Saturday Showcase: the High Evolutionary

 

Greetings Nerds and Nerdettes,

I apologize for my absences as of late, I was a little detained with some medical emergencies, but I am feeling much better now.  As I promised during my last showcase, I wanted to bring you a character from another GALAXY.  Well, that character is the High Evolutionary and he comes to us from the guardians 3 trailer.  Granted, they changed his look in the MCU but we will focus on the version I feel in love with as a young comic nerd spending his allowance on his paper crack fix as my friend Jonathan would say.

Herbert Edgar Wyndham was born in Manchester, England. While a student at Oxford in the 1930s, he took an interest in the work of genetic biologist Nathaniel Essex, and began experimenting with genetic manipulation, building a machine (he would later call it the genetic accelerator) with which he attempted to "evolve" the rats in his mother's London basement. While attending a genetics conference in Geneva, Wyndham was approached by a mysterious man (Inhuman geneticist Phaeder) who handed to him some papers containing blueprints for cracking the genetic code. With this information to bolster his experiments, Wyndham successfully developed a serum he dubbed "Isotope A".

Wyndham eventually saw the world as a far too confining place, so he converted his scientific research citadel into a spaceship, exploring the stars. He later settled on a planet and stayed on one of the planet's moons and began work on a detailed replica of Earth to be located on the opposite side of the Sun. It is then that some of his creations revolted and fatally wounded him.  Before dying, he was forced to experiment on himself which turned him into a god-like being for a time.

Herbert aka he High Evolutionary eventually returned to human form and finished his creation, Counter-Earth. Although Counter-Earth was supposed to be a temporary structure that would be evolved into a paradise, the Man-Beast corrupted the process, and Counter-Earth became an imperfect world.

During the "Evolutionary War" storyline, the High Evolutionary had become increasingly unstable and maniacal. His attempt to end his life was prevented by his suit. He returned to Earth, hoping to find something strong enough to overcome his armor. He goaded the Hulk into attacking him, and Hulk succeeded in smashing his armor; the malfunctioning armor then devolved the High Evolutionary into a mass of one-celled organisms.

The High Evolutionary later came into conflict with a number of superheroes, notably the reserve Avengers and Adam Warlock, when he tried to forcibly mutate (or "evolve") the entire population of the Earth with his "Evolution Bomb". The Avengers stopped him, though the High Evolutionary and Hercules were exposed to the High Evolutionary's Genesis Chamber and became "more than a god", evolving out of existence.

These eventually return to  "normal" and now the High Evolutionary has been seen helping those he used to  battle.  For example, in the mid 2000s, he was trying to discover why so many mutants were dying and losing their powers & abilities.

Publication Information

First Appearance:

Mentioned: The Mighty Thor #133 (October 1966)

Full appearance: The Mighty Thor #134 (November 1966)

Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Full Name: Herbert Edgar Wyndham

Species: Evolved Human

Team Affiliations:

• New Men
• Knights of Wundagore

Abilities

• Superhuman Intelligence
• Telepathy
• Telekinesis, Precognition and Cosmic Awareness
• Matter and Energy Manipulation Abilities
• Size Manipulation
• Sentient Armor (grants superhuman strength, durability and vast regeneration capabilities)

The High Evolutionary is a great character and I really hope they do him justice in the MCU.  Who knows, he may be factor in how our heroes will defeat Kang,

Until next time, get your READ on!