Ian Karkull
Ian Karkull is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Ian Karkull was a male human born in the modern age on Earth. In the late 1930's, Ian Karkull was a scientist and archaeologist working in the Sahara Desert with his partner Everett Dahlen. The two sought the lost city of Ragnor, a mystic city rumored to possess great wealth and a knowledge of dark powers. Finding it, the two came upon a ruby of incredible size and value and immediately began to quarrel over it. Dahlen stunned Karkull with a savage blow and left him to die in the hidden city. Abandoned in the lost city for days, Karkull learned an undisclosed array of secrets and magics that he carried with him back to America when he was finally rescued by nomadic Arabs. Arriving in New York, Karkull built a machine based on what he had learned. With it, he could turn men into intangible shadows. His initial goals were two-fold: to avenge himself on Everett Dahlen and build a cache of wealth to launch the next phase of his criminal career. His first goal was easily met, slaying Dahlen with the aide of a shadowy assassin. Karkull's plans were complicated however, when the murder attracted the attention of Doctor Fate. Fate pursued the shadow-men on their next outing at a local bank and confronted Karkull in his lair. To elude the mage, Karkull transformed himself into a shadow. The criminal had outsmarted himself however, since Doctor Fate Fate then promptly destroyed the machine that would return him to human form. After lecturing Karkull on the penalties of an evil life, Fate left the shadow to his own devices. (More Fun Comics v1 #69) For an undetermined period of time, Karkull wandered the Earth, plotting his revenge. At some point he was contacted by the astral form of the arch-mage Wotan, another foe of Doctor Fate. Wotan educated Karkull on the magics needed to free his body from the deep tomb in which Fate had trapped him. The two then relocated to a hidden city in the Arctic to gather their strength. Their plans came to the attention of Doctor Fate when they destroyed an expedition of U.S. Navy scientists who came too close to their lair. Tracking the villains across the frozen wasteland, Fate confronted his two foes only to be captured. His release was accomplished by a surprise assault by the U.S. Navy, led by the sole survivor of the doomed expedition. The men were no match for the powerful weaponry employed by Karkull and Wotan but distracted them long enough for the mage to escape. After ensuring the safety of the sailors, Fate turned his full wrath on the villains, reflecting their own device against them. Seeing them apparently destroyed, Fate left the Arctic city to burn to the ground. (More Fun Comics v1 #70)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Ian Karkull
In reality though, Karkull had survived as a being of shadow who took the next half-century in put himself back together in the Shadowlands. He remained trapped there as a creature of shadow devoid of form in the physical world as a result. By the modern day, he sought to reclaim the shadow energy that had fallen on the Justice Society members in order to restore himself completely. To that end, he began to possess the form of Obsidian causing him to turn out and attack those around him. (JSA v1 #7)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Ian Karkull was a white male who by adulthood was noted for being bald. It was said that he had the face of a man who was very evil. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
After being betrayed by Dahlen, Karkull was left for dead but vowed revenge against the man. In fact, he looked to expand his enmity by seeking vengeance against the entire world. Thus, he was regarded as being an enemy of mankind. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
He had longed to be the greatest criminal known in history. Karkull had no interest in working for anyone but himself. Thus, he initially looked to lead a criminal gang by being the brain of their operations. It was said that he thought of everything when he operated as a criminal mastermind. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
Karkull came to be a lifelong enemy of Doctor Fate after the hero thwarted his schemes and left the scientist as a mere shadow to die helpless and alone. For this, he felt a desire for revenge against the mystical hero. (More Fun Comics v1 #70)
Powers and abilities
Karkull was born an ordinary human being with no special inherent abilities or powers. However, by adulthood, he was noted for being a scientific wizard. It was said that a man of his genius could have made a name for himself and been a useful citizen in society. (More Fun Comics v1 #69) Karkull was held as being a master scientist and a great inventor. (More Fun Comics v1 #70)
From his work, he created the Shadow Maker that was able to convert individuals into beings of living shadow. In this state, they were humanoids beings of complete darkness with no form yet had the ability to influence the material world to the point that they could kill living beings by inducing heart failure. A materializer being was able to return such people back to normal matter. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
One of his creations was a device that fired a beam of transareal power. Normally, such a blast from this weapon could leave a person torn to pieces. Certain superpowered foes though could simply be rendered unconscious. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
In some cases, he was known to wield a simple sidearm pistol which he used in desperation. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
In desperation, he made use of his Shadow Maker to evade capture by turning himself into a black living shadow. However, the machine was destroyed thus preventing him from being turned back into his human form. As a result, he was a shadow unable to be touched nor interact with anything in the physical realm. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
He had once maintained a a laboratory near New York City where he conducted in secretive experiments. (More Fun Comics v1 #69)
Notes
- Ian Karkull was created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman where he made his first appearance in More Fun Comics v1 #69 (August, 1941).
In other media
Television
- In Superman: The Animated Series, the character was adapted as Karkull in the television series set in the DC Animated Universe in the episode "The Hand of Fate" where he was voiced by actor Ted Levine. This version was a demon who was the seventh-level Lord of the Inner Pit whose first escape was foiled by Doctor Fate who trapped him within a tablet called the Artifact of Lorta. About a century after his imprisonment, Karkull was accidentally released by a thief that had come across the artifact and read its inscriptions out loud. Freed once again, Karkull crushed the artifact and began a rampage in Metropolis catching the attention of Superman. After a brief battle, Karkull managed to scratch Superman and cast a spell of protection around the Daily Planet. Now safe from any opposition, Karkull began casting a spell that transformed the building into his own realm. Once his spell was completed, Karkull opened a portal to the inner circle and began to summon demons with which to possess and transform humans into demon slaves. However, before Karkull could extend his influence outside of the building, Superman arrived to stop him. Unfortunately, Superman was unable to defeat Karkull alone and nearly fell in battle. It was then that Doctor Fate arrived to stop him once more. Karkull fought Fate furiously and was horrified to see that the Artifact of Lorta had been reconstructed. Desperate not to be captured again, Karkull attacked Fate, causing him to drop the tablet down toward the portal. Fortunately, Superman managed to retrieve the tablet before it was lost and Fate finished the containment spell. Karkull was once again drawn into the tablet and his demons were drawn in with him with his influence being removed from the world.
Appearances
- More Fun Comics v1: (1941)
- All-Star Squadron Annual v1:
- JSA v1:
External Links
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