Warblade (comics)

Last updated
Warblade
RE Warblade 01 cover.jpg
Cover of the first issue
Publication information
Publisher Wildstorm Comics (Image Comics, later DC Comics)
First appearance WildC.A.T.s #1 (August 1992)
Created by Brandon Choi, Jim Lee
In-story information
Alter egoReno Bryce
SpeciesHuman/Kherubim hybrid
Team affiliations WildC.A.T.s
Abilities
  • Bio-metal manipulation
  • Combat experience
  • Artistry proficiency

Warblade (Reno Bryce) is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm.

Contents

Publication history

Warblade starred in two of his own miniseries, Warblade: Endangered Species in 1995 and The Razors Edge: Warblade in 2004–2005.

Fictional character biography

Warblade is the special codename picked by Reno Bryce, a long-green-haired artist. In his youth, Reno's parents were killed by the alien Daemonites. Reno survived and swore vengeance against them, dedicating his life to martial arts to avenge them.

He was kidnapped by the organization known as Cyberdata, brainwashed and transformed into a member of their strike team, the S.H.O.C.s. His teammate Misery used her powers to make him think that he was in love with her but quickly changed the focus of her manipulations to Ripclaw. She was revealed to be a traitor and Warblade killed her. After this, Ripclaw attacked Reno, thinking that he was the traitor, as well as for his feelings for Misery, and almost killed him.

Reno was found bleeding in Gamorra by Jacob Marlowe. He was saved by Jacob and joined his Daemonite hunting team, the WildC.A.T.s. Like many of the Wild C.A.T.s, Reno turned out to be half human and half Kherubim, (also known as a "Gifted One" for his match of human/Kherubim parents) a race of aliens that had fought the Daemonites for millennia.

Warblade met Ripclaw (at this time a member of the Cyberforce) again and after quite some fighting between their teams and the two men themselves, Ripclaw finally saw through all the lies and deception upon Misery's defeat and realized that it was Misery who was the traitor. After the realization that Warblade had not been lying at all, and had been trying to help him the entire time, they became friends and allies.

During his time with the Wild C.A.T.s, Reno fought Pike, a half-human, half-Kherubim assassin. During a Native American ritual, Pike had taken the drug peyote and had a vision of himself killing a Wild C.A.T.s member, a goal he would dedicate the rest of his life to. Their first fight ended indecisive.

Reno went with the Wild C.A.T.s to Khera, home of the Kherubim, where he met other shapeshifters like himself. He became an apprentice to the ancient shapeshifter Lord Proteus at the Shaper's Guild and learned many new ways to use his powers. He was disappointed when fellow Wild C.A.T.s members Voodoo and Spartan uncovered the darker side of Kheran society. The Wild C.A.T.s left Khera soon afterward and returned home.

Back home, Reno stayed with the team and began a relationship with Jules, Emp's assistant. Soon afterwards the team disbanded following the apparent death of their teammate Zealot.

Reno retired and focused on his art. Pike hadn't forgotten his vision though. He attempted to kill Warblade and managed to disperse Warblade's molecules with an explosion that also killed Reno's girlfriend, Jules. Reno was able to literally pull himself back together and wanted revenge. He tracked Pike to Sarajevo, where they fought again. This time Warblade won and he killed Pike and added the final insult to the dying Pike: even if Pike had killed Warblade, he would have failed his quest, because the Wild C.A.T.s had been disbanded for months.

Afterwards he fell into a state of depression, that eventually led to the loss of his powers and his hands. After a little soul searching, some violent confrontations that almost led to his death, and an experimental drug given to him by the scientist responsible for suppressing his alien genes, he regained his powers.

Reno returned to New York City and retired as a superhero. He became a full-time artist again, though he still met up with his teammate Grifter from time to time. He was forced to use his powers again during one of his expositions, when the Kherubim Brotherhood of the Sword turned a large part of New York's population into bloodthirsty creatures.

He appeared briefly during the Captain Atom: Armageddon storyline, before the new Void entity Nikola Hanssen rebooted the Wildstorm Universe into WorldStorm.

WildCats vol. 4

Warblade is one of the several WildCats that Hadrian has managed to recruit; under the black-ops codename of "Cutlery Kid," he is deep in Kaizen Gamorra's extraterrestrial colony, providing intelligence back to Spartan on Earth.

The New 52

Warblade had a role in the series, The Ravagers as Rose Wilson's partner. [1] Warblade is one of the chief members of the Ravagers, the personal army for N.O.W.H.E.R.E.. As such, he follows the orders of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s leader Harvest. During the Culling, Warblade was among the members of the Ravagers that tested the survivors of the kill-or-be-killed tournament. During the altercation, several test subjects of the Colony escaped. Along with Rose Wilson, Warblade was tasked with tracking down some of the escapees, as well as to kill Caitlin Fairchild. He is killed by Deathstroke. [2]

In other media

Related Research Articles

Wildstorm Productions is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California. The imprint took its name from a portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildcats (comics)</span> Superhero team

Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.

