Hank Henshaw
Hank Henshaw | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | As Hank Henshaw: The Adventures of Superman #465 (May 1990) As Cyborg Superman: Metallic Mass Murderer Alpha-Prime |
Abilities |
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Henry "Hank" Henshaw is a
At times, he is also referred to as The Cyborg (not to be confused with Victor Stone a.k.a.
In 2011, IGN ranked him #33 of the "Top 100 Comic Book Villains".
Publication history
While the character debuted in
Fictional character biography
Hank Henshaw first appeared as a crew member on board the doomed NASA
Hank and the other three members of the Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, were part of a
Though Henshaw's physical body expired, he was able to transfer his consciousness into the LexCorp mainframe. Now able to control technology, Henshaw appeared to his wife in a robotic body. The shock of this bizarre rebirth was too much for Terri to bear and, in a fit of insanity, she jumped to her death. By this point, Henshaw's electronic consciousness had begun to disrupt Earth's communications networks. Using NASA communications equipment, Henshaw beamed his mind into the birthing matrix which had carried Superman from Krypton to Earth as an infant.[1] He creates a small exploration craft from the birthing matrix and departs into outer space alone.[7]
Henshaw spent some time traveling between planets, bonding with local lifeforms to learn about the culture and history of various worlds. He came to believe that Superman was responsible for the tragedy of Excalibur after learning that around the time of the accident, the Man of Steel had thrown a rogue Kryptonian artificial intelligence (the
Reign of the Supermen
With Superman apparently dead after his battle with
After destroying a Superman memorial plaque in front of the Daily Planet, Henshaw exiles Doomsday into space, prevents a nuclear meltdown, and saves President Bill Clinton from an assassination attempt. The White House then endorses Henshaw as the "true" Superman.[11][12] When confronted by Lois Lane, Henshaw claims his memory is "blurry" but he can see a "spaceship on a farm and the name Kent", suggesting that he may be aware of Superman's secret identity.[10]
Henshaw's arrival as Superman is simultaneous with that of three others:
Destroying Coast City
When Mongul's spaceship appears over
Superboy is able to escape and warn Steel,
It was later revealed that Henshaw chose to attack Coast City first because he and his late wife were former residents. This was part of an effort to erase his former life.[19]
Return
Before exiling Doomsday into space, Henshaw had installed a device on the monster to allow him to detect if Doomsday were to ever escape. After the destruction of his Cyborg Superman form, he transfers his consciousness into this device as Doomsday is "the safest place in the galaxy" for Henshaw to hide. Doomsday is brought on board a spaceship and, despite frantic efforts of the crew to jettison him, kills the crew, and upon landing on Apokolips, proceeds to pillage the planet.
When Superman, his power now boosted by being repowered by "purple kryptonite", arrives, Henshaw emerges by reconfiguring an armored Apokoliptian trooper, brutally murdered by Doomsday, into a new body (which, by all accounts, had its DNA overwritten with the Kryptonian DNA Henshaw had obtained while in Superman's birthing matrix, and thus still retains a portion of Superman's abilities and still looks the way the Cyborg Superman looked, except for a change in the color of the Cyborg's metallic components) and proceeds to lay siege to the planet alongside Doomsday. Henshaw successfully takes over most of Apokolips but is captured by Darkseid's Omega Beams during a battle with Superman.[20]
Apokolips and beyond
Darkseid did not kill the Cyborg; rather, the
The Cyborg eventually aligns himself with an intergalactic Tribunal which is seeking to bring Superman to trial for the crimes of his ancestors. He assists the Tribunal in capturing the Eradicator, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, and
Rather than being destroyed, the Cyborg is transported (unknowingly by another villain,
The Cyborg encounters
During a crisis involving the Godwave, Superman (wearing his blue energy costume at the time) travels to New Genesis and encounters Henshaw again. Henshaw has taken part of the Source Wall's structure and crafted a small world made up of his memories, which he uses to taunt Superman before being defeated again. Unknown to Superman, the Cyborg stored his own consciousness in Superman's high-tech containment suit. After Superman returns to Earth, Henshaw escapes and constructs a new body, this time posing as an art teacher at a high school in an attempt to start over. He is a popular teacher and befriends the blind Ashbury Armstrong (daughter of Dirk Armstrong), but ultimately his rage towards Superman causes him to reveal his true identity and his new body is lost in a fight with Superman. To escape detection, Henshaw stores his consciousness in a clay statue. This statue is later stolen by the Toyman and the two villains join forces to kill Superman. To this end, the Cyborg designs a machine that will break Superman's energy form down into multiple components and beam them to different points in the galaxy, preventing Superman from reforming. A malfunction in the machine causes Superman to split into Superman Blue and Superman Red, the latter of whom eventually defeats and recaptures the Cyborg.
