Erik Josten

Erik Stephan Josten, formerly Power Man, Atlas, Smuggler and Goliath, is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a former member of the Thunderbolts.

Publication history

The character first appeared as Power Man in Avengers vol. 1 #21 (Oct 1965), and was created by writer Stan Lee, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

Erik Josten was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A former AWOL Marine turned mercenary, he is employed by Baron Heinrich Zemo as head of his South American security/mercenary force. After Zemo's death Josten is convinced by the Enchantress to undergo the same 'ionic-ray' treatment (from a machine invented by Zemo) as Simon Williams (Wonder Man), making Josten super-strong (though not as strong as Wonder Man since the treatment was specifically calibrated to Simon 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 the Avengers at her request. She used illusions to turn the city against the Avengers, though finally Captain America used a tape recording to prove the Avengers were innocent. He becomes a professional supervillain and partners with the Swordsman, and the two fight the Avengers again under the leadership of the brainwashed Black Widow. Alongside the Swordsman, he becomes an unwitting pawn of the Red Skull's, and fights Captain America. He briefly serves as an agent of the Mandarin. He later fights the Avengers again as a member of the first Lethal Legion.