4. The Absorbing Man (Sentry's Power)
The Absorbing Man (Carl "Crusher" Creel) has the power to absorb the properties of almost anything - whether it's simply a material, the powers of another character or the powers of an item, he can become that entity and use its properties to his advantage. In the second of two stories in Civil War: The Return #1 (entitled "The Decision"), Absorbing Man gains one of his more impressive and substantial power-ups - the power of Robert Reynolds AKA the Sentry. While deciding if he should register for the Superhuman Registration Act, the Sentry is attacked by Creel. At first, Creel gains the upper hand in the battle - due not only to absorbing the Sentry's power, but also due to the Sentry holding back. However, the Sentry decides to call Creel's bluff on his boasts and allows him to absorb the full force of his power, causing the Absorbing Man to disintegrate due to his body not being able to handle it. As a result of this absorption, Creel temporarily gained abilities such as incredible super-strength and durability, flight and the power to turn invisible - but, as already mentioned, such was the power that it was too much for his body to handle and it didn't last long. After the battle, the Sentry surveyed the damage he had done battling the Absorbing Man and made a decision - he turned himself over to the authorities, asking to register for the Superhuman Registration Act. Worthy of note is the fact that Creel has also absorbed a Cosmic Cube, bronze, cocaine, Odin's cosmic bolt, a cyclonic storm, diamond, glass, light, rock, silk, soil, spikes, steel, Captain America's shield, cinder-blocks, Ultron's armour, Quasar's Quantum Bands, the Thing's skin, Thor's uru hammer Mjolnir, Gray Hulk's strength, water and even the properties of Asgard itself - displaying the properties, characteristics and abilities of each of these things in each case.