| Abomination | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales to Astonish #90 (April 1967)[1][2] |
| Created by | Stan Lee Gil Kane |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Emil Blonsky |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | KGB A.I.M Legion Accursed Masters of Evil Lethal Legion Thunderbolts |
| Partnerships | Leader |
| Notable aliases | Agent R-7 The Ravager of Worlds Subject B |
| Abilities |
|
TheAbomination (Emil Blonsky) is a character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created by writerStan Lee and artistGil Kane, the character first appeared inTales to Astonish #90 (April 1967).[3][4] He is one of the main enemies of thesuperheroHulk, and possesses powers similar to his after also being exposed togamma rays.[5]
Debuting in theSilver Age of Comic Books, the character has been featured in other Marvel-endorsed products such as arcade andvideo games,television series, and merchandise such asaction figures andtrading cards.Tim Roth portraysthe character in the live-actionMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmsThe Incredible Hulk (2008) andShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), as well as theDisney+ seriesShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022).
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 artistGil Kane to "make him bigger and stronger than theHulk and we'll have a lot of fun with him".[6]
Emil Blonsky first appeared inTales to Astonish, and was introduced as aKGB agent and spy[7] who became the Abomination after deliberately exposing himself to a greater quantity of the same gamma radiation that transformed Bruce Banner into hisalter ego the Hulk, using a machine Banner was planning on using to commit suicide.[8] In his first appearance, Blonsky became a large scaly humanoid even stronger than the Hulk.[9] In accordance with Lee's wishes, the character defeated the Hulk in their first battle.[10]
The character has been featured in a number of Marvel titles, gradually shifting from unthinking, savage brute,[10] to master schemer,[11] to tortured soul,[12] and finally repentant villain and occasional defender of the weak,[13] before being killed by theRed Hulk inHulk (vol. 2), released in 2008.[14] He is later resurrected inHulk (vol. 3), released in 2014.[15]
Emil Blonsky was born inZagreb (then part ofYugoslavia, now the capital and largest city ofCroatia) and became aKGB agent who infiltrated an Air Force base in New Mexico where Bruce Banner was attempting to kill the Hulk through overexposure to gamma rays. Blonsky triggers Banner turning into the Hulk and is transformed by exposure to the radiation, becoming a hideous lizard-like creature himself.[16][17]
The Abomination reappears when summoned by a coven of witches to briefly battle the cosmic hero theSilver Surfer[18] and uses a Stranger's technology to summon Thor and escape the Stranger's laboratory world. Thor frees the Abomination and the other captives, but, on discovering they are all evil, uses his mystic hammerMjolnir totime travel several hours into the past to undo his mistake. After defeating the Abomination and placing the Abomination in prison, Thor departs.[11] When the Hulk is defeated by the alien Xeron the Star Slayer and brought aboard a space vessel, the Abomination is revealed to beFirst Mate of the alien crew. When the captain of the vessel directs Xeron and the crew to battle a creature in space, the Hulk and the Abomination are thrown from the vessel and battle until the pair are drawn into Earth'sorbit and separated.[19]
It is revealed in flashback that the Abomination entered into a coma-like state upon impacting with Earth and is buried for two years. Revived by an off-course missile fired fromHulkbuster Base (underThunderbolt Ross's jurisdiction), the Abomination joins forces with Ross to defeat the Hulk, but is battered into submission by an angered Hulk.[20] The Abomination reappears with fellow Hulk foe theRhino, 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.[21] A comatose Abomination is eventually found by soldiers at Ross's 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 theKennedy 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.[22]
