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| Erik Josten | |
|---|---|
 Erik Josten as Atlas seen on the cover ofNew Thunderbolts #12 (Nov. 2005). Art byTom Grummett. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Power Man: The Avengers #21 (Oct. 1965)[1] As Smuggler: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #49 (Dec. 1980) As Goliath: Iron Man Annual #7 (Oct. 1984) As Atlas: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #449 (Jan. 1997) |
| Created by | Power Man: Stan Lee Don Heck Smuggler: Roger Stern Jim Mooney Atlas: Kurt Busiek Mark Bagley |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Erik Stephan Josten |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Thunderbolts Lethal Legion Masters of Evil Emissaries of Evil Defenders Revengers[2] |
| Partnerships | Swordsman |
| Notable aliases | Power Man,Smuggler,Goliath,Atlas |
| Abilities | Pym particle/Ionic-energy physiology
Expert hand-to-hand combatant Skilled marksman & tactician Trained pilot |
Erik Josten, also known asPower Man,Smuggler,Goliath andAtlas, is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character has been a prominent member of both theMasters of Evil and theThunderbolts.
Created by writerStan Lee and artistDon Heck, the character first appeared inThe Avengers #21 (Oct. 1965) as Power Man, inPeter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #49 (Dec. 1980) as Smuggler, inIron Man Annual #7 (October 1984) as Goliath, and inThe Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #449 (Jan. 1997) as Atlas.[3]
Erik Josten was born inMilwaukee, Wisconsin. A former AWOL Marine turned mercenary, he is employed byHeinrich Zemo as head of his South American security/mercenary force. After Zemo's death, Josten is convinced by theEnchantress to undergo the same 'ionic-ray' treatment (from a machine invented by Zemo) asSimon Williams (Wonder Man), making Josten super-strong (though not as strong as Wonder Man since the treatment was specifically calibrated to Williams and the Enchantress wasn't aware it had to be tailored to the subject). Taking the name "Power Man", he becomes the Enchantress' partner and battles theAvengers at her request.[4] She used illusions to turn the city against the Avengers, thoughCaptain America used a tape recording to prove the Avengers were innocent.[5] He becomes a professional supervillain and partners with theSwordsman, and the two fight the Avengers again under the leadership of the brainwashedBlack Widow.[6] Alongside the Swordsman, he becomes an unwitting pawn of theRed Skull and fights Captain America.[7] He briefly serves as an agent of theMandarin.[8] He later fights the Avengers again as a member of the firstLethal Legion.[9]
Eventually, Josten meetsLuke Cage, a hero who for a time has assumed the name Power Man.[10] The two fight over the right to use the name, and Cage wins.[11] Josten then joinsCount Nefaria's new Lethal Legion under the promise that Nefaria would greatly increase Josten's powers. This he does, but Nefaria later steals Josten's enhanced powers (along with those of his other superhuman underlings), which greatly reduces his strength.[12]
His strength fading, Josten changes his costume and becomes a smuggler, taking the unimaginative yet appropriate name of the "Smuggler". In his first and only appearance as Smuggler, he is defeated bySpider-Man.[13] Spider-Man then assists Josten against theMaggia.[14]
Later, he gains the ability to grow to giant size fromKarl Malus using a sample ofHank Pym's growth serum. He then takes on the name "Goliath", a name used previously bysuperheroes, and again changes his costume. He fightsJames Rhodes as Iron Man and theWest Coast Avengers, who defeat him.[15] Using his ability, he is sent byDoctor Doom to kill Spider-Man, but Goliath is defeated thanks to the hero's cosmic powers.
