The best super-villains are much like the best supporting characters, the more they invoke what makes a hero great, the more relevant they are. Despite a small fan following and even an appearance in an animated film, not everyone knows about the Superman villain, Manchester Black, today's Z-Lister.
Created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke in 2001's "Action Comics #775", Manchester Black is a smoking, drinking, British vigilante who's past is as mysterious as his powers. All that is known about Black is that he was abused as a child and has a hatred for those with high morals. Black has telepathy and telekineses which can only be explained as "metahuman qualities". When he was a child, he' often use these powers to kill people with his sister Vera. Manchester's anger towards high morals also gives him an instant dislike for superheroes and the way they arrest criminals rather than kill them.
Manchester Black had formed a group a criminal-killing vigilantes called The Elite. Alongside Coldcast, Menagerie, and The Hat, Black gained popularity for their executions of criminals. This misuse of power is what led Black to meeting Superman; the embodiment of justice. Their disagreement on how to prevent crime led Superman and The Elite to Io-one of Jupiter's moons-for a showdown that was being recorded for everyone on Earth. Black used his powers to give Superman a stroke while the other members beat him mercilessly and wipe him out with an explosion. The Elite thought they won, but Superman used his super speed to kill each Elite member until getting to Black. Superman than used a combination of X-ray vision, microscopic vision and heat vision to locate the mutation on Black's brain and disintegrate it, cutting off Black's psychic powers.
After Black wept in disbelief over Superman crossing the line, Superman revealed to Black and everyone watching on Earth that what he did was a demonstration as to why The Elite's methods were so horrid. Superman had only knocked the other members unconscious and his destruction of Black's special brain abnormality was only temporary. Black became furious after learning Superman's trick and promised from that day forth to never stop trying to hurt him, to which Superman replied:
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Dreams save us, dreams lift is up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear, until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting".
The next time Black was seen was when President Lex Luthor recruited him onto his version of The Suicide Squad. Alongside Steel, Chemo, Plastique, and Shrapnel, Black was sent on a mission to release the monster Doomsday and pit him against the alien Imperiex. After brainwashing Doomsday to fight Imperiex, Black and Steel were the only two to survive the experience.
Manchester Black than outed Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent and mind controlled most of Superman's villains into attacking him. While he did this, Black went out and attacked everyone in Superman's life, from his high school football coach to his current dentist. When Superman finally defeated all his foes, he returned to Lois Lane's apartment to find Manchester Black had killed his wife. Obviously in emotional turmoil, Superman picked up Lois and prepared to leave. Black snapped, commanding Superman fight him, that he kill Black for killing the woman he loved. Superman claimed he would see to it that Lois' body is properly buried before going after Black and even then he would arrest Black and have him locked up again. As Black grew fed up with Superman's unbreakable will, his illusion wore off and it was revealed Lois was simply sleeping. Superman revealed he had no idea it was an illusion, confirming his priorities were true and that Black had crossed his moral line. After wiping the memory of Superman's secret identity from all the villains minds, Black ran off and-alone-decided to blast a psychic bolt into his own head. With the confirmation that he had become a super-villain, Manchester Black killed himself.
The saga of Manchester Black is a fascinating one. I feel as though the character was created to confront the question of why characters like Superman don't kill. And the answer is a simple one: because killing does not inspire heroism, killing only inspires more killing. I really like the idea that Manchester Black was a bad guy, but saw himself as a hero. Not because it's a common trope, but more because his rivalry with Superman was first based off ideals, than it was spite, and finally he saw that in challenging the idol of superheroes, he had become a villain. Not only that, but just the immature and blinded views of this character stopped him from being something truly better, some members of The Elite-Black's sister included-went on to join The Justice League, and to believe Manchester Black was only a few degrees off of redeeming himself only bury himself in a hole of unfulfilled attempts was a downer to say the least. This Z-Lister truly carries the lessons of why Superman will always be the symbol of righteousness and why those who resist to kill, will always be the strongest.
Thank you for reading.
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Manchester Black had formed a group a criminal-killing vigilantes called The Elite. Alongside Coldcast, Menagerie, and The Hat, Black gained popularity for their executions of criminals. This misuse of power is what led Black to meeting Superman; the embodiment of justice. Their disagreement on how to prevent crime led Superman and The Elite to Io-one of Jupiter's moons-for a showdown that was being recorded for everyone on Earth. Black used his powers to give Superman a stroke while the other members beat him mercilessly and wipe him out with an explosion. The Elite thought they won, but Superman used his super speed to kill each Elite member until getting to Black. Superman than used a combination of X-ray vision, microscopic vision and heat vision to locate the mutation on Black's brain and disintegrate it, cutting off Black's psychic powers.
After Black wept in disbelief over Superman crossing the line, Superman revealed to Black and everyone watching on Earth that what he did was a demonstration as to why The Elite's methods were so horrid. Superman had only knocked the other members unconscious and his destruction of Black's special brain abnormality was only temporary. Black became furious after learning Superman's trick and promised from that day forth to never stop trying to hurt him, to which Superman replied:
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Dreams save us, dreams lift is up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear, until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting".
The next time Black was seen was when President Lex Luthor recruited him onto his version of The Suicide Squad. Alongside Steel, Chemo, Plastique, and Shrapnel, Black was sent on a mission to release the monster Doomsday and pit him against the alien Imperiex. After brainwashing Doomsday to fight Imperiex, Black and Steel were the only two to survive the experience.
Manchester Black than outed Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent and mind controlled most of Superman's villains into attacking him. While he did this, Black went out and attacked everyone in Superman's life, from his high school football coach to his current dentist. When Superman finally defeated all his foes, he returned to Lois Lane's apartment to find Manchester Black had killed his wife. Obviously in emotional turmoil, Superman picked up Lois and prepared to leave. Black snapped, commanding Superman fight him, that he kill Black for killing the woman he loved. Superman claimed he would see to it that Lois' body is properly buried before going after Black and even then he would arrest Black and have him locked up again. As Black grew fed up with Superman's unbreakable will, his illusion wore off and it was revealed Lois was simply sleeping. Superman revealed he had no idea it was an illusion, confirming his priorities were true and that Black had crossed his moral line. After wiping the memory of Superman's secret identity from all the villains minds, Black ran off and-alone-decided to blast a psychic bolt into his own head. With the confirmation that he had become a super-villain, Manchester Black killed himself.
The saga of Manchester Black is a fascinating one. I feel as though the character was created to confront the question of why characters like Superman don't kill. And the answer is a simple one: because killing does not inspire heroism, killing only inspires more killing. I really like the idea that Manchester Black was a bad guy, but saw himself as a hero. Not because it's a common trope, but more because his rivalry with Superman was first based off ideals, than it was spite, and finally he saw that in challenging the idol of superheroes, he had become a villain. Not only that, but just the immature and blinded views of this character stopped him from being something truly better, some members of The Elite-Black's sister included-went on to join The Justice League, and to believe Manchester Black was only a few degrees off of redeeming himself only bury himself in a hole of unfulfilled attempts was a downer to say the least. This Z-Lister truly carries the lessons of why Superman will always be the symbol of righteousness and why those who resist to kill, will always be the strongest.
Thank you for reading.
Facebook: The Panel Biter
Twitter: @ThePanelBiter
Podbean: Panelbiter.podbean.com
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