Manchester Black

Manchester Black
Manchester Black in Action Comics #775, art by Doug Mahnke.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #775 (March 2001)
Created by	Joe Kelly Doug Mahnke
In-story information
Alter ego	Manchester Black
Team affiliations	The Elite Suicide Squad S.T.A.R. Labs
Abilities	Telekinetic and Telepath.

Manchester Black is a fictional antihero in the DC Comics universe. He was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke in Action Comics #775, (March 2001).

Manchester Black was a ruthless vigilante who led a crime fighting team called "The Elite". Other than his thick English accent, his notorious Union Jack tattoo, and a few snippets he told about his life, very little is known about him, although he is most likely from the city of Manchester, England. What is known includes insinuations that he was physically abused by his parents while growing up and a hatred for people with "high moral concepts" who feel they are better than people like Black, who would do anything to survive. This hatred included super heroes who would only turn over captured villains to the police instead of killing them, which was the only way Manchester and the Elite felt villains could be dealt with. Black also claimed distant African and Korean heritage, but as he made these claims to justify his use of racist terms towards these groups, it is possible he was either lying or joking.

Black first appears as the leader of a team of super-powered antiheroes called The Elite, who gained worldwide popularity for viciously killing their foes and thus preventing them from coming back to cause more problems. Superman opposed this wanton violence, leading to a showdown on Jupiter's moon Io that was videotaped for Earth's media. Black used his powers to give Superman a stroke, and his teammates (Coldcast, Menagerie, and the Hat) apparently were able to destroy Superman in a giant explosion. While the Elite were gloating, however, Superman used his superspeed seemingly to kill all the team's members except Black. Superman then disabled the Englishman by using his X-ray vision to locate a growth inside Black's brain. He identified the growth as the source of Black's powers, and carefully fired a thin burst of heat vision through Black's retinas, removing it and thus, disabling Black.