SLUJSLUJ
Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Genetically engineered mutant human
Occupation: Inapplicable
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Dr. Anderson;
Well, maybe its "parents", or the people it
ingested and used to help increase its intelligence...
Enemies: Calloway; Calloway's captain;
Namor; Weinstein; its genetic progenitors
Known Relatives: Dr. Carolyn
Sheridan
("mother"), Dr. Jerry Baker ("father")
Aliases: The Protoform
Base of Operations: Formerly East 106, off the coast
of
New York;
(formerly) Anderson Bio-Technic in Paterson, New Jersey.
First Appearance: Namor the Submariner I#6 (September, 1990)
Powers: Sluj was genetically designed to constantly adapt to its environment; it seemed to be capable of living either in air or water, and could control its physical shape, forming it into human-like appendages or features, and propelling itself at a high degree of speed. It metabolized raw sewage into a less-toxic material, which became the main substance of its body. It had telepathic abilities which were emphasized by its creators; to read minds, it engulfed humans in its body, sapped their strength, and encased them in transparent yellow balloon-like cocoons. It would then think 'along' with them, mimicing their thought processes, and increasing its intellectual capacity throw this way; Dr. Sheridan didn't believe it could be more evolved than a dog or a cat when it died, but it was able to form the thought "mother" at its end. Those immersed in it found their physical strength ebbing, and were placed in stasis of some sort and cocooned. The mass also produced some sort of bio-static which interfered with radio communications within its immediate vicinity.
History: 
(Namor
I#7 & 8 (fb)) - The creature dubbed
'Sluj' by the media was created at Anderson Bio-Technic in
Paterson, New Jersey, as supposedly the first entirely-artificial
genetically-engineered life form. In truth, the team designing it
had gone over-budget with no real results, and concocted a hoax
to buy them time, and to save their jobs. Drs. Carolyn Sheridan
and Jerry Baker used standard cloning procedures on their own
cellular matter, which was then mutated drastically by Sheridan,
so that it would be completely unrecognizable as human.
Unfortunately, the company's head immediately announced their
creation to the media, and the team were forced to find a way to
destroy their hoaxed creature without revealing its nature. They
lured a junkie into the lab, and killed him in a bathroom stall,
then flushed their lifeform down the toilet and destroyed their
records. To lend verasimilitude to their story of a religious
zealot breaking in and destroying their creation, Dr. Sheridan
hideously scarred her face using a caustic laboratory chemical,
and claimed that the madman had thrown it in her face. The
protoform wasn't killed, however; it lay dormant in East 106, the
spot on the ocean floor where all the garbage and sewage from New
York and New Jersey is dumped, ingesting sewage and making itself
bigger.
(Namor I#6) - Namorita is hailed by the ocean-liner Sea
Queen off the coast of New York, and asked to check out a
sonar blip which matches no known ocean creature, and is located
in the center of East 106. She discovers Sluj, and is engulfed by
its mass; Sluj then rises to the surface, and spreads itself over
the Sea Queen and abducts all its passengers before moving
on. A news helicopter films it, and word soon reaches Namor, who
reaches the empty Sea Queen just as Sluj emerges from the
water, in the form of a gigantic human hand.
(Namor I#7) - At Anderson Bio-Technic,
Sluj's
creators watch their 'child's' return, while Namor circles the
mountainous form, which has taken on somewhat-human features.
Sluj begins to move towards NYC, but Namor, carrying the stranded
newscopter that had been filming it, arrives shortly before it.
As Sluj approached the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, ships arrayed
against it sprayed it with a chemical foam, which pained but did
not stop it; Sluj flows over the bridge, and engulfs the ships,
despite Namor's attempt to move one out of range. Inside the
mass, he finds himself unable to breathe, his skin burning and
his strength ebbing; when he finds Sluj's victims encased in
transparent cocoons, he is only able to remove one before he's
forced to retreat. He lands at the police line at the south edge
of Manhattan in time to hear a distorted explanation of Sluj's
creation from Dr. Sheridan. He breaks open the cocoon and frees
the girl trapped inside, and then flies out to deliver a
gene-scrambling viral agent designed by the Anderson crew into
Sluj. Sluj is killed, but in its death-throws it manages to break
upon southern Manhattan, killing its progenitors in the process.
(Namor I#8) - Namor wakes up on top of a building, and
discovers his ankle wings gone, victims of the anti-mutant virus.
In Battery Park, Namorita wakes up, and frees herself from her
cocoon; Namor arrives, as does Dr. Weinstein from Anderson, who
explains the truth about Sluj's genesis.
Comments: Sluj created by John Byrne.
The experiment that created Sluj sounds an awful lot like the origin of the "Crawlers" encountered by the Avengers -- the similarities are as follows:
The protoform could very well have been separated in the sewers, with some of it being flushed out to sea to become Sluj, and some of it being left in the sewers to become the Crawlers.
I don't see any reason why part of Sluj couldn't have remained at East 106 while the main bulk of the mass attacked NYC, and still be alive there today...
Sluj reminds me of Spore, the Deviant mutate, another Byrne creation.
Profile by Flank McLargehuge, with sub-profiles added by
Chadman
Clarifications: Sluj has no known connection to:
(Namor I#7 (fb)) - Carolyn was hired by Anderson Bio-technic based on her theories on DNA manipulation.
