present").

Zeitgeist's only depicted uses of the camera were when he killed the Brazilian hero Captain Forsa, and later when he stabbed Simon Holloway.

He also apparently used the camera when he killed several other South American superhumans and Blitzkrieger, but its ultimate fate remains unrevealed.

(Note: Although they look different in the two images, I'm going to guess that there was only one camera, and I'll just attribute the different appearances to the work of the two separate artists themselves [...or maybe the time-shifting effect wasn't from the camera itself, but rather one of Zeitgeist's innate abilities, see comments]. The range of the camera [i.e. how far into the future it could effectively be used] was unspecified, but it seemed to be only a few minutes in advance of the actual deaths.)

--Alpha Flight I#78, Captain America I#442

images: (without ads)
Marvel Team-Up I#132, p5, pan4 (main image - Larry Ekler, wearing blank face-mask)
Captain America I#267, p14, pan3 (headshot - Larry Ekler)
Captain America I#267, cover (Everyman vs. Captain America)
Marvel Team-Up I#132, p7, pan5 (headshot - Larry Ekler, wearing blank face-mask)
Alpha Flight I#78, p5, pan5 (Zeitgeist, after killing Captain Forsa)
Captain America I#390/2, p6, pan7 (Zeitgeist)
Captain America I#442, p6, pan4 (Everyman/Zeistgeist leaves subway car after killing Simon Halloway)
DC Comics' Who's Who I#5, p8 - (Clock King)
Captain America I#267, p14, pan2 (Maggie)
Captain America I#267, p18, pan2 (Maggie, held hostage by Everyman)
Alpha Flight I#78, p5, pan7 (Zeitgeist takes picture of murdered Captain Forsa)
Captain America I#442, p6, pan3  (Everyman/Zeistgeist takes picture of murdered Simon Halloway)

Appearances:
Captain America I#267 (March, 1982) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mike Zeck (pencils), John Beatty (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#132-133 (August, September 1983) - J.M. Dematteis (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Alpha Flight I#78 (December, 1989) - James Hudnall (writer), John Calimee (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Carl Potts & Marcus McLaurin (editors)
Captain America I#387/2 (early July, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dan Panosian (pencils/inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#388/2 (late July, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Larry Alexander (pencils), Dan Panosia (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#390/2 (late August, 1995) - 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 & Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#442 (August, 1995) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave Hoover & Sandu Florea (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First posted: 07/24/2004
Last updated: 01/04/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters