Man-Killer
Fictional comic book villain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Man-Killer is a name used by two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The second version Katrina Luisa Van Horn has been viewed by critics as a "caricature of feminists, who despised all men."[1]
Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Marvel Team-Up #8 (April 1973)
Stan Lee
Jim Steranko
Katrina Luisa Van Horn:
Jim Mooney
Gerry Conway
| Man-Killer | |
|---|---|
| |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Robot: Captain America #111 (December 1968) Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Marvel Team-Up #8 (April 1973) |
| Created by | Robot: Stan Lee Jim Steranko Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Jim Mooney Gerry Conway |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Katrina Luisa Van Horn |
| Species | Human mutate-cyborg |
| Team affiliations | Robot: Hydra Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Hydra Advanced Idea Mechanics Masters of Evil Thunderbolts |
| Notable aliases | Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Amazon, Wilma |
| Abilities | Katrina Luisa Van Horn: Superhuman strength and durability, and size-alteration through Pym Particle exposure |
Publication history
The first version of Man-Killer first appeared in Captain America #111 (December 1968) and created by Stan Lee and Jim Steranko.
Man-Killer first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #8 (April 1973) and was created by Gerry Conway and Jim Mooney.[2] The character subsequently appeared in Daredevil #121 (May 1975), #123 (July 1975), Iron Man #126-127 (September–October 1979), and Marvel Team-Up #107 (July 1981), where she seemingly died. The character appeared several years later in Web of Spider-Man Annual #3 (1987), and made several appearances in the series Thunderbolts (1997-2000), eventually joining the titular group. Man-Killer received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z 2006 #7.
Fictional character biography
Robot
Man-Killer is a robotic assassin who was sent by Madame Hydra to kill Captain America. It is ultimately defeated and destroyed.[3]
Katrina Luisa Van Horn
Katrina Luisa Van Horn was an Olympic skier and is a militant feminist. After engaging in an argument with anti-Women's Liberation skier Karl Lubbings, the two took their disagreement to the slopes. Katrina was an Olympic-level skier, but Lubbings cut her off and both skiers plunged off the mountain. Katrina was severely injured and disfigured. She was fitted with a powered exoskeleton and took the name Man-Killer.[4] She has worked freelance and as an agent for Hydra.[5]
Man-Killer has been a member of Crimson Cowl's incarnation of the Masters of Evil.[6] Some time later, Erik Josten (Atlas of the Thunderbolts) finds Man-Killer working as a bartender in his team's adopted home of Burton Canyon, Colorado. When Josten becomes, a regular at the bar, Man-Killer is congenial towards him, pretending not to recognize him as Atlas.[7]
As Amazon, she was briefly a member of the Thunderbolts under Hawkeye.[8]
Man-Killer later appears as part of Helmut Zemo's third incarnation of the Masters of Evil.[9] During a battle with the Thunderbolts, Man-Killer is killed by Kobik.[10]
Powers and abilities
The Katrina Van Horn version of Man-Killer was given robotic implants replacing or compounded with bones and nerves, which give her superhuman powers, good athletic abilities, and the ability to throw knives at a range of hundreds of meters. She was also given Pym particles to grow in strength proportionate to size.[11]
In other media
The robot version of Man-Killer appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "New Year's Resolution". This version is a time-traveling assassin working for Kang the Conqueror.[12]