Forbush Man

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Forbush Man

Panel from The Origin of Forbush Man

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Not Brand Echh #1 (cover), #5 (major debut)
Created by	Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Characteristics
Alter ego	Irving Forbush
Homeworld	Earth-665
Affiliations	The New Paramounts
Abilities	Forbush vision (shows the recipient a hell of their own creation)

Forbush Man was the mascot of Marvel Comics' Not Brand Echh, a 1960s comic book that spoofed other comic books, including Marvel's own line of superhero titles.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Forbush Man was a wannabe superhero (albeit one with no superpowers), with a costume comprising red long johns with the letter F on the front and a cooking pot with eye-holes on his head. Forbush Man's appearance may be a tribute to the Golden Age Red Tornado character.

Forbush Man appeared on the cover of the first issue of Not Brand Echh, which was drawn by Jack Kirby and features Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer cowering in fear as Forbush Man approaches. However, Forbush Man's first major appearance was in the lead story of Not Brand Echh's fifth issue: The Origin of Forbush Man, which was "conceived, created and cluttered-up" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In this story, Forbush Man's secret identity is revealed as Irving Forbush, the fictitious office gofer at Marvel Comics.

The name "Irving Forbush" was made up by Stan Lee as far back as 1956 to refer to an imaginary low-grade colleague who became the butt of many of Lee's jokes. The name cropped up repeatedly in the credit panels, Bullpen Bulletins and letters sections of Marvel comics during the 1960s. It soon became an in-joke between Lee and his readers.

During the 1980s Forbush Man became a staple cast member in the satirical Marvel Comics title What The--?! an ensemble book that encompassed and poked fun at the entirety of the canon Marvel Universe.

Forbush Man recently appeared in Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. as a member of 'The New Paramounts', a team consisting of Not Brand Echh characters including The Inedible Bulk. This Forbush man was apparently killed by Tabitha Smith after he failed to mind control her (she apparently had no mind).

Forbush man is a Bystander Token in the Supernova series of the game Heroclix. The token has a low attack power, but high defense value.

[edit] Powers

Forbush Man (possibly an imitation) realizes why he cannot defeat Tabitha Smith in Nextwave #10. Art by Stuart Immonen, text by Warren Ellis.

While the original Forbush Man had no superpowers, the Forbush Man who appeared in Nextwave (who may or may not have been a Broccoli Man) had the power to project utterly realistic visions into the minds of others when he removed the cast-iron pot on his head. The hallucinations typically depicted a reality that was hellish to each victim, slowly killing them as they struggled against it. This power had no effect on Tabitha Smith as, in Nextwave, she has no apparent mind at all. It is also possible that he has powers far beyond this: he cites during his recruitment to the New Paramounts several occasions on which he claims to have saved the Earth from certain doom so quickly and efficiently that nobody realized he'd done anything. Forbush Man even goes so far as to purport that he is "the greatest power in human history," although the veracity of these claims is unverified.