Manchester Black
Manchester Black is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
Origin
Manchester Black
He had said that his mother had died from lung cancer and his father to Adolf. (Action Comics v1 #775) It was also known that he had a sister by the name of Vera Black who he cared for deeply. After she lost her arms, he was the only one that hugged her and helped save her life. (JLA v1 #100)
Black led the Elite as they responded to an incident in Libya when a giant genetically engineered gorilla was unleashed on Tripoli. Through brutal means, they ended up eliminating the threat but ended up killing thousands of soldiers in the process. Afterwards, the Elite posted their manifesto online where they stated that they would deal with any threats through brutal means in order to bring about a more peaceful world. (Action Comics v1 #775)
After being taken into custody, he remained doped to prevent the use of his powers but his abilities managed to gradually restore themselves over the next few months. During the Imperiex War, Black came to be drafted by the U.S. government under the orders of President Lex Luthor who had a regulator fluid injected in him that used nanotechnology to control his actions. In this role, Black served as a field operative for Project: Suicide Squad where he directed team of superpowered criminals that included Shrapnel, Plasmus and Chemo. The team was dispatched on a test run where they fought against Superman with orders then being made to acquire Mongul for the group. (Adventures of Superman v1 #593) President Luthor ten sent the Suicide Squad to the JLA Watchtower on the moon where with Steel's help they used JLA teleportation technology to free Doomsday. Doomsday decimated the entire Squad except for Black, who manipulated Doomsday's mind to replace his hatred of Superman with a hatred for Imperiex. Superman arrived on the Watchtower because Luthor was forcing him to team with Doomsday, and Black said he had done everything Luthor asked and was resigning. With that done, he used the Watchtower teleporter to leave. (Adventures of Superman v1 #594)
Black was stunned at Superman's fortitude. His spirit wavered and his illusion crumbled, revealing Lois to be still alive. Black had been trying to force Superman into a position in which he would have to kill, intending for Superman to learn, after Black's demise, that he had broken his moral code for nothing, thus leaving him truly broken. But Black's plan failed, and he was forced to recognize that Superman genuinely believed everything he said. Distraught at the revelation that he had become a villain himself, Black made the supervillains forget Superman's secret identity. He then fired a telekinetic pulse at his own head, taking his own life. (Action Comics v1 #796)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Manchester Black
At some point, he came to save some aliens that were escaping the Kroogarians where they became indebted to him and he had them form the Super Elite. By this point, Black had discovered Superman's true identity where he had two of the aliens take the identities of Kathy Braden and her father Cobb Braden where they operated as neighbors to the Kent Family when they started living in Hamilton County. (Superman v4 #24)
He sought to succeed in turning Jon Kent to his cause when he could not accomplish this with Superman. (Superman v4 #23)
Through unknown means, he was turned back to normal where he was recruited into Amanda Waller's Task Force XI project. This consisted of all the planet's telepaths that were brought together to enact a psychic assault on Brainiac when he attacked. The purpose was to uncover where the World Collector had taken a number of Earth's heroes after abducting them where he seemingly died trying to resist them. (Justice League: No Justice v1 #1)
A wanted Metahuman terrorist, Black remained in hiding where he was in an apartment in South London when the authorities arrived to arrest him. He came to use his psi-talents against them but ended up getting caught but then Superman arrived where he took him in custody. Taken to the Fortress of Solitude, he used his technology to repair injuries on his body and revealed that he wanted Manchester Black's help. As his powers had weakened, Superman intended to form a team that could accomplish with their collective abilities feats that he could achieve in his prime. This was with the intention of stopping hidden threats to the world with among them being Zonedroids from Krypton that were escaping the Phantom Zone. At first, Black refused but he returned just in time to help save Superman from the machines by using his telekinesis to stop them. The two then then went about assembling a team of antiheroes hat would help protect the world. (Superman and the Authority v1 #1)
He later joined the Authority as they travelled to Warworld in order to free it from the tyrant Mongul. (Action Comics v1 #1037)
Overview
Personality and attributes
When he was young, he was said to had dreamt of doing good but this was beaten out of him to the point that such views were murdered in him. (Action Comics v1 #796)
He claimed to had Superman and thought that the Man of Steel saw himself as better than other people. (Action Comics v1 #796)
Manchester had once claimed that he was a fifteenth Japanese. (Action Comics v1 #775) Black had commented that he was 48% gay on his mother's side. (Superman and the Authority v1 #2)
It was known that he had a younger blonde haired sister by the name of Vera Black. (JLA v1 #100)
Powers and abilities
He was noted for being a tenth-level psi-talent capable of mind control and telekinesis. (Superman and the Authority v1 #1)
Such was his power that he could even make Superman see telepathically created illusions. (Action Comics v1 #796)
He could remotely blank a person's memories of certain pieces of information. (Action Comics v1 #796)
He also managed to control entire groups of supervillains with immediate ease. (Action Comics v1 #796)
When he headed the Elite, Black once had a bacteria colony named Bunny as a floating fortress. She had been taken over by the Elite after being on the losing side of a war with them claiming the flagship. Bunny was then brought into Earth's universe to serve as a mobile headquarters for his team. (Action Comics v1 #775)
Notes
- Manchester Black was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke where he made his first appearance in Action Comics v1 #775 (March, 2001).
In other media
Television
- In Supergirl, Manchtester Black appeared in the live-action television series fourth season where he was portrayed by actor David Ajala. This version was Manchester "Ches" Black who was a Black British man who suffered from various incidents involving rage. Born in England, he spent his early life as part of a gang of football hooligans, causing a ruckus and looking for any excuse to break windows. The gang worked for his father, who taught Manchester how to fight. He would meet Hat and the two became close friends. Eventually, he met Fiona Byrne, who showed him there was an alternative to fighting: the non-violent philosophy of Ahimsa, and the two started a relationship and fell in love. When the gang learned that Fiona and Hat were aliens, Manchester defended them at great peril. Believing Fiona would no longer be safe in England with the old gang now after her, Manchester sent Fiona to live in the United States at National City. Manchester and Fiona got engaged to married in spring of 2019 but Fiona went missing soon after the rise of Agent Liberty. Distraught at suddenly losing all contact with her, Manchester traveled to the US himself to investigate his fiancé's disappearance. He tracked J'onn J'onzz who was also searching for Fiona. Breaking into J'onn's apartment, Manchester confronted the Martian, but the two managed to calm themselves down and evade fighting each other. As J'onn explained the details of his investigation and Manchester told the Martian his and Fiona's story, the two decided to visit a local bar and seek further answers. Manchester started small talk with the police officer that Fiona investigated, claiming that he also had troubles with the aliens taking his job. Getting the man drunk, Manchester managed to get information and relay it to J'onn, and the two men figured that their culprit was Mercy Graves.
Films
- In Superman vs. the Elite, Manchester Black appeared as an antagonist in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Robin Atkin Downes as an adult and by actor Grey DeLisle as a boy. Manchester Black was the leader of the Elite where they do justice their way. Unlike the events of the original story, Superman actually does destroy the growth responsible for Manchester's powers, permanently removing them.
Video games
Appearances
- Action Comics v1: (2001)
- Superman v1:
- Adventures of Superman v1:
- Justice League Elite v1:
- Superman v3:
- Superman and the Authority v1: (2021)
- Action Comics v1:
External Links
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