Coldcast
Encyclopedia
Coldcast is a fictional
anti-hero
that as appeared in various comic book
series published by DC Comics
. He was a member of both incarnations of the The Elite
before joining Justice League Elite
. Coldcast first appeared in Action Comics
#775 (March 2001), he was created by Joe Kelly
and Doug Mahnke
.
#775, but later his name is given as Nathan Jones (it is possible that he is actually named Nathan Craig Jones). Nathan and his brother Christopher came up hard on the mean streets of Chicago
. Nathan lost his right eye while still a teenager, when he was drawn into a physical altercation with a local street gang while defending Christopher, this same incident triggered his metagene
.
. Black recruited Nathan into his group of extremely powerful metahumans called the Elite. And it was Black that gave him the name Coldcast. This group of misguided heroes took upon themselves the roles of "Judge, Jury and Executioner". They disregarded international and civil laws, and thus quickly came into conflict with Superman during a mission in Libya
, as seen in the pages of Action Comics #775. The team's first battle with Superman ends in a victory for them, largely down to Coldcast's powers. Superman later calls them to a showdown on Jupiter's moon, Io
, where they apparently kill the Man of Steel. However, Superman defeats the entire team and takes them into custody.
, took it upon herself to clear their family name and therefore reassembles the Elite as a force for good. Taking the name Sister Superior, she requested that Coldcast and other team members return to assist her. Nathan was eager to atone for his actions as a member of the original Elite, and so he accepted. Vera then approached the JLA with a proposition to form a pro-active covert team: the Justice League Elite. Vera envisioned an unconventional team that would deal with unconventional threats.
During this time, Coldcast had a personal relationship with Menagerie II
. The Elite's next case involved Coldcast's brother, Christopher. Christopher had joined his own crew, the underground drug ring called the Aftermath. Christopher hoped that becoming a member of this increasingly powerful gang would make his reputation. But Aftermath secretly plotted a test for their new recruits and instigated a fight between the Elite and the JSA. During the brawl, an inebriated Major Disaster
lost control of his powers and causing Hawkgirl
to be indirectly injured by Coldcast's powers. This proved the team's worth to Aftermath and they were invited onboard Aftermath's interdimensional ship, where they met the organization's leader, a being named Aftermath
. By this time, Vera Black's body had been overtaken by what appeared to be the disembodied mind of Manchester Black, but was later revealed to be her own multiple personality disorder. Aftermath died in the fight that followed, but not before killing Christopher.
, and they rejoined the rest of the Elite to try and free Vera from the influence of her brother. Thanks to Manitou Raven
, the team succeeds in expelling Manchester Black's mind from Vera. Afterwards, they track Coldcast's former lover, Menagerie II, to Costa Rica
, where she is taken into custody. Nathan was cleared of all murder charges and set free.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
that as appeared in various comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. He was a member of both incarnations of the The Elite
The Elite
The Elite is a team of super-powered anti-heroes appearing in stories published by DC Comics. The team took early influences from The Authority....
before joining Justice League Elite
Justice League Elite
Justice League Elite was a twelve-issue comic book limited series published monthly by DC Comics in 2004 and 2005. The title was created by writer Joe Kelly and penciller Doug Mahnke....
. Coldcast first appeared in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#775 (March 2001), he was created by Joe Kelly
Joe Kelly (comics)
Joseph "Joe" Kelly is an American comic book writer, penciler and editor who has written such titles as Deadpool, Uncanny X-Men, Action Comics, and JLA...
and Doug Mahnke
Doug Mahnke
Douglas "Doug" Mahnke is an American comic book artist and penciller.-Biography:Mahnke's first prominent work was for The Mask, and he has since worked for DC Comics on JLA, Batman with writer Judd Winick, and Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein with Grant Morrison...
.
Fictional character biography
He is initially called Craig in Action ComicsAction Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#775, but later his name is given as Nathan Jones (it is possible that he is actually named Nathan Craig Jones). Nathan and his brother Christopher came up hard on the mean streets of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Nathan lost his right eye while still a teenager, when he was drawn into a physical altercation with a local street gang while defending Christopher, this same incident triggered his metagene
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
.
The Elite
Nathan suddenly discovered that he could detect and manipulate discrete energy interactions. Much of Nathan's early history is undocumented up until the point where he meets Manchester BlackManchester Black
Manchester Black is a fictional character, and an antihero in the DC Comics universe. He was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke in Action Comics #775, .-Fictional character biography:...
