STU PFAFFENBERGER
Real Name: Stu Pfaffenberger
Identity/Class: Human, civilian
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Onslaught and his Sentinel;
possibly his landlord
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Midtown Manhattan, New York City
First Appearance: X-Men II#55 (August 1996)
Powers/Abilities: Stu Pfaffenberger apparently possessed no detectable superhuman abilities (certainly no mutant powers, otherwise the Sentinel at his window would undoubtedly have engaged). If anything, the apparently Jewish Pfaffenberger had a remarkable tolerance for the many, minor inconveniences inherent to life as a New Yorker.
Height: 6'1" (by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown (presumably)
Hair: Brown
History:
(X-Men I#55 (fb) - BTS) - Stu Pfaffenberger took up
residence in an apartment on the 14th floor of a skyscraper in Midtown
Manhattan. Despite the fact his rent was a whopping 3600 dollars, the
walls were paper thin, the toilet wouldn't stop running and the traffic
and noise of New York kept him up at night, Stu kept the apartment. He
felt the only thing this "dump," as he called it, had going for it was
the amazing view over the city.
(X-Men I#55 - BTS) - As Stu slept, Onslaught took over the United States government's arsenal of mutant hunting robot Sentinels. The psychic villain ordered his robotic army to New York City, where they would serve as his personal guard.
(X-Men I#55) - Like most mornings, Stu Pfaffenberger woke
up at 6:00 AM, the first thought through his mind as he perceived his
cramped living space was "the
landlord's a thief." Lamenting to himself that for over 3500
dollars a month, all he got was a tiny apartment with a bedroom the size
of a minivan, he decided to brighten his mood by taking in the view of
an early morning Manhattan. When he pulled back the curtains however, he
was startled to see the giant dead eyed face of a Sentinel staring back
at him, before it moved off to parts unknown.
Comments: Created by Mark Waid (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks).
"Oy vey, 100 profiles to celebrate and you hadda pick this, eh?" I can hear my anything but Jewish grandmother lamenting from the grave she'd have had if she wasn't cremated in 2009. Why Stu Pfaffenberger for the relatively celebratory 100th? Well... short and sweet: Back in June of 1996, yours truly was 14 years old, addicted to all things X-Men and totally absorbed by the mystery surrounding Onslaught. Because Dutch versions of Marvel releases always tended to be at least four to six months behind and I just had to know more, I visited a comics store and picked up X-Men I#55... Color me impressed. Actually, what impressed me most was the color, because most of the actual dialogue went right over my head.
Thanks to that issue, the Summer of 1996 proved to be a
watershed moment for me. I spent all my time on holiday trying to
translate the copy, using my grandmother's trusty 1935 pocket edition of
the English to Dutch dictionary. To my surprise, it couldn't tell me
what "fully tessellated, neural netwebbed psi-armor" was either. Still,
slaving over the issue helped spark love for the medium, as well as
language and writing in general. Because the cover to X-Men
I#55 didn't survive the repeated rigorous rereads, the opening
page with Stu became the image I identified the issue with.
And let's not forget the fact ignorant lil' me never considered people
could actually be named 'Pfaffenberger' (in
Dutch, it kinda translates to puffy, bloated mountain).
So, that's why I couldn't think of anyone more deserving than Stu of the words "master," let alone "obscure" (especially considering I already covered the anything but obscure Master quite some time ago). Here's to you Stu, let's hope your toilet stopped running at some point, even if I never was able to flush away the memory of you.
100th profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Stu Pfaffenberger should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
X-Men I#55, p1, pan4 (main image)
X-Men I#55, p1, pan5 (the Sentinel voyeur)
Appearances:
X-Men I#55 (August 1996) - Mark Waid (writer),
Andy Kubert (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
First Posted: 02/12/2014
Last updated: 02/12/2014
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!