![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(July 2014) |
Mighty Man | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Megaton Comics Image Comics |
First appearance | Megaton #2 (October 1985) First Image appearance: The Savage Dragon #3 (October 1992) |
Created by | Erik Larsen |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Robert Berman Ann Samantha Stevens Chelsea Nirvana Jill August |
Team affiliations | Allied Supermen of America The Allies Freak Force The Liberty League |
Mighty Man is a superhero created by comics creator Erik Larsen. He has been a major character in Larsen's series The Savage Dragon (published by Image Comics) and its spin-off Freak Force , as well as in Gary Carlson's Big Bang Comics series. His first appearance was Megaton #2 (published by Megaton Comics), which was also the first appearance of the Savage Dragon.
Mighty Man is an ancient entity created by a mysterious wizard named Fon~Ti to fight evil. The entity is passed from host to host at the point of death. The host, regardless of their sex, is able to transform into a tall blonde man with god-like powers, including flight and incredible strength. This is accomplished by tapping their wrists together. The Mighty Man entity cannot, however, sustain itself. In order to survive, the host must return to human form to sleep and eat.
Robert Berman is the Mighty Man entity's host from the 1940s until 1992. He uses the entity and its powers as a super-hero. For the first few years of his career, Berman is a teenager, working as a radio broadcaster. This is the Mighty Man who appears in Big Bang Comics. During World War II, Mighty Man first fights alongside SuperPatriot, who remains his lifelong friend and ally. During the fifties, they form another team, The Liberty League, with three other super-heroes; Mr. Big, Hornet and Battle Tank.
Over his years of heroism, Berman's Mighty Man builds up a rogues gallery like most others in his profession, most notably The Wicked Worm and Dr. Nirvana. Berman is killed in 1992 by a gang of ordinary thugs after a newspaper journalist learns and publishes his secret identity. While delirious and dying, Berman mistakes his nurse Ann Samantha Stevens for his grandson Billy and passes on the Mighty Man entity to her. This is the Mighty Man that appears in Savage Dragon .
Ann Samantha Stevens is unaware that Berman gave her the Mighty Man entity until she slips on a spillage in her home and accidentally taps her wrists together. After realizing the entity cannot sustain itself, she figures out how to change back and forth at will. When she has the powers and is unaware of it, she supervises the health of an amnesic 'superfreak' who was found in a burning field, and gives him the nickname 'the Dragon' because of his green skin and the prominent fin on his head. The Dragon likes her nickname and takes it as his legal name.
Stevens' first public appearance as Mighty Man is in Savage Dragon #3. He/she helps save two other heroes, Dart (Jill August) and Star from an escaped group of super-powered prisoners.
The Dragon is skeptical about Mighty Man's return until he/she saves him from the rampages of Mighty Man's old friend Superpatriot. Superpatriot is being controlled by Horde, a being made up of hundreds of copies of the entity known as Wicked Worm, combined with the wizard Fon~Ti.
When Ann's roommate, Phyllis Deeder, learns of her identity, she sexually propositions Ann while she is in male form. Ann rejects her, stating she 'wasn't that kind of person'.
Mighty Man joins the super-powered team of bounty hunters called Freak Force, but does not reveal her identity to them, or the Dragon, for some time. The actual identity of Mighty Man was a subject of much talk in the letter column. Her full origin appears in Freak Force #6. There, she defeats a powerful opponent in her human form and then explains everything to Superpatriot. [1]
The daughter of Dr. Nirvana, Chelsea Nirvana, is a recurring villain in the Savage Dragon stories, and is the main villain of both Freak Force series. She scams her way into becoming the secretary for Freak Force. [2] She then steals the powers of another villain, Johnny Redbeard. She then has the power to give other people super-powers. Chelsea's lover, Inhabitor, kills Redbeard, but this is after the creation of the tall, super-strong Bludgeon. This villain beats Mighty Man into a coma, where she/he stays until reverting to Ann Stevens.
The Freak Force series lasted from December 1993 to July 1995.
