BLACK HOLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Morton Kribbee

Identity/Class: Enhanced human

Occupation: Professional criminal;
    formerly performed as part of a freak show his using powers

Group Membership: Band of the Bland (Sitting Bullseye/Oliver Bedwette, Spanker/Fred Hovel, Tillie the Hun/Matilda von Tromp)

Affiliations: Candy Man, Doctor Angst (Floyd Mangles), Rocket Racer;
    presumably le Beaver (Pierre Dentfris), Black Talon (Thibodaux Boudreaux), Jackpot, Jokester, Greedy Killerwatt, Kong Lomerate, Maller, Pro-Rata, Puffin, Quizling, and Wally Sidney (see comments);
    unrevealed relationship with Brotherhood of Evil Prepositions (Amonger, Arounder, Betweener, Of, Underneather, Withiner), Galactongue

Enemies: Critic, Defenders (Dr. Stephen Strange, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde), Howard the Duck, Louise Mason, She-Hulk, Beverly Switzler, Terror (Laslo Pevely), Brent Wilcox;
    presumably Andy the Angel, Chirreep, Jennifer Kale, Korrek, Master C'haaj, Hemlock Shoals, Claude Starkowski (see comments);

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Ravencroft Mental Institution;
    formerly the planet/base of the Critic;
    formerly Cleveland, Ohio;

First Appearance: Marvel Treasury Edition#12 (1976)

Powers: Black Hole is able to generate a powerful suction, similar to the gravity of a black hole, into the hole in his chest. The hole is apparently a portal to another pocket dimension. There is no known limit to the amount of material he can hold; it is presumably affected by his will power.

History:
(Marvel Treasury Edition#12) - Morton Kribbee claims to have been mutated by exposure to a grain of white dwarf star matter (I guess it made sense for the Atom). He was one of four mediocre would-be super-villains recruited by Dr. Angst to form the Band of the Bland. Their first mission was to assassinate Howard the Duck, who was at the time the presidential candidate for the All Night Party. Angst duped them into believing that they were in it solely to rise above their current levels and achieve fame. Angst himself was doing it for profit, as he was hired by unnamed parties. He also tricked them into believing he had enhanced their powers with the mystic placebo known as Promethium. The Band was defeated by Howard and the Defenders. The Black Hole was presumably sent to prison. After he was released from prison, he made a living as part of a freak show, where he used his powers to suck objects into his hole.

(Steve Gerber's unpublished script for Howard the Duck#1 "Secret Crisis II" (fb) - BTS) - The Black Hole was transported -- along with Dr. Angst and the rest of the Band of the Bland (Sitting Bullseye, Spanker, Tillie the Hun), as well as le Beaver, Black Talon, Bzzk J'oh, Dr. Bong, Jackpot, Jokester, Greedy Killerwatt, Kong-Lomerate, Maller, Pro-Rata, Puffin, and Quizling -- to within a giant fire hydrant-like construct in an interdimensional space between Reality-616 and Reality-791021 (mirroring the storyline generated by the dark matter-powered Poporb of Krylorian techno-artist Chirreep).

    In addition to this  construct, a motorhome (specifically a Winnebago)-like structure -- containing Andy the Angel, Dakimh the Enchanter, Jennifer Kale, Korrek the Barbarian, Man-Thing, Master C'haaj, Hemlock Shoals, Claude Starkowski -- was also present.

(Steve Gerber's unpublished script for Howard the Duck#1 "Secret Crisis II") - After Howard the Duck encountered the Winnebago group, Hemlock Shoals identified the hydrant group. Dakimh noted that, apart from their evil, they seemed to have little in common...except that they all wanted Howard dead. And Spanker kept spanking Sidney.

    The monstrous mouth known as Galactongue subsequently appeared and disgorged an entire galaxy. As the contents formed a planet with an immense office building, the Brotherhood of Evil Prepositions (Amonger, Arounder, Betweener, Of, Underneather, Withiner) then arrived and challenged both groups to "Play both ends against the middle, and all you desire shall be yours."