Stormwatch is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by WildStorm, which later became an imprint of DC Comics. Created by Jim Lee, the team first appeared in Stormwatch #1. After the WildStorm imprint was retired and its universe was merged with the main DC Universe, the group was depicted as a secretive team of superheroes who tackle dangerous missions while remaining unknown to the larger superhero community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grifter (character)</span> Superhero appearing in DC Comics

Grifter is a superhero appearing in books published by Wildstorm Productions and DC Comics. Created by artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi, he first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1, as a member of that titular superhero team, during the period when Wildstorm and its properties were owned by Jim Lee. In that incarnation, Grifter is a former government operative and member of the military unit Team 7 and the espionage agency International Operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Majestic</span> Comics character

Mr. Majestic is a Wildstorm Productions comic book superhero created by writer H. K. Proger and artist Jim Lee. He first appeared in a backup story within WildC.A.T.s #11. He is the most powerful hero in the WildStorm universe and bears a strong resemblance to DC's Superman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backlash (Marc Slayton)</span> Comic book character

Backlash is a fictional character from the Wildstorm universe who first appeared in StormWatch #3 in 1993 and was featured in his own comic book series, which ran from 1994 to 1997. His daughter Jodi also uses the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team One</span> Comic book team from DC Comics/Wildstorm

Team One is a comic book team from DC Comics/Wildstorm.

<i>Cyber Force</i> (comics) Comic book series

Cyber Force is a comic book series created by writer and artist Marc Silvestri in 1992 through his publishing studio, Top Cow Productions, and published by Image Comics.

Voodoo (<i>Wildstorm</i>) Comic superhero

Voodoo is a comic book superhero, appearing in books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Brandon Choi and artist Jim Lee, she first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1, which was produced by Jim Lee's studio, WildStorm comics, and published by Image Comics. After WildStorm and its properties were purchased by DC Comics in 1999, the character continued as a character in books under the WildStorm imprint, until DC discontinued the WildStorm imprint in December 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helspont</span> Comics character

Helspont is a character in Wildstorm's comics who was transplanted to the DC Universe. In addition to the WildC.A.T.s, he has also fought Team One, Gen¹³, Backlash, and when folded into the DC Universe, Superman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire from Heaven (comics)</span>

"Fire From Heaven" was a company-wide comics crossover event story arc published by American company WildStorm in 1996. The story ran across at least one issue of most WildStorm titles at the time and several independent one-shots. The story tied into many events happening in the WildStorm universe and, unlike many major crossovers of the time, Fire From Heaven had a lasting impact on many of the characters involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybernary</span> Comics character

Cybernary is a comic book series created by comic book artist Nick Manabat with writer Steve Gerber and published by American company Wildstorm Productions in 1995. It tells the story of Katrina Cupertino (Cybernary), a cybernetic anti-heroine carrying the consciousness of Yamiko Gamorra.

<i>Wildcore</i> Comic book series

Wildcore was an American comic book series created and co-written by writer Sean Ruffner and artist Brett Booth debuting in 1997. Focusing on a team of superheroes of the same name, it was published by Wildstorm comics, then still a part of Image Comics, as a continuation of the series Backlash. After the series was canceled, the team's final story was told in the pages of Gen-Active, an anthology series.

<i>WildC.A.T.s/Aliens</i>

WildC.A.T.S/Aliens was a one-shot comic book and intercompany crossover event, published by Wildstorm and Dark Horse Comics in 1998. The comic was written by Warren Ellis, pencilled by Chris Sprouse, with Kevin Nowlan inking and Laura Depuy as the colorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyblade</span> Comics character

Cyblade is the name of Image Universe superhero from Top Cow Productions. She is a member of Cyberforce.

<i>Wild C.A.T.s</i> American TV series or program

Wild C.A.T.S is a half-hour animated television series based on the comics series of the same name and developed for television by David Wise. It aired on CBS for one season from October 1, 1994, to January 21, 1995. The series was produced by WildStorm Productions in association with Nelvana.

<i>WildC.A.T.s/X-Men</i>

WildC.A.T.s/X-Men was a crossover event by Image Comics and Marvel Comics in 1997 and 1998 that featured WildStorm's WildC.A.T.s meeting Marvel's X-Men. Originally released in four individual comics, each representing a different "age," the series was later collected by Image Comics/WildStorm as a trade paperback (ISBN 1-58240-022-9) in December 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velocity (character)</span> Fictional character

Velocity is an Image Comics/Top Cow Productions character from the comic series Cyberforce, created by Marc Silvestri in 1992. Most of the early story arcs focused on her burgeoning friendship with the members of the Cyberforce team, and her struggle through teenage development. She is the younger sister of Ballistic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World's End (comics)</span>

"World's End" is a 2008–2009 comic book crossover storyline published by Wildstorm and taking place in the Wildstorm Universe. The event takes place in the issues of all of Wildstorm's Wildstorm Universe ongoing series.

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

Zealot is a comic book superhero who has appeared in books published by Wildstorm Productions and DC Comics. Created by artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi, she first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1, as a member of that titular superhero team, during the period when Wildstorm and its properties were owned by Jim Lee.

References

  1. JK Parkin (2012-02-13). "Mackie reveals the Ravagers line-up". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  2. Ravagers #1
  3. "Wildcats (Playmates) Action Figure Checklist". Figurerealm. Archived from the original on 2014-05-22.