Aliases: Ruby Skarab, Scarab-Gem, Scarlet Scarab

First Appearance: Supernatural Thrillers#8 (August, 1974)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Ruby Scarab grants great power to its user, which can be manifested in a variety of ways: enhanced strength and durability, flight, energy blasts, formation of shields, and teleportation. Its energies have proven sufficient to teleport the entire city of Cairo into a dimensional nexus (or aleph), while leaving its inhabitants back on Earth, unharmed.

    When the powers of the Ruby Scarab have been temporarily used up, it vanishes back to its resting place in the ancient tomb of Garret.

History:
(Supernatural Thrillers#8 (fb)) - <3500 BC> - When the extradimensional beings known as the Elementals attempted to conquer the land that would become Egypt, a young warrior, Dann, refused to submit. Dann plotted against the Elementals with the wizard Garret. The two joined their souls to vapors arcane and created the Ruby Scarab. Dann used the Scarab to sap the powers of the Elementals and banish them to an extradimension realm.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Knowing that he was about to die, Garret enchanted the Scarab so that it would return to its resting place in his tomb whenever it exhausted its store of mystical power.

(Invaders I#23, 25) - During World War II, archeologist Dr. Abdul Faoul, one of the Sons of the Scarab seeking to drive out the Allied powers from Egypt, duped the Invaders into helping him uncover the Ruby Scarab from a pyramid in which it was contained. Using its power to become the Scarlet Scarab, Faoul fought off the Invaders and joined forces with the Nazi troops against them. However, he soon learned that the Nazis did not have Egypt's best interest in mind, and the Scarlet Scarab worked with the Invaders long enough to drive them out.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Faoul used his abilities to oust first the British, then the Nazis from his homeland. Following the war, the Scarlet Scarab fought crime until one day, in the 1950s, the Ruby Scarab disappeared from the strongbox in which he kept it.

(Thor I#326 (fb)) - Unaware of the enchantment sending the Ruby Scarab back to Garret's tomb, Faoul spent the next twenty years of his life fruitlessly searching for the Scarab. Faoul passed the quest to locate the Ruby onto his son, Mehemet.

(Supernatural Thrillers#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Ruby Scarab was located by Ahmet Abdol, the Living Pharaoh, who took it as a power source for himself.

(Supernatural Thrillers#8 - BTS) - Somehow regaining the ability to return to Earth, and seeking to prevent the Ruby Scarab from being used against them again, the Elementals dispatched the Living Mummy to obtain the Scarab.

(Supernatural Thrillers#9) - N'Kantu the Living Mummy fought the Living Pharaoh, and in the course of their battle, the Ruby Scarab was knocked to the ground, where it was stolen by the thief known as the Asp.

(Supernatural Thrillers#10) - The Asp returned with the Ruby Scarab to his companion, Miles Olddan. They discussed their plan to sell it to archeologist Dr. Alexi Skarab for a fortune, then steal it back again, then sell it to another, etc., until they had accumulated enough to retire in style.

(Supernatural Thrillers#11) - N'Kantu tracked the Ruby Scarab to the Asp and Olddan, who narrowly escaped him. They proceeded to sell it to Dr. Skarab as planned, but then one of the Elementals, Zephyr, joined with N'Kantu and confronted them, forcing them to steal back the Scarab for them instead. Dr. Skarab convinced the Asp that the Elementals must not obtain the Ruby Scarab, but the Elementals came to them, taking their friends hostage and demanding the Ruby Scarab.

(Supernatural Thrillers#12) - Dr. Alexi Skarab tried to access the power of the Ruby Scarab against the Elementals, but to no avail. Skarab managed to flee with N'Kantu and a few others, escaping their attackers.

(Supernatural Thrillers#13) - Skarab and his allies watched from hiding as the Elementals took over Cairo over the course of a few weeks.

