Kanto (comics)
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Darkseid's Elite | |
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Kanto is a supervillain and extraterrestrial assassin published by DC Comics.
Publication history
He first appeared in Mister Miracle #7 (March/April 1972), and was created by Jack Kirby.[1] Kanto was allegedly modeled after Renaissance nobleman Cesare Borgia, but his appearance was "patterned after Errol Flynn in a film still".[2]
Fictional character biography
As a student of Granny Goodness's on Apokolips,[3] Iluthin, Kanto's name at the time, is accused of stealing weaponry from Darkseid's then-master assassin Kanto 13 and others. Iluthin is punished, not for the stealing, but being caught. He first faces a gauntlet of fellow students, defeating them with ease.
Against the wishes of Kanto 13, Iluthin is exiled from Apokolips to Renaissance-era Earth by Darkseid. There he trains under Italian teachers and falls in love with a woman named Claudia. Kanto 13 tracks Iluthin to Earth and kills Claudia at the couple's wedding altar. Iluthin defeats Kanto 13 in battle. Darkseid comes to Earth and destroys Kanto 13 for his failure. Iluthin returns to Apokolips as Darkseid's new assassin.[4]
When Mister Miracle returns to Apokolips, he faces Kanto who captures him, taking him to Granny Goodness. Kanto dresses in a quasi-Renaissance fashion, possibly to imply both the artistic pride that he has in his assassin's work and the presence of royal court intrigue. Perhaps this attire fuels his nihilism by reminding him of his murdered love. Of all the foes Mr. Miracle faced during Kirby's run with the character, Kanto harbors a sort of professional respect with Mr. Miracle.
During writer John Byrne's Genesis comic mini-series, Kanto encounters Artemis of Bana-Mighdall, the one-time Wonder Woman, and is revealed that Kanto had been not only her teacher but a lover as well. As Artemis was trapped in a demon dimension alongside her Amazonian sisters from age fourteen to twenty-four and was not shown with Kanto until the Genesis storyline, speculation about this alleged affair suggests time travel. While mutually amorous, the tryst was apparently unconsummated since Artemis, during Mike Deodato's Requiem mini-series, claimed to be a virgin.
When New Gods
During the Final Crisis storyline, Kanto has since appeared serving Darkseid, going by Boss Dark Side at the time, and Kalibak. The three inhabit human hosts posing as businessmen in the Dark Side company and brainwash gifted Earth children. It is suggested that their host bodies burn out easily.[5]
New 52
In his
Powers and abilities
As a member of the New Gods, Kanto is functionally immortal and possesses superhuman physical abilities. He is additionally resistant to psychic powers and is a trained athlete and a fine hand-to-hand combatant. He is renowned as a master of weapons, being equally adept in Apokoliptian and Earth weaponry. Except Darkseid himself, Kanto is unequaled on Apokolips as a cunning strategist in devising methods of hunting and assassinating victims
In other media
Television
- Kanto appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU):
- Introduced in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Tools of the Trade", voiced by Michael York, this version is an associate of Intergang who supplies them with Apokoliptian weaponry. After Intergang's defeat, Kanto retreats back to Apokolips, taking Bruno Mannheim with him.
- Kanto appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Alive!", voiced by an uncredited Corey Burton. Following Darkseid's death in the preceding DCAU series Justice League, he and Mantis serve as lieutenants for Virman Vundabar in his power struggle with Granny Goodness, which ends after Darkseid's resurrection and return to Apokolips.
- Kanto appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Troy Baker.
Video games
- Kanto appears in Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, voiced again by Michael York.
- Kanto appears as a playable character and boss in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced again by Corey Burton.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ^ Ro, Ronin. Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2004)
- ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
- ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
- ^ Final Crisis #1
- ^ Mister Miracle (vol. 4) #9 (2018)
- ^ Batman (vol. 3) #56 (2018)
