ASHEN COMBINE
Membership: The Citysmith, the Dead, Idol
Alabaster, Lord Ennui, Meridian Diadem
Purpose: To enslave and kill other worlds
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Formerly the Impossible City
Enemies: Avengers (Black Panther/T'Challa,
Captain America/Sam Wilson, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Iron Man/Tony
Stark, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Thor/Thor Odinson, Vision/"Victor
Shade"), the Impossible City
Base of Operations: The Impossible City,
mobile through Multiversal space
First Appearance: Avengers VIII#3 (July, 2023)
History:
(Avengers VIII#3 (fb) - BTS) -
The Ashen Combine made a name for themselves enslaving and killing
large cities across multiple worlds.
(Avengers VIII#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Ashen Combine were
eventually defeated and captured by a group of heroes.
(Avengers VIII#6 (fb) - BTS/Avengers VIII#11 (fb) -
BTS) - The heroes created the sentient artificial intelligence, the
Impossible City, to keep the Ashen Combine in captivity.
(Avengers VIII#6 (fb) - BTS) - When the City's
creators disappeared, however, the Ashen Combine escaped captivity.
(Avengers VIII#5 (fb)/Avengers VIII#6 (fb) - BTS) -
The Ashen Combine then enslaved the Impossible City, altering it to
their liking, erasing many of its memories, transforming it into a
weapon and cruelly leaving its conscience intact to witness their
atrocities.
(Avengers VIII#11 (fb) - BTS) - The Ashen Combine
also removed almost any internal defenses the Impossible City had in an
effort to prevent the City from fighting back against them, leaving
only its external weapons that they could use to attack others.
(Avengers VIII#18 (fb) - BTS) - The Ashen Combine
forced the Impossible City to take them to Earth-901, a world they then
destroyed before moving on.
(Avengers VIII#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Ashen Combine
returned to Reality-616.
(Avengers VIII#3) - Moving the Impossible City into
Earth orbit, the Ashen Combine looked over the planet Earth and
proclaimed it a new world with new ways for them to destroy it. The
most eager of the group, Idol Alabaster, decided to strike first at
Vatican City since Idol Alabaster drew power from worship and the
Citysmith attacked next in Toronto, Canada. Lord Ennui followed suit by
attacking Manila, Philippines, where he killed as many as possible,
and the Dead next attacked in a Sydney, Australia mass grave, where
they raised the dead to revenge themselves on the living. While her
teammates were engaging in their violent interests elsewhere, the
Ashen Combine's Meridian Diadem attacked Helsinki, Finland with one of
her servants, seeking to enslave all. The Avengers were quickly alerted
to the Ashen Combine's attacks and the team split up to deal with the
individual Ashen Combine members. Thor confronted Idol Alabaster, Iron
Man confronted the Citysmith, Scarlet Witch met the Dead, Vision
confronted Meridian Diadem in Helsinki and Captain Marvel encountered
Lord Ennui, all while Captain America and Black Panther infiltrated the
Ashen Combine's orbiting headquarters, the Impossible City.
(Avengers VIII#4) - The Avengers continued to
battle the Ashen Combine in their respective target cities while Black
Panther and Captain America ventured around the Impossible City
planting bombs to destroy the Ashen Combine's headquarters.
(Avengers VIII#5) - While the rest of the Avengers
continued their fights against the Ashen Combine, the Impossible City
revealed to Black Panther and Captain America how the Ashen Combine had
forced it to comply with their twisted games of enslavement and death,
and how it planned to commit suicide due to the guilt of forced
association with the Ashen Combine. Upon hearing the Impossible City's
decision and how its death would prevent the Ashen Combine from
accessing future worlds, Black Panther and Captain America refused to
accept that the City's only course of action was suicide.
(Avengers VIII#6) - As the Impossible City
contemplated the unlikelihood of being able to denounce the Ashen
Combine, the Avengers began to rally against the individual Ashen
Combine members, ultimately defeating them. The Black Panther utilized
Wakandan technology to destroy the invasive superstructures installed
in the Impossible City by the Citysmith, freeing the Impossible City
from the Ashen Combine's control. The Avengers then returned the Ashen
Combine to stasis captivity within the Impossible City and welcomed the
Impossible City itself into their ranks as their newest headquarters.
