AALBORT

Real Name: Aalbort

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Aakon race)

Occupation: Combat accountant; former trader, starship accountant, battlefield medic

Group Membership: Member of the crew of Principle of Reasonable Return

Affiliations: Cammi Benally, Nova (Richard Rider), Pip the Troll, Starfox (Eros), Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Heater Delight, Yr-Kett the Sentencer

Enemies: Azunbulxibar and his race of warriors, Code-Shudder-Indigo, Kree-Skrull War, Ravenous, Eden Rixlo

Known Relatives: Five unidentified spouses

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile throughout the known universe, as well as other dimensions

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4 (June, 1989)

Powers/Abilities: Aalbort is an accomplished trader and accountant. He has some experience with use of ship weapons, such as an anti-matter gun. He may have some training in starship navigation as well. He wore a coat of arms that allowed him tesseract access to his armory at any time. He wore jet boots that allowed him to fly. He was a trained battlefield medic.

Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 230 lbs. (by approximation) (see comments)
Eyes: White (no visible pupils or sclera) (see comments)
Hair: White

History:
(Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4 (fb) - BTS) - Aalbort had served as the accountant aboard the starship Principle of Reasonable Interest for nearly 150 years. During that time, he had encountered space pirates, freelance tax-gatherers, and taken trips to other planets, galaxies, and dimensions.

   When the ship took on cargo on Allamagoosa somebody snuck a Dimensional Randomizer into the hold by listing it as "Robot Parts." During what was expected to be a standard trip from Allamagoosa to Offog the hold exploded for unrevealed reasons, activating the randomizer, which opened a portal to another dimension. Through this portal, the warlord Azunbulxibar and his troops poured, slaughtering the crew. Arming himself with an anti-matter gun Aalbort by shooting first rather than asking questions and holed himself up on the bridge, while the ship's captain, the last other survivor, managed to force the invaders into a hull meteor shield, temporarily trapping them, at the cost of his own life.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#22/4) - The Principle warped back into normal space right next to the spaceship belonging to the Eternal of Titan, Eros, also known as Starfox, and his companion, Heater Delight. Seeing that the other ship was clearly in distress, Starfox and Heater boarded the Principle to see if they could render aid. Understandably somewhat paranoid and trigger happy, Aalbort nearly shot them both, blasting holes clean through the bridge doors when he heard them on the other side, but Starfox calmed the situation using his emotion-manipulating powers. Aalbort explained what had happened and showed the two newcomers Azunbulxibar and his troops trying to breach the transparent meteor shield. With it obviously only a matter of time before they broke through, Aalbort watched as Starfox duped the bellicose Azunbulxibar and his troops into believing there was nothing worth conquering in his dimension, offered to reset the Randomizer to take Azunbulxibar to somewhere where his army could take part in glorious battles, then fulfilled this promise by realigning the device's portal so that it exited to the side of Azunbulxibar's own forces. Initially unaware of this last trick, Aalbort watched as the otherdimensional army raced through to confront their "foes," but once the connection to Azunbulxibar's dimension had closed Starfox explained his ruse, and Aalbort realized that Azunbulxibar's forces had been charging at themselves.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Nova: Centurion#1 (fb) - BTS) - Pip the Troll set Nova up with Aalbort and his ship to run a mercenary business. Aalbort became Nova's combat accountant.

(Nova: Centurion#1) - Aalbort got a hot beverage for himself and Nova, who tried to ignore a call from Pip. Aalbort knew how Pip would become if they kept ignoring him and took the call. Pip immediately tried to sell them on their newest client, who offered a nonrefundable consultation fee, but tried to sweet-talk the fact that their client would be the criminal Kree-Skrull War faction. Pip made it clear that Nova could just decline the job after meeting with their leaders and taking the consultation fee.

(Nova: Centurion#1 - BTS) - Aalbort updated the spreadsheets and flew his ship to Tarvistaal IV for Nova's meeting with the K.S.W.

(Nova: Centurion#2) - Cammi Benally, who had been accused by the War to have broken into their vaults, told Aalbort and Nova what she had seen during her failed attempt to steal Mysterium from the War's vault. She wasn't sure that it was Ravenous as Nova suspected. It seemed logical for Aalbort that Ravenous was behind the theft because he would need funds after being exiled from the Negative Zone, but he wasn't sure they could bring him in. The trio were joined by Kree Accuser Yr-Kett on their mission. Aalbort was fascinated that Yr-Kett was loyal to the War instead of Hala.

