KABALLA

Real Name: unrevealed, possibly Kaballa

Identity/Class: Human?, magic-user

Occupation: would-be world-conqueror

Group Membership: Conspiracy (Atlan, Juden Bardham, Centurius, Bubbles O'Day)

Affiliations: Utilized a number of elementals, including air and fire demons, and Sharzan the Elemental;
    formerly Exo-Mind, Ulluxy'l Kwan Tae Syn

Enemies: Jason Adamson, Rebecca Adamson, Ulysses Bloodstone, Exo-Mind, Golem, Wayne Logan, Thing, Ulluxyl Kwan Tae Syn

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Kaballa the Unclean, Master of the Ages

Base of Operations: Formerly a base deep below the surface of the deserts of the Middle East (where the sun has never shone);
    formerly a subterranean base below Manhattan, New York City

First Appearances: Strange Tales I#176 (October, 1974)

Powers: Kaballa has a number of sorcerous abilities, foremost of which is the ability to create and animate creatures formed from the four ancient elements (earth, air, fire, and water--although he has only been observed to use air and fire). He proved capable of briefly taking control of the animated form of the Golem. He could teleport. He used a crystal ball to view distant events. This sphere was apparently a link (or the source) of his powers, as he created his elementals from it as well.

His Air-Demons could fly, generate powerful winds, and even affect local atmospheric pressure sufficiently to cause lightning to strike a target. They were normally immaterial, but could assume solid form at will. Three of them were necessary to lift the Golem into the air ( @ 1000 pounds). They disintegrate on contact with water.

His Fire-Demons could also fly and become immaterial. In addition, they could project bursts of heat and flame sufficient to melt stone. They could also travel across the Earth instantly, appearing from out of anyplace containing fire.

Kaballa also used Sharzan the Elemental as an agent. This is presumably a demon he summoned and controlled.

In his appearances in Rampaging Hulk I#8/2, he had grown a tail that I had not seen before.

History: Kaballa appears to be a human sorceror, presumably of Hebrew origin. His past is unrevealed, although he claims to have waited decades for the Golem to return, indicating there may have been previous encounters between the two.

(Strange Tales I#176)-Kaballa's elementals located the Golem shortly after his revival by Professor Abraham Adamson. Kaballa believed that the Golem drew its strength from landthe land. He waited until the Golem was aboard a ship bound for America, and then sent a trio of his Air-Demons to assault him. The Golem initially seemed to weak to battle the Air-Demons, and was nearly carried off by them. However, he suddenly had a burst of strength and quickly destroyed all three of them.

(Strange Tales I#177)-Kaballa sent a trio of Fire-Demons to attack the Golem, who was now in the USA, at San Pedro University in St. Petersburg, FLA. Again, the Golem appeared on the edge of defeat, but suddenly rallied and destroyed the Fire-Demons. As a result of this conflict, Kaballa learned that the Golem drew his strength not from the land, but from truth, and the love it felt for the family of the one who had revived it.

(Marvel Two-In-One#11)-Kaballa took control of the Golem, while the sources of its strength, Jason and Rebecca Adamson and Wayne Logan, where distant from it. Kaballa sent it on a rampage in St. Petersburg, which brought it into conflict with the Thing, who was vacationing there. Kaballa sent some elementals to break up the fight, but Jason, Rebecca, and Wayne arrived on the scene, causing Kaballa's control to fade. Kaballa then traveled to the scene himself to attack the others and retake the Golem. However, when the Golem advanced on him, Kaballa teleported away.

Kaballa next became involved with and joined the Conspiracy, a group seeking to tap into the power of the Hellfire Helix, within the Bloodgem, to rule the world.

(Rampaging Hulk I#6/2)-Kaballa sent his agent, Sharzan the Elemental, to attack Ulysses Bloodstone. Sharzan successfully defeated Bloodstone, and brought him to Kaballa's base underneath Manhattan.

(Rampaging Hulk I#8/2)-Kaballa explained to Ulysses Bloodstone how his entire life's mission had been a farce, and that he had been duped by the Exo-Mind, the intelligence within the Bloodgem. Kaballa brought Ulysses Bloodstone to the other members of the Conspiracy, who removed the gem from his chest, killing him. They joined it with their own and prepared to tap into its power. However, the Exo-Mind had its own plans, which involved sucking up the life forces of all of the Conspiracy members, and then planning to do the same to the rest of the world. It transformed itself into an immense crystalline creature and rampaged through the streets of New York. Ulysses Bloodstone, somehow driven by determination from beyond the grave, briefly rose again, found the crystalline creature, entered it, and destroyed the Hellfire Helix. This shattered its crystalline form, and dispersed the essences of the Exo-Mind, and the Conspiracy members within it, apparently killing them.

(Captain America I#358) - Kaballa's corpse was seen amongst the Conspiracy members within their former base deep below Central Park (see comments)

Comments: Created by Mike Friedrich and Tony De Zuñiga.

As always, no sorcerer can ever be counted out by death.

    The Conspiracy traveled to the Altar of the Bloodgem, presumably in what was Northern Vanaheim before calling upon the gem's power and having their life forces absorbed into the Bloodgem. However, in Captain America I#358, the Conspiracy's corpses were found within the Conspiracy's base beneath Central Park, Manhattan. It would seem that either their bodies were transported back to that base following the ceremony or following the Bloodgem creature's destruction, or that fake/duplicate/clone bodies were placed there, while the real members of the Conspiracy survived...
    Centurius, at least, has been seen to survive.

For more on the Conspiracy and Exo-Mind.

Several comics I've read refer to Kaballa as meaning Black Magic. This is incorrect, as thoroughly described by Kyle Smith:
    Cabala, Cabbala, or Qabbalah (correct transliteration being Kabbalah, Hebrew for "receiving" or "that which is received") DOES NOT mean "black magic."  "Tradition" was the technical meaning of the word around the 2nd & 3rd century AD, pertaining specifically to tradition passed down by word of mouth.  By the 12th & 13th centuries, it became associated w/ a Jewish, mystical philosophical system starting in Spain and southern France with origins dating back hundreds of years in areas such as Babylonia and Palestine.  To this day, Cabala is the title given to represent this system.  The word became associated with any mixture of occultism or occultism in general by the 17th century.  

Info from "Man, Myth, and Magic, Vol. 3." Richard Cavendish, ed.  Marshall Cavendish Corporation, NY, 1970.

Clarifications: Kaballa has no known connection to:

• Kabal of Zephyrland, @ Sub-Mariner I#64
• Kabal 2099, of the Undernet, who empowered Vengeance 2099, @ Ghost Rider 2099#13

The Golem should be differentiated from:

• Golem, Jacob Goldstein, a sometime ally of the Invaders, @ Invaders I#12
• Golem, a demon that temporarily controlled Mr. Grant, of Mys-Tech, @ Warheads#2

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Other appearances:
Strange Tales I#177 (December, 1974) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Tony DeZuniga (pencils), Steve Austin (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One#11 (September, 1975) - Roy Thomas & Bill Mantlo (writers), Bob Brown (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Rampaging Hulk I#6 (December, 1977) - John Warner (writer), Allen Kupperberg (pencils), Sonny Trinidad (inks), Roger Slifer (editor)
Rampaging Hulk I#8 (April, 1978) - Steve Gerber (writer), Alan Kupperberg & Rod Santiago (pencils), Rudy Mesina (inks), David Kraft (editor)
Captain America I#358 (September, 1989) - Kieron Dwyer & Mark Gruendwald (writers), Kieron Dwyer (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

Last updated: 08/06/05