Sunset Bain is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Machine Man #17 (October 1980).[1] Sunset Bain is known under the codenameMadame Menace.[2] She is both a rival and occasional love interest of the superheroTony Stark / Iron Man. She is portrayed as a cunning and ruthless business magnate, serving as the founder and CEO of Baintronics, a powerful technology conglomerate specializing in artificial intelligence and robotics.[3]
Bain attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concurrently with Stark, during which she seduced him into revealing the security codes for Stark Industries. Shortly thereafter, she infiltrated the company, stealing blueprints and prototypes that she later used to establish her own corporation.[4] Bain and Stark clashed when he suspected she had used his stolen technology to construct a military vehicle, and their rivalry continued over time. Her primary objective is to dominate the technology market, both legally and illicitly.[5]
Publication history
Sunset Bain debuted in Machine Man #17 (October 1980), created by Tom DeFalco and Steve Ditko. She subsequently appeared in several Marvel series, including Iron Man Annual (1970), Ghost Rider (1973),[6]Web of Spider-Man (1985), Solo Avengers (1987), Spider-Man (1990),[7]Iron Man (1998), Taskmaster (2002),[8]Punisher War Journal (2006),[9]Marvel Comics Presents (2007), Iron Man: Kiss & Kill (2010),[10]Tony Stark: Iron Man (2018),[11] the "Iron Man 2020" storyline (2020),[12] and Iron Cat (2022).[13] Furthermore, Sunset Bain received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1 (2006).
Fictional character biography
Sunset Bain got her start by seducing fellow MIT undergraduate Tony Stark into revealing the security codes for Stark Industries. Shortly thereafter, a force of masked men invaded and stole several prototypes. Within a year, Baintronics was founded and Sunset broke it off with Stark. While Baintronic maintained a spotless reputation, Sunset assumed the Madame Menace persona and sold high-tech weaponry to criminals via "a tremendously profitable underground seasonal "Sharper Villain" catalog of armaments."[14]
When Machine Man lost an arm while fighting Baron Brimstone and the Satan Squad, Madame Menace bought it, obtaining a low price by threatening the seller "with one of her flesh-eating roaches."[15] Her plans for reverse engineering the limb were interrupted when Machine Man came to claim it. Despite her electromagnets and sonic disrupter cannon, Machine Man prevailed, and Sunset had to blow up her yacht to escape.[16] An accidental run-in with Alpha Flight members Aurora, Northstar and Sasquatch eventually persuaded her to set aside her Machine Man machinations for a while. Madame Menace then made a few minor appearances supplying weapons to Ghost Rider villain Orb,[17] and then Doctor Octopus.[18]
Sunset next showed up in a meeting with Tony Stark which was interrupted when a damaged Machine Man showed up with the head of Jocasta, having lost a battle to Terminus. Stark changed into Iron Man and brought the damaged androids to Baintronics, where under the guise of assistance, Sunset created knockoff duplicates of the robots.[19] When the repaired Machine Man left, Sunset managed to give him the fake Jocasta.[volume&issueneeded] The real Jocasta and false Machine Man left with Baintronics laid in-continuity foundations for the Machine Man 2020 miniseries.[volume&issueneeded]
After this, Sunset Bain as Madame Menace teamed with the New Enforcers in their plot to take over the fallen Kingpin's crime cartel. Ostensibly, Bain did this in order to study the New Enforcers technology, including Dragon Man, Dreadnought, and the Super-Adaptoid.[20]
Having failed to decode the intricacies of Jocasta's A.I., Sunset decided to hire Tony Stark to investigate. As Stark was already employed otherwise, Sunset hired the new War Machine to destroy his current employers. After Iron Man defeated Fin Fang Foom, Baintronics took the contract for transporting the beast's massive bulk. Using this as an in, Sunset asked Tony to work for her again. Growing suspicious, Stark accepted in order to learn more. Stark then freed Jocasta and persuaded the new War Machine to stop working for Sunset Bain.[21][22]
Later, Sunset hired Taskmaster to sabotage a Stark Enterprises operation. In lieu of paying him, she betrayed him to the police. In retaliation, the Taskmaster instigated a war between the Triads and Baintronics. He even managed to shoot Sunset in the shoulder. As of the end of the mini-series, the hostilities between the two were unresolved, but aside from their enmity, the status quo was mostly restored.[23]
She was shot several times by the Punisher,[24] but has since resurfaced as an opponent of Machine Man again.[25]
As he went on a globetrotting journey, Arno Stark met Sunset Bain.[27] He joined up with Bain's company Baintronics in a plot to steal data from Stark Unlimited.[28]
During the "Iron Man 2020" arc, Sunset Bain calls up Arno Stark about the robots acting up. At Bain Tower, Bain is approached by Dr. Bhang and his cat Dr. Shapiro on wanting to see Jocasta where they are denied. She takes the translation collar that is the actual Shapiro claiming that the A.I. Army would take control of it. Machinesmith shows Machine Man and Quasimodo the news that Arno Stark and Bain are using Baintronics to acquire a robotics factory and destroy it to avoid the A.I. Army from acquiring new members much to the dismay of Machine Man.[29] In Bain's helicopter, Dr. Andrew Bhang informs her that the robots like animatronic mascots and room-bots are protesting on the streets. While stating that they are heading to Baintronics to tear it down, Bain figures out that Bhang is the A.I. Army's mole and has been feeding information to Bethany Cabe.[30] Bain is later disintegrated by her A.I. counterpart, who dislikes "competition".[31]
The Sunset Bain A.I. next returns as the villain of the miniseries Iron Cat (2022), unleashed by Tamara Blake, the titular Iron Cat (using the Iron Cat armor to seek revenge on her bisexual ex-girlfriend Felicia Hardy for murdering their mentor the Black Fox), re-embracing the title of Madame Menace, and taking control of every set of armor Iron Man had ever built.[13][32]
Powers and abilities
Sunset Bain prefers to manipulate others into carrying out her schemes rather than engaging in direct combat herself. However, when necessary, she has access to an array of weapons of her own design, including devices such as a sonic disruptor.[15] A genius-level inventor, Bain controls the resources of Baintronics and other affiliated companies, as well as a small contingent of uniformed mercenaries. She generally sells her inventions rather than using them personally.
Other versions
Earth-8410
An alternate version of Sunset Bain appears in Machine Man. In this cyberpunk storyline set in the year 2020, an older Bain remains the head of Baintronics, which has leveraged technology from Machine Man and Jocasta to become a dominant megacorporation.[33] After a robot's error frees Machine Man, he battles Baintronics' forces, ultimately defeating Iron Man 2020 and Bain's other guards. Despite being forty years past her prime, Bain attacks Machine Man directly with a live power cable, but he overcomes her and extracts a promise that she will leave him and his allies alone.[34]
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