Humus Sapien (Sonny Baredo) is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He first appeared as Humus Sapiens in ''

FOOM ''FOOM'' was Marvel Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s, following the canceled ''Marvelmania'' and preceding ''Marvel Age''. Running 22 quarterly issues (February 1973 – Fall 1978), it was initially designed and edited by comic ...

'' #3 (Autumn 1973), created by Michael A. Barreiro. He first appeared as Humus Sapien in '' Thunderbolts'' #54 (Sept. 2001), by the writer-artist team of

Fabian Nicieza Fabian Nicieza (; December 31, 1961) is an Argentine-American comic book writer and editor who is best known for his work on Marvel titles such as ''X-Men'', '' X-Force'', ''New Warriors'', ''Nomad'', ''Cable'', '' Gambit'', '' Deadpool'' and ' ...

and

Patrick Zircher Patrick Zircher () is an American comic book artist and penciller. Career Zircher's early career as an illustrator began with production of several completed works for '' Villains and Vigilantes'', '' Champions'' and other pen-and-paper role-pl ...

Publication history

''FOOM''

Humus Sapien

first appeared In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

in Marvel's self-produced

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fan (aficionado), fans of the popular culture subject matter that it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one h ...

, ''

'' # 3 (Fall 1973), created (as

Humus Sapiens) by Michael A. Barreiro of Penn Hills,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and was the winning entry in the magazine's character-creation contest.''FOOM'' contents and checklist: Issue # 3
. Although ''FOOM'' founding editor

Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comics artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, Illusionist, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with th ...

wrote in the premiere-issue introduction that "(t)he winning entry (to be selected by Ol' Smilin' Stan eehimself) will become a super guest-star featured in one of Marvel's top hero mags!", this never occurred, and both the character and the contest faded into obscurity. Later, Barreiro inquired about the character but received no response from Marvel. In 1979, ''Buyer's Guide to Comic Fandom'' columnist,

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

, wrote about the character and contest and, though nothing immediately came of it, the column prompted

Tom Brevoort Tom Brevoort () is an American comic book editor, known for his work for Marvel Comics, where he has overseen titles such as '' New Avengers'', ''Civil War'', and ''Fantastic Four''. He became Executive Editor in 2007, and in January 2011, was pro ...

, editor of Marvel's '' Thunderbolts'', to call Barreiro two decades later with an offer to use the character..

Thunderbolts

In 1998, writer

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

and editor

decided to use Barreiro's character in the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

series, '' Thunderbolts''.

, who succeeded Busiek as ''Thunderbolts'' writer (and had also entered the ''FOOM'' contest), agreed. Renamed Humus Sapien, the character finally debuted, after 28 years, in ''Thunderbolts'' #54 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d Sept. 2001). Barreiro was allowed to

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...

one page of the issue featuring the character.

Fictional character biography

Humus Sapien fought the

Redeemers The Redeemers were a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era of the United States, Reconstruction Era that followed the American Civil War. Redeemers were the Southern wing of the Democratic Party (Unite ...

when he emerged from a suspended animation chamber where he had been imprisoned by

Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

and

Factor Three Factor Three is a short-lived supervillain subversive organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group is usually depicted within the pages of ''The X-Men''. It was led by the Mutant Master, who was secretly an ...

. He has vaguely defined superhuman abilities powered by Earth's population; however, each time he uses his powers, random people around the world die. Humus Sapien's final battle, after which he voluntarily leaves Earth, drains the lives of 2,400 random people across the globe, including the

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

superhero, the Arabian Knight.''Thunderbolts'' #55

References

External links

* {{Marvunapp, http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/humussapien.htm, Humus Sapien Marvel Comics mutants Marvel Comics supervillains Visual arts competitions 1973 competitions