365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

March 15th - Blackhawk

The World War II hero known as Blackhawk has a mysterious past.  In the most prominent telling, he was an ace pilot of the Polish Air Force whose squadron took on invading German aircraft despite being outnumbered by an overwhelming margin.  He was the sole survivor and was forced to crash land after he shot down nearly a dozen enemy targets.   

Now known simply as ‘Blackhawk’ he returned shortly thereafter as the leader of an elite squadron composed of pilots from a variety of the Allied nations.   His ‘Blackhawk Squadron’ became a scourge of the Axis Powers, running successful missions all over the world.  Blackhawk himself was a tough but inspiring leader who demonstrated a prowess as a fighter pilots that bordered on the supernatural.  As the war progressed, Blackhawk and his squadron were tasked with more important (and bizarre) missions.  Headquartered on the remote Blackhawk Island somewhere in The Atlantic, the squad had countless adventures and their bravery and skill proved invaluable to the Allied war effort.  

The squadron did not have to adhere to standard air force regulations.   They flew experimental planes and women and pilots of different racial backgrounds were allowed to serve side by side with the enlisted airmen.  The Blackhawks continued on after the war as a peacekeeping and anti-espionage outfit.  Blackhawk and his team continued to fight off all manner of threats.  What ultimately became of Blackhawk himself remains unreleased, but his name and mission continues on in the form of the heroine Zinda Blake (also known as ‘Lady Blackhawk’) who has served with an updated iteration of The Blackhawks as well as with The Birds of Prey.   

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

Blockbuster

Mark Desmond had been a gifted chemist who harbored a crippling sense of inferiority over his small statue and lack of psychical strength.  This led him to compulsive research bio-chemical means of enhancing his size musculature.  

Desmond experimented on himself with a specialized steroid that succeeded in transforming him into a musclebound behemoth.  An unexpected side-effect was that the process caused his intellect to significantly diminish.  He had finally obtained the size and power he sought, but it came at the cost of his intelligence and he was rendered a hulking dolt, prone to angry outbursts and easily manipulated.  

Mark was taken advantage of by his scheming brother, Roland, who coaxed him to use his great strength to commit crimes.  This resulted in multiple confrontation with Batman and Robin.  Robin referred to the hulking villain as a ‘real blockbuster’ and from there on out the foe was known simply by that name.  

Sometime later, Blockbuster was recruited into Task Force X and served as a member of The Suicide Squad.  Thereafter, Roland Desmond discovered he was dying of an unspecified progressive illness.  Desperate too save his life, Roland subjected himself to he same steroidal compound that transformed his brother into a mindless behemoth.  The process cured Rolland of his illness, but likewise left him witless and gullible.  He was later approached by the demonic Neron who offers to return Rolland his intellect whilst maintain his physical enhancement in exchange for his soul. Rolland accepted the bargain and became a true menace, as psychical strong as he was shrewd and calculating.  

As the new Blockbuster, Roland used his strength and savvy to take over the criminal underground of Blüdhaven and engaged in multiple conflicts with Nightwing.  Blockbuster appeared to perish at the hands of the villain known as Heartless.  This is not the first time Blockbuster has been assumed dead and it is like the villain will return hint he future to once more bedevil Blüdhaven.  

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

The Reverse Flash

Sometimes known as Professor Zoom, Eobard Thawne heralded from the 25th Century where he discovered both the secrets of the speed force (bestowing him super speed on par with that of The Flash) as well as the means to travel back in time.  Overwhelmed by power and mentally unbalanced by the process, Thawne dubbed himself the Reverse Flash and went on a crime spree.  He was ultimately defeated by The  (Barry Allen). This would prove the first of many battles between the two and the Thawne would quickly become the Scarlet Speedster’s arch nemesis.  

Having grown even more psychologically unhinged, Thawne became obsessed with defeating the Flash and ruining every aspects of the hero’s life.  After murdering Barry’s then-fiancee, Iris West, and threatening to kill more of the hero’s loved ones, the Flash was forced to drastic actions and he killed Thawne, breaking the villain’s neck.  

Following the Crisis on Multiple Earths and Zero Hour Events, both Thawne and Iris West were resurrected.  Thawne’s origin story was altered and he was reimagined as a 25th century scientist who was obsessively enamored by Berry Allen.  His admiration grew to such an extreme that he recreated the accident that had bestowed Barry his speed force powered and even endured plastic surgery to make himself look just like Barry.  With the use of the Cosmic Treadmill, Thawne traveled to the past to meet his idol, yet was devastated to learn the hero had perished in battle.   Seeing Wally West as an unsuitable inheritor of the Flash mantle, Thawne attempted to kill and replace him. Yet Wally persevered and the Revere Flash was once more defeated.  

Thawne laster attempted to utilize the Speed Force as a weapon to destroy Wally West and all of his future descendants.  The plan bore unexpected results in helping to facilitate Barry Allen’s return.  

Thawne’s obsession with Berry Allen continues to fester as he engages in multiple plots to bedevil the hero and garner his attention.  It is revealed somewhere herein that Thawne was responsible for the tragic and mysterious death of Barry’s mother when Barry was a boy.  His mother’s death had a profound impact on Barry, yet Thawne demanded it was a necessary motivating factor in forming Barry into becoming such a great hero.  

The Flash was able to defeat Thawne seemingly once and for all, erasing his memories and removing the villain’s obsession with The Flash.  To what extent this fate will remain in place remains to be seen.  

