3-D Man

Infobox comics character


converted=y
caption=Art by Frank Quitely
character_name=3-D Man
real_name=Charles "Chuck" Chandler and Harold "Hal" Chandler
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Marvel Premiere" #35 (April 1977)
creators=Roy Thomas
Jim Craig
alliances=
aliases=
powers=ability to sense Skrulls
superhuman durability
superhuman speed
superhuman strength
cat = super
subcat = Marvel Comics
hero = y
villain =
sortkey = PAGENAME

3-D Man (Charles & Hal Chandler) is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. Though his adventures take place in the 1950s, the character was created by Roy Thomas in the 1970s in the anthology series, "Marvel Premiere".

Fictional character biography

Chuck and Hal Chandler were born in Los Angeles, California. As a test pilot for NASA in the 1950s, Chuck was piloting the experimental XF-13 rocket plane when he was captured by the Skrulls. They attempted to interrogate him, but Chuck Chandler escaped, damaging their warp drive in the process. The Skrull saucer exploded as he flew away, exposing him to strange radiation. Chandler crashed the XF-13 in the Mojave Desert, and when his brother Hal attempted to rescue him, Chuck disappeared. Hal discovered that Chuck's image had been imprinted on the lenses of his glasses. When Hal wore the glasses and concentrated, he triggered a dimensional shift that caused Chuck to materialize; in his new form Chuck wore a green and red bodysuit and his normal strength, speed, and stamina had been tripled. As the costumed 3-D Man, Chuck fought crime and the occasional Skrull plot.

On at least one occasion, Hal's mind occupied the body of the 3-D Man, and there is evidence that the 3-D Man's mind is actually a combination of Hal's and Chuck's, with Chuck's psyche usually dominant.

At some point after his 1950s adventures Hal Chandler decided to stop functioning as the 3-D Man and left his brother floating around in another dimension. Hal later encountered a down-on-his-luck Bruce Banner and, afraid that the Hulk might show up, used the glasses to summon up Chuck again. After this encounter, the 3-D Man returned into his brother's glasses, determined never to return. ["Hulk" #251]

Events regarding the former Avenger Triathlon have shown how Chandler's powers were involved with the Triune Understanding.

With the aid of the Avengers, Hal and Chuck were separated and managed to reunite with an old lady friend.

The Initiative

After undergoing and completing training at Camp Hammond, Triathlon took on the name and costume of 3-D Man, and plays an important role in Marvel's Secret Invasion.

Other versions

What if...?

In "What If" vol. 1, #9, FBI agent Jimmy Woo brought the 3-D Man together with several other heroes, including Gorilla-Man, Human Robot, Marvel Boy, and Venus, to form the Avengers. While the events of "Avengers Forever" have erased that adventure, a similar mission involving those characters (minus 3-D Man) did take place in the 1950s, as shown in the 2006 miniseries "Agents of Atlas". Writer Jeff Parker has explained that he didn't use 3-D Man in "Agents of Atlas", in part due to his being a 1970s retcon, not an original Atlas Comics character. [ [http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/details.php?id=432 Jeff Parker interview at BrokenFrontier.com] ]

Powers and abilities

Hal Chandler could, by concentrating on the image of his brother imprinted on his glasses, summon a super-powered version of his brother: the 3-D Man. This action would cause Hal to lose consciousness. The 3-D Man, in turn, could only exist for three hours at a time before Hal would wake up, causing the 3-D Man to subsequently disappear.

As the 3-D Man, Chuck Chandler possessed three times the physical capabilities of a "peak" human male. As his name suggests, the 3-D Man is three times as strong, fast, and durable as a prime physical specimen, such as Captain America. Each of his five senses are three times more powerful than the peak capabilities of a normal human being. It is possible that his vision is so enhanced that he can see into outside the visible portion of the light spectrum ("Example: Infrared"), and that he can hear frequencies that a normal human being could not.

Also, the 3-D Man could detect Skrulls no matter what form they took via shape-shifting.

Notes

References

*comicbookdb|type=character|id=3898|title=3-D Man