Doctor Axel Brass is a character in
Warren Ellis and
John Cassaday's
Planetary comic book. Planetary is about a group, that are "
archeologists" of the lost history of the world. The comic has a
superhero/
conspiracy feel to it, and brings back the old history of
superbeings.
Brass is an above average man, who was born on January 1st, 1900. The date of birth of "several other unusual individuals", such as
Elijah Snow and
Jenny Sparks. By 1942 he had no need for food or sleep. By 1943 he stopped aging. By 1944 he learned to close his wounds with his mind.
Brass belonged to a group of individuals spread across the world who were aiming to make the world a better place. The group consisted of
Hark,
Edison,
"His Lordship",
The Millionaire,
The Aviator, and
"Jimmy". Their secret base was located within the
Adirondacks. Within their base they created a huge computer, a
Quantum Brain, that could show all of the possibilities of the future. It showed them the
Multiverse. With this they thought they could save the world.
Unfortunatly, people from another world entered
Earth through the
portal the six had created. They fought to save the
Earth that night. January 1st, 1945. They won, but only one of the six survived. Brass. He couldn't switch the Brain off, so he waited, in case anything ever came out.
The
Planetary group found him in 1999. His legs shriveled up, half-dead. Holding his
turbopistols ready, he told them his story.
According to Cassaday's notes, Brass is based off of
Doc Savage.
"The character is, obviously, Doc Savage, but with enough alterations to prevent lawsuits (as with all the boys below). RED hair cut very short, tanned, dressed like a hunter, white hunter, all in white... "
-http://www.warrenellis.com/brass_people.htm
"You could've told me it was 1999, you know. When you found me. I could've handled it.
I mean fifty-four years. And I thought it was thirty. That's not bad.
I could've handled that fine."
-Doctor Axel Brass, Planetary Vol. 1, All Over the World and Other Stories