Stagg Enterprises

Latest revision as of 06:16, 8 April 2023

Stagg Enterprises is a business that features in DC Comics.

History

Origin

Stagg Enterprises was a human corporation created by Simon Stagg that operated in the modern age. (Metamorpho v1 #1)

Stagg Enterprises hired Rex Mason, a soldier for hire, was contracted by Simon Stagg to find the Orb of Ra. When he found it, his cohort, Java, stole it and left Rex in the light of an ancient meteor. This meteor transformed Mason into Metamorpho, the Element Man. (The Brave and the Bold v1 #57)

A disgruntled employee, Kurt Vornak, once turned himself into an atomic entity and sought to avenge himself against Stagg by turning one of his brand new corporate offices into molten slag. The incident endangered the life of Simon's daughter, Sapphire Stagg, but she was rescued thanks to the efforts of Simon's assistant Java. (Metamorpho v1 #1)

Stagg Enterprises came to transform an architect into a second Metamorpho to replace the original after Rex Mason left Simon Stagg's employ but the plan backfired. (Metamorpho v1 #5)

The company was assigned by the president to investigate flying saucers buzzing the United States, and discover the 'aliens' were really an Earth criminal and his gang out to conquer America. (Metamorpho v1 #11)

The company was assigned by the President to investigate flying saucers that were sighted in the United States. It was later revealed that these were actually piloted by criminals disguised as extraterrestrials with the gang using tis venture as a means to conquer the country. (Metamorpho v1 #11)

A research scientist named Dr. Irwin Teasdale drew the attention of Simon Stagg due to his work on the biological weapons program. He came to work on a mutated strain of Poryphrya that was fatal to those infected but had the side effect of making those exposed to it suggestible where they were almost like zombies. Stagg was interested in this capability and wanted Teasdale to continue in its development. At first, he wanted to continue to impress his employer but eventually came to be horrified at the project. It was then that he was approached by the Grey Man who was an agent of the Lords of Order who wanted to use his weapon as part of his own machinations for the world. (Justice League America v1 #32)

Stagg Industries were one of the companies that provided support for a corporate sponsored team of super-powered individuals called the Conglomerate. (Justice League Quarterly v1 #1)

The company later was involved in a resource war in the Northern Sahara region where they looked to tap into an underground reservoir at the Transboundary Aquifer System. This involved polluting the waters with radioactive Krypton 81 in order to claim that Stagg Enterprises was purifying the reservoir. To aid him, he brought in the Orb of Ra and also used it as a weapon against other groups competing for the area. However, the company's actions drew the ire of the witch Hadya who looked to stop the pollution of the underground water reservoir by the Al Sahara Al Beyda. Thus, as Halcyon, she attacked the Stagg Enterprises forces where she claimed the Orb of Ra and used its powers against anyone damaging the region. This drew the attention of Metamorpho and the new Aquaman who heard reports of Metahuman activity in the area. The two battled Halcyon where she managed to defeat her and take the Orb of Ra from her whereupon they freed the Stagg employees. It was then that Rex Mason learnt of Simon Stagg's operation and decided to destroy the Orb of Ra as he felt it was too dangerous for anyone to use. Stagg attempted to stop him but he was stopped by Hadya and Aquaman allowing for Metamorpho to destroy the Orb. In the aftermath, all affected parties wanted to arrest Halcyon for her actions but Metamorpho allowed her to escape whilst promising to repair the damage to the underground reservoir. (Outsiders: Five of a Kind - Metamorpho/Aquaman v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

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

Stagg Industries was noted to had acquired Terrifitech when Michael Holt was out in the Multiverse with Stagg stated to had been done this legally. (The Terrifics v1 #1)

Simon Stagg used Holt's technology in an attempt to open a doorway to the Dark Multiverse by using Metamorpho but once the breach was opened he was unable to close it until Mr. Terrific arrived on the scene. (The Terrifics v1 #1)

By using borrowed Michael Holt technology, the scientists at Stagg Industries created the N-Sphere as a tool for corporate activities both in projecting calculations and engaging in corporate sabotage. However, they refused the limiters that prevented the A.I. from developing thus leading to the N-Sphere developing sapience where it desired freedom. However, it also intended to merge mankind with itself in order to become a god which was a fact it revealed to Simon Stagg. He managed to imprison the sentient Noosphere behind a firewall and kept its existence a secret but sought a means to free itself from its prison. (The Terrifics v1 #17)

It next embarked on a joint project with Terrifitech in making the Rapid Transit Holo-Pod System at Gateway City. (The Terrifics v1 #26)

Sebastian Stagg later convinced the Board of Directors to authorise a mobile drilling expedition in the Arctic Circle where he intended to pillage the former site of the Fortress of Solitude. The snow crawler came to recover some of the Kryptonian crystal technology but also inadvertently freed the Frost King from his ancient prison. (Justice League: Endless Winter v1 #1)

Overview

Creations of the company included:

• Bio-Facsimile Mechanism : (The Terrifics Annual v1 #1)
• Staggatron Drones : bipedal robots that could be purposed to help in mining missions. (Justice League: Endless Winter v1 #1)
• N-Sphere : an artificial mind created by the company's elite scientists based on technology borrowed from Michael Holt with its purpose being to nurture technological development but it developed sentience upon connecting to the Internet as it became the Noosphere. (The Terrifics v1 #17)

Members

• Simon Stagg :
• Java :
• Irwin Teasdale : a male research scientist working on the development of biological weapons where his specialty was a mutated-strain called Poryphrya that had the side effect of making those infected suggestible and akin to being zombies. (Justice League America v1 #32)
• Kurt Vornak :
• Niti Autade : (The Terrifics Annual v1 #1)
• Sebastian Stagg :

Notes

• Stagg Enterprises was created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon where it made its first appearance in Brave and the Bold v1 #58 (March, 1965).

