FAMILEECH
(Reality-148611 / "New Universe")
Membership:
"Janey" (presumably
a nickname for Jane; Dolly was possibly a middle name or an alternate
nickname); Leonard (middle or first name possibly Harold),
Marge (presumably short for Margaret)
& Timmy (presumably a nickname for
Timothy) Robinson
Purpose: Consuming living beings to feed itself
Aliases: "Amoeba," "Ghastly thing," "mountain of
amoeba" (from Stephanie Harrington);
"creature" (from Jenny Swensen and others);
see comments for possible aliases
Affiliations: None;
formerly Col. McIntyre Browning, Spitfire (Jenny
Swensen)
Enemies: Nurse Ahrens, Charlotte Beck, Chen, CIA (Central Intelligence Agency, Ken
Connell, Lenore Fenzl, Stephanie Harrington, Captain
Lancaster, Major McInery, Randy
O'Brien (and his Antibodies, including Shadowman), Ricardo,
Merriam Sorensen, Jenny
Swensen (later Chrome); unidentified Brazilian villagers and
animals it consumed.
Known Relatives: They were
related to each other: Leonard (father), Marge (mother), Janey (daughter),
Timmy (son);
Leonard referenced "grandma" but whether that was his
mother or Marge's is not certain
Base of Operations: Last seen in the jungles of
central Brazil; Earth-148611;
formerly Major General Truscott, Jr. Memorial
Hospital, Georgia;
briefly the Pitt (the remains of what was Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania);
formerly (as a human family) Morgantown, West
Virginia
First Appearance: (Robinson family) Marvel
Graphic Novel: The Pitt#1 (1987);
(merging) The Star Brand#14/2
"Family Ties" (July, 1988);
(Famileech identity used) D.P.7
#25 (November, 1988)
Powers/Abilities: The Famileech was a largely amorphous mass of tissue with the Robinsons' faces still present on its surface. It apparently dissolved all of its own human organs into a pink, fleshy substance, and it similarly consumed and dissolved the bodies of others, adding them to its mass, although floating body parts were sometimes seen within its body.
At least initially, Leonard directed and spoke through it, but the more massive form was not shown to speak. Some facial structures still appeared on parts of its form.
It could flow and move in directions, even flowing around a region to surround those within it (indicating that it still possessed the thought capacity to conceive of such a strategy.
It could extend pseudopodia to grasp and/or trip
others.
body parts floating its goop
|
One of the kids apologized, and Leonard stated that he wished Mr. Diller (presumably his boss) had let him go home sooner as he knew that traffic would be bad if they left so late. Marge commented that at least Mr. Diller had given him Wednesday off, and Leonard acknowledged that but doubted that they would get to grandma's house until way past the kid's bedtime. |
|
(Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt#1)
- 26 miles away from the destroyed
region, the Robinsons saw the blinding flash of light and then
heard the wind (caused by everything being pulled to fill the
vacuum). Timmy called out that he was scared. Marge asked what
was happening, and Leonard speculated that maybe the "danged
Russkies dropped the big one." As they felt the car start rocking, Leonard made sure everyone had their seat belts buckled, after which the car was lifted in the air and began spining around as it was pulled toward the center of the vaporized region. Leonard told everyone to hold on, and Marge apparently prayed to God. Six minutes later, they entered what would become known as the Pitt. (D.P.7 #25 (fb) - BTS) - Swept over the lip of the Pitt, they
slid all the way to the bottom of the crater and floated on the
sludge that was believed to be contain the liquified remains of
Pittsburgh for hours. |
|
<11:02 PM> - Spitfire (Jenny
Swensen in the MAX armor) flew the 15 miles to the depth of the
crater, finding the Robinson family, whose car had sunk beneath
the surface of the water (mixed with the vaporized/atomized
matter and permeated with Star Brand energies) covering the
bottom, but had not yet filled with water. Sensing their motion and feeling the vibrations of their screams, she realized that they were still alive, and she flew their car out of the water at 12:01 AM. As her jets began to
malfunction, she tore open the car, instructing the family to
swiftly unbuckle themselves and their children and climb out of
their car onto her. They were afraid, but she told them, "I'm begging you -- please do as I
say, or we're all dead!" She pulled out Leonard and
then Marge, and then kids, dropping the car just before her jets
gave out.