(Avengers VIII#9 (fb) - BTS) - As the Avengers
accustomed themselves to the Impossible City, Captain Marvel asked if
the City was mad that they had sent Black Panther and Captain America
to destroy the City and the Impossible City responded that it had
already been considering suicide in an effort to spare other worlds the
depredations of the Ashen Combine, noting that it was actually Black
Panther and Captain America that had taught the City how to live again.
(Avengers VIII#11 (fb)) - The Avengers looked over
the still-imprisoned Ashen Combine and Captain Marvel commented that
she didn't like the idea of keeping them prisoners, as the Avengers
weren't meant to be police. Tony Stark reminded Captain Marvel that the
Impossible City was built to contain the Ashen Combine but Captain
Marvel noted that the Combine's previous escape and suggested the
Avengers figure out what to do with the Ashen Combine. The discussion
about the Ashen Combine was soon interrupted by the arrival of Edwin
Jarvis to the Impossible City. Jarvis immediately set to work helping
the Impossible City care for the Avengers and while he was away, Black
Panther continued the discussion, suggesting they perhaps launch the
Ashen Combine into the sun. Thor followed up by suggesting they fire
the Ashen Combine at the anti-mutant Orchis organization like a bullet
and let the two destroy one another. After
attacking the Avengers by sneaking his plastoid
Man-Slayer into the digestive tract of Edwin Jarvis' assistant, the
criminal Mad Thinker learned where the Avengers were keeping the Ashen
Combine before being beaten by Jarvis and his assistant and sent to the
Ravencroft asylum.
(Avengers VIII#11 - BTS) - From Ravencroft, the Mad
Thinker began sketching images of the Ashen Combine on the walls of his
cell and gloated about how he had arranged the Man-Slayer to
successfully learn where the Ashen Combine were being held.
(Avengers VIII#18 - BTS) - In an effort to stop the
Hyperion simulacrum, the Avengers had the Impossible City transport him
to Earth-901, where the City, speaking via one of the Mad Thinker's
plastoids, informed Hyperion of what the Ashen Combine had done to
Earth-901 and how it desperately needed a new hero.
(Avengers
VIII#19) - Black Panther and Captain America looked over the Ashen
Combine, still imprisoned in stasis within the Impossible City, and
discussed Black Panther's impending mission to enter the tesseract hole
in Meridian Diadem's chest to free those captured there.
Comments: Created by Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa.
The Marvel Database website lists
the Ashen Combine and its members as being from various realities
within the Multiverse but their first appearance in Avengers VIII#3
specifically lists them as being from other dimensions not realities.
Therefore, they would be extradimensional beings native to dimension(s)
within Reality-616, not natives of alternate realities. Yes, they did
travel to other realities such as Earth-901 to destroy them but they do
appear to be native to Reality-616, just of extradimensional origin.
Kang warns Captain Marvel in
Avengers VIII#2 of the Impossible City and the terrors it brought with
it as one of the Tribulation events he was warning the Avengers about.
This seems to be a reference to the Ashen Combine but the group is
never mentioned by name nor directly referenced in Kang's warning.
Therefore, I've chosen not to list that vague reference in the History
section of this profile since there is no clear reference.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ashen Combine has no known connections to:
- any other "Ashen" or "Combine" groups
The Citysmith
The Citysmith is a metrokinetic member of the Ashen
Combine that fashions himself an artist of sorts. Following the Ashen
Combine's earlier escape from captivity inside the Impossible City, the
Citysmith used his powers to complete reconstruct the Impossible City
to suit the needs of the Ashen Combine, creating invasive
superstructure that, together with Meridian Diadem's abilities, helped
completely enslave the Impossible City. After presuming assisting in
destroying Earth-901, the Citysmith joined the Ashen Combine in
assaulting Earth-616, focusing his attack on Toronto, Canada. The
Citysmith used his powers to cause chaos throughout the city until he
was confronted by the Avengers' Iron Man. During the subsequent battle
against Iron Man, the Citysmith quickly gained the upper hand,
imprisoning Iron Man inside a large stone block as part of his "art."
