Maelstrom (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maelstrom | |
 Maelstrom (left) battles the Thing and the Inhumans on the cover of Marvel Two-In-One #71 (Jan 1981). |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Marvel Two-In-One #71 (Jan 1981) |
| Created by | Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and Ron Wilson |
| In story information | |
| Species | Deviant-Inhuman hybrid |
| Notable aliases | Anomaly, Cosmic Assassin, Malcolm Stromberg |
| Abilities | Energy Manipulation |
Maelstrom is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Marvel Two-in-One #71 (Jan. 1981), and was created by writer Mark Gruenwald.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Maelstrom is the son of Phaeder, an Inhuman scientist banished from their city of Attilan for attempting cloning to increase Inhuman population numbers. Phaeder then lives among the Deviants, and bred with a Deviant female named Morga who gave birth to Maelstrom. With his father's tutoring, Maelstrom became a brilliant geneticist. After his father is incapacitated in an experiment, Maelstrom swears revenge on the Inhuman race and becomes a would-be conqueror.
Maelstrom has first contact with Earth's metahumans when he sends his superpowered minions - Phobius, Gronk and Helio - to the scientific island facillity Hydro-Base to steal an Anti-Terrigen mist compound. This substance can undo the effects of the Terrigen Mist and deprive the Inhumans of their abilities. Maelstrom's minions, however, are defeated by the heroes the Thing and Stingray. They are assisted by two Inhumans, Gorgon and Karnak. This leads to an encounter with another of Maelstrom's minions - Deathurge - who kills the defeated trio. Mister Fantastic and the Inhuman Triton deduce that their opponent may have originated from the old site of Attilan, which was an undersea location.
The Thing, Gorgon and Karnak travel via submarine to the old location, and discover a base where they are subsequently captured. The heroes later escape and together with the Inhuman king Black Bolt battle Maelstrom. The heroes hold off Maelstrom while Black Bolt intercepts and defuses a missile carrying the anti-Terrigen mist compound that is programmed to destroy Attilan. The Thing weakens Maelstrom by using the compound on the villain, and the heroes escape as the base self-detonates. Maelstrom's last act is to order Deathurge to kill him. [1]
Maelstrom and his minions, however, are later revealed to be alive, as courtesy of advanced science their minds were transferred into new, cloned bodies. Maelstrom then attempts to siphon the energies of the Eternals, but is thwarted by the superhero team the Avengers, and after commanding Deathurge to kill him yet again, transfers his consciousness to a new clone body. Maelstrom then attempts to stop the Earth's rotation and absorb the kinetic energy, but is drawn into conflict with the Avengers once more. The android Vision discovers a way to overload Maelstrom's power source and his body becomes discorporate and floats free from Earth. [2]
Maelstrom later encounters the Titanian Eternal Kronos, and learns of the existence of the entity Oblivion. Becoming Oblivion's avatar, Maelstrom then becomes determined to achieve Oblivion's goal of non-existence on a universal scale. Maelstrom assumes the powers of the entity Anomaly, becoming the embodiment of the abstract principle of anomaly. This brings Maelstrom into conflict with the agent of the entity Eon, the cosmic hero Quasar in the Outer Void (realm of Oblivion). After several battles Quasar finally defeats Maelstrom when caught off-guard, and the power of Quasar's quantum bands consumes him. [3] Maelstrom is later revived by his minions, but learns he had a son Ransak that would have been wiped from existence had he succeeded. An ashamed Maelstrom shrinks himself out of sight, [4] but eventually returns to battle the Great Lakes Avengers, who are powerless to stop him. Maelstrom is finally tricked and beaten by the quirky hero Mr. Immortal. [5]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Maelstrom can manipulate kinetic energy, and can absorb literally any attack and use the energy for his own purposes, such as strength enhancement, energy projection, force field creation. and size shifting. For a short period Maelstrom also possessed Quasar's quantum bands, which enabled him to draw on virtually unlimited energy from the other-dimensional "quantum zone." Maelstrom also gained "cosmic awareness" after stealing the secret from the entity Eon. Maelstrom is also a genius in the scientific disciplines of biology and genetics.
