ORB
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human mutate (see comments)
Occupation: Mercenary
Group Membership: Leader of the Orblings;
formerly Ghost Rider Assassination League (Big Wheel, Blackout (Lilin), Deacon, Madcap, Scarecrow, Trull, Vengeance/Kowalski)
Affiliations: Death Ninja, Doctor Midas, Doghead, Exterminatrix, Mindless Ones, Zadkiel;
formerly Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
Enemies: Avengers (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Luke Cage, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Falcon/Sam Wilson, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Thing/Ben Grimm, Thor/Odinson), Sara Bailey, Black Panther (T'Challa), Caretaker, Czar, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Dr. Stephen Strange, Emma Frost, Nick Fury, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch), Gun Nuns (Mother Superior, others), Hulk (Bruce Banner), Minutemen, Nova (Sam Alexander), Punisher (Frank Castle), Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross), SHIELD, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Uatu the Watcher, Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett), X-Men (Firestar/Angelica Jones, Iceman/Robert Drake, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe), many unidentified victims
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "All-New Orb"
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: Ghost Rider VI#26 (October, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Unlike his predecessor who wore a mask, the All-New Orb's head is a functioning giant eyeball. He was a low level telepath and could subconsciously break through telepathic defenses in his dreams. Since touching the Watcher's eyes he could release powerful energy blasts from his eye. His arsenal includes a Repulsor Ray, a light-weight gun able to fire a destructive blast. The full extent of his weaponry and fighting skills is unrevealed. In spite of the seeming absence of a mouth, the Orb becomes terribly chatty on occasion.
History:
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#6 (fb) - BTS) - Even as an adult Orb still wet the bed....a lot.
(Ghost Rider VI#26 (fb) - BTS) - A successor to the original Orb, the new Orb's head was turned into a giant eyeball at some point in the past, either prior to, or following, his acceptance of the identity.
(Ghost Rider VI#26 (fb) - BTS) - After performing a number of unidentified mercenary jobs, the Orb entered a period of inactivity. Hired to take down Caretaker alongside Blackout, Doghead and Death Ninja, the Orb relished the opportunity for action.
(Ghost Rider VI#26) - Led to Caretaker's house in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, the Orb followed the others up to the house, with Doghead checking for traps. Aware of his visitors, Caretaker burst through the front door, blowing off Doghead's head with his Hellfire rifle and warning the others to leave. Firing on his target with his Repulsor Ray, the Orb forced Caretaker to draw back into the house. The Orb apprehensively followed with Death Ninja, noting the supposedly small house's impossibly expansive interiors. Entering a room stocked with Ghost Rider and motorcycling paraphernalia, the Orb triggered a trap, launching a wooden plank lined with nails into his "eye". The Orb recoiled in pain, unable to stop Caretaker from killing Death Ninja.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Orb was taken into police custody and held in the South Nashville Prison Hospital for his "massive eyeball trauma".
(Ghost Rider VI#33 - BTS) - Deacon and Blackout considered him as a possible agent in their fight against Ghost Rider (Blaze).
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#1) - Deacon and Blackout broke into the South Nashville Prison Hospital to recruit the Orb, promising him that Zadkiel could heal him.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#2 (fb) - BTS) - Fully healed, the Orb joined Blackout and Deacon as they recruited Big Wheel, Madcap, the Scarecrow and Trull to their ranks.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#2) - Although hungry for chicken and waffles, the Orb joined Blackout and Deacon in locating former police deputy Kowalski, the current incarnation of Vengeance. Finding him in a bar littered with murdered patrons, Blackout told Kowalski of their plan to eliminate the Ghost Riders and eagerly signed on.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#4) - Vengeance, Orb and a horde of undead bikers attacked the Gun Nuns' monastery to take control over their portal to Heaven.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#5) - Driving his motorbike into the battle Orb was shot in the hand by one of the Gun Nuns, loosing his gun in the process. Running around in pain Orb was then knocked out by Johnny Blaze, who had just arrived with Dan Ketch, to aid the Gun Nuns against the invaders and then use their portal to get to Heaven.
(Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#6) - Due to his injured hand Orb was sent to prison hospital after being arrested alongside Deacon, who had been paralysed in battle with Caretaker (Sara). Orb couldn't wait to become cellmates with Deacon and warned him that he wet the bed a lot.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1) - Orb led his gang the Orblings in a bank robbery on the bank Sara Bailey was working at (she is NOT the sister of Jean Grey). When Time Diamonds stolen from a locker by one of the Orblings hit the ground after Spider-Man and Wolverine dealt with the robbery, the two heroes were transported through time.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#2 - BTS) - Orb was also thrown into the timestream and utilizing Time Diamonds as fuel traveled through time for years, gaining an impressively muscular physique and futuristic weaponry. The Time Variance Authority's Minutemen were sent after him to arrest him for his disregard for chonal continuity.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#2) - Orb arrived in the future where Spider-Man and Wolverine got stranded and attack Spider-Man, demanding more Time Diamonds from him, so he could keep escaping the Minutemen. Shortly after Spider-Man told him that he had no diamonds Orb blamed him for everything that had happened, warned him of the Czar and was then caught by the Minutemen and pulled into the timestream.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#5) - Orb told the other Time Diamonds users that the Minutemen were coming for them.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#6) - Pulled through the timestream by the Minutemen Orb was returned to the present before the Time Diamonds started transporting him and the other participants of the bank robbery through time. Orb surrendered and remembered his time travel adventures and was surprised that he was back to his normal form without overtly muscular body and headband. He was then arrested by the NYPD.
