| The Abomination | |
|---|---|
The Abomination (left) battles the Hulk on the cover of Hulk #159 (Jan. 1973). Art by Herb Trimpe. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales to Astonish #90 (Apr. 1967) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Gil Kane |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Emil Blonsky |
| Species | Human Mutate |
| Team affiliations | KGB Legion Accursed |
| Partnerships | The Leader Rhino |
| Notable aliases | Agent R-7, The Ravager of Worlds |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and durability Regenerative healing factor |
The Abomination (Russian: Мерзость, M'erzost') (Emil Blonsky, Эмиль Блонски) is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Tales to Astonish #90 (April 1967), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Gil Kane.
Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character of the Abomination has featured in other Marvel-endorsed products such as arcade and video games, animated television series, merchandise such as action figures and trading cards, and the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk.
In 2009, the Abomination was ranked as IGN's 54th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[1]
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Stan Lee chose the name "the Abomination", which he realized belonged to no other character, before conceiving the character's background and appearance. Lee recalled that he simply told the artist Gil Kane to "make him bigger and stronger than the Hulk and we'll have a lot of fun with him."[2]
Emil Blonsky first appeared in the title Tales to Astonish, and is introduced as a KGB agent and spy[3] who became the Abomination after deliberately exposing himself to a greater quantity of the same gamma radiation that transformed Bruce Banner into his alter ego the Hulk, using a machine Banner was planning on using to commit suicide. In his first appearance, Blonsky became a large scaly humanoid with twice the strength of the Hulk. In accordance with Lee's wishes, the character defeated the Hulk in their first battle.[4]
The character has featured in a number of Marvel titles, gradually shifting from unthinking savage brute,[4] to master schemer,[5] to tortured soul,[6] and finally repentant villain and occasional defender of the weak[7] before being killed in battle.[8]
Although killed in a first battle with the Abomination, the Hulk is revived by General Thunderbolt Ross. The Hulk eventually reverts to Banner, who lures the Abomination into a trap and drains off the character's excess power, allowing the Hulk to defeat him. The entire encounter is observed by the cosmic entity the Stranger, who encountered the Hulk in the previous storyline and was dissuaded from destroying the Earth by Banner.[9] The Stranger decides that the Hulk's actions were valorous and takes the Abomination - judged to be evil - off world for further study.[4]
The Abomination reappears when summoned by a coven of witches to briefly battle the cosmic hero the Silver Surfer[10] and summons the Thunder God Thor (via an absent Stranger's technology) to aid him in escaping the Stranger's laboratory world. Thor frees the Abomination and the other captives, but, on discovering they are all evil, uses his mystic hammer Mjolnir to time travel several hours into the past, thereby undoing this. After defeating the Abomination and placing the character in prison, Thor departs.[5] When the Hulk is defeated by the alien Xeron the Star Slayer (who is in New York City hunting a giant creature called Klaatu) and brought aboard a space vessel, the Abomination is revealed to be first mate of the alien crew. When the captain of the vessel directs Xeron and the crew to battle Klaatu in space, the Hulk and the Abomination are thrown from the vessel and battle until the pair are drawn into Earth's orbit and separated.[11]
It is revealed in flashback that the Abomination entered into a coma on impacting with the Earth and is buried for two years. Revived by an off-course missile fired from Hulkbuster Base (under Ross' jurisdiction), the Abomination joins forces with General Ross to defeat the Hulk, but is battered into submission by an angered Hulk.[12] The character reappears with fellow Hulk foe the Rhino, and the pair activates a gamma bomb at the Hulkbuster base in an attempt to destroy the Hulk. The Hulk's companion of the time, Jim Wilson, deactivates the bomb and the Hulk tricks the villains during combat, forcing them to collide and knock each other unconscious.[13] A comatose Abomination is eventually found by soldiers at Ross' direction and has a miniature bomb implanted in his skull, being told to fight and defeat the Hulk or be killed. The Abomination tricks the Hulk into an alliance and betrays Ross by attempting to ransom the captured Kennedy Space Center. The plan fails when the Hulk turns on the Abomination and the pair fight, with the Abomination being caught on a rocket when it explodes.[14]
