Turtle (comics)

The Turtle
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	All Flash #21 (Winter 1945)
Created by	Gardner Fox Martin Naydel
In-story information
Alter ego	Unknown Jai West
Team affiliations	(Unknown) Secret Society of Super Villains Legion of Doom Legion of Zoom

The Turtle is the name of two supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, who were primarily enemies of the Flash.

Two original incarnations of the Turtle appeared in The Flash , portrayed by Aaron Douglas and Vanessa Walsh.

Publication history

The first Turtle debuted in All-Flash #21 (December 1945), and was created by Gardner Fox and Martin Naydel. ^[1]

The second Turtle (the Turtle Man) first appeared in Showcase #4 (October 1956), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino.

Fictional character biography

Turtle (Golden Age)

The original Turtle is an old man and enemy of the Golden Age Flash (Jay Garrick) who lacks powers and primarily relies on methodical planning. ^[2] He later resurfaces to battle the third Flash (Wally West), seemingly being killed in the process. ^[3]

Turtle Man (Silver Age)

The Turtle Man (also simply known as "the Turtle") was one of the first villains fought by the second Flash (Barry Allen), and appeared in Central City shortly after he became a superhero. He later works with the original Turtle and is crippled in a lab accident. ^[3] However, he eventually recovers and develops the ability to steal speed, slowing others to a crawl no matter how fast they are moving. During Infinite Crisis , he joins Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains. ^[4]

Still Force entity

In Scott Snyder's Justice League series, the Turtle is re-imagined as using the Still Force, the embodiment of inertia and entropy and the Speed Force's opposite. Its power aged him into an old man, but prevented him from aging beyond that. ^{[5] [6]} Realizing that he would outlive his family, he killed them and became a criminal.

Jai West

A possible future version of Wally West's son Jai West who became a superhero called the Turtle appears in Doomsday Clock . ^[7]

Powers and abilities

The second Turtle wears a device that can project force fields and has small jets built into his armor. He additionally wields two guns that respectively slow movement and make others perceive the world faster.

The third Turtle wields the Still Force, enabling him to negate motion, drain life force, and create energy constructs.

Other characters named the Turtle

There have been other villains who called themselves the Turtle:

• The Turtle is a gangster who fought Robotman. ^[8]
• The Turtle is a pirate and criminal who fought Green Arrow and Speedy. ^[9]

In other media

Television

• An unidentified Turtle makes a cameo appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Flash and Substance".
• Two original incarnations of the Turtle appear in The Flash :
  • The first Turtle appears in the episode "Potential Energy", portrayed by Aaron Douglas. ^[10] This version is Russell Glosson, a metahuman thief who can drain kinetic energy from his immediate surroundings. He is later killed by Harry Wells, who uses his brain tissue to create a speed-siphoning device on Zoom's orders.
  • A female incarnation of the Turtle appears in the episode "Death of the Speed Force", portrayed by Vanessa Walsh. This version is Frida Novikov, a Russian metahuman criminal who can manipulate time.

Film

An original incarnation of the Turtle, Victor Vesp, was planned to appear in David S. Goyer's cancelled Flash film. ^[11]

References

1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 354. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
2. All-Flash #21
3. Showcase #4
4. The Flash (vol. 2) #219. DC Comics.
5. Justice League (vol. 2) #4 (July 2018) DC Comics.
6. The Flash (vol. 5) #73
7. Doomsday Clock #12. DC Comics.
8. Star-Spangled Comics #17. DC Comics.
9. Adventure Comics #122. DC Comics.
10. Abrams, Natalie (January 11, 2016). "The Flash casts Battlestar Galactica alum Aaron Douglas as The Turtle". Entertainment Weekly.
11. Kendall, Gene (May 17, 2023). "Before Green Lantern, Before Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds as -- the Flash?". Comic Book Resources.

External links

• Turtle on DC Database
• Turtle Man on DC Database
• Turtle and Turtle Man at Comic Vine
• Hyperborea entry for the Turtle