Access (comics)
Encyclopedia
Access is a fictional character
owned by both DC Comics
and Marvel Comics
. He made his first appearance in DC vs. Marvel #1 (March 1996), a special crossover between the two companies. He was created as both a way to explain the events of the story as well as a means to enable future intercompany crossovers.
' publications, which were a cooperative project between DC Comics
and Marvel Comics
. Access reappeared in two follow-up miniseries, DC/Marvel: All Access and Unlimited Access.
and Marvel Comics Multiverse
, became aware of each other (as a result of the events in crossovers previously published by the companies) and hurled their respective heroes into conflict with each other's to prove their superiority over their counterpart; eleven 'champions' from each universe were selected to fight, the winner being whoever immobilized the other first—some champions were too powerful to ever be conclusively defeated by their opponents—and the overall winner being the side with most victories.
Axel was just a normal teenager living in New York who came across an old bum in an alley, who protected what seemed to be a cardboard box but was actually a portal between the universes. He also revealed that Axel was next in line to bear the powers and responsibilities of being "The Access", the person in charge of preventing the universes from merging into one. This happens because they were originally one universe that split in two when The Brothers first fought; certain "fragments" of the original universe remained. The "box" was one of them—Access was another.
At the height of The Brothers' battles, when the last battle had ended—with the Marvel Universe being the overall winner with six victories to five—the universes were combined into a single Amalgam Universe by The Spectre
and the Living Tribunal
to avert the end of existence. Access used shards of each universe hidden inside Batman
and Captain America
to separate and restore both universes. Aided by Batman and Captain America who, in many ways, were The Brothers in miniature, Access helped stop the fight between The Brothers, saving the two universes from destruction when the Brothers, looking at the two heroes, realized how foolish their conflict with each other truly was.
Access has subsequently appeared in two sequels to the DC vs. Marvel series. In the first, Access helped prevent Dr. Strangefate from re-merging the two universes; in the second, he discovered that the "old bum" was actually his own future self, and that a variant version of himself had joined forces with Darkseid
to avoid his and Access's shared fate. He also discovered his powers were greater than he believed, and he absorbed his evil self into himself and helped the heroes of both universes defeat Darkseid's scheme. Despite having witnessed his future self's demise, the defeat of his alternate evil self gives Access the hope he needs that his future is fluid and not written in stone, and therefore a chance to change his fate.
Access is briefly mentioned in a Superman
/Fantastic Four
crossover. When Superman receives a (false) holographic message from his father Jor-El
, stating that Galactus
was the one who destroyed Krypton, he flies off, reflecting to himself "With the help of experts I'll find the monster. And to find them... I need Access."
Access is mentioned again in the crossover Superman/Silver Surfer.
Access' first appearance was foreshadowed in the 1995 DC/Marvel comic Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances, where the two heroes joined forces to stop Thanos
and Parallax
from destroying their universes. The final frames of the comic show an alleyway in New York where a large cardboard box is beginning to emit powerful beams of energy.
Access is now a native of both universes and his duty is to keep them separate. If they start to overlap, the universes will merge into the Amalgam Universe
once again. Access must move from one universe to the other keeping people from crossing over. If he stays in one place too long, he can cause spontaneous crossovers
to occur. Access usually works out situations like this without anyone noticing that he is involved (this is done to explain how the subsequent DC/Marvel crossovers occur. Stories where DC and Marvel heroes appear on a "shared Earth
" are believed to be dimensional fluxes where the two universes have begun to merge again. It has also been explained that once Access has restored the timelines, the characters usually forget about the crossover, though there are some exceptions, such as Jubilee
getting Access to let her visit Robin
, with whom she had a brief romantic relationship during Marvel Vs DC).
Despite shared ownership between DC Comics and Marvel Comics, only DC has used the character once in a non-crossover appearance. In Green Lantern
#87, Access appears to Jade
and claims to be looking for Kyle Rayner
. It is later revealed that he was looking for Rayner as backup for Spider-Man
, who was fighting Mantis
and The Juggernaut
at the time. Having no success, he travels to the Marvel Comics universe in order to find the Silver Surfer
, only to return to the scene of the battle and subconsciously summon Wonder Woman
to aid Spider-Man.
himself as well as summon others to him. He can merge two people he touches if one is from each universe, creating an "amalgamation" of the characters. The gateways also permit time travel
when crossing universes. He can feel the presence of anything from one universe which is present in the other.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
owned by both DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. He made his first appearance in DC vs. Marvel #1 (March 1996), a special crossover between the two companies. He was created as both a way to explain the events of the story as well as a means to enable future intercompany crossovers.
Publication history
First appearing in DC vs. Marvel #1 (March 1996), The character was used to explain the events of the Amalgam ComicsAmalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was a publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones . These characters first appeared in a series of twelve comic books which were published in 1996, between issues 3 and 4 of the Marvel vs...
' publications, which were a cooperative project between DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. Access reappeared in two follow-up miniseries, DC/Marvel: All Access and Unlimited Access.
Fictional character biography
Axel Asher first became aware of his extraordinary powers when the two cosmic entities called "The Brothers," who represent the DC Comics MultiverseMultiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
and Marvel Comics Multiverse
Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as...