    Both groups were transported to the office building on the planet formed from contents disgorged by Galactongue; the Black Hole''s group arrived in the boardroom.

(Steve Gerber's unpublished script for Howard the Duck#1 "Secret Crisis II") - The Black Hole sat on Doctor Angst's side of the table (on Kong Lomerate's left), between le Beaver and Sitting Bullseye.


(Steve Gerber's unpublished script for Howard the Duck#1 "Secret Crisis II" - BTS) - Kong Lomerate led the villains in a plot to destroy the other group.

    Bong, presumably along with some of the others, targeted Andy the Angel, Dakimh the Enchanter, Jennifer Kale, Korrek the Barbarian, Man-Thing, Master C'haaj), Hemlock Shoals, and Claude Starkowski, while Kong led Maller, Jackpot, and Greedy Killerwatt to attack Howard and Chireep, who had followed Howard (see comments).

(Sensational She-Hulk I#15-17) - Fourteen years later (see comments), Angst escaped from prison to instrument a plot he had begun at the time of his imprisonment. Angst convinced Kribbee and the rest of the Band to reorganize and assist him in his plot, the Cosmic Squish Principle. Essentially, Angst sought to release a multitude of previous compacted pocket universes, the Encroachiverses, to squish the rest of the Earth dimension. He established five locus points in five equally mediocre places: a square block in Manhattan including Rad Ronin Fujiyama Funhous; Henderson, Nevada; El Segundo, California; most of New Jersey; and the planet Sqazzl. Within these five loci, Angst would create a new universe, the Insipiverse, which they could rule. This plot was foiled by a team composed of Howard (surprisingly enough), the Critic, Louise Mason, She-Hulk, the Terror, and Brent Wilcox. She-Hulk held open Kribbee's hole, forcing him to suck up all of the Encroachiverses. The Critic then took Kribbee back to his base, where he forced him to continue to hold them.

(Carnage: It's a Wonderful Life) - What became of the Encroachiverses is unknown. He may have permanently absorbed them, or they may have been shunted to another realm by the Critic. Black Hole was later seen as one of the inmates as at Ravencroft, a mental institution for insane superhuman criminals.

(Revenge of the Sinister Six (fb) - BTS) - Black Hole, Rocket Racer and the Candyman attacked a Fifth Avenue Swiss Currency Exchange, but were swiftly overpowered by Spider-Man.

Profile by Snood.

Comments: Created by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema & Klaus Janson.

    The fourteen years referenced in Sensational She-Hulk I#15 would refer to the 14 years between the 1976 and 1990 comic book appearances, but it would have been less than 3 years in Marvel Time.

Kribbee had a fetish for sucking down larger and larger objects. It is difficult to describe his ability in a serious tone.

The novel appearance is mentioned on the first page of Ch.5 (p106 in my Combo edition). It's suggestive, but not certain, that the three were working together. It does seem a little out of character for the reformed Rocket Racer, but I know he's had relapses. And it's definitely this Black Hole, as the text mentions he'd once been defeated by the girlfriend of a talking duck.
--Loki
    Maybe he had another, unrevealed encounter with Howard, as I don't recall Beverly ever defeating the Black Hole.

Clarifications:

Clarifications: The Black Hole has no connection to:

images: (without ads)
Sensational She-Hulk I#17, p17, pan7 (Black Hole main image)
(Black Hole first appearance)
Sensational She-Hulk I#16, p12, pan7 (Morton Kribbee)

Appearances:
Marvel Treasury Edition#12 (1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
 unpublished Howard the Duck story by Gerber - 1985
Sensational She-Hulk I#15-17 (May-July, 1990) - Steve Gerber (writer), Bryan Hitch (pencils), Jim Sanders III (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Carnage: It's a Wonderful Life (October, 1996) - David Quinn (writer), Kyle Hotz (pencils/inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Sinister Six (July, 2001) - Adam-Troy Castro (writer)

First Posted: 10/03/2001
Last updated: 03/01/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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