ABSORBERABSORBERClassification: Terrestrial technology
Creator: Wakandan scientists
User/Possessors: Black Panther (T'Challa), Artie Grumm, Klevshin, Luis, Carl Rangert, J.D. Waldner
First Appearance: Defenders I#86 (August, 1980)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: When a knob was turned upon the device, it absorbed all sound within a given area, engulfing said area in silence, employing the usage of Wakandan Vibranium.
History: (Defenders I#86 (fb) - BTS) - Several items developed by Wakandan scientists, including the silence-inducing Absorber, were smuggled out of the country and sold to other countries.(Defenders I#86) - Bringing a second copy of the Absorber, Black Panther requested aid from Nighthawk and Hellcat, while Nighthawk's lawyer, Milton Rosenblum, stood by. He demonstrated what the Absorber could do, engulfing the heroes in silence. They agreed to help, realizing the device's potential to have major political and economic ramifications. The Absorber ended up in the hands of Klevshin, an agent of the Mandrill, and Klevshin was killed by Carl Rangert, who he tried to sell it to. Rangert activated the device, allowing the heroes to track it, but it shut off when he was hit by a vehicle and killed. Cabdriver Artie Grumm then picked it up and used it to silence his building, but tossed it away when caught in a fire; the heroes came close to tracking it again. Small Luis picked it up next and he and his mother used it to silence a train until J.D. Waldner, a madman, pushed it out of their hands, allowing a vagrant to pick it up. The heroes, joined by Hulk and Valkyrie, finally found it, stopping a riot that had developed in the silence. Black Panther took the Absorber back into his care.
Comments: Created by Ed Hannigan, Don Perlin, and Pablo Marcos.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Absorber has no known connections to
(Defenders I#86) –
Artie Grumm, a New York city cab driver who liked things quiet, picked
up a piece of equipment laying on the street. He returned home, upset
about noisy neighbors, and discovered that the equipment made things
very quiet. He enjoyed the silence until his house started on fire and
he couldn’t yell for help. He tossed the equipment away as he started
on fire himself.
--Defenders I#86
(Defenders I#86) –
Klevshin, a KGB agent acting as a deputy ambassador on American soil
for a foreign country, obtained smuggled Wakandan silencing technology.
He moved to sell it to C.I.A. agent, Carl Rangert, and was murdered
after demonstrating the equipment. His employer, the Mandrill, was
disappointed by the news of Klevshin’s death. Klevshin's true employer,
the Mandrill, was disgusted to hear of Klevshin's death.
(Defenders I#86) –
Small child, Luis, picked up the Absorber, and took it home to play. He
listened to his mother nag about his neglectful father and his sleeping
grandmother, until Luis activated the Absorber, silencing everything
and making his mother concerned. She loved the silence and decided to
leave her husband. On a subway, she quieted some loud music and the
insane J.D. Waldner knocked the equipment from her hand.
(Defenders I#86) –
Mr. Rangert, acting for the C.I.A., purchased some smuggled silencing
equipment from Klevshin, a KGB agent acting as a foreign agent’s deputy
ambassador. After the agent demonstrated the equipment, Rangert
murdered him and rushed outside, only to be hit and killed by a bus.
(Defenders I#86) –
Recently released from a mental institution, J.D. Waldner was riding a
subway when a piece of equipment made everyone go quiet. The voices in
his head told him to knock the equipment aside, and he did so.
Defenders I#86, p4, pan1
(Artie Grumm) Defenders I#86, p11, pan1
(Klevshin) Defenders I#86, p6, pan2
(Luis) Defenders I#86, p14, pan1
(Carl Rangert) Defenders I#86, p6, pan4
(J.D. Waldner) Defenders I#86, p15, pan1
Last updated: 11/17/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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