HATCH-22

Real Name: Hatch-22 (presumably)

Identity/Class: Extratemporal/extradimensional evolved human (Earth-77211)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Black Panther (T'Challa), Black Panther ("Happy Pants"), Abner Little (Mr. Little to you!), Princess Zanda, unidentified creature in his future

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Six-Million Year Man" (in story title only); "that balloon-head from the future" (as called by Abner Little)

Base of Operations: Hatch number 22 on Earth-77211

First Appearance: Black Panther I#1 (February, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: Originating from "the Sixth Era of Man" (see comments), Hatch-22 possessed vast psionic powers, apparently common to all human beings in his alternate future. He had immense telekinetic abilities, and could manipulate most forms of energy with his mind -- he could generate tremendous heat and magnetic force in this manner. He could also create psychic ectoplasmic images -- he was sufficiently powerful in this manner to project his dreams as realistic three-dimensional images while unconscious.

In addition, Hatch-22 had a sensory organ at the back of his head which could detect assaults from behind him. He could also fire a beam of "microns" (sub-atomic particles which disintegrated matter) from this "third eye."

He was somewhat invulnerable to great heat (perhaps by erecting a telekinetic force-field around himself), though he was knocked unconscious by a single punch from the Black Panther.

Height: Unrevealed (7'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (120 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: None

History:
(Black Panther I#2 (fb)) - Hatch-22 hailed from an alternate future six million years hence -- "the Sixth Era of Man" (see comments) -- in which human beings had evolved into nearly unrecognizable forms that lived beneath Earth's surface in numbered "hatches." In this future, Hatch-22 apparently battled and destroyed a massive creature with the power to ravage planets.

(Black Panther I#1) - In the course of a struggle between Princess Zanda and Abner Little, Hatch-22 was accidentally drawn to the present by one of the artifacts known as King Solomon's Brass Frogs.

(Black Panther I#2) - Hatch-22 angrily demanded to be returned to "the hatch" in his own time, and telekinetically attacked everyone nearby; one of Zanda's mercenaries attempted to shoot the strange being from behind, but Hatch-22 used his "third eye" to disintegrate him. The Black Panther, thinking quickly, blanked his mind and began doing push-ups in front of Hatch-22, claiming it was a form of greeting (see comments); Hatch-22 was fascinated enough by this to drop his guard, and the Panther then swiftly knocked him out with a punch.

   The Panther prevented Zanda from simply shooting the unconscious Hatch-22, whose dreams projected his memories as lifelike images, which showed T'Challa and his allies where he had come from, and what his future was like. Hatch-22 nearly revived, but Little shot him with a chemical pellet that diffused his mental processes and rendered him unconscious. Hoping to return Hatch-22 back to his home without further incident, the Panther, Zanda, and Little set off to find a matching Frog in King Solomon' tomb to complete the time-travel mechanism.

(Black Panther I#2-3 - BTS) - The Black Panther, Princess Zanda, and Abner Little loaded the still-unconscious Hatch-22 into Little's multi-plane, then the aircraft took flight for the rugged Atlas Mountains of the Sahara Desert.

(Black Panther I#3) - After they landed inside the tomb, the revived Hatch-22 destroyed the multi-plane in a fiery blaze; still dazed by the chemical, he then began destroying everything in sight. When the Black Panther found himself in a losing battle with one of the tomb's robotic guardians, Little lured Hatch-22 to the scene, where the future-man destroyed the robot; however, Hatch-22 then attempted to kill them all. At the last moment, the Panther found the second Frog and connected it to the first, which sent Hatch-22 back to his proper era.

(Black Panther III#43) - Years later, on a mission to Kiber Island to retrieve one of King Solomon's Frogs, the "Happy Pants" Panther, along with his allies Nightshade, Princess Zanda, Mr. Little, and Everett K. Ross, were briefly engaged by Hatch-22, who had been summoned forth again by the Frog, but "Happy Pants" quickly knocked him unconscious. With the Frog recovered, Hatch-22 was again returned to his own time.

"If I don't have to know why that guy had 'Hatch-22' tattooed on his enormous head, so much the better..."--Everett K.Ross

Comments: Created by Jack "King" Kirby (...who might've been licking frogs at the time).







