Angstrom Levy

Angstrom Levy is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the Image Comics series Invincible. His first appearance was in Invincible #16. He was created by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley; his mutated form was designed by Cory Walker.^[1]

Fictional character biography

Little is known about Angstrom Levy's background; including how and when he developed the power to open up portals to alternate realities. At some point Levy sets out to amass information about the various alternate Earths so as to be able to travel through them more safely. To this end he contacts alternate versions of himself from hundreds of parallel Earths, and convinces them to help him. Next Levy frees the supervillains the Mauler Twins from prison on the condition that they help him create a machine that would allow him to copy the memories of his alternate reality counterparts into his own brain.

With the aid of versions of themselves from other realities, the Mauler Twins are able to construct the machine. Levy is in the process of uploading the memories of his alternate selves when the process is interrupted by Invincible who is trying to apprehend the Maulers. The Maulers are on the verge of killing Invincible when Levy halts the machine to try to stop them, causing it to overload and explode. Unbeknownst to Invincible, Levy survives the explosion but is horribly mutated and suffers internal organ damage. Levy has been driven insane by his mutation and now believes it was Invincible who stopped the machine.

Revenge

Surgeons are able to rebuild and even enhance Levy’s body but are unable to correct his monstrous appearance. Levy is left with a burning hatred of Invincible whom he blames for the accident. He discovers that Invincible is really Mark Grayson by travelling to realities where his identity is public knowledge.

Levy takes Mark's mother and his toddler baby brother hostage in their home and lures Mark in with a phone message. When Mark arrives to rescue his family, Levy sends him into various other realities (including the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe). While Mark is away, Levy mistreats his family, tossing the baby around and breaking his mother's arms in retaliation for a failed attack with a lamp. Levy's plan is to wear Mark down, and then kill him, then kill his family and all the alternate Marks.

Mark tricks Levy into entering a portal while he is stranded on an abandoned wasteland of an Earth. Overestimating the success of Levy's enhancements, Mark seemingly beats him to death by accident. Mark is rescued from this wasteland by future versions of his friends, who had traveled through time and space to find him.

Return

At the end of Invincible #51, Angstrom is revealed to be spying on Mark as he sits atop his roof, via a small robotic camera. He is showing sitting in a room with many monitors, all with videos of Mark playing, and also with small electrical globes attached in his head. He has adopted a super villain style costume, complete with cape and new scars on his face from the previous encounter with Invincible.

After spying on Mark for a number of months, Levy reveals his plan: gather evil versions of Invincible from other dimensions, and unleash them upon the first Mark's world. While this creates worldwide panic and death, the main goal is to ruin Invincible's reputation and cause him suffering. The world's superheroes unite, some giving their lives to battle and kill the murderous doubles of Invincible. In the end, Levy's plan fails as the Earth, though devastated, is not conquered. He escapes, but loses a limb, and upon arrival to the dimension of his doctors, loses their support and is informed that he now 'works for them'.

Levy returns in Invincible #104, taking Eve hostage and again sends Mark to the alternate dimension where the evil Invincibles were exiled. Only two of the evil Invincibles remain - having eaten each other. A battle ensues between Mark and the primary cannibal Invincible, with Mark being aided by the other evil Invincible. In the meantime, Eve has a passionate discussion with Angstrom reminding him of his initial desire to help humanity which became perverted due to the influx of memories from his alternate selves. Angstrom repents, and opens a portal to bring Mark home. Mark returns through the portal, accompanied by the one surviving evil Invincible. Angstrom explains to both of them that he wishes to pay for his crimes and help humanity, and opens a portal for the evil Invincible to return home. Seeking revenge, the evil Invincible grabs Angstrom and drags him through the portal with him, with Mark unable to speed to him in time to save him.

References