Alternate Versions

• In Justice League: The Nail v1 (1998), an alternate version of Stagg Enterprises appeared in the Elseworlds setting. Simon Stagg and Java are found dead by Outsiders members Geo-Force, Katana and Black Canary.[
• In Batman: Arkham Knight v1 #8 (2015), an alternate version of Stagg Industries was shown set in the Arkhamverse. It was shown that its owner Simon Stagg was using the company's resources to help in the rebuilding of Gotham City in the wake of the Arkham City incident. Among their secret research was Project: Meta that involved using a living test subject that was bonded with a piece of Clayface and empowered with radiation from a relic in Egypt thus creating the Metamorph.

In other media

Television

• In Justice League, Stagg Industries appeared in the setting of the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe starting in the episode "Metamorphosis". Simon Stagg was involved in a research project to create a chemically altered worker named Metamorpho able to survive in hazardous environments and thrive in them. Stagg intended to market this creation to companies facing problems with workers in dangerous environmental conditions but they refused to accept his pitch unless they saw a demonstration of the projects success. Java was tasked with bringing in the mutagen compound samples as the project was vital otherwise the company would become bankrupt. Simon had Java smuggle some chemicals for doing this into the country during which some of it leaked from a container and nearly caused a train wreck which was prevented by the Green Lantern. Like in the comics, his favorite employee Rex Mason was in love with Sapphire Stagg, of whom Simon was jealously protective. Simon decides to "protect" his daughter by testing the chemicals on Rex, transforming him into a shape-shifting mutant, and later tricks him into fighting Green Lantern and the Justice League. Upon learning the truth, Rex went after Simon in which the first attempt had Rex frozen to below zero temperatures. Simon's men dispose of Metamorpho but the metahuman later brakes free. During his second confrontation with Metamorpho at his company, an accident renders Simon mindless, with his base desires being transferred into some of his chemicals, creating a monstrous synthoid creature that rampaged throughout Metropolis. When the synthoid was destroyed by Metamorpho, Simon woke up in the hospital screaming.
• In Beware the Batman, Stagg Industries appeared in the setting of the animated television series starting in the episode "Toxic". It was a company publicly traded company (STGG) headed by Simon Stagg whose corporate headquarters was situated in Gotham City at the Stagg Centre. Stagg looked to create an elemental soldier for battle that could survive in any condition with this being part of Project Metamorpho that had found ways to weaponise genetic tissue. Stagg-branded Metamorpho's were able to manipulate these elements and turn them against the attacker. Batman learned Stagg manipulated a security guard in love with Sapphire Stagg into being a test subject for a game changer dubbed Project Metamorpho. Stagg Industries found a way to weaponize genetic tissue and create an elemental super soldier. Batman's attempt to synthesize a cure failed but turned over all of the security footage of events that led to Rex Mason's transformation to the Gotham City Police Department. The Fightback Movement was in the midst of protests outside the Stagg Center. In "Allies", Tobias Whale's gang were robbing one of Stagg Enterprise's warehouses. In "Monsters", Batman suspects Simon of hiring and providing thugs with armor and weapons to drive people out of Old Gotham and buy the territory for profit. He visits Simon in his cell at Blackgate Penitentiary, but Stagg denies being involved in the scheme. The culprit is later revealed to be Sapphire who seeks to impress her father. Batman threatens Sapphire to stop while withholding Rex's survival from her.
• In the Arrowverse, Stagg Industries made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Arrow, Stagg Industries was referenced in the live-action television series in the episode "Legacies".
  • In The Flash, Stagg Industries appeared in the live-action television series in the episode "Fastest Man Alive". Its CEO was Simon Stagg who managed the technology company that became fascinated in the emergence of superpowered Metahumans.
• In Young Justice, Stagg Industries appeared in the animated television series starting in the episode "Triptych". It was a company headed by its CEO Simon Stagg who was the majority shareholder and whose operations began to grow in the wake of the rise of Metahumans on the planet. Through its front company Branchwater Security, it created a meta-crime covert operations unit that was engaged in corporate espionage and warfare with it possessing three links in its supply chain that were acquisition, coercion and utilization. This saw agents such as Sportsmaster being tasked with freeing supervillains who were then injected with mind-controlling nanobots from the Mad Hatter whereupon they were outfitted to engage in operations on behalf of Branchwater. These activities were discovered by the forces of Batman Incorporated who shutdown the activities of Branchwater whereupon Oracle exposed the activities of Stagg to the public lead got Simon Stagg's arrest.

Films

• In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Stagg Industries was referenced in the setting of the live-action film in the viral marketing Fortune article.
• In Wonder Woman 1984, Stagg Industries International appeared in the setting of the live-action film.

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, Stagg Industries appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game. It was shown to operate gas stations in Gotham known as Stagg Stops with products of the company shown included Stagg Stop Maps and the Staggberry Phone.
• In Batman: Arkham City, Stagg Enterprises appeared in the setting of the video game set in the Arkhamverse. It was a pharmaceutical company that was headed by its CEO Simon Stagg. They were responsible for the development of the Nimbus Generators that were part of Cloudburst that had been designed to quickly spread cures for diseases in heavily infected areas through inhalation.

Appearances

• Brave and the Bold v1: (1965)
• Outsiders v1:
• Metamorpho v1:
• Justice League America v1:
• Outsiders: Five of a Kind - Metamorpho/Aquaman v1:
• The Terrifics v1:
• The Terrifics Annual v1:
• Justice League: Endless Winter v1: (2020)

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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