(Namor I#8 (fb)) - While working with co-workers Jerry Baker and Weinstein on a bio-matrix project, their resources were quickly tapped with no results. Baker and Sheridan used their own cells to create a human life-form, then mutated the clone into an unrecognizable mass, hoping this small success would buy them time to find a real success. When Dr. Anderson prematurely released their information to the public, Sheridan and Baker knew their 'find' would never stand up to scrutiny, so they planned a sabotage crime. Baker lured a drug addict into the building and murdered him, making it look like suicide, and Sheridan threw acid on her own face. With the cover story of a man who committed these crimes, flushed the organism, and committed suicide, they escaped being tried as criminals. The life-form was flushed down the toilet.
(Namor I#6 BTS) - After ten years, the life-form manifested as a giant garbage creature that continued to grow that the media called Sluj. Sluj over-ran an entire ship called the Sea-Queen, absorbing all the passengers into itself.
(Namor I#7) - Jerry tried to deny that
the Sluj creature was theirs, but Carolyn claimed responsibility and
stated that they would have to destroy it. Carolyn traveled to
Manhattan and discussed with the police Captain and Calloway about
Sluj's false origins. The police didn't believe her until Namor
showed up with a girl inside of a feeding bubble from inside
Sluj. Carolyn deduced that since the creature was made to be
genetically adaptable, the girl was likely being digested. Namor
freed the girl, who discussed feeling as though her mind had been
violated. Carolyn realized that the creature's telepathic
potential must have manifested itself. She gave Namor a
gene-scrambling virus in a test tube to release in the creature and
destroy it. Jerry joined Carolyn at the docks, and she remained,
facing up to her creation. After Namor released the virus, Sluj
started screaming, and Carolyn learned that Jerry had lied about
that. Jerry tried to run, but Carolyn held him there until Sluj
sloshed over them, calling Carolyn mother.
--Namor I#7 ( 7 (fb), 8 (fb), [6], 7
(Namor I#6 BTS) - After ten years, Carolyn's creation manifested as a giant garbage creature that continued to grow that the media called Sluj. Sluj over-ran an entire ship called the Sea-Queen, absorbing all the passengers into itself.
(Namor I#8 (fb)) - While working with co-workers Carolyn Sheridan and Weinstein on a bio-matrix project, their resources were quickly tapped with no results. Baker and Sheridan used their own cells to create a human life-form, then mutated the clone into an unrecognizable mass, hoping this small success would buy them time to find a real success. When Dr. Anderson prematurely released their information to the public, Sheridan and Baker knew their 'find' would never stand up to scrutiny, so they planned a sabotage crime. Baker lured a drug addict into the building and murdered him, making it look like suicide, and Sheridan threw acid on her own face. With the cover story of a man who committed these crimes, flushed the organism, and committed suicide, they escaped being tried as criminals. The life-form was flushed down the toilet.
(Namor I#7) - Jerry tried to deny that the Sluj
creature was theirs, but Carolyn claimed responsibility and stated that
they would have to destroy it. Jerry joined Carolyn on the
Manhattan docks, where she'd given the gene-scrambling virus to
Namor. After Sluj started screaming at the virus's release,
Carolyn found out Jerry had lied. She held him there when he
tried to run, then Sluj sloshed over both of them.
--Namor I#7 ( [6], 8 (fb), 7
(Namor I#7) - Calloway and his police
Captain tried to handle crowd control at the south end of Manhattan
while the creature Sluj rampaged. Soon Carolyn Sheridan showed up
and shared a made-up story about Sluj's origins. The Captain was
disinclined to believe her until Namor showed up with a girl in a
feeding bubble from inside of Sluj. The police watched as Namor freed
the girl, heard her experiences, then rushed off to defeat Sluj with a
virus-vial given him by Sheridan
--Namor I#7 ( 7
(Namor I#7/8 (fb)) - Owner of Anderson
Bio-technic, Dr. Anderson hired Dr. Carolyn Sheridan and Jerry
Baker. After they created an artificial life-form, Anderson
prematurely released the information to the public against their
recommendations. Anderson Bio-technic was soon the victim of a
brash crime that resulted in their discovery being lost.
--Namor I#7 ( 7 (fb), 8 (fb)
(Namor I#8 (fb)) - Weinstein worked with Carolyn Sheridan and Jerry Baker at Anderson Bio-technic on a bio-matrix project. When they were unsuccessful, Sheridan and Baker unethically made a clone and claimed it was an artificial life-form they'd discovered. Fearing public exposure, they staged a crime that let them get away with their mistakes. Weinstein kept their secret for them.
(Namor I#8) - Weinstein, after confirming that
Sheridan and Baker had been killed by Sluj (the life-form), was taken
to Namor by a police officer to explain Sluj's true origins.
Weinstein confirmed that Sluj was no longer a risk to the city.
--Namor I#8 ( 8 (fb), 8
images:
(Carolyn Sheridan) Namor I#7, p1, pan4
(Jerry) Namor I#7, p1, pan3
(Calloway and the Captain) Namor I#7, p18, pan2
(Dr. Anderson) Namor I#8, p14, pan4
(Weinstein) Namor I#8, p13, pan3
Last updated: 01/23/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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