The Masters of Evil is one of the largest and longest-running alliances of super-villains in history, led by assorted criminal masterminds and comprised of an ever-changing membership ranging from minor thugs to major menaces. In many ways, they are the criminal equivalent of the Avengers, the Masters' first and most frequent foes.
After seemingly slaying Captain America and Bucky during World War II, the Nazi scientific genius Heinrich Zemo had withdrawn to South America, where he subjugated a native tribe, carving out his own private kingdom. Zemo lived in seclusion until recent years when he learned that the Avengers had found and revived Captain America. Determined to destroy his old enemy but unwilling to face the Avengers alone, Zemo recruited the super-criminals Black Knight, Melter, and Radioactive Man (foes of Avengers members Giant-Man, Iron Man and Thor, respectively). Calling themselves the Masters of Evil, the villains drew the Avengers into battle by spraying the streets of New York with Zemo's Adhesive X, causing citywide chaos. Aided by adhesives expert Paste-Pot Pete, the Avengers defeated the Masters, and Zemo himself barely escaped.
Zemo formed a new alliance with Thor's foes Amora the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner. The trio mystically turned Thor against the Avengers, but the spell soon broke and Thor hurled them into another dimension. Upon returning, the Masters mutated embezzler Simon Williams into Wonder Man, who infiltrated and betrayed the Avengers on Zemo's behalf; however, in the end, a conscience-stricken Williams sacrificed himself to save the Avengers. The Masters' brief alliance with the mysterious time lord Immortus fared little better, resulting in another Avengers victory. Retrieving Black Knight and Melter from prison, the Masters regrouped in New York for an all-out assault on the Avengers while Zemo faced Captain America in the Amazon. The Masters were defeated yet again, and Zemo accidentally killed himself in battle.
Members:
Baron Heinrich Zemo
The Enchantress
The Executioner
Black Knight I
Radioactive Man
The Melter
