Saturday Showcase: Mr. Immortal

 

Today's Showcase features the leader of the Great Lakes Avengers, Mr. Immortal.  Why did I choose to do my showcase on an Avenger B Team member?  Well, you have the Disney+ hit series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law to thank for that.   

Craig Hollis, aka Mr. Immortal, was created by John Byrne and he first appeared in The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 (July 1989).  He was the leader of a group of heroes calling themselves the Great Lakes Avengers.  They caught the attention of Mockingbird and Hawkeye from the West Coast Avengers so the couple decided to go check them out.  It was during a battled with Mockingbird that we realized that Mr. Immortal was actually immortal.

Craig's origin story was not fully disclosed in his first appearance but the story goes something like this.  A cosmic entity known Deathurge first appeared to Craig shortly after his birth and the death of his mother. We find out the mother made Deathurge promise that he would look after Craig. Craig called Deathurge, "D'urge", and the two became the best of friends. His father believed Craig had an imaginary friend.  Deathurge would often find ways for Craig to tempt Death so he could be free of his promise.

On Craig's eighth birthday, Deathurge goaded Craig into setting his house on fire, and then hiding under it as it burned.  This event wouldkill Craig's father.  After the fire, Deathurge stopped visiting Craig and Craig was moved into a new home. His foster father, Mr. O'Doughan, was an abusive man, though Craig became close to his foster sister, Terri, the two eventually falling in love as adults. This ended with Terri's suicide, prompting the return of Deathurge. The grief-stricken Craig begged Deathurge to take him but Deathurge refused and departed again. Craig attempted the first of a number of suicide attempts by jumping off a building, only to discover with this and subsequent attempts using other methods, that he could not die.

With the discovery of his immortality, he takes on the codename Mr. Immortal. In his first outing as a superhero, trying to foil a bank robbery, Mr. Immortal is shot and left for dead. He decides that forming a team will allow him to apply his abilities more usefully.  Although he is given to fits of rage upon regaining consciousness following otherwise-fatal injuries, his teammate and sometimes lover Dinah Soar can utter vocalizations that can calm him. On account of his immortality, he often engages in life-endangering stunts, and is invariably willing to take on the deadliest aspects of missions.

The team first encounters the Avengers when they are lured to the Germania Building by Hawkeye and Mockingbird, who become their mentors.  They helped Hawkeye and the West Coast Avengers against "That Which Endures." They also assisted Mockingbird in a holding action against Terminus.  After aiding the Thunderbolts against the villain Graviton, the team clashes with the mercenary Deadpool. 

Deathurge eventually returns and lets Craig know that his destiny was to outlive everyone as the one true immortal, and then learn the grand secret that will reveal itself at the end of things, in addition revealing Mr. Immortal not to be either Homo sapiens or homo superior, but rather Homo supreme: a being that has evolved past death itself, making him the ultimate human. Deathurge thought by taking away some of his loved ones, would prepare Mr. Immortal so that he could truly live to that destiny, but this is jeopardized by the supervillain Maelstrom, who threatens to destroy the entire universe. 

This gives Mr. Immortal a new incentive to live, and he sets out to stop Maelstrom and save the universe. The GLA confront Maelstrom, who in the course of the conflict, commits suicide. The GLA, however, gain no recognition and circumstances force them to cease using the Avengers name. After discovering that they were all mutants, the team decides to change their name to the Great Lakes X-Men, and adopt new costumes.  Which in turn really wouldn't last that long.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance: The West Coast Avengers Vol. 2 #46 (July 1989)

Created by John Byrne

Alter Ego:  Craig Hollis

Species: Human Mutant

Team Affiliations:

• Great Lakes Avengers
• the Lightning Rods (GLA play on the Thunderbolts name)
• Great Lakes X-Men

Abilities

• Highly Skilled Acrobat & Athlete
• Immortality 

Until next time, get your READ on!!!