Jude, The Entropic ManJude might make you think of the Beatles, but does it resonate as one of the most underused villains in the Marvel Universe? Let's track down Jude, The Entropic Man.

Discovering Jude, The Entropic Man

There are so many villains out there, it's hard to know who's who. Recently I came across Jude, The Entropic Man in the last issues of Paradise X and I asked myself, "Who the heck is that?"

Maybe you already know him, but for those who don't, let's walk through a little history.

The Entropic Man - Giant-Size Man-ThingYagzan

Before he was Jude, he was Yagzan, the leader of the Cult of Entropy looking to bring entropy to the world. The first appearance of Yagzan is Giant-Size Man Thing #1, but I would be cautious to call this the first appearance of Jude (not enough data to have an FMV). It'd be the equivalent of saying the first appearance of Eddie Brock or Cletus Kassady is also the first appearance of Venom and Carnage, respectively. It just ain't so.

Anyhow, Yagzan and fellow cultists oppose the Man-Thing and things don't end well for the Cult. The short of it is Yagzan is sapped of life from The Glob and is left with only a skeleton in the middle of the swamp. This is probably one of those things where nobody has properly parsed it out yet (or cared enough to find out).

The Entropic Man - The Thing and Captain AmericaJude, The Entropic Man

Victorius, the new leader of the Cult of Entropy, obtained the cosmic cube and was hanging out in the swamp. (Why is everyone in the swamp?) Using the cosmic cube, he transformed the remains of Yagzan into Jude, The Entropic Man, a living embodiment of the force of entropy. And what does he do in his first few moments of life? With a single lifted hand he turns two young lovers in the swamp to dust (Seriously, why are they all in the swamp?). Yep. He turned two people into dust by lifting his hand. After a quick battle with The Thing and Captain America, Jude loses and is crystallized alongside Victorius for what seems like forever.

Later Appearances

After a quiet 20 years, Jude popped up in Paradise X as Reed Richards needed to find a surrogate replacement for Death. Jude fit the bill and even resisted Mephisto's convolutions to live happily ever after bringing entropy to the world.

Another 14 years later Jude appeared in Avengers World and Secret Avengers as the Minister of Health of A.I.M. While the artwork played with his character a little bit, not much else happened. He just kind of hung around and was "defeated" as the Avengers wrecked A.I.M. island. Nothing was shown of his demise and nobody seems to know or care enough to find out.

The Entropic ManFirst Appearance

After reading through the comics I found the first full appearance of Jude, The Entropic Man on the last page of Marvel-Two-In-One #42. He's mentioned by name and he's on a full-page panel in a creepy wispy black cloak. When looking at graded copies of #42 there's no mention of his first appearance. There's actually no mention of his first appearance in any comic. The only instance of him on a cover is Paradise X #6 which has only a single book graded in the CGC registry (9.8). His later appearances hold little value.

Marvel-Two-In-One #42 is very cheap at the moment because nobody recognizes it as Jude's first appearance (and he's not really a household name). Strangely, The Incredible Hulk #197, the second appearance of Yagzan's corpse, has a 9.8 FMV of over $900. Whoa! I'm not sure why maybe one of you readers can tell me.

The Entropic Man - X ParadiseDormant Opportunity

So, why am I even talking about this guy? Because the possibilities are endless. He steals the panel in every one he's in and he leaves readers asking for more. (I can't be the only one.)

So let it out and let it in,

Hey, Jude, begin.

You're waiting for someone to perform with,

and don't you know that it's just you?

I'm all for letting old things go, but if there's a character ready to be mined, then let's see some more. What would it be like to see a day in the life of The Entropic Man? What would a fight against him even look like? (Cuz it's never really happened) And what kind of philosophical questions can an embodiment of entropy ask the reader?

The Entropic Man

The Future

Will Jude be coming to a theater near you? Not until someone lays some groundwork for him. He's a pretty big unknown and we've only seen his powers used in a handful of instances. He's got the appearance of a terrifying villain, but he's just waiting for some quality writer to get him up to speed.