2014 Houston Comicpalooza Abba Sulkar, Shtarker, & Grosse Vulture Jam Sketch Detail by Isaiah Broussard

Sorry for the missed post last week. I kept figuring I'd do another minor character spotlight from the Vulture period, but I had a lot of running around to do, and I'm still low on gas. I'm also sorry for sitting on another piece of art for a decade, long enough that the specific show I got it at is a best guess. I wish at least one of these guys had dated their contribution.

I'm confident that Isaiah Broussard drew Perkins Preston near the start of the 2014-2016 JLI, Saturnians, & Other Friends Artist Jam, which means Comicpalooza, and Elongated Man at or near the end of the 2015-2017 Martian Manhunter Comrades Jam, most probably at Charlotte HeroesCon 2017. I didn't think that I started this jam at the same show as the earliest attempts, so now I'm wondering if it was the 2015 Space City Comic Con, or maybe that year's Comicpalooza? But I already laid claim to the date/show on other posts, so...

I also can't recall if Broussard was the first or second contributor to this one, but given the other subject, probably second. Anyway, I dug what he did with Abba Sulkar and his minions, and having the lot of them helped a lot with the ultimate scale of the piece. Sulkar is a normal-sized dude, while Shtarker & Grosse were Martian Manhunter-sized. When you start putting characters in front or behind them, it shows just how titanic most of these menaces were. Looking forward to you folks seeing the final two(?) characters, but I'll probably start offering segments from another jam in the lead up to the blog's 18th anniversary in September, when I do the full reveal of many/most of these long-mothballed pieces. And with any luck, by October I can get to the last of my Broussard commissions, although that one's not even comics related.

Isaiah Broussard

• Brass Comics - Isaiah Broussard Art
• deviant Art
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Patreon

Apollo Magnus

Apollo Magnus is a wealthy shipping magnate who was associated with international playboy Marco Xavier. During a formal party at Magnus' palatial Mediterranean estate, Xavier was able to deduce from Magnus that he would be using his personal yacht to secretly transport a large gold shipment, which had been targeted by the criminal organization Vulture. While Xavier had been paid to provide them with this information, what Vulture did not know was that Xavier had secretly been replaced by the heroic Manhunter from Mars, who proceeded to thwart a heist attempt by Senor Mendez & Section T2.

First Appearance: House of Mystery #160 (July, 1966)

The Vile Menagerie: SULKAR

Alter Ego: Abba Sulkar
Occupation: Spy
Group Affiliation: Vulture
Base of Operations: Taurus Mountains, Turkey
First Appearance: House of Mystery #161 (September, 1966)
Height: Approx. 5'8"
Eyes: Light
Hair: Brown

History:
Abba Sulkar was the leader of a Vulture base in Turkey. Among his operatives were the towering brutes Shtarker and Grosse, as well as the lovely double agent Marie Fouchere. Sulkar was tasked with kidnapping a pair of scientists to drain their brains for evil purposes. Without clear motivation, Sulkar had Fouchere use her past romantic history with international playboy Marco Xavier to lure him to Sulkar for the same treatment. Successful, Sulkar explained his actions to Vulture's leader, and despite being ordered by Mr. V to set the tape of Xavier's stolen memories aside for his personal viewing, Sulkar wanted any secrets Xavier held for himself. Discovering Xavier was secretly Vulture's great enemy, the super-heroic Manhunter from Mars, Sulkar set about killing the mindless "Marco Xavier" while he was vulnerable in human form. However, Marie Fouchere double-crossed Sulkar to free the Manhunter, and Sulkar was killed in the resulting confrontation.

Weapons:
Aside from his advanced hidden mountain base, Sulkar utilized a pair of novel weapons. He possessed a large computerized device that could project a ray capable of extracting all memories from a victim. Aside from basic motor skills and autonomic nervous function, the victims did not appear to possess any meaningful thought processes or capabilities. The stolen memories would then be recorded onto some form of magnetic tape before being processed for permanent record storage and retrieval. The memories could then be restored to the victim, if so desired. Next, stolen memories could be reviewed on a monitor screen to exploit the subject's knowledge. The Disintegrator Weapon was Sulkar's other key asset, capable of nigh-instantaneously rendering a human being into a small pile of ash. The weapon came in the form of a handheld pistol, bulky but still operable with one hand. While the weapon was utterly ineffective against the Manhunter from Mars, it made short work of Sulkar, when he accidentally fired upon his own person.

Quote: "Sorry Mr. V-- but this is my show-- and I shall play it my way!"

Created by Jack Miller and Joe Certa