Owlman (DC)
Owlman is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Owlman was a male superpowered being who was an inhabitant of Earth-3 in the Multiverse. He came to be a masked criminal and among the first supervillains of his world. Eventually, he came to join a group of other supervillains where they banded together to form the Crime Syndicate of America. Together, they performed numerous crimes on their Earth and always evaded the attempts by the authorities to arrest them. However, eventually, they came to grow bored by their activities and felt that nothing really challenged them. This changed one day when Ultraman called a meeting of the Syndicate where he revealed that after being empowered by Kryptonite that he gained super-vision strong enough to peer into alternate realities in the Multiverse. As a result, he saw an alternate world known as Earth-1 that was populated by superheroes who fought criminals and supervillains. Its premiere superheroes were the Justice League of America where he proposed that they could find a challenge in battling these super-beings. The Syndicate were excited at this possibility and turned to Owlman in orchestrating a plan against the superheroes of Earth-1. Arriving on Earth-1, the Syndicate split to target different locations with Owlman stating that if they ever had trouble with the world's heroes then they should call on Volthoom. Owlman targeted a bank where he was confronted by the Green Lantern Hal Jordan where he attempted to outwit the hero but was nearly captured by the emerald warrior's Power Ring. This forced him to call on the power of Volthoom alongside his team mates who each had problems with the heroes that confronted them. The word was a pre-arranged plan that would see the Justice League being sent to Earth-3 if the Crime Syndicate were losing against their foes. This allowed the supervillain team to defeat the heroes who held them hostage as it was determined that a battle on either Earth-1 or Earth-3 would bring about a victor to the native team. Thus, Owlman determined that they needed a neutral battle ground for them to prove their strength where they targeted Earth-2 and planned to eliminate its native heroes the Justice Society of America. (Justice League of America v1 #29) The Crime Syndicate then attacked the Justice Society where Owlman fought against Doctor Mid-Nite. The villains were defeated but Owlman had arranged a plan whereby Power Ring's ring would shunt the Justice Society to Earth-3 even if the Crime Syndicate were defeated thus allowing them to be victorious over the heroes. Thus, they were able to enact their real plan which was their fight against the Justice League that was to be fought on Earth-2 where Owlman was sent to battle Batman. He and the other Syndicate members though were ultimately defeated where the Justice League found out that the villains had instituted a failsafe that would see Earth-1 and Earth-2 destroyed upon their imprisonment. This plan was thwarted and the Crime Syndicate were placed in an other-dimensional prison with warnings to prevent any travellers from accidentally freeing them. (Justice League of America v1 #30)
They remained trapped in that prison until they were discovered by Per Degaton who was looking for allies after his recent defeats at the hands of the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron. (All-Star Squadron v1 #14)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Thomas Wayne, Junior
It was said that he was among the supervillains that emerged after Ultraman. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1)
A year ago, he along with the rest of the Syndicate attacked the small Eastern European nation of Modora. The country for years had resisted the supervillains where they were led by Lady Sonar who had shielded them under a sonic dome. (JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004 v1 #1)
He gathered at the Panopticon with Superwoman when Ultraman informed them that Lex Luthor had fled their world after using some of the machinery in the Flying Fortress. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1)
Owlman along with Superwoman then appeared at the Fortress of Solitude on the main Earth in order to claim the baby. In reality, the child was actually born from dead cells from Ultraman and inhabited by their Earth's version of Brainiac who had survived his death. (Adventures of Superman v1 #605)
Remaining in control of their Earth, the Crime Syndicate experienced boredom with nothing present that would serve as a challenge to them. This was until Power Ring had uncovered the existence of an Ultimate-Plus level foe within the Anti-Matter Universe on the world of Qward. As a result, Owlman and the rest of the Syndicate attacked the planet and its highly advanced inhabitants which were the Qwardians who were easily overpowered. On the verge of winning, a disruption occurred across reality that reset events to prior to the attack on Qward which included some changes to their world such as a new version of Power Ring in the Syndicate. (JLA v1 #108)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Thomas Wayne, Junior. was the son of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne of Earth-3 with him being the older brother of Bruce Wayne. Around 30 years ago, he grew tired of his controlling parents and decided to murder them in order to claim their fortune. He shared the plan with his brother Bruce who at the time agreed with it as they led their parents down an alleyway in Gotham. Thomas then pulled out a gun where he was ready to kill his parents but Bruce changed his mind and attempted to save them. However, the Wayne butler Alfred Pennysworth had sided with Thomas Wayne, Junior and proceeded to shoot at Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne and Bruce Wayne. With his parents dead, Thomas Wayne, Junior. then murdered his younger brother Bruce as he and Alfred then set forth consolidating the Wayne fortune under them. (Justice League v2 #25)
