Jax-Ur

Jax-Ur
Jax-Ur in depicted in Action Comics #883 (January 2010), art by Pere Pérez.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Adventure Comics #289 (October 1961)
Created by	Otto Binder George Papp
In-story information
Species	Kryptonian
Place of origin	Krypton
Partnerships	General Zod Faora Mala
Notable aliases	Dr. Phillings [1]
Abilities	See list Superhuman strength, stamina, endurance, speed, agility, reflexes, intelligence, longevity, and hearing Solar radiation absorption Enhanced vision EM spectrum vision Infra-red vision Microscopic vision Telescopic vision X-ray vision Invulnerability Ice and wind breath Heat vision Flight Proficiency in xenobiology and genetics

Jax-Ur is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, usually as an adversary of Superman. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp, the character first appeared in Adventure Comics #289 (October 1961). He has been described as "the worst troublemaker in the Phantom Zone" ^[2] and was the first criminal banished there. ^[3]

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Jax-Ur was an amoral and criminally deviant scientist on the planet Krypton. ^[4] He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Phantom Zone for destroying Wegthor, a sparsely inhabited moon of Krypton, while experimenting with a nuclear warhead. ^[5]

In his first appearance, Jax-Ur escaped from the Phantom Zone and posed as a super-powered version of Jonathan Kent. ^[6] Superboy eventually sent Jax-Ur back to the Phantom Zone. He then used Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)'s tears to escape from the Phantom Zone, but was defeated by Mon-El. ^[7] Most of his later Silver Age appearances show him in his ghostly Phantom Zone form, except during rare escapes. He was often depicted plotting against Superman with fellow Phantom Zone inmates General Zod and Faora.

Jax-Ur later helps Superman defeat Black Zero, the alien saboteur who ensured Krypton's destruction, before willingly returning to the Phantom Zone. ^[8]

Post-Crisis

Jax-Ur's first post- Crisis appearance is in Action Comics #846 (2007), written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. ^[9] He is one of the criminals unleashed from the Phantom Zone by Zod. ^[10]

In Action Comics #875, Jax-Ur is one of General Zod's "sleeper Kryptonians", who have adopted human identities to help further Zod's goals on Earth. ^[11] He works for S.T.A.R. Labs as a xenobiologist, during which Doctor Light tasks him with investigating Nightwing's accelerated aging. ^[1] He builds a device tailored to regulate Chris's growth and stimulate his solar-powered healing factor to reverse the body damage done by his condition. ^[12]

It is later revealed that, like Chris Kent and Thara Ak-Var are avatars of Nightwing and Flamebird, respectively, so is Jax-Ur an avatar of their enemy, "Vohc the Breaker". Continuing his age-old vendetta against the demigods, Jax-Ur/Vohc creates an artificial avatar of the Kryptonian deity Rao. ^[13] The combined entity is defeated by Flamebird and Nightwing. ^{[14] [15]}

The New 52

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Jax-Ur first appears among the Kryptonian criminals seen in the Phantom Zone and he claims to have destroyed a moon. ^[16] Jax-Ur was fully introduced in the World of Krypton flashback segments, where he is depicted as a young military officer and Lara's partner and fiancé. ^[17] Lara calls off their engagement when Jax-Ur reveals he supports Colonel Ekar, a commanding officer who deems Krypton's Science Council weak and self-absorbed and plans to overthrow it with a coup d'état. When Lara tries to fight Colonel Ekar and is defeated and caught, Jax-Ur tries to convince her to join their cause in order to save her life, but fails. ^[18] General Zod intervenes, killing Ekar and smothering the revolution. Jax-Ur is imprisoned with the other surviving insurgents, promising Lara he tried to save her and reaffirming his love for her. ^[19]

World's Finest

Jax-Ur appears in Batman/Superman World's Finest #18 (October 2023) and #19 (November 2023) in a storyline detailing the first team-up of Batman and Superman. Jax-Ur uses a breach in the Phantom Zone to escape to Earth and sends Batman to take his place in the Phantom Zone.

