Isbisais a fictionalsupervillainappearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byMarvel Comics.He first appeared inAll Winners Comicsvol. 1, #19 (Fall 1946), published by Marvel predecessorTimely Comicsduring the 1940s period fans and historians call theGolden Age of Comic Books.He was created by writerBill Fingerand one or more of the five artists who contributed one or more chapters to his 44-page debut story.
| Isbisa | |
|---|---|
 Isbisa in his radiation suit. Cover artist unconfirmed. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | All Winners Comicsvol. 1, #19 (Fall 1946) |
| Created by | WriterBill Finger;artist co-creator unknown |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Simon Meke (also given as Merton Meke) |
| Partnerships | Calcium Master Porky Black Patch Shut-Eye James Flore |
| Notable aliases | Dr. I.S. Bishoff, Dr. Sanderson |
| Abilities | Expertise in chemistry and radioactivity |
Isbisa was a criminal mastermind as well as an expert in chemistry and radioactivity. He relied on a series of high-powered suits to battle his enemies. He primarily battled thesuperheroteam theAll-Winners Squad,and was particularly obsessed with members theWhizzerandMiss America.[1]
Publication history
editFollowing his singleGolden Ageappearance, inAll Winners Comics#19 (Fall 1946), Isbisa appeared inflashbackin thesuperhero-team comicGiant-Size Avengers#1 (Aug. 1974), and in present-day stories inThe Vision and the Scarlet Witchvol. 1, #2 (Dec. 1982) andThe Sensational She-Hulk#29-30 (July-Aug. 1991).[2]
Fictional character biography
editSimon Meke, the secretary ofmuseumcurator Professor Saba, planned to take over the world by stealing an atom bomb. Accordingly, he took on an alias, Isbisa, after combining the first letter of theIce Age,theStone Age,theBronze Age,theIron Age,theSteel Ageand theAtomic Age.[3]He assembled five villains to do battle against thesuperheroteam theAll-Winners Squad,and gave each one a plot to carry out in order to distract the superheroes while he stole the bomb. While the superheroes were kept busy by battle, Isbisa created a sleeping gas that he used on the workers at the Atom Smasher Vacuum Tube. Moments before succeeding in his plot to steal the bomb, the All-Winners Squad intervened. Isbisa fled, but was quickly caught, unmasked, and imprisoned.[4]
In prison, Meke became obsessed with the All-Winners Squad, which had disbanded by then. In 1949, he escaped and learned that two members,Miss Americaand theWhizzer,were acting as bodyguards for a nuclear project. Though Isbisa's attempt at sabotage failed at killing either hero, Isbisa did manage to expose the then-pregnant Miss America to high enough levels of radiation to damage her unborn child. This resulted in amutantinfant, eventually codenamedNukloby theU.S. government.[5]
Years later, Isbisa infiltrated the government project tasked with curing Nuklo. He assumed the position of Nuklo's therapist, under the name I.S. Bishoff. While there he created a new suit that could siphon off Nuklo's radiation. This had the duel effect of both healing Nuklo and imbuing Isbisa with superhuman power. At this point, the retired Whizzer, Robert Frank, had learned his son was alive. Frank, and the superheroes theScarlet Witchand her then-husband theVision,went to the hospital where Nuklo was kept and where Isbisa was working, in the hope of taking Nuklo toAttilan,the city of the advanced race theInhumans,for advanced treatment. The disguised Isbisa attacked and briefly defeated the two heroes. Frank managed to release Nuklo from his containment and then charge Isbisa, who killed the aged hero. When Scarlet Witch and the Vision recover and attack him, Isbisa attempts to release all his stored-up radiation in a bid to kill them. This backfired, however, leaving him powerless and curing Nuklo. Isbisa was arrested.[6]
Years later, he escaped again, and plotted to rejuvenate himself and to move people through time and space. During one of Jennifer Walters' (a.k.a. theShe-Hulk) court cases, Isbisa, disguised as a Professor Sanderson, transports the supervillainVenomfrom a past battle withSpider-Manand into the courthouse. Later, he transported the Hulk from a past comic-book battle and placed him near an unsuspecting She-Hulk. She-Hulk battled numerous time-displaced villains until her confidante, formerBlonde PhantomLouise Mason, deduced who was behind these events. When confronted, Isbisa escaped, choosing dimensional limbo over the prospect of capture.[7]
Powers and abilities
editIsbisa's first suit protected him from knockout gas and also released it. It was also able to keep him afloat when in water. His second suit allowed him to drain the radiation from Nuklo and then discharge it as a weapon, without injury to himself. It also may have made his body radioactive.
References
edit- ^Harold, Jess; Thomas, John Rhett (2019).Marvel: 80 For 80.Marvel. p. 18.ISBN978-1302919399.
- ^Sanderson, Peter (2007).The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City.Gallery Books. pp. 152–153.ISBN9781416531418.
- ^Thomas, Roy (2009).All-Star Companion, Volume 4.TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 148.ISBN978-1605490045.
- ^All-Winners Comics#19
- ^Giant-Size Avengers#1
- ^Vision and the Scarlet Witch#2-3
- ^The Sensational She-Hulk#29-30
External links
edit- Isbisaat The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- Grand Comics Database