Colonel Future
Encyclopedia
Colonel Future is the name shared by two fictional super-villains in DC Comics
.
Superman, and has attempted his destruction on several occasions.
Colonel Edmond H. Future is the "mastermind of the leading crime syndicate in Metropolis," alternately referred to as the "Colonel Future Mob" and the "CF Gang" which "uses spies to steal top-secret blueprints and models from scientific institutes and research labs which their highly skilled engineers turn into elaborate devices for committing crimes".
Determined to halt the interference of Superman in his criminal enterprises, Col. Future enlists the aid of the Wizard, a powerful magician who, using the powerful Glastonbury Wand which once belonged to Merlin and which Future's henchmen had stolen, casts a spell on Superman causing him to vanish for an entire year. However only his memory has gone, leaving Clark Kent who proves a formidable nemesis to crime and Future, finally marrying Lois Lane. When he survives an assassination attempt by the CF Gang while swimming, Lois suspects again he is Superman and enlists the aid of the Wizard, now a homeless vagrant upset it is not believed he has caused Superman to disappear which means he has not been able to cast a spell since that one, to bring Superman back. The plan works and though the Wizard is sent to jail by Superman, he is delighted at proof of his powers returning. Colonel Future is furious though.
Subsequently, members of the CF Gang disguised as movers make a series of assassination attempts on the newly married Clark and Lois Kent as they settle into their new apartment. Held at gunpoint by the gang, Lois quickly thinks up a ruse to allow her husband to reveal himself as Superman and defeat the gang without jeopardizing his secret identity.
Undeterred, Colonel Future next uses stolen technology to endanger the staff of the Daily Star by altering the physical nature of the Star building, only to be handily defeated by Superman.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/pre-crisis-reviews/pre-crisis-mmrs-intro.php?topic=c-review-pc-act484
in Cape Canaveral
named Colonel Edmond Hamilton
(named after the science fiction writer). Colonel Future studied the future and was an expert in creating futuristic designs. Because of his name twin, and a resultant interest in his works, Hamilton had been given the nickname "Captain Future
", at least until his promotion to colonel.
During an accident in which he was hit by an electric current after spilling coffee over a computer console, Hamilton received a brief glimpse of the future in which a gigantic sun fire streak was heading towards Earth. Determined to prevent it from destroying the planet, he used his newfound ability to gather knowledge of the futuristic technology needed to avert the catastrophe. Building up an arsenal including a jumpsuit, a flight pack and time control-based weaponry, and using his modified nickname as an alternate identity, Hamilton began to steal the components he required to built a solar ray cannon, since he had neither time nor resources to construct it from scratch. This brought him in conflict with Superman
, who became increasingly puzzled about Future's motives, since the equipment, while expensive, was hardly worth theft, and the fact that despite appearing as a supervillain, Future was careful not to harm anyone during his raids.
However, as it turned out, the sun fire streak was drawn to Earth by Superman himself. He had meant to use it to destroy a meteorite
containing kryptonite
, which was heading to Earth, as a preemptive measure. Unable to approach it to throw it off course by hand, he wanted to deflect the streak with a reflector lens he had made of old satellite debris, to be redirected to annihilate the meteorite.
But just as the streak was about to hit the lens, Future fired his ray cannon, which shattered the lens and allowed the sun streak to pass towards Earth unhindered. Superman just managed to stop it by bodily intercepting it, then followed the ray's trajectory to its source, where he found Colonel Future near his burned-out cannon. Future was able to explain the circumstances, which convinced Superman that this had all been an unfortunate accident caused by good intentions, and Superman gave Future the advice to use his powers more responsibly. Whether Colonel Future has ever chosen to use his precognitive
power again remains unrevealed.
equipment. It remains unknown whether other situations which involved mortal danger could also trigger this ability.
The equipment Future used in his raids included a rocket pack, a force field
belt, a tachyon portal generator, a time stasis beam, a teleportation device, and an ultrasonic gun for burrowing underground.
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...
.
Colonel Future I (Edmund H. Future)
Colonel Future I first appeared in Action Comics #484, as a criminal gang-leader who uses super-scientific weapons to commit his crimes, and is a sworn enemy of the Earth-2Earth-Two
Earth-Two is a fictional universe appearing in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 , Earth-Two was created to explain how Silver-Age versions of characters such as the Flash could appear in stories with their Golden Age counterparts...
Superman, and has attempted his destruction on several occasions.