Under the leadership of theGrim Reaper, Goliath again battles the West Coast Avengers alongsideMan-Ape,Nekra andUltron.[16] His escape attempt is foiled by Avengers.[17]
Josten joins a new fourth version of theMasters of Evil, founded byHelmut Zemo. During his time with this group, Josten is one of the villains who invades and capturesAvengers Mansion and beatsHercules severely.[18]
Goliath later battles Spider-Man during the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline.[19]
His attempted breakout at theVault is foiled by the Avengers andFreedom Force.[20] He also battles Wonder Man in an attempt to usurp fame.[21]
Josten as Goliath later fightsGiant-Man (Bill Foster),[22]Ant-Man (Scott Lang),[23] and then anotherGoliath (Clint Barton).[24] He then has a rematch with Wonder Man.[25] He is then victimized by Kosmosian criminals, and rescued byGiant-Man (Hank Pym).[26]
When Zemo later decides to disguise the Masters of Evil as a superhero team called theThunderbolts, Josten creates the original identity (and costume) of "Atlas".[27] During this time he began dating the Thunderbolts' liaisonDallas Riordan to the NYC mayor's office.[28] However, like most of the Thunderbolts, Atlas begins to enjoy public admiration, and eventually reforms to attempt to be a genuine superhero, even after the Thunderbolts' criminal past is publicly revealed.[29] After absorbing the energy from one of Nefaria's weapons, an "ionic bomb", Josten mutates into a gigantic "ionic energy creature". Scourge killed/dispersed him to protect the town of Burton Canyon, Colorado.[30] Atlas' ionic form later begins haunting Riordan in much the same way Wonder Man's ionic form had haunted the Scarlet Witch.[31] Later, Atlas would possess Dallas and empower her with the ionic energy.[32] Together, they rejoin the other founding Thunderbolt members in defeatingGraviton and are shunted toCounter-Earth.[33]
When they are separated upon returning from Counter-Earth, Dallas takes the ionic energy, leaving Josten powerless, a situation which lasts untilFixer gives him a new dose of Pym particles.[34] This lasts until the end of theAvengers/Thunderbolts limited series, when Erik asks Hank Pym to remove the particles from his system.[35] He regains the ability to change his size by reclaiming the ionic energy from Dallas, leaving her a paraplegic again.[36]
Altered again by the Wellspring, during a battle against theGrandmaster in which he has to surrender his powers temporarily to Zemo, he is left stuck in a giant form, too heavy even to move and communicate. He is later able to send back some ionic energy to Dallas, restoring her legs.[37]
Atlas is restored to normal size by scientists at Camp Hammond, and Atlas is registered as part of theInitiative, although his size-changing powers are considered too unreliable to place him on an Initiative team. However,Nighthawk hires him along with other questionable heroes after hisDefenders team is decommissioned byS.H.I.E.L.D.[38]
Atlas was later recruited byWonder Man (whose ionic energy leaking problem was affecting his judgement) to join hisRevengers.[39] Atlas's reason for joining the Revengers was that his numerous requests to join the Initiative were denied.[40]
During theAvengers: Standoff! storyline, Atlas was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. UsingKobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed Atlas into an unnamed Pleasant Hillmailman.[41]
Following the Pleasant Hill incident, Atlas joinedWinter Soldier's incarnation of the Thunderbolts to prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from continuing the Kobik Project.[42]
During theMonsters Unleashed storyline, Atlas was seen fighting the Leviathon Tide monsters inWashington, D.C.[43]
Atlas was later approached by Helmut Zemo and his third incarnation of the Masters of Evil to recruit him. When he resisted, the Masters of Evil attacked him asJolt shows up to help him. During the fight against the Masters of Evil, Atlas and the Thunderbolts were defeated and captured.[44]
In theSecret Empire storyline, Atlas, Moonstone, and Fixer eventually defect to the Masters of Evil after Helmut Zemo uses Kobik's abilities to send Winter Soldier back in time. After Kobik shattered, Atlas assisted in searching for her fragments for Zemo to put her back together.[45] When the Masters of Evil become part of Hydra's Army of Evil, Atlas took part in the attack on Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill.[46]
During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Atlas was among the original Thunderbolts line-up to join the Fuglar Victoris led byValentina Allegra de Fontaine in herCitizen V form. Moonstone stayed by Atlas' side to keep him safe during each of the battles.[47]
Similarly toWonder Man andCount Nefaria, Erik Josten is a virtually indestructible immortal made of "ionic energy", as a result of the application of mutagenic processes developed byHeinrich Zemo.[48] He possesses incredible superhuman dynamism regarding strength, coordination, stamina and durability. He is practically invulnerable even at normal size.[49]
After losing his ionic powers to Nefaria,[50] Josten would gain new abilities as a result ofKarl Malus' experimentations, additionally gaining the power to increase his size and mass at will.[15] Originally he was limited to convert his normal 6-foot (1.8 m) height to his maximum 60-foot (18 m), but he later learned to increase this limit when he was angry.[51] Josten psionically draws the additional mass from an extra-dimensional source of "Cosmos", to which it returns as he decreases in size. At his maximum height he is capable of greatly outmatchingNamor,[52] or even defeatingHyperion with a single attack.[53] His durability also increases with his height, and if his physical state were ever to be disrupted in any way, he would eventually physically reincorporate himself even from death if need be, giving him an expedient regenerative ability capable of reconstructing his body, if given enough time.[54]
Once, when helping renegade Kosmossians, he was able to absorb the majority of the mass from their prison, allowing them to escape. His obsession with size and power made him their prisoner as they continually filled him with the mass from their prison. Encased in an extra dimension, and hundreds of miles tall, he was saved by the 100-foot Giant Man (Hank Pym) and was returned to normal size and in a coma. In a similar vein he could funnel Pym Particle energies through himself from Kosmos to cause all manner of mass shifting induction that affected everyone and everything differently (such as giving Clint Barton his size-shifting abilities without Pym Particle intake).[55]
After Nefaria had consolidated his ionic energy to be predominant, Eric gained access to the fullest effect of his latent abilities.[56] As his ionic force meshes with the growth particles in his system; Goliath also has access to certain abilities which Simon and Nefaria do not have, such as extra-dimensional breech generation, which can be turned against him if he grows too large or has his energy polarity shifted.[57][58] Becoming pure ionic energy much like Nefaria and Wonder Man; making him powerful enough to stalemate two superhero teams.[59] Able to fly by force of will, maintain increased physicals while at normal height, lacking the need for physical sustenance and absorb, transfer or manipulate ionic energy at will.[60]
After his energy form became unstable and he exploded, Atlas started using the paraplegic Dallas Riorden as an anchor to manifest in the living world,[61] giving her some of his Atlas powers and an energy form to match. Powers beyond increased physical ability, such as his size shifting, energy manipulation and flight.[62] Even while separated from her, Eric could still bestow on Riorden some of his ionic energy, giving her both mobility and slightly enhanced conditioning back.[63]
Josten is a good hand-to-hand combatant, having received combat training in armed and unarmed offense when working both in the military and as a mercenary. He is an able pilot and aviation specialist, capable of flying most any kind of aerodynamic vehicle. And while preferring to serve rather than lead, Mr. Josten also excels as a combat strategist while on the field.
