Mist (comics)

Last updated

Mist is the name of different DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original and 1990s Starman. The first Mist is a man named Kyle. The second Mist is his daughter Nash.

Contents

Kyle made his live-action debut on the first season of The Flash , portrayed by Anthony Carrigan.

Publication history

The Kyle version of the Mist first appears in Adventure Comics #67 and was created by Gardner Fox. [1]

The Nash version of the Mist first appears in Starman (vol. 2) #0 and was created by James Robinson and Tony Harris.

Fictional character biography

Kyle

The Mist
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Adventure Comics #67 (October 1941)
Created by Gardner Fox
In-story information
Alter egoKyle
Team affiliations Injustice Society
Secret Society of Super Villains
Notable aliasesJohnathon Smythe
Nimbus
Andy "Murph" Murphy
AbilitiesAble to transform into a living vapor, becoming tangible and intangible at will

The first Mist's real name was Kyle. He fought in World War I as a Captain in the Canadian Army, winning the Victoria Cross. He was also a scientist and created a device that turned his body into a gaseous form; he became a supervillain, first fighting the Golden Age Sandman under the name "Johnathon Smythe", before changing his name to the Mist. [2] In 1941, he undertook a crime wave in Opal City and was stopped by Ted Knight, the Golden Age Starman; he vowed revenge on Starman and became his nemesis. [3]

He was a member of the Ultra-Humanite's incarnation of the Secret Society of Super Villains, and appeared during the late 1980s Starman series (chronicling the adventures of Will Payton), then using the name Nimbus.

The Mist had two children named Nash and Kyle Jr.

In the early 1990s, after Ted Knight had retired (following the events of Zero Hour ), the Mist planned his final revenge on Starman and sent his son, Kyle Jr., to kill Knight's son David, as well as nearly killing his second son, Jack, demolishing his home and kidnapping the elder Knight. In exchange for his father, Jack battled Kyle Jr., resulting in Kyle Jr.'s death, which drove the Mist insane. He was like this for some time until making a deal with the demon-lord Neron, restoring his sanity and curing his senility. This allowed him to advise his daughter, Nash, on joining Simon Culp's scheme to destroy Opal City and conversely kill Culp himself when he threatened her, on the grounds he "hated dwarfs". Ultimately, he revealed he was tired and had decided to end his life, planting a nuclear bomb in Opal City set to detonate at the moment of his death and then taking poison. However, he failed to destroy the city, as a terminally ill Ted Knight used an advanced version of his Cosmic Rod to lift the entire building miles into the air; the two enemies made peace with each other just before the Mist's heart stopped, killing them both. [4]

Nash

Nash was not initially the villain that her father or brother were, but rather a meek, stuttering girl. During her father's campaign of revenge against Ted Knight, she was in a position to kill Jack Knight, but let him go after he reasoned that she personally had no reason to kill him. After Jack killed her brother Kyle, she underwent a major personality shift and became the second Mist, exposing herself to the same process that had given her father his powers. During her first major crime wave, Nash drugged Jack and raped him, becoming pregnant. She later gave birth to a son, Kyle Theo, named after her father and Jack. She passed on a second opportunity to kill Jack, deciding to better herself as a villain while Jack worked to become a better hero. She spent much time in Europe, where she killed the second Amazing Man, Crimson Fox and Blue Devil.

She was then one of the many villains who took part in the plan to destroy Opal City during the "Grand Guignol" story arc. After this failed, her father made his own attempt to destroy the city. Since his plan would kill Nash and her son, she attempted to stop him. Her father then shot her. In her dying moments, she gave her son over to Jack to raise. [4]

Kyle Knight

The son of Nash and Jack Knight, Kyle Knight inherited his mother's mist powers and embraced his father's heroic background. [5]

In the pages of "The New Golden Age", Kyle was mentioned to currently be 5 years old by Stargirl when Huntress had mentioned that that he operated as Mist in her possible future. [6]

Powers and abilities

Both Mists are able to transform into a living vapor and become tangible and intangible at will.

