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Blockbuster (DC Comics)

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This article is about the DC Comics supervillain. For the Marvel Comics supervillain, see Blockbuster (Marauder).

Blockbuster is the name of four supervillains and a criminal organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.[1] The first iteration was an adversary of Batman and Robin, while the second served as one of Nightwing's greatest enemies. The latest version first appeared in the pages of the series 52 wherein he is directed into battle against Lex Luthor's team of superheroes.

Publication history

The Mark Desmond version of Blockbuster first appeared in Detective Comics #345 and was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino.[2]

The Roland Desmond version of Blockbuster first appeared in Starman #9 and was created by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle.

Fictional character biography

Mark Desmond

Blockbuster
File:Blockbuster (Comics) (Mark Desmond).jpg
Interior artwork from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3 (May 1985, DC Comics).
Art by Michael T. Gilbert.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDetective Comics #345 (November 1965)
Created byGardner Fox (writer)
Carmine Infantino (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoMark Desmond
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsSecret Society of Super Villains
Suicide Squad
Abilities

The first Blockbuster was Mark Desmond, a chemist who desired to increase his physical strength. Experimenting on himself, he succeeded in making himself stronger and taller, but as a side-effect of the process he also became almost mindlessly aggressive.[3] The mentally debilitated Desmond was cared for by his brother Roland, a local criminal, who kept their mother from discovering what Mark had done to himself.[4]

Roland manipulated his brother into committing crimes on his behalf until they came into conflict with Batman and Robin. Bruce Wayne had once rescued a young Desmond from drowning, and he discovered that he could calm the enraged adult Desmond by removing his cowl and showing his face.[5] Desmond later found himself clashing with Batman on various occasions.

Blockbuster absorbed energies from the Alfred Memorial which gave him some powers and was once substituted for the super-strong undead villain Solomon Grundy from Earth-Two due to a machine that was substituting people from both Earths. Green Lantern caused him to fight Solomon Grundy, leading to them both briefly getting the fight knocked out of each other. While Solomon Grundy was taken back to Earth-Two by the Justice Society of America, Blockbuster was handed over to the police by the Justice League.[6]

Blockbuster joined the Secret Society of Super Villains briefly for a battle with the Justice League.[7]

King Kull enlisted Blockbuster, Penguin, Queen Clea of Earth-Two, and Ibac of Earth-S to wreck Atlantis and use a cloud to sink islands. They are thwarted by Superman, Wonder Woman of Earth-Two, Green Arrow, and Spy Smasher of Earth-S.[8]

Later, Amanda Waller recruited Desmond for her revived Suicide Squad. He was killed fighting Darkseid's creation, Brimstone.[9]

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Mark Desmond is a patient of Dr. Phayne's. He lives on the estate and at night he undergoes procedures to enhance his intelligence. He is exposed to small amounts of a green compound intravenously. An accident is caused by a new patient believing he is in pain and the cascade of green liquid overdoses Desmond and creates an explosion. The overdose exposes a super-strong man calling himself Blockbuster. He rampages from the building in pain and knocks an attacking Hawkman unconscious.[10] Blockbuster was later mind-controlled by Necromancer to help her steal an artifact from a Washington D.C. museum, which brought the attention of Hawk and Dove. They teamed up with Batman and Robin to stop Blockbuster and Necromancer.[11] Mark Desmond later appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains upon having been recruited by Outsider. When Catwoman breaks out of Arkham Asylum, Mark Desmond and Signalman confronted Catwoman on a rooftop, which ended with Catwoman being knocked out.[12]

Roland Desmond

Blockbuster
File:Blockbuster (Roland Desmond).jpg
Interior artwork from Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear #1 (November 1995, DC Comics), art by Rick Burchett.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceStarman #9 (April 1989)
Created byRoger Stern (writer)
Tom Lyle (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoRoland Desmond
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsBlockbuster's Gang
Underground Society
Black Lantern Corps
Abilities

Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a severe illness forced him to be treated with experimental steroids. Like his brother Mark, Roland became a child-minded super-strong monster. He ran wild in the Southwest, but Batman and Starman (Will Payton) brought his rampage to an end.[13][14]

Desmond became obsessed with elevating himself greatly above his debilitated brain. A pact with the demon Neron granted him a full intellectual mind and Desmond embarked once more on a career of crime and destruction. He began his revived criminal career by causing chaos in the town of Manchester, although his schemes were foiled by the speedster, Impulse.

Desmond then moved to his mother's hometown of Blüdhaven. He forced the crime lord Angel Marin out of power and took over the city's criminal rackets. Roland's plan was to build a criminal empire in Blüdhaven that would eventually enable him to extend his dominion over Gotham, Star City, Metropolis, and New York's underworlds. For that purpose, he bought the corrupt elements of the city's police department, most notably Police Chief Redhorn and Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames.

Despite his swift and vicious consolidation of power, Blockbuster's hold on Blüdhaven's organized crime was nevertheless weakened by the intervention of the city's new protector, Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the former Robin), who, with Oracle's help, foiled Desmond's plans at every turn. Oracle often removes money from Blockbuster's accounts and he has a man working to stop and find Oracle, named Vogel.[15]

Desmond's primary goal became the elimination of the young vigilante.[16] He placed a contract on Nightwing's life, employing the services of several assassins, including Lady Vic, Stallion, Brutale, the Trigger Twins, and Shrike.