Iron Man ultimately rallied back and used a new phasing feature of his
armor to phase through the rock and knock the Citysmith out. He was
then placed in stasis in the restructured and freed Impossible City,
where he has remained since.
The Citysmith has the ability to reshape and
manipulate land and mass to fit his "artistic visions."
--Avengers VIII#3 (#3 (fb) - BTS, #6 (fb) - BTS/#11
(fb) - BTS, #5 (fb)/#6 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb) - BTS, #18 (fb) - BTS,
#3-4, #6, #9 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb), #18 - BTS, #19,
The Dead
The Dead is a member of the Ashen Combine who
presumably escaped captivity inside the Impossible City and assisted in
the destruction of Earth-901. Following Earth-901's destruction, the
Dead joined the Ashen Combine in attacking Earth-616, focusing their
attack on a mass grave in Sydney, Australia. Summoning forth the ghosts
buried in Sydney, the Dead led them in an assault on the living, only
to be confronted by Scarlet Witch of the Avengers. At first gaining an
advantage over the Scarlet Witch by manipulating the seeming ghost of
the elder god Chthon within her, the Dead was soon teleported away to a
remote location in Antarctica by the Scarlet Witch, who easily defeated
the Dead without any graves or ghosts present to manipulate. The Dead
was then returned to stasis captivity within the freed Impossible City,
where they have remained ever since.
The Dead emits a psychic aura that allows them to
summon forth and control the apparent spirits of the deceased. Whether
this ability is the manipulation of the true spirits or merely some
form of psychic illusion remains to be seen.
--Avengers VIII#3 (#5 (fb), #18 (fb) - BTS, #3-4, #5
- BTS, #6, #9 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb), #18 - BTS, #19,
Idol Alabaster
Idol Alabaster is member of the Ashen Combine that
feeds off the worship of others. Having at one point even bent gods to
her will, Idol Alabaster escaped captivity within the Impossible City
and aided the Ashen Combine in destroying Earth-901. Idol Alabaster
then joined the Ashen Combine in assaulting Earth-616, with Idol
Alabaster being the first of the Ashen Combine to arrive on Earth in
Vatican City. Psychically forcing those within Vatican City to worship
her, Idol Alabaster relished in the power acquired from feeding off her
worshipers until the Avengers' Thor arrived to stop her city-wide
psychic assault. Continuing to grow in power by the minute, Idol
Alabaster gloated at how Thor could not harm her without harming the
innocents in her thrall but Thor ultimately used lightning to render
Idol Alabaster's human worshipers unconscious, cutting Idol Alabaster
off from her power source. Thor was then able to defeat Idol Alabaster,
who was returned to imprisonment within a stasis field alongside the
other Ashen Combine members. Idol Alabaster has remained in captivity
ever since.
Idol Alabaster feeds off the worship of others,
absorbing the worship to grow in power to the potential degree of
complete invulnerability. Idol Alabaster also has vast telepathic
abilities, allowing her to bend the wills of entire cities and
providing a means in which to psychically force the worship she feeds
on. Additionally, any beings in her psychic thrall feel the pain and
experience any damage inflicted on Idol Alabaster.
--Avengers VIII#3 (#4 (fb) - BTS, #5 (fb), #18 (fb) -
BTS, #3-4, #6, #9 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb), #18 - BTS, #19,
Lord Ennui
Lord Ennui is a member of the Ashen Combine. Due to
the nature of his entropic powers, Lord Ennui did not feel any sort of
emotion or feeling and, after joining the Ashen Combine, he escaped
captivity within the Impossible City and traveled with the group as
they razed entire worlds. Hoping to experience some sort of feeling,
Lord Ennui presumably assisted the Ashen Combine in destroying
Earth-901 and later accompanied them in their assault on Earth-616.
Arriving in Manila, Philippines, Lord Ennui was almost immediately
confronted by the Avengers' Captain Marvel and he expressed hope that
perhaps with her present, he might actually feel something for a
change. Refusing to fight, Lord Ennui simply went about his business as
his entropic field halted nearly all of Captain Marvel's attacks and he
admittedly found Captain Marvel interesting due to her attempts to
evacuate the city despite one-by-one. When Captain Marvel asked what
Lord Ennui wanted, Lord Ennui explained that he simply wished to feel
something and the closest he could get to a sense of purpose and matter
was using his field to still the hearts of as many people as possible.
