The Dreadnought is
a robot created by an unidentified team of
technicians in the subversive organization HYDRA
for use in commando operations. It was first used in an attempt to breech the
international espionage headquarters of the organization
SHIELD, housed on the giant Helicarrier, and
assassinate SHIELD director Nick Fury.
Using a small arsenal of miniaturized weaponry and his own combat skills, Fury
managed to overcome the robot.
Later, the
Maggia crime family, under the auspices of
Madame Masque, stole from HYDRA the designs for the Dreadnought and
manufactured about a dozen for their own use. Maggia technicians made a number
of design modifications on the Dreadnought in an effort to make it more
versatile. The ultimate design of their work was a
silver Dreadnought, which they have used for
various bodyguard work and similar missions.
Dreadnought robots are constructed of titanium steel and have
increased resistance to most forms of harm. They are equipped with a host of
weapons systems, including flame throwers, sharpened spike projectiles,
electrical field generation, gamma ray eyebeams, and a freon gas dispenser.
Iron Man first
ran into conflict with the robots (plural) when the aforementioned
Madame Masque returned to head the also
aforementioned Maggia
(IM #138). He
defeated them by jamming the frequency of their response reactions (IM
#139). The metal villains popped up again when the Maggia, HYDRA
and AIM
fought a super-powered "turf war" (seen in IM
#s 245-247) spearheaded by the
FBI's covert backing of the Maggia in an attempt
to wipe out the other two organizations. This featured AIM's new
"Dreadbuster" machines, the
Hulk (in his gray incarnation), and of course Madame Masque. Most recently, the 'Noughts were used by the
Mandarin against Iron Man
(vol. 3 #s 2-3, revealed
in #10).
IM bested them this time by sealing off their
cooling vents, causing them to over-heat.
First ever appearance: Strange Tales #154.
First IM Appearance: Iron Man #129.
|
