Machine Man #16
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMachine Man #16 is the first appearance of Baron Brimstone (Walther Theodoric) and his Satan Squad lieutenants Hammer Harrison and Snake Marston, adding three new villains to Aaron Stack's rogues' gallery in one issue — a relatively rare event for the series. The debut of a recurring antagonist who blends apparent mystic arts with hidden technology gave the DeFalco/Ditko run its first self-generated villain and supplied a foe who continued to resurface across Marvel titles for a decade. It also represents a consolidating moment for Tom DeFalco's brief tenure on the book: just two issues into his run, he was already world-building around Machine Man's civilian identity as an insurance investigator. The issue's letters page carries an additional historical footnote, reproducing Steve Ditko's previously unpublished cover to issue #10, making the physical periodical a minor primary document of Bronze Age production history.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Tom DeFalco inherited the writing assignment beginning with issue #15, stepping in after Marv Wolfman departed; Steve Ditko, who had returned to Marvel in 1979 to take over Jack Kirby's series, continued as penciler, inker, and cover artist throughout. DeFalco has recalled that Ditko — known for his strong convictions about heroic archetypes — personally telephoned him to discuss the plot when DeFalco first came aboard, an exchange DeFalco described as intimidating, with the editor telling him Ditko 'had his own ideas of what a hero is and what a book should be.' The book was published as a bi-monthly under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and was only three issues from its final cancellation with issue #19.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Baron Brimstone (real name Walther Theodoric), a criminal who disguises technological devices — including a teleportation harness — as apparent magical powers; created by Tom DeFalco and Steve Ditko.
- First appearance of Hammer Harrison and Snake Marston, Baron Brimstone's Satan Squad lieutenants, also created by DeFalco and Ditko in this issue.
- Story titled 'Baron Brimstone and His Sinister Satan Squad!'; written by Tom DeFalco, with art, inks, and cover by Steve Ditko; colored by Bob Sharen; lettered by Diana Albers.
- Cover date August 1980; on-sale date May 6, 1980; published bi-monthly under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.
- The letters page reproduces Steve Ditko's previously unpublished cover to Machine Man #10 — a bonus primary source for production history of the series.
- Baron Brimstone went on to appear in Marvel Team-Up #99 (November 1980), The Avengers #251 (January 1985), and Fantastic Four #336 (January 1990), establishing him as a durable minor villain across multiple Marvel franchises.
- The issue has been reprinted three times according to the Marvel Database, and the story is collected in Machine Man by Kirby & Ditko: The Complete Collection (Marvel, 2016).
- The series existed in a singular creative context: every issue of the original 1978–1981 run was illustrated either by Jack Kirby (issues #1–9) or Steve Ditko (issues #10–19), with no other penciler on the main series.
Cast · 6 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Transformers #12 (1985), The Transformers #13 (1985), The Transformers #14 (1985), Machine Man by Kirby & Ditko: The Complete Collection #[nn] (2016), Machine Man le robot vivant #[nn] (2017)
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