Opting instead to perhaps overload Lord Ennui's senses, Captain Marvel
blew up a tanker truck, absorbing the energy from the explosion and
channeling it directly into Lord Ennui, eventually overloading Lord
Ennui's entropic field. Gleeful at having finally felt something, the
defeated Lord Ennui fell to the ground, thanking Captain Marvel for
gifting him feeling. He was subsequently placed in stasis captivity
within the Impossible City, where he has remained since.
Lord Ennui is surrounded by an
ever-present field of entropy that drains the energy from anything that
enters its radius. Due to the nature of the field, Lord Ennui typically
feels no emotion or feeling of any kind and anything that enters the
field is completely drained of energy, down to the very energy that
powers molecular bonds.
--Avengers VIII#3 (#5 (fb) - BTS, #5 (fb), #18 (fb) - BTS, #3, #5-6, #9 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb), #18 - BTS, #19,
Meridian Diadem
The de facto leader of the Ashen Combine, Meridian
Diadem was created to correct the nature of criminals but her
programming led her towards destroying organic life, as she determined
that all organic life had some degree of ingrained criminality in need
of correcting. After assembling an entire army of subservient creatures
housed within the tesseract hole in her chest, Meridian Diadem escaped
captivity within the artificially intelligent Impossible City, using
her abilities in conjunction with those of the Citysmith to completely
reprogram the Impossible City to serve as the Ashen Combine's mobile
headquarters. Following the Ashen Combine's destruction of Earth-901,
Meridian Diadem led the Ashen Combine to Earth-616, where she planned
to kill the entire planet starting with Helsinki, Finland. Confronted
by the synthezoid Vision of the Avengers, Meridian Diadem sent several
of her creatures against the hero and when Vision easily dispatched
them, Meridian Diadem opened the tesseract in her chest, unleashing
armies of creatures against the Vision and pinning him down. She then
attempted to override Vision's memory cores to force him to serve her
but Vision released a portion of his virulent Ultron coding into
Meridian Diadem, disabling her. She was then placed into stasis
captivity within the freed Impossible City and while imprisoned, the
Black Panther planned to enter the tesseract hole within Meridian
Diadem and free those captured there.
Meridian Diadem is a robot equipped with a tesseract
spatial hole within her chest that houses entire armies that she has
forced into her service. To reprogram the minds of others, Meridian
Diadem can extend snake-like tendrils from her tendrils that dig into
the brains of other creatures and override their minds with Meridian
Diadem's own coding, enslaving the creatures.
--Avengers VIII#3 (#5 (fb), #3, #5-6, #9 (fb) - BTS, #11 (fb), #18 - BTS, #19,
images: (without ads)
Avengers VIII#3, p1, pan3 (Ashen Combine, group shot)
Avengers VIII#5, p10, pan5 (Ashen Combine in shadow)
Avengers VIII#19, p1, pan2 (Ashen Combine in stasis)
Avengers VIII#6, p4, pan1 (The Citysmith)
Avengers VIII#6, p7, pan1 (The Dead)
Avengers VIII#3, p2, pan3 (Idol Alabaster)
Avengers VIII#3, p4, pan3 (Lord Ennui)
Avengers VIII#3, p6, pan3 (Meridian Diadem)
Appearances:
Avengers VIII#3 (July, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), C.F. Villa (art),
Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#4 (October, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), C.F. Villa
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#5 (November, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), Ivan Fiorelli
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#6 (December, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), Ivan Fiorelli
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#9 (March, 2024) - Jed MacKay (writer), Francisco
Mortarino (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#11 (May, 2024) - Jed MacKay (writer), Ivan Fiorelli
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VIII#18 (November, 2024) - Jed MacKay (writer), Valerio Schiti
(art), Wil Moss (editor)
Avengers VIII#19 (December, 2024) - Jed MacKay (writer), Farid Karami (art), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 10/22/2024
Last updated: 10/25/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let
me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com
for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back to Groups