Multiplex (DC)

Multiplex in Midnighter v2 #3.

Multiplex is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Danton Black as Multiplex in Firestorm v1 #5.

Danton Black was the assistant to nuclear physicist Martin Stein when they worked together to design the Hudson Nuclear Facility, during which Black felt (incorrectly) that Stein was getting too much credit while he did all the work. After Stein fired Black for stealing lab equipment, Black publicly accused Stein of stealing his work, leading to an injunction against opening the facility just days before it was to go online. Stein, fearing that delays would cause the public to believe the reactors unsafe, decided to bring them online regardless of the injunction on the same night that Black broke into the offices to steal blueprints he could use to fabricate evidence supporting his accusations against Stein. A bomb placed in the facility by a protest group exploded that night, transforming Stein (and student Ronnie Raymond) into Firestorm with the power of fusion, and granting Black the power of fission—the ability to separate himself into many different beings as Multiplex.

Multiplex originally worked as an operative of the 2000 Committee under the command of Henry Hewitt, and kidnapped Lorraine Reilly (Firehawk) while acting under Hewitt's orders. Although believed killed by the Parasite[1], he reappeared to fight current Firestorm Jason Rusch alongside other of Stein and Raymond's enemies. He was then seen as a member of the most recent Secret Society of Super Villains when Black Adam threatened to kill him if he didn't join.

As part of a ploy to manipulate the Justice League, Multiplex was mentioned as being deceased by Felix Faust[2], but Multiplex soon turned up working alongside the Suicide Squad, his duploids serving not only as field agents but as office employees for Squad leader Amanda Waller.

He is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell free card from the Secret Six

Post-Flashpoint

Multiplex in Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #18.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different series of events.

He joined a group of supervillains including Icicle, Catman and Rampage as they decided to take their criminal activities outside the country. This saw them travelling to the Mathali Island in the Arabian Sea where they toppled the government and decided to take over a hotel as a place to relax. The villains were then pursued by the Special Crimes Task Force with Multiplex dispatching copies of himself to deal with them. However, the duplicates were defeated by the Flash who had arrived with the Justice League that had come to assist the authorities in apprehending the villains. The group of supervillains were then placed in a prison vehicle where they lamented not being chased by superheroes with Rampage stating that she had heard of a safe haven in Kahndaq. They then faced the possibility of escape when one of Multiplex's clones was loose ad ready to free them. (Justice League: Endless Winter v1 #1)

Overview

Powers and abilities

Multiplex can split off duplicates of himself that he calls duploids. The number that he can create is limited by the amount of energy he has, but he can absorb energy to create more. The duploids, which share his thoughts and identity, are sometimes carbon copies of himself but he can also create smaller duploids. Early in his career, he was forced to find an energy source to boost his powers. Later, he discovered his own energy source so he could, in theory, create unlimited duploids. Each duploid possesses a degree of superhuman strength and all are mentally linked to the original. Their deaths appear to have a jarring affect on the original.

Notes

• Multiplex was created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom where he made his first appearance in Firestorm v1 #1 (March, 1978).

Alternate Versions

• In the issue of Batman Beyond, a comic book mini-series sets in the DCAU, reveals a new Catwoman who displays superhuman abilities identical to Multiplex. It is eventually revealed that the new Catwoman is the daughter of the villain. Although her father could create great numbers of copies, she can only manage nine at once.

In other media

Television

• In The Flash 2014 series, the character made an appearance in the episode "Fastest Man Alive" where he was played by Michael Christopher Smith. This version was a scientist named Danton Black who worked for Simon Stagg as a researcher specializing in the field of cloning. He was married to Elizabeth Black who he considered his friend as well and suffered from failing heart. This led to Black trying to succeed in his cloning research to save her but his employer Stagg confiscated the data leading to Elizabeth dying. At that time, energy released from the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator imparted in him the ability to create duplicates of himself that were controlled by his own will. With this power, he tried to get revenge against Simon Stagg at Central City and initially gained the help of his bodyguard Java who he later killed. It was discovered that the clones of Black were mindless shells but directed by his will and that the more clones he created the more strained his mind as well as body became to maintain them. His abilities wee discovered by Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramone with the latter initially calling him Captain Clone before settling on Multiplex. During his attempt to kill Stagg, he fell out of a window with the Flash trying to save him but Black allowed himself to fall to the ground of the building leading to his death.

Appearances

• Firestorm v1: (1978)
• Fury of Firestorm:
• Midnighter:
• Legends of Tomorrow v1:
• The Flash:
• Justice League Endless Winter v1: (2020)

External Links

• DC Database Entry

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