History:
RAIDERS
Membership: Raider-1, Raider-2,
Raider-3
Purpose: Mercenaries
Affiliations: Edwin Cord, Kearson DeWitt, Justin Hammer, Hunters, Mauler (Brendan Doyle), Roxxon Oil Corporation, Seekers (Chain, Grasp, Sonic)
Enemies: Alpha Flight (Aurora/Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, Box/Roger Bochs, Northstar/Jean-Paul Beaubier, Puck/Eugene Judd, Vindicator/Heather Hudson), Avengers (Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Living Lightning/Miguel Santos, Wonder Man/Simon Williams), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Scott Lang, James Rhodes, U.S. Air Force, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: Iron Man I#145 (April, 1981)
History:
(Iron Man I#145) - Edwin Cord outfitted Raider-1, Raider-2 and Raider-3 with their battlesuits that were derived from the Mauler battlesuit project and deployed them to the 24th Annual Conclave of Electronics Engineers and Innovators in Dallas, Texas. Hoping to secure a lucrative contract providing weapons to S.H.I.E.L.D., Cord wanted the Raiders to demonstrate what his technology was capable of by creating a disturbance which Iron Man would respond to. The three Raiders met in a hotel room near the conference to don their armor then invaded the convention floor, targeting the Stark International display in the hopes of drawing out Iron Man.
Raider-1 was tackled by Stark employee Scott Lang but Raider-3 fired a sonic blast which made Lang unconscious. As the convention's security guards attempted to halt the Raiders - only for Raider-2 to put up his force shield to prevent the guards from injuring the Raiders - Tony Stark used the distraction as an opportunity to conceal himself and don his Iron Man armor. When Iron Man appeared the Raiders were pleased to see their plan was succeeding. Raider-2 threw his syphon net at Iron Man but the hero dodged it. When Iron Man fired his repulsor rays at Raider-2 the force shield absorbed them. Iron Man switched tactics by attacking Raider-1 but Raider-1 used his acid spray to hit both of Iron Man's gauntlets, rendering his repulsor rays useless. Next, Raider-3 fired his shatter-guns and hit Iron Man so hard that he was embedded inside a nearby wall. Iron Man turned on his unibeam to temporarily blind the Raiders while he extricated from the wall. Iron Man went into a room in the hotel beneath the convention floor then smashed his fists through the ceiling above to grab Raider-3 and drag him below. Iron Man started to beat Raider-3 which concerned the other two as their plan did not account for what might happen if one of them were captured. Raider-1 switched to his fire jet and started a fire between Iron Man and Raider-2. The three Raiders then fled the convention scene.
The next day Iron Man was giving a presentation at a Stark exhibit in an auditorium when the three Raiders attacked again. This time Iron Man was prepared for them and had set up an image inducer to create holographic Iron Men to confuse the Raiders. Iron Man struck all three Raiders at once while they were confused then flew outside of the auditorium so their fight wouldn't injure bystanders. Raider-3 tried his shatter-gun on Iron Man again but Iron Man had fixed one of his gauntlets and his repulsor ray stopped the sonic wave from hitting him. Raider-1 switched to his laser gun, which couldn't pierce Iron Man's armor, but gave Raider-2 an opportunity to throw his syphon net over Iron Man. Iron Man fell from the sky into a boxing ring. Although his armor had been mostly drained by the syphon net he quickly attached a nearby electrical cable to repower himself before the Raiders caught up. Iron Man quickly punched out Raider-2 then threw the syphon net at Raider-3 to nullify his suit's power. Raider-1 was distracted when the crowd in the boxing stadium started hurling bottles and insults at him, permitting Iron Man to get in close and place his working repulsor ray next to his head. Raider-1 surrendered. Cord's scheme was an utter failure as rather than being impressed by Cord's technology, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested him for sponsoring the Raiders.
(Alpha Flight I#113 (fb)) - The Raiders and a new Mauler were hired by Roxxon Oil to venture to Canada and battle Vindicator so that Roxxon could analyze her battlesuit and use the analysis to improve their technology. The Raiders and the Mauler invaded the Montreal Forum and challenged Alpha Flight to a fight. Five members of Alpha Flight happened to be present at the event and answered the challenge. Northstar used his superhuman speed to outpace Raider-3 and knock him out, while Aurora knocked Raider-2 into the boards of the arena and Puck bounded fist-first into Raider-1's face. Vindicator defeated the Mauler but Roxxon obtained the data they required.
(Iron Man I#225 - BTS) - Tony Stark learned Justin Hammer had used stolen copies of his designs to outfit a number of armored criminals, including the Raiders.
