King Chimera
King Chimera | |
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illusionist intellectGenius |
King Chimera is a
King has kept a mysterious identity since his debut, as very little is known about his past, so much that his real name has not been revealed. The only things that have currently been revealed about King is that he is Turkish, he claims to be the son of "King" Standish,[1] and his former lover, Namita, his mother and others he knew are deceased.[2]
Publication history
King Chimera's first, very brief, appearance was in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #24 in early 2009, created by Lilah Sturges and Fernando Pasarin. He did not appear again until issue #29, when he became a major character to the series. He was only in four more issues before switching to the
He then became a regular character in the JSA All-Stars series, appearing in every issue released. Early in the JSA All-Stars run, Justice Society of America Annual #2 was released and King was featured in it. Towards the end of 2010, he also appeared in the nineteenth issue of the second volume of Power Girl. King last appeared in the eighteenth issue of JSA All-Stars, the final issue of the series.
Creation and concept
Newsarama held an interview with Lilah Sturges, the writer of JSA All-Stars, to discuss the series. Sturges briefly talked about King Chimera and how she wanted to re-invent him off of "King" Standish. Regarding Standish, Sturges said: "You only saw him in disguise. And so, with this new King Chimera, it's a bit more metaphorical than that. I'll just leave it at that".[3]
In another interview with Newsarama, Sturges said: "King Chimera is a new character that kind of exemplifies the attitude, although he's an extreme case". Sturges also said that King wants to be "the most effective hero he can be and will do anything to achieve that goal". She also mentioned that King wants "to be trained as well as possible, and to take that training and use it effectively against the bad guys".[4]
Fictional character biography
In an
While the JSA was in battle, King, Billy and
JSA All-Stars
King ended up with the
He played a helpful role when the All-Stars were faced against
King then helped
Past revealed
Although King's full past and origin are still a mystery, bits of information were revealed about his past. During a mission at Parador, when Cyclone was severely injured, Anna transported her and King to a hospital of King's choice, which was one located at Ankara, Turkey. While Cyclone rested, it was revealed by Namita, an illusion King created of his deceased former lover, that she had died at the same hospital and that it was King's fault.[13] It was also revealed by Namita that King's mother, villagers and monks, were all dead due to King, as well. Cyclone then woke up, realizing that she felt better and that her wounds had already healed.[2]
King and Cyclone were then seen helping the rest of the team in
Although Namita stated it was due to King's "brashness and conceit",[2] it is unknown what he did that caused the deaths of Namita, his mother and the villagers and monks.
Characterization
King Chimera was first portrayed as an arrogant, egotistical, classy "know-it-all" during his run in Justice Society of America. King was impatient, witty and quick to make a comeback, even if he was not being insulted in the first place. He found himself to be near perfection and thought of himself to be above everyone else. Due to his attitude, King was not well perceived by his teammates. However, King did not seem to care, as he stated that he was not with the Justice Society to make friends.[16]
Only a few months later, still early in his publication history, King's attitude began to slowly change in the JSA All-Stars series, beginning right after his near-death experience with Johnny Sorrow. He started to transition from his harsh attitude to a respected teammate. He also started to show more respect towards his teammates by helping them out more with their problems, specifically with Judomaster while she was dealing with the grief of Damage's death. Although King previously stated he was not with the team to make friends, Cyclone became his first and closest friend on the team. Although King's attitude has changed, he still shows signs of cockiness, but only toward his enemies.
Depiction
Throughout all of his appearances, King has sported a black
Powers and abilities
King Chimera was taught by his mother and/or father to bend light and sound in order to cast illusions. King explained to Sand that his power is to conjure anything he has seen or heard into a chimera; his power is to misdirect his enemies so they defeat themselves.[11] King can also manipulate x-rays, which was shown when he made an illusion of himself being invisible and Power Girl could not see him, even if she used her x-ray vision.[6] King possesses a genius intellect, has an eidetic memory, has highly trained senses and perfect recall.[16] He is also skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but the only move he uses on his enemies, when he's not using his illusions, is to flip them. Once, Sand asked why he didn't hit anyone and King replied: "I have my reasons".[11]
References
- ^ a b Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #29 (September 2009)
- ^ a b c JSA All-Stars #10 (November 2010)
- ^ Justice Society x2: Writer Matt Sturges Talks JSA ALL-STARS By Vaneta Rogers. Posted: 28 July 2009 11:49 am ET
- ^ Class is in Session: Matt Sturges Readies 2nd JSA Title By Vaneta Rogers. Posted: 12 November 2009 03:46 pm ET
- ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #24 (April 2009)
- ^ a b Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #32 (December 2009)
- ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #33 (January 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #1 (February 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #4 (May 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #5 (June 2010)
- ^ a b c JSA All-Stars #6 (July 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #7 (August 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #9 (October 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #11 (December 2010)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #13 (February 2011)
- ^ a b Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #31 (November 2009)
- ^ JSA All-Stars #14 (March 2011)