EL AGUILA: NEGLECTED MARVEL HERO PLUS A FUNNY DC SITE

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog is a Double Feature. The main event is a look at the early adventures of Marvel’s neglected hero El Aguila (the Eagle).

The opening act is a link to the YT video Justice League Abridged which features HILARIOUS joking dialogue over scenes from some of the animated Justice League cartoons. It’s made recently enough to feature several jokes about the disastrous video game with the Suicide Squad killing the Justice League. CLICK HERE.

EL AGUILA

Secret Identity: Alejandro Montoya

Before I examine his first several appearances in the 1970s and 1980s below, here’s a brief overview of his origin and powers. Alejandro Montoya was a mutant. He was born into abject poverty in Spain but after puberty his mutant powers manifested themselves.

Upon contact with metal, Alejandro could conduct massive amounts of bioelectricity through those metal objects. This was similar to the way Black Tom Cassidy conducts his mutant energies through wood, or the way Gambit uses physical contact with objects to unleash their kinetic energy.

Through trial and error, Alejandro found that long, slender metal objects were the best conductors for his bioelectricity and gave him the most accuracy with his energy blasts. He began using a sword through which to shoot his rays but to conceal his mutant nature publicly pretended his swords contained micro-generators that accounted for the rays he projected. 

Alejandro adopted the costumed identity of El Aguila and eventually settled in America. Never forgetting his horrible childhood, he focused on helping the downtrodden by fighting organized crime, corrupt corporations and dishonest politicians, as he had in Europe. 

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Vol 1 #58 (August 1979)

Title: El Aguila Has Landed

Villains: Drug dealers, human traffickers and slumlords

Synopsis: Power Man (Luke Cage) and Iron Fist (Danny Rand) were out at a New York nightclub with their romantic partners of the moment – Luke with supermodel Harmony Young and Danny with Misty Knight.

It was a pleasant double-date for a while.

At one point the place is raided by the new costumed hero El Aguila, whom readers are told has already built up quite a reputation helping the underprivileged while fighting drug dealers, slumlords and the like.

While El Aguila carries out his raid, complete with his sword which he pretends simply shoots energy blasts from a built-in generator, Power Man and Iron Fist prevent any bystanders from being harmed in the panic.

Through a comic book coincidence, the next day Luke and Danny learn that one of their clients who has their Heroes for Hire business on retainer is a slumlord with unethical treatment of his residents. He has become one of El Aguila’s targets and the hero is robbing his offices and spreading the money to the poverty-stricken people who live in his slums.

Out of contractual obligation, Power Man and Iron Fist wind up clashing with El Aguila at their client’s behest. They and the Hispanic hero wind up with a certain respect for each other, but the Heroes for Hire defeat El Aguila. Luke saves him from being shot to death by the slumlord while he is helpless. El Aguila recovers and escapes with more of the slumlord’s money.

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Vol 1 #65 (October 1980)

Title: An Eagle in the Aerie

Villains: Industrial espionage saboteurs 

Synopsis: Jeryn Hogarth, the famed millionaire who had bought out Heroes for Hire back in the 50th issue, has Luke and Danny come to the Aerie, his mansion/ business installation in Canada. Hogarth is convinced that some of his people are secretly working for international business rivals and are sabotaging the Aerie plus stealing corporate secrets. Our heroes investigate.

El Aguila shows up to help fight the saboteurs because they are ruthless figures using Jeryn Hogarth’s secrets and his legal files to blackmail and otherwise prey on people around the world. Power Man and Iron Fist at first fight El Aguila, assuming he might be the perpetrator and might be targeting Hogarth just because he’s rich.

The misunderstanding gets straightened out and our three heroes save the day. El Aguila, Luke and Danny part as friends this time. He even trusted them with the secret of the true nature of his powers despite the risks of being a mutant.

NOTE: This story confirmed that El Aguila can fire his biolectrical energies through other metal objects like his grappling hook, but he has much less accuracy and control compared to when he uses his swords.

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Vol 1 #78 (February 1982)

Title: Slasher

Villain: Sabretooth 

Synopsis: By comic book coincidence, Power Man and Iron Fist arrive on the scene to help El Aguila when he battles Sabretooth, whom Iron Fist had previously taken on in Canada in the pages of his own short-lived series years earlier.

NOTE: Yes, Sabretooth appeared multiple times before his first official appearance in X-Men. He was retconned as Wolverine’s old nemesis years later.

