Miracle Man

This article is about the supervillain. For other uses, see Miracle Man (disambiguation).
Miracle Man
The Miracle Man as depicted in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962). Art by Jack Kirby.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceFantastic Four #3 (March 1962)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoJoshua Ayers
SpeciesHuman
Notable aliasesBrother Joshua
Professor
Abilities(Currently):

(Formerly):

  • Matter manipulation

The Miracle Man (Joshua Ayers) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as one of the first enemies of the Fantastic Four. He was originally depicted as a stage magician with megalomaniacal desires, capable of convincing others through hypnosis that he has amazing powers. In subsequent appearances, he appears to obtain actual, significant superpowers that allow him to mentally control and rearrange matter, but this turns out to be yet another illusion. The Miracle Man becomes one of the many minor Marvel Comics supervillains to be killed by the Scourge of the Underworld, but is resurrected much later by the demon Dormammu (as a parasite of Hood).

Publication history

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The Miracle Man first appeared in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.[1]

Fictional character biography

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Miracle Man is an arrogant stage magician who harbors megalomaniacal desires. The Fantastic Four attend his stage show, and the Miracle Man taunts them during his display of ostensibly superior powers, which includes such feats as levitation, transforming himself into mist, and enlarging himself to giant form. He goads the enraged Thing into an on-stage contest of strength, which he wins as well. Mister Fantastic voices the fear that the team would be unable to defeat him if he were turning to a life of crime.[2]

The Miracle Man declares war on humanity and commits a jewel heist through the aid of a giant prop monster he animates. The police call upon the Fantastic Four to stop him, but the Miracle Man bests them in a series of encounters and hypnotizes the Invisible Girl into obeying him. However, after the Human Torch blinds him with a flare of fire, he is captured easily and his mysterious powers are explained as deriving from nothing more than hypnotism.[3]

Later appearances

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The Miracle Man as depicted in Fantastic Four #139 (October 1973). Art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.

The Miracle Man next appears as the villain in a two-issue story arc in Fantastic Four #138-139 (Sept.-Oct. 1973). The Fantastic Four encounter him on a remote Indian reservation, while investigating an attack on villages of the tribesmen of Wyatt Wingfoot. They mock him until he demonstrates that he previously met a group of Native Americans known as the Silent Ones and gained matter-manipulating powers before killing them. The Human Torch recounts their first encounter with him to new teammate Medusa,[a] in a flashback that differs significantly from the original story in Fantastic Four #3..[4]

After creating his own advanced city, the Miracle Man battles the Fantastic Four before being taken away by the Silent Ones' ghosts to be "cured".[5]

In subsequent appearances, the Miracle Man escapes the Silent Ones' imprisonment and attempts to become an ally to the Defenders before returning to evil and being killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.[6][7][b] The Hood later resurrects him using Dormammu's powers to help eliminate the Punisher.[8][9]

Powers and abilities

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The Miracle Man is a master hypnotist, able to mesmerize others with his glance and then, induce wild hallucinations onto anyone he wishes. He can cast a variety of illusions to make those under his influence would see, hear, touch, and even taste or smell their effects. Later, he developed the ability to rearrange various forms of matter by thought.[10] These powers were lost, thanks to the Defenders.[11]

Notes

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  1. ^ The Inhuman Medusa serves as a temporary replacement for the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four #132-159.
  2. ^ The story of the Scourge hunting supervillains crossed over into most Marvel titles, each of which would usually depict a single villain's unexpected execution by the Scourge without elaboration or explanation. The vigilante's main story was featured in Captain America.

References

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  1. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ^ Fantastic Four Vol 1 #3 (March 1962)
  3. ^ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1465455505.
  4. ^ Fantastic Four #138. Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Fantastic Four #139. Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ Marvel Two-In-One #8. Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ The Thing #24. Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ The Punisher vol. 7 #5. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ The Punisher vol. 7 #8. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Fantastic Four: Fifty Fantastic Years Vol 1 #1 (November 2011)
  11. ^ The Defenders Vol 1 #120-122 (June-August 1983)
[edit]
  • Miracle Man at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
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