AARON STANKEY

Real Name: Aaron Stankey

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Unrevealed;
    formerly boxer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None;
    loosely Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Impossible Man [he never formally met any of them, as he was either possessed or unconscious as they tried to defeat Molecule Man]

Enemies: Klaw (Ulysses Klaw), Molecule Man (Owen Reece)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, USA

First Appearance: (Behind-the-scenes, unidentified): Fantastic Four I#186 (September, 1977); (fully seen, unidentified): Fantastic Four I#187 (October, 1977); (identified): Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7 (July, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Presumably, Aaron Stankey was a reasonably skilled boxer, but lacked the intelligence to defy the disembodied Molecule Man's dominating will.

While the Molecule Man's consciousness was temporarily possessing Stankey's body, he had the Molecule Man's jagged facial scars and lips, as well as the ability to reshape all forms of matter and energy.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (205 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Bald

History:
(Fantastic Four I#187 (fb)) – Stumbling out of a New York gym, still a bit punch-drunk, Aaron Stankey was surprised by the arrival of the sound-being Klaw. Thinking Klaw to be a creature from Hell, Stankey was hypnotically manipulated by Klaw's sonic claw into grabbing hold of the Molecule Man's wand, which Klaw had found earlier in the Florida swamps (see comments). As soon as Stankey grasped the wand, the Molecule Man took possession of his body, transforming his face to incorporate the jagged scarring and lips, and altering his clothing into a costume.

(Fantastic Four I#186) – Aaron, still possessed by Molecule Man, accompanied Klaw during an attempted attack on the Fantastic Four at the Baxter Building, where Klaw succeeded in knocking out the Impossible Man.

(Fantastic Four I#187) – Following their visit with the Witches of New Salem, the Fantastic Four returned to the Baxter Building, where the Molecule Man (in Stankey's body) transformed the investigating Thing into solid glass. Klaw then took Molecule Man to Reed Richards' Psi-Amplifier device, which would permanently transfer the Molecule Man's consciousness from his wand into Stankey's body. The Human Torch soon arrived, but Molecule Man transformed the air around the Torch into water, dousing his flame and eventually causing him to lose consciousness due to lack of air.    Shortly thereafter, Molecule Man was punched by the unseen Invisible Girl, but Klaw located her by the sound of her heartbeat and restrained her with coils of solidified sound. When Molecule Man threatened the Invisible Girl, the powerless Mr. Fantastic entered the fray and fired a warning shot with a "recoil rifle" at Molecule Man, but Molecule Man transformed the weapon into helium, while Klaw trapped Mr. Fantastic in a sphere of solidified sound.    Soon after, the Impossible Man jumped into the fight against Molecule Man and Klaw, wanting to pay them back for their earlier assault. Copying Klaw's sonic claw, the Impossible Man created a sonic demon that ran straight at Klaw's own sonic demon--as the two creatures collided, they created a sonic boom that knocked everyone present to the floor. Molecule Man took his chance to sneak away and activate the Psi-Amplifier. Unfortunately for Molecule Man, Mr. Fantastic short-circuited the device, forcing Molecule Man's consciousness back into his wand and leaving an unconscious Aaron Stankey collapsed on the floor. Not realizing the significance of the wand, Mr. Fantastic picked it up, inadvertently allowing the Molecule Man to possess his body.

(Fantastic Four I#188) – Aaron Stankey remained unconscious on the Baxter Building's floor while the Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Thing and Impossible Man battled the Molecule Man-possessed Reed Richards.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z HC Vol. 7 – Molecule Man entry - BTS) – Aaron Stankey retired from boxing (see comments).

Comments: Created by Len Wein, George Perez and Joe Sinnott.

In his previous appearance in Iron Man Annual I#3 (1976), the Molecule Man possessed Cynthia McClellan, a young girl who lived in the Florida Everglades.--Ron Fredricks

In his appearances in Fantastic Four, Aaron Stankey was a boxer and was listed as a boxer in Molecule Man's entry in the original (and deluxe edition) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in the 1980s. In the revised 2008 Molecule Man entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Aaron Stankey was listed as an EX-boxer, suggesting that, at some point, Aaron stopped boxing.

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.