Like his second run on Captain America, Kirby's Panther is somewhat controversial with fans. It's an amazingly creative and fun series, but bears little resemblance to any other version of the character, who at times seems not to be the point of his own book. Kirby's Panther is well worth seeking out, if only to enjoy Kirby's tremendous imagination.

The scene where T'Challa tricks Hatch-22 by doing push-ups as a form of greeting was certainly...imaginative.--Prime Eternal

Hatch-22 never mentioned specifically how far in the future he originated, but T'Challa surmised; (@ Black Panther I#2, p16, pan4): "If an era, in our visitor's terms, is a million years in ours, then the Sixth Era, his own time, is six million years in the future!"

"Hatch-22" and and "The Six-Million Year Man" are probably references to the book Catch-22 and the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Omar Karindu with Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Hatch-22 has no known connection to:







Earth-77211

Six million years in the future, when the descendants of mankind had evolved into beings with vast psionic powers, Earth was also greatly changed. The Moon orbited extremely close to the world, while the planet itself revolved around a giant red sun -- because of these harsh conditions, the future-men lived below the world's surface.

The future Earth was smooth as a billiard ball, and there were no longer any continents or oceans -- the entire planet's surface was covered by a network of large circular discs ("countries"), which had smaller discs within them ("individual communities" or "hatches") where the the inhabitants dwelt.

At some point, this world was attacked by a huge unidentified creature, but an inhabitant designated "Hatch-22" used his powers to destroy the monstrous menace.

After Hatch-22 was pulled back through time and rendered unconscious, he projected psychic dream-images of his home-world to the Black Panther and his allies.

(Comment: My guess is that the surface of this world was covered with a hollow shell similar to a Dyson sphere.)

--Black Panther I#2

unidentified creature

Its origin unrevealed, it was a gargantuan (almost planet-sized) monster of six million years in the future, and frightening to behold.

It attacked Earth-77211 with destructive beams that it projected; but one of the world's inhabitants, designated "Hatch-22," levitated himself skyward and unleashed a powerful flaming beam of his own from the center of his forehead -- as Hatch-22's beam struck it, the creature exploded.

After Hatch-22 was pulled back through time and rendered unconscious, he projected psychic dream-images of his battle with the creature to the Black Panther and his allies.

--Black Panther I#2 (d)

images: (without ads)
Black Panther III#43, p20, pan2 (Main Image - Hatch-22)
Black Panther I#2, p3, pan1 (Headshot - Hatch-22)
Black Panther I#2, p4, pan2 (Hatch-22 (rear view) emits beam of  "microns" from his "third eye")
Black Panther I#2, p13, pan2 (in Hatch-22's dream-image, Hatch-22 emits flaming beam from his forehead)
Black Panther I#2, p5, pan2 (Black Panther doing push-ups for Hatch-22; Princess Zanda (background))
Black Panther I#2, p11, pan1 (Hatch-22's dream-image of Earth-77211)
Black Panther I#2, p11, pan3 (Hatch-22's dream-image of his home on Earth-77211)
Black Panther I#2, p12, pan3 (in Hatch-22's dream-image, unidentified creature attacks Earth-77211)
Black Panther I#2, p13, pan3 (in Hatch-22's dream-image, unidentified creature gets destroyed by Hatch-22's flaming beam above Earth-77211)

Appearances:
Black Panther I#1 (January, 1977) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils/editor), Mike Royer (inks/letters), Dave Hunt (colors), Archie Goodwin (consulting editor)
Black Panther I#2 (March, 1977) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils/editor), Mike Royer (inks/letters), Petra Goldberg (colors), Archie Goodwin (consulting editor)
Black Panther I#3 (May, 1977) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils/editor), Mike Royer (inks/letters), Petra Goldberg (colors), Archie Goodwin (consulting editor)
Black Panther III#43 (June, 2002) - Christopher Priest (writer), Sal Velluto (pencils), Bob Almond (inks), Jennifer Schellinger (colors), Paul Tutrone (letters), Mike Marts (editor)

First posted: 04/18/2002
Last updated: 09/22/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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