Carl Creel (Earth-9997)

Absorbing Man
Name	Carl Creel
Current Alias	Absorbing Man
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	Variable
Weight	Variable
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Bald
Unusual Features	Absorbing Man's form is defined by what he has absorbed at the time.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human mutate
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-9997
Place of Birth	New York City, New York
Place of Death	New York City, New York
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Former professional criminal, boxer
Base of Operations	New York City, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, Doug Braithwaite
First	Universe X #3 (October, 2000)
First	Universe X #3 (October, 2000)
Death	Universe X: X #1 (October, 2001)
Death	Universe X: X #1 (October, 2001)

History

Absorbing Ultron's intellect

Absorbing Man's early life largely mirrors that of his Earth-616 counterpart's.

Early Life

Carl "Crusher" Creel was a low-life thug who was granted near-limitless powers by the Asgardian trickster Loki. Creel gained the ability to absorb and mimic any material he touched, and became known as the Absorbing Man. Despite his vast powers, Creel was frequently defeated by heroes such as Thor and the Avengers due to his stupidity.

Mutation of Humanity

Around the time of humanity's mutation, Creel used his powers to transform into a germ. This germ killed a third of the world's population overnight. Creel might have exterminated all of humanity if his lover Titania had not begged him to stop. This turned Creel into the greatest murderer in human history. His crimes were known only to Titania and the Avengers, who decided to keep Creel's actions secret for fear that knowledge of his ability to exterminate mankind would lead to mass hysteria.

Following the mutation of humanity, mass food shortages plagued the world's population. While storming a food silo, Titania received a blow to the head during a battle with the Avengers, causing her to fall into a coma that doctors believed she would never recover from. To avenge her, Creel absorbed the super-computer known as Ultron. With Ultron's limitless intelligence, Creel realized the full potential of his abilities, gaining unprecedented levels of control over his powers and the ability to "store" different types of forms for later use.

To avenge Titania, he went on a rampage through Washington, D.C., where he fought the Avengers. Creel killed all of them with the exception of Vision. Enraged, Vision infected Creel with a computer virus, and in order to expel it from his body, Creel attempted to shrink his size and turn into stone. Once he had done so, the Vision smashed Creel into bits and distributed the pieces among various heroes to prevent Creel from ever being re-assembled.

Ultimate Power

Some years later, a group called the Tong of Creel was formed by the Red Ronin (secretly Dr. Strange's assistant Wong, who was manipulated by Mephisto). This group began seeking out the parts of Creel, hoping to reassemble him.

Exploiting the global chaos caused by the death of the Celestial Embryo in the planet's core, the Tong were able to get their hands on every part of Creel and reassembled him in New York City. Creel immediately went on a rampage, absorbing Manhattan and tearing through the city. Shrugging off the attacks of New York's defenders, Creel was only stopped when the Vision tricked him into becoming intangible, essentially trapping him as a living ghost. However, this interfered with the plans of Creel's old patron Loki, who hoped to use Creel to save the Earth from its imminent destruction due to the death of the Celestial embryo.

After the Vision was convinced to let Creel become tangible again, Loki convinced Creel to be a hero and turn into Vibranium in order to save the Earth. While Creel was initially hesitant, Loki convinced him by appealing to his love for Titania. Creel transformed into vibranium and Iron Maiden used her powers to distribute him evenly throughout the planet's core, saving the Earth. While Creel sacrificed his life to save the Earth, Manhattan maintained the general shape of Creel's body, standing ever on as a monument to Creel's moment of heroics that day.

Following his death, Creel's soul made its way to Paradise, where he would spread the tale of his final heroics.

Attributes

Powers

Smashed by the Vision

Seemingly those of the Carl Creel of Earth-616, however when he absorbed the intelligence of the robot Ultron, his understanding of his abilities grew exponentially. As such, he was able to store different physical states in memory and recall them for later use. He also could generate a counter response to any attack that was directed at him in a split second.

Before his death, Creel willed himself to become pure Vibranium, suggesting that he had possibly entered the third tier of mutation in which one's form is defined by those around them.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Absorbing Man's Ball and Chain

See Also

• 8 appearance(s) of Carl Creel (Earth-9997)
• 2 mention(s) of Carl Creel (Earth-9997)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Carl Creel (Earth-9997)
• 8 image(s) of Carl Creel (Earth-9997)