MERCENARY

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Mercenary, Assassin

Affiliations: the captain of a crew of smugglers

Enemies: Iron Man/Tony Stark, Cheryl Porter, Vincent Sandhurst

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: mobile, active in New York

First Appearance: Iron Man I#23 (March, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: None. The Mercenary is a skilled assassin, marksman, tumbler, and combatant, and is a master of espionage and disguise. He uses an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including: a sensor scope that can gauge depth and density of armor, as well as automatically calibrate from windage and distance; Micro-wave (just meant really small radio waves back then) spy-monitors to transmit speech from his targets at a distance; an electro-static jamming device; a Blackout mist which can fill and obscure a large room in seconds; a light that can both temporarily blind its target and cause hallucinations; a cardio-sonic scanner that can locate a hidden target by its heartbeat; a magnetized block that can instantly drain power from electronic equipment, including even Iron Man's armor; and a special make-up kit with which he can take on the appearance of another person.

History: past history unknown

(IM#23) - The Mercenary was hired by the captain of the crew that had smuggled the Titanium Man into the USA to assassinate Cheryl Porter, as punishment for revealing the arrival of the Titanium Man to Tony Stark. Porter learned she was a target, and contacted Tony Stark for aid. The Mercenary had anticipated this and had bugged Stark's home and car, and kept Stark himself under surveillance, in anticipation of their meeting. He had a clear shot at Iron Man and believed his equipment could kill him, but since he wasn't the target, and since he only worked for money, he let it pass. Soon after, Porter did meet up with Stark, and the Mercenary trailed them to Stark's Adirondack mountain cabin.
Along the way, the Mercenary saw that Vincent Sandhurst, a man with a grudge against Stark, had set up explosives to blow up Stark's car as he drove past. Figuring that Stark's car would be armored and that it would alert him of the attacks too soon, the Mercenary stopped Sandhurst and then shot him and left. Shortly after they arrived at Stark's cabin, the Mercenary learned of Stark's security measures and used his jammer to sneak into the cabin. However, he was then confronted by Iron Man, who told him that Stark had been on to him since he bugged his car, which was revealed by his detection devices. Iron Man and the Mercenary battled, back and forth, but when Iron Man seemed to have finally defeated him, the Mercenary attached a magnetized block to his armor that drained it, incapacitating him. The Mercenary then used his makeup kit to disguise himself as Stark and to convince Cheryl Porter to allow him into the armored shelter in which she had been hidden. Before he could kill Porter, however, he was killed by Sandhurst, who had managed to drag himself to the cabin, and actually believed he was killing Stark himself.
Seconds later, Iron Man had recharged his armor and rushed in, only to find Sandhurst breathing his last. Arm-in-arm, Iron Man and Cheryl Porter walked off into the sunset.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

• Mercenary, who hijacked a plane, @ Human Fly#1
• The Mercenary Elite 2099 (Chill, Fade, Scratch), @ Doom2099#5
• Mercenaries, beings from a dark matter dimension, who tried to capture and auction off Death's Head-minion, @ Dark Angel#16

Cheryl Porter has no known connection to:

• John Porter, of Damage Control, @ Marvel Comics Presents#19
• Telford Porter, either an alias or a very goofy real name for the Vanisher, @ Fallen Angels?

Vincent Sandhurst is the brother of:

• Basil Sandhurst, the Controller, Iron Man I#11, 12

Cheryl Porter

(IM#23 (fb)) - She was the newlywed of Geoff, who decided to spend their honeymoon on a romantic trip along with his crew of fellow smugglers as they sneaked the Titanium Man into the USA. After she learned what was going on, she placed an anonymous call to Tony Stark to warn him, but the captain of the crew found this out and hired the Mercenary to kill her.
(IM#23) - Cheryl Porter contacted Tony Stark for help, and he (and Iron Man) successfully defended her from the Mercenary.

Last updated: 12/17/02

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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