A'SAI
Real Name: A'Sai
Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial, technology user
Occupation: Gambler and Thief
Affiliations: Grunz; loose affiliation with Truck and his team of kids
Enemies: Spider-Man, Uatu the Watcher;
Gerbil and his team of kids
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: The Joker
Base of Operations: Currently Bally's Grand Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Formerly Mobile throughout the Milky Way Galaxy (and possibly even further).
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man#34 (Jan 1988)
Powers/Abilities: None. However, he formerly held the
Galactus-Weapon, which would have given him enough power to bring interstellar
empires to their knees. The device allowed him to cloak himself from virtually
all forms of detection, as well to immobilize or obliterate almost any opponent.
He is a compulsive gambler.
Height: 6' 2" Weight: 300 lbs.
History:
(Web of Spider-Man#34) -
During the events of the first Secret
Wars, Galactus' worldship was destroyed. A large charred portion containing a
powerful weapon survived and floated aimlessly through space for some period of
time. This remnant was discovered by A'Sai who recognized it as an item of power
and kept it for himself.
Not realizing the full scope of the power of the device, A'Sai took a wager from his friend Grunz, for eight million credits, that he could not capture Uatu, the Watcher observing the activities of Earth. Uatu realized that something was approaching his Citadel, but nonetheless was not prepared when A'Sai blasted into it and imprisoned him in rings of energy. Grunz paid A'Sai for his victory and commented on how he was wasting his vast power on petty fortune. Beginning to realize the potential he now had, A'Sai sent Grunz away and attempted to force Uatu to turn over and explain his own equipment and weaponry to him. Uatu refused and warned A'Sai that he could be killed by the safeguards of the equipment if it were improperly used.
A'Sai convinced Uatu to enter into a wager: the winner getting A'Sai's Galactus-weapon or Uatu's technology and the knowledge of how to use it. The fact that Uatu agreed made A'Sai even more aware of the potential power of the weapon. After perusing a number of intergalactic contests, A'Sai chose a football game on Earth: Spider-Man and a group of young kids versus a group of older kids.
Spider-Man had observed the group of young kids taking a beating in the game at the hands of the older ones. When one of the young kids was hurt, Spider-Man volunteered to replace him. In order to "make it fair," the bigger kids set a number of ground rules for Spider-Man, basically preventing him from using his powers, tying one hand behind his back, and making it so they only needed to touch him for him to be down. The score was 42-0 before Spider-Man started.
The Watcher agreed to the contest, and despite a rough start, Spider-Man rallied the younger kids and taught them a few plays, and soon the score was again close. Fearing he would lose, A'Sai learned how to operate one of Uatu's machines and channeled power into the leader of the bigger kids, nick-named Truck. Despite this, in the last play, the smallest kid, Gerbil, who had been hurt in an earlier play, summoned his determination and managed to knock Truck into the end zone, scoring the winning touchdown.
A'Sai thought to renege on the bet, kill Uatu, and steal his equipment anyway. However, before he knew it, Uatu had claimed victory, and teleported the Galactus-Weapon into the heart of a star. Uatu had previously vowed not to punish A'Sai for his previous crimes, but he did claim the right to punish him for his intent to renege. A'Sai ended up as an image on a "joker" card at the Bally's Grand Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, where he could see all the gambling, but participate in none.
Comments: Created by Jim Shooter and Sal Buscema.
A goofy, but enjoyable story.
It seems pretty clear that the Watcher allowed (to some degree) things to progress as they did in order to gain the Galactus-Weapon, and prevent its abuse.
So what happened to Grunz...?
And of course, the Galactus-Weapon may not necessarily have been destroyed in the heart of a sun...
I wrote this profile and had it published by Spider-Fan as one of my very first! Stunner was kind enough to convert it back into Appendix format, a few years later.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Last updated: 07/13/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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