Zodiac (comics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Zodiac is a fictional criminal cartel in the Marvel Comics universe. There have been a variety of different Zodiac cartels, each differing in their motivations and stucture, however the twelve leaders of the Zodiac are usually a series of supervillains who have each adopted their individual star signs as their personal codename and motif. The group has often executed crimes based on the twelve signs of the zodiac.

1 Zodiac I
2 Zodiac II
3 Zodiac III
4 Members

[edit] Zodiac I

The first-known group debuted in the 1970s Avengers comics, where they were led by Taurus, a corrupt businessman named Cornelius Van Lundt who sought personal power and dominance of the masses, using astrology to guide his and the zodiac's machinations. Leadership of the Zodiac would fluctuate between the membership, based on the "dominance" of their calendar sign. Various Zodiac Members would often attempt plots of their own, independent of the main body of the Zodiac, notables including Capricorn, Aries, and Scorpio.

[edit] Zodiac II

Scorpio, who had enaged his brother Nick Fury in a series of criminal efforts years before the debut of the Zodiac, left the original Zodiac and constructed his own cartel made up of Life-Model Decoys, realisitc androids. Scorpio eventually killed himself after the collapse of his schemes. His weapon, an extra-dimensional "key" empowered by a group of mystics called The Brotherhood, transferred his intellect into a Life-Model Decoy duplicate, granitng him a second life. This "reborn" Scorpio would construct various android incarnations of the Zodiac. With the original Zodiac active, and various android incarnations, Zodiac-themed villains would come into conflict with various superheroes, among them She-Hulk, Daredevil, Iron Man, Ghost Rider, SHIELD, and most notably, The Avengers.

Fury's android cartel eventually infiltrated and destroyed Van Lundt's original Zodiac. Only a few members are known to have survived. Fury/Scorpio claimed that his key/the Brotherhood had long-controlled the Zodiac and intended him to serve as its master. Fury and his machines were later deactivated and the key retaken by the mystics.

[edit] Zodiac III

Since then, many different cartels have manifested, each with its own general trappings and motivations, all employing at least a single costumed enforcer, and all motivated by emulation of the zodiac calendar. One Zodiac, made up of soldiers in Romanic dress, occupied New York shortly before Onslaught's devastation of the city. This Zodiac was led by a single agent, Libra. Later, a fully costumed cartel actived in Canada. They were opposed by the then-current incarnation of Alpha Flight, then slaughtered by the mutant task force Weapon X. Shortly before the disbanding of the original Avengers charter, a new Scorpio, (armed with a copy of Fury's key), battled the team. Scorpio reported to a shadowy group of men in a "boardroom' headquarters, these men werer identified as the "actual" Zodiac, "Scorpio" serving as a colorful facade/agent. Since then, Scorpio has apparently recruited a new 'public' Zodiac team, which attacked the UN but was stopped by the Young Avengers.

Given the tone and structure of the Zodiac's various incarnation, it is less accurate to suggest that there have been various "different" Zodiac(s), but instead a series of Cartels all of which relect a singular philosophy and goal-to institute a a new world order dictated by a higher power, that power overtly defined as the mystical Zodiac Calendar.