Sportsmaster

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Sportsmaster
The Lawrence Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster as depicted in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #21 (November 1986).
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAll-American Comics #85 (May 1947)
Created byJohn Broome
Irwin Hasen
In-story information
Alter egoLawrence "Crusher" Crock
Victor Gover
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsInjustice Society
Legion of Doom
Abilities
  • Master athlete and hand-to-hand combatant
  • Utilizes sports-themed weapons such as exploding baseballs, flying bases, rocket baseball bats, knockout basketballs, lacrosse snare nets, exploding hockey pucks
Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media
Team affiliations
League of Shadows (Young Justice
)

The Sportsmaster is the name of different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the character; Lawrence "Crusher" Crock, is usually depicted as a criminal who uses sports-themed weapons and gadgets to commit crimes. He is also the husband of Paula Brooks and the father of Artemis Crock.

Crusher / Sportsmaster appeared in Young Justice, voiced by Nick Chinlund, and Stargirl, portrayed by Neil Hopkins.

Publication history

The Lawrence Crock version of Sportsmaster first appeared in All-American Comics #85 (May 1947) and was created by writer John Broome and artist Irwin Hasen.[1][2]

The Victor Gover version of Sportsmaster first appeared in Manhunter #17 and was created by John Ostrander, Doug Rice, and Kim Yale.

Fictional character biography

Lawrence "Crusher" Crock

Earth-Two version

He was the foe of the original

Injustice Unlimited.[5] Following his death, his body was cloned by a secret organization called the council for their enforcers (they had previously used Manhunter
).

In the Elseworlds miniseries The Golden Age, set outside regular DC Comics continuity, Sportsmaster's real name was revealed to be Lawrence Crock. He first appears in issue #2, robbing a jewelry store in the same building as the GBS radio station. He battles Alan Scott in a physical fight. According to the mini-series, he had a daughter he could not see and was hoping to earn enough money committing robberies to win her back. Later he joins the forces of Tex Thompson (secretly Ultra-Humanite in Thompson's body). He dies trying to save a little girl from being killed by Dynaman. His death convinces Alan Scott to join the fight.

Earth-One version

The Earth-One version of the character (see

DC Comics Multiverse) had the same name and origin, but was the foe of Robin and Batgirl. He also married his universe's version of the Huntress. After losing a villains versus heroes baseball game, they reformed and have not been seen since. Since the Crisis on Infinite Earths
, this version was apparently wiped from existence or merged with his Earth-2 counterpart.

The New 52

In 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC universe. The Lawrence Crock version of Sportsmaster appears as a member of Leviathan.[6] He is also mentioned to be the roommate of Clock King, and the two fight Harley Quinn.[7]

Victor Gover

Pre-Zero Hour

There was also another Sportsmaster whose identity was Victor Gover, an African-American former football player who possessed "photographic reflexes". Blacklisted from the world of professional sports after his meta-human abilities were revealed, he turned to crime with a special armored suit that he wore. He fought against Manhunter.

Suicide Squad

He also became a member of the

Javelin, and the author avatar of Grant Morrison. Sportsmaster was one of the few members to survive this mission.[8]

Post-Zero Hour

Following the events of Zero Hour, the character of Victor Gover was radically altered. Victor Gover was now a white male with blonde hair, who no longer had photographic reflex powers, but was a disgraced all-American athlete who turned to crime due to an addiction to gambling. Furthermore, he also wore an exact replica of the original Sportsmaster's costume. Fighting Wildcat, Victor was betting on himself as part of a betting parlor based on metahuman fights. Gover then fought against a handicapped JSA, who were taking a dive to ensure the kidnapped Ma Hunkel's safety. After Wildcat freed Ma Hunkel, the JSA quickly routed him. Wildcat then took Gover to the alley where the whole incident began, beat Gover savagely, and forced Gover to retire as a supervillain and attend Gamblers Anonymous.

Sportsmen

There were two individuals who modeled their modus operandi after the original Sportsmaster, the Sportsman of Earth-2 and the Sportsman of Earth-1.

The Earth-2 version gained his powers from absorption of an anti-proton globe which enhanced his physical attributes and allowed him to wield seemingly telekinetic control of various sports related implements. This version embarked on a life of crime as a result of the globe's effect on the rational functions of his cerebral cortex. He battled several heroes including the Golden Age Robin and Wildcat.

The Earth-1 version was Martin Mantle Jr. and appeared only in Batman #338 (1981). During Mantle's youth, his father, disgusted by his son's poor athletic performance, forcibly subjected him to unsafe enhancement treatment in a twisted attempt to make him more "manly". Although emotionally scarred by the incident, Mantle indeed grew up to become a champion athlete, only to learn his father's procedure was altering his body in a way that would eventually kill him. As the Sportsman, he embarked on a brief life of crime with Olympian-level physical attributes and specialized equipment of his own design. His adversary was the Silver Age Batman who allowed him to "win" once he became aware that Mantle's life was nearing its end.

Final Crisis Aftermath

Sportsmaster appears as one of

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!. His real name, origin, and any connection to Crock is not revealed. He is killed in an explosion. His look is modeled on the Earth-One Sportsman.[9]

Powers and abilities

Crock uses sporting-themed weapons such as exploding

bases, rocket baseball bats, knockout basketballs, lacrosse snare nets, exploding hockey pucks. Their outfits generally included a baseball cap, catcher's mask, padded jersey, catcher's chestguard, football-style pants, and cleats.[3]

Each of the Sportsmasters and Sportsmen had superb physical attributes on par with Olympic athletes in their prime. As noted above, Victor Gover also had "photographic reflexes".

Other versions

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the

Heat Wave and Eel O'Brian attempt to breakout from cells.[10] Sportsmaster's heart is torn out by Eel O'Brian.[11]

In other media

Television

Film

During pre-production, James Gunn originally considered adding Sportsmaster to the titular team of his film The Suicide Squad, but eventually decided not to use the character.[13]

Video games

The Young Justice incarnation of Lawrence "Crusher" Crock / Sportsmaster appears as a boss in Young Justice: Legacy, voiced again by Nick Chinlund.

References

  1. ^ Broome, John (w), Hasen, Jack (p), Belfi, John (i). "The Rise and Fall of Crusher Crock" All-American Comics, vol. 1, no. 85 (May 1947). DC Comics.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6
    .
  3. ^
    OCLC 213309017
  4. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X
    .
  5. ^ Thomas, Roy (w), McFarlane, Todd (p), DeZuniga, Tony (i). "Beat the Clock" Infinity, Inc., vol. 1, no. 35 (February 1987). DC Comics.
  6. ^ Batman Incorporated (vol. 2) #4. DC Comics.
  7. ^ Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #11. DC Comics.
  8. ^ Suicide Squad #58 (1991)
  9. ^ Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #1-4 (2009)
  10. ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #2 (July 2011)
  11. ^ Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3 (August 2011)
  12. ^ Boucher, Geoff (December 20, 2018). "'Stargirl' Casting: Meet Three Members Of Injustice Society". Deadline. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  13. ^ Anderson, Jenna (September 9, 2020). "The Suicide Squad: James Gunn Says He Considered Using Sportsmaster". Comicbook.com. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
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