Baron Blitzkrieg

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Baron Blitzkrieg
Baron Blitzkrieg.jpg
Baron Blitzkrieg as seen in Young All-Stars #9.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance World's Finest Comics #246 (September 1977)
Created by Gerry Conway
Don Heck
In-story information
Alter egoBaron Reiter
Team affiliations Axis Amerika
Shadowspire
Secret Society of Super Villains
Black Lantern Corps
AbilitiesSuperhuman strength
Heat vision
Flight

Baron Blitzkrieg is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. [1]

Contents

Publication history

The character (also known as Baron Reiter and simply the Baron) was created by Gerry Conway and Don Heck, and first appeared in World's Finest Comics #246 (September 1977).

Fictional character biography

Baron Reiter was originally a vicious German army officer during World War II who was blinded and disfigured when a concentration camp prisoner threw a bottle in his face. German scientists experimented on the Nazi which restored his sight, but not his appearance. Nonetheless, he is given superhuman strength, invulnerability, optical energy beams, and the ability to fly. While he can initially manifest each of these abilities one at a time, he underwent training to incorporate these abilities together. [2]

Baron Blitzkrieg's first several appearances were antagonistic encounters with Wonder Woman and Superman. [3] [4] [5] Afterwards, Blitzkrieg was a frequent opponent of the All-Star Squadron; [6] brainwashing Commander Steel, [7] confronting with Hourman which resulted in Red Bee's death, [8] conspiring with Zyklon to use the Liberty Bell to destroy Philadelphia before bring defeated by the original Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick and Jay Garrick / Flash, [9] trying to stay hidden in Jamaica, [10] and being a benefactor of Axis Amerika. [11]

The Baron is the leader of Shadowspire, conspiring with Vandal Savage's Symbolix organization in experimental research behind Damage, [12] [13] and an assassination attempt which is foiled by Deathstroke. [14]

During the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, Baron Blitzkrieg joins the Secret Society of Super Villains. He is killed by Superboy-Prime during the Battle of Metropolis. [15]

During the "Blackest Night" storyline, Baron Blitzkrieg's corpse is entombed below the Hall of Justice and later revived as a Black Lantern. [16]

Baron Blitzkrieg appears in a flashback in JSA (vol. 2). During the 1940s, he led Gudra the Valkyrie, Horned Owl, Zyklon, and Nazi soldiers in a bid to steal the Spear of Destiny, only to be thwarted by the Justice Society of America and the Blackhawks. [17]

Powers and abilities

Baron Blitzkrieg has enhanced strength, agility and endurance. Additionally, he wore body armor that offered some protection from physical attacks and possesses heat vision and the ability to fly, and also could travel between Earth-2 and Earth-X.

Other versions

In the alternate Flashpoint timeline, Baron Blitzkrieg makes a minor appearance in which he is killed by Frankenstein. [18]

In other media

See also

References

  1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains . New York: Facts on File. p. 17. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  2. Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 55–56. ISBN   978-0345501073.
  3. Greenberger, Robert (2008), "Baron Blitzkrieg", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 37, ISBN   978-0-7566-4119-1
  4. World's Finest Comics #246-247. DC Comics.
  5. All New Collectors' Edition #54. DC Comics.
  6. 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. 25. ISBN   978-1-4654-5357-0.
  7. All-Star Squadron #6-9. DC Comics.
  8. All-Star Squadron #32-35. DC Comics.
  9. All-Star Squadron #45-46. DC Comics.
  10. Young All-Stars #9. DC Comics.
  11. Young All-Stars #21-25. DC Comics.
  12. Damage #3-8. DC Comics.
  13. Damage #14. DC Comics.
  14. Deathstroke #54. DC Comics.
  15. Infinite Crisis #7 (June 2006)
  16. Blackest Night #4 (December 2009)
  17. JSA (vol. 2) #8 (August 2025)
  18. Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 (June 2011)
  19. Goldberg, Lesley (July 22, 2015). "'Arrow' Cast DC Villain Baron Blitzkrieg for Season 4". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015.
  20. Abrams, Natalie (July 22, 2015). "Arrow boss explains Baron Reiter casting". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  21. Wickline, Dan (December 8, 2017). "Freedom Fighters: The Ray Season 1 Recap – Things Are Just Getting Started". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.