Earth's Mightiest Annotations
By Sean McQuaid
Information and Appearances for The Crimson Cowl's Masters Of Evil
(Note: Klaw and Tiger Shark are excluded)
Cyclone II (true name unrevealed)
First Appearance: Thunderbolts #3
Joined Masters of Evil: Thunderbolts #3
Cyclone is a French costumed criminal whose uniform contains devices that
enable him to generate tremendous winds at will. His costume was invented
by the original Cyclone, a French costumed criminal who fought Spider-Man
before being murdered by the vigilante Scourge. The original Cyclone's
costume was duplicated by unspecified leading figures in French organized
crime who hired the current Cyclone to wear the suit as their enforcer, but
he deserted his employers and went freelance as a criminal costumed
mercenary.
Avengers Appearances: None to date.
Flying Tiger (true name unrevealed)
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #40
Joined Masters of Evil: Thunderbolts #3
A failed football player, the Flying Tiger turned to crime using an
armored costume that grants him enhanced strength, increased durability and the power of flight. A high-priced freelance assassin, the Flying Tiger has occasionally fought super-heroes such as the original Spider-Woman, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. More recently, he joined the new Crimson Cowl’s Masters of Evil, battling Black Widow and the Thunderbolts. The Flying Tiger's true identity and origin remain unknown, but in his recent
appearances he has claimed to be more than he appears, even suggesting that he might be one of the World War II aviators known as the Flying Tigers.
This would seem to conflict with earlier information regarding the Tiger's
identity. Whether the current Flying Tiger is still the original remains to
be seen, as does whether the current Flying Tiger really has any connection
to his WWII namesakes.
Avengers Appearances: Avengers Spotlight #29 (imprisoned in Vault under supervision of Avengers and Fantastic Four).
Man-Killer (Katrina Luisa Van Horn)
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #8
Joined Masters of Evil: Thunderbolts #3
An Olympic skier until she was crippled by a chauvinistic male rival
during a race, Katrina Van Horn was physically rebuilt and retrained under
the auspices of a wealthy militant group funded by the terrorist
organization AIM. Supplied with a strength-augmenting exo-skeleton, Van
Horn became the man-hating costumed assassin known as Man-Killer, later
serving as a section chief of the terrorist organization Hydra. She has
since operated as a freelance costumed criminal, battling foes such as
Spider-Man, the Cat (later Tigra), Iron Man and She-Hulk. She was believed
dead for a time but has since resurfaced, as vicious as ever and somehow
imbued with natural superhuman strength. Most recently, she has operated as a member of the latest Masters of Evil led by the new Crimson Cowl,
battling heroes such as the Black Widow and the Thunderbolts.
Avengers Appearances: Avengers #144 (one-panel cameo in flashback to her battle with the Cat and Spider-Man).
All of the following current non-core members have appeared in other comics before joining Cowl's Masters:
Aqueduct, Bison, Blackwing, Boomerang, Cardinal, Constrictor,
Dragonfly, Eel II, Icemaster, Joystick, Lodestone, Man-Ape,
Quicksand, Scorcher, Shatterfist, Shockwave, Slyde, Sunstroke and
Supercharger.
Some of them have appeared in various Avengers comics:
Aqueduct (Peter Van Zante a.k.a. Water Wizard) tried to sabotage the reconstruction of Avengers HQ in Annual #19
Boomerang (Fred Myers) fought Hawkeye in Spotlight #27
Eel (Edward Lavell) appeared briefly as a post-Acts of Vengeance prisoner in Spotlight #29
Icemaster battled Human Torch in a Hostess ad
Shockwave (Lancaster Sneed) teamed with Zaran & Razorfist to attack the WCA in WCA #11
Sunstroke fought the Avengers as a minion of Dominus in WCA #17 (his first appearance) & #24
Man-Ape (M'Baku) has fought the Avengers several times (v1 #62
& 78-79, Vision & Scarlet Witch #1-2, WCA v2 #1-2).