FIREBRAND

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Real Name: Russ Broxtel
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret Identity
Occupation: Mercenary, Terrorist
Citizenship: United States Citizen With Criminal Record
Place of Birth: New York, New York
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Forces of Nature
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man#77 (June,1991)
History: Russ Broxtel was a part of the custodial staff at Stark International; but he had his eyes on a bigger prize. Using his position on the late night shift, no one expected much out of him; but he used this time to hack into the company files and discovered the schematics for the Firebrand exo-skeleton armor. Stealing the technological readings, Broxtel became the new Firebrand, hiring out his services to the crime lord, Phillipe Bazin.

His first mission was to extract money from Mr. Munson, who wished to convert the Poseidon Hotel located on Bazin’s turf into a homeless shelter. Munson paid Broxtel, but the ever opportunistic Broxtel double-crossed both and kept the money. He then reported to Bazin that Munson had not paid. Bazin gave the command for Firebrand to return and burn the hotel to the ground.

Firebrand burned Munson alive, just after confessing that he had “forgotten” to give Bazin the payment that Munson had given him. As the New York Fire Department arrived, Firebrand attacked them and drew the attention of Cloak and Dagger. As the trio fought, the police attempted to arrest all three of them. Firebrand tried to fuse the heroes to the ground, but Dagger’s light knives freed them from the trap. Firebrand then used the innocents to force Cloak and Dagger to assist them, giving him time to recover the money he had hidden and make his escape.

However, Spider-Man was present, and managed to capture Firebrand and hand him over to the authorities.

Firebrand was later recruited by Project: Earth to replace Firewall in Force of Nature. Firebrand’s first mission with Force of Nature was in the war torn country of Trans-Sabal. It was there that Firebrand would fight the New Warriors, along with the rest of Force of Nature. Firebrand, however, did try to escape the fighting and was knocked out by the New Warriors pilot, Sprocket. The New Warriors temporarily allied themselves with Force of Nature, until they had King Jalfaha Dahn in their sights and Firebrand attempted to incinerate him, so that Force of Nature could set themselves up as the new rulers of the oil-rich nation; but his attempt to murder the king were stopped by Nova; allowing Namorita the time to snap and break Firebrand’s arm. However, the New Warriors would not win the fight; instead, they pulled out of the country once they realized that both sides were lying, and there was no “Right or Wrong” side.

Firebrand would appear later in a fight with Arabian Knight, which he would lose to. He would later fight Patriot and Hawkeye, and once again lose. Later, he adopted a contract to take out Taskmaster, who had accepted a position with the Avengers: Initiative as a trainer. Firebrand was joined by fellow mercenaries King Cobra, Mr. Hyde, and Mauler. Firebrand and the others caught up with Taskmaster, Yellowjacket (who was a Skrull – Criti Noll), War Machine and Constrictor while they had been searching for several students who had gone missing. Firebrand fought Taskmaster, but when Constrictor arrived, he knew he was outmatched. The others met resistance from the others, as well as the missing trainees who showed up, and Firebrand and the others all rapidly fled.

Firebrand’s current whereabouts remain unknown.

Height: 6’1″
Weight: 230 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

Powers: Firebrand’s exoskeleton allows him enhanced strength, durability, flight and flame projection including a protective flame enveloping his body.