Absorbing Man
The Absorbing Man is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Carl "Crusher" Creel
The ring gave Carl an opportunity to let out his anger for the death of his mother and his relationship with his father. His aggressiveness earned him the nickname of Crusher Creel. His boxing career lead him into a fight with Battlin Jack Murdock. (Daredevil v1 #1) Creel was eventually arrested, and served his first time in prison for aggravated assault and extortion. (Black Bolt v1 #4) It was said that once he jumped his parole and whilst on the run he found a woman returning home from work. Creel was said to had assaulted and raped her leading to her becoming pregnant with his son who was born the next year. (Secret Warriors v1 #12)
Crusher was said to had later tracked down his son and the boy's mother where he touched the boy who ended up inheriting his fathers powers. Jerry Sledge was rendered unconscious and was in the hospital where he awoke and the day he left he found out that his mother had died with him being there for her burial. (Secret Warriors v1 #12)
Some time into his sentence, Carl was selected by Loki, the Asgardian God of Mischief, as his unwitting agent in a scheme against Thor, God of Thunder. By adding an enchanted potion composed of rare Asgardian herbs to Creel's drinking water in the prison commissary, Loki granted the brutal convict a bizarre power he hoped would enable him to defeat Thor, the power to absorb the physical properties of anything with which he came in contact. Creel used his new-found power to break free from prison and soon became engaged in battle with Thor. Due to his ability to absorb the properties of Thor's hammer and Thor himself, Creel, now called the Absorbing Man, became one of the strongest mortal foes Thor ever combated. (Journey into Mystery v1 #114) Thor was forced to concede the fight when Creel kidnapped Jane Foster. Creel then ransacked a house and attacked the residents, at which point Thor and him had a rematch. He was defeated when Thor tricked him by hitting the ground with Mjolnir and turning it (and Creel) to Helium, causing him to float harmlessly into the atmosphere. (Journey into Mystery v1 #115)
Later, the now engaged Crusher was alongside his fiancée as they committed various crimes together, mostly just to simply kill time. The duo would eventually run into Spider-Man, who Titania was absolutely terrified of, due to the emotional trauma of her humiliating defeat at his hands during the Secret Wars. After fleeing, Titania explained to Creel her reason for why she ran, and the whole reason she feared the wall-crawler in the first place. Shortly after, Creel and Titania went to LaGuardia airport on a mission to pick up a new member for the Masters of Evil, only to once again be confronted by Spider-man. Titania attempted again to flee, but the Absorbing Man acted as if he was injured, and in need of help, which convinced Titania to confront her fear, and fight Spider-Man. In the end, the villains win the battle by using a plane full of civilians as hostages, and forcing Spidey to surrender in return for the peoples' safety. Spidey, seeing no other option, ended up leaving the airport, understandably feeling miserable about his defeat. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #283)
Creel was being detained at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. in order to study his ability to absorb the properties of substances where they intended to use it on fragments of the Cosmic Cube. He was freed from his cell where he sought to acquire the fragments for himself with the Dark Avengers and Mighty Avengers arriving too late to stop him. Though not all powerful, the Absorbing Man managed to attain some of the Cosmic Cube's abilities allowing him to divide the Sentry between his heroic and Void-based self whilst also turning Ms. Marvel into her Moonstone form. The two heroic teams were unable to stop him though Norman Osborn and Hank Pym determined to acquire his wrecking ball that had similarly gained the properties of the Cosmic Cube. (Mighty Avengers v1 #33)
After one too many times of getting caught by the Avengers and imprisoned, Absorbing Man reluctantly agreed with Titania to attempt to be released on parole in order to go legit and stop his criminal career. (Illuminati v1 #1) However, before being able to change his ways, Creel was transferred to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest reality-warping prison named Pleasant Hill, where Creel was turned into a model citizen, and lived a normal life as an ice cream vendor named Harold. (Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Alpha v1 #1)
Creel was deeply affected by his experience in Pleasant Hill, mainly emerging with the desire to live a normal life, noting that he had never been as happy as he was when being Harold. However, he decided to assemble any and every one of the former inmates from Pleasant Hill and get revenge on S.H.I.E.L.D. for manipulating their lives. (Illuminati v1 #6) Following a schism between Titania and the Hood that broke up the Hood's Illuminati, Titania realized that she could never live a normal life again, and decided to embrace her criminal life with Absorbing Man. (Illuminati v1 #7)
Following his latest capture, Creel was sent to a secret deep-space torture prison. There, he made acquaintances with fellow prisoners Metal Master, Blinky, Raava, and Black Bolt. (Black Bolt v1 #2)
The Jailer had also survived his encounter with Creel, having escaped death by implanting himself in Blinky's mind. He took over her body as well, and fought Black Bolt. When Titania went to search for help, Lockjaw teleported to her and took her to Parkwood Cemetery, where she found Carl crawling out of his grave. (Black Bolt v1 #11) They reunited, and went to help Black Bolt fight the Jailer. Absorbing Man and Titania's assistance gave Black Bolt the final push he needed to regain his strength and kill the villain. (Black Bolt v1 #12)
