| Nth Man | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Blacksun:Marvel Two-in-One #21 (Nov. 1976) As the Nth Man:Marvel Two-in-One #58 (Dec. 79) |
| Created by | Bill Mantlo andRon Wilson |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Thomas Lightner |
Nth Man is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics.
Thomas Lightner first appeared asBlacksun inMarvel Two-in-One #21-23 (November 1976-January 1977), and was created byBill Mantlo andRon Wilson.
The character subsequently appears inMarvel Two-in-One #42 (August 1978), #53-57 (July-December 1979), and became known as the Nth Man inMarvel Two-in-One #58 (December 1979). The character appears in theSquadron Supreme: Death of a Universe graphic novel (1989),Quasar #13 (August 1990), #19 (February 1991), and became known asMysterium in theSquadron Supreme: New World Order graphic novel (September 1998).
The character received an entry in theAll-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7 (2006).
Dr. Thomas Lightner was a scientist who rebuilt his father's Sky Cannon after his father Raymond disappeared during a mishap with the device. A similar mishap with the rebuilt device caused the energies from Raymond to merge with Thomas, giving Thomas the powers of a black hole. Thomas' body could not contain these vast energies for long, and he collapsed and returned to his normal form.[volume & issue needed]
Lightner was later contacted by the Nth Command to infiltrate and sabotageProject Pegasus. Lightner hoped to use the project's Nth Projector to regain his previous powers. Lightner releasedNuklo and allowedThundra and theGrapplers in to cause some damage and distract the facility's staff.[volume & issue needed] Lightner was supposed to use the Nth Projector to send the Project Pegasus facility into another dimension, but instead used it on himself. Lightner was transformed into Nth Man, a "living interdimensional vortex".[volume & issue needed] Like a black hole, Nth Man absorbs all nearby matter and energy into himself. All of the heroes at the facility were absorbed into him, andWundarr the Aquarian was able to use his null field to shut off Nth Man's powers.[1]
Instead of being destroyed, Nth Man entered the alternate universe ofEarth-S. There, he threatened to consume the sun, but remnants of theSquadron Supreme reunite to battle him. Although they defeat him, several members of the Squadron are killed, with the remainder banished toEarth-616 for a time.[2] During the battle, Lightner exchanged places with the infant child of Squadron memberArcanna and was thereby able to return to his own form; he became the new Wizard Supreme[3] and eventually took the name "Mysterium".[4]