The Cyborg later attempts to take over Kandor, but fails when he is defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone. Shortly after the Superman Y2K story, Henshaw escapes the Zone and attacks Superman, who was suffering from Kryptonite poisoning. Henshaw is defeated with the help of the Kandorians and sent back to the Phantom Zone, swearing revenge, but he is not encountered on subsequent visits to the Zone.
Manhunters
Henshaw returns in a form similar to his original body, when he is revealed to be the
Henshaw has also used Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters. During the Green Lantern story arc No Fear,[24] Kryptonian robots are seen servicing the Manhunters. Henshaw, the Grandmaster, allowed the Green Lantern Corps to rebuild for unspecified reasons as a part of his master plan. While Henshaw explains that he first encountered the Manhunters around the time he was imprisoned in the Source Wall by Parallax, it has yet to be revealed how the Cyborg was able to escape the Phantom Zone and take control of Biot. Henshaw is defeated when Biot explodes, destroying most of his body aside from his head.
Henshaw's head is then brought by a Guardian back to Oa so that they can learn of how he was able to take control of Biot, what he has learned from the Manhunters and to learn about "the 52"[25] (referring to the 51 alternate Earths created during the second Crisis as well as their own reality). It is also revealed that the Cyborg knows of the 52, though exactly how he came by this knowledge is not made completely clear. It is stated that he has explored "The Bleed"; the space between dimensions, which could have occurred either when he was imprisoned there, when he was imprisoned in the Source Wall, or in his past exploration of the Marvel Universe.
Sinestro Corps
Henshaw's head is taken by the Sinestro Corps after their invasion of Oa to Qward. Henshaw is later seen as a herald of the newly returned Anti-Monitor. He reconstructs his cyborg body and replaces the S-symbol on his chest with the symbol of the Sinestro Corps. He now wields ten Qwardian power rings.[26] It is revealed that Henshaw has joined the Sinestro Corps so that the Anti-Monitor can later kill him and allow him to rest in peace.[27]
Henshaw was the focus of the Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman one-shot that was released on October 3, 2007.[8][28][29] In this book, Henshaw and his Manhunters head to Earth to assist the Sinestro Corps in their attack. En route, Henshaw stops leading the Manhunters which continue to their preprogrammed destinations. As he watches them go, he remembers everything that has happened to him, from their dreadful shuttle accident to his wife's suicide when she sees him in his robot form. He finishes this journey down memory lane by going to his wife's grave. He digs her corpse out and rips it into two, shouting that all he wants is not to be with her, but for these memories to fade.[8]
Meanwhile, the Manhunters begin an assault on the JLA satellite.
