Origin
Mr. Immortal was born Craig Hollis. From early childhood, the cosmic entity Deathurge would tempt him to kill himself, however, his deaths were always averted somehow. In one such incident, Deathurge told Craig to set his house on fire and hide inside it. He was saved by a fireman, but his father, however, was killed. This would be the last time he would see Deathurge in his childhood.
He was adopted. His new father was alcoholic and abusive, and had a daughter named Terri. She became his first friend, and later in life, his first love. They moved in together. One day, however, she committed suicide leaving him only a letter. Deathurge then appeared, proving to Craig that he was real, and he was not his childhood imaginary friend.
He attempted suicide several times, but nothing, not even dynamite would work. He found out that he could not die. Realizing his potential, he immediately began to fight crime. On his first outing to fight crime, he attempted to stop a bank robbery. However, he was shot. He decided that a team would be a good idea, because by himself his powers are not as useful.
Craig formed the Great Lakes Avengers. Its members included Flatman, Big Bertha, Doorman, and Squirrel Girl. The team went through various name changes including Great Lakes X-Men, Great Lakes Champions, Great Lakes Defenders, and the Great Lakes Initiative. After the Avengers Initiative program was taken over by Norman Osborn and downsized afterwards, the team disbanded for a time.
After the team disbanded, Craig and Bertha began to date and things went well for a while until Craig’s alcoholism began interfering with his life and relationship. Bertha didn’t like how Craig acted when he would drink and Craig broke up with her one night.
Afterwards, Craig asked his friend Mike to bury him in the cemetery for a year so he would have time to himself to think on what he wanted out of his life. Mike would bring Craig water once a week, feeding it to him through a pipe sticking out of the ground.
When the Avengers attorney, Connie Ferrari, came to Flatman with an offer for the GLA to become an official branch of the Avengers, Doorman retrieved Mr. Immortal from his entombment to bring the team together. Craig agreed to rejoin the team but with Flatman as leader.
His famous quote/punchline is: “All you’re threatening me with is death and dying is what I do best!”
Powers and Abilities
Mr. Immortal’s power is true immortality, which means that he cannot be permanently killed by any means. It’s unclear how he comes back to life as it never shows him healing himself, but after being killed he resurrects almost instantly. This ability seems to be subconscious, since he has tried to commit suicide on numerous occasions only to walk away unscathed afterwards. He has been burned, cut, shot and even had a remote control shoved into his head by Deadpool and lived to tell the tale.
Mr. Immortal is a mutant. However, Deathurge explained to him that he is not a Homo superior, but has evolved beyond death. He is a Homo supreme. He also explained that he will live to the end of the universe, and the one who to which its final secret will be revealed.
Mr. Immortal has attempted suicide many times and has since comeback to life again, seemingly without any injuries. The one drawback to Craig returning to life is a crazed state of mind which varies in severity. When Dinah Soar was alive, her voice alone could soothe him into a calmer state. Without Dinah, Mr. Immortal’s teammates must rely on holding him down until he can regain his senses. If Craig is allowed to continue fighting immediately after revival from death, his attacks are severe, almost on a berserker level. Here is a list of ways he had attempted to kill himself with:
- automatic gunfire
- hurdling himself from high buildings
- radiation
- burning
- being crushed
- multiple gunshots
- decapitation
- explosions
- dynamite
- impalement
- drowning
- taking insane amounts of lethal substances
- energy blasts
- alcohol poisoning
- getting his neck snapped.
He has no other powers than his immortality, but he is an above average hand-to-hand fighter and acrobat.