The Abomination eventually reappears as a servant of theGalaxy 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 Abomination to weaken and apparently become lost in space.[23] WhenMODOK invades Hulkbuster Base, he colludes with Ross to revive the Abomination, who was found in a block of ice above Earth and kept incryogenic storage for further study. MODOK intends to use the Abomination against his superiors atA.I.M., while Ross wants to use him to destroy the Hulk. The Abomination, however, has become afraid of the Hulk as a result of their past battles and has to be mentally forced by MODOK to even fight the Hulk. MODOK, however, is ousted by A.I.M., 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.[24]
During theSecret Wars II storyline, the Abomination is restored by the demon-lordMephisto, who directs the Abomination and other villains against the cosmic entity theBeyonder as a member of the Legion Accursed.[25] The restoration is temporary, as a still-disembodied Abomination's atoms mingle with the disembodied atoms of the villainTyrannus, who reintegrates the Abomination's body and places it under his mind's control. Tyrannus, as the Abomination, then comes into conflict with the Gray Hulk, and quickly defeats the weaker version of their foe. When the Hulk reverts to Banner, Tyrannus forces him to create a procedure that will remove Blonsky's mind, who is mentally fighting Tyrannus' mind for control of the Abomination's body. The process is successful and Blonsky is restored to his human form, free of Tyrannus, whose mind is still occupying the form of the Abomination. An enraged Gray Hulk defeats Tyrannus, who is placed into custody by the organizationS.H.I.E.L.D.[26]
After encounters againstAvengersWonder Man andHawkeye,[27][28] the Tyrannus-controlled Abomination reappears during the "Atlantis Attacks" storyline with theDeviantGhaur freeing Tyrannus from the body of the Abomination by restoring Tyrannus' mind to a duplicate of his own body and placing Blonsky's mind within the Abomination's body once more. The process drives Blonsky insane, and he battles heroesSpider-Man and theShe-Hulk, managing to knock both unconscious. The Abomination is eventually driven off when set on fire by the She-Hulk.[29] The Abomination's mental faculties eventually return and the Abomination reappears in the "Countdown" storyline as a pawn of another Hulk foe, theLeader. The Abomination is sent to atoxic waste site to collect samples and encounters the gray version of the Hulk again, who is outmatched and also weak due to being poisoned. The Hulk, however, throws the Abomination into toxic waste that partially dissolves and horribly scars the Abomination.[30]
The Abomination temporarily teams with villainsTitania andGargantua and finds and stalks his former wife Nadia.[31] 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.[12]
After befriending a woman who finds her way into the sewers,[32] the Abomination battlesNamor during an attempt to save his kidnapped former wife.[33] The Abomination retaliates against theNYPD when thePolice Commissioner orders the sewers be cleared of all homeless, who the Abomination has placed under his protection. After killing several police officers, he is eventually driven away when confronted by the Hulk.[34] The Abomination battles the mutantNate Grey (who is searching the sewers for his lover and fellow mutantThrenody, who had been one of the homeless followers of the Abomination), who uses his mental abilities to trick the Abomination in thinking that he defeated Grey.[35] He battles adelusional Hulk[36] before encountering theAngel when the mutant visits the sewers in which he was once captured and maimed during the "Fall of the Mutants" storyline.[37]
WhenBetty Ross dies in the titleHulk, Banner mistakenly thinks her proximity to the Hulk has induced a fatal case ofradiation poisoning.[38] Using a gamma device, a vindictive Thunderbolt 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 Abomination is unable to force the Hulk to fight and departs.[39]
The circumstances of Betty's death are eventually revealed: Blonsky's transformation into the Abomination apparently alienates his former wife Nadia, driving his hatred of Banner; Blonsky, deciding to deprive Banner of Betty in return, secretly poisons her with his radioactive blood. After hearing the Abomination's admission, Banner eventually discovers the truth and the Hulk defeats the Abomination in a battle. Taken into custody by the military, Blonsky is forced to watch oldhome movies of him and his wife together prior to his transformation as punishment.[40] 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, he is defeated once again.[41] This encounter is later revealed to be a dream generated byNightmare in an effort to torture the Hulk.[42]
