Red Tornado
| Red Tornado | |
|---|---|
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Cover art for Red Tornado #1 (September 2009)
Art by Ed Benes |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | (as Red Tornado) Justice League of America #64 (August 1968) (as Ulthoon) Mystery in Space #61 (August 1960) |
| Created by |
Gardner Fox (writer) Dick Dillin (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | John Smith |
| Place of origin | Rann |
| Team affiliations | |
| Notable aliases |
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| Abilities |
Superhuman strength, durability and intellect Air and wind manipulation Computer hacking Changing from android to human form at will |
Red Tornado is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dick Dillin, it first appeared in Justice League of America #64 (August 1968). Originally depicted as comical superheroine Ma Hunkel, the character was replaced with an android able to generate tornado-speed winds enabling him to fly and perform other wind-related feats). Originally a member of the Justice Society of America, it moved to another dimension and joined the Justice League of America. The Red Tornado's body was characteristically damaged or destroyed. It was retconned in 1981, with an older alien supervillain (the Tornado Champion) inhabiting the no-longer-sentient android body. In a 1984 retcon, the Tornado Champion never inhabited the android body; instead, elemental air took over the robot form. A 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe, the New 52, eliminated the Red Tornado from DC Comics (although other characters have hinted at its existence).
The Red Tornado was formed with the merger of two entities: an android body created by supervillain T. O. Morrow and the Tornado Champion from the Earth-One planet Rann. The Tornado Champion was the morally-good part of a sentient tornado on Rann. Known as Ulthoon, the Tornado Tyrant of Rann, this being was defeated by Adam Strange and "contemplated the nature of good and evil and decided that good was the superior force". Ulthoon is aware of Strange's adventure with the Justice League of America (JLA), and in a 1963 story decides to move to an uninhabited replica of Earth. Ulthoon takes on the form of the Justice League. Its evil side, later known as the Tornado Tyrant, emerges and defeats Ulthoon-Justice League. Determined to understand its failure, the Tornado Champion goes to Earth (where the Tornado Tyrant emerges again and defeats the real Justice League). In a second attack, the Justice League banishes the Tornado Tyrant to an "anti-matter universe" and (they believe) is destroyed. The Tornado Champion ends his experiment with a duplicate Earth and JLA, and decides to continue being a hero. This story is retconned in Justice League of America Vol. 1 #193, where the Tornado Champion tells JLA member Firestorm that it alone traveled to Earth in 1963 to "recreate" its failed battle against the Tornado Tyrant. After learning how to defeat its evil half it returned to the replica Earth, defeated its evil half and banished it "forever".
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