Abdul Alhazred (Necronomicon creator, Wolverine foe)

ABDUL ALHAZRED

Real Name: Abd-el-Hazred

Identity/Class: Human magic user

Occupation: Crimelord

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Employs band of servants (Barrett/Chief, Dumas, Rhys, Scarface, Sheik, Stump), the Sheik is more closely associated with Alhazred, while the others are mere employees;
Glenn Barrett, Ike Frazier, Simon Santiago, and Pierre (former pawns);
served by a large number of Arab worshippers and other slaves, formerly allied with a tribe of cannibals from Pellucidar;
pet hawk

Enemies: Wolverine; possibly Tarzan (see comments);
Ayesha, Glenn Barrett, Ike Frazier, Simon Santiago, and Pierre

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Mad Arab; Death God, Master (both from the cannibals of Pellucidar)

Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia

Base of Operations: Unnamed extra-dimensional realm; original base unknown; Madripoor; Pellucidar

First Appearance: (Historical): H. P. Lovecraft's "The Nameless City" (1921)
(Marvel) Tarzan#15 (August, 1978)
(mainstream Marvel): (mentioned) Marvel Comics Presents#62 (November, 1990), (seen) Marvel Comics Presents#152 (April, 1994)

Powers: Alhazred has a number of abilities, which may be either magical or psionic in nature. He can teleport, usually appearing and disappearing in a cloud of green smoke. He can mesmerize others with a glance. He appears to possess superhuman strength and durability, but this may be only a reflection of his ability to control the perceptions of others. In addition, he is able to summon demon creatures from another realm, which obey his command. These demons may attack either physically or psychically. The ability to mentally resist psychic attack by the demons generates a powerful feedback that banishes him to the realm of his demons.

Alhazred uses a band of servants to perform tasks for him, such as kidnapping, guarding prisoners, fighting his enemies, etc. He controls his servants through fear and intimidation.

A previous incarnation of Alhazred was large and superhumanly strong (enhanced human to Class 10). He had superhuman durability, as he once took a bullet to the face without even flinching. He was served by an unnamed hawk, who would attack those who opposed Alhazred. He required continued power from the crystal of the Mahar, or his abilities would fade.

Height: 6'10"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History: Alhazred's origins are unknown (see comments for further history). His powers appear to be magic in origin, but they may be psionic or other.

(Lovecraft) - He apparently originated in the 8th Century, and is the creator of the legendary Necromicon.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Mystic Arcana) - At some point Alhazred's spirit became trapped in the realm Pellucidar, a pocket dimension formerly accessed within subterranean Earth. He seemingly died there, but his spirit was stored within the crystal of Pellucidar's reptilian Mahara race.

(Tarzan#22(fb)) - Around 1920-1930, Alhazred had been a mere lieutenant in a minor band of slavers. After being caught stealing from his captain, he fled into the desert. He hid out in a cave, where he found a portal to the world of Pellucidar.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Mystic Arcana/Tarzan#22(fb) ) - Alhazred's spirit was released from the crystal and the thief became his host, before the door closed.

(Tarzan#15-23) - Alhazred took command of a band of slavers and forced them to unearth the portal to Pellucidar. One of the slaves fled from the caverns (and the poison gas contained within them) and was pursued and slain by Alhazred's slavers. This murder was seen and avenged by Tarzan, who then decided to go after Alhazred himself. An African princess, Ayesha, was captured by the slavers, to serve as a sacrifice to the crystal that had empowered him. In addition, a group of criminals and poachers, Glenn Barrett, Ike Frazier, Simon Santiago, and Pierre joined Tarzan in his quest. All six of these people accompanied Alhazred through the portal into Pellucidar.

Tarzan and Ayesha separated from Alhazred early on, but the others followed Alhazred on his quest for the crystal of the Mahar. Alhazred took command of a tribe of cannibals and used their ship to speed his journey. They fought the Kosars, a band of pirates that had linked up with Tarzan, but continued their trek separately. After reaching the end of their sea journey, they headed into the jungle until they found the city of the Mahar. Meanwhile, the Mahar had built a sonic weapon using the crystal, and prepared to use it to take over Pellucidar. Ayesha's adventures had brought her to the city of the Mahar as well, and she sought revenge on Alhazred for having her abducted and herfather killed. Ayesha found the controls for the weapon, and Alhared and his allies became its targets. Alhazred, who had been unharmed by any previous attacks, was greatly pained by the energies from this weapon, which killed his hawk as well.

