Axel Brass

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caption="Axel 'Doc' Brass". Art by John Cassaday.
character_name=Axel Brass
publisher=Wildstorm
debut="Planetary #1"
creators=Warren Ellis & John Cassaday.

Axel Brass is a fictional character from the comic book "Planetary". He is essentially Doc Savage, Man of Bronze, though rewritten in certain aspects to avoid copyright infringement.

Fictional Biography

What is known of Brass is fairly limited despite how central he is to the comic's plot. Brass is the child of an incestuous brother and sister whose lineage stretches back to the French Revolution. At that time, a group of forward thinkers dedicated themselves and their children to a doctrine designed to produce the most from human potential. This likely included special diet, exercise and aspects of eugenics.

Brass was born at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1900 joining the number of Century Babies. He would eventually have many adventures finally bringing together various extraordinary individuals (who, like Brass, are analogues of other characters such as Tarzan, Fu Manchu etc.). In 1945, seeing that World War II was ending, they activated a computer that performed calculations through multiple universes; the purpose was to advise them of how to build a perfect world. Unfortunately a side-effect of this calculation was the construction of parallel Earths, the last of which housed an analogue of the Justice League of America. These beings leapt to Brass's world in order to annihilate every man, woman and child on this Earth to make way for the population of their Earth; as the computer would finish its task, the new beings' world would be destroyed. All of Brass' team gave their lives to win in the ensuing battle against the creatures. Brass was the only survivor of both teams but his legs were ruined. Unable and unwilling to leave the portal to other worlds unguarded, Brass then stayed awake for fifty four years until he was discovered by the Planetary team, underestimating the passage of time by two decades. He has since made reappearances in the series, undergoing therapy in a Planetary-sponsored hospital facility. He has formed a friendship with Planetary member Elijah Snow, who often asks him for advice. He encourages Snow not to give up after the Kaizen Gamorra attack on Moscow, for even though many innocents did die, the enemy was stopped.

Later 'flashbacks' would reveal how Brass and his team fought various horrors, including Daemonites and a strange force that melts people where they stand.

Powers and Abillities

Brass is profoundly intelligent, incredibly strong, immortal, has a superhuman sense of smell, is able to go without sleep or sustenance for decades and is able to close wounds through the power of his own mind. However, he was unable to heal his crippled legs.