(Incredible Hulk V#7.1) - Orb led three Orblings in a bank robbery where he only stole the eyes of those present at the bank and didn't even care for the money. Outside the bank he saw the Hulk and Red She-Hulk fighting each other and blasted them with his ray gun to steal their eyes as well, but it only angered them and they punched him in the head. Afterward they became intimidate and Orb was unable to unsee it.
(Original Sin#3 (fb) - BTS) - For weeks Orb dreamt of Uatu and his home in the Blue Area of the Moon.
(Original Sin#3 (fb) ) - Orb approached Doctor Midas and told him about his dreams and suggested an alliance to rob the Watcher's home of its secrets. Midas agreed to it after Orb told him that the Watcher kept his secrets in his eyes.
(Original Sin#1 - BTS/Original Sin#7) - Orb, Exterminatrix, Doctor Midas and a bunch of Mindless Ones invaded Uatu's base, which allowed Orb to just enter it. When the Watcher discovered the invasion he confronted the villains and they tried to murder him.
(Original Sin#7 (fb) ) - Orb felt that the Watcher was scared of death and then shot him in the head with one of the weapons the others had stolen from the armory. Uatu survived, but he got one of his eyes ripped out.
(Original Sin#1) - Orb and Exterminatrix realized that the Mindless Ones were changing too fast since invading Uatu's base. Orb didn't care and only wantd to open Uatu's eye to learn all its secrets.
(Original Sin#2) - The Avengers surrounded the warehouse the Mindless Ones, Exterminatrix, Doctor Midas and Orb were hiding in. Orb realized they would keep mutating and suggested to leave Midas behind, but Exterminatrix was against it. While Exterminatrix fought the Avengers Orb and Midas wondered how they could get the secrets out of Uatu's eye. They wandered to the outside to confront the Avengers and Orb revealed himself to the Avengers and told them that the eye of Uatu was a bomb filled with secrets.
(Original Sin#3/Original Sin#3.1/Original Sin#5.1/Nova V#18/Amazing Spider-Man III#4/Daredevil V#6/Original Sins#3/Original Sin: Secret Avengers#1) - Orb released all the stored secrets from Uatu's stolen eye and they washed over the city and present heroes. Nick Fury took the eye for himself and arrested Orb, who was taken to Avengers Tower where Wolverine and Hulk guarded him. Orb promised to tell them everything if they brought Nick Fury to him.
(Original Sin#4) - The Punisher and Dr. Strange abducted Orb from Avengers Tower to find out the truth about the secret murderer. Orb knew who the unseen murderer was because Uatu's eye had shown him (but didn't tell them it was Nick Fury). Uatu's eye liked Orb and he could feal it and led the Punisher and Strange to Nick Fury's secret space station where they also encountered Emma Frost, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon and Bucky, who had taken the eye from Nick Fury's LMD after destroying it. Upon seeing the eye Orb wanted to hold it, but a fight broke out between the heroes when they saw Winter Soldier carrying Nick Fury's head. They stopped fighting when they realized Fury's head was that of a LMD. The real Nick Fury then welcomed them on his space station.
(Original Sin#5) - Nick Fury told those present on his space station, including Orb, his secret history as the protector of Earth and murderer of countless lifeforms throughout space and other dimensions. Orb collapsed when he tried to tell the heroes present that Fury was still not telling the whole truth. Fury ordered Orb to be taken his interrogation room.
(Original Sin#6) - Two Nick Fury LMDs dragged Orb to Fury's interrogation room. After sending more LMDs against the heroes on his space station Fury retreated to his interrogation room Fury wanted to know from Orb how he could open his eye of Uatu because Fury couldn't open the eye he had stolen.
(Original Sins#5/1) - Kept at Nick Fury's secret space station for interrogation Orb was present when Dum Dum Dugan, who confronted Nick Fury, realized that he was just a LMD.
(Original Sin#7) - Orb somehow escaped his restraints and destroyed a Nick Fury LMD. He then easily defeated Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Emma Frost and the Punisher by releasing a powerful energy blast from his eye. Orb then approached Uatu's citadel on the Moon, fighting his way through Thor and the Hulk with ease, to learn the Watcher's last secret.
(Original Sin#8) - Using an energy blast from his eye Orb knocked down Nick Fury, who dropped Uatu's eyes, but only after a Mindless One assaulted Fury as well, Orb was able to pick up the eyes. The eyes suddenly attacked Orb, chocking him. Observed by a group of Watchers one of the eyeballs painfully embedded itself in Orb's chest.
