AALBORT

Real Name: Aalbort

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Aakon race)

Occupation: Trader, Starship Accountant

Group Membership: Former member of the crew of Principle of Reasonable Return

Affiliations: Starfox (Eros), Heater Delight

Enemies: Azunbulxibar and his race of warriors

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The known universe, as well as other dimensions

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4 (June, 1989)

Powers/Abilities: Aalbort is an accomplished trader and accountant. He has some experience with use of ship weapons, such as an anti-matter gun. He may have some training in starship navigation as well.

Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 230 lbs. (by approximation) (see comments)
Eyes: White (no visible pupils or sclera) (see comments)
Hair: White

History: (Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4 (fb) - BTS) - Aalbort had served as the accountant aboard the starship Principle of Reasonable Interest for nearly 150 years. During that time, he had encountered space pirates, freelance tax-gatherers, and taken trips to other planets, galaxies, and dimensions.

   When the ship took on cargo on Allamagoosa somebody snuck a Dimensional Randomizer into the hold by listing it as "Robot Parts." During what was expected to be a standard trip from Allamagoosa to Offog the hold exploded for unrevealed reasons, activating the randomizer, which opened a portal to another dimension. Through this portal, the warlord Azunbulxibar and his troops poured, slaughtering the crew. Arming himself with an anti-matter gun Aalbort by shooting first rather than asking questions and holed himself up on the bridge, while the ship's captain, the last other survivor, managed to force the invaders into a hull meteor shield, temporarily trapping them, at the cost of his own life.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4) - The Principle warped back into normal space right next to the spaceship belonging to the Eternal of Titan, Eros, also known as Starfox, and his companion, Heater Delight. Seeing that the other ship was clearly in distress, Starfox and Heater boarded the Principle to see if they could render aid. Understandably somewhat paranoid and trigger happy, Aalbort nearly shot them both, blasting holes clean through the bridge doors when he heard them on the other side, but Starfox calmed the situation using his emotion-manipulating powers. Aalbort explained what had happened and showed the two newcomers Azunbulxibar and his troops trying to breach the transparent meteor shield. With it obviously only a matter of time before they broke through, Aalbort watched as Starfox duped the bellicose Azunbulxibar and his troops into believing there was nothing worth conquering in his dimension, offered to reset the Randomizer to take Azunbulxibar to somewhere where his army could take part in glorious battles, then fulfilled this promise by realigning the device's portal so that it exited to the side of Azunbulxibar's own forces. Initially unaware of this last trick, Aalbort watched as the otherdimensional army raced through to confront their "foes," but once the connection to Azunbulxibar's dimension had closed Starfox explained his ruse, and Aalbort realized that Azunbulxibar's forces had been charging at themselves.

Comments: Created by Peter Gillis and Dave Cockrum

   Thanks to Brandon Nash for the correction on the ship's name.

   Per the Aakon race's handbook entry there seem to be heavier than similarly sized humans, hence Aalbort's weight estimate here - a human of that height and weight would be obese, but Aalbort is slender by his race's standards. Aalbort's eyes appear yellow-green in some panels, but that may be the result of color bleed from his skin caused during the printing process, as we see in multiple panels that the coloring of objects extends slightly outside the edge of the object. In the one really good close-up of his eyes, a side shot of his face, they are definitely pure white.

   It's uncertain whether Aalbort (and by default Aakons in general) have a longer life expectancy than humans. At first glance his statement that he has worked on board the Principle of Reasonable Doubt as the ship's accountant for 150 years would seem to support that, especially as he would have an undisclosed number of years under his belt prior to beginning that role. Living in excess of 150 years and only now looking somewhat elderly but still physically able gives the impression of longevity. However, he didn't say he was 150 Terran years old; planetary years can vary quite a lot from one world to the next, so his age in our terms is indeterminate.

   An accountant for so many years (however long they relatively were), all Aalbort's curses are accountancy-related: "God unbalance your ledgers," "God bankrupt you," "one God-audited thing after another," etc.

   As far as we know, MCP I#22/4 was Aalbort's only appearance, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Dave Cockrum (or, indeed, another artist) might have slipped him into the background in some other stories set out in space. If anyone does spot him somewhere new, please let us know.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Aalbort has no known connections to:

• Albert, retired blind werewolf -- Uncanny Tales#22
• Albert, worked for Federal Intelligence -- Marvel Team-Up II#5
• Albert, robot duplicate of Wolverine -- Wolverine II#37
• Albert, Jarvis' nephew in Earth-Avengers aging timeline -- What If? I#38
  
• or any other "Aalbort" or "Albert" characters