(Iron Man I#226) - Again working for Cord, the Raiders plundered a U.S. Air Force jet mid-air so they could confiscate valuable electronics from its cargo hold for profit, but Iron Man had been tracking them since learning they were using Stark technology and he halted the theft. Raider-3 confidently prepred his shatter-guns for combat but Iron Man swiftly flung a negator pack at his battlesuit to nullify all the Stark technology inside. With the negator pack on Raider-3 was immobilized. Realizing Iron Man had prepared for this fight, Raider-1 flew to the cockpit and threatened to murder the pilot unless Iron Man backed off. Iron Man exited the plane but sent a radio message to the pilot telling him to duck as he flew through the cockpit and struck Raider-1 down, planting a negator pack on him. Raider-2 attempted to flee but Iron Man fought him in mid-air, easily countering his syphon net and finally planting a negator pack on him. Raider-2 fell from the sky but Iron Man prevented him from falling to his death then turned him over to the police. Ignorant of Iron Man's motivations, the Raiders' defeat convinced Cord that Iron Man was coming after him.
(Avengers West Coast Annual I#7/Iron Man Annual I#13) - DeWitt sent the Raiders, Seekers and Hunters to attack Stark Enterprises' facility. The Avengers defended the facility and quickly defeated all of the armored antagonists.
(Heroic Age: Prince of Power I#1) - Iron Man again fought the three Raiders.
(Tony Stark: Iron Man I#6) - Outfitted with modified armors, the three Raiders attempted to seize a truck carrying a shipment of Stark Unlimited's new video game platform, 'eScape.' Iron Man, the Wasp and James Rhodes (aboard his ship the Manticore) defended the truck and defeated the trio. When the Wasp defeated one of the Raiders by blasting his faceplate with her stinger he flew out-of-control into a freeway sign, causing a car to crash, but Iron Man saved the occupants.
Comments: Created by David Michelinie, Bob Layton and John Romita Jr.
The Raiders are seen in History of the Marvel Universe I#4 in an image representing the Armor Wars storyline.
This profile was completed on 11/24/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Raiders should not be confused with:
Raider-1's battlesuit was outfitted with selective-fire wrist guns, devices which rotated around his wrists and could fire a variety of different offensive weapons including explosive blasts, a fire jet, lasers and a jet of powerful acid. Like all the Raiders, Raider-1 could fly and his battlesuit provided some defense against injury.
--Iron Man I#145 (226, Avengers West Coast Annual I#7,
Iron Man Annual I#13
Raider-2's battlesuit was outfitted with a defensive force shield and syphon net. Raider-2's force shield could be expanded in size to defend his two comrades. The syphon-net could be thrown over enemies; it would drain electrical energy from whomever it entrapped. Like all the Raiders, Raider-2 could fly and his battlesuit provided some defense against injury. Raider-2 was formerly in the U.S. Air Force.
--Iron Man I#145 (226, Avengers West Coast Annual I#7,
Iron Man Annual I#13
Raider-3's battlesuit was outfitted with amplisonic shatter-guns. The shatter-guns sent out sonic waves that could knock a human being unconscious. Like all the Raiders, Raider-3 could fly and his battlesuit provided some defense against injury.
--Iron Man I#145 (226, Avengers West Coast Annual I#7,
Iron Man Annual I#13
images: (without ads)
Tony Stark: Iron Man I#6, pages 3-4, panel 1 (main)
Iron Man I#145, page 6, panel 8 (original armor)
Iron Man I#145, page 5, panel 1 (Raider-1)
Iron Man I#145, page 5, panel 2 (Raider-2)
Iron Man I#145, page 5, panel 3 (Raider-3)
Appearances:
Iron Man I#145 (April, 1981) - David Michelinie (writer), Bob Layton
(co-plot, finishes), John Romita Jr. (breakdowns), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Iron Man I#225-226 (December, 1987-January, 1988) - David Michelinie
(writer), Bob Layton (co-plot, finishes), Mark Bright (breakdowns), Mark
Gruenwald (editor)
Avengers West Coast Annual I#7 (1992) - Roy Thomas (writer), M. C. Wyman
(penciler), Tim Dzon (inker), John Tartaglione (inker), Nel Yomtov
(editor)
Iron Man Annual I#13 (1992) - Len Kaminski (writer), Gene Colan
(penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Alpha Flight I#113 (October, 1992) - Sven Larsen (writer), Craig
Brasfield (penciler), Frank Turner (inker), Rob Tokar (editor)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power I#1 (July, 2010) - Greg Pak (writer), Fred
Van Lente (writer), Reilly Brown (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Jason
Paz (inker), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Tony Stark: Iron Man I#6 (January, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Jeremy
Whitley (writer), Valerio Schiti (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 09/03/2026
Last updated:
11/24/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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