Erik's parents were farmers who lost their farm as a result of Erik's crimes as Power Man making the news.[64] No one in their town would do business with the Jostens. His older brother Carl became an alcoholic and a gambling addict. His younger sister Lindy was killed when she was 14 years old and Erik was 17. She tried to follow him and his friends on her bike and was eventually hit by a car.[65] His younger brotherConrad was so ashamed of Erik that he ran away and changed his name.[64] Carl was murdered by a loan shark he owed money to. Conrad was inducted into the Redeemers and took Erik's previous codename Smuggler and was given a suit that allowed him to access the darkforce dimension.[66] Conrad and the majority of the Redeemers were killed by the villain Graviton.[67] Years later Zemo coerced Erik into betraying the Thunderbolts by offering to save Conrad from the Darkforce Dimension.[68] Conrad briefly serves a member of the Thunderbolts alongside Erik and they made peace with their past.[69]
As a Thunderbolt, Erik was the least assertive member despite being the physically strongest one on the team. He frequently runs from his problems. He ran away from home after his sister's death and joined the military, then he wentAWOL and became a smuggler and later a mercenary working for Heinrich Zemo.[70] It was at this time he first met Heinrich's son Helmut.[71] Erik betrays Baron Helmut Zemo when he tries to kill Jolt but later saves him from death after the Baron suffers a severe beating by Moonstone.[72] Erik routinely defers to the leadership of others on his team as he does not like making decisions because, as he puts it, he is "just a grunt".[73] Erik usually is the first to empathize with a foe and often places his relationships with friends and family over doing the right thing. Instances of this include: when he knew Man Killer was pretending to be a bartender while she was lying low from the law;[74] not telling the team about saving Zemo;[72] refusing to tell the Thunderbolts about Techno being in Burton Canyon;[75] betraying his team to save his brother;[68] and "killing" Genis to prevent him from disrupting Abe and Melissa's relationship because he feared it would screw up Abe's reconstitution of the Thunderbolts.[36]
Goliath/Oliver Queen appears in theAmalgam Universe as an amalgamation ofDC Comics Green Arrow and Josten.[77]
Erik Josten as Goliath appears inJLA/Avengers as a brainwashed minion ofKrona.[78]
Atlas appears alongside theThunderbolts in theDead Days one-shot of theMarvel Zombies miniseries attackingThor. He is seen in one panel being hit in the face with Thor'shammer and his entire teeth falling out of his mouth, presumably killing him.[volume & issue needed]
Erik Josten appears inMarvel Adventures: The Avengers #20 asHank Pym's research assistant. It transpires he has a grudge against Hank and a crush onJanet van Dyne/Giant Girl. When Janet tells him she's not interested in him, Erik grows to giant size and dons a version of the Goliath costume. He is defeated by Hank and an army of ants.[79]
In theHouse of M reality, Power Man is part of a non-mutant supervillain team made up of theVulture andStilt-Man.[volume & issue needed] In issue #5, he is seen on TV being subdued and arrested by an FBI team of mutants, specificallyBlob andThunderbird.[80]
Atlas appears inOld Man Hawkeye, a prequel toOld Man Logan. Erik and the rest of the Thunderbolts betrayed Hawkeye and sided with Red Skull, resulting in the deaths of all of the other Avengers. Years later, Erik works as Atlas in a circus until Hawkeye hunts him down and challenges him to one final battle before killing him.[81]
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