The Birth: An extortionist serving time for assault, Carl "Crusher" Creel escaped from prison after he was superhumanly empowered by Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, to serve as a pawn against Thor. Loki gave Creel an Asgardian herbal potion to ingest after which he gained the power to assume the physical properties of anything he touches.
His first appearance was in the comic, Journey Into Mystery #114, 1965.

The Alter Ego: The Absorbing Man was born Carl Creel, a man who later turned towards petty theft and extortion to make his living. He did not stop there. Creel was soon the number one wanted criminal after becoming a proven murderer. But he became even more dangerous when Loki supplied him with powers to absorbs properties of anything he touches.
Creel's closest friend is his other ball-and-chain, the super- strong villainess Titania, whom he recently married. They met and fell in love while serving in Doctor Doom's Secret Wars army, and have since served as members of two incarnations of the Masters of Evil. Many members of that group showed up for Creel's wedding, including the Wrecker, who served as best man. The couple have toyed with reforming, and Absorbing Man was fairly friendly with Thor and Thunderstrike during one such period, but these fits of conscience usually prove brief.

The Legend: Since ingesting the Asgardian herbal potion supplied by Loki, Crusher Creel bacame The Absorbing Man, a name which was given to him by Thor.
Creel has the power to assume the physical properties of anything he touches. He prefers to absorb the properties of solids, though, since he is sometimes unable to maintain a coherent bodily form in other states. Creel can also vary his size by mimicking the mass of objects he touches--for instance, assuming the stony texture and towering stature of a tall building; this power has limits, though--he once exploded after growing too large in an attempt to absorb the power of the Earth itself. His ball and chain, souvenirs of his prison term, transform along with him and seem virtually indestructible. Creel himself has been smashed, dismembered or otherwise discorporated many times in his various forms, but he always manages to eventually reintegrate his mass and resume human form.
Absorbing Man has fought Thor, the Hulk and the Avengers many times over the years. He's also tussled with Dazzler, Black Bolt, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderstrike, Daredevil, and even the all-powerful Odin himself!

Journey Into Mystery #114