Count Vertigo

Last updated
Count Vertigo
CountVertigo.jpg
Count Vertigo as depicted in Who's Who in the DC Universe #3 (October 1990). Art by Trevor Von Eeden.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance World's Finest Comics #251 (July 1978)
Created by Gerry Conway (writer)
Trevor Von Eeden (penciller)
Vince Colletta (inker)
In-story information
Full nameCount Werner Vertigo (19782011)
Count Werner Zytle (2011present)
Species Metahuman
Team affiliations Secret Society of Super Villains
Checkmate
Suicide Squad
Injustice Society
Longbow Hunters
Injustice League
Notable aliasesWhite Queen's Knight
Abilities
  • Flight
  • Skilled hand-to-hand combatant
  • Magnetic boots
  • Vertigo effect to alter the balance of others and induce dizziness or nausea

Count Vertigo (Werner Zytle) is a supervillain created by Gerry Conway, Trevor Von Eeden and Vince Colletta as an enemy of Black Canary, Batman and later Green Arrow in the DC Comics Universe. Count Vertigo is the last descendant of the royal family that ruled the small eastern European country of Vlatava, which was taken over by the Soviet Union and later devastated by the Spectre. [1]

Contents

Two incarnations of Count Vertigo, Cecil Adams and Werner Zytle, appear in Arrow , portrayed by Seth Gabel and Peter Stormare respectively. Additionally, Michael York, Greg Ellis, and Steve Blum have voiced Vertigo in animation.

Publication history

Count Vertigo first appears in World's Finest Comics #251 (July 1978) and was created by Gerry Conway, Trevor Von Eeden, and Vince Colletta. [2]

Fictional character biography

Werner Vertigo is a descendant of the royal family of Vlatava who can distort the balance of others using a small electronic device that he uses to treat a hereditary inner ear defect. [3] As Count Vertigo, he becomes an enemy of Green Arrow and Black Canary. [1]

Vertigo joins the Suicide Squad in exchange for a shortened prison sentence, and it is revealed that he has bipolar disorder. After the Suicide Squad disbands, Vertigo is captured by Vlatavan rebels, who intend to use his powers to overthrow the government before Amanda Waller rescues him. [1] [4]

After the Spectre destroys Vlatava, Vertigo joins the Injustice Society and the Secret Society of Super Villains while continuing to work with the Suicide Squad. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Count Vertigo is renamed Werner Zytle. He is the ruler of Vlatava who lost his fortune and seeks to regain it via crime. [9] [10]

Powers and abilities

Count Vertigo is trained in classical martial combat and the sports of boxing, fencing, and equestrianism. He has also been trained in judo and karate.

His "Vertigo Effect" has long since been internalized through circumstances that have not yet been revealed. He uses his power to disrupt his enemies' balance. In hand-to-hand and melee combat, Vertigo uses his power to disorient his opponents. He also uses the Vertigo Effect to disrupt the aim of gunmen, snipers and the like. The exact range of the power is yet to be determined, seeing as how on one mission, guards watching him in action on camera were also affected by his power. This ability is also capable of disrupting guidance systems on missiles, vehicles, and detection systems. Count Vertigo also wears magnetic boots with which he can walk walls or ceilings. In later appearances, he gains the ability of flight.

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Count Vertigo appears in the Flashpoint tie-in Deadman and the Flying Graysons . This version lost his family during the Amazon-Atlantean war. He attempts to retrieve Doctor Fate's helmet before being killed in battle and giving the helmet to Dick Grayson. [11] [12]

In other media

Television

Vertigo as he appears in Batman: The Animated Series. Vertigobatmantas.jpg
Vertigo as he appears in Batman: The Animated Series.
Count Vertigo as he appears in The Batman. TB vertigo.jpg
Count Vertigo as he appears in The Batman.

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

The Arrow incarnation of Werner Zytle appears in the non-canonical tie-in comic Arrow: Season 2.5 .

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Dan (2008). "Count Vertigo". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 88. ISBN   978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC   213309017.
  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. 72. ISBN   978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains . New York: Facts on File. p. 68. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  4. Suicide Squad #45 (September 1990)
  5. Salvation Run #2 (February 2008)
  6. Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006)
  7. 52 #34 (February 2007)
  8. Final Crisis #4 (November 2008)
  9. Green Arrow (vol. 5) #31 (July 2014)
  10. Green Arrow (vol. 6) #19 (May 2017)
  11. Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #2 (July 2011)
  12. Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #3 (August 2011)
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Count Vertigo Voices (Green Arrow)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  14. 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.
  15. Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN . Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  16. Michael, Jon; Veness, John (February 15, 2019). "Characters - LEGO DC Super-Villains Guide". IGN. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2024.