Backlash (Marc Slayton)

Backlash
Backlash #1 1994. Art by Brett Booth and Sal Regla .
Publication information
Publisher	Wildstorm Comics (DC Comics)
First appearance	StormWatch (Volume 1) #3 (1993)
Created by	Jim Lee Brett Booth
In-story information
Alter ego	Marc Slayton
Team affiliations	I.O. Team One Team Zero Team 7 StormWatch Wildcore Department PSI
Notable aliases	Alex
Abilities	Generating psionic whips Turning into mist Virtual Immortality Superhuman agility

Backlash is a fictional character from the Wildstorm universe that 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 has adopted the name. Since Worldstorm event that has transpired in the Wildstorm Universe it has been stated that the character will be returning to the printed page.

Marc Slayton was born in Atlantis about three thousand years ago, the son of a human mother and Lord S'ylton, an enhanced Kherubim lord of the alien colony Atlantis. When his father sacrifices his life to imprison one-time allies the D'rahn, a race of hostile aliens whose attack leads to the sinking of Atlantis, young Marc is spirited away by Ferrian, his father's former advisor. Ferrian raises the child to adulthood, tutoring him in fighting skills for his protection. Once Marc is old enough to look after himself, Ferrian drops out of sight and leaves him to fend for himself.

Marc spends the next three thousand years travelling around the world, living a life of adventure. He has only fragmented memories of his long life. At one point he is a ninja, at another he is a medieval knight. In World War II, he is recruited for a mission as an intelligence specialist for Team Zero. No rank is seen until the 1960s when he is an Air Force Colonel, working as part of the extraterrestrial threats squad Team One. Later he joins Team 7, a special ops unit which is deliberately exposed to a mutagenic chemical called the Gen-Factor. All of the members develop superhuman powers—in Marc's case some of these are the result of his alien heritage being fully activated. Team 7 finish their final mission and then go AWOL, but Marc makes a deal with their boss, brokering his (and John Lynch's and Michael Cray's) services in return for the rest of the squad and their families being left alone.