Other versions

Earth-Two

June 1962 saw Earth-Two's public re-emergence of Vandal Savage. He briefly terrorized a handful of important U.S. cities and was able to attack and incapacitate various members of the retired JSA. [7] This brazen attack on major American cities and on the persons of a handful of retired JSAers resulted in the re-emergence and the re-formation of the Justice Society of America. This did not have an immediate effect on the super-scientists and criminals who operated openly in the 1940s and covertly in the 1950s, but over time this curious breed of villain did begin to re-emerge.

September 1965 found the Mist working with a gang of hoodlums along the Atlantic Coast in Park City. With his secret formulas and gadgetry he was controlling Mrs. Dinah Drake Lance, using the Drake Flower Shoppe as the means to gain access to the wealthy citizenry, and using his hypnotic influence to have the rich rob themselves and hand over their wealth to the Mist's henchmen. Though Park City did have a protector in the guise of the Black Canary, this heroine was only seen infrequently and the Mist seemed not to have been perturbed by this. Though he was using Mrs. Lance, he never discovered her dual identity as the Black Canary. By September, his crime spree was advancing nicely and was baffling the local police. Finally, a local private investigator – Mr. Larry Lance (husband to Dinah Drake Lance) figured out the connection between those robbed and his wife's flower shop. At about this time, the Lance family was visited by their friend Ted Knight; he accidentally intercepted a hypnotic sound wave sent by the Mist. Together, the three heroes went about hunting down the gang and its leader. During this crime spree, the Mist discovered how to use his inviso-solution, sound waves and a recording of motor noises from the Park City Observatory to block star-energy from reaching Starman's Cosmic Rod, in effect making it powerless; however, Starman had with him a newer, quasar-powered Rod, which proved impervious to the deactivation. In the end, the Mist and his men were defeated and handed over to the police. [8]

Earth 2

In the pages of Earth 2: Society, Kyle Nimbus is the CEO of Nimbus Solutions who can make himself intangible at will where he has to be tangible to attack. In his plans, he used mind-control chemicals on Hourman's Miraclo in order for him to serve Nimbus. With help from Red Arrow and Ted Grant, Dick Grayson as Batman defeated Kyle Nimbus. [9]

Huntress' Future

In a possible future seen in "The New Golden Age", the Kyle Knight version of Mist joined the Justice Society of America under Huntress, before being killed alongside the rest of his team by Per Degaton who aged Mist to death. [10]

When Per Degaton was defeated by the present day JSA, Kyle and his future were resurrected and erased from the timestream. [11]

In other media

Related Research Articles

<i>Starman</i> (DC Comics) Fictional comics superhero

Starman is a name used by several different DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starman (Ted Knight)</span> 1940s fictional superhero

Starman is a fictional superhero appearing in media published by DC Comics, primarily as a member of the Justice Society of America. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Jack Burnley, he first appeared in Adventure Comics #61.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starman (Jack Knight)</span> Fictional comic book superhero in the DC Comics

Starman is fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe and a member of the Justice Society of America. He is the son of the original Starman, Ted Knight. Created by James Robinson and Tony Harris, he first appeared in Zero Hour #1.

Wildcat is the name of several fictional characters, all DC Comics superheroes, the first and most famous being Theodore "Ted" Grant, a long-time member of the Justice Society of America (JSA). A world-class heavyweight boxer, Grant became entangled inadvertently in the criminal underworld and developed a costumed identity to clear his name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Whitmore</span> Fictional superhero

Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore, known as Stargirl, is a superhero created by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character's name, appearance, and personality were patterned after Johns' 18-year-old sister Courtney, who died in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Flush Gang</span> DC Comics supervillains