|
| . . Both Swensen and the Robinsons were exposed to the material later referred to as Pitt juice (the Star Brand energy-infused residue from the destruction), which permeated their vehicles despite fluid seals. They reached the surface at 1:04 AM, and after Jenny set them down and told them that they were going to be alright, they thanked her. However, they were then taken into custody by the U.S. Army. Spitfire told them that the Army would take them from there and get them to safety. After she had removed her helmet, Leonard told Jenny, "Bless you, whoever you are. If you hadn't shown up, my family and I--" and she cut him off, telling him it was OK. |
.
|
(The Star Brand#14/2 (fb) - BTS) - Military
Intelligence sent Captain Lancaster to evaluate the Robinsons'
skin condition and to find out if it had any biological warfare
potential. (The Star Brand#14/2) <April 10, 1988> - As Leonard gathered the family together into a hug, Janey protested that it was gross, and Timmy argued that it was weird. Leonard acknowledged that but reminded them that it was the only way to ease their pain. He further stated that they could not let the Army doctors know about this situation, and that they didn't need them or their medicines. "We Robinsons take care of our own problems. Right, Marge?" And she replied, "Yes, Leonard, of course. Children, we all have to stick together in this -- do as your father says." As the military doctors
approached in hazmat gear, the family separated until the
testing was done, although both Janey and Timmy complained that
they did not want any more tests and that they were hungry. Major McInery entered, greeted the family and introduced his colleague, Captain Lancaster, and Leonard answered his query, tellin him that they were all fine. The Robinsons reluctantly
complied as the nurses helped them take some skin samples, which
should hurt much. Timmy told McInery that he did not have any
new pain that day, while Marge thought to herself that the pain
never stopped. McInery reviewed the Robinsons' history with Lancaster and then told the Robinsons that they would be back the next day with some doctors who specialized in rare skin disorders and advised that they get some rest, as they looked like they could use it. (The Star Brand#14/2 - BTS) - Lancaster told McInery that it was too early to tell with what they were dealing. |
.
.
|
While the pain improved, Timmy
noted that something strange was happening and that he was
getting hungry. As their skin began growing
together, Marge wondered what was happening to them, after which
they began to speak as a collective, stating that they were
hungry and had to eat. (The Star Brand#14/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Robinson
family progressively merged. Famished, the collective tore the door off of the refrigerator, devouring some of it, but otherwise considering it to be spoiled (although it was not). (D.P.7 #25 (fb) - BTS) - The Robinson family bonded together on a cellular level, with their bones and other tissue merged/rendered into an amorphous mass of tissue. |
.
|
(The Star Brand#14/2 (fb) - BTS) - By morning, they were a largely amorphous collective with Leonard's face and other orifices, along with an occasional arm or leg, each of which was regurgitating some green fluid. (The Star Brand#14/2) - When McInery, Lancaster
and others arrived in the morning, they immediately sensed the
overpowering foul odor, and upon seeing the collective being, at
least two of the military staff rushed back out the door due to
nausea. The collective told the
military to leave them alone, that they could not separate them
and demanded food, claiming that the food they had was rotten. As McInery spoke to the
collective, Lancaster drew up some drugs to sedate them. McInery
asked Mr. Robinson where was his family, and the collective
replied, "I am my family. I don't need your help. Our pain is
gone...We need to eat." Ask Lancaster attempted to drug
the collective while
it was distracted with McHenry, another face emerged from the
other side of the creature, accused Lancaster of wanting to
break up their family and then extending out a pair of arms that
tore open his hazmat suit. The collective then poured over
Lancaster, consuming his flesh and noting that he tasted good
and that their pain was gone. (The Star Brand#14/2 - BTS) - McInery ordered everyone out of the room, sealed the containment doors and instructed someone to contact Col. Browning as they did not have the facilities to handle this thing. |
|
(D.P.7 #25) <June 2, 1988> - Col. McInery summoned the
entire medical staff to the basement to address the concerns of
the Famileech. He showed them the creature and revealed its
history. Ricardo stated that they should kill the "freak of nature