Ann Stevens uses her strength to help the Dragon when he healed incorrectly from a battle with the entity known as The Fiend. Her nursing knowledge allows her to break his bones in ways so that the Dragon's super-fast healing abilities re-mold them correctly.
Ann Stevens denies the Dragon's offer to join his new government team, Special Operations Strikeforce. She fears revealing her identity.
Some time after Dragon's wife is seemingly murdered, he and Ann Stevens begin dating. Chelsea Nirvana, now in a man's body, manages to temporarily shape-shift into the Dragon. He shoots her to death, in the process stealing the form of Mighty Man. At Ann's funeral, Nirvana under the influence of the Wicked Worm attacks Dragon, but he dies from exhaustion. The powers pass to the now-legless Dart (Jill August). Naturally, as Mighty Man, Jill August enjoys her/his new legs.
The Savage Dragon series is now set on an alternate Earth to the one on which it was set for its first 75 issues. The original Earth is destroyed in Savage Dragon issue #103 and everyone from that original Earth, with a few exceptions, is killed, including the Mighty Man of that world.
On this new Earth, Ann Stevens does not slip and does not realize she holds within her the power of Mighty Man. The lack of Mighty Man causes large changes in the history of that Earth. For instance, Mighty Man does not stop the jailbreak in Chicago and Dart is carried off to a remote tropical island by a villain named Mako and, as such, is never crippled or becomes Mighty Man herself. Avoiding the attentions of Chelsea Nirvana, Ann moves to Kansas City and is employed as a nurse.
While looking for allies to help him overthrow this new Earth's leader, Dragon shows Stevens what she can do. Dragon realizes Ann needs training. While she trains, Berman's nephew, the intended inheritor of the powers, gains the form of Mighty Man for a time, but he dies and the powers return to Ann. As Mighty Man, she joins the Liberty League. This group includes the Dragon, SuperPatriot and BattleTank. The group dissolves later.
She later tries to stop the Galactus-like Universo from draining energy from the planet.
Ann Stevens becomes pregnant and her child later gains Mighty Man's powers. After some destruction, Ann convinces her daughter to turn back and promises to guard her wrists so this would not happen again. [3]
Mighty Man also appears in various issues of Invincible in a minor capacity, such as being a guest at the funeral of the Guardians of the Globe and participating in large battles.
Mighty Man is heavily based on Captain Marvel. Erik Larsen was a big fan of the character as a child (and remains one today) and Savage Dragon and popular series villain Powerhouse also started out based on the hero. Mighty Man's enemies are also equally obvious pastiches of Captain Marvel's enemies Mr. Mind (The Wicked Worm) and Doctor Sivana (Dr. Nirvana). Mighty Man's old team The Liberty League, however, is based on Marvel's premiere Superhero team The Avengers, and the wrist-tapping transformation is reminiscent of the Nega-Bands of Marvel's Captain Marvel.
Inheriting the Mighty Man entity allows the person to transform into a tall blonde man while still retaining their own personality, as well as being super-strong and being able to fly, Mighty Man is also bullet-proof and has enhanced durability though he is not totally impervious to harm.
Doctor Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5. In his comic book appearances, Doctor Doom is the monarch of the fictional European country of Latveria whose goal is to bring order to humanity through world conquest. He serves as the archenemy of Mister Fantastic and the Fantastic Four, though he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers. While usually portrayed as a villain, Doom has also been an antihero at times, working with heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him. Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time and #3 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. In a later article, IGN would declare Doom as Marvel's greatest villain.
Kraven the Hunter is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 as an adversary for the superhero Spider-Man. He since endured as one of the web-slinger's most formidable foes, and is part of the collective of adversaries that make up Spider-Man's rogues' gallery. Kraven has also come into conflict with other heroes, such as Black Panther and Tigra. He is the half-brother of the Chameleon and is one of the founding members of the Sinister Six.
The Absorbing Man is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #114, in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Carl Creel has the power to absorb and become any material he touched. Originally a supervillain, in later years, he has reformed into more of an antihero.
The Savage Dragon is a superhero created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared as the Dragon in Graphic Fantasy #1 and first appeared as the "Savage Dragon" in Megaton #3.
