Sphinx (Marvel Comics)
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The Sphinx is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The male version of the Sphinx first appeared in Nova #6 (Feb. 1977) and was created by Marv Wolfman and Sal Buscema.[1]
The female version of the Sphinx first appeared in The New Warriors #4 (Aug. 1990) and was created by Fabian Nicieza.
Fictional character biography
Anath-Na Mut
Sphinx | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | (Anath-Na): Nova #6 (Feb. 1977) (Karim): The New Warriors #4 (Aug. 1990) |
Created by | (Anath-Na): Marv Wolfman and Sal Buscema (Karim): Fabian Nicieza |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Anath-Na Mut Meryet Karim |
Species | Human Mutant |
Notable aliases | (Anath-Na): The Dreaded One Omni-Sphinx (Karim): Lady Sphinx |
Abilities | (Anath-Na):
(Karim):
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Anath-Na Mut is a chief
In a
The story continues in the Fantastic Four series, where this proves to be a ruse as, once on Xandar, the Sphinx took advantage of that war so he can find and absorb more knowledge from its planet-size computer. Evolving into a
An issue of the title Marvel Two-in-One continues the story, as Anath-Na relives his life several times due to a chronal flaw, until he meets himself, the younger Anath-Na. He warns himself about his fate in the future. Then, the two build a machine to reconstruct the Ka Stone and after hypnotizing the past version of Anath-Na so that he would not remember, the future version enters suspended animation. The future Sphinx awakens after Galactus departs and begins to rebuild the Ka Stone.[8] The heroic Thing, however, battles him into a standstill, destroys his machine, and leaving the Sphinx with an incomplete Ka Stone.[9] But the Sphinx learns that the unfinished stone is losing all of its energies and seeks revenge on the Thing. The villainous Puppet Master assists him by forcing the Sphinx to crush his own Ka Stone; as a result Anath-Na immediately ages 5,000 years before turning into dust.[10]
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, the Sphinx obtained Nadeen Hassan's brother Navid as an apprentice where he helped him retrieve numerous Egyptian artifacts from the San Francisco Museum of Egyptian Culture.[11]
Meryet Karim
Meryet Karim is a desert nomad who finds an unconscious Anath-Na Mut soon after he found the Ka Stone. While nursing him back to health, Karim absorbed residual energies from the Ka Stone, which granted her a fraction of its powers. Karim discovers that every time she was being perpetually reincarnated into new bodies and retains the knowledge of her previous life with each death. In the modern era, she finds the Ka Scepter's remnants and reconstructs it to become the new Sphinx. Then, Karim alters history so Anath-Na will kill Moses that leads to Egypt, eventually conquering the world during the Forever Yesterday storyline. She got thwarted by the superhero team the New Warriors and resurrected Anath-Na in a bid to reclaim his love. The empowered Sphinx battles the New Warriors, but when facing his feelings for Karim, he merges with her into one composite entity who goes back in time to live a normal life.[12]
The gestalt entity has a final appearance in the title The New Warriors[13] before reappearing as the male Sphinx in the third volume of the title Nova. The character discovers that Galactus' curse is still in effect and battles Nova once again, intent on having access to Xandarian knowledge.[14] The Sphinx appears in an issue of the fourth volume of the title Nova.[15]
Powers, abilities, and equipment
The Sphinx is an ancient mutant, who gained additional powers through use of the Ka Stone and possibly other sources. He possesses supernatural strength, stamina, and durability, as well as virtual immortality. Courtesy to the jewel's mystical properties, Anath-Na also possesses a range of metaphysical abilities, including energy control, mind reading, hypersonic flight, and knowledge absorption. After imbuing herself with energies from the Ka Scepter, Karim has nigh-omnipotence. Both Sphinxes have expertise in Egyptian magic.[16]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ Seen in flashback in Fantastic Four Annual #12 (1977)
- ^ Nova #6-7 (Feb.-March 1977)
- ^ Nova #11 (July 1977)
- ^ Fantastic Four Annual #12 (1977)
- ^ Nova #23-25 (Jan.-May (bi-monthly) 1978)
- ^ Fantastic Four #206-213 (May-Dec. 1979)
- ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
- ^ Marvel Two-in-One #91 (Sept. 1982)
- ^ The Thing #34 (April 1986)
- ^ Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3
- ^ The New Warriors #47-50 (May–July 1994), Nova (vol. 2) #6-7 (June–July 1994), and Night Thrasher (vol. 2) #11-12 (June–July 1994)
- ^ The New Warriors #68-70 (Feb.-April 1996)
- ^ Nova (vol. 3) #1 (May 1999), 3-6 (July-Oct. 1999)
- ^ Nova (vol. 4) #20 (Feb. 2009)
- ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Vol 1 #11 (December 2009)