   Aalbort flew the ship to Tarvistaal II, the War's shipbreaking world. Aalbort and Cammi stayed at a safe distance on the surface and watched Ravenous devour energy from power cells. Aalbort pulled out his gun and kept Ravenous in his sight to support Nova just in case Ravenous was too powerful for him to deal with. They watched Nova and Yr-Kett fight Ravenous, but the Negative Zone warrior was too powerful for them. Aalbort took a shot at his prosthetics on his head, but it only distracted Ravenous for a moment, which was time enough for Nova to attack him again. Nova and Yr-Kett were still no match for him and Ravenous managed to start absorbing Nova's Nova Force.

(Nova: Centurion#3) - Yr-Kett helped Nova escape Ravenous' grip and Nova came up with a new plan. He called Aalbort and Cammi to steal one of the platforms used to break apart ships and attack Ravenous with it and absorb most of his stored energy. Nova handed Aalbort his helmet, took off his armor and then used Yr-Kett's hammer to beat the weakened Ravenous to a bloody pulp. Nova seemingly took some Mysterium from the downed Ravenous and handed it to Yr-Kett as proof that Ravenous was behind the theft. He then left with Aalbort and Cammi.

   Aboard the Principle of Reasonable Return Aalbort and Nova had a space beer and Aalbort congratulated Richard on a job well done. Cammi asked them to join their operation and convinced Aalbort and Richard that her skills could be advantageous because they were both soldiers and she was a talented thief. They only agreed to make her part of the crew because otherwise she would just steal from another dangerous person and cancel out their efforts to keep her alive.

(Nova: Centurion#4) - The crew of the Principle of Reasonable Return made a pit stop at Gritosk Starport in the Krimble System. Aalbort and Cammi watched Nova whine about keeping the Xandarian Worldmind from running out of energy and disappearing forever because there were no Xandarians left. Aalbort corrected Nova because Galactus' heralds Firelord and Air-Walker were both Xandarian, but that just made Nova mad. Aalbort understood Richard's burden and wasn't bothered by him screaming at him because Aalbort was used to it from his five spouses. Aalbort, Cammi and the guy from the refueling station then watched in anticipation as Nova's energy was successfully refilled through a Xandarian Starcorp Triple-Valve conduit. Cammi talked about her time working for the Cosmic King with Aalbort, who carried boxes back to his ship. They were surprised when the ship's engines were spinning up. Aalbort called Nova to ask him if he had returned, but Nova was still on the market. Eden Rixlo then introduced him through the internal com-system as the new captain of their ship. Aalbort informed Nova that the doors were sealed and they couldn't stop the ship from taking of. Cammi tried to open the locks on the ship and Aalbort was not comfortable how easy it was for her. Aalbort and Cammi ran to the cockpit, but couldn't stop Rixlo from flying through a stargate to the Candur System where he entered the derelict Dran-Mos Station. Rixlo surrendered to them and Nova shortly after because he had actually been paid by Star-Lord to bring them there.

(Nova: Centurion#5) - Nova tossed his helmet to Aalbort to dish out a beating to Star-Lord with his fists. Aalbort didn't like it that Richard was beating up the chairman of the Galactic Union and eventually pulled his gun on them to stop the fight. Aalbort then used his medic skills to heal Richard's wounds. Star-Lord then warned Nova that the Kree-Skrull War had found out about Nova's theft of the Mysterium and were coming for him. Aalbort confirmed the arrival of the Kree-Skrull War fleet through the nearby stargate. Cammi finally confessed that she only joined up with them because she knew about the Mysterium as well and needed to consume it to hold back a dangerous parasitic infection. Nova and Star-Lord were still thinking about a way to escape the fleet while Rixlo betrayed their location to the War and Cammi collapsed. Aalbort noticed that something was wrong with her, but whatever was going on with her was beyond his medical skills. Aalbort, Star-Lord and Nova barely escaped the space station when the parasite broke free from Cammi's body and ripped through the station and the War's fleet. Aalbort had no clue what they were looking at, but Nova's Worldmind recognized it from old files as a unique creature dubbed Code-Shudder-Indigo by the Nova Corps, which had last possessed the Cosmic King. Aalbort told Richard that Cammi had mentioned working for the Cosmic King before. Nova was not willing to leave Cammi behind and decided to save her.

(Nova: Centurion#6) - Aalbort followed Nova inside the creature guns blazing and they were soon joined by Star-Lord. Aalbort held the creature at bay with grenades while the three men flew to the Principle of Reasonable Return the get the Mysterium and use it to get the creature back under control, but before they could reach the ship it was crushed by Code-Shudder-Indigo. Aalbort wasn't surprised that the creature was clever enough to encase its weakness in a protective shell and eject it into outer space. Aalbort and Star-Lord then watched Nova take off his helmet and allow Code-Shudder-Indigo to take possession of him and beat the creature inside his mind.

