A-MEN

Membership: America Man, the Americano, Slasher, Stormy Weather

Purpose: To protect America (presumanly)

Aliases: "The Uncanny"

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Southern Squadron (Dingo, Lt. Smith, Nightfighter, Southern Cross), Waitangi Rangers (Aotea, Captain Kiwi, Kingfisher, Silver Fern)

Base of Operations: The A-Men's Confederate Mansion, current location unrevealed;
     formerly somewhere in New Zealand;
                    120 km (approx. 74.5 miles) southeast of Alice Springs, Australia;
                    somewhere in the U.S.A. (likely in one of the former Confederate States); all Earth-81752

First Appearance: Cyclone Presents the Southern Squadron#9 (December 1987); (Aircel/Malibu U.S. reprint) The Southern Squadron#1 (August 1990)

History:
(Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9/The Southern Squadron#1 (fb) - BTS) - The A-Men were a quartet of patriotically themed American heroes - the patriotic America Man, weather-controlling Stormy Weather, sonic-screaming Americano, and cyborg Native American Slasher.

(Cyclone!#2 / The Southern Squadron#1/2) - Americano accidentally flew to Australia, where she ran into local heroes, the werewolf Dingo and the telekinetic Southern Cross. 

(Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9/The Southern Squadron#1 (fb) - BTS) - Six months later, feeling that superheroes had become victims of media persecution in the United States of America (or perhaps spinning bad coverage of genuine errors and bad behavior on their part), the A-Men took inspiration from the old adage "Go West young man" and decided to relocate to Australia. As such they flew their entire base, a Confederate Mansion, there.

(Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9/The Southern Squadron#1) - Looking like a giant fireball to those below, the mansion flew across the Pacific Ocean and past New Zealand, traversing the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia in minutes, then over Brisbane, the coastal capital city of the northwestern state of Queensland, before making an explosive landing in a spot in Australia's Northern Territory roughly 120 km South-East of the town of Alice Springs (see comments). Soon thereafter two locals out in their ute intending to hunt kangaroos chanced to come near the mansion; to dissuade them, Stormy Weather summoned a rainstorm, but that didn't prevent them spotting the large building in a location that had been empty of human habitation the day prior. However, Stormy encouraged a swift departure by hitting their vehicle with lightning.

   The atmospheric disturbances caused by their passage through Australian airspace was detected and the eye witness account of the two hunters of a Confederate Mansion prompted the Australian government to send in their national team, the Southern Squadron, to investigate. After being airdropped nearby the Squadron sent in their team's telekinetic flier, Southern Cross, to get reconnoiter, but he was spotted and Stormy hit him with lightning, downing him, though his protective aura otherwise protected him from serious harm. The A-Men then confronted the Australian hero and introduced themselves. Southern Cross was unsure how to respond, but moments later his teammates arrived and their commanding officer, Lieutenant Smith, informed the Americans that she was an agent of the Australian government, that they were in violation of immigration laws, and demanded they explain themselves. When they failed to answer immediately she pressed them, so America Man launched into a speech about being the media problems back in the States prompting their decision to relocate. However Smith was unimpressed, pointing out that they had broken the law, and ordering them to leave Australian soil immediately. When Stormy Weather asked her pleadingly where they were expected to go, Smith coldly stated that was not her concern.

   Rather than complying however, America Man announced they'd have to fight it out, and instructed Stormy to start the attack. She generated a cyclonic storm that threatened to throw the Squadron members around, so Southern Cross used his telekinesis to deflect enough of the tempest to fly at Stormy and carry her aloft, only to discover to his horror that she could fly too, as she pinned him between her thighs mid-air. Meanwhile on the ground America Man rankled when he heard the never-PC Nightfighter call (the admittedly overweight) Stormy "big," accusing him of insulting a daughter of the U.S. of A., and he sucker punched the Aussie, calling him a stupid convict. This proved to be a mistake, since angering the pugnacious Nightfighter triggered the release of a strength-enhancing drug in his body, and the now berserk Squadronner jumped at America Man. At the same time the bionic Sioux Vietnam vet cyborg Slasher challenged Smith and tried to slice her, but she ducked and then kicked him in the head. Left to take on each other, Americano tried to appeal to Dingo's memory of their last encounter, but he told her that while sympathetic to her plight, he had to stand with his teammates, so she blasted him with sonics. In response he shifted to his lupine form and lunged for her; panicking, she switched to trying to hold him off with her whip.

