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NEBULO

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Subspecies of humanity (Inhuman) mutate

Occupation: Infiltrator

Group Membership: None; formerly Maximus' "Evil Inhumans" (Aireo, Falcona, Leonus, Makus, Maximus the Mad, Stallior, Timberius)

Affiliations: Shatterstar (Arides)

Enemies: "Boris" (Artur Zarrko), Black Bolt (Blackagar Boltagon), Fantastic Four (Ant-Man/Scott Lang, Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards-Storm), Gorgon, Hulk (Bruce Banner), Inhumans, Kristoff Vernard, Thor (Odinson), United States army

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Invisible Man", "Shadow-Man" (nicknames used by the Hulk)

Base of Operations: Attilan;
   formerly a hiding place in Subterranea;
   formerly Costa Salvador;
   formerly the Un-Place;
   formerly Attilan

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk Annual I#1 (October, 1968)

Powers/Abilities: Exposure to the mutating Terrigen Mists turned the Inhuman Nebulo into a living shadow. He could only be spotted by his own shadow, making him an excellent infiltrator and tracker. Though he did not possess any enhanced strength, durability or stamina himself, his stealthiness allowed him to hold his own against far stronger opponents such as the Hulk. Ambitious and deceitful, Nebulo dreams of power and conquest though he usually prefers to act as a second-in-command.

Height: 6'1" (by approximation)
Weight: None
Eyes: None
Hair: None

History:

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Nebulo, along with Aireo, Falcona, Leonus, Stallior and Timberius was branded an insurrectionist by his fellow Inhumans because he openly disagreed with the rule of Black Bolt.

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1) - Eventually, he and the others were put on trial before the king of the Inhumans himself. Unlike Leonus and Stallior, he did not try to deny the charges and kept quiet when the verdict came in. They were to be banished to the outerdimensional Un-Place (a faraway dimension where Black Bolt had constructed a refuge, protected by a force field to keep whoever he sent there contained). Nebulo and the others were teleported there by Lockjaw, however on his way back the animal had a chance encounter with the Hulk and got in a fight with him. Acting on instinct, Lockjaw teleported himself and the Hulk back to the Un-Place before leaving again. Nebulo and the others were amazed and stunned to find the green goliath in their midst. Unwilling to be contained, Hulk used his massive strength to breach Black Bolt's force field surrounding Un-Place. Now free as well, Nebulo and his allies explored their new world until they were contacted by Maximus the Mad, talking to them across the dimensional void from his Forbidden Laboratory in the Great Refuge. Maximus offered to return the Inhumans to Earth, provided they brought the Hulk with them as an ally. Together, he figured, not even Black Bolt could stop them from taking over. Nebulo and the others complied, luring Hulk to them when the moment of transport arrived.

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1 - BTS) - By the time Hulk arrived at the Great Refuge with the others, he was too mad and disoriented to be reasoned with. He slammed through the walls of the Forbidden Laboratory and began to run wild in the Great Refuge. While Black Bolt and the military turned their attention towards fighting him, Maximus led Nebulo and the others away.

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1) - Maximus brought his new Inhuman allies to the long lost laboratories of the Inhuman inventor Romnar. Inside the lab, protected by a force field even Maximus couldn't breach, lay his greatest invention: a matter and energy absorbing substance that made whoever used it unstoppable. Maximus figured the Hulk's brute strength would be enough to break down the force wall. Nebulo was tasked to approach the Hulk and secure his aid, which he agreed to do provided Maximus named him his second-in-command. Though Aireo protested, Maximus agreed to the demand. Nebulo returned to the Great Refuge, knocking out one of Black Bolt's special sentries to use his equipment to locate the Hulk. After he shot down an aicraft about to attack Hulk, Nebulo was able to convince the simple-minded behemoth of his good intentions and followed him back to the lab. Hulk was able to breach the force field and deliver Romnar's forbidden substance to Maximus who quickly weaponized it by using it to power a potent death ray in the form of a handgun. Moving to the Arena of Justice with Nebulo, Hulk and the others, Maximus addressed the entire Great Refuge, threatening to destroy them all if they didn't recognize him as their true king.

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1 - BTS) - Aireo, Leonus and the others were wary of Maximus holding all that power and turned against him. When Aireo tried to grab the raygun, Maximus accidentally blasted the Hulk whose strength was sapped as a result. Blasting him again to make sure he really wasn't a threat anymore, the Inhumans argued amongst themselves not aware Black Bolt had arrived to take them down. He delivered the deceitful Inhumans to Gorgon, while he himself dragged the babbling Maximus (still wearing the raygun pack) to Romnar's lab.

