Roger Aubrey (Earth-616)

Accompanying his friend Brian Falsworth to Nazi Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War II, Roger Aubrey became a captive of the Reich upon war breaking out.

He was subjected to experiments conducted by Colonel Dietrich, and was shrunk to a height of 12 inches. Brainwashed, he returned to the U.K. as Dyna-Mite, to become a member of the Crusaders, a group of Allied superheroes who each unwittingly owed their powers to the Nazis; unknown to the team, their ally Alfie was a German agent, and the group had been formed with the intention of discrediting the Invaders and assassinating King George VI. After encountering that other team of heroes, Alfie's villainy was exposed by Roger, and the evil plan was thwarted. Colonel Dietrich was subsequently captured and forced to reverse the process which shrank Roger; Aubrey then took on the new identity of the Destroyer (recently abandoned by Brian Falsworth), and went behind enemy lines to continue the fight.

SuperSoldier

At some point he was exposed to the variant of the super-soldier serum which had enhanced Brian's physical prowess, which would retard his aging and keep him fighting fit for decades after the end of the war.

Once the war ended, Roger joined Brian and several other heroes in secretly forming a covert group, the V-Battalion, dedicated to preventing anyone like Hitler from ever again threatening the peace of the world. When Brian died in a car crash in 1953, Roger offered to take on the identity as a tribute to his lover, but was denied by Brian's father Montgomery. Instead he soldiered on as the Destroyer, leading the V-Battalion into the 21st century. He recently was forced to re-evaluate his aggressive position after being temporarily killed, and handed over the Battalion's leadership to the more moral hands of Jim Hammond (the Human Torch).

File:Mighty Destroyer 002.jpg

The World War II Era Destroyer

When the Thin Man revived the Invaders, Roger became wary of his true goals, and began to investigate. He called on the group for assistance against the forces of Baroness Blood, during which fight he came to accept Joseph Chapman as a worthy Union Jack successor to Brian. Following this, Roger and his ally Hammond confronted the Thin Man, and effectively deposed him as leader of the Invaders. Soon after, Hammond apparently died fighting the forces of Axis Mundi, and Roger resumed leadership of the V-Battalion.

Attributes

Power Grid^[3]

Powers

Aubrey possessed various superhuman attributes as a result of ingesting a derivative of the Super-Soldier Serum that would be used on Steve Rogers.

Superhuman Strength: The Super-Soldier Serum derivative augmented Aubrey's musculature, granting him a slight degree of superhuman strength. At his peak, Aubrey possessed sufficient strength to lift approximately 1,000 lbs.

Peak Human Speed: The Super-Soldier Serum derivative also increased Aubrey's running speed to the peak of human efficiency. Aubrey could sprint at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

Superhuman Stamina: Aubrey's augmented and superior musculature produced less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a normal human. At his peak, he could exert himself at peak capacity for up to three hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.

Superhuman Durability: Aubrey's bodily tissues were augmented by the Super-Soldier Serum derivative to the point that they were tougher and more resistant to some kinds of injury than the bodily tissues of an ordinary human. While far from invulnerable, Aubrey could withstand powerful impact forces. He could withstand impacts with little to no injury to himself, such as being struck by a superhumanly strong opponent or falling from several stories, that would severely injure or kill a normal human.

Superhuman Agility: The Super-Soldier Serum derivative augmented Aubrey's natural agility, balance and bodily coordination to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Aubrey's agility was often likened with that of a tiger.

Superhuman Reflexes: Aubrey's reflexes were similarly enhanced and were superior to those of the finest human athlete.

Shrinking: The Destroyer retains the ability to shrink down to 12" tall, while maintaining his full strength level. He keeps this power a close secret to maintain the advantage of surprise.

Abilities

Fighting Skill: Destroyer is an exceptional hand-to-hand fighter with decades of experience.

Notes

The Crusaders were created as counterparts to the Freedom Fighters (Golden Age characters originally owned by Quality Comics, and later, at the time in question, by D.C.) Simultaneously to the Invaders encountering the Crusaders, each one of whom was an analogue of one of the Freedom Fighters, over in the Freedom Fighter's title, that team also encountered a group called the Crusaders, each one of whom mapped onto a member of the Invaders. In Dyna-Mite's case, he was a tip-of-the-hat to Doll Man.

Trivia

Roger was in a homosexual relationship with Brian Falsworth (Earth-616) the second Union Jack, making them the first chronologically gay characters in Marvel Comics.

Links and References

List of Appearances

Invaders #14 - First Appearance (As Dyna-Mite)
Invaders #26 - First Appearance (As the Destroyer)

Complete List

References

Template:The Invaders

[All-New_Invaders_#15-1] All-New Invaders #15

[2] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3

[3] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3

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[2]

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Roger Aubrey (Earth-616)

Contents

History

Origin