| Vector | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #254 (December 1980) |
| Created by | Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Simon Utrecht |
| Team affiliations | U-Foes Fifty State Initiative |
| Notable aliases | Prisoner V224 |
| Abilities | repel matter telekinetically |
Vector (Simon Utrecht) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe whose first appearance was in Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #254. He is the leader of the villainous group, the U-Foes. He alongside the other members of the U-Foes appear primarily as enemies of the Hulk and Spider-Man.
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Simon Utrecht was a millionaire, public official, and industrialist before gaining his powers. He organized a team to duplicate the original rocket flight that led to the powers of the Fantastic Four, by piloting a ship through a cosmic ray belt. He promised each member of the team super powers due to exposure (although intentional, not accidental) to cosmic radiation. During this launch, Dr. Bruce Banner (known as the Hulk) was on hand at the base, and believing the ship to be having problems, guided it back to Earth. The now-changed humans became professional criminals and called themselves the U-Foes (possible in connection with Utrecht's last name) and blamed Banner for cutting short their radiation exposure. They battled the Hulk, and Vector lost control of his powers and deflected himself into space.[1]
Vector was eventually rescued and returned to Earth by his teammate X-Ray, and Vector was reunited with the U-Foes.[2] They again battled the Hulk and this time defeated him.[3] In triumph, they exhibited the captive Bruce Banner on national television. However, Banner was freed by Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and the alien Bereet, and Banner transformed into the Hulk and defeated the U-Foes. During the battle, Vector's hands were crushed by the Hulk.[4]
With the U-Foes, he later escaped a special government prison, but accidentally "deflected" himself and his teammates into a crossroads dimension.[5] With the U-Foes, Vector battled the Hulk in the "crossroads" dimension, and defeated the Hulk with the help of the alien "Puffball Collective." Vector became trapped in a dimension where he must constantly repel projectiles hurled by high winds to survive.[6] Vector eventually escaped back to the "Crossroads" dimension, and learned to use his psychokinetic powers for flight. With the U-Foes, he escaped back to Earth through a dimensional warp unintentionally opened by mutant Charles Little Sky; they then battled the Avengers and Puma, and Vector was defeated by Thor.[7] The other U-Foes were later freed from the Vault and attacked the Avengers West Coast, mistakenly believing they had killed Vector; Vector reappeared and led his teammates in a strategic retreat.[8]
He plays a big part with the U-Foes in the New Avengers tie-in Spider-Man: Breakout.
Along with his team, he is arrested by the Thunderbolts and given the choice of working for the government or facing jail time with no trial.[9] Simon was identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1.[10]
Vector is later seen as part of the Hood's criminal organization who plan to take advantage of the split in the superhero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act.
Vector seems to have been captured sometime after the Skrull invasion and incarcerated at Project Pegasus. When a Skrull booby trap goes off, he tries to escape but is stopped by Darkhawk. He is hit at point blank range by an energy blast from Darkhawk when he tries to take the latter's amulet. The blast knocked Vector out and caused him to fall from the sky.[11]
Vector and the U-Foes are revealed as members of the Initiative's North Carolina team.[12] They trick Volstagg into destroying a stadium. This event brings about the siege of Asgard, which the U-Foes participate in. Vector is shown being arrested by the Avengers at the end of the siege.[13]
Thanks to exposure to cosmic radiation, Vector has the power to telekinetically attract, block, and, most prominently, repel matter and energy, directing it away from himself. He can use this power in a variety of ways: repelling inanimate objects to send them flying through the air as deadly missiles; releasing a concentrated blast of energy to strike his foes; and even using the power of psychokinesis on the ground to propel his body upwards and allow him to fly.
Enormously powerful, as, by focusing his power into blasts, he was even capable of flaying most of the Hulk's skin and muscle tissue from his body when the latter resisted,[14] and repelled the structure of reality itself within the 'Crossroads' nexus, with force he claimed was sufficient to hurl entire worlds,[15] but his power can be overcome by sufficiently powerful foes, such as the Hulk, who twice managed to, through extreme effort, bull through Vector's repulsion to physically attack him.
Vector was once shown to be able to block and repel the attempts of various superheroes and friends of the Hulk to locate Gamma Base, including the magic of Doctor Strange and the tracking technology of Iron Man and Reed Richards.
An influx of cosmic radiation can cause a temporary loss of control of his powers, as in deflecting the air around him, deflecting his own body from the Earth, being deflected into other dimensions.