Blazing Skull
A war-time hero, the Blazing Skull was an ally to the Invaders and remains active to this day although with far less sanity. In modern times he has fought alongside Thin Man's Invaders squad and the Defenders.
Name:
Blazing Skull
Publisher:
Real name:
Mark Anthony Todd
Aliases:
- Mark Anthony Todd
- Flaming Skull
- Smoking Head
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
- Fire Control
- Flame Breath
- Healing
- Heat Generation
- Immortal
- Invisibility
- Invulnerability
- Light Projection
- Longevity
- Magic
- Super Strength
- Unarmed Combat
First issue:
Mystic Comics (1940) #5 Origin of the Black Marvel; The Tempest; The Discovery in the Volcano; Introducing the Terror; The Legend of the Blackfeet; Garvey Lang; The Poisoned Children; The Story of Mark Todd
Origin
Foreign correspondent Mark Todd, assigned by his newspaper to cover the Second Sino-Japanese War, was forced to take refuge in a cave during an artillery bombardment by the Japanese.
There he met the Skullmen who all had skulls that were on fire. They informed him that he was the chosen by the forces of destiny to be the champion of freedom and began to train him, specially in his immunity to fire. Once his training was done he returned home and motivated to fight the Axis powers, donned on a uniform with a flaming mask (a tribute to the Skull men) and became the Blazing Skull.
As time passed and he continued to master the Skull Men's teachings, he would gain the ability to turn his flesh invisible, mimicking his teachers appearance, and stopped using the mask. Soon after , Todd became involved with the the Invaders and saved the Sub-Mariner's life. He aided the team against the Axis powers. He also fought alongside the team during a massed Allied superhuman airdrop into a Nazi stronghold. As the war in Europe came to a close, the Blazing Skull teamed with Union Jack and the Destroyer to break up an enemy spy-ring in England.
Creation
Blazing Skull was created by an unknown artist and writer and first appeared in Mystic Comics #5 (1941), making him one of the earliest Marvel characters to still be around.
Mayor Story Arcs
Present Day
The Blazing Skull was lost for a long time after World War II, believing to have perished. A simulacrum of the Blazing Skull was temporarily created from the mind of Rick Jones, along with those of the Patriot, the Fin, and the Golden Age Angel and Vision, to aid the superhero team the Avengers during the Kree-Skrull War.
New Invaders
In modern day the Blazing Skull reappeared unaged due to his healing factor as a captive in a Taliban terrorist camp. He was freed, and later recruited by the U.S. Agent into a new, present-day version of the Invaders. It turned out that Blazing Skull was now mentally unstable, after having spent several decades in the Middle East where he was imprisoned, beaten, urinated upon on a daily basis, and insulted so frequently that he began to think the insult was his name. Although at times he seemed crazy, he was a valuable assad to the team and helped them in many missions. After the death of the original Human Torch, leader of the team, the New Invaders disbanded. Mark wondered the earth for some time and would later join the short-lived Last Defenders team.
Marvel Zombies Destroy
Blazing Skull, now calling himself the Flaming Skull, once again resufaced when he recently joined ARMOR and traveled to the alternate of Earth-12591 with Ducky's Dozen in order to stop a coming Nazi-Zombie invasion to his own reality. He seemingly died by being eaten by zombie versions of Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. His sacrifice gave his teammates time to escape and return to earth.
Powers and Abilities
Due to the training he received from the Skull Men, Blazing Skull is immune to fire. He also possesses superhuman strength, a regenerative healing factor, and the ability to turn his flesh invisible, giving him the appearance of a walking skeleton. He later gained the ability to project and expel flame.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 6'
Weight: 198 lbs
Hair: Bald
Eyes: Red
