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FASAUD

Real Name: Sheikh Farouk al-Fasaud

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Terrorist;
former oil minister of the kingdom of Aqiria

Group Membership: None;
formerly the government of Aqiria (including King Khafir)

Affiliations: Boomerang (Fred Myers), Corruptor (Jackson Day), Crossfire (William Cross), Dreadnought, Ecstacy (Renee Deladier), Firebrand (Russ Boxtel), Jackhammer, Jack O'Lantern (Steven Mark Levins), Machete (Mariano Lopez), R.A.I.D., Shockwave (Lancaster Sneed), Zaran the Weaponsmaster (Maximilian Zaran);
formerly Windsor Raynes (American ambassador to Aqiria)

Enemies: Arabian Knight (Navid Hashim), Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, Fantastic Four (Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Ms. Marvel/Sharon Ventura, Thing/Ben Grimm), Gregory Dunbar, Philip Gavin, MI5, Sabra (Ruth Bat-Seraph), Union Jack (Joseph "Joey" Chapman)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Aqiria

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#308 (November, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Fasaud's molecular structure has been integrated with electricity in an unknown manner, granting him the ability to become immaterial and travel as waves of electrical energy. Fasaud can choose which parts of his body turn intangible, allowing him to still hold on to objects or people. Fasaud can draw electricity from any source and discharge it as well, which makes it possible for him to electrocute people with a mere touch. While intangible, he can control any electronic device, no matter its complexity (he once took over a space shuttle). He can move at the speed of light, but his electromagnetic form is unable to curve around the world. In order for him to travel across the globe, he transmits himself up to a satellite in orbit and then back down again. Fasaud is especially vulnerable to any force capable of disrupting electricity or television broadcast waves, like an electromagnetic pulse. He can also be detected by telepaths.

Height: 6' (when solid)
Eyes: Brown
Weight: 185 lbs (when solid)
Hair: Black

History:

(Fantastic Four I#308 (fb) ) - Sheikh Farouk al-Fasaud served as oil minister for the Middle Eastern kingdom of Aqiria and was considered among the richest men in the world. Al-Fasaud was also heavily involved in the oil trade between the western world and OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). His great wealth and influence allowed him to operate in relative anonimity until CBS reporter Gregory Dunbar became aware of his involvement and started an investigation.

(Fantastic Four I#308 (fb) ) - Dunbar looked into Al-Fasaud's connections to OPEC. He discovered Al-Fasaud was involved in shady, immoral deals in which the sheikh manipulated the west through OPEC.

(Fantastic Four I#308 (fb) ) - Dunbar published his findings, which led to Al-Fasaud's fall from political grace. Fasaud swore revenge on Dunbar, who was still on assignment in Aqiria. The sheikh visited the local CBS studio, determined to satisfy his honor by killing Dunbar. But when he lunged at the reporter with his knife, Fasaud accidentally struck a nearby camera.

(Fantastic Four I#308 (fb) ) - The moment Fasaud's knife hit the camera, a circuit was completed that exposed the sheikh to all the power in the studio and possibly even the CBS satellite uplink. Dunbar initially figured the shock had killed Al-Fasaud, but ran away when he saw the sheikh's body shift into its new, electrical form.

(Fantastic Four I#309 (fb) ) - Al-Fasaud mastered his new  body and powers and and returned to Aqiria to serve King Khafir as Fasaud. The Aqirian king and the government welcomed him with open arms, while publicly claiming they condemned his illegal activities which they (of course) had no involvement in or knowledge of.

(Fantastic Four I#308 - BTS) - Afraid for his life, Dunbar fled Aqiria and traveled via Cairo back to the United States where he resumed his work as a reporter at CBS in New York.

(Fantastic Four I#309 (fb) - BTS) - Fasaud struck a secret deal with Windsor Raynes, the American ambassador to Aqiria. The American military was allowed to use the Middle Eastern nation as a launchpad for its space shuttles, ferrying military hardware to a joint American/Aqirian defense satellite that contained experimental prototypes of the "Star Wars" laser defense system.