Blonsky had a humorous encounter with thedemigodHercules, in which he was chosen as an adversary for the hero while he completes the modern version of the 12Labours of Hercules.[43] The Abomination is also a conflicted opponent for the heroine theShe-Hulk (currently employed by thespy organizationS.H.I.E.L.D.).[44] The Abomination has a subtle but significant role in theWorld War Hulk storyline,[45] being the source of gamma-irradiatedDNA that allows the creation of an anti-Hulk response team.[46][47]
The Abomination reappears after the events ofWorld War Hulk, encountering a new foe called theRed Hulk. This new opponent savagely beats, shoots, and kills the Abomination.[14] Later on, it is revealed that Thunderbolt Ross the Red Hulk, is Thunderbolt 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.[48]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline, the Abomination is among the dead characters present atZeus's trial.[49] Abomination reappears in the court ofPluto, attacking theOlympian god when he loses power over the dead.[50]
During the "Chaos War" storyline, the Abomination is among the dead characters in the Underworld who Pluto liberates to help defend the Underworld fromAmatsu-Mikaboshi.[51] The Abomination fights the Hulk and his allies untilMarlo Chandler taps into theDeath essence within her to destroy his body.[52]
A shadow organization (later revealed to be the Order of the Shield) bent on gaining control of the Hulk harvests biological material from a mortally wounded Bruce Banner.[53] After Banner regains consciousness following the experiment and escapes as the Hulk, the organization uses this material to resurrect the Abomination under their control, leaving him "free of a mind or a conscience" and with an ability to seek out the Hulk for retrieval.[15] The Hulk defeats the Abomination yet again with the aid of the Avengers.Iron Man uses technology taken from the Order of the Shield to teleport the Abomination into space.[54]
Tissue samples of the Abomination were later used by the U.S. Hulk Operations to resurrectRick Jones, transforming him into an Abomination-like creature dubbed Subject B. After ripping Rick from Subject B's body,Reginald Fortean teleports to Gamma Flight headquarters in space, killingSasquatch and temporarily killingDoc Samson to retrieve the Subject B husk. Fortean then willingly fuses himself with the body.[55]
After returning to Earth, Abomination started his own company called Green Spring which makes gamma mutates. After finding a depoweredSkaar, Abomination had him repowered and sent him to retrieve Stockpile.[56] After Skaar's mission led to an encounter withGamma Flight and the U.S. Hulkbuster Force, Abomination and Aliana Alba were shown to have watched the fight and commented on the powers of the gamma mutates that was shown off.[57]
During the "Devil's Reign" storyline, Abomination appears as a member of theThunderbolts and shows up to stopJessica Jones and theChampions from interfering in the Thunderbolts' apprehension of most of the Purple Children. As Jessica notes that Abomination would not normally be someone to work for MayorWilson Fisk, Abomination states that Fisk has the information that he seeks.[58] The recruitment of Abomination was the result ofRhino leaving the group as he crossed the line of hunting children.[59]
The Abomination possesses immense superhuman strength, originally stated to be "at least" twice that of the Hulk at the time of his first transformation.[60][61] His strength is consistent and does not fluctuate with emotion like the Hulk's; this makes him physically stronger than a "calm" or "base" Hulk in most circumstances, and he is described as being in the "100-ton class", like the Hulk.[62][63] The Abomination is one of the most powerful mortals on Earth,[64] and was once considered by the Hulk himself to be his strongest enemy physically.[65] Blonsky is a longtime enemy of the Hulk who is capable of fighting the Hulk on equal terms (sometimes even overwhelming him on occasion), a feat he did for several years.[66][67][68][69][70][71][72] The Abomination is similar to the Hulk in terms of stamina, speed, and durability, including his healing factor.[73][74] In contrast with the Hulk, he retains his intellect after transforming and cannot change back into human form. He also possessesgills, enabling him to breathe underwater, and can entersuspended animation at will.[75] Unlike the Hulk, his strength does not increase/decrease in proportion to level of rage.