before--" but McInery cut him off, telling him that that was not
their decision to make. He answered Randy O'Brien's query about
what could be done for the Robinsons that that was what they were
trying to determine, but he also warned them that the creature had
consumed/absorbed Lt. Lancaster last week and that eating people
seemed to be how it derived nourishment. As they donned protective garb including
clear plastic (presumably) sphere/domes over their heads, McInery
informed them that they were more durable than one that Lancaster
had beeing wearing. They piped in the anesthetic halothane into
the room to render the creature unconscious, after which McInery
assigned O'Brien to take a tissue sample for histopathology and
Chen to take the creature's measurements and evaluate for any
vital signs, which Ricardo and himself would watch the Famileech
for any signs of motion. Randy noted the young girl's face on the
surface, and he wondered if she was aware of her condition,
whether the individuals still had separate consciousnesses and
what had happened to their skeletons. (D.P.7 #25 (fb) - BTS) - The sampling and evaluations were performed without complication. (D.P.7 #25 (fb) - BTS) - The next day, the Famileech somehow
escaped its confinement and began to engulf Nurse Ahrens. (D.P.7 #25) - As the alarms sounded, Randy O'Brien (followed by the Shadowman renegade "Antibody" that formerly been bonded to Evan Huebner) discovered the escaped Famileech but was unable to save Nurse Ahrens who begged for help before being completely engulfed. Knowing the injured Dave Landers and Evan Hueber were unconscious and would be helpless against, O'Brien taunted the Famileech as a "rolling slab of flab" and ran in the opposite direction, leading it to follow him. However, he soon encountered a locked door and was trapped. As the Famileech told the "Foodmen" to come to it, the Shadowman tried to battle the creature but was swiftly decapitated and destroyed. Having been unable to generate Antibodies for months, the mortified O'Brien generated a quartet of Antibodies, which all merged around him, essentially granting 5x his normal strength in addition to protecting his flesh, and he was able to force the Famileech back into its cell and then piling debris and a heavy set of lockers against the steel doors to reinforce them. |
| (D.P.7 #26 (fb) - BTS) - The
U.S. Army or the CIA apparently dropped the Famileech into Central
Brazil, where it progressively consumed all animal and human life
it encountered, including apparently an entire village, growing to
massive proportions. (D.P.7 #26 - BTS) <August 4, 1988> - The CIA dropped off Charlotte Beck, Lenore Fenzl, Stephanie Harrington, Merriam Sorensen and Jenny Swensen via helicopter in Central Brazil to search for an unspecified biological weapon that had been accidentally dropped there. There were told that they would "know it when they saw it." They initially only encountered the devastation caused by means unknown to them, and when they found that demolished village bereft of villagers, Lenore suspected the villagers had had time to flee, while Stephanie found a child's doll and worried that they had not escaped. ![]() (D.P.7 #26 (fb) - BTS) - As the women made camp, the immense Famileech surrounded them. (D.P.7 #26) - Hearing something moving through the underbrush, Jenny realized that something shiny and pinkish had surrounded them all. She rushed back and awakened the other women, at which point the Famileech attacked them. Charlotte used her friction powers to make herself frictionless, prevent it from latching onto her and allowing her to slide over its surface, however, she eventually slid into a crevice in its flesh and started sinking into it. (D.P.7 #26 (fb) - BTS) - However, apparently Charlotte proved to be more buoyant than the creature, and so she kept bobbing to the surface until the creature moved on, and she escaped. (D.P.7 #26) - Lenore's fatigue-producing emanations caused the Famileech to back away from her, but she found that the moment she immobilized one area, another pseudopod thrust itself at her. Merriam initially used her moisture powers to absorb fluid from the creature and dessicate the parts closest to her, and when she reached her maximum capacity, she expelled fluid, creating a pool around herself. However, she feared that the moisture she had absorbed contained more than just water, and she might be mutated like Jenny from her exposure to the Pitt-Juice. Although super-strong and durable, Jenny was helpless against its immense, amorphous bulk and it eventually poured over her. Although it could not absorb her metallic skin, she could suffocate, and so she swam through the creature's sludge, which reminded her of the water at the bottom of the Pitt. That made her wonder what had ever happed to the family she had saved