Real name: Erik Josten Other known aliases: Power Man, the Smuggler, Goliath III, Intruder from Beyond, Steve, Edward Jantzen. He has impersonated Shatterfist. Occupation: Full time hero, former criminal. Current group affiliation: Thunderbolts. Past group affiliations: Lethal Legion, Lethal Legion II, Masters of Evil IV and agent of Count Nefaria. He turned down membership in the Masters of Evil VI. Major enemies: Masters of Evil VI, Hercules, Wonder Man, Iron Man. First appearance: Avengers #21 Origin: Iron Man Annual #7 (as Goliath III) Description: Erik has had his features altered by Techno so that he would not be recognized. He is an attractive, muscular man with light brown hair. At normal size he is 6' tall and weighs 225 lbs.
Characteristics
15/75 STR 5
14 DEX 12
21 CON 24
11/23 BODY 2
10 INT 0
11 EGO 2
18 PRE 8
12 COM 1
8 PD 5
8 ED 4
4 SPD 16
8 REC 2
44 END 1
30/42 STUN 0
Characteristics Cost: 82
Powers, Skills and Equipment
5 EC (7),Linked(-1/2),"to Growth."
7a) 0/12 Armor
7b) 12/0 Armor
5c) 25% Damage Reduction (ED),resistant
5d) 25% Damage Reduction (ED),resistant
96 12 LVLS Growth (stats already included),Concentrate(-1/4),0
END Persistent(+1) 0
19 +12" Running,x4 Non-Combat,Linked(-1/2),"to Growth." 2
6 2 Levels: Punch, move through and haymaker.,tight group
3 Streetwise 13-
1 Survival 8-
1 Tactics 8-
2 WF,Small Arms
8 4/4 Armor,OIF(-1/2)
3 Radio XMIT/REC,"Costume radio",OIF(-1/2)
Powers Cost: 168
Disadvantages
Base Points: 100
15 Hunted,"By police and various enemies.",as powerful,
non-combat influence,harsh,appear 8-
20 Normal Stats
5 Psych Lim,"Guilty feeling over past criminal life.",
uncommon,moderate
10 Psych Lim,"In love with Dallas Riodan.",uncommon,strong
10 Psych Lim,"Considers himself a follower.",common,moderate
10 Psych Lim,"Low self esteem.",common,moderate
20 Psych Lim,"Code vs. killing.",common,total
10 Public ID,"Erik Josten"
10 Rep,"Former criminal.",occur 11-
10 Unluck,2D6
10 Watched,"By the Avengers.",more powerful,non-combat
influence,mild,appear 11-
Disadvantages Total: 130
Experience Spent: 20
Total Points: 250
Explanation of the conversion: Many of Atlas II's powers increase as he increases his Growth. His Armor and Running increase one unit for each level of Growth activated. He needs at least one level of Growth activated to get his Damage Reduction.
History: Erik Josten was born to a small, lower class family just
outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Erik ran with a bad crowd, constantly getting
into trouble with both the law and his parents. It was because of this that
tragedy struck when Erik was seventeen. His little sister, Lindy, was
constantly trying to tag along with Erik and when he and his friends decided
to drive the thirty miles to Madison one spring evening, Lindy tried to
follow on her bicycle. Needless to say, Lindy couldn't make the thirty mile
ride. Night fell, and Lindy's eyes began to droop, and that was when a car
came around a blind curve and hit her head-on. Lindy managed to hang on
until Erik got to the hospital before dying in front of him. Erik, never
the strongest of people, was traumatized by this event and ran away to join
the Army, hoping to forget his pain. Unfortunately, Erik couldn't stay out
of trouble there either, and soon went AWOL from his unit to become a
mercenary. It was during that phase of his life that Erik found himself in
the employ of one Heinrich Zemo. Erik found himself enthralled by the man's
leadership and charisma. It was also there that Erik first met Zemo's son,
Helmut, who was destined to take up his father's title of Baron. Erik was
content to work for Zemo. He was paid well, all his needs were provided for,
and he had very little real responsibility. He simply did what the Baron
told him to do and everything was fine (Thunderbolts: Distant Rumblings #1).
Before long Captain America tracked Zemo to
his South American headquarters. A confrontation ensued which ended with
the Baron plunging to his doom. Following Zemo's death, Erik suddenly found
himself unemployed and with nowhere to go. Then he met the Enchantress, one
of the Baron's old allies, who offered to give him great power in return for
his service. Erik agreed and, with the help of the ionic accelerator that
gave Wonder Man his powers, was transformed
into Power Man and battled the Avengers (Avengers #21-22).
He later partnered with the Swordsman under the leadership of the Black
Widow and battled the Avengers again (Avengers #29-30) and fought Captain
America (Tales of Suspense #88).
He served as an agent of the Mandarin (Avengers Special #1) then joined the Lethal Legion (Avengers #78-79).
Things began moving quickly for Erik from that point on. He bounced from employer to employer, from crime to crime, but was always defeated. He worked under the criminal mastermind Egghead in his plot to take over the world through nuclear extortion, but was defeated by Wolverine leading the first incarnation of Alpha Flight (Alpha Flight Special Volume II #1).
