Humus Sapien

Humus Sapien

The character as he appeared in FOOM #3.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance FOOM #3 (Autumn 1973)
Thunderbolts #54 (Sept. 2001)
Created by Michael A Barreiro
Fabian Nicieza (writer)
Patrick Zircher (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego Sonny Baredo
Team affiliations Thunderbolts
Notable aliases Humus Sapiens
Abilities Ability to destroy all non-natural substances

Humus Sapien (Sonny Baredo) is a fictional supervillain published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as Humus Sapiens in FOOM #3 (Autumn 1973), created by Michael A. Barreiro. He first appeared as Humus Sapien in Thunderbolts #54 (Sept. 2001), by the writer-artist team of Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher.

Publication history

FOOM

Humus Sapien first appeared in Marvel's self-produced fan magazine, FOOM # 3 (Fall 1973), created (as supervillain Humus Sapiens) by Michael A. Barreiro of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, and was the winning entry in the magazine's character-creation contest.[1] Although FOOM founding editor Jim Steranko wrote in the premiere-issue introduction that, "The winning entry (to be selected by Ol' Smilin' Stan [Lee] himself) will become a super guest-star featured in one of Marvel's top hero mags", this never occurred, and both the character and the contest faded into obscurity.

Barreiro later in the 1970s inquired at Marvel about the character, but received no response. Comics columnist Fred Hembeck in 1979 wrote in the magazine Buyer's Guide to Comic Fandom about the contest and Humus Sapiens, and though nothing immediately came of it, the column two decades later prompted Tom Brevoort, editor of Marvel's Thunderbolts comic book, to call Barreiro with an offer to use the character. Barreiro in the interim had grown up to become a carpenter and a freelance artist living in the Carrick neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[2] He later did a small amount of work for Marvel and Dark Horse Comics.

Thunderbolts

In 1998, writer Kurt Busiek and editor Tom Brevoort decided to use Barreiro's character in the superhero series Thunderbolts. Fabian Nicieza, who succeeded Busiek as Thunderbolts writer (and who, along with brother and future fellow Marvel editor Mariano Nicieza had also entered the FOOM contest), agreed. Renamed Humus Sapien, the character eventually debuted, after 28 years, in Thunderbolts #54 (cover-dated Sept. 2001). Barreiro was allowed to ink one page of the issue featuring the character.[2]

Fictional character biography

Humus Sapien was discovered by the Thunderbolts when he emerged from a suspended animation chamber in which he had been imprisoned. He has vaguely defined superhuman abilities powered by Earth's population. Each time he uses his powers, however, random people around the world die. Humus Sapien's final battle, after which he voluntarily leaves Earth, drains the lives of 2,400 people, including the Middle Eastern costumed crimefighter the Arabian Knight.[3]

References

  1. ↑ FOOM contents and checklist: Issue # 3. WebCitation archive.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sodergren, Rebecca (August 14, 2001). "Bad Guy Finally Finishes First". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2011..
  3. ↑ Thunderbolts #55, 2002

External links