Secret Empire Agents

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metaldragon
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Secret Empire Agents

Post by metaldragon »

I noticed that known agents of the Secret Empire haven't had their alias listed with their names. I only have AA2 11-17 & CA 173-175 to check but so far I've discovered:

DONALDSON, LINDA was "Secret Empire Agent Number 9" II (there was a previous "Number 9")

JONES, GABE was revealed as the original "Number 6" [TTA 83/2 & CA 174- FB] and later "Number 68" [CA 174] (I don't know if there is a "Number 6" II but it's assumed there were at least 67 other active agents by the time Gabe went back undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D.).

CARTER, PEGGY also went undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Secret Empire, but the artwork and dialogue in CA 175 doesn't mention what her number was (but it may have been the eyebrow raising "Number 69" if she joined right after Gabe.)

There is a "Mr. Black" who appeared in CA 173 & 174 and was called "Number 16". He doesn't have a listing here yet.

Other agents included Boomerang, Viper I, Quentin Harderman, Moonstone I, Professor Power and Carl Maddicks. Does anyone know what numbers they went by? And were there any other "Numbers" who revealed their identities?
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by metaldragon »

The Secret Empire's "Number 1" II appears in AA2 15. He also appears in CA 174 and kills himself in CA 175. Does anyone know who he was meant to be and if he had other appearances?

The Gryphon II was also an agent of the Secret Empire (mentioned in AA2 15) and in fact, was created by them. His "Number" isn't mentioned.

In AA2 15, "Number 1" II mentions that he sent Mastermind to capture the Beast (in AA 12-13) which implies that Mastermind was working for the Secret Empire. Since the Secret Empire intended to kidnap as many mutants as they could, he probably wasn't a member of the organization, merely hired. Mastermind brought along his version of the Brotherhood to help which included Blob & Unus then. Since "Number 1" doesn't mention them, they probably had no direct connection with the Secret Empire.

"Number 13" appears in CA 173-174.

"Number 16" is named Mr. Black and this appears to be his actual last name. A security guard mentions he's the factory boss at a Brand Corp. facility in Dallas, Texas which manufactured an electro-gyro.

"Number 42" appears in one panel of CA 174, pg 3.

"Number 8" appears in one panel of CA 174, pg 11.

"Number 3" appears in CA 175, pg 10 in charge of the mutant-powered saucer craft.

"Number 2" appears in CA 175, pg 15-16 and "Number 1" II announces him as "the marshal of my warrior squad".

Some of these Secret Empire agents may need to have "II" added to their alias' if their number appeared on someone's cowl in the previous story from around Tales to Astonish 81-84.


Speaking of... in CA 175, Gabe Jones relates, in flashback summary panels, the events of the first appearance of the Secret Empire. He mentions that they, like A.I.M., split off from Hydra and formed their own organization. I don't have these issues so if anyone else does, feel free to fill out more information about the original members. Mentioned are:

"Number 1" (the original) in Tales To Astonish 83-84, who mind controls Namor and gets blown up by a bomb intended for the Hulk there.

"Number 9" (the original) in Tales to Astonish 83 and is defeated by "Number 6" (aka Gabe Jones).

Boomerang appears as an agent of the Secret Empire in Tales to Astonish 81-82. Is his Number mentioned in those issues?


Professor Power seems to have taken over the Secret Empire as their new "Number 1" sometime before DEF 123-130. Does anyone know if the Secret Empire's agents appeared anytime between CA 175 & DEF 123? Brand Corp. seems to have become thoroughly infiltrated by the Secret Empire by that point, as well as their agents have gotten into S.H.I.E.L.D. too. Mad Dog, Harridan, Seraph and Cloud were also agents of this version of the Secret Empire, though Seraph was actually a Russian double agent. [Hey, she doesn't appear to have a listing! There are 2 other "Seraph"s listed though...]
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Col_Fury »

The Number 1 from CA 174-175 was originally heavily implied to be Richard Nixon. Avengers Forever has since retconned/clarified him to *just* be a high ranking government official.
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Michael »

That was necessary because with the sliding timeline, CA 175 took place after Nixon died in 1994.
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Russ Chappell »

On a tangent here, but...

Not necessarily caused by the sliding timeline. That's clearly Nixon in CA 144 & FF 103, sliding timeline be damned. One would think if the sliding timeline was the sole culprit for the retcon, they would have simply retconned it to "the President," rather than a high-ranking government official.

And while we're on the subject, was this really a retcon? I'll agree that Nixon was the implied villain in the story, but wasn't the actual implication "the President"? If memory serves, the story never actually said, "the President." Or did it? That was just us inferring it, right? Thus, the Avengers Forever story is a clarification, not a true retcon.

And, please, no corrections over whether "the President" receives an upper or lower-case P. I'm at work, and my stylebook is at home.
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by stevejenner »

If memory serves (I don't have the book to hand at the moment) it wasn't stated to be the President, just VERY heavily implied. As far as I can recall, the head of the Secret Empire rushes into The Oval Office, followed by Cap. As Number One's face is revealed (to Cap, not the reader) Cap says something along the lines of "My God, not YOU!" at which point No. 1 says something about the office he holds not having enough power for him, and then kills himself.
I think that's the gist of it, but as I say that IS from memory.
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Russ Chappell »

That matches my memory.
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by ShadZ »

One fan theory I have seen was that Number 1 was the president, but not Richard Nixon -- he was Ken Wind, the president elected at the end of E:A (who doesn't seem to be in the Project)
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Col_Fury »

In Captain America: Reborn #3 while Cap is bouncing around through time:
Steve Rogers wrote:Two hours ago I watched a President betray his country and gave up my shield to become Nomad.
And there it is!
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Re: Secret Empire Agents

Post by Paul Bourcier »

Wow! That sure was a busy two hours, considering all of the appearances below occur between the time the "president" committed suicide and Cap became Nomad:
A 125
CM 31
CM 32
A 125
CM 33
A 125
CM 33
CA@ 7-FB
GSA 1-FB
A 126
GSA 1
A 280-FB
M/TIO 4
M/TIO 5
CA 176

:wink:
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