THE SHADES
Membership: Arkady
Markov, Cameron McGill, Travis
Nevins, Maximillian Ritter
Purpose: To learn about warfare from the god Ares
Affiliations: Ares, H.A.M.M.E.R. (Norman Osborn)
Enemies: The Mares of Diomedes, Kyknos
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: An unidentified H.A.M.M.E.R. facility
First Appearance: Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (December, 2009)
History:
(Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (fb)) - At the urging of Norman Osborn, Ares set out to form a squad of H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives whom he would be free to train in the manner he considered best. Ares assembled a large force of H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives and began to describe what he wanted from them, denouncing the aspects of human warfare which Ares disliked, including the chain of command, the Geneva Convention, medical evacs, supply lines, white flags, the Red Cross, evacuees, refugees, taking prisoners, losing the battle but winning the war, diplomats, grooming and "having enough bullets before you go into battle." Ares declared that the H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives who joined his Shades would never lose a battle for the rest of their lives: "It's just that the rest of your life may be somewhat shorter than you'd expect."
Ares began inspecting the H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives, shooting one man in the kneecap as a means of expelling him. When he swung his axe at Arkady Markov, Markov ducked the blow. This impressed Ares, who recruited him on the spot. When Cameron McGill made a joke comparing Ares to Aries, Ares punched him, knocking him to the ground. Travis Nevins tried to stab Ares with a knife, thinking he was distracted, but Ares dismissively elbowed him in the face without turning around. Regardless, Ares recruited both McGill and Nevins for standing up to him. Finally, he chose Maximilan Ritter as the fourth member of the Shades because Ritter had "disagreeable features."
(Dark Avengers: Ares I#1) - On the first day of the Shades' training, Ares fired live rounds at the four men. On the second day, Ares fired an R.P.G. at them. On the third day he doused the training field with what the team "hoped was sewage" and fired two M-60s at them. On the fourth day, he fired a heavy caliber machine gun at them while drinking beer. Growing tired of being shot at, the Shades finally fought back and McGill hit Ares with a Ares. Ares then declared they had learned his lesson: "If you want to achieve your aims, sometimes blowing up your commander is the only sane thing to do. Some commanders need blowing up." Ares led them back to the canteen to celebrate, encouraring the four men to wear sunglasses. When some of the other H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives mocked their sunglasses, the Shades beat them up. Sitting down with Ares for a drink, Ritter doubted whether Ares was the actual Olympian god of war and wondered why Ares was the man to lead them. Ares punched Ritter and lectured his men about his Olympian origins, telling them there was much they could learn about warfare from him.
In the time that followed, Ares continued to train the Shades in combat. One day while the team was playing a game of pool, Ares was visited by his mother Hera, who claimed his son was in a former S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in Alaska.
(Dark Avengers: Ares I#2) - The Shades followed Ares to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, which they found was deserted and full of the headless corpses of Hydra agents. Ares discovered rather than his son Alex Aaron, whom he'd expected, the base was inhabited by his son Kyknos. Wanting revenge against Ares, Kyknos raised the corpses of the dead Hydra agents. The Shades attempted to put up a defensive perimeter but Ares hated the term so McGill offered the substitute "stationary offense," which Ares considered acceptable. Kyknos was soon reinforced by the Mares of Diomedes. Ares attacked the corpses and mares, giving the Shades an opportunity to escape the battle while he was overwhelmed.
(Dark Avengers: Ares I#3) - Ritter suggested the Shades should depart in their aircraft and contact the Dark Avengers to bring help for Ares but the other Shades wanted to save Ares themselves. McGill noted they could do both things - he could rig the jet to return on autopilot and send an S.O.S. message to the Avengers, while the Shades remained in Alaska and attempt to rescue Ares from Kyknos. Nevins and Ritter killed the mares and Nevins then climbed inside one of the mares' corpses as a variant on the "Trojan horse" gambit. When the reanimated Hydra corpses collected the dead mares, Nevins climbed out and shot Kyknos. Ares was freed but Kyknos swiftly killed Nevins, Markov and McGill. Ritter died fighting the reanimated Hydra agents. Ares killed Kyknos. When Norman Osborn came in answer to the Shades' S.O.S., Ares showed him the bodies of Kyknos and the Shades and informed him he'd done what he'd asked - now the Shades knew everything he could teach them.
Comments: Created by Kieron Gillen, Manuel Garcia, Stefano Gaudiano and Mark Pennington.
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 Shades should not be confused with:
Arkady Markov was a Russian member of Ares' Shades. After joining H.A.M.M.E.R., Markov claimed he'd previously been with Spetnatz, the Russian special forces; this was actually a lie, but he said it to gain respect from his comrades. When Ares was choosing members of the Shades he swung an axe at Markov's head; Markov ducked and this convinced Ares to recruit him. Markov was a little stunned when Ares made an off-hand comment that he'd fought against Russia during World War II. In battle with Kyknos, Markov was stabbed through the head by Kyknos' spear.
--Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (1 (fb), 1, 2, 3
Cameron McGill was a member of the Shades. When Ares was testing H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives to find recruits for the Shades, McGill made a joke comparing Ares to Aries. Ares punched him in the stomach, but then accepted him into the Shades. McGill helped plan the Shades' successful operation to liberate Ares from Kyknos and McGill briefly stunned Kyknos by throwing a grenade at him but Kyknos quickly revived and stabbed McGill through the chest with his spear, killing him.
--Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (1 (fb), 1, 2, 3
Travis Nevins was a member of the Shades. When Ares was recruiting people from H.A.M.M.E.R. into his the Shades, Nevins tried to ambush Ares from behind with a knife when he punched Cameron McGill. Ares easily elbowed Nevins in the face without turning around but was impressed enough to recruit Nevins into the Shades. Nevins was particularly maladjusted; when the Shades fought Kyknos' forces in Alaska, Nevins volunteered to be the body inside one of the mares of Diomedes as a play on the "Trojan Horse." Although his surprise attack helped free Ares from Kyknos, Kyknos strangled Nevins to death.
--Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (1 (fb), 1, 2, 3
Maximillian Ritter was a member of the Shades. Ritter was of Prussian descent and was considered "unbearable" by other H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives because he thought he was suited to command. Ares recruited Ritter into the Shades because he had "disagreeable features." Among the Shades, Ritter had the most knowledge about military tactics but frequently clashed with Ares because Ares had little love for his tactics and because Ritter doubted whether Ares was actually an Olympian god. In battle with Kyknos' forces in Alaska, Ritter was overwhelmed by the vast numbers of reanimated Hydra agent corpses. His final words were, "I should have just joined A.I.M."
--Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (1 (fb), 1, 2, 3
images: (without ads)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1, page 11, panel 1 (main)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1, page 7, panel 1 (Markov)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1, page 7, panel 1 (McGill)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1, page 13 (Nevins)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1, page 16, panel 2 (Ritter)
Appearances:
Dark Avengers: Ares I#1 (December, 2009) - Kieron Gillen (writer),
Manuel Garcia (penciler), Stefano Gaudiano (inker), Mark Pennington
(inker), Warren Simons (editor)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#2 (January, 2010) - Kieron Gillen (writer), Manuel
Garcia (penciler), Stefano Gaudiano (inker), Warren Simons (editor)
Dark Avengers: Ares I#3 (February, 2010) - Kieron Gillen (writer),
Manuel Garcia (penciler), Stefano Gaudiano (inker), Matthew Southworth
(inker), Warren Simons (editor)
First posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated:
11/24/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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