An illusion of the Abomination also appears with other Hulk foes when the Hulk (at the time possessing the intelligence of Banner) enters the brain of Colonel Glenn Talbot at microscopic size to excise a tumor.[15]
The Abomination eventually reappears as a servant of the entity the Galaxy Master, having been empowered with even greater strength. After another extended battle with the Hulk, the Hulk attacks and destroys the Galaxy Master, causing the villain to weaken and apparently become lost in space.[16] When Hulk foe MODOK invades the Hulkbuster base, he colludes with General Ross to revive the Abomination, who was found in a block of ice above Earth and kept in cryogenic storage for further study. MODOK intends to use the Abomination against his superiors at Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), while Ross hopes the villain will destroy the Hulk. The Abomination, however, has become afraid of the Hulk and has to be mentally forced by MODOK to fight. MODOK, however, is ousted by AIM, and a hesitant Abomination is beaten by the Hulk when he intervenes to save Banner's laboratory assistant. The Abomination refuses to rejoin the fight, and is disintegrated by MODOK.[17]
The character is restored by the demonic entity Mephisto, who directs the Abomination and other villains against the cosmic entity the Beyonder.[18] The restoration is temporary as a still disembodied Abomination's particles mingle with the mind of the villain Tyrannus, who reintegrates the character under his control. Tyrannus as the Abomination then comes into conflict with the Gray Hulk, and quickly defeats the weaker version of the Hulk. When the Hulk reverts back to Banner, Tyrannus forces him to create a procedure that will separate Blonsky, who is mentally fighting Tyrannus for control of the Abomination. The process is successful and Blonksy is restored to a human form, free of Tyrannus, still occupying the form of the Abomination. An enraged Gray Hulk defeats Tyrannus, who is placed into custody by the organization S.H.I.E.L.D.[19]
After encounters against Avengers Wonder Man[20] and Hawkeye,[21] the Tyrannus-controlled Abomination reappears during the "Atlantis Attacks" storyline with Deviant Ghaur freeing Tyrannus from the body of the Abomination and placing Blonsky's mind within the creature once more. The process drives Blonksy insane, and he battles heroes Spider-Man and She-Hulk, managing to knock both unconscious. The Abomination is eventually driven off when placed on fire by She-Hulk.[22] The character's mental faculties eventually return and the Abomination reappears in the "Countdown" storyline as a pawn of another Hulk foe, the Leader. The Abomination is sent to a toxic waste site to collect samples, and encounters the gray version of the Hulk, who is outmatched and also weak due to being poisoned. The Hulk, however, throws the Abomination into toxic waste that partially dissolves the character.[23]
The Abomination temporarily teams with villains Titania and Gargantua[24] and finds and stalks his former wife, Nadia (a famous ballet dancer). The Abomination captures her and after taking her into the New York City sewers, reveals his true identity. After a brief skirmish, the Hulk persuades the Abomination to free his wife.[6] The character is also captured by the robot Sentinels but eventually freed by the mutant X-Men.[25]
After befriending a woman who finds her way into the sewers,[26] the Abomination battles Namor during an attempt to save his kidnapped former wife.[27] The Abomination retaliates against the NYPD when the police commissioner orders the sewers be cleared of all homeless. After killing several police officers, he is eventually driven away when confronted by the Hulk.[28] The Abomination battles the mutant Nate Grey (who is searching the sewers for a colleague), who uses his mental abilities to trick the Abomination in thinking that he defeated Grey.[29] He battles a delusional Hulk,[30] before encountering the Angel when the mutant visits the sewers in which he was once captured and maimed during the "Fall of the Mutants" storyline.[31]
When Betty Ross dies in the title Hulk, Banner mistakenly thinks her proximity to the Hulk has induced a fatal case of radiation poisoning.[32] Using a gamma device, a vindictive General Ross tracks what he believes to be the Hulk to a destroyed town, where the Abomination reveals he was the true culprit. Despite baiting a newly arrived Hulk, the character is unable to force the Hulk to fight and departs.[33]