Orb returned to Earth and knocked on a woman's door. She was in the process of killing her partner. Orb explained that he had no interest to stop her because he just wanted to watch.
Comments: Created by Bill Rosemann (writer) and Guy Davis (artist)
Unlike the original Orb whose
"eye" was a helmet, this Orb's head is actually a
large eyeball -- Death-Ninja refers to him having a giant eyeball for a
head, and it's unlikely the board and nails would have been such a
problem if the eye were just a helmet. It's unclear how this Orb's head
came to be like this, whether it was accidental, of his own doing, or
some sort of "natural" mutation.
This was later confirmed by
writer Jason Aaron who liked the idea of an "Orb" with an actual
eyeball for a head, rather than just an eyeball-shaped helmet, and verified on-panel in Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#1.
Despite assertions from writer Jason Aaron that the Orb survived his debut encounter with Caretaker, his survival was not confirmed on-panel until Ghost Rider VI#33.
According to writer Bill Rosemann, the Orb that appeared in Deadline#2 (playing pool with Taskmaster and one of the Super-Apes) was the original Orb, having recovered from his seeming demise. With the appearance of the new Orb, there was some speculation that this Orb was the one that appeared in Deadline (providing some context to the Orb's inference that he'd been active prior to his introduction). Until it's clarified it's anyones guess, but for the time being there're two Orbs active in the Marvel Universe (...did someone say team-up?).
Thanks to Brandon Nash for pointing out the Gun Nuns and their Mother Superior were missing from Enemies.
Profile by G Morrow (with a nod to the original Orb profile by Snood).
CLARIFICATIONS: Orb has no known connections to
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1) - Though not very loyal because they considered him insane the Orblings were Orb's gang and aided him in a bank robbery. One of them found Time Diamonds in a locker and was knocked out by Spider-Man. Another got his gun sliced apart by Wolverine. When the Time Diamonds hit the ground the heroes, Orb and Sara Bailey were transported through time.
(Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#6) - Orb and the Orblings surrendered to Spider-Man and Wolverine. One of the Orblings escaped with some Time Diamonds and sold them to the drug dealer Czar.
(Incredible Hulk V#7.1) - Three Orblings joined Orb in a bank robbery that ended up different than they would've expected because Orb was only interested in stealing the eyes of everyone in the bank and not the money. They fled on their bikes, leaving Orb behind, when he attempted to steal the eyes of Hulk and Red She-Hulk.
--Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1 (Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1, 6, Incredible Hulk V#7.1
images:
(without ads)
All-New OHOTMU, Orb profile (main image)
Ghost Rider VI#26, p10, pan1 (the All-New Orb in action)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#2, p13, pan1 (musclebound)
Original Sin#8, p26, pan4 (with Uatu's eye embedded in chest)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1, p14, pan1 (Orblings)
Appearances:
Ghost Rider VI#26 (October, 2008) - Jason Aaron (writer), Tan Eng Huat (artist), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Ghost Rider VI#33 (May, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Tony Moore (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#1 (October, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Roland Boschi (artist), Sebastian Girner (editor)
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#2 (November, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Roland Boschi (artist), Sebastian Girner (editor)
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire#4-6 (January-March, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer), Roland Boschi (artist), Sebastian Girner (editor)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#1 (July, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Mark Morales & Dexter Vines (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#2 (September, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Mark Morales (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#5 (May, 2011) - Jason Aaron (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Mark Roslan (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine#6 (July, 2011) - Jason Aaron (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Mark Roslan (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Incredible Hulk#7.1 (July, 2012) - Jason Aaron (writer), Jefte Palo (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Original Sin#1-2 (July, 2014) - Jason Aaron (writer), Mike Deodato (artist), Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss (editors)
Original Sin#3-4 (August, 2014) - Jason Aaron (writer), Mike Deodato (artist), Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss (editors)
Original Sin#3.1 (August, 2014) - Mark Waid & Kieron Gillen (writers), Mark Bagley (pencils), Andrew Hennessey (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Original Sin: Secret Avengers#1 (2014) - Ales Kot (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Nova V#18 (August, 2014) - Gerry Duggan (writer), David Baldeon (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Ellie Pyle & Nick Lowe (editors)
Original Sin#5.1 (September, 2014) - Jason Aaron & Al Ewing (writers), Lee Garbett & Simone Bianchi (artists), Wil Moss (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man III#4 (September, 2014) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Daredevil V#6 (September, 2014) - Mark Waid (writer), Javier Rodriguez (pencils), Alvaro Lopez (inks), Ellie Pyle (editor)
Original Sins#3 (September, 2014) - Charles Soule (writer), Ryan Browne (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Original Sin#5-6 (September, 2014) - Jason Aaron (writer), Mike Deodato (artist), Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss (editors)
Original Sin#7-8 (October-November, 2014) - Jason Aaron (writer), Mike Deodato (artist), Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss (editors)
Original Sins#5 (October, 2014) - Al Ewing (writer), Butch Guice (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss (editors)
First Posted: 09/19/2008
Last updated: 09/03/2016
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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