(Incredible Hulk Annual I#1) - Both Black Bolt and Maximus were not aware Nebulo was trailing them. He watched as the brothers bickered and then spotted that Maximus had dropped his raygun and harness. Quickly putting it on, he went back to aid his fellow Inhumans who were once again put on trial for their crimes (a trial interrupted by the return of a fighting mad Hulk). Black Bolt was summoned from the labs to aid in combat and took on the Hulk, finally bringing the behemoth to his knees. Weakened by the ordeal, Black Bolt was not ready for Nebulo who approached with the deadly raygun ready to fire if he didn't surrender his throne. Hulk watched this and grew furious at the betrayal of the invisible shadow-man he once thought a friend. Hulk knocked out Nebulo, ending the threat of the raygun.

(Incredible Hulk II#119 (fb) - BTS) - Through unrevealed ways, Maximus, Nebulo and the other insurrectionist Inhumans escaped capture and fled Attilan. Taking refuge in a castle in the country of Costa Salvador they aided him in a new plan. Maximus had constructed a giant statue that emanated mind-controlling waves turning every human within its reach into a mindless slave obedient to him. The mad Inhuman planned to place similar constructs across the globe, convinced he would take over the world within weeks.

(Incredible Hulk II#119 - BTS) - The continued, ever stranger reports coming from Costa Salvador alerted the U.S. military who sent an expeditionary force there led by General Thaddeus Ross.

(Incredible Hulk II#119) - As fate would have it, the Hulk stumbled into Costa Salvador where he changed back to Bruce Banner near the town where Maximus' castle and mind controlling statue was located. Banner was amazed to find the local population in a zombie-like trance, even as he began to suffer the debilitating effects of the statue as well. He was approached by one of Maximus' servants who gleefully explained what was happening to him. Properly agitated, Banner turned into the Hulk who made his way to the castle. Maximus sent Nebulo and the other Inhumans to fight him, though only Nebulo was able to hold his own against Hulk because of his elusive shadow form. Their fight was interrupted by the arrival of the U.S. military's expeditionary force, dropping in tanks and other heavy duty ordnance. Faced with fighting two old enemies, Hulk was approached by Maximus with an offer to join him against the soldiers.

(Incredible Hulk II#120) - Hulk agreed to aid Maximus and the Inhumans, fighting and defeating the soldiers who had been airlifted in. With the first wave dealt with, the Inhuman Leonus suggested to Maximus that they now killed the Hulk before he could turn on him. Nebulo laughed at his teammate, calling him a coward which did not sit well with the prideful Inhuman. Maximus broke up the fight, telling them Hulk would die but only after he'd taken down the aircraft still circling over them containing the ones in charge. Maximus commanded the Hulk to attack the vessel, which the green giant did grudgingly. General Ross, his daughter Betty and Major Glenn Talbot all parachuted to safety, only to be approached by Maximus once they landed. When Hulk heard Maximus planned to kill them, he rose against the Inhumans. In response, Maximus summoned a gigantic, robotic version of the mind-control statue from his fortress. Unable to beat the construct in hand to hand combat, Hulk decided to lift up and throw the entire fortress on it. With the robot buried under the rubble and now facing both the Hulk and the U.S. army, Maximus, Nebulo and the other Inhumans rushed to a nearby escape route that led to the caves of Subterranea.

(Inhumans I#4-6 - BTS) - Nebulo was apparently present with the other "Evil Inhumans" when Maximus allied with the Kree Shatterstar to enslave most of the Inhuman race for the Kree Empire. They failed! (see comments)

(Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising#1 - BTS) - When a fail safe mechanism in the Watcher's observatory caused the Blue Area of the Moon to lose its atmosphere, the Inhuman city of Attilan threatened to suffocate. Amidst the panicked population, Leonus and Timberius agreed that only Maximus the Mad could hope to save them. They decided to free him, while assembling Nebulo and the other members of his "Evil Inhumans".

(Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising#1) - The Fantastic Four ultimately saved the city of Attilan with help from Kristoff Vernard and Scott Lang who used Pym Particles to shrink the city of millions down to the size of a small dollhouse. The heroes covered Attilan under a protective, atmospheric dome aboard their Stealth-Hawk aircraft. There, the FF made contact with Leonus and agreed to enlarge him and a delegation of Inhumans to discuss their next move. When the "delegates" appeared, they turned out to be Maximus, Nebulo and the other "Evil Inhumans". Caught by surprise, the FF and their allies were knocked out.

(Fantastic Four I#401 - BTS) - Maximus took control of the Stealth-Hawk and had the FF shrunk down and moved to Attilan. Only Kristoff's seemingly harmless old aide Boris (secretly Zarrko the Tomorrow Man) was allowed to roam around the corridors of the vessel. Maximus planned to turn the FF into his mind controlled allies, using a brain transcendatalizer he'd already constructed aboard the ship. At the moment, the Human Torch was subjected to its effects.