   For a few seconds it looked like the A-Men had their opponents on the back foot, until Smith shouted out orders to use some team maneuvers they'd practiced. Though still pinned between Stormy Weather's thighs, Southern Cross dragged her groundwards and smashed her into Americano. At the same time Slasher spotted an opening, struck Smith on the neck seeming to stun her, and then, ignoring America Man's horrified cries to stop, he slashed her across the chest. As Slasher stood over his downed foe announcing her to be D.O.A. America Man stopped fighting, ignoring his opponent to soliloquize at great length about the tragedy that an A-Men had killed someone for the first time in the history of the world, and to exposition dump about Slasher's tragic backstory, unaware that Southern Cross and Dingo were watching with amusement, aware Smith's "demise" was a ruse and part of the maneuver they were executing. Nightfighter then grabbed America Man from behind and executed a sleeper hold on his neck, rendering him unconscious within seconds, while Smith, who had predicted that Slasher's claws couldn't penetrate her battle jacket's armor, rose up behind Slasher when he switched his focus to Nightfighter, and literally kicked his head off. As it soared through the air, Nightfighter leapt up and caught it like a football in flight.

   Holding Slasher's still living (and swearing) head, Nightfighter asked the recovering A-Men if they would now do what Smith had asked, or if they needed further convincing. The A-Men went for the former, with America Man announcing that they knew when they weren't wanted. Stormy Weather dragged Slasher's body back into the mansion and Nightfighter threw them the cyborg's head, and Smith offered them some parting advice to apply through proper channels next time. Deciding to head for the country they'd spotted on the way over, they set off for New Zealand. However, hearing them mention this prompted the Squadron to inform their Kiwi counterparts, the Waitangi Rangers, who were older, more experienced and easily as powerful as the Squadron, meaning the A-Men were unlikely to get a friendlier reception there.

Comments: Created by David de Vries and Gary Chaloner.

   Southern Squadron is an Australian superhero team whose adventures were originally published by Australian comic company Cyclone Comics, before being reprinted in part in the United States by Aircel - which was an imprint of Malibu, later bought by Marvel, making the Squadron fair game for the Appendix. It should be stressed though that Aircel/Malibu didn't buy ownership of the characters, and so Marvel doesn't own them either - they remain the property of their creators.

   The A-Men relocating to live in the Australian desert was a parody of the X-Men doing much the same in their own comics around that same time. As such the A-Men are a parody of the X-Men, though obviously with a heavy dose of generic patriotic U.S. hero. Stormy Weather is very clearly a riff on Storm, Slasher is mostly Wolverine, America Man is Captain America (if we're sticking to Marvel), and Americano I find harder to match to a superhero, but visually she's  the pop singer Madonna.

   Per Google Maps, the location mentioned in the Southern Squadron story (roughly 75 miles South-East of Alice Springs) would be close to the Magdala Gold Mine (Longlead), Arltunga Gold Field, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australia.

   The Waitangi Rangers, mentioned at the end of the A-Men story, showed up in Australia's Southern Squadron#11 (reprinted in Southern Squadron: Freedom of Information Act#2), so it's fairly feasible that they mentioned what happened to the A-Men when they arrived in New Zealand; however, I unfortunately haven't been able to locate my copy of that issue, so I can't confirm nor add the info here at this moment. If I do find it and it does include further info I'll update this profile.

   Both the original Australian publication and American reprint were in black and white, but the stories were reprinted in color in a 2008 TPB, Southern Squadron: Hold On To Your Braincells, which provided the images used on this page.