The second villain known as The Reverse Flash is Hunter Zolomon.  Zolomon had worked as a criminal profiler and became good friends with Wally West asa part of the Central City Police Department.  He was severely injured in a confrontation with Gorilla Grodd, injuries that resulted in near full-body paralysis.  

Zolomon believed the Flash had the power to heal his injuries, that he could use the Cosmic Treadmill to reverse time and and undo his paraplegia.  The Flash regretfully had to refuse the request, knowing of the extreme dangers inherent in altering the time-stream.  Unwilling to accept his fate, Zolomon attempted to operate the Cosmic Treadmill   himself, resulting in an explosion that bestowed him the powers of the Speed Force while also driving him criminally insane.  

Now operating as The Reverse Flash (also known as ‘Professor Zoom’) Zoloman became a nemesis of The Flash (West) and also became a member of Lex Luthor’s Secret Society of Super Villains.  Zolomon was later betrayed by the fellow speedster villain known as Inertia, who robbed him of his speed force powers.  This caused Zolomon to revert to his former self, once more paralyzed from the neck down.    

Actors Tom Cavanag and Matt Letscher have portrayed live-action versions of Eobard Thawne in The Flash television.  The Reverse Flash has additionally featured in numerous animated projects, voiced by actors John Wesley Shipp, Matthew Senreich, C. Thomas Howell and Dwight Schultz.  Whereas Hunter Zolomon was portrayed by actors Teddy Sears, Octavian Kaul and voiced by actor Tony Todd in The Flash television series.  

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

Firefly

Garfield Lynns grew up in an abusive household and cultivated an unhealthy obsession with fire.  He tried to sublimate his burgeoning pyromania by getting into the special effects side of the movie business.  He went on to become a highly accomplished pyrotechnics expert.  Unfortunately, his brusque demeanor and laced attitudes toward safety soured his career.  

Lynns instead turned to a life of crime and utilized his expertise to pull off capers.  He renamed himself ‘The Firefly’ and donned a gaudy costume equipped with different colored strobe lights, smoke gerunds and various other special effects gadgetry.  His crime wave was quickly thwarted by the efforts of Batman and Robin.  

Following this early defeat, Lynns gave in to his passion for fire and became an arsonist, equipping himself with progressively advanced fire-based weaponry.  The Firefly would go on to be a reoccurring threat to Batman, additionally battling Nightwing, Catwoman and Wonder Woman.  He frequently teamed up with Killer Moth and was later recruited into The Secret Society of Super Villains.   

The identity of Firefly has also been utilized by the criminal arsonist named Ted Carson.  In a past tale, Carson killed Lynns so to possess the Firefly moniker all to himself; although he would later take on a young woman named Bridgit Pike as his protégé, training her to become the next Firefly.  In the post ReBirth era, Garfield Lynns has returned from the dead and resumed the role of the villain.  

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

The Brain and Monsieur Mallah 

The villain known only as The Brain had once been a gifted albeit unscrupulous scientist.  Operating somewhere in France, this scientist performed experimenters on animals so to enhance their intelligence.  His prize success was on a silverback gorilla named ‘Monsieur Mallah’ who was bestowed with a greatly augmented intellect as well as super strength and heightened reflexes.  

The scientist was caught in a fire and his body was severely burned.  He surely would have persisted had not Monsieur Mallah saved him by performing emergency surgery and transferring his brain into mobile stasis chamber.  The villain blamed professor Niles Caulder for the fire that destroyed his body and he and Monsieur Mallah went on to establish The Brotherhood of Evil so to gain vengeance and Caulder and rule the world.  

The Brotherhood of Evil would battle the Doom Patrol on numerous occasions and also went up against The Teen Titans.  Both The Brain and Monsieur Mallah were additionally members of The Injustice League.  

The Brain and Monsieur Mallah have appeared in a number of animated projects.  Herein The Brain has been voiced by actors Nolan North, Corey Burton, Scott Menville, Glenn Shadix and Jesse Inocalla; whereas Monsieur Mallah has been voiced by actors Glenn Shadix, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Kaye, Dee Bradley Baker, Jonathan Lipow, André Sogliuzzo

365 DC Comics Heroes & Villains Paper Cut-Outs

Thunder

Anissa Pierce is the eldest daughter of Lynn Stewart and Jefferson Pierce (the hero known as Black Lightning).  She and her sister Jennifer are both metahumans possessing inborn superhuman powers.  Specifically, Anissa has the ability to control her density which acts to greatly enhance her strength and durability.  She can additionally create massive shock waves just by stomping the ground.  

Anissa’s parents did not want her to use her powers to following in her father’s footsteps and become a costumed superhero, but little could be done to change her mind not he matter.  Although she did agree to finish college before pursuing a career as a superhero.  On the night of her graduation, Anissa donned a costume and set off as the vigilante known as Thunder.  Soon thereafter she was recruited into Red Arrow’s iteration of The Outsiders.  

As a member of the team, Thunder became close and eventually romantically involved with her teammate Grace.  She and Grace remained a part of the Outsiders until the team disbanded (although Anissa and Grace remained a couple).  

Sometime later, Anissa’s powers unexpected increased and she found that she could generate electrical blasts similar to those welded by her father and sister.  She experienced difficulty in controlling this new power and trained alongside the Justice League in learning to better master them.  More recently, Thunder has fought crime alongside her father and sister as all three battled a political campaign that sought to oppressed metahumans.