(Fantastic Four I#401) - Nebulo questioned the wisdom of letting the Fantastic Four live, leading to the supremely confident Maximus to explain his plans once more. Some time later, Nebulo tapped into the Stealth-Hawk's communications array and learned that Atlantis had risen from the sea, leading to cataclysmic tidal waves and flooding across the planet. Intrigued by the possibilities, Maximus ordered the Inhumans to set course for the new continent. He intended to claim it for himself, already calling it the perfect site to settle Attilan. However, en route the Fantastic Four managed to escape the bottle city and, through the aid of "Boris", rallied themselves to fight back against Maximus' underlings. Thing managed to knock out Nebulo by throwing some exposed live wires at him. Amidst the battle, the Human Torch broke free of Maximus' mind control in time to spot Nathaniel Richards covertly trying to steal Attilan. He tried to grab Nathan, only to be teleported away with him. As soon as Ant-Man reached his cannister of Pym Particle enriched gas, he returned the FF to their proper sizes. Standing over his unconscious "Evil Inhumans", they confronted Maximus. Before they fully took charge of the situation, the Stealth-Hawk came under attack by Thor (who was being mind controlled by Morgan Le Fay, who had sensed Maximus' intent from afar).

Comments: Created by Gary Friedrich (writer), Marie Severin (pencils), Syd Shores, Frank Giacoia & John Verpoorten (inks)

There's no name given for the group of Inhumans that Nebulo belongs to. However, during their initial appearance they were referred to by Maximus as his "Uncanny Underlings". Even though they were anything but loyal followers, I can't help but like that alliterating team name in the mighty Marvel manner.

   In handbooks Nebulo's group was referred to as the "Evil Inhumans", a name first used on the splash page of Incredible Hulk II#119. The name was used again in Inhumans I#4-6 and later in Stallior's profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition#16 and Maximus' profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update#2 (August, 2010). Because it was always left in quotes the name isn't as official as the similarly stupid Brotherhood of Evil Mutants name.
--Markus Raymond

Unlike the other members of the "Evil Inhumans", Nebulo has only made a handful of appearances to date. Then again, he's a living shade. Who's to say he wasn't in tons of crowd scenes? (don't get any ideas now!).

   The next issue blurb in Inhumans I#4 mentioned Nebulo as part of the group, but he was nowhere to be seen in the whole arc. Considering his power set that isn't too surprising, but he stayed uncharacteristically quiet as well and didn't cast a shadow. His involvement in Inhumans I#4-6 is therefore BTS at best.
--Markus Raymond

The Atlantis Rising crossover was a bit of an, pardon the expression, Inhuman mess. When Maximus, Nebulo and the others were defeated by the FF, they all but disappear from the story. You don't just let a band of powerful villains lying around, even if Thor is attacking you. Were they confined to quarters aboard the Stealth-Hawk? Maybe put in the brig if they had one? Wouldn't Maximus and the others have wanted to help in the final fight against Morgan Le Fay like other rogue Inhumans such as the Crimson Cadre? They couldn't have been shrunk down and returned to the Great Refuge in between scenes, because Nathaniel Richards sneaked aboard and stole the bottle city of Kandor...pardon...Attilan during the fight.

In the story "The Shadow" in Suspense#10 (September, 1951) the stage magician the Great Shodini had a Living Shadow that was still around (seen at his funeral and later leaping toward the man the Great Shodini earlier commanded it to kill) even after he was killed by a car.
--Gammatotem

Nebulo, as part of the Inhumans, received profiles in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Nebulo should not be confused with:

images: (without ads)
Incredible Hulk Annual I#1, p17, pan1 (main image, center)
Incredible Hulk Annual I#1, p17, pans 4,5,6 (in action)
Incredible Hulk Annual I#1, p28, pan1 (wielding unstoppable power)
Incredible Hulk II#119, p15, pan2 (fighting Hulk)
Fantastic Four I#401, p6, pan3 (questioning Maximus' wisdom)

Appearances:
Incredible Hulk Annual I#1 (October, 1968) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Marie Severin (pencils), Syd Shores, Frank Giacoia & John Verpoorten (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#119 (September, 1969) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Herb Trimpe (pencils & inks)
Incredible Hulk II#120 (October, 1969) - Roy Thomas (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils & inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Inhumans I#4 (April, 1976) - Doug Moench (writer), George Perez (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Inhumans I#5 (June, 1976) - Doug Moench (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Inhumans I#6 (August, 1976) - Doug Moench (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising#1 (June, 1995) - Tom DeFalco & Glenn Herdling (writers), M.C. Wyman (pencils), Ray Garcia, Don Hudson, Geof Isherwood & Kevin Yates (inks), Mike Marts & Nel Yomtov (editors)
Fantastic Four I#401 (June, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Dan Bulanadi (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)

First Posted: 03/20/2016
Last updated: 04/13/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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