He was later planning a diamond heist when his wife Titania received a legitimate job offer from Roxxon. Carl refused to work on that job as he was proud of his planning for the diamond robbery leading to a brief argument with Titania. He decided to continue the crime but was caught and sent to jail where he stayed for sometime until he received an offer for an early release. Creel then was taken to Shadow Base where General Reginald Fortean had arranged for the Absorbing Man's release so he could help the U.S. military in defeating the Hulk. This saw Shadow Base scientist Jeff Clive enhance Creel with a Hulk Genetic Plug-In that turned him red and gave him the power to absorb gamma energy. Thus, the newly transformed Absorbing Man was dispatched to fight the Hulk where he absorbed part of the beasts gamma energy but this made Carl come into contact with a demonic entity that possessed his body. (Immortal Hulk v1 #9) The One Below All used Creel's powers to absorb all of the ambient gamma radiation left from the bomb's detonation, and opened a Green Door, shunting everybody present at the scene, including members of the task force Gamma Flight, into his dominion, the Below-Place. (Immortal Hulk v1 #10)
The Absorbing Man was left sobbing while stranded in the Below-Place until Gamma Flight operative Puck spurred him on to help stop the One Below's plan to emerge on Earth. (Immortal Hulk v1 #11) Absorbing a wellspring of gamma radiation, Creel transferred it to the Hulk, giving him enough power to disperse the One Below All, stopping the demon and returning everyone to Earth. In the aftermath, Puck offered Creel a position in Gamma Flight, and he accepted in exchange for bringing Titania in as well. (Immortal Hulk v1 #13)
Afterwards, he and the team rendezvoused at one of Titania's hideouts where she proposed to him again and he accepted. Puck came to convince the pair to continue helping the rogue Gamma Flight out by saving people afflicted by gamma mutation. One such incident occurred with a new gamma mutate named Stockpile who was being pursued by a mysterious party that mutating new people with gamma radiation. Creel and Doc Sasquatch came to end up confronting the gamma restored Skaar who was working on behalf of the party seeking the capture of Stockpile. (Gamma Flight v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Crusher Creel was a tall white male with a bald head and muscular body where he was noted for his savage features. After gaining his powers, he began to take the name of the Absorbing Man on account of his abilities. (Journey into Mystery v1 #114) Whilst working for Shadow Base, he was given the code name of Red Dog. (Immortal Hulk v1 #9)
Early in his criminal career, it was noted that he was a brutal savage who was consumed with a hatred of society. (Journey into Mystery v1 #114)
In his early years, he was known to had attacked a woman and gotten her pregnant with his son with this being Jerry Sledge. (Secret Warriors v1 #12)
Powers ad abilities
Originally, Creel was shown to had been an ordinary human being until he unknown to him had consumed an elixir created by Loki. Within seconds, he felt the effects of the potion that was said to had made him the most dangerous mortal on the planet. He gained the power of absorbing the strength of anything he touched such as rock or steel. (Journey into Mystery v1 #114)
Creel was shown to even be capable of absorbing the powers of fragments of the Cosmic Cube though was not able to use the devices full capabilities. However, he was still incredibly powerful and affect reality on a small scale. (Mighty Avengers v1 #33) After receiving a Bannerman Genetic-Enhancement Package, Creel was modified in a manner similar to the Red Hulk with him gaining red skin. The Hulk Plug-In also gave him the power to absorb gamma radiation into his body making him deadly to those powered by such energy. (Immortal Hulk v1 #9)
His wife Titania came to give him a wedding ring that was made of Adamantium allowing him to take on its properties in the midst of a fight. (Gamma Flight v1 #1)
It was shown that he generally carried a large metallic ball attached to a chain that he could wield and throw at his enemies. (Journey into Mystery v1 #114)
Notes
- The Absorbing Man was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in Journey into Mystery v1 #114 (March, 1965).
Alternate Versions
- In Tales from the Age of Apocalypse v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of the Absorbing Man appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In The Incredible Hulk, the Absorbing Man appeared in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "They Call Me Mr. Fixit" where he was voiced by actor Jim Cummings.
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, the Absorbing Man appeared in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "Command Decision" where he was voiced by actor Oliver Becker.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Absorbing Man appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Rick D. Wasserman.
- In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Carl 'Crusher' Creel appeared in the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by actor Brian Patrick Wade.
Video games
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Absorbing Man appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Journey into Mystery v1: (1965)
- Thor v1:
- Mighty Avengers v1:
- Secret Warriors v1:
- Black Bolt v1:
- Immortal Hulk v1:
- Gamma Flight v1: (2021)
External Links
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