ANUBIS
ANUBIS
Real Name: Corporal Anubich
Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-88194/"Shadowline") Shadow;
citizen of the USSR
Occupation: Scientist, microbiologist, terrorist
Group Membership: Formerly Taymyr
Affiliations: Formerly Major Piotr Maslovsky, the Order of St. George, Mikhail, Rosa, and their son and daughter;
formerly worshipped by people of ancient Egypt
Enemies: Doctor Zero, Gregor Gerasimov, Major Piotr Maslovsky, Mikhail, Rosa, and their son and daughter;
humanity in general, especially the European victims of the Black (Bubonic) plague
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: The Jackal God
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Taymyr Facility presumably near Leningrad, USSR;
formerly an unidentified location in Europe in the 14th century AD;
formerly an unidentified location in ancient Egypt (somewhere between
and/or inclusive of the 40th - 1st centuries BC)
First Appearance: Doctor Zero#4 (October, 1988)
Powers/Abilities: Anubis had superhuman longevity, with a lifepan measuring at least a few thousand years.
He was superhumanly strong, sufficient to fend off a weakened Dr. Zero (perhaps being able to lift 1000 lbs.), and durable. Notibly, his body could harbor and survive virulent microorganisms.
For a time he carried a modified Cryptosporidum organism that ruptured the intestinal system with explosive force, allowing the organism to be expelled into the environment, where it could survive in airborne form.
He presumably carried for a time or otherwise just faciliated the spread of the bacteria Yersnia pestis.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6')
Weight: Unreavealed (approximately 175 lbs.)
Eyes: Solid black (his eye color prior to consuming the cryptosporidium is not clearly shown)
Hair: Dark brown or black
History:
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) <Millennia ago> - A Shadow being, active in ancient Egypt, he was known as Anubis, the Jackal God.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Egyptian embalming process was designed to keep Anubis' disease trapped within the dead bodies.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - The being that would become known as Doctor Zero apparently encountered Anubis in ancient Egypt.
(Critical Mass#3/2 (fb) - BTS) <According to Terror/Schreck> - Seeking to dissolve the feudal system established by "Zero" (known to them as the dragon), the Order of St. George enlisted the aid of Anubis to spread the black plague across Europe, drastically reducing the work force and allowing laborers to demand wages for their services, setting the stage for modern day capitalism.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) <Centuries ago> - Monks had "Anubis" bring infected rats to Europe to spread the black plague and study the effects.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - Corporal Anubich worked at the Soviet Taymyr facility, serving under Major
Piotr Maslovsky (with whom he was familiar enough to call by his first
name), developing germ warfare via genetic manipulation of
microorganisms (see comments).
Anubich spent years working on purifying a strain of cryptosporidium, which commonly caused intestinal disease in sheep, modifying it to target mankind. The modified microorganism ruptured the intestinal system with explosive force, allowing the organism to be expelled into the environment, where it could survive in airborne form.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - The powerful Doctor Zero mentally forced Major Maslovsky to report to the Kremlin that the Taymyr was a failure, and Maslovsky recommended immediate dispersement of Taymyr's resources.
(Doctor Zero#4) - Anubich confronted Maslovsky, telling him he could not shut down the facility as what they had done was far beyond anything else in the Soviet Union, probably the world, and that the cryptosporidium strain he had purified was almost ready to be deployed. The mind-manipulated Maslovsky told Anubich he was the zampolit with authority over the base and could do anything he wanted, and he had done so. He further instructed Anubich to refer to him by his title, and he told him his project was over. However, he referred to Anubich as comrade, told him it had been good working with him, and wished him luck in the future.
see comments
(Doctor Zero#4) - Unwilling to give up on his work, as another worker prepared to purge Anubich's crytosporidum strain, Anubich pulled off the man's HAZMAT mask and shoved his face into the strain. As the incapacitated man dropped to the ground, Anubich considered that a disease was nothing without the proper carrier, and he stuck his hands into the vat containing his purified strain and poured handfulls of it into his mouth.
As environmental sensor noted the breach and initiated shutdown procedures, Anubich bypassed guards, apparently killing them with a rapidly-acting version of his disease, broke down locked doors, scaled a ladder, and escaped the facility.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - The vacuum seal at Taymyr killed the cryptosporidium, but not before it killed everyone else in the facility.
(Doctor Zero#4 - BTS) - An unidentified doctor reported the events to Colonel Gregor Gerasimov, whose men noted the corporal's escape. The doctor informed Gregor that no one in the base could have gotten out without being infected.