He lost his name, Power Man, to Luke Cage (Power Man #21).
He joined Count Nefaria's Lethal Legion II, but then had his powers drained into Nefaria (Avengers #164).
Almost powerless he adopted the name the Smuggler and confronted Spider-Man (Spectacular Spider-Man #49-50).
He lost his ionic powers and sought Dr. Karl Malus. Malus revitalized his ionic powers and gave him the ability to change his size at will through the use of Pym Particles, adopting the name of Goliath III he fought the West Coast Avengers (Iron Man Annual #7).
He then joined Grim Reaper alongside Man-Ape, Nekra and Ultron battling the West Coast Avengers (West Coast Avengers Volume II #1-2/Vision and Scarlet Witch Volume 2 #1-2).
He was a member of the Masters of Evil IV during their siege of Avengers Mansion, where he brutally beat Hercules (Avengers #273-274).
He was among the prisoners who tried to break out of the Vault but were stopped by Freedom Force and the Avengers (The Vault Graphic Novel).
He allied himself with criminal leaders during the Acts of Vengeance to battle Spider-Man (Web of Spider-Man #60, 65-65).
He battled Wonder Man in an attempt to usurp his
fame (Wonder Man #1) and was defeated and put in jail by Giant-Man
(Marvel Comics Presents #118).
He was kept heavily drugged in prison
until escaping and attempting to get revenge on Wonder Man, but instead
found Hawkeye in the guise of Goliath II
alongside Mockingbird. It angered him that another hero was taking his name
again and they fought and he was defeated. (Avengers West Coast Volume II
#92).
''No! That's my name! Years ago, that fool called Cage beat me by trickery and stole my ''Power Man'' name - and I won't go through that again! I'll kill you first!'' - Erik
Erik made a reputation for himself as a loyal, if not spectacular, henchman
and had little trouble finding employment. Eventually, Erik was kidnapped
by a race of aliens called Kosmosians and subjected to a series of cruel
experiments. He was soon rescued from this torture by Hank Pym, now
Giant-Man, and returned to Earth. Before long, however, the Kosmosians
located him again and took him back to their dimension.
Erik was rescued by a man he had known off and on over the years: Baron Helmut Zemo. He was subsequently recruited by Zemo as part of the Thunderbolts scheme. Techno removed all traces of Pym Particles from his body, and altered his ionic powers so that they could fuel his size changing powers. Then with an altered face and a new costume he was given the name Atlas II, after the powerful titan of Greek legend. The Thunderbolts first mission the unsuccessfully attempted to take in the Hulk (Incredible Hulk II #449).
Erik fought alongside the Thunderbolts and the Heroes For Hire to defeat the Super Adaptoid (Heroes For Hire #7).
Erik started dating mayoral liaison Dallas Riordan.
At the height of Zemo's power, just as the Baron's scheme seemed undefeatable, Erik found that he couldn't go through
with it. Erik turned on Zemo, helping Jolt II and the rest of the Thunderbolts to defeat the Baron and save the Avengers and Fantastic Four. While on the run from the authorities he and the Thunderbolts faced the Lightning Rods, formerly the Great Lakes Avengers, and defeated them (Thunderbolts #16).
Crimson Cowl III then offered the team the option to join her Masters of Evil, and gave them time to think about it.
With the Thunderbolts, Atlas II helped stop a bank robbery in Boulder, Colorado and were approached from some kids who escaped from Burton Canyon. They reported that an army called the Imperial Forces had taken over the town and no one would help. The Thunderbolts infiltrated the town and were confronted with Charcoal the Burning Man. After allowing themselves to be captured in civilian identities, Moonstone II snuck in with their costumes and they broke out the other captives and fought Charcoal. During the fight the Masters arrived told them they had to make up their minds soon about joining them, and Charcoal escaped (Thunderbolts #19).
When given the chance to lead the Thunderbolts, Erik turned it down. He seems glad that Hawkeye stepped into the leadership position. He was suspicious of the newest team member, Charcoal, when he joined up.
While in down at a pub in his civilian identity, Erik was attacked by Wonder Man, who beat him and took him to Count Nefaria, who had recently returned from the dead as an ionic vampire who was controlling Wonder Man. The Count fed off Atlas II and he became Nefaria's thrall. The combined forces of the Avengers and Thunderbolts defeated Nefaria and his plans, but Atlas II was forced to absorb into his body the discharge from Nefaria's ionic bomb. This destabilized Atlas II' own ionic energies. He was placed in containment by Techno, impersonating Ogre of the Thunderbolts, in their base.
At the time Scourge IX infiltrated the Thunderbolts headquarters to kill Techno, Atlas II's powers started to run amok, causing him to grow to great size and possibly explode. While Atlas II was Scourge IX's next target, he had no desire to kill the people who might be killed in the explosion, so he helped Jolt II contain Atlas II. He used the Pym particles in his gauntlets to shrink Atlas II down and place them inside one of his gauntlets and threw the gauntlet into a canyon where no one except Atlas II died in the explosion (Thunderbolts #46-47).