He is later seen briefly in Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime, having presumably been beaten back by the combined strength of Superman, Supergirl, and Power Girl.[30]
When the Green Lantern Corps decide to detonate New Warworld and the central power battery of the Sinestro Corps to destroy the Anti-Monitor, Henshaw allows himself to be trapped behind a shield and exposed to the massive explosion. Before he is destroyed, however, he thanks the Green Lantern Corps.[31]
Most of Henshaw's body survived the explosion, but it took further damage when Superman-Prime hurled the Anti-Monitor into space. The upper part of his skull was retrieved by the android Manhunters. Unable to detect any life signs and confused without his leadership, the Manhunters reanimated the brain of the Cyborg Superman. He shed a tear when he realized he was still alive.[31]
Death and retrieval
In the Brightest Day crossover, Henshaw would eventually return and work with the Alpha Lanterns as they attempted to augment every Green Lantern, including Ganthet, into an Alpha.[32][33] This was apparently at the suggestion of the robed figure holding Ion and Parallax, who told him that Ganthet held the knowledge to destroy him permanently, after Henshaw's attempts to provoke Nekron into killing him during the Blackest Night failed because he lacked a heart to attract Nekron's interest.[34] By threatening to make the Alpha Lanterns kill themselves if Ganthet does not cooperate, Henshaw forces Ganthet to work on reversing the augments that turned the Green Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns, hoping that he can use the resulting information to restore his original mortal body.[35]
Henshaw is seemingly killed when his lifeforce was finally separated from his nearly indestructible body by the combined full powered blasts of several Lanterns and Ganthet, and appeared on the mental plane of Alpha-Lantern Boodikka in an attempt to take her bio-mechanical body over, where both beings were their original, un-powered selves. Her essence, gifted with her innate, formidable combat skills, engaged his in one-on-one combat, and she quickly overpowered and killed his astral form.
Afterwards, however, Ganthet noted immediately that there was something different about her. Boodikka claims this is because Ganthet's newly discovered emotions allowed him to see her as she is (Boodikka's true self, now in control of her body again), not by what she is (an Alpha Lantern).[36]
In the
The New 52 and DC Rebirth
In September 2011,
While in space and after saving a planet called I'noxia, Supergirl discovers an amnesiac Cyborg Superman living there. This version is revealed to be Zor-El, who survives Krypton's destruction and is reconfigured as a half-human half-machine by Brainiac to be his scout looking for stronger species in the universe. His heart was switched with that of a human to remove his ability to be affected by kryptonite.[43]
When the human Henshaw is sent into space on the Excalibur on a long-term mission, he is monitored by the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the pre-Flashpoint universe, who were trapped in the New 52 world following the Convergence, with Superman seeking to prevent the rise of some of his former adversaries in this world. When the Excalibur crashes after returning from a ten-year journey to Jupiter and back, Superman saves the ship, but is puzzled to see that Henshaw is the only person on board.[44] Taking Henshaw to a base he has established in the Arctic regions to better assess if this Henshaw is a threat or not, Superman is briefly forced to face both Henshaw and a new foe called Blanque, who possesses powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities and was also kept in the fortress, but once Blanque is focused on fighting Superman, Henshaw helps Superman defeat this new foe with the weapons of a spaceship that was also kept in the fortress. It is later revealed that Henshaw acquired part of an object known as 'the Oblivion Stone' on Jupiter, with Superman forced to face an alien warrior seeking both Henshaw's part of the stone and another part kept in the fortress, but Superman drives her off, Henshaw claiming when questioned that he had no memory of anything that happened on the Excalibur or between it landing and him being discovered.[45]
After the reality disruption caused by Mister Mxyzptlk caused the histories of the pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Superman to merge during the DC Rebirth reboot, Henshaw's memories of his past as the Cyborg Superman were restored. With this knowledge, he assembles various old foes of Superman like Metallo, the Eradicator, Blanque, and his old 'ally' Mongul to form the Superman Revenge Squad before using the Oblivion Stone to restore his body to its Cyborg Superman state. He even expressed interest into recruiting General Zod to his group.[46] The new Superman Revenge Squad then set out for Kal-El's Fortress of Solitude to obtain the Phantom Zone Projector, still in need of Zod's Kryptonian army to defeat the Superman family. What the Cyborg did not realize was that Zod was using the Squad to achieve his own ends. After finding his family trapped within the Zone's confines, Zod betrayed them, leaving Henshaw trapped within the Phantom Zone.[47]
He is later released by his hated enemy, Superman, on account of an epiphany Clark had while on a time traveling excursion with Booster Gold. To keep the maddened bionic menace docile while he came up with a more humane means of detaining him, Superman gives Henshaw a Kryptonian memory crystal that would pacify the Cyborg Superman's rage by letting him relive his happiest memories in an fantasy world fabricated by his own mind.[48] This self-imposed incarceration would not last, however, as the demented machine man finds another means of escape. While he is trapped, a part of his mind escapes into the universe, where he sought to manipulate the Guardians and their appointed intergalactic law enforcement bureau, the Green Lantern Corps, to facilitate his escape.[49]
Even trapped within Superman's Kryptonian dwelling, Henshaw is able to influence the Central Power Battery back on Oa a universe away. From within his cell, he orchestrates a mystery surrounding the death of a Guardian to find a powerful weapon, the Phantom Ring.
