ARIES
Real Name: Marcus Lassiter
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Criminal mastermind
Group Membership: Zodiac Cartel
Affiliations: Thunderbolts gang
Enemies: Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America, Goliath (Clint Barton), Iron Man, Quicksilver, Thor, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket), Daredevil, Nick Fury, Rick Jones
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Atlanta, Georgia
First Appearance: Avengers I#72 (January, 1970)
Powers/Abilities: Aries wore a pair of ram's horns upon his head which he could use to ram opponents in battle.
Aries briefly possessed the Zodiac Key, which he was able to use to channel energy blasts, and powered his ship's force field, which he used to surround all of Manhattan; he apparently never discovered the Key's many other attributes.
History: (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#20: Zodiac (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Cartel was founded by Cornelius van Lunt (Taurus), handpicking the eleven other members; van Lunt concealed his own identity, while he was the only one who knew the identities of the others. Each member was based in a different American city as part of his nationwide criminal network, with the ultimate goal of world economic and political domination.
(Avengers I#72) - Aries held a gathering of the Zodiac brought together by Scorpio, who had captured the Avengers, only to discover that Nick Fury was masquerading as Scorpio, and the Avengers set themselves loose to battle them. Aries was able to hold the Avengers back with the Zodiac Key, but Rick Jones caused a bolt of energy from the key to strike a wall instead. Aries provided cover for the rest of the Zodiac as they made their escape, using the Key to seal up their escape route.
(Avengers I#80 (fb) - BTS) - Under the direction of Aries, Zodiac regrouped and began plotting their takeover of Manhattan. Meanwhile, Cornelius van Lunt led Zodiac's efforts to build to steal the land from Red Wolf's father, leading Red Wolf to pursue van Lunt's agent, Jason Birch, back to Manhattan.
(Avengers I#80 - BTS) - Having learned something of Zodiac's activities, the Avengers prepared to oppose them, though they split into three groups, each pursuing a different agenda (unaware that all three were Zodiac related).
(Avengers I#81 - BTS) - Van Lunt's men shot down the Avengers' quinjet containing Goliath (Clint Barton), the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, and Red Wolf, and van Lunt appeared to drown when the artificial dam was destroyed in the ensuing conflict.
(Daredevil I#69 - BTS) - Zodiac backed the Thunderbolts gang, directing them to dupe other African-Americans into joining a seeming revolution against oppression, when they were really just common criminals; the Thunderbolts were defeated by the Black Panther, Daredevil, and William Carver.
(Avengers I#82 - BTS) - Because of Van Lunt's scheme, Aries was forced to move his plans forward prematurely. Aries led the forces of Zodiac to ambush the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Quicksilver, and Thor), using gas to incapacitate then within Avengers Mansion, after which they were placed within stasis.
(Avengers I#82) - Aries surrounded Manhattan with a force field, and led Zodiac's army in conquering the city. Although no super-heroes could pierce his force field, the Black Panther and Daredevil were still in the city, and joined forces to bring down Aries. After encountering the two heroes at one of his armories, Aries prepared to have the captured Avengers executed in Madison Square Garden. Aries prepared to broadcast their deaths live, but Daredevil revived the gassed-out Avengers, and they joined forces against Aries. Aries fled to his ship, and attempted to constrict the force field in order to crush Manhattan. Thor, having no alternative, struck Aries' ship down with a lightning bolt, killing him.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger.
As an Aries, Marcus Lassiter was born between March 21st and April 19th.
by
CLARIFICATIONS: Images taken from: First Posted: 01/23/2005 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
Aries should not be confused with:
Avengers I#72, page 12
Avengers I#72, page 19, panel 3
Appearances:
Avengers I#72 (January, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#82 (November, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Last updated: 03/25/2013
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.!