Eventually Erik was able to return to life by possessing the body of Dallas Riordan. They learned to work together, with Dallas in control in human form, and Erik in control in their ionic form.
Through a mixture of surprise tactics and negotiation, all of the Thunderbolts managed to fight Graviton to a standstill and revealed that the aliens known as the P'Tah were using Graviton's energies to open a portal to the P'Tah's dimension. The Thunderbolts fought back the P'Tah invasion, but it took Graviton's dying effort to cause the portal to implode, sending himself and the P'Tah back. At the same time, Graviton saved the Thunderbolts from a similar fate, using his powers to send them to the planet known as Counter-Earth (Thunderbolts #58-59).
On Counter-Earth Jolt II, Moonstone II, Fixer II, Atlas II and MACH-3 woke up in Russia confronted by that world's Thunderbolts. Fixer II and Moonstone II were able to fast talk their way out of being attacked. They decided to help some local people during a famine and work they way to Germany, in hopes of using their new space program to return to Earth. The Fixer II also learned that the digital essence of Baron Zemo II had been pulled out of Citizen V II and was now living in his tech-pack (Thunderbolts #60).
The Thunderbolts arrived in Germany and were able to get themselves close to a new communications satellite that was being launched by that world's Thunderbolts. Fixer II was able to download the essence of Baron Zemo II into the body of that world's counterpart. When the Thunderbolts were unable to take the satellite for themselves and discovered it was going to be used to control all the world's communications, they destroyed it rather then let Germany rule the planet (Thunderbolts #62).
The Thunderbolts began to establish themselves as the leading super heroes of the troubled Counter-Earth.
In order to save Counter-Earth Dallas and Erik pushed their powers to the limit and ended up breaking apart. After returning home to Earth Erik found himself powerless until Techno decided to use Pym-particles to restore his size changing powers.
Notes: There is not real connection between Erik and Power Man II, who is Luke Cage, a man with similar powers, although they did fight once over the name. The first Goliath was an identity of Henry Pym, the second was an identity used by Hawkeye when he took over for Pym. Erik took his Goliath III name from them. Smuggler II is Erik's little brother.
Trivia: Erik is only one in a long line of ionically charged super humans. He became Power Man to duplicate the powers of Wonder Man. His powers were duplicated by Count Nefaria, whose powers were duplicated by Nefarius.
Powers: Currently Erik's body is charged with Pym-particles, which he used to increase is size at will. With the increase in size comes an increase in his strength and toughness.
Formerly exists currently only as an ionic energy being who is merged with Dallas Riordan. Normally Dallas was in charge and had no superhuman powers, but when Erik's power was needed he could charge her body with his ionic energy and take over. In their ionic form Atlas II has superhuman strength and the ability to fly, as well as being resistant to harm. Atlas II could also grow to incredible heights, with strength increasing to match.
Early on in his career Erik displayed a vulnerability to electricity, because it unbalanced his ionic charge, but since he no longer has ionic powers, he probably isn't vulnerable to it any more.
Links to other Atlas II pages:
Character created by Marvel Comics.
Champions rules conversion by Mathew R. Ignash - mathewignash@comcast.net.
Last Updated - May, 2003
He lost his ionic powers and sought Dr. Karl Malus. Malus revitalized his ionic powers and gave him the ability to change his size at will through the use of Pym Particles, adopting the name of Goliath III he fought the West Coast Avengers (Iron Man Annual #7).
He was a member of the Masters of Evil IV during their siege of Avengers Mansion, where he brutally beat Hercules (Avengers #273-274).
Erik was rescued by a man he had known off and on over the years: Baron Helmut Zemo. He was subsequently recruited by Zemo as part of the Thunderbolts scheme. Techno removed all traces of Pym Particles from his body, and altered his ionic powers so that they could fuel his size changing powers. Then with an altered face and a new costume he was given the name Atlas II, after the powerful titan of Greek legend. The Thunderbolts first mission the unsuccessfully attempted to take in the Hulk (Incredible Hulk II #449).
Erik fought alongside the Thunderbolts and the Heroes For Hire to defeat the Super Adaptoid (Heroes For Hire #7).
At the height of Zemo's power, just as the Baron's scheme seemed undefeatable, Erik found that he couldn't go through
with it. Erik turned on Zemo, helping Jolt II and the rest of the Thunderbolts to defeat the Baron and save the Avengers and Fantastic Four. While on the run from the authorities he and the Thunderbolts faced the Lightning Rods, formerly the Great Lakes Avengers, and defeated them (Thunderbolts #16).
Through a mixture of surprise tactics and negotiation, all of the Thunderbolts managed to fight Graviton to a standstill and revealed that the aliens known as the P'Tah were using Graviton's energies to open a portal to the P'Tah's dimension. The Thunderbolts fought back the P'Tah invasion, but it took Graviton's dying effort to cause the portal to implode, sending himself and the P'Tah back. At the same time, Graviton saved the Thunderbolts from a similar fate, using his powers to send them to the planet known as Counter-Earth (Thunderbolts #58-59).