(Supernatural Thrillers#14) - After bombarding the Ruby Scarab with high doses of radiation at the Cairo hospital to no seeming effect, Dr. Skarab finally managed to commune with it, receiving a message from Dann and his descendent, Nephrus, both ancestors of Skarab. The manifestation taught him how to utilize the Ruby Scarab, and a short time later they were confronted by the Elementals, demanding the gem once again.

(Supernatural Thrillers#15) - The Elementals managed to steal the Ruby Scarab from Dr. Skarab, who was too startled to access its power. However, when they taunted him with their plans, he accessed its power from a distance, teleporting all of Cairo (except the other civilians not involved in the struggle with the Elementals) to a dimensional nexus point. There the Scarab seemed to be powerless, until N'Kantu realized that its energies permeated the very atmosphere of Cairo.

    Dr. Skarab directed Ron, Janice, the Asp, and Olddan to concentrate their mutual mental energies, and then channel them through himself, Zephyr, and the Mummy, and to direct them against the other three Elementals, casting them out into the vortex at the heart of the nexus/aleph. With that, Cairo, Skarab, and the others returned to Earth, and Dr. Skarab placed the seemingly powerless Ruby Scarab in his treasure chest. However, the Asp, Olddan, and Zephyr then stole the Scarab and took it with them when they left.

(Ms. Marvel#12 [fb] - BTS) - Hellfire, Hydron, and Magnum were returned to Earth by the extraterrestrial explorer known as Hecate.  They agreed to join forces to obtain the Ruby Scarab.

(Ms. Marvel#11, 12) - Hellfire, Hydron, and Magnum located Zephyr, Olddan, and the Asp on a remote Caribbean island (which housed a space research facility), where they overpowered and imprisoned them.  They forced their prisoners to reveal the location of the Scarab by torturing Zephyr, and once they had the Scarab in their hands they turned against their former ally, Hecate.

    Hecate, assisted by Ms. Marvel, fought and defeated the Elementals, who assisted in their own defeat via infighting over possession of the Ruby Scarab.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9 (fb) - BTS) - After this period of extensive use, the Ruby Scarab returned once more to Garret's tomb.

(Thor I#326 (fb)) - Continuing his father's search, Mehemet Faoul eventually tried the site where his father had found the Ruby Scarab, and was astounded to find it there. Mehemet used the power of the Ruby Scarab to become the new Scarlet Scarab, making it his mission to battle those who would prey upon his people or their ancient treasures.

(Thor I#326) - The Scarlet Scarab traveled to the US and, with the aid of Thor (after the standard superhero battle of misunderstanding) recovered the stolen Eye of Horus.

Comments: Created by Tony Isabella and Val Mayerik

    As discussed in the Elementals profile, the date of the arrival of the Elementals was originally given as before the rise of Atlantis, which would put it before 20,000 BC. More recent sources, such as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9, give the date of their arrival as 3500 BC, which makes WAY more sense!
   See the comments in the Elementals profile for further discussion on this.

Per Degaton also pointed out that the names Dann and Garret are obvious homage to the Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett.  I hang my head in shame to not have picked that one up:

• In the second Charlton version of this character (who debuted at Fox as a policeman/masked hero), Dan Garett was an archaeologist who used a beetle amulet to power up after saying "Khaji-Dah!".
  http://bluebeetle.50megs.com/Legacy.html
  Hmm......Valkyrie's sword Dragon Fang was created by a sorcerer named Kahji-Da per Defenders I#12.......so we have another Blue Beetle reference!
• Also, as the words "Dann" and "Garret" are obviously not Egyptian in origin due to their phonetic structure, both of these characters may have been alien to the Egyptian region themselves.
  --Kyle

To the best of my knowledge, Nephrus never held the Ruby Scarab, but was presumably summoned by its power to contact Dr. Skarab due to his ancestral connections to both Dann and Skarab.

