Erik Josten was born in Milwaukee and raised on a farm 30 miles outside of Madison, Wisconsin the son of Jonathan and Martha Josten. He was one brother from a large mid-western farming family which included Carl and Conrad. Erik's sister Lindy died in an accident and Erik blamed himself, thinking he could have prevented her death. Wracked with guilt, Josten ran away to join the US Army. When he was later discovered smuggling, Josten ran away from the army to become a soldier-for-hire.
He was hired by Nazi scientist Baron Heinrich Zemo to smuggle stolen technology into Zemo's secret South American stronghold. With this equipment, Zemo built a machine that could project an unknown form of mutagenic radiation ("ionic rays") capable of bestowing superhuman physical powers to a subject. Zemo's first subject was industrialist Simon Williams, who became known as Wonder Man. When Zemo fled his South American base shortly thereafter, he left his "ionic ray" machine functional. Josten, who had been wounded by South American authorities in his latest smuggling venture, sought refuge in Zemo's now abandoned fortress and learned of Zemo's machine. There, Josten came to the mystical attention of the Enchantress, the Asgardian goddess who had been a former ally of Zemo. The Enchantress offered Josten the chance to submit to "ionic ray" treatment and he readily accepted. When the radiation treatment was through, Josten emerged with physical powers roughly equivalent to those of Wonder Man. The Enchantress produced a costume for him and dubbed him Power Man. Traveling to the United States, Power Man assisted the Enchantress in her scheme to discredit and defeat the Avengers. When that plot failed and the Enchantress disappeared, the love-smitten Power Man surrendered to the Avengers. The Avengers refused to press charges, however, and Power Man was released.
Power Man soon met and allied himself with the criminal Swordsman and the Russian spy, the Black Widow, who at the time had been brainwashed by the Red Chinese. In battle with the Avengers, Power Man and the Swordsman were defeated but not taken into custody. Shortly thereafter, they were pitted unsuccessfully against Captain America by the Red Skull. The Skull returned the two to where he found them and shortly afterwards the two partners were summoned by the Mandarin to aid him in his scheme of world conquest. Defeated by the Avengers in South America, Power Man and the Swordsman managed to escape while extradited back to the United States.
Later the two were contacted by the criminal Grim Reaper and invited to join his Lethal Legion for the express purpose of exacting revenge upon the Avengers. Although the Legion managed to capture most of the active Avengers, Power Man was defeated by the Vision. Vision donned Power Man's costume and infiltrated the Legion headquarters to rescue his comrades. The Avengers escaped and subdued their captors. This time the Avengers pressed charges and Power Man and most of his teammates were tried and imprisoned.
-Marvel Fandom
Key Issues & Appearances
1
Significant comic book appearances featuring Power Man
