Obscuralia eleven

Well, well, well Elevensies! Obscuralia eleven will contain more than the standard daily allowance of anti-heroes. And at least one neverwas character. The archives are still shattered and I'm not even sure that updating the template will fix them. The data is still there but Blogger seems to have an article length limit, anything over a set amount causes it to spazz out. So you'll have to navigate by month when looking for older Bonvillains and Obscuralia entries. All other tags with normal sized articles seem to work just fine.

Ultra-Man appears in "The Last Earth Prime Story" by Elliot S. Maggin from Superman #411 (September 1985). Ultra-Man is a metafictional creation of Earth Prime's Julius Schwartz.


Here is his probable origin according to the Earth 411 profile page.

K'al L, last son of Mars was sent to Earth as an infant after a plague claimed his homeworld. His only vulnerability is fire. His secret identity is John Jones, a reporter for the Metropolis Daily Star.

Sgt. Gorilla was a gorilla in fatigues, with a machine gun, who killed Nazis and saluted the American flag in Star-Spangled War Stories #126 (May 1966). None of this should surprise you, because we all know the Nazis had an entire group of Nazi Gorillas called the Primate Platoon (Das Primate Patrol) from Weird War Tales #89 (July 1980).

Colonel Future has one of my all time favorite costumes and names. I always felt that he should have been DCU Canada's answer to Captain America, at least he would have stood out there. Colonel Future had the power to see the future whenever his life was put in danger. His one and only appearance was in Superman vol. 1 #378 (December 1982).

Jason Todd isn't really an obscure character. But this version of Jason in this costume is. I don't think this costume is that widely known and it was always one of my favorites. This is the redheaded pre-Crisis Jason Todd, wearing his very first costume, from Detective Comics vol. 1 #526 (May 1983).

Karma or Wayne Hawkins was the very definition of a flawed hero, and one of the cannon fodder teens from Paul Kupperberg's great Doom Patrol run. Here he is wearing his best costume on the mission that claimed the lives of Scott Fischer and Celsius during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Karma debuted in Doom Patrol Vol 2 #4 (January 1988), and died horribly in Suicide Squad vol. 1 #58 (October 1991).

Astralad was Joseph P. Silver, actually he was a combination of two Joes. Astralad's powers came from a future Joe Silver who astrally projected his consciousness back in time in order to possess and empower his younger self. So basically Joe created Project Trackback, and invented Astral Projection, all so that his teenage self could be popular and impress the girls. Astralad debuted in New Adventures of Superboy #3 (March 1980).

Yellow Peri is a little obscure. But her pal Gazook the 5th Dimensional Imp is even more obscure. Like Mister Genie he's one of the Imps no one talks about. Gazook usually takes the form of a strange teddy bear. The Yellow Peri and Gazook debut in The New Adventures of Superboy #34 (October 1982).

Dyna-Mind is Johnny Weber, and I saw him as a traditional Superboy foil right up until Gazook made a cameo. Now either that appearance by Gazook was a shoutout by the artist, or Gazook was responsible for Dyna-Mind. That could transition Gazook into Superboy's very own Mister Mxyzptlk. Anyway, Dyna-Mind and Superboy tussle and eventually Johnny reforms. As seen in New Adventures of Superboy #42 (June 1983). Johnny later returns and uses up the last of his psionic energy saving Superboy from a dimension traveling magic based villain known as Turlock the Berserker in New Adventures of Superboy #49 (January 1984).

Mind-Grabber Kid, Lucian Crawley has an unfortunate name but great powers. The problem is that because of Marvel Comics, the boffins at DC Comic tends to avoid using telepaths, or magnetically powered characters. And in order to differentiate their "special characters" from the Marvel mutant of the week, those gifted with psionic, magnetic or shadow based powers tend to be mentally unstable. I can see MGK forming a new Forgotten Heroes with the Yellow Peri, Super-Chief, Colonel Future, Resurrection Man, and Sonik (yeah bitches i said sonik!). Mind-Grabber Kid debuted in Justice League of America vol. 1 #70 (March 1969).

Pulsar is Robert "Bobby" Altus Junior, son of Robert Altus Senior. One of the earliest entries on this blog was Bonvillains Three where I covered the black supervillain known as Pulsar, and if his story had ended differently this Pulsar would have had his very own Bonvillains entry. 

The Altus family desired the creation of a generational superhuman protector of Earth. And while Pulsar was powerful he was not Superboy's equal, so his father used Red Sun radiation to weaken Superboy enough for an even battle between them. Eventually Pulsar is talked over to the side of the angels, and he is a rarity among Superboy's enemies in that he retains his powers at the conclusion of a story. You know unlike the very Japanese Sunburst who was hypnotized into forgetting how to use his special abilities by Superboy. Pulsar's one and only appearance was in New Adventures of Superboy #31 (July 1982).

Hook is Kieron Masterson one of the few New Bloods to survive the continuing Geoff Johns led purge of all characters created in the nineteen-nineties. He's a guy with a hook hand made from Green Lantern style energy plasma. What's to hate? The Hook debuted in Green Arrow Annual vol. 2 #6 (1993).

InterC.E.P.T. is an interdimensional (possibly multiversal) hero team that debuted in the Superboy and the Ravers title. Ugh I hatelove this idea. InterC.E.P.T. debuted in Superboy and the Ravers #1 (September 1996).

Kit Colby "Girl Sheriff" protected the town of Moonbow. And like John Hawk the Half-Breed from Obscuralia Six, she hasn't ever shown up in any of the western character crossovers (because Kit's adventures took place in the 1950's). When was the last time you saw a Jonah Hex, John Hawk and Kit Colby teamup? Yeah I know Kit Colby's adventures took place in the 1950's, but I think she would be a lot more interesting in the 19th century. Kit Colby debuted in Jimmy Wakely #10 (March 1951).

Triumph was William McIntyre a retconned Superman style hero similar to Sentry and the Blue Marvel. I understand and accept why Triumph won't be back. He had a good comic book death under the pen of Grant Morrison. What I'd like to see is that death moved forwards, with a play on Captain Triumph a golden age character named Lance Gallant who was empowered by the ghost of his dead twin brother Michael. I'd like DC to either introduce William McIntyre's twin brother, or a Rick Jones style character who summons Triumph's ghost to empower themselves. Triumph debuted in Justice League America vol. 1 #91 (September 1994). 

The Redeemer is Torkan, a neverwas character created by Joe Kubert. A christlike immortal destined for continuous rebirth, and eternal conflict with the minions of his ageless nemesis the Infernal One. (honestly, who uses the word "minions" nowadays?) Redeemer had a twelve page preview in Amazing Heroes #34 (November 1983). A shorter two page solicitation preview appears in Amazing Heroes #39 (January 1984). 

Two amazing panels (joined in photoshop) of Joe Kubert art from the Redeemer preview published in Amazing Heroes #34 (November 1983). 

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