One of the most interesting aspects of the current Thunderbolts storyline is the masquerade of Techno as the Ogre, harking back to the T-Bolt’s earliest villains-clothed-as-heroes period but with a sinister and personal twist. It seems as though even Techno himself isn’t quite sure why he is doing such a thing, so I thought I’d offer a few observations.
Like many of the original Thunderbolts, Norbert Ebersol found himself in a situation he hadn’t faced before when he was posing as a hero. The Fixer craved not only the acceptance that his teammates like MACH-1 and Songbird had but also admiration to support a somewhat insecure ego. And for the Fixer, admiration meant being needed. Then and now Techno created technological marvel after marvel, partly to prove to himself that he could do it, but partly to show his colleagues just how clever and invaluable he was. While he took on the image of a high-tech swashbuckler to dazzle the public, he chose the role of invaluable support element within the team. Both were about being admired and needed.
It is no surprise to find that Ebersol requires such relationships. From his earliest appearances he has been depicted as somewhat dysfunctional in normal relationships, although this was perhaps best illustrated in his abortive date in Thunderbolts #-1. A large part of his allying with Mentallo, and later with Zemo, and, I would argue, his retrun to the T-Bolts now, is due to his need to be needed.
But alongside that evident need there is another side to Norbert Ebersol. Even as he seeks the approval of his confederates to affirm his self-worth he is also competing against them, measuring himself up to those around him to assure himself that he is actually better than them. Moonstone accurately lances this character flaw when she distracts Techno by suggesting that Mentallo is higher on the Most Wanted list than he is (#12).
Ebersol measured himself against each of the Thunderbolts, but Techno’s relationship to Abe is worth a special mention in this context. MACH-1 was probably the closest Ebersol had to a friend in the original Thunderbolts, but there was always a competitive edge to that relationship in Techno’s mind. After all, Abner Jenkins was an engineer as well. He had designed his original Beetle suit, which the Fixer improved into the MACH-1 armour to prove he could do it better. Abe was somewhat aware of this when he commented in #12 that Techno had allowed him access to the Avengers’ files because he didn’t consider him a threat; but Abe was only partially right. Techno liked having MACH-1 around because he was a threat he could be assured of beating.
Yet Techno still couldn’t surpass MACH-1 in every way. While he might be technically more proficient, Abe was much more readily trusted and liked by his teamates. And Abe was able to make time with Songbird, when Techno was never able to establish a relationship with any non-computer generated woman at all. A part of Techno’s threat to Melissa during the Zemo world takeover - "Maybe I’ll ask Zemo to give you to me." - is surely about getting something that Abe has to prove he is as capable as MACH-1.
This competition also comes out whenever Techno battles an adversary with scientific expertise. It is perhaps best illustrated in the (presumably non-canon) Avengers/Thunderbolts novel in his clash with Iron Man. We also see it in his triumph over the technical Ogre.
Techno also props up his self-esteem by setting himself a constant stream of technical challenges. He has been depicted - since Kurt Busiek began writing him at least, and sometimes before - as a man thriving, perhaps even living for, the thrill of engineering achievement. I believe part of that is a genuine joy at creation, and another part is a low boredom threshold, but a third part is that constant need to re-prove to himself that he is the best because he has done the impossible.
Finally we have to consider the changes which Techno has gone through since migrating to an entirely robotic body. Moonstone again nailed him by raising questions about his humanity. Despite his overcompensatory denials Techno was seen growing a new human cloned form a few issues later. When he first gained his robotic form Techno was delighted because it was a triumph over the science-using Elements of Doom, because it gave him even more facility for proving his usefulness, because it made him that much better than his teammates (in his eyes), and because it removed him one step from the hurtful world of human relationships. Later he has come to see the latter reason as a disadvantage.
So we have a morally shallow, low-attention spanned genius who needs to relate to peers, and to relate to them in a particular kind of way. In his entire life he has never been closer to anybody than the Thunderbolts. A large part of his thought balloons since his return in Ogre guise have been about how they felt about him, or would feel if they knew he was back - "What would Hallie have said about me?" - "What would they do if I showed them who I really was". Perhaps some part of him is seeking to regain that relationship which was ripped asunder in the T-Bolts/Zemo spilt. A part of his masquerade is to prove he’s clever than the T-Bolts by pulling the sham off even as he enjoys their acceptance and gratitude. And a part is about getting the upper hand - via spying, technical "back-doors" and so on - so they can never hurt him again. Abe’s changed physiology is surely no accident, designed perhaps to put a wedge between Abe and Melissa and thus at last demonstrate superiority over MACH-2 in every way since clearly Abe can’t hold a woman any more than Ebersol could.
As I said at the start, Norbert Ebersol is one of the most interesting parts of the current book. I watch with interest to see where Mr Nicieza takes him.
IW
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