After being empowered by Amatsu-Mikaboshi, Abomination becomes undead and gains the ability to generate hellfire.[76][77] Additionally, he can manipulate his gamma energy to poison others.[78]
IGN ranked Abomination 54th in their "Top 100 Comic Book Villains" list, writing, "When you have a character built up to be as incredibly (forgive the term) strong as the Hulk, it becomes nearly impossible to give him a credible threat. Enter the Abomination - created, for all intents and purposes, as the evil version of the Hulk,"[79] and ranked him 24th in their "Top 25 Marvel Villains" list.[80]Screen Rant included Abomination in their "15 Most Powerful She-Hulk Villains" list,[81] and in their "10 Most Powerful Wonder Man Villains In Marvel Comics" list,[82] and ranked him 3rd in their "Hulk's Main Comic Book Villains, Ranked Lamest To Coolest" list,[83] 4th in their "10 Most Powerful Hulk Villains In Marvel Comics" list.[74]CBR.com ranked Abomination 2nd in their " Definitive Ranking Of The Hulk's 20 Most Powerful Enemies" list,[73] 3rd in their "Hulk's 10 Most Powerful Villains" list,[84] 6th in their "10 Most Violent Marvel Villains" list,[85] and 19th in their "Marvel's 20 Strongest Villains" list.[86]
TheAbominatrix is a female version of Abomination whose real name isFlorence Sharples, the manager at Jasper Keaton's savings and loans company. She became the Abominatrix due to a failed medical experiment done by Jasper Keaton's medical facility and fought the She-Hulk.[87][88]
TheTeen Abomination is a 13-year-old boy who was exposed to gamma radiation and became a teenage version of the Abomination.[89]
InThe Immortal Hulk, Desert Base directorReginald Fortean accidentally turned himself into another version of the Abomination using the gamma tissue husk/armor of Subject B.[90]
There was a sewer-dwellingMorlock in New York City that was encountered by Magneto, who referred to it as an "Abomination." The Abomination went on a rampage and was defeated by Magneto.[91]
During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Sorcerer SupremeDoctor Doom hadKristoff Vernard use the Time Platform to summon superheroes from a possible future designated as Chrono Signature Anno Doom +128. One of these people is an armored man calling himself Abomination, who joins Doom's Superior Avengers.[92]Ava Starr states that Abomination is the son of two zealots who worship Doom and wears a mask to hide the fact that his face is not scarred like the rest of the sect. It is later revealed thatAnnihilus' bugs had possessed Abomination, enabling Annihilus to emerge from Abomination's body.[93] Vernard slices at where Annihilus was emerging from with his sword, killing Annihilus and Abomination.[94]
An alternate universe variant of Emil Blonsky / Abomination from Earth-11045, amalgamated withDeathlok, appears inUncanny Avengers as a member ofKang the Conqueror's Chronos Corps.[95]
An alternate timeline variant of Emil Blonsky / Abomination appears inAbominations.[96][97]
Emil Blonsky / Abomination appears inJLA/Avengers as a brainwashed minion ofKrona.[98]
An alternate universe variant of Emil Blonsky / Abomination from Earth-1298 who was killed opposing theBeyonder appears inMutant X.[99]
A zombified alternate universe variant of Emil Blonsky / Abomination from Earth-2149 appears inMarvel Zombies: Dead Days.[100]
An alternate universe variant of Emil Blonsky / Abomination from Earth-807128 appears inOld Man Logan.[101][102]
An alternate universe variant of the Abomination from Earth-1610 appears in theUltimate Marvel universe.[103] This version isChang Lam, a Chinese scientist and member of theLiberators before being killed by theHulk.[103]
Additionally, Emil Blonsky appears as a member ofNick Fury'sHowling Commandos.[104][105]
The Emil Blonsky incarnation of the Abomination appears inIron Man & Hulk: Heroes United,[108] voiced again by Robin Atkin Downes.[106]
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The Emil Blonsky incarnation of the Abomination appears in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed byTim Roth, who also voices and providesmotion capture for the Abomination.[109] Furthermore, JD Hall,JB Blanc,Fred Tatasciore, and Jonathan Lipow provide additional dialogue for the character.[106]
The Emil Blonsky incarnation of the Abomination appears in theMarvel Rising motion comic, voiced byCarlos Alazraqui.[106]
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