Colonel Edmond H. Future is the "mastermind of the leading crime syndicate in Metropolis," alternately referred to as the "Colonel Future Mob" and the "CF Gang" which "uses spies to steal top-secret blueprints and models from scientific institutes and research labs which their highly skilled engineers turn into elaborate devices for committing crimes".
Determined to halt the interference of Superman in his criminal enterprises, Col. Future enlists the aid of the Wizard, a powerful magician who, using the powerful Glastonbury Wand which once belonged to Merlin and which Future's henchmen had stolen, casts a spell on Superman causing him to vanish for an entire year. However only his memory has gone, leaving Clark Kent who proves a formidable nemesis to crime and Future, finally marrying Lois Lane. When he survives an assassination attempt by the CF Gang while swimming, Lois suspects again he is Superman and enlists the aid of the Wizard, now a homeless vagrant upset it is not believed he has caused Superman to disappear which means he has not been able to cast a spell since that one, to bring Superman back. The plan works and though the Wizard is sent to jail by Superman, he is delighted at proof of his powers returning. Colonel Future is furious though.
Subsequently, members of the CF Gang disguised as movers make a series of assassination attempts on the newly married Clark and Lois Kent as they settle into their new apartment. Held at gunpoint by the gang, Lois quickly thinks up a ruse to allow her husband to reveal himself as Superman and defeat the gang without jeopardizing his secret identity.
Undeterred, Colonel Future next uses stolen technology to endanger the staff of the Daily Star by altering the physical nature of the Star building, only to be handily defeated by Superman.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/pre-crisis-reviews/pre-crisis-mmrs-intro.php?topic=c-review-pc-act484
Colonel Future II (Edmund Hamilton)
Colonel Future II first appeared in Superman #378, as a scientist of NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
named Colonel Edmond Hamilton
Edmond Hamilton
Edmond Moore Hamilton was an American author of science fiction stories and novels during the mid-twentieth century. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania...
(named after the science fiction writer). Colonel Future studied the future and was an expert in creating futuristic designs. Because of his name twin, and a resultant interest in his works, Hamilton had been given the nickname "Captain Future
Captain Future
Captain Future is a science fictional hero pulp character originally published in self-titled American pulp magazines during the 1940s and early 50s.-Origins:...
", at least until his promotion to colonel.
During an accident in which he was hit by an electric current after spilling coffee over a computer console, Hamilton received a brief glimpse of the future in which a gigantic sun fire streak was heading towards Earth. Determined to prevent it from destroying the planet, he used his newfound ability to gather knowledge of the futuristic technology needed to avert the catastrophe. Building up an arsenal including a jumpsuit, a flight pack and time control-based weaponry, and using his modified nickname as an alternate identity, Hamilton began to steal the components he required to built a solar ray cannon, since he had neither time nor resources to construct it from scratch. This brought him in conflict with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, who became increasingly puzzled about Future's motives, since the equipment, while expensive, was hardly worth theft, and the fact that despite appearing as a supervillain, Future was careful not to harm anyone during his raids.
However, as it turned out, the sun fire streak was drawn to Earth by Superman himself. He had meant to use it to destroy a meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
containing kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
, which was heading to Earth, as a preemptive measure. Unable to approach it to throw it off course by hand, he wanted to deflect the streak with a reflector lens he had made of old satellite debris, to be redirected to annihilate the meteorite.
But just as the streak was about to hit the lens, Future fired his ray cannon, which shattered the lens and allowed the sun streak to pass towards Earth unhindered. Superman just managed to stop it by bodily intercepting it, then followed the ray's trajectory to its source, where he found Colonel Future near his burned-out cannon. Future was able to explain the circumstances, which convinced Superman that this had all been an unfortunate accident caused by good intentions, and Superman gave Future the advice to use his powers more responsibly. Whether Colonel Future has ever chosen to use his precognitive
Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
power again remains unrevealed.
Powers and abilities
Colonel Future II had the latent ability to catch glimpses of future events, but only if his life was in mortal danger. In order to use his newfound ability, he reconstructed the same circumstances under which he first came to use them by constructing a 'death-chamber', a closet-like device fitted with electrocutionElectric shock
Electric Shock of a body with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles or hair. Typically, the expression is used to denote an unwanted exposure to electricity, hence the effects are considered undesirable....
equipment. It remains unknown whether other situations which involved mortal danger could also trigger this ability.
The equipment Future used in his raids included a rocket pack, a force field
Force field
A force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, or deflector shield is a concept of a field tightly bounded and of significant magnitude so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the central axis of the field and reach the...
belt, a tachyon portal generator, a time stasis beam, a teleportation device, and an ultrasonic gun for burrowing underground.