The Blob


The Blob

(pop culture)When the mutant called the Blob puts his foot down, there's no budging him. Weighing in at 500 pounds, Fred J. Dukes, as seen in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men vol. 1 #3 (1964), is a carnival attraction—his blubbery belly deflects bullets, his enormous girth makes him immovable, and he's superhumanly strong. “The very molecules of your flesh react to your mental commands and seem to perform any feat you desire!” analyzes Professor Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) upon his invitation to Dukes to join his band of mutant heroes, the X-Men, an offer the grandstanding Blob rejects, instead organizing a posse of sideshow freaks for an unsuccessful hostile takeover of the X-Men's mansion. When the Blob resurfaced later that year in issue #7, he was in the company of the X-Men's arch-foes the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Ironically, the Blob's corpulent invulnerability actually saved the X-Men from a missile attack launched by Brotherhood leader Magneto. From that point the Blob became one of the X-Men's recurring nemeses, sometimes partnering with other rogue mutants including Unus the Untouchable and the Mimic. He has also participated in almost every incarnation of the Brotherhood, including the U.S. government–sponsored Freedom Force, Mystique's version of the group formed in 1985 and charged with policing the Mutant Registration Act. Despite his bravado, the Blob is prone to manipulation by his more intelligent teammates. He has continued to mutate over the years, his powers increasing as his size has ballooned to 8 feet in height and a weight of nearly one-half ton. The Blob has appeared as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants on the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1986), X-Men (1992–1997), and X-Men: Evolution (2000–2003), and Toy Biz has issued Blob action figures in the 1990s and 2000s.