The circumstances of Betty's death are eventually revealed: Blonksy's transformation into the Abomination apparently alienates his former wife Nadia, which drives him to hate Banner. Blonsky decides Banner should also lose his own wife, and secretly poisons Betty with his radioactive blood. After hearing the Abomination's admission, Banner eventually discovers the truth and the Hulk defeats the character in combat. Taken into custody by the military, Blonsky is forced to watch old home movies of him and his wife together (prior to his transformation) as punishment.[34] Operatives from a secret organization "Home Base" eventually release the Abomination to battle the Hulk, and although able to taunt the Hulk about Betty's murder, is defeated once again.[35] This encounter is revealed to be a dream generated by longtime Doctor Strange foe Nightmare in an effort to torture the Hulk.[36]
After a humorous encounter with the demigod Hercules, in which the Abomination is chosen as an adversary for the hero while he completes the modern version of the twelve Labours of Hercules;[37] the character is pardoned and employed by the U.S government as a hitman against hostile foreign powers.[38] The Abomination is also a conflicted opponent for the heroine She-Hulk (currently employed by spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.).[39] The Abomination has a subtle but significant role in the World War Hulk storyline,[40] being the source of gamma-irradiated DNA that allows the creation of an anti-Hulk response team.[41][42]
The Abomination reappears after the events of World War Hulk, encountering a new foe called the Red Hulk. This new opponent savagely beats, shoots, and kills the Abomination.[43] The character reappears in the court of the death god Pluto, attacking the Olympian god when he loses power over the dead.[44]
Later on, it is revealed that the Abomination's killer, the Red Hulk, was actually General Ross's gamma-powered alter ego; he killed Blonsky as an act of revenge for his deliberate gamma poisoning (and later death) of Ross's daughter Betty.[45]
During the Dark Reign storyline, Abomination is among the dead characters present at Zeus' trial.[46]
During the Chaos War storyline, Abomination is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto liberated in order to help defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi.[47] Because of what happened in the death realms, Abomination returns from the dead and fights the Hulk and his allies. He had been greatly empowered thanks to Amatsu-Mikaboshi to serve him, having been sent to capture Marlo Chandler and the portion of Death within her.[48] Abomination fights Hulk and his allies until he, with a Zom-possessed Doctor Strange, brings Brian Banner back from the dead.[49] During the fight, Abomination seizes Marlo, but she taps into the Death essence within her to destroy his undead body.[50]
The Abomination is similar to the Hulk in terms of strength, stamina, speed, durability, and ability to regenerate. In contrast with the Hulk, he retains his intellect after transforming, and cannot change back into human form. He also possesses gills, enabling underwater breathing; and, he can enter a state of suspended animation when bereft of oxygen for long periods. Originally, the Abomination was approximately twice as strong as the Hulk, but unlike the Hulk his strength does not increase/decrease in proportion to level of anger.
After being further empowered by Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the Abomination is considerably larger than before, can project hellfire and is strong enough to rip off the shell of his successor A-Bomb (something which the Red Hulk had previously been unable to do).[51]
Abomination is among the villains enthralled by Krona to defend his stronghold. He is defeated by Superman.
The Ultimate version of the Abomination appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint title The Ultimates 2, as part of an international group called the Liberators. This version of the Abomination is a Chinese scientist named Chang Lam.[52] Dr. Lam was working to create a more efficient version of the Hulk. When he believed his research was complete, he used it on himself. When he transformed he retained control of his permanently enhanced form because of his lack of mental disorders. He was, at the time of its inception, serving with the Liberators. He was last seen in the Liberators' fight with the Ultimates, battling with Hulk. He believed that his intact intellect would allow him to easily beat the Hulk, but ended up being dismembered and decapitated in their duel.[52]
The character also stars in the limited series Abominations, which continues plot points from the Future Imperfect storyline.[53] A group of time travelling assassins from the time of the villain the Maestro - sent by an alternate version of the Abomination called "Emil" - arrive in the present, intent on killing Betty-6, a futuristic version of Betty Ross who is pregnant with the Maestro's child. The Abomination provides shelter for Betty-6 and prevents the assassination.[54]
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