(Fantastic Four I#308 (fb) ) - Fasaud, still out to avenge his honor, teleported himself to New York looking for Gregory Dunbar. He appeared in Dunbar's mansion, but only found his housekeeper Miranda. Fasaud introduced himself and threatened to "turn her power off", if she didn't tell him where Dunbar was. When she attempted to run away, Fasaud teleported himself in front of her and grabbed her left arm, electrocuting her. She then told him where he could find Dunbar.

(Fantastic Four I#308) - Miranda and her colleague Randolph caught the attention of the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) who happened to fly by and told him of Fasaud and his plans for Dunbar. The Torch rushed to the Baxter Building to warn the others. Meanwhile, Fasaud had caught up with Dunbar at CBS studios. Figuring the best defense is a good offense, Dunbar jumped on Fasaud who simply turned immaterial and then zapped the reporter with electricity. Fasaud was about to finish off his foe, when the FF arrived by ramming the Fantasticar straight through the wall of the CBS building. When the strength of the Thing and Ms. Marvel (Ventura) proved ineffective and the elemental powers of Crystal and the Torch turned out to be equally useless, Fasaud mocked the new team, calling them disappointing compared to the original foursome. The Human Torch attempted to overload Fasaud with his heat, figuring that given enough heat, any TV will fail or melt. Fasaud easily matched the Torch's power and ended up overloading Johnny. In the end, the Thing beat Fasaud by short-circuiting his body with some heavily insulated camera cables. As Fasaud disappeared from view, the FF caught up with Dunbar who, despite suffering minor injuries, managed to fill them in on Fasaud. The Thing ordered Crystal and the Human Torch to stay in New York and protect Dunbar in case Fasaud should return, while he and Ms. Marvel traveled to Aqiria in order to discover the origins of their new foe.

(Fantastic Four I#309) - Arriving in Aqiria, the Thing and Ms. Marvel were greeted warmly by Windsor Raynes and King Khafir. They told the heroes that, while Al-Fasaud had indeed been a trusted minister, that he now terrorized Aqiria in his new form. The two heroes were led around the country and were taken to Al-Fasaud's former palace. Meanwhile Fasaud himself appeared in the New York appartment of the Torch and his wife Alicia Masters (Lyja) who were entertaining FF member Crystal. Fasaud, not wanting to harm Alicia, ordered the two heroes to come out and fight him. When they did, Fasaud's intangibility made him practically invulnerable until the Torch and Crystal combined their elemental powers to create a heavy thunderstorm that disrupted TV transmissions. Fasaud's form was instantly returned to Aqiria where he ambushed and knocked out the Thing and Ms. Marvel moments after they had discovered the secret space shuttle launchsite. He then informed their unconscious forms that they had to die now that they had learned the secret of Aqiria. Fasaud was then welcomed by ambassador Raynes and King Khafir, who told Fasaud he had just saved the kingdom again.

(Fantastic Four I#310 - BTS) - After Fasaud knocked them out, Thing and Ms. Marvel were locked up in a prison underneath the space shuttle's blast tunnel and confined with power draining shackles.

(Fantastic Four I#310) - Fasaud mocked the chained up heroes, as he recounted his origin, Aqiria's secret ties to the American government and their shared satellite project. He scoffed at the Thing's impudent insults and then promised him both the Torch and Crystal would fall before his might. After Fasaud, King Khafir and his followers left the room, the Thing managed to free himself and Ms. Marvel. Figuring out that Fasaud was using the satellite to transport himself all over the world, the two decided to hijack the space shuttle and fly up to the satellite. Fasaud watched the launch and told the enraged Khafir to remain calm, he was after all a being of pure energy. As soon as Ben (Thing) and Sharon (Ms. Marvel) approached the satellite, Fasaud took control of the installation, projecting a giant hologram of his head in space and using the satellite's experimental laser systems to fire at the shuttle. Ben managed to dodge the blasts, forcing Fasaud to teleport aboard the shuttle. He electrocuted Ms. Marvel and prepared to knock out the ship's systems. However, the Thing then fired the shuttle's weapons at the satellite, heavily damaging the installation and destabilizing Fasaud's form as well. Now vulnerable to physical force, Fasaud took a few punches before apparently returning himself to the satellite, right before another volley destroyed it completely (see comments).

