Cardinal (also known as Harrier) is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
, a
supervillain appearing in
American comic books published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. He is
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
.
Publication history
Cardinal first appeared in ''
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...
'' #28 and was created by
Fabian Nicieza
Fabian Nicieza (born December 31, 1961) is an Argentine-American comic book writer and editor who is best known for his work on Marvel titles such as ''X-Men'', '' X-Force'', ''New Warriors'', ''Nomad'', '' Cable'', ''Deadpool'' and ''Thunderbo ...
and
Darick Robertson
Darick W. Robertson is an American artist best known for his work as a comic book illustrator on series he co-created, notably ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002) and '' The Boys'' (2006–2012; 2020).
Robertson has illustrated hundreds of comic ...
.
Cardinal has appeared in the pages of ''
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...
'', ''
Night Thrasher In comics, Night Thrasher may refer to:
* Night Thrasher (Dwayne Taylor), the first Night Thrasher, a fictional superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics
* Donyell Taylor
N'astirh
N'Garai
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy
Naga
Nah ...
'', and ''
Thunderbolts''.
Fictional character biography
Donald Joshua Clendenon is a
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
veteran. While on a mission in
Rhodesia, he conceives a child named Valerie Barnhardt with fellow mercenary buddy
Sprocket
A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel with teeth that mesh with a roller chain, chain, Caterpillar track, track or other perforated or indented material. The name 'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which radial ...
(Amelia Barnhardt). At some point, Clendenon is outfitted with a powered suit of armor and took the name Cardinal. Cardinal first appeared as a bodyguard for arms smuggler Jeremy Swimming-Bear (aka "
Sea Urchin"). The plot was foiled by the
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...
. Broken out of prison by his allies, the
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
, he and the team went after the New Warriors, but were defeated and sent back to prison.
Some time later, Air Force was dispatched to attack
Dwayne Taylor and a group of high-powered corporate officials on a jet bringing humanitarian aid to the people of Bosnia-Herzogovina. Taylor, secretly Night Thrasher, defeated Air Force and blackmailed them into assisting in relief efforts in middle Africa.
In Africa, Air Force were moved by the humanitarian disaster and began to earnestly help transport food and other aid to the starving peoples of the region.
Protocol
Protocol may refer to:
Sociology and politics
* Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states
* Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state
* Etiquette, a code of personal behavior
Science and technolog ...
and his
Soldiers of Misfortune attempted to interfere with the rescue missions and decimated Air Force, killing two of their members. Cardinal was badly injured in the battle. With the destruction of Air Force and frustrated with his attempt to do good, Clendenon repaired the Cardinal armor and vowed to continue to work on his own as a mercenary-for-hire.
Cardinal joined the
Crimson Cowl's version of the
Masters of Evil
The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years.
Publication ...
. The
Thunderbolts defeated the Masters of Evil and destroyed the Crimson Cowl's weather machine which threatened the whole world. Cardinal was again incarcerated in Seagate Prison.
To clear her criminal record, Cardinal's daughter Valerie becomes a member of the government Redeemers program and is given the name Meteorite along with a special fighting suit. She is murdered along with several of her teammates during a battle with the villain
Graviton
In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical quantum of gravity, an elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathem ...
. Josh didn't know he had a daughter until after her death and a paternity test is done after her corpse is retrieved from space by
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often dea ...
Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts' connection to the Redeemers is what the Crimson Cowl uses to get Cardinal to rejoin her Masters of Evil.
Hawkeye tracks the Masters of Evil down and convinces them that most of them were infected by a deadly biotoxin with which the Crimson Cowl sought to control them. Hawkeye makes a deal with them for the four Masters of Evil to join him,
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...
, and
Plant-Man to stop the Crimson Cowl. They accept and form a new team of Thunderbolts. Cardinal takes the new name of Harrier. The team defeats Crimson Cowl and the rest of her
Masters of Evil
The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years.
Publication ...
. They are able to neutralize the biotoxin.
Soon after,
Citizen V
Citizen Vee is the codename of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The original incarnation (John Watkins) first appeared in ''Daring Mystery Comics'' (Jan 1942), during the Golden ...
contacts the team explaining that the engines of the ''Vanguard'', the
V-Battalion
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them.
0–9 198
A A-Force
A-Next
A.I. Army
Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...
's airship, had created a
white hole
In general relativity, a white hole is a hypothetical region of spacetime and singularity that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy-matter, light and information can escape from it. In this sense, it is the reverse of a black ho ...
. This threatens to fuse the whole Northern Hemisphere into glass within two hours time. He explains he needs the Thunderbolts' muscle to fill the white hole with as much material as necessary. Surprisingly, the core Thunderbolts team, who had been missing on
Counter-Earth
The Counter-Earth is a hypothetical body of the Solar System that orbits on the other side of the solar system from Earth.
A Counter-Earth or ''Antichthon'' ( el, Ἀντίχθων) was hypothesized by the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Philol ...
, emerge from the void. The two teams close down the anomaly void and flee the V-Battalion. The Thunderbolts reorganize and Harrier voluntarily returns to prison.
[''Thunderbolts'' #75]
Powers and abilities
Clendenon has no superhuman powers. As Cardinal he wears a suit of powered armor that gives increased strength, body armor, flight and the ability to function underwater. The suit incorporates a number of offensive weapons including energy blasters, grenade launcher and tar gun.
In other media
Cardinal appeared in ''
The Avengers: United They Stand'' episode "Command Decision" voiced by
Peter Wildman
Peter Wildman (born December 29, 1954) is a Canadian actor, voice actor, musician, writer and member of the Frantics comedy troupe. He appeared as Buzz Sherwood on ''The Red Green Show'', and voiced Mojo in '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' and M ...
. He is seen as a member of Baron Helmut Zemo's
Masters of Evil
The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years.
Publication ...
.
References
External links
Cardinalat Marvel.com
Cardinalat Marvel Wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinal (Comics)
Characters created by Fabian Nicieza
Comics characters introduced in 1992
Fictional African-American people
Fictional Vietnam War veterans
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics military personnel
Marvel Comics supervillains
Marvel Comics superheroes