Qward

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Qward
First appearanceGreen Lantern (vol. 2) #2 (October 1960)
Created byJohn Broome (writer)
Gil Kane (artist)
Race(s)Qwardians
CharactersWeaponers
Thunderers
Sinestro Corps
PublisherDC Comics

Qward is a fictional world existing within an

anti-matter universe that is part of the DC Comics Universe. It was first mentioned in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #2 (October 1960).[1]

Fictional history

Maltus, performed a forbidden experiment to try to find the origin of the universe. This disrupted the process of cosmic creation and resulted in the creation of the first multiverse including an additional, opposite universe. Qward is that universe's counterpart to Oa
.

Qward was ruled by their universe's version of the

Atom
.

Qward's universe has been described as a "universe of evil", but this might just be a wrong impression on the part of those superheroes from the positive universe that have clashed with them. Qwardian society seems indeed to be dominated by a philosophy of selfishness and greed. This could be the effects of

millennia of inescapable rule by the tyrannical Weaponers. There are Qwardians who rebel against their society's morality, however. In the first appearance of Qward, Green Lantern met a Qwardian who had escaped to the positive-matter universe, as he was part of a group that wanted to escape the society of evil. They identify themselves with the Pilgrims
fleeing to America to escape oppression. The Qwardian was killed when he pushed Green Lantern out of the way of a yellow weapon thrown by a Weaponer that wounded him. Green Lantern was able to travel to Qward and helped the other members of the group, who the Qwardians were attacking, escape to the positive-matter universe, leaving them on an asteroid from where they can build their lives.

Supervillains

The group of supervillains called the

rewritten as being from Qward, established as an evil world within the normal universe, since at the time, parallel universes were no longer supposed to be used in DC Comics stories.[2] Later on, in JLA: Earth 2, the Syndicate has been reintroduced as coming from a parallel Earth within the Qwardian universe, now described as an actual anti-matter universe. The first group is re-established as being Qwardian Weaponers also using the Syndicate's aliases. The "real" Crime Syndicate of Amerika has since popped up in a number of DC Comics stories, including the ongoing weekly comic Trinity, by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley
.

Nero

During

Alexander Nero
.

As Nero grew more powerful by subconsciously siphoning the burgeoning

Parallax
energy within Earth's sun, it was shown that the Weaponers had developed an almost cult-like fascination with him. During a battle with Nero in which the Weaponers intervened, Kyle learned that it was their secret desire to be destroyed by their creation.

Syndicate Rules

In the JLA storyline "Syndicate Rules", written by Kurt Busiek, the mythology and culture of Qward were greatly expanded upon, clarifying their Post-Crisis status. The storyline detailed a coup d'état in which the Thunderers were united under Irik Roval. Roval slew First Weaponlord Varnathon of Q'Uld, ending the Weaponers' reign over Qward. Claiming the Weapons of Rengar, he was crowned the new Highlord of Qward. Roval then located the prison of Erdammeru, the Void Hound, an ancient weapon of the Qward. Erdammeru had been built as a mechanical version of a mythical deity of Qward.

Roval piloted the Void Hound through an ancient Qwa-portal into the positive-matter universe, where he did battle against the Justice League in search of the ancient scientist Krona, who had nearly obliterated Qward during the JLA/Avengers crossover event. Though Roval was eventually forced to retreat by the destruction of the Void Hound, Qward remained a threat to the Justice League, revitalized under their new leader.

Sinestro Corps

Main article: Sinestro Corps

With the Green Lantern Corps restarted with the return of Hal Jordan, Sinestro has decided to found the Sinestro Corps, offering yellow power rings, and a role in the Corps, to the most feared and savage warriors of the universe. The Sinestro Corps is headquartered in the anti-matter universe on Qward, in Sector -1.

In an interview with Geoff Johns, then writer of the Green Lantern series,[3] it was revealed that the Sinestro Corps is a mirror organization to the GLC. Geoff Johns said that "the Sinestro Corps [will have] its own Oa-type planet, its own Guardians, [and] its own oath", as is now the case with all seven Corps.

Arkillo, a large and muscular vicious alien who fills the same role of Drill Sergeant held by Kilowog in the GLC, is enslaving all the Qwardian Weaponers and forcing them to continuously build new yellow rings, programmed to breach the barrier between the anti-matter and positive-matter universes and find and recruit new ring wielders.[4]

All Qwardians now sport slave collars, put on them by Sinestro himself to ensure their loyalty. In addition, Qward had a huge yellow "Central Battery" (a parallel to Oa's green "Central Battery") which has since been captured by the GLC and relocated to Oa. Corps members also seem to kill Qwardians for fun and send them armed with overcharged batteries as suicide bombers.