Powers and abilities

Like all Kryptonians, Jax-Ur possesses superhuman abilities derived from the yellow solar radiation of the sun of Earth's solar system. His basic abilities are superhuman strength, superhuman speed and superhuman stamina sufficient to bend steel in his bare hands, overpower a locomotive, leap over a tall building in a single bound and outrun a speeding bullet; he possesses heightened senses of hearing and sight including X-ray vision as well as telescopic and microscopic vision; virtual invulnerability; accelerated healing; longevity; powerful freezing breath; heat vision; and flight. His powers are generally depicted as being on par with General Zod.

Jax-Ur is generally depicted as both a scientist as well as a military warrior. He is exceptionally intelligent in the areas of cloning as well as xenobiology; able to study Kryptonian genetics to determine connections between the respective Nightwing and Flamebird entities as well as how to create synthesized clones of avatars suitable to host the spirit of the red sun god Rao whom the Kryptonians worshiped. As a soldier, Jax-Ur is a competent military leader and hand-to-hand combatant with experience on the field of battle similar to General Zod and other imprisoned Kryptonian military dissidents.

In addition to his inherent Kryptonian abilities while beneath a yellow sun, Jax-Ur also served as a vessel for the alien god Vohc the Breaker. While merged and possessed by Vohc, Jax-Ur possesses increased superhuman strength as well as being vastly more intelligent with wisdom approaching virtual omniscience. Vohc was also immortal with a vastly superior healing factor rendering him effectively indestructible and possessed of divine power sufficient to place him on similar levels of godly power as the Olympians and other pantheons of Earthly deities. However, his powers were beneath Rao as well as Nightwing and Flamebird.

Similar to General Zod and other Phantom Zone escapees, Jax-Ur generally never experiences the full measure of his abilities as he is never allowed to spend any significant portion of time beneath Earth's yellow sun to charge and metabolize his cells with yellow solar radiation before being banished back into the Zone. As such, should he ever be allowed enough time to fully realize his abilities and potential, Jax-Ur's power levels would very likely approach or possibly surpass those of Superman as he is a fully mature Kryptonian male with exceptional natural physical prowess and experience in combat.

Like all Kryptonians, Jax-Ur is vulnerable to Kryptonite and red solar radiation which neutralizes and cancels out the yellow solar radiation flourishing in his cells. His virtual invulnerability offers no protection from mind control or magic, nor can it fully withstand the force of an atomic explosion or the force of opponents with greater strength and durability such as Doomsday. His superhuman strength is inferior to beings such as Doomsday and his superhuman speed is inferior to speedsters such as the Flash. Jax-Ur's intelligence does give him the advantage of utilizing his strength and speed to optimal performance.

Other versions

An alternate dream world incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in "For the Man Who Has Everything". This version became a martyr after inspiring a group of protestors who consider his imprisonment in the Phantom Zone to be cruel and unusual punishment and seek to free him. ^[20]

In other media

Television

• Jax-Ur, with elements of General Zod, appears in Superman: The Animated Series , voiced by Ron Perlman. ^[21] This version is a High General and military genius who sought to overthrow Krypton's Science Council years prior to the series, only to be foiled by Jor-El and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Phantom Zone while his co-conspirator, Mala, was sentenced to 30 years. In the two-part episode "Blasts from the Past", Superman frees Mala, believing she had reformed after completing her sentence, but she later frees Jax-Ur after learning of the powers they gain from a yellow sun. Together, they go on a rampage until Superman and his allies send them back to the Phantom Zone. As of the episode "Absolute Power", Jax-Ur and Mala escaped once more via a space rift, were rescued by alien voyagers, and took over their planet. Superman joins forces with a rebel movement to lure Jax-Ur and Mala into space, where they are pulled into a black hole.
• A similarly named character named Dax-Ur appears in Smallville ,^{[ citation needed ]} portrayed by Marc McClure. He is a Kryptonian scientist who has lived over 100 years via blue kryptonite and created Brainiac, who goes on to use Dax-Ur to restore his powers before killing him. ^[22]
• A female incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in Krypton , portrayed by Hannah Waddingham. ^[23] Formerly known as Sela-Sonn, this version is the leader of the Black Zero terrorist organization and former member of Krypton's Science Guild who forms an alliance with a time-travelling Dru-Zod, among others, to defend Krypton against Brainiac while serving as a mother figure to the clone Nyssa-Vex. Following Dru's rise to power and Black Zero's disbandment, Jax-Ur becomes co-leader of a resistance movement against him alongside Val-El, but is banished from the group after executing Dru's mother, Lyta-Zod.
• Jax-Ur appears in Young Justice , voiced by Andrew Kishino. ^[21]