As a further result of his initial transformation, Desmond later developed albinism and a heart defect. He was restored to (comparative) health by a heart transplant from one of the talking apes of Gorilla City, and was consolidating his control over Blüdhaven and contemplating a takeover of Gotham City, when he was killed by the new Tarantula, Catalina Flores.[17]

As part of the Blackest Night event, Roland's corpse is reanimated by a black power ring and recruited to the Black Lantern Corps.[18]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Blockbuster appears asking Nightwing to help with a job.[19]

Blockbuster III

Lex Luthor created a new Blockbuster in the pages of the miniseries event 52 to serve as an opponent of his manufactured hero team Infinity, Inc. Little is revealed about this Blockbuster, save for the fact that Luthor possesses some measure of control over his actions and level of strength. Luthor also comments that he is stronger than either of the previous two Blockbusters. This brute's cognitive abilities and appearance are very similar to the original. With controlled interference from Lex Luthor, Blockbuster kills the superhero Trajectory.[20]

Martian Manhunter's disguise

A Blockbuster appears among the villains exiled to an alien world in Salvation Run. In issue #3, it is revealed to be a disguised Martian Manhunter.

Female Blockbuster

A newer, female Blockbuster appears in the swamps of Louisiana and fights Mon-El.[21]

Powers and abilities

All Blockbusters have immense strength, stamina, and a high resistance to physical and energy attacks. Once transformed, most of them loses their intellect. In a straight battle, typically the greatest weakness is their comparatively slower speed, making it relatively easy to evade opposing fights, although this is of limited use if confronting Blockbuster inside buildings.[22]

After selling his soul to Neron, Roland Desmond gained supergenius intelligence.[23]

Other versions

Just Imagine...

In Stan Lee's Just Imagine... series, Blockbuster is reimagined as Brock Smith, a death row inmate notorious for a series of mass murders committed with his bare hands, who is rescued by the series' mysterious villain Dominic Darrk and re-empowered with extra super-strength (and a purple carapace) as part of a villainous Doom Patrol. He is defeated and de-powered by Batman and Wonder Woman (who crack his purple facade with Wonder Woman's staff), and dies after running over a live electrical cable.[24]

In other media

Television

Blockbuster as he appears in Young Justice
  • The Mark Desmond incarnation of Blockbuster appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Following a minor appearance in the episode "Kid Stuff", Blockbuster joins Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society in the episode "I Am Legion". Prior to and during the episode "Alive!", Lex Luthor takes command of the Society, but Grodd mounts a mutiny. Blockbuster sides with the latter, only to be frozen by Killer Frost and killed off-screen by Darkseid along with Grodd's other loyalists.
  • Mark Desmond appears in The Batman episode "Meltdown", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version is an African-American scientist working for Wayne Enterprises who is in charge of enforcing Ethan Bennett's parole.
  • The Mark Desmond incarnation of Blockbuster appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by James Arnold Taylor and Kevin Michael Richardson respectively. This version is an evil prodigy who stole chemicals from S.T.A.R. Labs to create a serum capable of increasing his strength.
  • The Mark Desmond incarnation of Blockbuster appears in Young Justice, voiced by René Auberjonois in season one and again by Dee Bradley Baker in season four. This version of Blockbuster was purposefully redesigned as the series creators felt the original version was too similar to Marvel Comics character the Hulk.[25] As such, Desmond's transformation involves his Blockbuster form ripping through his human skin. Additionally, Desmond is a senior member of Project Cadmus who answers directly to their board of directors, the Light.
  • Mark Desmond appears in The Flash episode "Funeral for a Friend", portrayed by an uncredited actor. This version is a criminal who stole an exo-suit from Ivo Laboratories, only to be apprehended by Team Flash.

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

See also

References

  1. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9780345501066.
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 34. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  4. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). "Blockbuster I". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1.
  5. ^ Eury, Michael; Kronenberg, Michael (2009). The Batcave Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1893905788.
  6. ^ Justice League of America #46-47. DC Comics.
  7. ^ Secret Society of Super Villains #1-15 (May-June 1976). DC Comics.
  8. ^ Justice League of America #135 (October 1976). DC Comics.
  9. ^ Ostrander, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Kesel, Karl (i). "Send For... the Suicide Squad!" Legends, no. 3, p. 14 (January 1987). DC Comics.
  10. ^ The Savage Hawkman #18. DC Comics.
  11. ^ Hawk and Dove (vol. 5) #6. DC Comics.
  12. ^ Justice League of America (vol. 3) #3. DC Comics.
  13. ^ Starman #10 (May 1989). DC Comics.
  14. ^ Wallace, Dan (2008). "Blockbuster II". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1.
  15. ^ Nightwing (vol. 2) #44 (June 2000). DC Comics.
  16. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  17. ^ Nightwing (vol. 2) #93 (July 2004). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Blackest Night: Batman #1 (October 2009). DC Comics.
  19. ^ Nightwing (vol. 4) #22. DC Comics.
  20. ^ 52 #21. DC Comics.
  21. ^ Superman #689 (August 2009). DC Comics.
  22. ^ Detective Comics #349 (March 1966)
  23. ^ Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995)
  24. ^ Just Imagine... JLA #1, DC Comics.
  25. ^ "Blockbuster Turn by *Phillybee". Deviant Art. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  26. ^ Mayimbe, El (May 19, 2008). "Supermax: Green Arrow Story Details + Villains/Inmates Gallery". LatinoReview.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  27. ^ Gerding, Stephen (January 13, 2016). "Exclusive: Nightwing's Romantic Life Takes a Hit in "Batman: Bad Blood" Clip". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2016.


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