Masters of Disaster (comics)

Masters of Disaster
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman and the Outsiders #9 (April 1984)
Created by	Mike Barr (writer) Jim Aparo (artist)
In-story information
Member(s)	Coldsnap Heatstroke New Wave Shakedown Windfall

The Masters of Disaster are a team of supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. They are a group of mercenary metahumans whose superhuman abilities correspond to a force of nature: earth, wind, fire, and water. ^[1]

The Masters of Disaster appeared in the second season of the live-action television series Black Lightning .

Fictional history

Throughout their appearances in Adventures of the Outsiders #34, Batman and the Outsiders Annual #2, and the Outsiders series, the Masters of Disasters fight and are defeated by Batman's Outsiders on multiple occasions and Looker on one occasion. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Eventually, Masters member Windfall develops sympathetic feelings for the Outsiders and secretly works to keep them alive until her teammates discover her treachery and capture her. ^[5] They send a clone of Windfall to infiltrate the Outsiders, but she is killed in battle while the original Windfall defects to the Outsiders. ^[6]

As of Outsiders (vol. 2) #9, the remaining Masters were incarcerated in a prison nicknamed the Slab. They joining forces with a wrongfully arrested Geo-Force to escape. ^[7] However, New Wave disagrees with this, leading to her killing Shakedown. ^[8] The Masters subsequently recruit Dust Devil and Mudslide before fighting the Outsiders once more. ^[9]

Following the events of "The New 52" and "Forever Evil", Heatstroke and New Wave attack a prison transport carrying Coldsnap and Shakedown, only to be intercepted by SWAT officers. ^[10] Coldsnap and Heatstroke are later recruited into the Suicide Squad to assist Katana in fighting Kobra. ^[11]

A new incarnation of the Masters of Disaster appears in "DC All In", consisting of Groundswell, Shakedown II, and Volcana. ^[12]

Members

• Rebecca "Becky" Jones / New Wave – The group's leader and older sister of Windfall who can transform into living water.
• Shakedown – The group's peacekeeper who possesses near-invulnerability and can generate powerful vibratory blasts.
• Darryl / Coldsnap – A metahuman who can generate extreme cold, is in love with Heatstroke despite not being able touch her due to his powers, and joined the group to raise money to cure a medical condition.
• Joanne / Heatstroke – A metahuman who can generate extreme heat, is in love with Coldsnap, and also joined the group to raise money to cure a medical condition.
• Wendy Jones / Windfall – New Wave's younger sister and a metahuman with aerokinesis who bears sympathy for Halo, which contributes to Windfall leaving the group.
• Dust Devil – A later addition to the group who can fly and also possesses aerokinesis.
• Mudslide – A later addition to the group who can cause earthquakes and generate heat in his hands, which allows him to liquefy objects.
• Groundswell - A metahuman with aquakinesis.
• Shakedown II - A blonde-haired metahuman with the same powers as the original Shakedown.
• Volcana - A pyrokinetic enemy of Superman.

In other media

• The Masters of Disaster appear in the DC Nation Shorts: Thunder and Lightning episode "Lightning Under the Weather".
• The Masters of Disaster appear in the second season of the Black Lightning , consisting of New Wave (portrayed by Brooke Ence), Marcus Bishop / Shakedown (portrayed by Hosea Chanchez ^[13] ), Joe / Heatstroke (portrayed by Esteban Cueto), and Coldsnap (portrayed by Derrick Lewis). This version of the group originated as part of an A.S.A. experiment called "Project Masters of Disaster", which aimed to turn violent inmates into a metahuman attack squad before they were put into stasis pods for 25 years. Throughout the season, Tobias Whale discovers the group's existence and steals their pods to build up a metahuman army. Over time, he gradually awakens them to help him terrorize Freeland and fight Black Lightning and Thunder, who eventually defeat them while Whale's former underling Lala shoots Heatstroke.
  • Additionally, a character loosely based on Windfall named Wendy Hernandez appears in the series, portrayed by Madison Bailey.

References

1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 396. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
2. Adventures of the Outsiders #34 (June 1986)
3. Batman and the Outsiders Annual #2 (September 1985)
4. Batman and the Outsiders #32 (April 1986)
5. Outsiders (vol. 1) #14 (December 1986)
6. Outsiders (vol. 1) #19 (May 1987)
7. Outsiders (vol. 2) #9 (July 1994)
8. JSA #31 (February 2002)
9. Outsiders (vol. 4) #27–28 (April - May 2010)
10. Suicide Squad (vol. 4) #30 (July 2014)
11. Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot and Katana #2 (April 2016)
12. Black Lightning (vol. 3) #2 (February 2025)
13. Petski, Denise (21 January 2019). "Black Lightning: Hosea Chanchez To Recur On Season 2 Of CW Series". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

External links

• Masters of Disaster at DC Comics Wiki
• Masters of Disaster at Comic Vine