SLEEPERS (British)

Membership: First Sleeper (Tommy), Second Sleeper ("Victor"), Third Sleeper (Aftermath)

Purpose: To be activated in the event of England's defeat, and to either conquer their enemies or avenge their defeat. They were apparently programmed to believe that since England had been conquered, that those present in England at the time of their awakening must be their enemies.

Affiliations: Herbert Isaacs/Doorman (creator), British Government

Enemies: Enemies of England; Ambassador, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Captain Britain, Captain Kerosene, D.U.C.K., Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey, Plasmer, Silver Surfer, Jack Smithers, Tommy

Base of Operations: London, England

Aliases: Sleepers, Sleepers of Britain, British Sleepers

First Appearance: Plasmer#1 (Marvel UK) (November, 1993)

Powers: The Sleepers are composed of Freestate Technology--"constructs exist in a never-ending from flow from crystal to stone to light--as entities they are never truly resolved, and what is not fully created cannot be properly destroyed." Each of the three Sleepers had abilities based on one of these states: Stone, Crystal, Light.

History: Herbert Isaacs created Freestate Technology during World War I. From this technology was created the first British Sleeper, codenamed: Tommy. Tommy was stored in a dormant state as a statue, to be activated in the event of England's defeat in war. Isaacs did not survive World War I, but his information, the Isaac Code, was stored in a secret place. His work could be accessed upon a certain code in case of national emergency. Of those who knew of Tommy's existence, only Jack Smithers survived the Great War.

During or shortly after World War II, agents in the British Government secretly accessed the Isaac Code and created an updated version: the second Sleeper. The third Sleeper was created in similar fashion during the Gulf War, in the early 1990s. Both were stored in a dormant state to be activated in time of need.

(Plasmer#1-4) - Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey succeeded in prying secret information from the mind of Jack Smithers. Using this information, she accessed the programming of the Sleepers, and activated the Sleepers. The First Sleeper,Tommy, activated and began rampaging through London. A group of heroes gathered together and eventually blew Tommy apart. With his defeat, the second Sleeper, a creature of crystal, was activated. It, too, rampaged through London, although Oonagh Mullarkey attempted to take control of the crystalline Sleeper. She briefly succeeded until her superior in Mys-Tech, Algernon Crowe, unwittingly damaged the equipment with which she controlled it. Meanwhile, Tommy reactivated, but had been freed of its programming, and so joined the fight against the other Sleeper.

 

Upon regaining control of itself, the second Sleeper animated and took control of a number of London's statues, leading them in an assault on Whitehall (planning to launch a retalitory strike against the American "invaders." The heroes succeeded in destroying the statues, and the Silver Surfer joined the fight in time to shatter the crystalline Sleeper. The Ambassador then "diplomatically bagged" its remain, preventing it from reforming and reactivating.

 

 

 

The Silver Surfer attempted a pre-emptive strike against the third Sleeper, a creature of light, who merely absorbed the Surfer's energies,a nd transformed into the powerful being Aftermath. Aftermath planned to raze the entire nation to "avenge" England, but Isaacs himself, still existing in the form of the Doorman, assisted the heroes in defeating/destroying Aftermath. The Doorman then destroyed all evidence of Freestate technology in the world, although he did grant Tommy the right to continued existence.

Comments: Created by Glenn Dakin and Pascual Ferry.

Despite multiple reviews, re-readings, I'm not certain if all of the statues activated by the Second Sleeper were also dormant Sleepers, possibly also created by Freestate technology, or whether they were just regular statues that the Second Sleeper animated and controlled. He did refer to them as "My Brothers," for whatever that's worth.

The Second Sleeper's name was revealed in Captain Kerosene's profile in Captain America: America's Avenger (2011).

CLARIFICATIONS:
The British Sleepers should be distinguished from:

the First Sleeper-see Tommy

Second Sleeper

("Victor")

This version was constructed during World War II as a contingency against defeat by the Axis powers. It was stored in the form of a stained glass window in a church in London, and was recently activated after the temporary defeat/destruction of Tommy, the first Sleeper. It briefly rampaged through London, although Oonagh Mullarkey attempted to take control of the crystalline Sleeper. She briefly succeeded until her superior in Mys-Tech, Algernon Crowe, unwittingly damaged the equipment with which she controlled it.
Upon regaining control of itself, the second Sleeper animated and took control of a number of London's statues, leading them in an assault on Whitehall (planning to launch a retalitory strike against the American "invaders." The heroes succeeded in destroying the statues, and the Silver Surfer joined the fight in time to shatter the crystalline Sleeper. The Ambassador then "diplomatically bagged" its remain, preventing it from reforming and reactivating.

The Second Sleeper is a crystalline semi-humanoid. It can grow to at least 20-30 feet tall and possesses some degree of superhuman strength and resistance to injury. Although it is brittle, it can reform after being shattered. In addition, it can animate other statues (see comments) to assist in its mission of destruction/revenge.
Possibly, the Second Sleeper could reform itself even after being blasted by the Surfer, if it were released from the Ambassador's diplomatic bag.
--Plasmer#2 (3

Third Sleeper-see Aftermath

Appearances:
Plasmer#1-4 (November, 1993 - February, 1994) - Glenn Dakin (writer), Paschalis Ferry (pencils), Sean Hardy (inks)

Last updated: 01/01/12.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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