When the universe broke, space began to heal its wounds leading to the re-creation of Earth-3 and a new incarnation of its inhabitants that included Owlman. (Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse's End v1 #1)
Though seemingly victorious, Owlman concluded that Perpetua's success would mean all of their downfall even those that had sided with her. As a contingency, he placed explosives within the crisis towers that Perpetua was using to destroy the Multiverse. However, he had no intention of siding with the heroes as his actions were entirely driven for his envy and hatred of the Prime Earth. To understand the stakes, he interrogated the captured Green Lantern John Stewart to learn more about the danger of Perpetua. From the Green Lantern, he learnt that he was not the original incarnation of himself and accessed the Harbinger database taken from the House of Heroes that contained the collected history of the Multiverse. Through it, Owlman learnt of the death of each of his past incarnations and experienced an epiphany hat made him laugh madly. He determined that he was an essential fabric of the Multiverse and would always be reborn as long as there was a Batman. Thus, Owlman decided to free Stewart and aid the heroes in undoing Perpetua's plan where he helped by detonating the explosives on the crisis towers thus destroying them along with the evil Baby Batman. (Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse's End v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Owlman was fine with wars being fought but did not want chaos to disrupt the profit and powerbase that had been established on Earth-3. However, to alleviate boredom, he was known to secretly ferment rebellions and supply them so that he could ruthlessly put them down with this being one of the few means of entertainment available to him. (JLA v1 #108)
He believed he was the true dark reflection of Batman whilst he saw the Batman Who Laughs as a thing from the Multiverse's dark underbelly. (Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse's End v1 #1)
One of his loyal henchmen was the Earth-3 version of Alfred Pennysworth who helped him murdered his family. (Justice League v2 #25)
Among his allies on Earth-3 was that reality's version of James Gordon who was a crime boss called Boss Gordon. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1) Another crime boss that worked for him was his world's version of Lucius Fox who operated a territory in Gotham City under the oversight of Owlman. (JLA v1 #108)
He was noted to had been involved in a secret love affair with Superwoman with the two meeting in secret behind Ultraman's back. In reality, Ultraman was aware of their relationship but was unable to act as Owlman had incriminating photos of him that he used as blackmail material. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
It was said that it was his super-brain that made him a super-being amongst the Crime Syndicate. (Justice League of America v1 #29) With his superior brain, he could generate a mental force able to force a command into the mind of his opponent and take brief command of a super-being. Such commands could cause a person to miss hitting them or to move at an inopportune moment to give Owlman the advantage in a fight. (Justice League of America v1 #30) Owlman was noted to possess a drug-enhanced super-cortex that increased his intelligence. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1) He was noted for being able to perfectly see in the dark. (Justice League of America v1 #30)
He had a utility belt that kept a wide range of tools and weapons. (Justice League of America v1 #29)
Within his arsenal of weapons included razorangs and bloodseekers that he used to kill his enemies. (JLA: Earth-2 v1 #1) He could use a special gas that was capable of knocking out some of his opponents. (Justice League of America v1 #29)
A weapon he used was the illumina-gun that was a light-gun capable of knocking a person out. (Justice League of America v1 #29)
Notes
- Owlman was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky where he made his first appearance in Justice League of America v1 #29 (August, 1964).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Owlman appeared in the animated television series starting in the episodes "Deep Cover for Batman!" and "Game Over for Owlman!" where he was voiced by actor Diedrich Bader.
Films
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Owlman appeared as an antagonist in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor James Woods.
Video games
- In DC Legends, the Thomas Wayne, Jr. Owlman appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game. According to his background, he along with his comrades extended their reign of crime to other worlds that included Earth-Prime after remaining unchallenged on their native Earth-3. He was
Other
Appearances
- Justice League of America v1: (1964)
- All-Star Squadron v1:
- JLA: Earth-2 v1:
- JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004 v1:
- Adventures of Superman v1:
- Superman/Batman Annual v1:
- Trinity v1:
- Justice League v2:
- Convergence: Crime Syndicate v1:
- Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse's End v1: (2020)
External Links
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