TECHMASTER
TECHMASTER
Real Name: William "Billy" Bitzer
Identity/Class: Human cyborg
Occupation: Electronics and lighting expert
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Doctor Sax, Enforcers (Fancy Dan, Montana, Ox/Ronald
Bloch), Johnny Guitar, Roberts (chauffeur);
formerly Harry S. Osgood
Enemies: Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Harry Osgood, Lance Steele
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Formerly an office within the
World Trade Center (possibly topical), Manhattan, New York;
formerly a Long Island factory (owned through various
corporate disguises)
First Appearance: Dazzler#7 (September, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Techmaster had cybernetic hands that
provided him with superhuman grip (he could crush a solid steel object 3-4
inches in diameter) and a devastating punch.
He was a highly talented electronics and lighting expert. His
inventions included the lightning simulator (though it was uncontrollable and
lethally dangerous), a voice simulator (into which he could speak to have it
transform his voice to perfectly mimic another person's), laser equipment (used
to process raw materials into delicate machine parts), and sound transduction
equipment.
History:
(Dazzler#8 (fb)) - Calling himself Techmaster, Billy Bitzer was Harry Osgood's
electronics and lighting expert. His "magic hands" were world renowned, as was
his handsome face, and he was as much a celebrity as the stars he did technical
work for.
(Dazzler#8 (fb)) - At the height of the disco craze (topical?), Osgood was promoting a spectacular New Year's Eve concert in Queen's Dreamland Disco. Techmaster decided to thrill the jaded crowd by creating artificial lightning bolts inside the disco. Osgood insisted that Techmaster not try untested effect, but Techmaster was infuriated and he did it anyway. Initially spectacular, the effect turned disastrous when a "lightning bolt" went astray and killed an innocent reveler. As more bolts went wild, the crowd panicked. Techmaster tried to use the cut-off switch but found it shorted out. He blamed Osgood for sabotaging him but was then struck by a stray bolt. Despite the efforts of Osgood and his people, and the fire department, many people died or were injured.
(Dazzler#8 (fb) - BTS) - Techmaster survived, but his face was horribly disfigured, and his hands had to be amputated to save his life. Techmaster blamed Osgood for his misfortune and of the deaths of the innocents.
(Dazzler#8 (fb) - BTS) - Techmaster eventually recovered
enough to open his own successful electronics firm. He even built artificial
hands out of super-sophisticated components.
(Dazzler#7 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking vengeance against Osgood, Techmaster sprung the
Enforcers out of Ryker's Island.
(Dazzler#7) - Techmaster met with the Enforcers in his office, telling them their assignment was easy, to "off" Harry S. Osgood whom he saw as a mass murderer who had evaded justice for years.
(Dazzler#12 (fb) - BTS) - Techmaster attended one of Dazzler's shows and was impressed with her singing. He was intrigued with her spectacular lightshow -- unaware that it was her mutant sound transduction ability -- and deduced that she or someone in her employ had developed the secret of manufacturing micro-transducers.
(Dazzler#8) - The Enforcers trashed Osgood's office then
departed, telling Osgood "Techmaster sends his regards." Techmaster was pleased
when the Enforcers reported the encounter to him.
The Enforcers later abducted Osgood and took him to the Food
Dimension super market, on the site of the former Dreamland Disco. Arriving on
the scene late, Techmaster observed from his car that the Enforcers had failed
to kill Osgood, though he was apparently unaware that they had been stopped by
the Dazzler.
(Dazzler#12 (fb) - BTS) - Techmaster had audio-visual monitors
planted within Osgood's office, home, and car. He also had a bomb implanted in
Osgood's home.
(Dazzler#12) - Via a camera implanted within a statuette in
Osgood's office, Techmaster monitored his every move. Using a voice simulation
device, Techmaster impersonated Osgood over the phone and cancelled the next
day's meeting with Osgood's business associate, Lou. The next day he used the
same device to impersonate Sid Sterling and gave Alison a work assignment at his
Long Island sound transduction factory. Techmaster then confronted her,
admitting there was not going to be a show, but rather that he had summoned her
there to offer her a large payment in exchange for the secret of what he
believed to be micro-transducers. Trying to keep her powers secret, she told him
that she was sworn to secrecy about her stage effects. After using his
cybernetic hands to crush solid steel and hinting what they could do to her if
she didn't comply with his wishes, he locked her inside the master control both.
He then confronted Osgood at his supposed lunch meeting, crushed Osgood's
bodyguard's gun and intimidated the bodyguard into leaving, and then threatened
to kill Osgood and blow up his house (killing his family) if he didn't accompany
him back to his factory.
Arriving at the factory, Techmaster ignored Osgood's efforts
to explain his own innocence, noting that he was going to kill Osgood and then
escape to a pre-arranged life far, far away. Techmaster, donning protective
goggles, brought Osgood towards his laser equipment (used to process raw
materials into delicate machine parts) and then prepared to drive him over the
railing into the lasers. Having broken out of the control booth, Dazzler blasted
Techmaster with dazzling light, forcing him to release Osgood, but his goggles
protected him from being more than just stunned. Shrugging off a low-level laser
blast, Techmaster determined to force the secret of her transduction technology
from her. He forced her into the soundproof control panel, through her against
the wall, and then crushed her radio. Unphased by her use of fire retardant foam
and then the fire extinguisher itself against him, he swung wildly at her,
punching holes through panels. Lacking any sound to transduce into light, she
used her dancer's agility and speed to dodge his attacks and then punched him,
but she hurt her hand nearly as much as she did his face. She then swung her
Gucci bag at him, hitting him repeatedly and knocking him back through the door
and then over the railing. Before he could fall to his death on the laser bank,
however, the revived Osgood grabbed his arms and hauled him to safety.
Telling Osgood that they were even and that he wouldn't be
bothering him again, Techmaster calmly and somberly departed, and neither
Dazzler nor Osgood tried to stop him.
(Avengers: The Initiative#27 (fb)/Dazzler#20 (fb) - BTS) - The Techmaster equipped two new criminals, Johnny Guitar and Doctor Sax, with weaponized instruments and a pair of sight-enhancing goggles.
Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco, Danny Fingeroth, Frank Springer, Frank McLaughlin, and Armando Gill.
Gloria "I Will Survive" Gaynor was the headliner at Osgood's show when Techmaster lost his hands. That's almost certainly topical info, though I guess it could have been some reunion/flashback special.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to
images: (without ads)
Dazzler#8, p8, panel 4 & 5 (hands & face)
p10, panel 6 (normal face)
#12, p19, panel 7 (vs. Dazzler)
Appearances:
Dazzler#7 (September, 1981) - Tom DeFalco (plot), Danny Fingeroth (script,
co-editor), Frank Springer (penciler), Frank McLaughlin & Armando Gill (inkers),
Jim Shooter (editor)
Dazzler#8 (October, 1981) - Tom DeFalco (idea), Danny Fingeroth (writer), Frank
Springer (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Dazzler#12 (February, 1982) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Frank Springer (penciler),
Vince Colletta (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Avengers: The Initiative#27 (October, 2009) - Christos Gage (writer), Rafa Sandoval (penciler), Roger Bonet (inker), Jeannine Schaefer (editor)
Last updated: 12/23/07
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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