Film

Jax-Ur appears in Man of Steel , portrayed by Mackenzie Gray. ^[24] This version is the lead scientist of General Zod's battalion, the Sword of Rao.

Video games

Jax-Ur appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure . ^[25]

Miscellaneous

• Jax-Ur appears in the novel "The Last Days of Krypton", by Kevin J. Anderson. This version is a historical figure from Krypton's past who tried to take over the planet and destroyed its moon, Koron, with a "Nova javelin", a nuclear weapon developed from alien technology. After being defeated by the "Seven Armies" coalition, led by Jor-El's ancestor Sor-El, and assassinated by a former underling, Jax-Ur's actions influenced Krypton's policy towards alien or innovative science.
• The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in Superman Adventures . ^{[26] [27]}
• The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in Justice League Unlimited #34 as a member of General Zod's army who was sent to the Phantom Zone. ^[28]
• The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in the Justice League Beyond 2.0 tie-in comic book. ^[29] While in the Phantom Zone, he manipulates a young boy he named Zod-Ur, who possesses telekinesis and the ability to control most Kryptonian technology, and Superman into facilitating their escape in the hopes of leading their fellow inmates in conquering Earth. However, the pair are defeated by Superman and the Justice League.

See also

• List of Superman enemies

References

1. Action Comics #883 (January 2010)
2. Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, vol 3: Superman. DC Comics. pp. 93–94. ISBN   978-1401213893.
3. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 169. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
4. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 133–134. ISBN   978-0-345-50108-0.
5. Phantom Zone #1 (January 1982)
6. Adventure Comics #284 (January 1961)
7. Action Comics #288 (May 1962)
8. Superman #205 (April 1968)
9. Action Comics #846 (February 2007)
10. Action Comics #866 (August 2008)
11. Action Comics #875 (May 2009)
12. Action Comics #884 (February 2010)
13. Action Comics #886 (April 2010)
14. Action Comics #888 (June 2010)
15. Action Comics #889 (June 2010)
16. Action Comics (vol. 2) #13 (December 2012)
17. Action Comics (vol. 2) #20 (July 2013)
18. Action Comics (vol. 2) #21 (August 2013)
19. Action Comics (vol. 2) #23 (October 2013)
20. Superman Annual #11 (1985)
21. "Jax-Ur Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 15, 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.
22. Don Whitehead, Holly Henderson (writers) & Todd Slavkin (director) (2008-01-31). "Persona". Smallville. Season 7. Episode 10. The WB.
23. Petski, Denise (January 24, 2018). "Krypton: Hannah Waddingham Cast as Jax-Ur in Syfy Superman Prequel Series". Deadline.
24. Armitage, Hugh (May 26, 2013). "Man of Steel: Mackenzie Gray playing Jax-Ur". Digital Spy. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
25. Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
26. "Superman Adventures #7 - All Creatures Great and Small, Part 1 (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
27. "Superman Adventures #8 - All Creatures Great and Small, Part 2 (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
28. "Justice League Unlimited #34 - Phantoms (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
29. "Justice League Beyond 2.0 #5 - Power Struggle, Part 5 of 8: The Art of War (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 15, 2024.