When the Mahar found Ayesha in their control room, they attacked her, and she was forced to blow up the control device to save herself from them. This ended the attack on Alhazred, who recovered and revealed his true purpose. Alhazred prepared to sacrifice the remaining poachers to the crystal to gain more energy. However, Tarzan then arrived in the Mahar city, following a stampede of dinosaurs and other creatures driven into a frenzy by the sonic weapon. Alhazred attacked Tarzan, planning to sacrifice him instead, but found that the crystal was feeding off his own energies as well, and he was now vulnerable to other assaults, such as from Tarzan's knife. Between Tarzan and his blade, and one of the poacher's bullets, Alhazred was driven into the crystal, which drained all of his power and life energy, causing him to crumble into ashes.

(Marvel Comics Presents#62-63 - BTS) - Alhazred sought to takeover the Madripoor crime empire of Tyger Tiger, to enable him to depose prince Baran, and establish Madripoor as his power base. He planned to barter with other countries for the extradition of criminals who had fled there. To this end, he had his ally, the Sheik organize a band of unrelated mercenaries. These men kidnapped Tyger Tiger and Archie Corrigan, but internal conflicts caused them to crash their plane in the jungles of Madripoor. From there, they were overpowered by Wolverine and sent to jail. Wolverine revealed that he was at least familiar with Alhazred and respected, if not feared, his power and wrath.

(Marvel Comics Presents#152-155) - Sometime later, Alhazred himself attacked and overpowered Wolverine, and then kidnapped Tyger Tiger and Archie Corrigan. Wolverine disappeared after being thrown from a balcony. Desiring to slay Wolverine, Alhazred had his men watch over his two prisoners, until Wolverine arrived in an attempt to free them. Alhazred sent his demons after Wolverine, confident that they would send him into his berserker fury, which he could then control. However, when Logan resisted and maintained mental control of himself, the psychic backlash caused Alhazred to be banished to the extra-dimensional realm of his demons.

Comments: Based on a character by Lovecraft (see below).
Adapted by David Kraft and John Buscema, and later by Dwight Zimmerman, Nel Yomtov, and Paul Ryan.

The date of the Tarzan adventures was given in the letter page of one of the Tarzan issues.

He could certainly return if anyone wanted him to do so.

In Monsters Unleashed#3, a sorceress in the era of the Depression enabled a man to enter a magic mannikin using spells from the tome of Alhazred. She summoned Satan, who appeared before both of them.
--Per Degaton

Per Marvel Team-Up I#76 legends said that the Necronomicon was partly derived from the Shiatra Book of the Damned which is another name for the Darkhold.
BTW this was revealed by none other than Dr. Strange and to the site it was pointed out by Per Degaton.

The editor of Marvel Comics Presents (Richard Ashford or co-editor Michael Kraiger) admitted that readers had "seen his face before" (that is, Alhazred's face; the comment can be found in the letters page of MCP#160). That would suggest that they were acknowledging the Tarzan appearances of Alhazred.
There was also a boat in a Nightcrawler mini-series issue (Nightcrawler I#3, it was the boat of Kitty and Colossus or Kitty's Fairytale) named Abdul Alhazred.
--Per Degaton & Markus Raymond (the latter went on a journey through Degaton's mind to find the missing pieces to the above comments like issue numbers or names of the people involved)

Supplementary info by Per Degaton:
"http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mnecromicon.html

Yet another Lovecraft reference! One of the recurring plot devices was the "terrible and forbidden" book,
The Necronomicon, an all-purpose book of demonology, occult lore, and magic, written by "the mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred." Lovecraft first made reference to The Necronomicon in "The Hound" (1922), and earlier to Abdul Alhazred in "The Nameless City" (1921).
Lovecraft said that he invented the name Abdul Alhazred after reading Lang's Arabian Nights as a child; but elsewhere he said that, as an adult, he asked the family lawyer to make up an Arab name. BTW, the Arabic is wrong: the -ul of Abdul is redundant with the Al of Alhazred. A better rendering would have been Abd-el-Hazred although Joshi calls that "much less charismatic."
In 1927, Lovecraft wrote the "History of the Necronomicon" as a tongue-in-cheek history of his mythical book. He said he did it to give "a sort of air of verisimilitude." Doubtless also to be sure that all the other writers who were making reference to the Necronomicon would be consistent.
According to Lovecraft's "History," the Necronomicon was written in the 8th Century AD by the "mad Arab" Alhazred, and was translated into Greek under the title Necronomicon by Theodorus Philetas in AD 950, then into Latin by Olias Wormius in 1228. (The real Wormius--a Danish doctor--lived from 1588 to 1654.) An "imperfect" English translation was supposedly made by Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), an English mathematician and astrologer. And so on. Lovecraft thus created a detailed background for his imaginary book.
When fans wrote Lovecraft in the 1930s to ask if these books were real, he replied truthfully (as quoted above.) In a 1936 letter, for instance, he says, "I am forced to say that most of them are purely imaginary. There never was any Abdul Alhazred or Necronomicon, for I invented these names myself." "