. Black recruited Nathan into his group of extremely powerful metahumans called the Elite. And it was Black that gave him the name Coldcast. This group of misguided heroes took upon themselves the roles of "Judge, Jury and Executioner". They disregarded international and civil laws, and thus quickly came into conflict with Superman during a mission in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, as seen in the pages of Action Comics #775. The team's first battle with Superman ends in a victory for them, largely down to Coldcast's powers. Superman later calls them to a showdown on Jupiter's moon, Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
, where they apparently kill the Man of Steel. However, Superman defeats the entire team and takes them into custody.
Justice League Elite
After Manchester Black's apparent suicide, his sister, Vera Lynn BlackVera Black
Sister Superior is a fictional character from DC Comics. She is the sister of British anti-hero Manchester Black, and a member of the JLA offshoot known as Justice League Elite.-Fictional character biography:...
, took it upon herself to clear their family name and therefore reassembles the Elite as a force for good. Taking the name Sister Superior, she requested that Coldcast and other team members return to assist her. Nathan was eager to atone for his actions as a member of the original Elite, and so he accepted. Vera then approached the JLA with a proposition to form a pro-active covert team: the Justice League Elite. Vera envisioned an unconventional team that would deal with unconventional threats.
During this time, Coldcast had a personal relationship with Menagerie II
Menagerie (comics)
Menagerie is a name shared by two anti-heroes in the DC Universe, both members of The Elite. The two are Puerto Rican sisters who are linked with a symbiotic alien weapon crèche, called symbeasts. Both were created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke....
. The Elite's next case involved Coldcast's brother, Christopher. Christopher had joined his own crew, the underground drug ring called the Aftermath. Christopher hoped that becoming a member of this increasingly powerful gang would make his reputation. But Aftermath secretly plotted a test for their new recruits and instigated a fight between the Elite and the JSA. During the brawl, an inebriated Major Disaster
Major Disaster
Major Disaster is a former DC Comics supervillain and reluctant amoral superhero. He debuted in Green Lantern # 43.-Fictional character biography:Paul Booker was nothing more than a cheap crook...
lost control of his powers and causing Hawkgirl
Hawkgirl
Hawkgirl is the name of several female fictional superhero characters, all owned by DC Comics and existing in that company's universe. The character is one of the first costumed female superheroes...
to be indirectly injured by Coldcast's powers. This proved the team's worth to Aftermath and they were invited onboard Aftermath's interdimensional ship, where they met the organization's leader, a being named Aftermath
Aftermath (comics)
Aftermath was a super hero comic book imprint published by Devil's Due Publishing. A brainchild of Josh Blaylock, the new imprint aimed to establish a new, accessible, continuity-free universe that could lated be expanded into a series of multi-media franchises...
. By this time, Vera Black's body had been overtaken by what appeared to be the disembodied mind of Manchester Black, but was later revealed to be her own multiple personality disorder. Aftermath died in the fight that followed, but not before killing Christopher.
Free
Due to fallout from the mission, Coldcast was incarcerated in the Slab. Nathan was freed from prison by KasumiCassandra Cain
Cassandra Cain is a fictional character in the , one of several who has served as Batgirl, an important character in the Batman comic book franchise. Cassandra's backstory presents her as the daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, she was deprived of speech and human contact during her...
, and they rejoined the rest of the Elite to try and free Vera from the influence of her brother. Thanks to Manitou Raven
Manitou Raven
Manitou Raven is a fictional character and superhero from DC Comics. Manitou Raven was known to shout "Inukchuk!" when he cast spells. This is a reference by writer Joe Kelly to Apache Chief from the Super Friends animated series. Like Apache Chief, Manitou would shout this phrase in order to...
, the team succeeds in expelling Manchester Black's mind from Vera. Afterwards, they track Coldcast's former lover, Menagerie II, to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, where she is taken into custody. Nathan was cleared of all murder charges and set free.
Powers
- His main power seems to be an affinity with electromagnetismElectromagnetismElectromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
, allowing him to manipulate particles on the subatomic level. Among many other things, this permits him to generate powerful EMPElectromagnetic pulseAn electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
s and other blasts spanning the EM spectrum, even allowing him to stop Superman in his tracks by slowing down his electrons. - He can also fly and detect changes in the Earth's electromagnetic field which he can use to monitor movements at a great distance.
- He is very skilled in mid-ranged combat, particularly in large battles in which he can take advantage of the chaos to attack enemies individually.