Stranger (comics)
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The Stranger is a cosmic entity in the fictional Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #11 (May 1965), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Although he most often appears as a white-haired middle-aged man and assumes various heights, he wields vast energy-manipulating powers and can travel through space unaided.
[edit] History
All that is known about the Stranger has been related by the being himself. He has in the past claimed to be the sole survivor of Gigantus, a world or race composed of a "billion billion" beings, but has since said that this wasn't true. However, it is possible that the Stranger is in actuality a composite being, somehow composed of a 'billion billion beings'. This is substantiated by an incident occurring in the 'Infinity Gauntlet' saga in which a panel depicts the stranger being defeated by Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. When the Stranger is struck by a bolt of energy, the panel depicts him separating into a collection of different beings, akin to a wicker man. The same thing happened in What If? - v1. #32, only here it was Korvac who did the same thing to the Stranger, with the same result. It has also been claimed that he was offered the opportunity to become the fourth face of the Living Tribunal but refused.
In his initial appearance, the Stranger was disgusted by the behavior of humanity, but curious about human potential exemplified in mutants. He took Magneto and the Toad to his world, "Stranger's World", for further study. They later escaped, and the Stranger's subsequent encounter with the Hulk and his alter ego, Bruce Banner, convinced him that humanity had great potential for good and evil. While continuing his cosmic studies, the Stranger has often intervened to protect humanity from various threats.
The Stranger's first act to benefit the people of Earth was his defeat of the Overmind, the gestalt of the Eternals of another world, by compressing him into a lifeless microverse. Since then, he has largely conducted his own studies of the universe and intervenes whenever the subjects of that research are threatened. In recent years, the Stranger became embroiled in conflict with Quasar over the possession of the extradimensional Star Brand, which ultimately resulted in the Earth of the New Universe being placed in orbit around his Labworld and sealed away from all contact by the Living Tribunal.
[edit] Beyond!
The Stranger has since appeared in the Beyond! Miniseries, posing as The Beyonder, kidnapping a small group of heroes and villains, and attempting to study them ander the facade of battle.
[edit] Labworld
The Stranger's Labworld is a large planet where The Stranger conducts his many experiments. Most of these experiments use unwilling sentients as test subjects.
Labworld's one known moon is the Earth of the New Universe.