(Union Jack II#1 - BTS) - Apparently surviving the destruction of the satellite, Fasaud lost his signature look, fell out of favor with the Aqirian government and was hired by the terrorist organization Radically Advanced Ideas In Destruction (R.A.I.D.). Fasaud used his powers for R.A.I.D. to tamper with certain security systems, allowing a great number of supervillains and weapons to enter Great Britain undetected. Fasaud was kept in the dark by R.A.I.D. about R.A.I.D's targets or safe houses, however he was aware of the villains that were assigned to spearhead the attack and the time the operation would occur.

(Union Jack II#1 (fb) - BTS) - As R.A.I.D. was planning a major assault on London, they sent Al-Fasaud to gather intelligence from several security systems. He remained undetected for several weeks, until he tried to access MI5's computer network and was detected by one of the intelligence service's telepaths. This led to his capture by MI5 operatives, who put him in a Faraday Cage, which prevented Fasaud from using his electromagnetic abilities to escape.

(Union Jack II#1) - Fasaud revealed R.A.I.D's plan and his role in them to MI5including the identities of the viallains he enabled to enter Great Britain undetected. This information was helpful to Union Jack and his hastily assembled band of heroes including Sabra, the Arabian Knight and Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine.

(Union Jack II#3) - R.A.I.D. sent the Darkforce controlling supervillain Ecstasy to MI5 to free Fasaud and the other prisoners. MI5 director Philip Gavin headed to Fasaud's cell with a handheld EMP device, planning to kill him rather than allow Fasaud to get out and wreak havoc inside MI5's computer systems. Union Jack however, managed to take out both villains by tricking Fasaud into believing he was coming inside the Faraday Cage to kill him with the EMP. Fasaud readied all his energies in a desperate attempt to save himself, just as Ecstasy showed up to rescue him. Jack yanked open the door to Fasaud's cell, who unleashed all his energy on to Ecstasy, cutting off her acces to the Darkforce dimension. Spent, both villains were restrained.

Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott.

It was never clear if Fasaud survived the destruction of the Aqirian satellite or that he simply used it to return to Earth before it was destroyed.

In the mighty Marvel manner, Fasaud's name is a thinly veiled reference to his powers. In his case, as a living tv-image, he was like a "facade" of a normal man. Looking past his admittedly gaudy and goofy appearance, Fasaud was actually a bit of an avatar of things to come. Steve Englehart's idea of an intangible Arab capable of striking anywhere in the world without advance warning seems borderline visionary in today's post 9/11 world.

With that in mind, it's only more appropriate that Christopher Gage dug up Fasaud and used him as part of RAID. Bit of a shame he lost his trademark digitized look along the way, though.

The flashback to January 28th, 1986 in Fantastic Four I#309 to the real life event of the space shuttler Challenger accident (it exploded 73 seconds after its launch) is topical due to Marvel's sliding timescale. The disaster put the American space program on hold, delaying further launches until the shuttles could be redesigned for safety. This interfered with the American military's plans to get weapon and communication satellites in orbit.

Fasaud received a profile in OHOTMU Update '89#3


Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Fasaud should not be confused with:


images: (without ads)
OHOTMU Update '89#3 (main image)
Fantastic Four I#309, p20, pan3 (destroyed)
Fantastic Four I#309, p22, pan5 (allies)
Fantastic Four I#310, p13, pan1 (space)
Union Jack II#1, p7, pan4/5 (captured)


Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#308 (November, 1987) - Steve Englehart (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Fantastic Four I#309 (December, 1987) - Steve Englehart (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Fantastic Four I#310 (January, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Union Jack II#1 (November, 2006) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Union Jack II#3 (January, 2007) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Cory Petit (editor)


First Posted: 10/07/2013
Last updated: 10/07/2013

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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