Origin

Born on the planet Kvetch in the Kvell Star System, Kirtann-Rodd was the greatest designer in the universe. Or at least, in his own mind.

He was busy designing a temple dedicated to the Lords of Order when he unknowingly offended two of them. In those days, it was not uncommon for the Order Lords to take on corporeal form to interact with lesser beings. Two such Lords of Order, St’nn and Jakk, were secretly observing the Kvetch and decided to visit the temple. Already horrified by the sheer gaudiness of it all, Kirtann compounded his offense by arrogantly attempting to eject the disguised Lords of Order. Angered by his sheer effrontery, St’nn promptly exiled Kirtann to another universe.

This alternate universe was “a dimension of unconnectedness, of enformed madness, of swirling, garish colors and unbelievable, outrageous forms". Anyone else would have been driven mad by the sheer tastelessness and ugliness of it all. Kirtann however, with his atrocious bad taste and love for obscene tackiness, found it absolutely divine.

He spent countless eons in this universe; enthralled with it’s beauty, until he stumbled across a crack between realities and found his home dimension once more. Observing his horribly bland dimension, he realized that the universe was in dire need of his superior aesthetics. Someone had to do something and that someone might as well be him. It was his destiny: to save the universe from its gray dullness and utter drabness and bring his refined taste to them ... even if he had to redecorate every single planet in the entire cosmos to do it!

His long sojourn in this alternate universe had changed his being, granting him phenomenal cosmic powers and so, Kirtann-Rodd emerged as Mr. Nebula, Interplanetary Designer! He eagerly began to bestow upon the universe his gift of appalling tackiness, gaudy designs, and clashing colors of fuscia, mauve, teal, and lavender; leaving behind in his wake, entire traumatized planets and near-suicidal populaces.

Realizing that he had better things to do than search for these benighted worlds of utter drabness, Mr. Nebula hired the Scarlet Skier to serve as his Cosmic Locator to find these poor planets that desperately needed his good taste.

Creation

Mr. Nebula was created by Keith Giffen and J.M.DeMatteis.

Major Story Arcs

Ultimately, after yet another successful planet redecoration, Mr. Nebula realized that his Locator was long absent and finding him on the planet Earth, immediately sought to retrieve him. Disgusted with the utter distastefulness of the planet, Mr. Nebula began his work to redecorate the entire world only to be confronted by the Justice League.

Despite their best efforts, the cosmic powers of Mr. Nebula proved far superior to their might. It was only through trickery that they proved victorious when the Martian Manhunter, telepathically reading the Scarlet Skier’s memories of his service with Mr. Nebula; realized that the Planet Redecorator desperately wanted to be appreciated.

He convinced Nebula that Earth had realized his artistic visionary and adored his superb sense of style and were in the process of transforming their world to match Nebula's aesthetics. As proof, he brought Mr. Nebula to Las Vegas. Stunned at how humanity had copied his greatest works and designs, a tearful Mr. Nebula realized that someone out there, finally appreciated him and his work.

At the behest of the Martian Manhunter, Mr. Nebula even went so far as to reverse all of his transformations in order to allow humanity "the honor" of correcting all of the dreadful dullness of their world themselves. He happily departed, convinced of the utter rightness of his artistic vision and that he would succeed in converting the rest of the universe to his good taste.

Unfortunately for the Scarlet Skier, Nebula also remembered to retrieve him in order to continue his mission.

Powers and Abilities

Mr. Nebula possesses phenomenal cosmic powers, which he mostly uses for the purpose of redecorating the cosmos as he sees fit. When redecorating planets, he makes use of machines called Terrain Modifiers, which can alter the shape, color, or texture of any object. He travels through the cosmos in his Nebulamobile, a gigantic space station/vehicle.

Trivia

A thinly veiled satire of Marvel Comics' Planet Eater Galactus. In addition, the two Lords of Order responsible for Mr. Nebula's banishment; St'nn and Jakk were also thinly veiled homages of Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby who created Galactus in the first place.

Mr. Nebula's real name, Kirtann-Rodd is of course an analogy of Curtain Rod; which happens to be an essential piece of hardware for drapes and curtains.