| Makkari | |
|---|---|
 Textless variant cover ofEternals vol. 3 #2 (September 2006). Art byJohn Romita Jr. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Mercury: Red Raven Comics #1 (August 1940) As Hurricane: Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) As Makkari: The Eternals #5 (November 1976) |
| Created by | Martin Bursten Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Makkari |
| Species | Eternal |
| Team affiliations | Eternals First Line Monster Hunters |
| Notable aliases | Mike Khary Frank Harper Mark Curry Jake Curtiss Major Mercury Hurricane Mercury Adam Clayton Mac Curry Michael Gray Thoth |
| Abilities |
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Makkari, formerly known asHurricane andMercury, is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byJack Kirby, the character first appeared as Makkari inThe Eternals #5 (November 1976), but throughretroactive continuity was later established as also having been Mercury inRed Raven Comics #1 (August 1940), created by Kirby and Martin Bursten.[1]
Makkari is a member of theEternals, a race ofsuperhumans in theMarvel Universe. He was also a member of theFirst Line andMonster Hunters.Lauren Ridloff portrays a deaf female version of Makkari in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, debuting inEternals (2021).
Originally, Makkari was a character inJack Kirby'sThe Eternals.Mark Gruenwald later reintroduced Makkari as a long-running supporting character in theQuasar series.
Hurricane reappears as a member of theMonster Hunters inMarvel Universe #4 (September 1998),[2] in a story set in the 1950s. By the end of this three-issue story, it turns out the monsters they are hunting are actuallyDeviants and Hurricane isrevealed to be Makkari.[3] Marvel Comics continuity was laterretconned so that the character presented as themythologicalgodMercury, introduced inRed Raven Comics #1 ("Mercury in the 20th Century" by artist Kirby and writerMartin A. Bursten; August 1940), was actually Makkari.[4][5] Mercury was only seen in that single story, in which he worked to thwart the machinations ofPluto.[6]
Makkari is featured as one of the main characters in the Marvellimited seriesEternals (2006–07), written byNeil Gaiman and penciled by artistJohn Romita Jr.
Makkari is the son of Verona and Mara, born inOlympia, the capital city of the Eternals of Earth. He is a member of the Eternals' Technologist's Guild and is skilled at designing and building high-speed vehicles. Makkari has involved himself inEarth's affairs more often than most Eternals. Under the nameThoth, he taught writing to theEgyptians.[7] He was taughtphilosophy byPlato.[8][7] He rescuedSersi fromNero'sFire.[7] He spent some time as thecharioteer ofDarius I of Persia.[7] He witnessed theTrojan War, the reign ofVlad the Impaler, and theAlamo.[7]
In the 1940s, he worked on Earth, perZuras' request, under the aliases "Hurricane" and "Mercury" (an example ofretcon, theseGolden Age characters were not originally supposed to be related),[9] and fought WarlordKro andDeviant Mutates alongside theMonster Hunters, a team he formed using his identity as National Security Agent Jake Curtiss. Later on, he taughtElvis Presley a few guitar tricks.[8][7] Following the disbanding of the Monster Hunters, Makkari was convinced byPixie to join theFirst Line as "Major Mercury".[a] He and First Line fought against the original Skrull invasion of Earth, and, along with Yeti and Pixie, was one of the few members of First Line to survive the conflict.[10]
Makkari accompaniedThena to New York City to help rescueSersi and repulse theDeviant invasion. He was with the Eternals who introduced themselves to the students at City College during the Fourth Host of theCelestials.[11] He then returned to Olympia withIkaris andMargo Damian, where he encounteredSprite.[12] He also participated in theUni-Mind ritual.[13] Alongside Ikaris and Sersi, he battled theHulk robot.[14] Makkari then battled Ikaris, who was under the mental influence ofDromedan.[15]
Makkari later battledHermes ofOlympus.[16] He battledMaelstrom alongside theAvengers. Makkari elected to remain while the majority of Eternals departed Earth.[17] Makkari accompaniedIkaris on his mission to assemble the Eternals to wage war against the Deviants.[18] Makkari then encountered LordGhaur.[19] Makkari accompanied the other Eternals toLemuria to battle the Deviants.[20] Makkari battled Ghaur alongside the Eternals,Thor, and theWest Coast Avengers, and participated in the defeat of Ghaur.[21] Some time later, alongside the Eternals, Makkari fought theSuper-Skrull and encountered theSilver Surfer.[22]
