Almost nothing is known about Emil Blonsky’s life prior to his infiltration of a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico, commanded by General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross. The base was home to Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a nuclear physicist who conducted extensive experiments involving gamma radiation. The experiments that would ultimately transform him into the Hulk. While at the installation, Blonsky carried out a series of covert attempts to sabotage missiles critical to United States defense. Although each effort was narrowly foiled, the Air Force remained unaware of the saboteur’s identity.
During this period, an enigmatic extraterrestrial entity known as the Stranger concluded that humanity was too irresponsible to be trusted with nuclear weaponry and therefore posed a threat to other civilizations in the universe. Seeking to eliminate this danger, the Stranger seized control of the Hulk and intended to use him as an instrument of humanity’s destruction. However, the Stranger’s influence did not extend to Banner’s human persona. When the Hulk reverted to Banner, the scientist resolved to sacrifice himself to save the world. He returned to his laboratory on the Air Force base and prepared to activate a device that would bombard him with a lethal dose of gamma radiation.
Unbeknownst to Banner, Blonsky was hiding in the laboratory, secretly photographing the gamma radiation equipment. Security personnel suddenly stormed the room and removed Banner before he could act. Misunderstanding the purpose of the machine Banner had intended to use, Blonsky positioned himself before it and activated the device. He was subjected to an even more concentrated and intense burst of gamma radiation than the nuclear explosion that had originally transformed Banner. Like Banner, Blonsky possessed an unknown genetic trait that spared him from death. Instead, the radiation caused an immediate and profound mutation, transforming him into the creature later named the Abomination by General Ross’s daughter, Betty.
The Abomination possessed strength exceeding that of the Hulk at the latter’s normal levels and, unlike the Hulk, retained full human intelligence. However, he was unable to revert to a human form. Drunk on his newfound power, the Abomination nearly beat the Hulk to death and kidnapped Betty Ross. Fearing for his daughter’s life, General Ross ordered that the Hulk be revived to pursue the monster. When Banner’s confidant, Rick Jones, appealed to the Hulk for help, the Hulk broke free from the Stranger’s control and reverted to Banner. With Ross’s cooperation, Banner activated a powerful gamma radiation device of his own design against the Abomination, causing the creature’s strength to rapidly diminish.
Banner’s excitement, however, triggered another transformation into the Hulk, who smashed the device’s controls and shut it down prematurely. As a result, the Abomination’s strength was reduced but not below superhuman levels. From that point forward, his strength remained greater than the Hulk’s usual state, though the Hulk could surpass it when sufficiently enraged. The Hulk ultimately defeated the Abomination in combat. Observing these events, the Stranger was impressed by Banner’s heroism and concluded that humanity might yet be worthy of survival. He transported the Abomination to his base on another planet, intending to employ him as an agent in future schemes.
The Stranger, however, found little use for the Abomination. Eventually, the creature was rescued and taken aboard the alien starship Andromeda, where he served as first mate before being returned to Earth months later. There, he battled the Hulk repeatedly and was decisively defeated each time.
After one such encounter, the Abomination was saved from death by the Galaxy Master, a powerful non-humanoid entity that enslaved civilizations to harvest the energy it required to exist. The Galaxy Master used the Abomination as a forerunner in assaults against resistant worlds. Known then as the “Ravager of Worlds,” the Abomination was ultimately opposed by the Hulk, who had been recruited by Empress Daydra of the Sagittarian race. The Hulk defeated both the Galaxy Master and the Abomination.
At some point, the Abomination returned to normal space near Earth. He was discovered frozen in suspended animation by a U.S. space shuttle orbiting the planet. General Ross was notified, and the creature was revived by MODOK, the former leader of A.I.M., with whom Ross had entered into a treasonous alliance. At the time, the Hulk temporarily in control of Banner’s intelligence, had received a presidential pardon. Ross struck a deal with MODOK: in exchange for reviving the Abomination, MODOK would command him to kill the Hulk.
However, repeated defeats had left the Abomination with a pathological fear of confronting the Hulk. To overcome this, MODOK subjected him to brutal psychological conditioning, instilling greater fear of MODOK himself. Even so, the Abomination failed once again, prompting MODOK to use his mental powers to disintegrate him.
Despite this apparent destruction, the subterranean tyrant Tyrannus reconstructed the Abomination and transferred Blonsky’s consciousness into a human body. For the first time, the former spy was able to live a normal life, albeit briefly. Tyrannus, trapped in the Abomination’s form, attempted to exchange bodies with Blonsky, but the process failed, reducing the Abomination to a mindless, rampaging brute.
Eventually, the creature regained Blonsky’s intellect and again clashed with the Hulk, this time as a pawn of the gamma-mutated super-genius known as the Leader. During their battle, the Hulk submerged the Abomination in toxic waste, dissolving much of his outer flesh. When Blonsky later resurfaced, he began stalking his wife, Nadia, who believed him dead. A miniaturized Hulk, once again possessing Banner’s intellect, persuaded Blonsky to abandon his obsession and move on.
Consumed by grief and rage over losing his wife, the Abomination sought revenge by fatally poisoning Betty Ross, now Banner’s wife. When confronted, the Hulk chose not to fight, realizing that forgiveness was the one punishment Blonsky could not endure. After revealing that Betty’s body had been cryogenically preserved, General Ross convinced Banner that Blonsky must finally be brought to justice. Their ensuing battle leveled an entire town and devastated the surrounding countryside, ending with the Abomination’s capture and imprisonment by military forces.
NOTE: Information was collected from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition (Volume 2, No. 1, August 1985). Updated from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Hulk 2004