   This profile was completed on 09/09/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Southern Squadron.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The A-Men have no known connections to:

America Man

America Man was the patriotic leader of the A-Men, "Uncle Sam's favorite nephew" and "the favorite son of liberty." He appeared to have some degree of enhanced strength and durability, as well as a belt buckle that would begin to play the Star-Spangled Banner if he pulled out the pin. However, his real power was the ability to wax lyrical about things at the drop of a hat.

--Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9

Americano

(Cyclone!#2 / The Southern Squadron#1/2) - Americano was America's first Hispanic hero, a mutant possessing a sonic scream, and dab hand with a whip. Failing to take a left turn at Albuquerque Americano accidentally flew to Sydney, Australia, eventually landing on top of Sydney Harbor Bridge to try and get her bearings. Approached there by local superheroes Southern Cross and Dingo, she agreed to go to a restaurant for a cappucino rather than attempting a shouting conversation atop the windy landmark, and there realized her error. As she explained that she was new to heroics and struggled to be respected by her peers, Cross, who was attracted to her, but conversely Americano had decided Dingo was hot (once he shed his werewolf hair to become human again, albeit still a very hirsute one). Unaware of this Southern Cross tried to hit on her and encourage her to stay in Australia, but instead managed to insult her thick accent as being impossible to understand, then dig the hole deeper when he tried to complement it as being "working class." As a result Americano informed them it was time for her to return home. Trying to be charming, Southern Cross kissed her farewell on the back of her hand, which provided Americano the excuse to ask Dingo if he also had a kiss for her. He smooched her directly on the lips, transforming to his werewolf form during their liplock, which left her surprised and breathless, but seemingly not displeased.

(Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9) - With the other A-Men Americano tried to move to Australia, but this brought them into conflict with the Southern Squadron. Paired off against Dingo, she tried to appeal to their mutual attraction, but he regretfully informed her that he had to stand by his teammates and they fought.

Comments: Since she somehow managed to get to Australia from the United States without realizing she'd left the country, she can presumably fly. She was fairly inexperienced and new to the hero game.

--Cyclone!#2  (Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9

Slasher

Slasher was a bionic Sioux chieftain and embittered Vietnam vet. He was originally injured during that conflict by an M14 "jumping jack" mine, but was rebuilt ("for we had the technology") better than before, faster, stronger. However his proud warrior spirit couldn't handle the public ridicule, and he was shunned by his people, and roamed the plains searching for the love denied him, until finally the A-Men took him in.

   He had mostly unrevealed bionic enhancements, which included a scanner eye, claws that extended out his fingers, and the ability to survive being decapitated. He spoke in a weird staccato manner, spelling out some words in phonetic alphabet before saying them, and making comparative comments such as "You're mean; I'm meaner."

--Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9

Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather was mutant mistress of the storm, wind and Las Vegas nightclub circuit. She could control the weather, notably generating wind, rain, storms and lightning, and could fly.

--Cyclone Australia Presents the Southern Squadron#9

images: (without ads)
The Southern Squadron#1, p10, pan3 (main image)
The Southern Squadron#1, p13, pan1 (America Man)
The Southern Squadron#1, p15, pan1 (Americano)
The Southern Squadron#1, p15, pan4 (Americano using sonic power)
The Southern Squadron#1, p14, pan3 (Slasher)
The Southern Squadron#1, p19, pan2-3 (Slasher being decapitated)
The Southern Squadron#1, p12, pan1 (Stormy Weather)

Appearances:
Cyclone Presents the Southern Squadron#9/4 (December 1987) - David de Vries (writer), Gary Chaloner (art); reprinted in USA in Southern Squadron#1 (August 1990)
Cyclone!#2 (1985) - David de Vries (writer, artist); reprinted in USA in Southern Squadron#1/2 (August 1990)

First Posted: 09/21/2026
 Last updated: 09/09/2026

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 Groups