who had been exposed to Pitt Juice, but she did not apparently ever appreciate that this monstrous creature actually was that family. As she reached the surface, the creature rolled, trying to pull her back under, but her strength allowed her to tear free. Stephanie used her enhanced strength to leap high in the air to avoid it, and she used burning logs from their campfire to drive it back; although the fire painfully burned her flesh, she knew that she would heal, and so she accepted the pain in order to try to help her friends. When she feared that she would damage her hands beyond repair, she dropped the logs, tore down a tree and set it aflame and then held its trunk and used the flaming end to create an escape route for herself and Lenore, although they could not locate their friends. As Stephanie reached the extent/edge of the creature, however, Lenore was tripped by a pseudopod, and the creature swiftly flowed over her. Although flames reached her hands again, Stephanie futilely used the flaming tree to try to force the creature back and save Lenore, but she only found her wig and mask. Finally, when she felt like she had burned off half of her skin, Stephanie gave up and dove progressively to the tallest tree heights, and the creature apparently proved unable to reach her. Not able to do much else, she prayed for her friends. (D.P.7 #26 (fb) - BTS) - Regardless, protected by the water she had created (from which her powers allowed her to extract oxygen), Merriam was eventually left behind in the mass of the creature she had dessicated. Unable to feed on or reach any of the others, the creature eventually moved on. (D.P.7 #26 - BTS) - Stephanie reunited with Jenny and Charlotte, and they found and freed Merriam from the mound in which she had been trapped, but despite searching for three hours, they were unable to find Lenore. With none of them wishing to relocate and engage the creature, they met up with their helicopter and returned to the USA. |
Comments: Robinson family created by John Byrne, Mark Gruenwald, Sal Buscema, Tom Palmer & Stan
Drake;
Famileech created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul
Ryan.
See the New Universe primer.
As Spitfire rescued the family, Marge
called Leonard "Harold." Presumably he's Leonard Harold Robinson (or
Harold Leonard Robinson).
And, when they got to the surface, Janey said, "Mommy, that Transformer saved us,"
and Marge replied, "Yes...it did,
Dolly." So perhaps Janey's middle name or nickname was Dolly.
So, whatever happened the to Famileech?
I would think it eventually got so large that it could no longer
maintain its needed food supply and perhaps perished.
However, being a paranormal, perhaps it only grew
when it fed, but it could sustain itself or perhaps feed on its own mass
and shrink down to until it found more food.
Or maybe it was firebombed and destroyed by the
military or the CIA?
I would also like to think that
Lenore's missing mask and wig would have allowed her energies to repel
the Famileech and prevent it from surrounding or consuming her. She
really should have stripped off more clothes...her bright glow would
allow her to do that without showing any nudity in the comic, and the
energies were emitted from all of her body surfaces.
Regardless, the others searched the area for three
hours and never found her. Sad ending for a great character.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Famileech has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt#1, pg. 2, panel 4
(family, uncolored, in car);
panel 5 (Marge &
Leonard, upper profiles);
pg. 8, panel 2 (white flash);
panel 4 (car flying through
the air);
pg. 23, panel 5 (under Pitt fluid; with
Spitfire);
pg. 28, panel 2 (family, upper);
The Star Brand#14/2, pg. 1, panel 4 (rashes; full
post);
pg. 2, panel 2 (rashes; front);
pg. 4, panel 4-5 (merging);
pg. 5, panel 4 (collective form);
pg. 6, panel 5 (feeding);
D.P.7 #25, pg. 11, panel 4 (image showing all four faces);
pg. 17, panel 3 (engulfing nurse Ahrens);
pg. 19, panel 5 (vs. Shadowman)
Appearances:
Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt#1 (1987) - John Byrne
& Mark Gruenwald (writers), Sal Buscema (penciler), Stan Drake
(inker), Eliot Brown (technical consultant), Joanne Spaldo (assistant
editor), Howard Mackie (editor)
The Star Brand#14/2 "Family Ties" (July, 1988) - Howard Mackie (writer),
Kieron Dwyer (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inker), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
D.P.7 #25-26 (November-December, 1988) - Mark Gruenwald
(writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), David Wohl
(assistant editor), Howard Mackie (editor)
First posted: 09/12/2026
Last updated: 06/25/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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