Timely Comics has one too in the Human Torch story in Marvel Mystery Comics#78 (November, 1946). It was used by King Abdullah Razmuz (ancient Egyptian mummy with fake ancient Egyptian name).
--Gammatotem

Clarifications:
The Ruby Scarab served as the power source to:

• SCARLET SCARAB (Dr. Abdul Faoul) - active during World War II, powered by the Ruby Scarab—Invaders I#23
• SCARLET SCARAB (Mehemet Faoul) - son of Abdul, powered by the Ruby Scarab in the modern era--Thor I#326
  
  but has no known connection to:
   
• RUBY ?? - mother of Kevin & Mickey, formerly dated Thug Thatcher, killed by Zaniac/Wolfe *D*--Journey into Mystery I#89
• Ruby ?? of Earth-UV -  befriended Freex, shot by Master of the Hunt--Freex#4 (5,7,16
• RUBY of DOMINATION - used by Xandu--Marvel Fanfare I#20
• RUBY of RAGGADORR - see RINGED RUBY of RAGGADORR (app-stone)--Peter Parker: Spider-Man#11
• RUBY THURSDAY (Thursday Rubinstein) - Headmen--Defenders I#32
• other Ruby, Scarlet, Scarab, or Skarab characters, items, etc.

Garret has no known connection to:

• Garrett, Ben of Earth-UV - flying ultra, killed by Rafferty --Firearm (uv)#8
• GARRETT, JEFFREY -mutant, Xavier Institute. teleporter --X-Treme X-Men#20
• GARRETT, JOHN -cyborg, rebuilt by extechop division of SHIELD I, assisted elektra against the Beast/Dan Wind
  --Elektra: Assassin#2
• Garrett, Samuel of Earth-UV -father of Ben, hired him (Ben or Firearm?) to catch Rafferty--Firearm (uv) I#13
• GARRETT CASTLE - England, ancestral home of Dane Whitman--

Dann

Ancestor to Nephrus and Dr. Alexi Skarab, he was a warrior @ 3500 BC, who joined forces with Garret to create the Ruby Scarab. His spirit, and that of Nephrus, apparently remain tied to the Scarab, and in the modern era they trained Dr. Skarab in its secrets.

--Supernatural Thrillers#8

Garret

A wizard @ 3500 BC, he joined with Dann to create the Ruby Scarab and use it to drive off the Elementals. He also created the enchantment that the Scarab should return to his tomb after exhausting its store of power.

--Supernatural Thrillers#8

images:
Supernatural Thrillers#8, p10, pan4 (Ruby Scarab)
Supernatural Thrillers#8, p10, pan1 (Dann)
Supernatural Thrillers#8, p10, pan3 (Garrett)

Appearances:
Supernatural Thrillers#8 (August, 1974) - Tony Isabella (writer), Val Mayerik (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#9 (October, 1974) - Tony Isabella (writer), Val Mayerik (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#10 (December, 1974) - Tony Isabella, Val Mayerik & Len Wein (writers), Val Mayerik (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#11-12 (February-April, 1975) - Tony Isabella (writer), Val Mayerik (pencils), Val Mayerik (#11) & Klaus Janson (#12) (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#13 (June, 1975) - Tony Isabella & Val Mayerik (writers), Val Mayerik (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#14 (August, 1975) - Val Mayerik & John Warner (writers), Val Mayerik (pencils), Al McWilliams (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Supernatural Thrillers#15 (October, 1975) - John Warner (writer), Tom Sutton (artist), Len Wein (editor)
Ms. Marvel#11-12 (November-December, 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Frank Giacoia (#11) & Joe Sinnott (#12) (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Invaders I#23 (December, 1977) - Roy Thomas (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Frank Springer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Invaders I#25 (February, 1978) - Roy Thomas (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Frank Springer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#326 (December, 1982) - Doug Moench (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Jon D'Agostino (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9 (September, 1983)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First Posted: 05/06/2003
Last Updated: 06/23/2019

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