Absorbing Man appeared in 1964 Marvel Comics called Daredevil. Carl "Crusher" Creel aka the Absorbing Man was an American professional Heavyweight boxer turned enforcer. While locked up in prison he was mutated using Asgardian magic by the trickster god Loki using a special potion. Creel obtained his ability to absorb the properties of anything he touches and used his new-found power to break free from prison and soon became a villain for hire. He was later recruited into the Masters of Evil.
Carl Creel was raised in the Bronx, but his mother encouraged him, telling Carl to always set expectations for himself. Following the death of his mother when he was still young, Carl's father became abusive, but still taught him some things about being an automotive mechanic, and even bought him a pair of boxing gloves. Carl finally found the strength to fight back when he was sixteen, for which his father kicked him out of their home. From then on, Carl lived on the streets and the gym. On the streets he turned to a life of crime, namely breaking into houses and cars, while in the gym he discovered his talent for boxing.
The ring gave Carl an opportunity to let out his anger for the death of his mother and his relationship with his father. His aggressiveness earned him the nickname of "Crusher Creel." His boxing career lead him into a fight with Battlin Jack Murdock. Creel's attitude caught the attention of the local criminal element, leading him to become an enforcer for the Owl's men. Carl felt remorseful for the innocent people he hurt doing shakedowns, but felt stopping was beyond his control.
Creel was eventually arrested and served his first time in prison for aggravated assault and extortion. Sometime into his sentence, Carl was selected by Loki, the Asgardian God of Mischief, as his unwitting agent in a scheme against Thor, God of Thunder. By adding an enchanted potion composed of rare Asgardian herbs to Creel's drinking water in the prison commissary, Loki granted the brutal convict a bizarre power he hoped would enable him to defeat Thor, the power to absorb the physical properties of anything with which he came in contact. Creel used his new-found power to break free from prison and soon became engaged in battle with Thor. Due to his ability to absorb the properties of Thor's hammer and Thor himself, Creel, now called the Absorbing Man, became one of the strongest mortal foes Thor ever combated.
Thor was forced to concede the fight when Creel kidnapped Jane Foster. Creel then ransacked a house and attacked the residents, at which point Thor and him had a rematch. He was defeated when Thor tricked him by hitting the ground with Mjolnir and turning it (and Creel) to Helium, causing him to float harmlessly into the atmosphere. He remained in orbit for some time.
He was restored and returned to Earth by Loki using Asgardian tech and battled Thor again following the knockout of an Asgardian warlock. Loki transported him to Asgard where the criminal could be used in his scheme to take over Asgard. But when the Absorbing Man dared to challenge Odin, lord of the Asgardians, Odin summarily dispatched him into space.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Omni-Morph Duplication: The Absorbing Man possesses the ability to bodily duplicate at will the physical properties of anything he touches or that touches him. This power extends to both animate and inanimate objects and certain forms of energy. The matter of the Absorbing Man's body magically undergoes a material and physiological change so that his body actually becomes composed of the matter or energy with which he is making contact. While he is in this altered state, he still possesses his sentience despite the fact that his brain is now composed of the same material as the rest of him. Among the more ordinary materials he has been transformed into include steel, stone, wood and glass. More unusual have been his transformations into water, fire, snow, and silk. His most powerful transformations have been into energy-states such as cosmic, nuclear, thermal, or light. The Absorbing Man has learned through practice to only absorb the properties of objects that he wishes to absorb. Originally, he could be tricked into absorbing the properties of objects that would render him relatively vulnerable. There appears to be no time limit to how long he can retain a given property. When he is rendered unconscious or in a coma, he retains the form which he last consciously assumed. There would also not appear to be a minimum amount of time he must retain one form before assuming another. He can even become more than one substance at once.
- Properties Absorption: The Absorbing Man can also absorb specific properties relating to the form or mass of an object he touches. He can also assimilate mystic properties of objects or beings. If the object touched holds some form of energy, such as a battery or a blast furnace, Creel absorbs these properties as well. With concentration, Creel can assimilate the elements of complex machinery like aircraft and tanks. When he pushes his powers to this extent, Creel is effectively absorbing the "purpose" of the object he touches, not just its superficial properties.
- Power Mimicry: On many occasions, Creel has mimic the powers of objects or being he's encountered. He has mimicked the strength of Thor himself, and also the power of the Odin-Force as well as the powers of the Sentry, the Cosmic Cube's reality warping powers, & even the powers of Dormammu.
- Shapeshifting: The Absorbing Man can alter the molecular structure of his body, his clothes, and his wrecking ball to mimic the properties of any material he touches. When absorbing certain objects, he can make his own weapons such as forming hammer-like fists when touching a hammer or growing to enormous size when copying items of massive power or strength themselves.
- Superhuman Physical Prowess: His mimicry abilities have granted him varying levels of superhuman strength, speed, durability, etc.
Arsenal[]
- Ball and Chain: which he was wearing at the time of his original transformation, magically also possesses the same properties of transformation as his body, providing he is in contact with it.