The Royal Flush Gang is a group of supervillains appearing in DC Comics. The group, which debuted in Justice League of America #43, use a playing card theme. Their code names are based on the cards needed to form a royal flush in poker: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. Joker occasionally affiliates himself with the gang, but is not a consistent member. The group returned to battle the Justice League of America many times, and also appeared in other comics, including Wonder Woman, Formerly Known as the Justice League and Superman. The group has been described as "some of the most original villains of their time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shade (character)</span> Comics character

The Shade is a comic book character developed in the 1940s for National Comics, first appearing in the pages of Flash Comics in a story titled "The Man Who Commanded the Night", scripted by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Hal Sharp. Debuting as a villain, the Shade was best known for fighting against two generations of superheroes, most notably the Golden Age and Silver Age versions of the Flash. He eventually became a mentor for Jack Knight, the son of the Golden Age Starman, Ted Knight, a hero the Shade had also fought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Guardians</span> DC comics superhero team

The Global Guardians is a team of DC Comics superheroes whose members hail from countries around the world. The concept originated in the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon, which aired after the comics stories in Super Friends #7-9, in which several heroes were added to the Justice League to give it more ethnic diversity.

"Alias the Spider" is a superhero feature from the Golden Age of Comic Books that appeared in Quality Comics' Crack Comics for nearly three years, starting with issue #1 in 1940. He was created by writer-artist Paul Gustavson.

<i>Justice League Europe</i> Comic book series

Justice League Europe (JLE) is a comic book series published by DC Comics that was a spin-off of the comic book Justice League America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floronic Man</span> DC Comics character

The Floronic Man, also known as the Plant Master, Floro, and the Seeder, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Copperhead is the name of several supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly as enemies of the superhero Batman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rag Doll (character)</span> Comics character

Rag Doll is the name of three different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first, Peter Merkel, is a villain of the original Flash, while the second is an enemy of Starman and the third is the son of the original and a member of the Secret Six.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefly (DC Comics)</span> Supervillain created by DC Comics

Firefly is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by France Herron and Dick Sprang, he made his debut in Detective Comics #184. Initially portrayed as a criminal who utilized lighting effects to commit robberies, Firefly was later reimagined as a sociopathic pyromaniac with an obsessive compulsion to start fires following Crisis on Infinite Earths' reboot of the DC Universe in the 1980s. This darker depiction of the character has since endured as one of the superhero Batman's most recurring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his central rogues gallery.

Blockbuster is the name of four supervillains and a criminal organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icicle (comics)</span> Comic book character

Icicle is the name of two supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics: Joar Mahkent and Cameron Mahkent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathbolt</span> Fictional supervillain in DC Comics

Deathbolt is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by the Ultra-Humanite to fight the All-Star Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolt (DC Comics)</span> Comics character

Bolt is the codenamed assigned to multiple fictional characters appearing in American comic books published DC Comics. These characters, although unrelated, share the commonality of adopting the codename "Bolt" for their respective roles within the DC Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Pirate</span> Fictional character from DC Comics

The Black Pirate is a fictional character from DC Comics, created by Sheldon Moldoff. He first appeared in Action Comics #23. His ghost played an important role in James Robinson's 1990s Starman series.

References

  1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 222. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  2. Adventure Comics #67. DC Comics.
  3. The DC Comics Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 2004. p. 205. ISBN   0-7566-0592-X.
  4. 1 2 Starman (vol. 2) #72. DC Comics.
  5. Starman Vol. 2 #38. DC Comics.
  6. Justice Society Vol. 4 #8. DC Comics.
  7. Flash #137. DC Comics.
  8. The Brave and the Bold #61. DC Comics.
  9. Earth 2: Society #10-11. DC Comics.
  10. Justice Society of America Vol. 4 #1. DC Comics.
  11. Justice Society of America Vol. 4 #5. DC Comics.
  12. Schedeen, Jesse (October 21, 2014). "THE FLASH: "THINGS YOU CAN'T OUTRUN" REVIEW". IGN . Retrieved October 21, 2014.