, became aware of each other (as a result of the events in crossovers previously published by the companies) and hurled their respective heroes into conflict with each other's to prove their superiority over their counterpart; eleven 'champions' from each universe were selected to fight, the winner being whoever immobilized the other first—some champions were too powerful to ever be conclusively defeated by their opponents—and the overall winner being the side with most victories.
Axel was just a normal teenager living in New York who came across an old bum in an alley, who protected what seemed to be a cardboard box but was actually a portal between the universes. He also revealed that Axel was next in line to bear the powers and responsibilities of being "The Access", the person in charge of preventing the universes from merging into one. This happens because they were originally one universe that split in two when The Brothers first fought; certain "fragments" of the original universe remained. The "box" was one of them—Access was another.
At the height of The Brothers' battles, when the last battle had ended—with the Marvel Universe being the overall winner with six victories to five—the universes were combined into a single Amalgam Universe by The Spectre
Spectre (comics)
The Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...
and the Living Tribunal
Living Tribunal
The Living Tribunal is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Strange Tales #157 June 1967 and was created by Stan Lee, Marie Severin and Herb Trimpe.-Publication history:The Living Tribunal debuted in a storyline called "The...
to avert the end of existence. Access used shards of each universe hidden inside Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
to separate and restore both universes. Aided by Batman and Captain America who, in many ways, were The Brothers in miniature, Access helped stop the fight between The Brothers, saving the two universes from destruction when the Brothers, looking at the two heroes, realized how foolish their conflict with each other truly was.
Access has subsequently appeared in two sequels to the DC vs. Marvel series. In the first, Access helped prevent Dr. Strangefate from re-merging the two universes; in the second, he discovered that the "old bum" was actually his own future self, and that a variant version of himself had joined forces with Darkseid
Darkseid
Darkseid is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 and was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby....
to avoid his and Access's shared fate. He also discovered his powers were greater than he believed, and he absorbed his evil self into himself and helped the heroes of both universes defeat Darkseid's scheme. Despite having witnessed his future self's demise, the defeat of his alternate evil self gives Access the hope he needs that his future is fluid and not written in stone, and therefore a chance to change his fate.
Access is briefly mentioned in a Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
/Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
crossover. When Superman receives a (false) holographic message from his father Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
, stating that Galactus
Galactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
was the one who destroyed Krypton, he flies off, reflecting to himself "With the help of experts I'll find the monster. And to find them... I need Access."
Access is mentioned again in the crossover Superman/Silver Surfer.
Access' first appearance was foreshadowed in the 1995 DC/Marvel comic Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances, where the two heroes joined forces to stop Thanos
Thanos
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in comic books and other media published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin....
and Parallax
Parallax (comics)
Parallax is a fictional comic book supervillain in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks for Green Lantern vol...
from destroying their universes. The final frames of the comic show an alleyway in New York where a large cardboard box is beginning to emit powerful beams of energy.
Access is now a native of both universes and his duty is to keep them separate. If they start to overlap, the universes will merge into the Amalgam Universe
Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was a publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones . These characters first appeared in a series of twelve comic books which were published in 1996, between issues 3 and 4 of the Marvel vs...
once again. Access must move from one universe to the other keeping people from crossing over. If he stays in one place too long, he can cause spontaneous crossovers
Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...
to occur. Access usually works out situations like this without anyone noticing that he is involved (this is done to explain how the subsequent DC/Marvel crossovers occur. Stories where DC and Marvel heroes appear on a "shared Earth
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
" are believed to be dimensional fluxes where the two universes have begun to merge again. It has also been explained that once Access has restored the timelines, the characters usually forget about the crossover, though there are some exceptions, such as Jubilee
Jubilee (comics)
Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men.A mutant, Jubilee had the superhuman power to generate "fireworks" of explosive plasma. A teenage "mall rat," she was the X-Men's youngest member in the early 1990s, often playing sidekick to...
getting Access to let her visit Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
, with whom she had a brief romantic relationship during Marvel Vs DC).
Despite shared ownership between DC Comics and Marvel Comics, only DC has used the character once in a non-crossover appearance. In Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
#87, Access appears to Jade
Jade (comics)
Jade is a fictional character, a superheroine in the . Known affectionately as "Jennie" or "Jen", she is the daughter of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern. Her mother is Rose Canton, the Golden Age villain known as Thorn...
and claims to be looking for Kyle Rayner
Kyle Rayner
Kyle Rayner is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually in those starring the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which Rayner is a member. Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks, Rayner first appeared in Green Lantern vol...
. It is later revealed that he was looking for Rayner as backup for Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, who was fighting Mantis
Mantis (DC Comics)
Mantis is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Forever People #2 , and was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby.-Fictional character biography:...
and The Juggernaut
Juggernaut (comics)
The Juggernaut is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #12 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
at the time. Having no success, he travels to the Marvel Comics universe in order to find the Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
, only to return to the scene of the battle and subconsciously summon Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
to aid Spider-Man.
Powers and abilities
Access has the ability to create and use interdimensional gateways between the two companies' universes to teleportTeleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
himself as well as summon others to him. He can merge two people he touches if one is from each universe, creating an "amalgamation" of the characters. The gateways also permit time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
when crossing universes. He can feel the presence of anything from one universe which is present in the other.
External links
- Access at Marvel Appendix