Known members, other than the Corps namesake and Arkillo, include

Bedovian, the sniper of the Corps, capable of taking out a target from three sectors away while living on the fungus growing on his "hermit crab"-like shell.[5] Batman was even considered as a possible candidate for the Sinestro Corps (due to his ability to inspire great fear in his enemies, which seems to be the primary requirement for induction into the Corps), but due to his immense willpower, alongside his previous exposure to the Green Lantern ring's energy, he rejected the ring that was sent to him. Instead, the ring went to Amon Sur, the son of Green Lantern Abin Sur
.

In the Green Lantern Corps story "Tygers", by Alan Moore, Abin Sur is witness to a prophecy which states that among the gathered enemies to destroy the Green Lantern Corps would be the "Weaponers of Qward"; the Sinestro Corps War storyline is a partial fulfillment of that prophecy, later to be known as "The Blackest Night".[6]

Blackest Night

The Qwardians whom the Sinestro Corps killed were revealed to have been reanimated as

Black Lanterns and were at war with their murderers and even their still-living members.[7]

Brightest Day

After the end of the

Deadman.[8] One of these Qwardians, a master Weaponer, takes the constructs left behind by Deadman, fashions them into a powerful hammer and shield (empowered by the White Light) and vows revenge against Sinestro.[9] This Qwardian, who simply dubs himself "the Weaponer" is revealed to be the one who made Sinestro's original yellow ring. He attacks Korugar, defeats Kyle Rayner and captures Sinestro's daughter, Soranik Natu.[10]

The New 52

In

Arkillo, one that is free from the lethal boobytraps that Sinestro had implanted in all previous Yellow Lantern rings, in turn for having the chance to get inside Invictus' ship.[11]

Known inhabitants

Weaponers and Thunderers

Weaponers of Qward

Qwardians resemble humans, except that they are totally hairless and have large, prominent eyes. The Weaponers seem to have a military structure. Their most noteworthy warriors are the Thunderers, flying warriors that are equipped with throwable weapons shaped like lightning bolts that turn into a form of energy called "Qwa" when thrown. This energy is the Weaponers' primary weapon, and is somehow able to hurt even

Justice League of America
and other DC Comics superheroes.

In order to travel into, and out of, the anti-matter universe, one must pass through special "portals" that instantly reverse the polarity of subatomic particles as they pass through them, since any contact between positive and anti-matter would result in a tremendous explosion that would disintegrate both. This was used in their first three appearances, but during the first appearance of Sinestro it was blocked to prevent Green Lantern from entering their universe.

One noteworthy figure within the Weaponers was one General Fabrikant, who was a tactical genius as well as being midget-sized. Fabrikant entered Earth, disguised himself as a child, and insinuated himself into the private life of the greatest Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. He was discovered, however, and his plans of conquest were undone.

When the Anti-Monitor reawakened, he re-established his rule over Qward, and transformed several of the Thunderers into "Shadow-Demons" that he then used to help him in his plans to destroy all positive-matter universes, so that the anti-matter universe would increase in size, making him even more powerful. These creatures could kill by touch and murdered trillions. Eventually, however, the Anti-Monitor was destroyed by the heroes of Earth, and the Weaponers recovered control of Qward. Pre-Crisis, the Anti-Monitor absorbed the entire anti-matter universe, killing the inhabitants in the process, although this was seemingly reversed after the battle at the beginning of time.[12]

Shadowforce

"Shadowforce" redirects here. Not to be confused with Shadow Force (disambiguation).

Shadowforce is a supervillain team from Qward that banded up together to become wealthy. Members of the team were Deadeye, Elasti-Man, Element-Man, Fiero, Frostbite, Scarab, and Slipstream. Its opponents were The Conglomerate and the Justice League.

In other media

Television

Film

Video games

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0
    .
  2. ^ Although the anti-matter universe had survived the rewriting of reality in the Crisis.
  3. ^ "Catching Up With Geoff Johns". Archived from the original on 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  4. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 3) #11 (April 1991)
  5. ^ Wizard Magazine #186 (January 2007), 2007 Preview, Sinestro Corps
  6. ^ Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (1986)
  7. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #45 (October 2009)
  8. ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #49 (June 2010)
  9. ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #51 (August 2010)
  10. ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #53 (October 2010)
  11. ^ Green Lantern: New Guardians #8 (April 2012)
  12. ^ Crisis on Infinite Earths #12

External links

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