Nebula Man is a fictional character in

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. He first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #100–101 (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

). Originally a villain responsible for the disappearance of the

Seven Soldiers of Victory The Seven Soldiers of Victory (also known as Law's Legionnaires) is a team of fictional comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in ''Leading Comics'' #1 (Winter 1941), and were created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Mesk ...

, he has since reappeared as Neh-Buh-Loh, the primary antagonist in the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

–

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

mega-series ''

Seven Soldiers ''Seven Soldiers'' is a 2005–2006 comic book metaseries written by Grant Morrison and published by DC Comics. It was published as seven interrelated Limited series (comics), mini-series and two bookend issues. The series features a new version of ...

'' by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...

. Before this reappearance Morrison built up the character's backstory, starting in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

with more extensive appearances in ''JLA: Classified'' (

Fictional character biography

The Neh-Buh-Loh is in fact the adult version of a sentient universe called Qwewq. He first appeared as the Nebula Man in ''Justice League of America'' #100, described as a cosmic being "whose touch has the power of 20 atomic bombs". He was supposedly created by a villain known as The Hand to defeat the original Seven Soldiers of Victory (a later

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

would give him his current origin, with The Hand's involvement being more incidental). He battled the Soldiers in Tibet. His actions scattered the Soldiers through time, a fate from which they were later saved by the

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

and

Justice Society Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

. The Nebula Man was defeated when the sidekick of the

Crimson Avenger The Crimson Avenger is the name of three separate fictional characters, superheroes and supervillains who exist in the DC Comics Universe. The character debuted in 1938 and is notable as the first masked hero in DC Comics. The first Crimson ...

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, sacrificed himself to deliver the final blow with a cosmic device; Wing was buried in Tibet by monks who witnessed his death. During the JLA storyline "Rock of Ages", the Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern are sent by Metron through time and space and they land on Wonderworld. During a brief tour of Wonderworld's Omnitropolis and its museum district by that world's

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

analogue Mote, a few peculiar items are mentioned. Amongst them are an evil 5 dimensional imp trapped in a 6 dimensional bottle, a speedster Glimmer's treadmill, and a larval universe they call Qwewq. They say that they are feeding it and hope to allow it to grow to its full potential. The Nebula Man appeared once more in ''

Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. ''Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.'' is an American comic book published by DC Comics, featuring the second Star-Spangled Kid and her stepfather, the original version's sidekick Stripesy. It was first published in July 1999 (with a "zero issue") and ran for ...

'', before reappearing in ''JLA: Classified'' #1–3, working with

Gorilla Grodd Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''Th ...

and announcing the end of the world. At the same time, the Justice League were in the Infant Universe of Qwewq, unaware that this was Neh-Buh-Loh's larval form. In the ''Seven Soldiers'' series, Neh-Buh-Loh was revealed to be allied with (or perhaps created by) the

Sheeda The Sheeda is a fictional race created in comics published by DC Comics. They first appear in ''Seven Soldiers'' #0 (April 2005), and were created by Grant Morrison and J.H. Williams III. Their first DC Universe appearance was in Morrison's intro ...

, time travelling predators from the end of time. He served as the personal huntsman of the Sheeda Queen Gloriana Tenebrae. In the past, Neh-Buh-Loh had been sent to slay the queen's innocent stepdaughter Rhiannon (a.k.a. Misty Kilgore). However, moved by her beauty and symmetry, he could not bear to do it and allowed the girl to escape. This was Neh-Buh-Loh's secret shame for many years. It was further explained that in the 1940s, Neh-Buh-Loh had been summoned (rather than created) by The Hand using a sonic horn. The creature was seeking "seven soldiers" who were prophesied to one day defeat his mistress, Gloriana. The Hand was all too eager to point him in the right direction, thus leading to the original Seven Soldiers becoming lost in time. This same sonic horn was used by The Hand's nephew Boy Blue to once again summon Neh-Buh-Loh and the Sheeda in the present, leading to the destruction of an ''ad hoc'' Seven Soldiers team created by the original

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

. This set the stage for the Harrowing of Earth which the heroes of the ''Seven Soldiers'' series attempted to prevent. Neh-Buh-Loh was finally defeated by

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

, who capitalized on a flaw placed in him as an infant by the

Ultramarine Corps Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afg ...

, a team of heroes who had entered Qwewq seeking redemption.

Allusions

The use of Neh-Buh-Loh in ''Seven Soldiers'' is influenced by several characters in myth and legend. His failed mission to kill his queen's lovely stepdaughter is a direct parallel with the

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

. In addition, his role as the horned Huntsman of the Sheeda has elements of characters from

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a ...

such as the horned god

Cernunnos In ancient Celtic and Gallo-Roman religion, Cernunnos or Carnonos was a god depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs and bulls. He is usually shown holding or wearing a torc and somet ...

and later legends such as the King of the

Wild Hunt The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...

and

Herne the Hunter In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. He is said to have antlers growing from his head, ride a horse, torment cattle, and rattle chains. The earliest m ...

Other versions

In ''

All-Star Superman ''All-Star Superman'' is a twelve-issue American comic book series featuring Superman that was published by DC Comics. The series ran from November 2005 to October 2008. The series was written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, and digita ...

'' #10, Superman uses the infant universe of Qwewq to create an Earth without a Superman that he dubs Earth Q.

References

External links

A brief biography on Nebula Man
* {{Justice League characters Characters created by Dick Dillin Characters created by Len Wein Comics characters introduced in 1972 DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics supervillains DC Comics deities