Sabretooth escapes into the night and El Aguila explains to Luke and Danny that he has been patrolling this neighborhood because Sabretooth keeps slashing up residents to slake his lust for violence. The Heroes for Hire join forces with El Aguila plus Misty Knight and Colleen Wing to catch the villain.

When they fight Sabretooth again a few nights later, it turns out that the felon is partnered with the Hulk’s old supervillain foe Constrictor as mercenaries. Constrictor is growing fed up with Sabretooth’s bloodlust attracting undo attention but remains loyal to his partner, helping him escape our heroes in the closing battle.

NOTE: In the following issue, which did not feature El Aguila as a guest-star, Sabretooth and Constrictor struck again but were defeated by our heroes.

MARVEL FANFARE Vol 1 #3 (August 1982)

Title: Swashbucklers

Villains: Hawkeye and Cross Technological Enterprises

Synopsis: El Aguila breaks into Cross Technological Enterprises, where the Avenger Hawkeye was working as Chief of Security after his most recent departure from the team.

Hawkeye and El Aguila engage in a running fight throughout the sprawling complex.

El Aguila verbally pokes at Hawkeye during the battle, making him feel guilty over working for the ruthless and destructive C.T.E. It turns out that the Hispanic hero broke in to destroy the Nucleonic Radiator, which C.T.E. has been using to grant superpowers to villains, like Black Goliath’s foe Atom-Smasher.

In the end, the Nucleonic Radiator is destroyed and Hawkeye begins to question the ethics of his employers. After this, the 4-part Hawkeye miniseries would see the former Avenger permanently part ways with C.T.E. That same miniseries would end with Hawkeye marrying the superheroine Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse).  

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Vol 1 #99 (November 1983)

Title: This Deadly Secret

Villains: Shades, Comanche, Fera and Master Khan

Synopsis: With the 100th anniversary issue fast approaching, a number of friends and foes of Luke and Danny are being drawn into the then-recent storyline.

Power Man and Iron Fist take on their old foes Shades and Comanche while Misty Knight and Colleen Wing find themselves fighting alongside El Aguila against the supervillainess Fera.

It turns out Fera is being paid by the crooked Ward Meachum to recover and destroy evidence against him. Drawing the whole story together is a group of mercenaries who have stolen the Power Gem of Quon.

For the cliffhanger ending, the mercs use the gem to summon Iron Fist’s archenemy Master Khan back to Earth.    

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Vol 1 #100 (December 1983)

Title: Soul Games

Villains: Master Khan, Fera, Shades and Comanche

Synopsis: El Aguila helps Power Man, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing and Bob Diamond (formerly of the Sons of the Tiger) against the villains.

Master Khan plans to use the Gem of Quon to drain Iron Fist’s powers and further his plans to conquer both Earth and the mystical city K’un L’un. Ward Meachum has been in it just to kill Iron Fist and Power Man to prevent his own criminal prosecution.

The good guys defeat Master Khan, Fera, Shades, Comanche and Master Khan’s army. They also get the evidence needed to finally expose Ward Meachum’s many misdeeds over the years and send him to prison. Joy Meachum promises to end the feud between her and Iron Fist.

That at last closes a subplot that has been running since the earliest years of Iron Fist.

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS Vol 1 #9 (December 1988)

Title: Piece of Cake

Villain: Conquistador 2

Synopsis: Back in Spain, Alejandro Montoya’s female cousin Migdalia contacts him to come take on Madrid’s new crimelord – a mutant supervillain using the nom de guerre Conquistador. (No relation to the earlier 1960s Marvel supervillain called Conquistador, a foe of the Beast.)

As El Aguila, our hero takes action. He whittles down the numbers of henchmen that the Conquistador has running his illegal operations throughout Madrid, then defeats Conquistador himself in a one-on-one battle. 

I have no idea why Marvel failed to do more with the El Aguila character. Not only would he have been great in a solo series, but he should have been pushed with appearances alongside Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up and the Thing in Marvel Two-In-One.

Since he’s a mutant you would think they would at least have placed him in the X-Men rather than leave him unused. Unfortunately, long years later Marvel simply made El Aguila one of the many, many mutants who were stripped of their powers during one of their crossover events.

FOR THE NEGLECTED MARVEL HERO PALADIN CLICK HERE. 

FOR THE NEGLECTED MARVEL HERO BLOODSTONE CLICK HERE.