Ravan (comics)

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Ravan
Ravan (DC Comics).jpg
Ravan as depicted in Suicide Squad #45 (September 1990). Art by Geof Isherwood (penciller/inker) and Carl Gafford (colorist).
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Suicide Squad #1 (May 1987)
Created by John Ostrander (writer)
Luke McDonnell (artist)
In-story information
Team affiliations Suicide Squad
Jihad
Black Lantern Corps
AbilitiesMartial arts proficiency

Ravan is a fictional DC Comics villain. His first appearance was in Suicide Squad #1 (1987), and was created by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell.

Contents

Publication history

Ravan first appears as a member of the villainous mercenary team Jihad (renamed the Onslaught later). In an encounter with the Bronze Tiger his back was broken. [1] He re-appears alongside the Onslaught in Suicide Squad #17, and is recruited for the Suicide Squad in his second encounter with Bronze Tiger. [2]

Fictional character biography

Part of the thuggee cult, handsome Indian playboy Ravan tries to stop the coming of Kali and thereby the Kali Yuga, the Age of Chaos, by killing for Kali. In doing so, he delays the coming of Kali for another thousand years. It is through this practice that he both prevents and worships Kali. His primary enemy is the villain Kobra, who wishes to bring forth the Age of Chaos. [1] [3]

Ravan joins the Suicide Squad to continue his efforts while being sponsored by the American government. [2] He develops a strange friendship with Bronze Tiger, whom he swears to kill for his earlier defeats, but the two also form an effective team. During the Janus Directive, when Waller must make it seem like she is being controlled by Kobra, she sends the squad after the Force of July. During the battle, Ravan kills Mayflower, a respected member of the Force of July. [4]

With her superiors on the verge of disbanding the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller gathers Ravan, Poison Ivy, and Deadshot in an assassination mission targeting the LOA, which is planning to create a zombie army. The deal for the villains is simple: the three will help Waller in killing the LOA and afterward they are set free. [5]

The mission succeeds, and Waller is imprisoned on charges of murder. Ravan leaves for London, where he sets up a 'cyberchurch' as a front for his assassination organization. A year later, Batman kidnaps Ravan to join the new Suicide Squad, also run by Waller. [6]

With this Squad, Ravan goes to Israel to capture Kobra, but Kobra has already been captured by the Israeli government's superteam Hayoth. Ravan easily manipulates one of their agents, thereby giving him access to their highly advanced A.I. computer Dybbuk. Ravan faces Kobra in combat, but Kobra has the upper hand and fatally poisons him. [7]

During the events of Blackest Night , Ravan is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps alongside several other fallen Suicide Squad members. [8] Ravan is destroyed by the Manhunter's self-destruct mechanism, which unleashes an explosion of Green Lantern energy that eradicates the Black Lanterns. [9]

Other versions

Ravan makes a minor appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us as a prisoner of the Trench facility. [10]

In other media

References

  1. 1 2 Ostrander, John  ( w ), McDonnell, Luke  ( p ), Kesel, Karl  ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."Trial by Blood" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 1(May 1987).DC Comics.
  2. 1 2 Ostrander, John  ( w ), McDonnell, Luke  ( p ),Lewis, Bob ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."Manhattan Massacre!" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 18(October 1988).DC Comics.
  3. ↑ Ostrander, John  ( w ),Snyder, John K. ( p ), Isherwood, Geof  ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."Into the Angry Planet" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 3(September 1989).DC Comics.
  4. ↑ Ostrander, John ; Yale, Kim  ( w ),Snyder, John K. ( p ), Marcos, Pablo  ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."The Janus Directive, Part 2: Scattermove" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 27(May 1989).DC Comics.
  5. ↑ Ostrander, John ; Yale, Kim  ( w ),Snyder, John K. ( p ), Isherwood, Geof  ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."Threads" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 37(January 1990).DC Comics.
  6. ↑ Ostrander, John ; Yale, Kim  ( w ), Isherwood, Geof  ( p ),Isherwood, Geof ( i ), Gafford, Carl  ( col )."The Phoenix Gambit, Part 2 of 4: Embers" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 41(May 1990).DC Comics.
  7. ↑ Ostrander, John ; Yale, Kim  ( w ), Isherwood, Geof  ( p ),Isherwood, Geof ( i ),McCraw, Tom ( col )."Choice of Dooms" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 47(November 1990).DC Comics.
  8. ↑ Simone, Gail ; Ostrander, John  ( w ), Calafiore, Jim  ( p ),Calafiore, Jim ( i ),Wright, Jason ( col )."Danse Macabre, Part 1" Suicide Squad ,vol. 1,no. 67(March 2010).DC Comics.
  9. ↑ Simone, Gail ; Ostrander, John  ( w ), Calafiore, Jim  ( p ),Calafiore, Jim ( i ),Wright, Jason ( col )."Danse Macabre, Part 3" Secret Six ,vol. 3,no. 18(April 2010).DC Comics.
  10. ↑ Taylor, Tom  ( w ),Redondo, Bruno; Sandoval, Sergio; Tarragona, Jordi ( p ),Sandoval, Sergio; Tarragona, Jordi ( i ),Lokus, Rex ( col )."The Trench" Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Four Anunal,vol. 1,no. 1(February 2016).DC Comics.
  11. ↑ Guggenheim, Marc; Shimizu, Keto ( w ),Kudranski, Szymon ( p ),Kudranski, Szymon ( i ),Charalampidis, Jim ( col )."Suicide Squad: Crisis In Kahndaq Part 3 & 4" Arrow: Season 2.5 ,vol. 1,no. 3(February 2015).DC Comics.
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