Cardinal (comics)

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Cardinal


Thunderbolts #67 (August 2002). Art by Patrick Zircher
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance New Warriors #28 (October 1992)

As Harrier: Thunderbolts #67 (August 2002)
Created by Fabian Nicieza
Darick Robertson
Characteristics
Alter ego Donald Joshua Clendenon
Affiliations Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil, Air Force
Notable aliases Harrier
Abilities Powered armor grants:
Superhuman strength and physical resistance,
Flight,
Various offensive weaponry

Cardinal (also known as Harrier) is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is African American. Cardinal was created by Fabian Nicieza and Darick Robertson in New Warriors #28 (October 1992).

Contents

[edit] Publication history

Cardinal has appeared in the pages of New Warriors, Night Thrasher, and Thunderbolts.

[edit] Character biography

[edit] Air Force

Donald Joshua Clendenon was a Vietnam War vet who, at some point, donned a powered suit of armor and took the name Cardinal. Cardinal first appeared as a bodyguard for arms smuggler Jeremy Swimming-Bear (aka Sea Urchin). The plot was foiled by the New Warriors. Broken out of prison by his allies, the Air Force, he and the team went after the New Warriors, but were defeated and sent back to prison.

Some time later, Air Force was dispatched to attack Dwayne Taylor and a group of high-powered corporate officials on a jet bringing humanitarian aid to the people of Bosnia-Herzogovina. Taylor, secretly Night Thrasher, defeated Air Force and blackmailed them into assisting in relief efforts in middle Africa.

In Africa, Air Force were moved by the humanitarian disaster and began to earnestly help transport food and other aid to the starving peoples of the region. Protocol and his Soldiers of Misfortune attempted to interfere with the rescue missions and decimated Air Force, killing two of their members. Cardinal was badly injured in the battle. With the destruction of the Air Force and frustrated with his attempt to do good, Clendenon repaired the Cardinal armor and vowed to continue to work on his own as a mercenary-for-hire.

[edit] Masters of Evil

Cardinal joined the Crimson Cowl's version of the Masters of Evil. The Thunderbolts defeated the Masters of Evil and destroyed the Crimson Cowl's weather machine which threatened the whole world. Cardinal was again incarcerated in Seagate Prison.

[edit] Thunderbolts

Later, the Crimson Cowl visited Cardinal at Seagate and invited him to join her reformed Masters of Evil. Hawkeye tracked the Masters of Evil down and convinced them that most of them were infected by a deadly biotoxin with which the Crimson Cowl sought to control them. Hawkeye made a deal with them for the four Masters of Evil to join him, Songbird, and Plant-Man to stop the Crimson Cowl. They accepted and formed a new team of Thundefbolts. Cardinal took the new name of Harrier. The team defeated Crimson Cowl and the rest of her Masters of Evil and were able to neutralize the biotoxin.

Soon after, Citizen V contacted the team explaining that the engines of the Vanguard, the V-Battalion's airship, had created a white hole that threatened to fuse the whole Northern Hemisphere into glass within two hours time. He explained he needed the Thunderbolts' muscle to fill the white hole as much material as it needed. Surprisingly, the core Thunderbolts team, who had been missing on Counter-Earth, emerge from the void. The two teams closed down the anomaly void close and fled the V-Battalion. The Thunderbolts reorganized and Harrier voluntarily returned to prison.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Clendenon has no superhuman powers. As Cardinal he wears a suit of powered armor that gives increased strength, body armor, flight and the ability to function underwater. The suit incorporates a number of offensive weapons including energy blasters, grenade launcher and tar gun.

[edit] Notes

  • Joshua conceived a child named Valerie Barnhardt with fellow mercenary buddy Sprocket (Amelia Barnhardt) during a mission in Rhodesia (Josh also left Sprocket with his bar tab). Sprocket had little to do with her daughter and sent her to military school after which she went into the air force. She was raped by a commanding officer who during the process she seriously injured. She was sent to prison when the Air Force believed her C.O. over her. To clear her criminal record Valerie became a member of the Redeemers and was given the name Meteorite and given a suit that creates Hard Air. Meteorite was murdered along with several of her teammates during a battle with the villain Graviton. Josh was never allowed to be a part of her life because Sprocket had kept Valerie's existence a secret. Josh didn't know he had a daughter until after her death and a paternity test was done after her corpse was retrieved from space by S.H.I.E.L.D. Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts connection to the Redeemers is what the Crimson Cowl used to get Cardinal to rejoin her Masters of Evil.
  • Cardinal had a girlfriend named Sparrow who was kidnapped and brainwashed by an organization called the Undertow. Night Thrasher saved Namorita from the Undertow but had to escape before he could rescue the others. Whether Sparrow is still a prisoner of the Undertow is unknown.

[edit] Other Media

Cardinal appeared as a member of the Masters of Evil in the Avengers animated series.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] List of titles

[edit] Significant stories

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