In addition, Mike Murphy tells me: This particular version of Alhazred hues close to the version that appeared in Marvel's Tarzan comic ( circa issues #15-23, I believe ).
--It took me awhile to get those Tarzan issues, but I finally got them:

Pellucidar, in Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories, was a world at the center of the Earth, which was bounded 360 degrees by land, the surface of which possessed sufficient gravity to allow normal movement. If these stories are part of the Marvel Universe, I'd consider Pellucidar more likely a pocket dimension, which had a subterranean portal.
With Tarzan#21, Kraft was replaced by Bill Mantlo, who frequently picks up sagas dropped by others. I'm not certain what Kraft had intended, but during his portion I was thinking, "This is great! This is definitely the same guy--I didn't realize the Tarzan stories were definitely tied to the Marvel Universe." Then Mantlo took over and gave Alhazred's origin, and I thought, "What the frick...!???"
This character has the name (both Abdul Alhazred and the Mad Arab), the appearance, and the demeanor of the one from Marvel Comics Presents (written some 16 years later). However, the origin of the Tarzan version has no connection to the Lovecraftian version, and instead was a normal guy in the 20th century. What to do, What to do...?
My thoughts: The Tarzan version is a person possessed by the spirit of the Lovecraftian version. The Lovecraft version did travel to Pellucidar, but died, and his spirit was somehow contained within the crystal by the Mahar. The Tarzan guy was possessed by the Lovecraftian version, but sought to regain his full power and free his spirit from the Mahar crystal. The modern era version could be another person possessed by the spirit of the Lovecraftian version, or could be the original, who eventually escaped from the Mahar crystal in Pellucidar and returned to Earth.
--This idea is supported by supplemental info provided by Luis Olvao Dantas:
Abdul was the subject of one of the mind-switches that members of the Great Race of Yith use for studying other times. http://victorian.fortunecity.com/lion/157/trans.htm ("mine immortal essence indwelt the ungainly form of some great cone")
For details on the Yithians, see "The Shadow Out of Time" or page 106 of the Call of Cthulhu RPG rulesbook. I quote this rulebook: "The Great Race... will permit... them to meet other victims like themselves, generally from far distant planets or eras. When the time comes to restore the victim to his own body, the Great Race blanks his memory of all that has happened to him while he is trapped in their age. This blanking is not perfect: the victim may dream of or have nightmares concerning being held by the Great Race."
Why do I mention this? Because it may well be of use in the search of an explanation for the link between the two Marvel Abduls. It was within the Yithians' capabilities to clone, time-transport or meddle with the memories of Abdul. Perhaps they did.
...Or, the Tarzan stories are NOT in continuity...I don't like that option.
...Or, it's a separate, unrelated character...but they seem WAY too similar for that.
...Or, make up your own version.

"The Nameless City" was first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal The Wolverine.
--Per Degaton

The Tarzan stories were brought into continuity in Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic in Alhazred's own entry.
--Markus Raymond

images: (without ads)
Marvel Comics Presents#152, p5, pan1 (main image)

#154, p8 (summons demons)
Tarzan#23, Cover (VS Tarzan)

Appearances:
Tarzan#15 (August, 1978) - David Kraft (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Tarzan#16-19 (September-December, 1978) - David Kraft (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Jim Shooter (#16) & Bob Hall (#17-19) (editor)
Tarzan#20 (January, 1979) - David Kraft & Bill Mantlo (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bob Hall (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Tarzan#21 (February, 1979) - David Kraft & Bill Mantlo (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Rudy Nebres (inks), Mary Jo Duffy (editor)
Tarzan#22-23 (March-April, 1979) - Bill Mantlo (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (#22) & Pablo Marcos (#23) (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents#62-63 (November, 1990) - Dwight Zimmerman (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents#152 (late April, 1994) - Dwight Zimmerman & Nel Yomtov (writers), Paul Ryan (pencils), Rey Garcia (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents#153-155 (May, 1994) - Nel Yomtov (writer), Phil Hugh Felix (pencils), Rey Garcia (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)

Last updated: 08/17/02

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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