   In the aftermath Nova, Aalbort, Cammi and Star-Lord boarded the War's main vessel. Their leaders were mad that their whole fleet had been destroyed, but Nova offered them the location of the stolen Mysterium while Star-Lord threatened them with the Union's own fleet. The War's leaders ultimately agreed to Nova's terms and leave him alone because they were too afraid of him. The threat was over the Cammi was just surprised that they had won. Nova planned to call Pip to get them a new job while Cammi offered, to Aalbort's disappointment, a job to steal from a Rigellian payroll.

Comments: Created by Peter Gillis and Dave Cockrum

   Thanks to Brandon Nash for the correction on the ship's name.

   Per the Aakon race's handbook entry there seem to be heavier than similarly sized humans, hence Aalbort's weight estimate here - a human of that height and weight would be obese, but Aalbort is slender by his race's standards. Aalbort's eyes appear yellow-green in some panels, but that may be the result of color bleed from his skin caused during the printing process, as we see in multiple panels that the coloring of objects extends slightly outside the edge of the object. In the one really good close-up of his eyes, a side shot of his face, they are definitely pure white.

   It's uncertain whether Aalbort (and by default Aakons in general) have a longer life expectancy than humans. At first glance his statement that he has worked on board the Principle of Reasonable Doubt as the ship's accountant for 150 years would seem to support that, especially as he would have an undisclosed number of years under his belt prior to beginning that role. Living in excess of 150 years and only now looking somewhat elderly but still physically able gives the impression of longevity. However, he didn't say he was 150 Terran years old; planetary years can vary quite a lot from one world to the next, so his age in our terms is indeterminate.

   An accountant for so many years (however long they relatively were), all Aalbort's curses are accountancy-related: "God unbalance your ledgers," "God bankrupt you," "one God-audited thing after another," etc.

   As far as we know, MCP I#22/4 was Aalbort's only appearance, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Dave Cockrum (or, indeed, another artist) might have slipped him into the background in some other stories set out in space. If anyone does spot him somewhere new, please let us know.

Profile by Snood. Update by Markus Raymond (Nova: Centurion).

CLARIFICATIONS:
Aalbort has no known connections to:

• ALBERT - retired blind werewolf -- Uncanny Tales#22
• ALBERT - worked for Federal Intelligence--Marvel Team-Up II#5
• ALBERT - robot duplicate of Wolverine--Wolverine II#37
• ALBERT - Jarvis' nephew in Earth-Avengers aging timeline--What If? I#38
• or any other "Aalbort" or "Albert" characters

(Marvel Comics Presents I#22) - Apparently some sort of cargo ship, the Principle of Reasonable Return had been Aalbort's home for some 150 years until it was invaded by Azunbulxibar's army.

(Nova: Centurion#1 (fb) - BTS) - Over the years it received a few upgrades and modifications (see right image).

(Nova: Centurion#1) - The Principle of Reasonable Return became the new mobile base of Nova, who joined Aalbort on the ship after he was set up with him by Pip the Troll. Aalbort flew the ship to a meeting on Tarvistaal IV for a meeting with the Kree-Skrull War faction, their newest client.

(Nova: Centurion#2) - Aalbort flew the ship to Tarvistaal II, the Kree-Skrull War's shipbreaking world, to confront Ravenous alongside Nova, Cammi and Kree Accuser Yr-Kett.

(Nova: Centurion#3 (fb)) - After Ravenous' defeat Cammi broke into the ship's cargo hold and found the stolen Mysterium, which she needed to consume to hold back a parasite.

(Nova: Centurion#3) - They were flying through outer space after defeating Ravenous and seemingly proofing to the War that Raveous was responsible for the Mysterium theft. Cammi asked to join the team.

(Nova: Centurion#4) - During a pit stop at the Gritosh Starport Eden Rixlo, hired by Star-Lord, stole the ship with Aalbort and Cammi aboard and took through the local stargate to the Candur System. He landed the ship inside the derelict Dran-Mos Station where Star-Lord was already waiting for them.

(Nova: Centurion#5) - Nova beat up Star-Lord in front of the ship. Star-Lord eventually warned Nova that the Kree-Skrull War were after him because they knew that Nova had stolen the Mysterium, but it was already too late because they had already arrived. The parasite that Cammi kept under control by consuming Mysterium then broke free and destroyed the space station.

(Nova: Centurion#6) - Nova, Aalbort and Star-Lord tried to get back to the ship to get the Mysterium and use it against the parasite, but the creature crushed the ship and ejected it to outer space before they could reach it.

--Marvel Comics Presents I#22 (Nova: Centurion#1-6