Jude the Entropic Man

Publication history

Jude the Entropic Man appeared in Marvel Two-In-One #42-43 (August-September 1978), and was created by Ralph Macchio and Sal Buscema.

Fictional character biography

Former A.I.M. member Victorius used the Cosmic Cube to create a being that would incarnate the nihilistic philosophy of the eccentric Cult of Entropists from the remains of their leader Yagzan (who had been killed by the Glob) and the soil, slime, and stone nearby. The result was Jude the Entropic Man, a semi-humanoid being with the hypnotic power to attract victims and the ability to turn them to dust with his touch.

Captain America and Thing traced the Cube's energy to the Cult and its leaders. Captain America fought Victorius, drawing the attention of Man-Thing, in whose swamp the Cult was based. Jude engulfed the Thing, removing the Thing's powers. Man-Thing had picked up the Cosmic Cube, and Victorius tried to wrestle it away from him. Jude, who had decided that humanity was not yet ready for his "gift", instead decided that Victorius, being the leader of the cult that created him, would appreciate it much more. Jude then pulled Victorius toward him, and when they, the Man-Thing, and the Cube were all in contact with each other, Jude transformed them all into a large crystal. From that point on, the crystal has lain in the swamp, radiating life-enhancing effects.

Jude the Entropic Man later appears as part of the new High Council of A.I.M. (consisting of Andrew Forson, Graviton, Mentallo, Superia, Yelena Belova, and Taskmaster working undercover) as the Minister of Health.

Powers and abilities

Jude the Entropic Man has some unspecified scientific training as well as low-level psychic powers which enabled him to form a mental link with the Golden Brain.

Jude the Entropic Man is immune to conventional injury. He can also entrance people to allow his entropic powers to turn them to dust.

Paradise X

In the alternate universe commonly called Earth X, after the annihilation of the embodiment of death at the end of Universe X, it soon became clear that dying had become completely impossible. This turned out to be a curse, since many people ended up suffering terribly without a hope for death to end their pain—a situation intentionally exacerbated by Mephisto, who hoped that the heroes, particularly Reed Richards, would free the Entropic Man. Indeed, Jude was called out of his crystalline chrysalis—only to be captured again, to keep the living safe from him as Richards synthesized an "entropy serum" from him which would serve to euthanize those people who were suffering so much they no longer wanted to live. Mephisto freed Jude, however, and he began to end people's lives indiscriminately. In the end, he consented to be restrained to an island, where those people who wished to die could seek out his touch on their own.