(Doctor Zero#4 - BTS) - Gregor informed his ally Dr. Zero about Corporal Anubich and the disease he carried.
(Doctor Zero#4 (fb) - BTS) - Zero sensed and tracked down Anubich. Posing as a Soviet major having car trouble, Zero positioned himself in Anubich's path.
(Doctor Zero#4) - Anubich stopped to give the major a ride, and Zero tried to use his vacuum power to destroy Anubich. However, weakened by a recent conflict with Dr. Henry Clerk, Zero's power proved insufficient.
Recognzing Zero, Anubich attacked him, and his strength caused Zero to realize Anubich as a shadow, and he remembered that he Egyptians had called him Anubis. Anubich infected Zero and then fled, but Zero used his powers to recognize and purge the microorganism from his body.
Anubich traveled to a family farmhouse of Mikhail, Anna, and their children, where Anubich claimed
to be a state security agent on an important task with a broken jeep
and asked to use their horse. In the process, Anubich infected the
entire family, alhough he delivered a much higher dose to Mikhail.
(Doctor Zero#4 - BTS) - Gregor and Zero found the house Anubich had vistied, and Zero purged the disease from the mother and children's systems, although he collapsed from the effort.
Gregor ordered Metchov to pilot an MI-24 attack helicopter to pursue Anubich who urged his steed to maximum speed.
(Doctor
Zero#4) - Leaping down from the helicopter, Gregor knocked Anubich off
the horse, but Anubich taunted him that by shooting him, he would
release the microorganism into the environment and infect all of
Russia.
Although Gregor instead used his gun to smash Anubich in the face, but the superhumanly strong shadow swiftly overpowered him, using the a leather strap (from the reins?) to choke Gregor. After Gregor used his dagger to cut himself free, Anubich prepared to infect him.
Zero interrupted, knocking Anubich away and then, despite his weakness, eradicated the cryptosporidium from Anubich, curing him, before using his vacuum power to destroy Anubich.
(Doctor Zero#4 - BTS) - With the disease within Mikhail too advanced to cure, Zero was forced to destroy him, with his wife's lamentful approval.
Comments: Created by D.G. Chichester, Margaret Clark, Denys Cowan, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
In case you're not familar with the Shadowline, here's your primer.
As is often the case in comics, movies, etc., the nomenclature of microorganisms was incorrect in Dr. Zero#4. Cryptosporidium is not a virus (although it is virulent, meaning contagious or powerful, depending on the connotation). It is a protozoan.
The Shadowline does not have a sliding timescale, so reference to the USSR instead of Russia is appropriate.
I'm really not sure what happened after Piotr wished Anubich luck. They show another soldier clicking something, and then there is a splatter. I'm not sure if Anubich shot and killed Maslovsky or the other soldier, or something caused some sort of splatter...
Parasites - Cryptosporidium (also known as "Crypto") | Cryptosporidium | Parasites | CDC
Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Both the parasite and the disease are commonly known as “Crypto.”
There are many species of Cryptosporidium that infect animals, some of which also infect humans. The parasite is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive outside the body for long periods of time and makes it very tolerant to chlorine disinfection.
While this parasite can be spread in several different ways, water (drinking water and recreational water) is the most common way to spread the parasite. Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of waterborne disease among humans in the United States.
I've got Anubis listed as appearing both in a flashback and the main story of Critical Mass#4, but I can't find any reference to him. I also found another reference to him from the Order of St. George profile regarding Critical Mass#5, but it's all about the Order engineering the Black Plague, so nothing much to add.
The Black Plague was largely associated with the bacteria Yersinia pestis.
This profile was completed 05/02/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Anubis should be distinguished from:
Doctor Zero#4, pg. 6, panel 1 (face);
pg. 7, panel 5 (consuming cryptosporidum strain);
pg. 8, panel 7 (full body, fleeing facility);
pg. 16, panel 7 (face, dark eyes);
pg. 17, panel 1 (full, standing);
pg. 22, panel 5 (diseased face);
pg. 23, panel 5 (lifting Gregor);
pg. 26, panel 2 (blown apart)
Appearances:
Doctor Zero#4 (October, 1988) -
D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Denys Cowan (penciler),
Bill Sienkiewicz (inker), Steve Buccellato (associate editor)
Critical Mass#3/2 (March, 1990) - D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark (writers), Denys Cowan (penciler), Marc McLaurin (managing editor)
First posted: 09/06/2021
Last updated: 09/04/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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