Erik Josten - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Erik Josten was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A former AWOL Marine turned mercenary, he is employed by Baron Heinrich Zemo as head of his South American security/mercenary force. After Zemo's death Josten is convinced by the Enchantress to undergo the same 'ionic-ray' treatment (from a machine invented by Zemo) as Simon Williams (Wonder Man), making Josten super-strong (though not as strong as Wonder Man since the treatment was specifically calibrated to Simon Williams and the Enchantress wasn't aware it had to be tailored to the subject). Taking the name Power Man, he becomes the Enchantress' partner and battles the Avengers at her request. She used illusions to turn the city against the Avengers, though finally Captain America used a tape recording to prove the Avengers were innocent. He becomes a professional supervillain and partners with the Swordsman, and the two fight the Avengers again under the leadership of the brainwashed Black Widow. Alongside the Swordsman, he becomes an unwitting pawn of the Red Skull's, and fights Captain America. He briefly serves as an agent of the Mandarin. He later fights the Avengers again as a member of the first Lethal Legion.

Eventually, Josten meets Luke Cage, a hero who for a brief time has assumed the name Power Man. The two fight over the right to use the name, and Cage wins. Josten then joins Count Nefaria's new Lethal Legion under the promise that Nefaria would greatly increase Josten's powers. This he does, but Nefaria later steals Josten's enhanced powers (along with those of his other superhuman underlings), which greatly reduces his strength.

His strength fading, Josten changes his costume and becomes a smuggler, taking the unimaginative yet appropriate name the Smuggler. In his first and only appearance as the Smuggler, he is defeated by Spider-Man. Spider-Man then assists Josten against the Maggia.

Later, he gains the ability to grow to giant size from the criminal Doctor Karl Malus, who uses a sample of Henry Pym's growth serum. He then takes on the name Goliath, a name used previously by superheroes (see Goliath, Black Goliath) and again changes his costume. He fights James Rhodes as Iron Man and the West Coast Avengers, who defeat him. Using his ability, he is sent by Doctor Doom to kill Spider-Man, but, thanks to the hero's newly-acquired cosmic powers, Goliath is defeated.

Under the leadership of the Grim Reaper, Goliath again battles the West Coast Avengers alongside Man-Ape, Nekra, and Ultron. His escape attempt is foiled by Avengers.

Josten joins a new fourth version of the Masters of Evil, founded by the current Baron Zemo. During his time with this group, Josten is one of the villains who invades and captures Avengers Mansion and beats Hercules severely .

Goliath later battles Spider-Man during the "Acts of Vengeance." His attempted breakout at the Vault is foiled by the Avengers and Freedom Force. He also battles Wonder Man in an attempt to usurp his fame.

He later fights Giant-Man (Bill Foster), Ant-Man (Scott Lang), and then another Goliath (Clint Barton), as Goliath. He then has a rematch with Wonder Man. He is then victimized by Kosmosian criminals, and rescued by Giant-Man (Hank Pym).

When Zemo later decides to disguise the Masters as a superhero team called the Thunderbolts, Josten creates the original identity (and costume) of Atlas. During this time he began dating Dallas Riordan the Thunderbolts liaison to the NYC mayor's office. However, like most of the Thunderbolts, Atlas begins to enjoy public admiration, and eventually reforms to attempt to be a genuine superhero, even after the Thunderbolts' criminal past is publicly revealed. After absorbing the energy from one of Nefaria's weapons, an "ionic bomb", Josten mutates into a gigantic "ionic energy creature". Scourge killed/dispersed him to protect the town of Burton Canyon, Colorado. Atlas' ionic form later begins haunting Dallas Riordan in much the same way Wonder Man's ionic form had haunted the Scarlet Witch. Later Atlas would possess Dallas Riordan and empower her with the ionic energy. Together they rejoin the other founding Thunderbolt members in defeating Graviton and are shunted to Counter Earth.

When they are separated upon returning from Counter Earth, Dallas takes the ionic energy, leaving Josten powerless, a situation which lasts until Fixer gives him a new dose of Pym particles. This lasts until the end of the Avengers/Thunderbolts limited series, when Erik asks Henry Pym to remove the particles from his system. However, he regains the ability to change his size by reclaiming the ionic energy from Dallas, leaving her a paraplegic again.

Altered again by the Wellspring, during a battle against the Grandmaster in which he has to surrender his powers temporarily to Zemo, he is left stuck in a giant form, too heavy even to move and communicate. However he is able to send back some ionic energy to Dallas, restoring her legs.

Atlas is restored to normal size by scientists at Camp Hammond, and registers Atlas as part of the Initiative. Though registered, Atlas' size changing powers are considered too unreliable to be placed on an Initiative team. However, Nighthawk hires him along with other questionable heroes after his Defenders team is decommissioned by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Atlas was later recruited by Wonder Man (whose ionic energy leaking problem was affecting his judgement) to join his Revengers.