Captain America #368
Red Twilight
Following Magneto’s attack on the Smith Building, Crossbones and the Machinesmith search the ruins of the sub-basement for any sign of their boss, the Red Skull.[1] After sifting through the wreckage of destroyed robots and the escape tunnel system they can find no evidence as to what Magneto has done to the Skull, or where he might have taken him. Crossbones is desperate to find their boss, especially since their headquarters have been compromised. However, the Machinesmith urges calm as there are already contingency plans in place for such a situation.
Meanwhile, Captain America returns to the former site of Avengers Mansion, which is undergoing landscaping in advance of the construction of a brand new headquarters for the group.[2] Meeting with Jarvis, Cap is told that things have been quiet since the Mandarin attacked the site earlier.[3] Pleased, Cap heads into the sub-basement that is acting as the team’s headquarters. There he runs afoul of one of the security systems being set up by the Avengers’ resident technician Fabian Stankowicz. Fabian apologizes for the attack, which Cap lets slide as he needs Stankowicaz to pull up everything they have on Magneto.
Back in Washington, Rankin, the Red Skull’s head of security, is already overseeing repairs on the Smith building. Crossbones takes it upon himself to chastise him on failing to repel and attack by Magneto. However, that’s when the Red Skull enters the room and tells Crossbones that he’ll dole out punishment as he sees fit. The Machinesmith then invites Crossbones into his lab where he reveals that the Red Skull outside is actually one of his sophisticated robots, programmed to stand in for their boss if he were to be unaccounted for. The master roboticist has also come up with a means of drawing Magneto out of hiding by using a robot duplicate of the mutant to use as a decoy.[4]
At that same moment, Diamondback is meeting up with her friends Black Mamba and Asp at the Bar With No Name for some drinks. Diamondback is looking for work since she is strapped for cash and learns how business has been booming ever since the Serpent Society’s, King Cobra, stepping up the company profile.[5] That’s when King Cobra contacts Asp and Black Mamba telling them about a bounty that has been put on Magneto’s head. This is interesting to Diamondback because she spent some time with the X-Men in the recent past and has a lead that might be useful. She recalls how, at the time, the mutant outlaws mentioned that Magneto had ties to the Hellfire Club.[6]
Days later, at Avengers Headquarters, Captain America is expecting a call from Eric Masterson, an architect recommended by Thor to discuss designs for their new headquarters.[7] It’s here that Peggy Carter tells him of reports of Magneto attacking a pro-mutant rights protest happening outside the Washington Capitol building. This doesn’t make any sense to Cap, but he decides to investigate anyway and order John Jameson to ready his Flagship for launch.
In Washington, the protestors are members of the Restistants, a mutant group that has been opposed to the Mutant Registration Act.[8] However their leaders — Crucible, Meteorite, and Paralyzer — are unsurprised by this flagrant attack as they have been betrayed by Magneto in the past.[9] This is actually the Machinesmith’s robot of Magneto and after repelling the police it erects a magnetic force field around the area so it can attack the Resistants uninterrupted. That’s when Captain America arrives on he scene. Unable to penetrate the force field, Cap dugs under it to get inside the barrier. In the ensuing battle, Captain America quickly deduces that this isn’t the real Magneto as the robot has a vastly different personality and its power set is not entirely right. He then discovers that he has been fighting a robot after kicking it in the head causes its head to quickly snap around. Captain America recognizes this as the work of the Machinesmith and wonders how he ties into all of this.[10]
When the news about the fake Magneto’s attack on the Capitol Building hits the airwaves, the reports are viewed by the Hellfire Club’s Black Queen, Selene. This bothers her as the the Hellfire organization has been having issues with Magneto ever since he became the groups Grey King.[11] If the attack on Washington was perpetuated by Magneto, this leaves her to wonder he is. At that very moment, Magneto’s concerns are not on his robotic impostor, but on the Scarlet Witch.[12]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Machinesmith, Crossbones, Diamondback, Fabian Stankewicz, John Jameson, Michael O’Brien, Peggy Carter, Edwin Jarvis, Serpent Society (King Cobra, Black Mamba, Asp), Resistants (Crucble, Meteorite, Paralyzer, Mist Mistress), Black Queen, Magneto, Scarlet Witch
Continuity Notes
Magneto went after the Red Skull to punish him for his involvement with the Nazis during World War II last issue. Crossbones and the Machinesmith are unaware that Magnus dumped their boss in a bomb shelter and left him to die. They will eventually find and recover him in Captain America #370.
