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S.T.R.I.K.E. is a fictional, comic-book counterterrorism and intelligence agency in the Marvel Comics universe. The organization, that often deals with superhuman threats, was introduced in Captain Britain Weekly #17, as the United Kingdom's version of of the United Nation's S.H.I.E.L.D. The acronym stands for Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies.
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Publication and fictional history
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The organization was first mentioned in Captain Britain Weekly #17, when Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury came to a meeting with the British Prime Minister, James Callaghan, and was introduced to his United Kingdom counterpart, Tod Radcliffe. However, this is retconed the very next issue when its announced that Radcliffe is the Deputy Director of S.T.R.I.K.E. In subsequent issues, it is revealed that Radcliffe is a traitor, working for the Red Skull, Commander Lance Hunter is introduced as S.T.R.I.K.E.'s director. S.T.R.I.K.E. is later taken over by Captain Britain's enemy, the crimelord Vixen, and disbanded in the wake of Jaspers' Warp, where Mad Jim Jaspers became Prime Minister and used S.T.R.I.K.E.'s armored anti-superhuman "Beetle" squadron to hunt down superhumans within the British isles. S.T.R.I.K.E. was replaced by the Resources Control eXecutive (R.C.X.), Department of Unknown and Covert Knowledge (D.U.C.K.) and Weird Happenings Organization (W.H.O).
Ultimate S.T.R.I.K.E.
S.T.R.I.K.E. in the Ultimate Marvel parallel universe was first introduced in Ultimate X-Men #15 and is still considered a English division S.H.I.E.L.D. though that is an entirely United States controlled organization. S.T.R.I.K.E. also has ties with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sister organization in Europe, the European Defense Initiative.
Bases of operation
S.T.R.I.K.E.'s original headquarters, as seen in the organizations first appearances, was an undersea air base, which contained several of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s planes which were considered superior to their American counterparts at the time.[1] S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi division had their own headquarters. Another headquarters was in a closed University, located in London, England; this HQ was later used by D.U.C.K.[2]
Members
Like S.H.I.E.L.D., S.T.R.I.K.E. had hundreds of agents throughout several divisions, most of whom remain unnamed. Other more prominent characters include:
| Character | First appearance | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive directors and deputy directors | |||
| Tod Radcliffe | Captain Britain Weekly #17 (February 1977) | Announce as Director of S.T.R.I.K.E., then retconed to Deputy Director. | |
| Commander Lance Hunter | Captain Britain Weekly #19 (February 1977) | Director of S.T.R.I.K.E. Even after the organizations disbanding, Hunter still has good ties with S.H.I.E.L.D. and W.H.O. when he is seen alongside Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine, and Alistaire Stuart briefing British superhumans on the details of the British Superhuman Registration Act.[3] | |
| Psi division | |||
| Betsy Braddock | Daredevils #3 | ||
| Tom Lennox (Marvel Atlas #1 wrongly names him Tom Double) | Daredevils #3 | Both a telepath and a telekinetic, Lennox was Betsy Braddock's lover. During the Jasper's Warp saga, Lennox was gunned down by S.T.R.I.K.E.'s armored anti-superhuman "Beetle" squad.[4] | |
| Alison Double | Daredevils #3 | ||
| Kevin Mulhearn[5] | Daredevils #3 | Kevin took an outside job as a mentalist under the name Doctor Destiny. He was performing his mind reading act at a theater in London, using his powers to tell what people had in their possession. He was killed by one of his volunteers from the audience who turned out the be Slaymaster, ho had been charged with killing all of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s psi devision.[6] | |
| Vicki Reppion[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster.[6] | |
| Avril Davis[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster.[6] | |
| Dennis Rush[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster. | |
| Andrew Hornby[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster. | |
| Leah Mickleson[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster. | |
| Stuart Hattrick[5] | Daredevils #3 | Killed by Slaymaster. | |
| Sci-Tech division | |||
| "Matthew" (codename) | Captain Britain vol. 2 #1 (seen) #2 (named) (February 1985) | Recruited telepath Betsy Braddock to join S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi division. He later was recruited into R.C.X. as a regulator and given the new codename of Gabriel. | |
| Ultimate Marvel | |||
| Colonel Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock | Ultimate X-Men #17. | A S.T.R.I.K.E. mutant agent from psi-division who later inherited the body of a young girl known as Kwannon[7] after being killed. Due to her body, Betsy was technically considered a minor thus unable to work for S.T.R.I.K.E. so she went on to join the X-Men[8]. | |
| Dai Thomas | Ultimate X-Men #17. | A Welsh S.T.R.I.K.E. agent from psi-division who was killed by Proteus. His Earth-616 (mainstream-Marvel) counterpart was a police inspector who often clashed with S.T.R.I.K.E. and its descendant organizations. | |
References
- ^ Gary Friedrich (w), Herb Trimpe (p), Fred Kida (i). Captain Britain Weekly, #17 February 1977 Marvel UK
- ^ Glenn Dakin (w), Paschalis Ferry (p), Sean Hardy (i). Plasmer, #1 November 1993 Marvel UK
- ^ Civil War: Battle Damage Report, #1 2007 Marvel Comics
- ^ Alan Moore (w), Alan Davis (p), Alan Davis (i). "Among Those Dark Satanic Mills (or Madwar)" The Mighty World Of Marvel, #9 February 1984 Marvel UK
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael Hoskin, Stuart Vandal, Anthony Flamini, Eric Moreels (w), Eliot Brown (p), Eliot Brown (i). Marvel Atlas, #1 November 2007 Marvel Comics
- ^ a b c Alan Moore (w), Alan Davis (p), Daredevils, #3 March 1983 Marvel UK
- ^ Mark Millar (w), Adam Kubert (p), Danny Miki (i). "Return of the King" Ultimate X-Men, #32 June 2003 Marvel Comics
- ^ Robert Kirkland (w), Yanick Paquette (p), Serge Lapointe (i). "Sentinels" Ultimate X-Men, #83 September 2007 Marvel Comics
