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Quote1 It's the day we stood up to all the crap this country is drowning in, Bobby. That's what day it was. The day the real America showed it's teeth. A day of true freedom of the press. Freedom of action. Go ahead, call it "World War Hate." Give it a cute little name. Pretend it's out of the ordinary. Pretend it's not happening right now, behind every closed door, in every private thought. You go ahead and pretend America doesn't like it. Quote2
Gideon Mace[src]

History

Early Life[]

In 1968, during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam war, Mace led his troops in an unauthorized assault on a village. One of his soldiers, Jaime, stepped on a landmine, and was killed. Mace was nearby, and his right hand was destroyed by the explosion. Mace was discharged from the army for his actions, his discharge papers citing insubordination, mental incompetence, and suspicion of combat activity independent of orders. He was outraged at what he felt was unjust treatment. He had his hand fitted for a prosthetic, a mace, after his own name, and began to recruit soldiers into his own personal army, to gain revenge on the nation that had mistreated him.[1]

Power Man[]

Mace planned revenge on the US government. Mace enlisted disgruntled veterans to paralyze Manhattan for a day to distract the cops. However this was a decoy as he planned to attack and rob Wall Street. Owen Ridgely, a veteran who had learned about Mace's plan, hired Luke Cage the Hero for Hire, to stop him. However Ridgely was murdered by Mace's men so he hunted down Mace and attacked his hideout, but when Mace tried to flee in a helicopter, Luke caused it to crash into the Hudson River.[1]

Mace next reappeared as the head of Security City, a dystopian project that was toppled by its citizens when Cage and D. W. Griffith revealed Mace's intentions of brain-washing them.[3]

Gideon Mace (Earth-616) from Power Man Vol 1 23 001

Chicago[]

Cage left New York for Chicago. On the train, he is recognized by Gideon Mace who is also riding the train and the two are locked in a brief battle until Luke is knocked from the train. Luke is later picked up by a woman named Burgundy, who offered Luke a place to wash up and new clothes and offers him a new job with her employer. However this turns out to be a trap, because Burgundy's boss turns out to be none other than Gideon Mace himself.[4] Cage however managed to break free and escaped. Burgundy told Cage that she is loyal to Gideon because her late husband Jamie worked for Mace. Having betrayed Luke once more to Mace, Mace arrives and captures Luke, but not before Luke convinces her to check out Mace's records. Upon doing so, she learned that Mace had been dishonorably discharged from his position. Confronting him with the truth, Burgundy learned that Luke has been strapped to an a-bomb which Mace hoped to use to blow up Chicago in a bid to seize control of America.[5] Luke, however, managed to free himself, and goes to the local police, who have just been told Mace's demands. Luke worked with the police to find Mace, and with the help of Burgundy, Luke managed to smash Mace's operation. However, during the final fight with Mace, Gideon seemingly died when he falls down an elevator shaft. Due to Mace having trusted nobody, the knowledge on how to disarm the bomb apparently died with him.[6] But luckily it was revealed to be a dud.[7]

White Tiger[]

White Tiger and Blackbyrd interrogated Lou Gunther to find out who murdered the White Tiger's family. Finally learning that the killer is an out-of-town power broker that is holed up in the South Bronx, the two heroes then track him down to his hideout, where White Tiger breaks in and attacks the men there. However he is soon overpowered and knocked out by their leader, Gideon Mace, who has come to New York to strike out and eliminate its population of superheroes. Having learned that Gideon Mace murdered his family as a plot against New York's super-heroes, the White Tiger tries to fight off Mace's men. However, there are too many men, and when he does eventually fight them off, Gideon Mace is ready and waiting with an automatic rifle. He guns down White Tiger in cold blood, marking Gideon's first victory against the city's heroes.[8]

While Peter went with Hector to the hospital, Peter learned that Hector's family was murdered by Gideon Mace as part of a war against New York's super-heroes, and when he tracked Mace down as the White Tiger, Mace mowed him down with an automatic weapon. At the hospital, Blackbyrd arrived just in time to prevent the paramedics from removing his tiger medallion. Peter slipped away from the scene to change into Spider-Man and asks Blackbyrd what he knows about Gideon Mace before going after Mace himself. Using his spider-tracer to track down those who dumped White Tiger's body, Spider-Man battles Gideon's soldiers. When Gideon learns that Spider-Man is tracking them, he allows Spider-Man to learn the location of his base so that he can eliminate Spider-Man earlier than he planned. When Spider-Man arrives, the two are locked in battle, and when Gideon's men burst in and cannot get a clear shot on Spider-Man, Mace orders them to fire anyway. With Gideon mowed down with bullets, Spider-Man makes short work of the shooters.[9]

Spider-Man brings Mace to the hospital where he is rushed in as Hector comes out of a successful surgery. Hector then decides to relinquish his tiger medallion over to Blackbyrd, deciding that his life as a superhero was over and leaves New York with Holly. Blackbyrd parts company with Spider-Man by commenting that at least Hector knew when it was time to quit while he's ahead.[10]

Disappearance of heroes[]

Gideon Mace teamed up with X the Marvel, Chemistro, Black Mariah, and Mr. Fish to kill Luke Cage when the heroes of New York City began to disappear. A short battle broke out until Luke managed to escape on the back of a moving truck.[11]

Death[]

Mace later surfaced in New York City, being funnelled by Cortex Inc.,[12] and came into conflict with the White Tiger (Ava Ayala), who attempted to murder him in revenge for the death of her parents while being possessed by the Tiger god that gave her powers.[13] With the intervention of the Mighty Avengers White Tiger was prevented from crossing the line and killing Mace.[13] However, Mace would be later killed by Quickfire, the bodyguard of Cortex's CEO.[14]

Mace's heart was taken by Quickfire, who used it as the base to create a monstrous humanoid construct.[15] The construct was destroyed and only Mace's heart remained after the person who had empowered Quickfire, a Beyond Corporation-possessed Jason Quantrell, was defeated.[16]

Attributes

Power Grid[17]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Peak Human:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Abilities

Military training.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Titanium Mace: Had a titanium Mace grafted onto his right arm. The mace could also spray the chemical mace or be fired as a projectile.

See Also

Links and References

References

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