The Avengers had been operating out of the artificial island known as Hydrobase since Avengers #279. It had recently been sunk by Doctor Doom in issue #311 of that series. The new Avengers Headquarters — under construction here — will be completed by Avengers #329.
The Mandarin attacked the site of the former Avengers Mansion in Avengers #313. A footnote here also cites issue #312, however that was when the location was attacked by rogue members of Freedom Force.
The Machinesmith has a Magneto robot laying around because he once built one for Mesmero. This robot was first used in X-Men #50-52. It was revealed to be a robot in issue #58 of that series. The Machinesmith’s involvement in creating that robot was detailed in the Mesmero profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #7 and seen in-universe in Captain America #247.
Cobra took over the Serpent Society after a coup staged against its original leader Sidewinder in Captain America #342-344. The hand over of leadership will be detailed in Captain America Annual #10. Last issue, Cobra rechristened himself King Cobra after defeating his one-time partner, Mister Hyde.
Diamondback spent time with the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men Annual #13 when she was body swapped with Dazzler. At the time, Magneto has recently joined the Hellfire Club to strengthen ties between it and the X-Men in the face of growing anti-mutant threats. This happened in New Mutants #51.
Thor’s association with Eric Masterson began in Thor #391. At the time of this story, their relationship has become more intimate when the pair were merged together in Thor #408. That will remain the status quo until Thor #457.
The Resistants formed back in Captain America #343. They formed out of protest of the Mutant Registration Act which went into force in X-Factor #33.
The founding members of the Resistants were originally gathered together to become another incarnation of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Captain America Annual #4 (incorrectly listed as Annual #5 here). Magneto only saw them as an means to an end of obtaining the symbiotically linked mutants Mister One and Mister Two.
Cap recounts seeing the Magneto robot in the Machinesmith’s lab circa Captain America #249. He also recounts how the Machinesmith was responsible for reviving the Fourth Sleeper robot. This robot was defeated by Cap in Captain America #101-102 by trapping it in the Earth in its intangible form. The Machinesmith recovered and revived the Sleeper in Captain America #354.
Originally the White King of the Hellfire Club, Magneto ousted Sebastian Shaw as leader and renamed himself the Grey King — an amalgamation of his White King and Shaw’s Black King status in the group. This happened in New Mutants #73-75. This will not have a lasting impact on the group as Magneto will get involved in his own personal agendas.
Case-in-point, Magneto is seen at the end of this story pursuing the Scarlet Witch. This was a plot to reform the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with the Witch and her brother Quicksilver. See Avengers West Coast #56-57 and 60.
A Clockwork Origin
After it was deactivated by Magneto, the Machinesmith is hard at work making repairs to the Fourth Sleeper. The Machinesmith has grown a fascination for the vintage robot, which was ahead of its time when it was first created in World War II.[1] To pass the time, the Machinesmith decides to tell the Sleeper about his past and how he became so enamored with robotics.
It all began when the Machinesmith was fourteen years old and he stumbled upon on of Doctor Doom’s robots following an altercation with the Fantastic Four.[2] Lugging it back to his father’s garage, he mastered its secrets. When his mother grew concerned over the amount of time he spent with the robot, he arranged for a “lab accident” to kill her so he could claim the insurance and fund his new robotics enterprise. He started building sophisticated robots for criminal organizations, drawing the attention of the Tinkerer who took young Saxon Starr under his wing and taught him everything he knew.[3] He soon decided to go after Daredevil, the hero who defeated his first robot. Taking over the identity of Mister Fear, Saxon fell to his seeming demise in a fight against Daredevil.[4]
Luckily, Starr’s robots recovered his body and brought it back to his lair. There, Saxon’s mind was transferred into a computer where he would live on as a mechanical lifeform.[5] Building a new robot body for himself, Saxon covered it in synthetic flesh to appear human and went right back to work building robots for others. Eventually, he started building robots for the criminal Corporation, but this scheme was thwarted by the Thing and Jack of Hearts.[6] His next caper involved taking control of the Dragon Man android, however this attracted the attention of Captain America. This was all part of a plan by the Machinesmith — who grew tired of living as a mockery of life — to force Captain America to destroy the computer that housed his mind.[7]
However, a spark of life still existed and the Machinesmith soon found his mind downloaded into one of his robot bodies. He was soon found by the Red Skull who hired him on as his technological expert, giving the Machinesmith a new lease on life. This led to his job to recover the deactivated Fourth Sleeper and restore it. He was also responsible for recovering the Sleeper and other robots from Avengers Island.[8] The Machinesmith’s mind was trapped in the Sleeper’s body during this time and he feels that it made him intimately close to the robot in a way, enough so that he feels comfortable talking about his past and his feelings. Finding a beauty in machinery that surpasses humanity, the Machinesmith promises to create a world where robots can revel in who and what they are. He then pulls off his human face mask and kisses the Sleeper on the forhead.
