Sonar (comics)

Sonar
Introducing Sonar, artist Gil Kane
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Green Lantern vol. 2 #14 (July 1962)
Created by	John Broome (writer) Gil Kane (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Bito Wladon
Team affiliations	The Society
Abilities	Sonic weaponry, unknown flight device.

Sonar is the name of two DC Comics supervillains.

The Bito Wladon version of Sonar first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #14 and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane.

Nestled in the mountains of south eastern Europe lies the tiny Balkan nation of Modora. With a population of four hundred, Modora was relatively unknown to the rest of the world, whose only product was the wool of a peculiar brown sheep found only in that small area. It was not even a member of the United Nations. Modora was sealed off from the rest of the world by Fando the Mad, a leader who believed Modora should be frozen in its past. He burned bridges and barricaded roads to the outside world while making all decisions for his countrymen. One man, Bito Wladon, was determined to change that.

Wladon's parents were deaf, which was a mark of Satan to the superstitious Modorans. By Modoran beliefs, they were not to be killed or hurt, they were to be shunned. Young Bito was a pariah as well, even though he could hear, he was the son of deaf parents. The cruel actions of his community built resentment towards his parents and the outside world. Bito Wladon would hide from the rest of the world in a barn, in which he one day discovered a cache of books, hidden by his peddler grandfather against the orders of Fando.

Bito Wladon became an apprentice to a clockmaker, while he secretly embarked on a brilliant career working on the mastery of sound. By using an invention of his, the "nucleo sonic motor" which could use any sound source to power it, Wladon discovered he could nullify gravity or concentrate sound as a destructive force. As talented as he was, Wladon used sound as a means to an end. His fanatic patriotism to Modora had made him a dangerous man. Believing the greatest nations on Earth were also the most powerful, Wladon chose to make Modora great by supplying it with the "nucleo-sonic bomb," a weapon based on supersonic energy. He hoped to make Mordora the most powerful country in the world.

Unfortunately, his homeland was not technologically advanced enough to support his efforts. Wladon was slipped out of Modora for the United States. Many of the items he needed were classified equipment. Wladon would lead a life of crime to get the resources for his sonic weapons.

Wladon designed a regal, military costume to befit the future of Modora. When he appeared in the United States, the media dubbed him "Sonar" because of his mastery of sound.