SAPPER & GOLDEN-BLADE
Sapper:
Sapper is a member of the alien Rajaki race, the only member of his race to physically survive Ultimo's attack upon them. Sapper is apparently a cyborg and probably has superhuman strength (enhanced human to Class 5) and can fly. His current body is encased in metal and he has tentacles which he can extend from his chest. The tentacles allow him to drain energy from most mechanical sources, although Iron Man could prevent this by using a "non-conducting field," and Ultimo was too powerful for him to drain completely while active. There are also two discs, one on either side of his head, which regulate Sapper's energy. Warbird caused a powerful explosion when she tampered with these discs, although Sapper managed to survive.
Golden-Blade: Golden-Blade is a robot or cyborg with the mind of an Englishman from the 1840's. He uses words like "sirrah" and "milady." Golden-Blade's current form can fly and has superhuman strength (enhanced human to Class 5). Golden-Blade can grow . . .well . . . Golden-Blades from any part of his body or fire them with sufficient force to penetrate Ulitmo's hide, but not Iron Man's repulsor field. Golden-Blade kind of adheres to a code of chivalry, although he had no qualms about trying to skewer Warbird.
REAL NAMES: Unrevealed (both)
IDENTITY/CLASS:
Sapper: extra-terrestrial (Rajaki) cyborg
Golden-Blade: Human, mind transferred into robot body
PURPOSE: Sapper and
Golden-Blade have been "appropriating" (read: stealing)
energy and materials to restore Sapper's people to physical life
as robots. They are currently exploring the universe in
Sapper's ship.
AFFILIATIONS:
Allies: Iron Man, Warbird, S.H.I.E.L.D.(Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage
Logistics Directorate)
Enemies: Ultimo, formerly Iron Man, Ms. Marvel/Warbird,
S.H.I.E.L.D.
BASE of OPERATIONS: Currently exploring the universe aboard Sapper's ship; formerly mobile throughout the U.S. at least, based out of Sapper's ship buried near Spokane, Washington.
ALIASES:
Golden-Blade: Golden Boy (nickname from Carol Danvers),
unnamed golden alien mechanoid
FIRST APPEARANCE: Ms.
Marvel#13 (January, 1978);
Golden-Blade was not named until Iron Man III#18 (July, 1999)
HISTORY: (Iron Man v. 3 #24-25 Jan-Feb 2000 fb) Over 150 years ago, Ultimo decimated the Rajaki world, killing everyone there. Sapper's merchant clan was off-planet at the time and foolishly tracked down Ultimo, seeking revenge. Ultimo showed them first hand why revenge doesn't pay, and they were forced to flee from him. They lured him into a meteor cluster near earth, where both the Rajaki ship and Ultimo were battered by meteors, and they both crashed to earth. Sapper survived the attack and the crash because he was a cyborg, but the rest of his people were mortally wounded. The Rajaki ship crashed into what is now known as Washington State, landing on an English fur trapper. Sapper constructed a mechanical body for the trapper, who would become Golden-Blade. Sapper then uploaded his peoples' consciousness into the ship, and the two began stealing energy and materials to one day construct robot bodies for them.
(MsM#13)-Sapper and Golden-Blade assaulted
the US Aircraft Carrier Halsey, and Sapper began to drain the
energy from its reactors. Ms. Marvel arrived to stop them, and
battled them briefly. The struggle went back and forth:
Eventually, Ms. Marvel swatted Sapper into a jet which exploded,
and then broke off Golden-Blade's sword-arm. Sapper returned,
charged with energy and prepared to finish off Ms. Marvel, 
but Golden-Blade
stopped him: "I know you have absorbed power enough to
level the city, but I am injured--and above all else, we must not
jeopardize our mission." ...And the two took off into
the sky.
(Iron Man v. 3# 18 July 1999) Sapper and Golden-Blade attacked a Navy submarine in Washington State, where they were opposed by Warbird, who was drunk. Iron Man came on the scene when he found Golden-Blade after Warbird nearly launched him into orbit. Sapper scored an early hit against Iron Man, draining his energy. Iron Man quickly recovered and defeated Golden-Blade, while Warbird fought Sapper. Sapper and Golden-Blade escaped after Warbird caused a massive explosion by tampering with Sapper's regulator units.
(Iron Man v.3 # 23 Dec. 1999) Sapper and Golden-Blade attacked a Stark/Fujikawa ship, unaware that it had been built on top of Ultimo and was using him as an energy source. Iron Man showed up and made quick work of the duo, thanks to his non conducting fields that prevented Sapper from draining him. However, Sapper had drained energy from the systems that held Ultimo in check, and hours after the battle, he broke free!
(Iron Man #24) Sapper and Golden-Blade helped the crew of the Stark/Fujikawa ship after Ultimo re-activated. Ultimo spotted them just as Iron Man was arriving. Ultimo blasted Sapper and backhanded Iron Man and walked away. Iron Man was about to attack Sapper and G.B. when Rumiko Fujikawa (Tony Stark's love interest) told him that they weren't at fault. G.B. then told Iron Man their story, and told him that Ultimo was probably headed to Sapper's ship, to destroy the last remnants of his people. Iron Man charted Ultimo's course and realized that if Ultimo wasn't stopped, he'd destroy the city of Spokane to get to the ship!
(Iron Man #25) Iron Man, Sapper, and G.B. took off to stop Ultimo, along with U.S. military aircraft. They had little success until Iron Man got the idea to try to once again control Ultimo. Sapper and G.B helped protect innocents, while Iron Man hacked into Ultimo's control core. Ultimately he was successful,and Ultimo was forced to shut down. With Ultimo defeated, Iron Man allowed Sapper and G.B. to drain its energy to power their ship. The two of them took off for outer space, while expressing their gratitute to Iron Man.
COMMENTS: Created by
Chris Claremont and Jim Mooney.
Explained/Detailed by Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking
about! In Ms. Marvel#13, "Sapper and an unnamed golden alien
mechanoid" (as described in the Marvel Comics Index#8B)
appeared, were given virtually zero background and explanation,
and forgotten for 21 years!!!! Kurt Busiek takes these two out of
Limbo, dusts them off, and gives them an interesting origin,
explains their motivations, and ties them in to one of my
favorite Iron Man villains. Sean Chen updates their appearance
beautifully. I wish all of the obscure/lost/forgotten characters
could get this kind of treatment. He even tied Sapper in to the
Rajaki race, who were seen first in one of the "Tales of the
Watcher" back-ups from Tales of Suspense I#57, and only
named in the OHotMU.
Where can we get more Busieks?--Snood
Does Ultimo have some little-known power to cause people to make stupid decisions? First, Sapper's clan tries to destroy him in ONE SHIP after he decimated their entire planet, then Stark/Fujikawa builds a ship on top of a killer robot that's gone toe-to-toe Iron Man and a team of Avengers that included Thor. Advanced tech is no substitute for common sense.
It would be cool to find out who Ultimo's masters where, and why they had genocidal intentions for the Rajaki.
Profile by Chuck D and Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Golden-Blade has no known connections to:
--any other Golden-somethings.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last updated: 08/01/02.
All 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