Recurring Characters
Machinesmith, Fourth Sleeper, (in flashback) Red Skull
Continuity Notes
The Red Skull commissioned the creation of many Sleeper robots that were hidden away during the war to be reactivated later in the event the Nazis lost the war. The Fourth Sleeper, as I stated above was revived in Captain America #101-102. As the level of sophistication used to create the Sleepers, the Captain America 65th Anniversary Special #1 reveals that the designs were lifted from 500 year old records about a Germanic ruler known only as the “Baron of Castle Eisen”. It has been implied that the Baron — who created a sophisticated robot — might be a time displaced Doctor Doom who was trapped in the distant past, however as of this writing (June, 2022) this has yet to be definitively confirmed.
So part of the Machinesmith’s story doesn’t really track here: It’s interesting to note that in the flashback young Saxon Starr locates one of Doctor Doom’s so-called Invincible Robots. This is an interesting discrepancy since these robots were first revealed in Fantastic Four #85, which was published months after Saxon’s first appearance in Daredevil #49. We’ll get into these discrepancies below.
The first robot Saxon created was the robot he set against Daredevil in Daredevil #49. Here, Saxon states that he created this robot five years after he first discovered Doom’s robot. This also doesn’t jive very well with the Sliding Timescale. See below.
Saxon fought Daredevil solo in Daredevil #50-52. He usurped Mister Fear’s identity in Daredevil #54 and fell to his death in the following issue.
How the Machinesmith cheated death was not revealed until Captain America #249.
The Corporation gig was chronicled in Marvel Two-In-One #47-48.
The Machinesmith’s use of Dragon Man and attempt to get Cap to destroy him all happened in Captain America #247-249.
The Machinesmith was recruited by the Red Skull prior to his next appearance in Captain America #351.
After the Fourth Sleeper was deactivated in Captain America #354 and stored at Avengers Island until it was sunk in Avengers #311.
Topical References
Here, the Machinesmith states that World War II happened 50 years prior to this story. This measurement of time should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. As it pushes the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time, the years between World War II and the “present” continue to increase. If you like math, I break it down here.
The Machinesmith Timeline
If we accept the Machinesmith’s story at face value a number of items do not add up. He states that he was 14 when he found the abandoned Doom robot in the subway tunnel. He then states that it was five years before he sold his first robot, the one that was seen in Daredevil #49. The narrative of the story states it took him a year to master the robot and five years before he was skilled enough to sell his first robot.
The robot depicted in the subway tunnel is one of Doom’s so-called Invincible Robots, which were first seen in Fantastic Four #85, published in April of 1969. This was after the first appearance of Saxon and his first robot in Daredevil #49, which was published in February, 1969. So either Saxon’s recollection is wrong, his story has falsehoods, or the robot depicted in the flashback was an error. Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Captain America seems to support that this was an error as the entry for this issue states that it was one of Doom’s Servo-Robots. While those robots were first depicted in Fantastic Four #68 (published March, 1969), subsequent flashback stories show that these robots were in use prior to their first documented appearance. Books of Doom #5-6 shows Doom using early prototypes of his Servo-Robots during his take over of Latveria.
In terms of the number of years stated, I believe the intent of writer Mark Gruenwald was to give a perspective of the passage of time between publications rather than in universe, even though it is Saxon who is telling the story and not a narration. When measure these years between publications his timeline kind of makes sense. Incidentally, five years prior to Daredevil #49 we have Fantastic Four #23, published February, 1964. That story features Doctor Doom going to New York to attack the Fantastic Four and (obviously failing). This story does feature a Doombot, giving credibility to the fact that he probably had a Servobot kicking around somewhere to get left behind.
The presumption here is that Saxons transformation from tinkerer to full fledged roboticist took about six years worth of publications. Applying this to the Sliding Timescale, this time would be compressed to about a year and a half in universe. FF #23 fits into “Year One” and DD #49 happens about a “year” later. The discrepancy in and of itself is negligible. If you don’t think so, try remember two events a year apart that happened to you over 8 years ago and see how exact you are when you’re relating to these stories in casual conversation. You probably can’t because human memory has limitations.
That all said, I think we can accept that the Machinesmith was 14 years old during “Year One” of the Marvel Modern Age, making his birth happened about 14 years prior to Fantastic Four #1.
