Kaluu is a fictional character 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 ...

Publication history

The character first appeared in the story "From the Nameless Nowhere Comes... Kaluu!" in ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...

'' #147 (Aug. 1966). The first five pages were written by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

, with

Denny O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

writing the other half of the story (credited as "Our Vacationin' Sorcerer" and "Our Sorcerer's Apprentice", respectively), and

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie (comics), Zombie and Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil ...

provided all the art.

Fictional character biography

Kaluu was born over five hundred years ago in the mystic city of Kamar-Taj in the

Himalayan Mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peak ...

. He and the

Ancient One The Ancient One is a fictional character appearing in American comic books 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, ...

trained in magic together and worked to eliminate disease, poverty, and suffering from Kamar-Taj. He later conquered Kamar-Taj using his magic and paralyzed the Ancient One with a magical bolt before being forced to flee to the dimension of Raggador. Centuries later, Kaluu escapes and attempts to steal the Book of the Vishanti before being defeated by

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

and sealed in a separate dimension. Kaluu later escapes, reforms, and becomes a businessman, ally of Doctor Strange, and member of the

Mighty Avengers ''The Mighty Avengers'' is a comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics. Originally written by Brian Michael Bendis, also the writer of ''New Avengers'', the title first featured an officially sanctioned Avengers team of registered s ...

.''Captain America and the Mighty Avengers'' #1

Powers and abilities

Kaluu has the ability to manipulate magical forces for a vast number of effects, including levitation, teleportation, energy projection, conjuration of small physical objects, physical transformation of objects, and the tapping of extra-dimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in dimensions tangential to Earth's through the recitation of spells. He has used this skill to render himself immortal. He also has the powers of mesmerism, thought-casting, illusion-casting, and astral projection. According to the back story of the character, Kaluu is possibly the most powerful living human black magician. Kaluu's magic derives not only from personal, universal and dimensional powers: he has powers gained through the tapping of the life forces of living beings and the manipulation of the environment in certain ways that have destructive side effects. Kaluu has used mystical means to render himself immortal. He does not age, but he can be killed by external means. Kaluu is a master of various Asian martial arts, but prefers not to engage in physical combat. He has extensively studied sorcery and possesses vast knowledge of black magical lore. Kaluu formerly wore an eye-patch covering his left eye, though this eye has since been restored.

References

External links

Kaluu
at Marvel Wiki
Kaluu
at Comic Vine {{Stan Lee Avengers (comics) characters Characters created by Bill Everett Characters created by Dennis O'Neil Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1966 Fictional Tibetan people Marvel Comics characters who use magic Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics supervillains