Powers and abilities
Hank Henshaw is a "technomorph". Unlike a simple technopath which can physically manipulate technology with their mind, Henshaw can extend his consciousness into any machine.[54] Through his technomorphic abilities, Henshaw also gained Kryptonian powers similar to Superman, while editing out weaknesses, such as his vulnerability to kryptonite. He could even commandeer complex alien technology, including power rings,[36] controlling and assimilating the energy fueling them, as well as their batteries.[50]
Other versions
- Hank Henshaw appears in the DC/Marvel crossover Green Lantern/Coast City.
- Hank Henshaw appears in Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction. He seeks out Galactus in the hopes of becoming one of his heralds and achieving perfection, only to be transformed into a metal rod.
- Hank Henshaw also appears in the Elseworlds story, JLA: Act of God.[55]
- In the crossover story Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future, Henshaw learns of the existence of Skynet in the future and uses a salvaged Terminator skull to provide Skynet with information on Superman's weaknesses, subsequently allying with a T-X unit to eliminate John Connor and the Superman Family. Despite Henshaw merging with the T-X to battle Superman, he is forced to withdraw when Supergirl infects the hybrid with a computer virus developed by Lex Luthor to use against the Terminators that damages the T-X beyond repair.
In other media
Television
Discussing his character, Harewood said that "Hank Henshaw ends up becoming Cyborg Superman in the comics, battling Superman. So I'm looking forward to that. He's a bit of a supervillain. He seems pretty indestructible. Which I kind of like because I keep getting blown up in these things. I'm kind of looking forward to being indestructible".[57]
Film
- Elements of Hank Henshaw are incorporated in a Superman clone who appears in Superman: Doomsday.[58]
- Hank Henshaw appears in The Death and Return of Superman, portrayed by Elijah Wood.[59]
- Hank Henshaw appears in the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) film The Death of Superman voiced by Patrick Fabian. This version's shuttle was destroyed by Doomsday, after which Henshaw refused to evacuate under the belief that Superman would save him and his crew, leading to their deaths.
- Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman appears in the DCAMU film Reign of the Supermen, voiced by Patrick Fabian and Jerry O'Connell respectively. Prior to the film, Darkseid transferred his consciousness into a cyborg body and brainwashed Henshaw into serving him, indoctrinating him to resent Superman's failure to save the shuttle. Henshaw tricks Metropolis into letting him create a group of cyborgs loyal to him so he can create a Boom Tube and allow Darkseid's forces to invade Earth, but Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator join forces to revive Superman, who battles Henshaw until he successfully uses a crystal containing the Eradicator's consciousness to destroy Henshaw's.
Video games
- Cyborg Superman appears as a playable character in and the final boss of The Death and Return of Superman.
- Cyborg Superman appears as a boss in Jeff Kramer.[60]
- Cyborg Superman appears as a downloadable alternate skin for Superman in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
- Cyborg Superman appears in DC Universe Online via the "War of the Light Part I" DLC.[61]
- Cyborg Superman appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Travis Willingham.
Miscellaneous
- Hank Henshaw appears in Superman: Doomsday and Beyond, voiced by Kerry Shale.
- Hank Henshaw appears in Tess Mercer[64] before breaking out to battle Eclipso while Superman was away in another universe. Once Eclipso is defeated, Henshaw joins forces with Green Lantern to get the former's diamond into deep space.[65]
- Hank Henshaw appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #19.[66]
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 213309017.
- ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
- Superman, vol. 2, no. 42 (April 1990). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (w), Jurgens, Dan (p), Thibert, Art (i). "The Last Son of Krypton" The Adventures of Superman, no. 465 (April 1990). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (w), Jurgens, Dan (p), Giordano, Dick (i). "The Limits of Power" The Adventures of Superman, no. 466 (May 1990). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (w), Jurgens, Dan (p), Thibert, Art (i). "The Outcast" The Adventures of Superman, no. 468 (July 1990). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ a b c d Burnett, Alan (w), Blaine, Patrick (p), Leisten, Jay (i). "Death of a Cyborg" Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Cyborg-Superman, no. 1 (December 2007). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Superman, vol. 2, no. 81 (September 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Superman, vol. 2, no. 78 (June 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ a b Ordway, Jerry (w), Grummett, Tom (p), Hazlewood, Doug (i). "Life after Death" Adventures of Superman, no. 500 (Early June 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- Superman, vol. 2, no. 79 (July 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- Superman, vol. 2, no. 80 (August 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ a b Kesel, Karl (w), Grummett, Tom (p), Hazlewood, Doug (i). "Line of Fire!" Adventures of Superman, no. 503 (August 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Roger Stern (w), Guice, Jackson, Denis Rodier (a). "Lies & Revelations" Action Comics, no. 688 (August 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Simonson, Louise (w), Bogdanove, Jon (p), Janke, Dennis (i). "The Return!" Superman: The Man of Steel, no. 25 (September 1993). New York: DC Comics.
- ^ Kesel, Karl (w), Grummett, Tom (p), Hazlewood, Doug (i). "Assault on Engine City!" Adventures of Superman, no. 504 (September 1993). New York: DC Comics.
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- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #13
- ^ Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey (1994)
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (w), Jurgens, Dan (p), Breeding, Brett (i). Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey, no. 3, p. 2-3 (1994). DC Comics.
- ^ The Final Night (1996)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #11 (2006)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #1-3 (2005)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #15
- ^ Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (August 2007)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #22
- ^ DC Comics' solicitation for the Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman one-shot
- Silver Bullet Comic Books
- ^ Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime #1 (2007)
- ^ a b Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25
- ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #48 (May 2010)
- ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #49 (June 2010)
- ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #50 (July 2010)
- ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #51 (August 2010)
- ^ a b Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #52 (September 2010)
- ^ Justice League of America (vol. 3) #55 (March 2011)
- ^ Superman/Batman Annual #5 (April 2011)
- ^ Action Comics #900
- ^ Action Comics #901
- ^ Action Comics #904
- ^ Team 7 (vol. 2) #5 (April 2013)
- ^ Supergirl (vol. 6) #21 (August 2013)
- ^ Superman: Lois & Clark #1
- ^ Superman: Lois & Clark #8
- ^ Action Comics #980
- ^ Action Comics #984
- ^ Action Comics #999
- ^ Green Lanterns #51
- ^ a b c Green Lanterns #54
- ^ Green Lanterns #55
- ^ Green Lanterns #56
- ^ Green Lanterns #57
- ^ Action Comics #691
- ^ JLA: Act of God #1-3
- ^ "'Supergirl': Chyler Leigh, David Harewood". The Hollywood Reporter. February 26, 2015.
- ^ "Supergirl's David Harewood Teases Becoming Cyborg Superma". comicbook.com.
- ^ "DVD Talk Review: Superman - Doomsday". Dvdtalk.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
- ^ Lamar, Cyriaque (February 4, 2012). "In this semi-drunk movie about Superman's death, Elijah Wood is Cyborg Superman". io9. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ "Superman: The Man of Steel Credits (Xbox)". Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ on. "DC Universe Online". DC Universe Online. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ^ DC Comics
- ^ Smallville: Season 11 #2
- ^ Smallville Season 11: Chaos #2
- ^ Smallville Season 11: Chaos #5
- ^ Batman: The Brave and the Bold #19