Redeemers (comics)

Redeemers
Cover to Thunderbolts #50. Art by Mark Bagley.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Thunderbolts #50
Created by	Fabian Nicieza Mark Bagley
In-story information
Member(s)	Citizen V Beetle Fixer Scream Smuggler Meteorite Jolt Charcoal Captain America

The Redeemers were a team of fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team, under government control, adopted the prior identities of several of the Thunderbolts in return for lighter sentences. They began to appear in Thunderbolts #46, appearing as a group in Thunderbolts #50, before most of them were killed in Thunderbolts #56.

History

A shared operation between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Commission on Superhuman Activities and backed by the US Government, the Redeemer program gave superpowered criminals a chance to regain their freedom by participating in a government controlled super-team. Essentially a government controlled hybrid of the Thunderbolts.

The Redeemers were first used by a mind-controlled Henry Peter Gyrich to fight the Thunderbolts. They were composed of:

• Citizen V - John Watkins III, the grandson of the original CV, possessed by Baron Helmut Zemo.
• Beetle - Leila Davis, the wife of the Ringer, who wore an updated version of the Beetle-powered armor.
• Fixer - Paul Norbert Ebersol, his broken neck healed by his robotic counterpart Techno.
• Scream - A mysterious sonic entity, actually Songbird's former lover Angar the Screamer.
• Smuggler - Conrad Josten, the younger brother of Atlas. His suit allowed him access to the Darkforce dimension.
• Meteorite - Valerie Barnhardt, the illegitimate daughter of Cardinal and New Warriors pilot Sprocket who wore a suit which could fly and generate a "hard air" sheath.

After the Thunderbolts were disbanded and most members pardoned, Jolt and Charcoal were added to the Redeemer program. The team trained briefly with Captain America, who led them at the government's request while Citizen V was tied up on V-Battalion business.

When Graviton returned to Earth, looking to fight the Thunderbolts, he found the Redeemers at their Mt. Charteris headquarters instead, and proceeded to attack and massacre the team. Scream vanished in a vacuum. Charcoal was ripped apart and spread across the desert as dust. The gravitational forces keeping Jolt's bioelectric form together were removed, dispersing her body. Meteorite was left floating in the upper atmosphere, suffocating. The Beetle armor was crushed into a tiny box. Smuggler was hurled into the sun. While Citizen V and Fixer escaped the assault, the Redeemers were no more.^[1]

Since the dissolution of the Redeemers, Jolt and the Smuggler have resurfaced. Scream survived the attack by Graviton but was dispersed again by Songbird a short time later.^[2]

America Redeemers

The America Redeemers, or Redeemers, as the team is more commonly known, is a fictional organization in the Marvel Universe. The Redeemers existed in the Earth-712 universe, the same place from which the Squadron Supreme originated. The team was founded by Nighthawk as a response to the Squadron’s Utopia Program. The team disbands after Nighthawk's death.

Members include Nighthawk, Black Archer, Foxfire, Haywire, Inertia, Lamprey, Mink, Moonglow, Pinball, Redstone, Remnant, Shape, and Thermite.

References