Enchantress is the common primary alias of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first of these is a powerful sorceress with the real name of Amora, one of Thor's greatest enemies. The second Enchantress is the young Sylvie Lushton, who was given great mystic powers by Loki when he created her as a tool for chaos. She models herself after the original Enchantress, Amora.
Songbird, formerly known as Screaming Mimi, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally a supervillain, she possesses supersonic sound abilities that can cause a variety of effects.
Radioactive Man is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Radioactive Man, Chen Lu, first appeared in Journey into Mystery #93. He was best known as a founding member of the Avengers opponents the Masters of Evil. The second incarnation, Igor Stancheck, debuted in Black Panther vol. 4 #3.
SuperPatriot is an Image Comics superhero created by Erik Larsen in 1992. He regularly appears in Erik Larsen's titles, whether in his own mini-series or as a supporting character and is currently a member of the Liberty League.
The Vicious Circle is a criminal organization of mutants, cyborgs, monsters, assassins, and magicians that serves as the primary opponents for the superheroes in Erik Larsen's comic-book titles, primarily the Dragon.
Morgan le Fay is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely, is based on the Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. In this version of the character, Morgan le Fay belongs to the species of humanoid magical beings called fairies, who are born with supernatural powers, and is the half-faerie half-sister of the mythic King Arthur. Her elven heritage granted her immortality, and she used this time to master the mystic arts. She occasionally tries to take over the world. She has been an opponent of The Avengers, and in the 1970s, she appeared in the original Spider-Woman comic acting as a foe of Jessica Drew, while opposed by a reincarnation of her "ancient foe" Magnus. She is a former lover of Doctor Doom, and was a member of the Darkholders for a time.
The Monster Society of Evil is a supervillain team created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. It is led by Mister Mind against their mutual enemy Captain Marvel. The team is significant as one of the first supervillain teams in comics to contain villains that a superhero had fought previously; prior to this, supervillain teams were composed of villains created just for that storyline. In fact, the Monster Society consists of every major enemy Captain Marvel had ever faced.
Freak Force is the name of a fictional team of superhuman bounty hunters operating out of Chicago, Illinois. They originated in the Image Comics comic book series Savage Dragon, but subsequently went on to star in their own series. All the characters were created by Erik Larsen, many during his adolescence.
Vanguard is an alien superhero created by Gary Carlson and Erik Larsen for Carlson's self-published comics anthology Megaton. Vanguard is a white alien with small antennae who has been given the unenviable job of guarding Earth, which is viewed by the aliens as boring with little chance of anything happening. His sole companion is a sarcastic, hovering cycloptic robot and their morphing androids, though he quickly developed a relationship with a reporter Roxanne Wells.
Horridus, born Sarah Hill, is a superheroine created by Erik Larsen for his Image Comics series, The Savage Dragon, as a member of the Freak Force.
Dart is an Image Comics superhero created by Erik Larsen. She first appeared in The Savage Dragon #2. There were three people who taken up the mantle The first was Jill August, the second was her niece Alison Summers, using the mantle to become a supervillain, and then the third and current Dart is Jane August, Jill's sister.
Jennifer Dragon, originally Jennifer Murphy and sometimes using the codename Smasher, is a recurring comic book character in Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon and Robert Kirkman's Invincible. The wife of the Savage Dragon and mother of Angel and Malcolm Dragon, she debuted in the first issue of The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence mini-series, though she had a one-panel cameo prior to that in Savage Dragon issue 40.
Veranke is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The queen of the Skrull Empire, she is the main antagonist of Secret Invasion in which she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth.
Covenant of the Sword is a fictional, covert organization bent on global domination appearing in comic books published by Image Universe. It was created by Erik Larsen, Keith Giffen and Dave Johnson, and first appeared in SuperPatriot #1. Although mainly appearing in Larsen's flagship title The Savage Dragon and the related title SuperPatriot, the Covenant also appeared in a number of Extreme Studios comics by Rob Liefeld, most notably Bloodstrike and Badrock. Damien Darklord is one of the members who is also a major villain in the Savage Dragon series.
The Savage Six is the name of two different supervillain groups appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.