(Madballs I#8/2 (fb) - BTS) - Released after arrest, de Fax
was assigned a
parole officer and became a reformed man.
ANCHOR-MAN
Real Name: Ben de Fax
Identity/Class: Normal human (fringe character - see comments)
Occupation: Television newsreader and
reporter, thief,
hypnotist
Group Membership: WBLA News, International
Network of Creeps (I.N.C.) (Colonel Corn, Crasher, Maiden Hong Kong, Smasher, Trasher, Weirdbeard the Pirate)
Affiliations: Bad Balls (Crasher, Smasher, Trasher), Colonel Corn, Doktor
Viktor Frankenbeans, Madbelle, Maiden Hong Kong, Simon Snivelitch, Miss Tic the Mystic, Gail
Warning, Weird Beard the Pirate
Enemies: Madballs (Aargh, Bash Brain/Crack Head, Bruise Brother, Dust Brain, Fistface, Freaky Fullback,
Goal Eater, Horn Head/Nob Head, Lock Lips, Oculus Orbus, Screamin'
Meemie,
Skullface, Slobulus, Snake Bait, Splitting Headache, Swine Sucker, Wolf
Breath/Baby's Breath)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: USA
First Appearance: Madballs I#4 (June, 1987)
Powers/Abilities: Anchor-Man was an able and
popular newsreader but incredibly greedy. He used a microphone-shaped
device he called a Micro-Phoney of unrevealed origin that used subsonic waves to hypnotize
anyone watching the television broadcast to do whatever he commanded.
He donned an odd facemask that appeared to have telescopic eyepieces.
Height: 5'11"
(by approximation)
Weight: 175 lbs.; (with anchor mask): 185 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Strawberry blond
History: (Madballs I#4/3) - Six Madballs (Dust Brain, Fistface,
Screamin' Meemie, Slobulus, Snake Bait, Wolf Breath) were surprised to
see their child friends loyally running to watch WBLA newsreader Ben de
Fax on TV. Three Madballs were distracted while de Fax unveiled his
hypnotizing Micro-Phoney device and mind-controlled everyone watching.
Donning a bizarre mask and declaring himself Anchor-Man, he demanded
that all viewers' valuables be brought to him at a park. The three
Madballs captivated were freed and all six set out to stop Anchor-Man,
now wallowing in riches. Anchor-Man ordered his minions to
smash the Madballs but the vicious balls evaded them and instead
crushed the Micro-Phoney device, ending its mind-controlling
transmission.
Freed, the crowd tossed Anchor-Man into the nearby lake.
(Madballs I#8/2 (fb) - BTS) - Released after arrest, de Fax
was assigned a
parole officer and became a reformed man.
(Madballs I#7/1) - De Fax reported
live from the street
as six Madballs (Dust Brain, Lock Lips, Skullface,
Slobulus, Snake Bait, Wolf Breath) demolished the local Bijou Theater
(although they knew it was due for demolition).
(Madballs I#8/2) - Angered by wildly inaccurate
weather reports from WBLA news, five Madballs (Goal Eater, Lock Lips,
Screamin' Meemie, Skullface, Snake Bait) confronted de Fax at WBLA,
demanding to speak to the weather presenter Gail Warning. Shaken, he
directed them to the studio.
(Madballs I#9) - Doktor Frankenbeans allied with Miss
Tic the Mystic to magically bring together the Madballs' greatest foes:
Anchor-Man, Colonel Corn, Maiden Hong Kong, Weird Beard the Pirate and
the Bad Balls, forming the International Network of Creeps (I.N.C.).
They held the world hostage by causing chaos unless the world paid them
$27 quillion. The Madballs split into five groups to tackle the
internationally spread threats; in Hollywood, Anchor-Man, united again
with his Micro-Phoney device, hypnotized network chiefs to hand all
TV networks to him. Four Madballs (Aargh, Horn Head, Splitting Headache, Wolf Breath) arrived and again crushed his
Micro-Phoney but Anchor-Man escaped back to Doktor Frankenbeans' base
alongside the other failed villains. There, the scoundrels were forced
into the toxic pond that had given rise to the Madballs, Anchor-Man's
helmet causing him to sink head first while the Madballs mocked them
all.
Comments: Created by Michael Gallagher (writer), Howard Post (pencils) and Roberta Edelman (inks).
He's initially referred to as "DeFax."
Madballs are a bunch of 19 floating sentient, ugly-looking balls formed mostly by exposure to a unique toxic pond that began as AmToy toys in 1985 and initially spawned Marvel comics, a cartoon, video game, stationery and a novel by R.L. Stine (yep, him). The concept has since been revived.
Not sure if the Madballs are Earth-616, but nothing quite ruling them out.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Anchor-Man has no known connections to:
Weather forecaster and announcer for WBLA News, Gail
Warning worked alongside newsreader Ben de Fax. She was armed with a
powerful lightning rod of unrevealed
composition that could instantly alter weather on a large or small
scale,
generating fierce storms, lightning, snow and harsh gales at her
malicious command.
Five of the self-propelled, sentient Madballs (Goal
Eater, Lock Lips, Screamin' Meemie, Skullface, Snake Bait) burst into
the WBLA studios to confront Gail Warning about her
incredibly incorrect forecasts. She quickly responded by
shocking them with her lightning rod before banishing them in a mini
blizzard to the North Pole. The Madballs quickly returned and they
fought until Snake Bait scared Gail with snakes and the Madballs
broke and munched her rod. She was then taken into custody on the
charge of "violating the laws of nature."
--Madballs I#8/2
images:
(without ads)
Madballs I#9, p5 (main image)
Madballs I#4, p15, pan6 (headshot uncovered)
Madballs I#4, p16, pan1 (placing mask on)
Madballs I#8, p15, pan2 (Gail Warning)
Appearances:
Madballs I#4/3 (June, 1987) - Michael Gallagher (writer), Howard Post
(pencils), Roberta Edelman (inks), Sid Jacobson (editor)
Madballs I#8/2 (February, 1988) - Michael Gallagher (writer &
pencils), Roberta Edelman (inks), Sid Jacobson (editor)
Madballs I#9 (April, 1988) Michael Gallagher (writer), Howard Post
(pencils), Roberta Edelman (inks), Sid Jacobson (editor)
First posted: 08/03/2020
Last updated: 08/03/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
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