Makkari was later rescued byQuasar when he began running rampant, literally.[23] He revealed that he had traded his other Eternal abilities for greater speed and endurance. He became friends with Quasar when he enlisted Quasar to go to Lemuria to help him save Master Elo, who was tutoring Makkari on how to channel his cosmic energy into more speed.[24] He then accompanied Quasar to theStranger's laboratory world. There, he encountered theStar-Dancer, and battled Trikon and theWhizzer.[25] Makkari later worked in Quasar's office under the alias "Mike Khary." He participated in a marathon to the Moon sponsored by theRunner, one of theElders of the Universe, and nearly won; he bestedQuicksilver,Captain Marvel,Whizzer,Speed Demon,Black Racer, andSuper Sabre, only to lose the race in the last moments to anamnesiac, dimension-spanning being.[25] Makkari then became Quasar's roommate.[26] He was killed when his heart was stopped by Maelstrom,[27] but returned to life,[28] as part of an agreement struck betweenEternity,Death, Infinity and Oblivion.Maelstrom later attempted to seize more power by draining the kinetic energy from Makkari, but Maelstrom was ultimately defeated by the other Eternals.[volume & issue needed] However, he soon found he had become so fast that he could no longer move in synch with the rest of the universe.[29]
In the 2006Eternals limited series, the Eternals are the victims of memory and reality manipulation by Sprite, and have thus forgotten their true identities. Makkari believes himself to be a medicine student named Mark Curry, and is the first Eternal shown in the series. He meets Ikaris, and causes his capture by theDeviants. By issues #2 and #3, he finally begins to experience his powers of super-speed, and uses them to stop terrorists from attacking a party. However, after telling him what has happened Sprite tricks Curry into opening a passageway to the long-dormant Celestial underneath San Francisco, and in doing so incapacitates Curry. During this time, theDreaming Celestial and Makkari began to talk in his dreams, firstly in the form of Sersi, and told him that it personally made him. By the end of the series he has become the Dreaming Celestial'sprophet.[30]
Later when the Celestials' Final Host arrived on Earth, Makkari along with all the Eternals killed themselves after realizing the true purpose for which they were created.[31]
In the 2021Eternals series, Makkari was resurrected as a woman of color.[32][33][34] Following a failed attempt to reach the spirit of the Dreaming Celestial, Makkari is rendered deaf and mute and loses her telepathic powers.[35]
Makkari is a member of the race of superhumans known asEternals. He possesses superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes. He can create cyclones by running in circles, and can run up walls and across water. Makkari's body eventually accumulates fatigue poisons and is susceptible to injury.
Although in most of his appearances Makkari has the typical powers of an Eternal, his obsession with speed, starting in theQuasar series, causes him to focus most of his energy on enhancing his running speed. As a result, he lost his ability to fly and many of his other powers were weakened in the process. Makkari possesses none of the psionic powers of the average Eternal (levitation, ocular force projection, and molecular rearrangement), having purposefully readapted all his specialized cell enclaves to speed and running-related attributes. At present, he can run at nearlight speed for extended periods, but his physical strength (while still far greater than human) has been reduced by half, and he seemingly cannot project energy or manipulate matter.
Makkari sometimes wears a protective crash helmet, though he does not truly need it. He wears synthetic stretch fabric, specially treated to resist the rigors of high velocity movement.
Makkari has great mechanical aptitude, and the ability to pilot most land and air vehicles. He has moderate experience at hand-to-hand combat; his fighting style incorporates his superhuman speed. He has finished the standard Eternal higher education, and underwent special tutoring in the applications of speed.
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