Torque (comics)
Encyclopedia
Torque is a supervillain
in the DC Comics
Universe
, and an enemy of Nightwing
. Created by writer Chuck Dixon
and artist Scott McDaniel
, he first appeared in Nightwing v2, #1 (Oct. 1996).
Police Department. He first met Nightwing when he was ordered by Delmore Redhorn, the Police Chief, to execute the young vigilante. Soames, however, betrayed Redhorn and allowed Nightwing to live, with the intention to pit various factions in Blüdhaven against one another. He played both sides of the legal fence: he fed information on Blockbuster's criminal dealings to Nightwing, served Blockbuster as a mob lieutenant, and oversaw many of the criminal activities of Chief Redhorn's corrupt tenure with the police.
After Soames' scheme to use Scarecrow
against Nightwing failed disastrously, Blockbuster grew weary of his underling, and attempted to have him killed. Soames responded with surprising cunning, and ultimately tried to take Blockbuster's invalid mother hostage as part of a last bid for power. Nightwing attempted to intervene, but was forced to save innocent bystanders as Blockbuster twisted the dirty cop's head 180 degrees, leaving Soames for dead.
Soames survived thanks to a breakthrough medical technique, and retrained himself to move normally, "seeing through the back of his head" with the use of glasses with a built-in array of mirrors. Soames brutally killed the doctor that had saved his life, morbidly renamed himself Torque, and (gaining the support of Intergang
) started a new gang war for the control of Blüdhaven, revenge against Blockbuster, Nightwing, and the city he now felt he owned.
Torque fights Nightwing and the vigilante "Nite-Wing
" shortly after the assassination of Ricky Noone. Blockbuster is not pleased that there is a crime turf war without him.
After descending further into madness, Soames was brought to justice by Nightwing, only to arrange a prison break with the help of the imprisoned vigilante Nite-Wing. This would prove his undoing, since once freed he wasted no time in returning to his old plans, even attempting to enlist Nite-Wing into his reign of terror. The vigilante, however, had a zero-tolerance policy for crime, and, upon realizing Soames' true nature, the two entered into a Mexican standoff
that only Nite-Wing survived.
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
in the 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...
Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, and an enemy of Nightwing
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
. Created by writer Chuck Dixon
Chuck Dixon
Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
and artist Scott McDaniel
Scott McDaniel
Scott McDaniel is an American comics artist who has drawn numerous books, including Marvel Comics' "Fall from Grace" storyline for the Daredevil series...
, he first appeared in Nightwing v2, #1 (Oct. 1996).
Fictional character biography
Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames was the dirtiest man working in the corrupted BlüdhavenBlüdhaven
Blüdhaven is a fictional city in the . Created by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel in 1996, it was originally intended to serve as a backdrop for the Nightwing comics series.-Fictional geography:...
Police Department. He first met Nightwing when he was ordered by Delmore Redhorn, the Police Chief, to execute the young vigilante. Soames, however, betrayed Redhorn and allowed Nightwing to live, with the intention to pit various factions in Blüdhaven against one another. He played both sides of the legal fence: he fed information on Blockbuster's criminal dealings to Nightwing, served Blockbuster as a mob lieutenant, and oversaw many of the criminal activities of Chief Redhorn's corrupt tenure with the police.
After Soames' scheme to use Scarecrow
Scarecrow (comics)
The Scarecrow is a fictional character, a supervillain, that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane...
against Nightwing failed disastrously, Blockbuster grew weary of his underling, and attempted to have him killed. Soames responded with surprising cunning, and ultimately tried to take Blockbuster's invalid mother hostage as part of a last bid for power. Nightwing attempted to intervene, but was forced to save innocent bystanders as Blockbuster twisted the dirty cop's head 180 degrees, leaving Soames for dead.
Soames survived thanks to a breakthrough medical technique, and retrained himself to move normally, "seeing through the back of his head" with the use of glasses with a built-in array of mirrors. Soames brutally killed the doctor that had saved his life, morbidly renamed himself Torque, and (gaining the support of Intergang
Intergang
Intergang is a fictional organized crime group in Superman and other DC comics. Armed with technology supplied by the villainous New Gods of the planet Apokolips, it is a potent foe who can seriously challenge the most powerful superheroes...
) started a new gang war for the control of Blüdhaven, revenge against Blockbuster, Nightwing, and the city he now felt he owned.
Torque fights Nightwing and the vigilante "Nite-Wing
Nite-Wing
Nite-Wing is a fictional character appearing in the DC Comics series Nightwing.-Fictional character biography:Tad Ryerstad is a sociopath and possesses a great deal of rage while being prone to loud outbursts, as well as frequently referring to himself in the third person...
" shortly after the assassination of Ricky Noone. Blockbuster is not pleased that there is a crime turf war without him.
After descending further into madness, Soames was brought to justice by Nightwing, only to arrange a prison break with the help of the imprisoned vigilante Nite-Wing. This would prove his undoing, since once freed he wasted no time in returning to his old plans, even attempting to enlist Nite-Wing into his reign of terror. The vigilante, however, had a zero-tolerance policy for crime, and, upon realizing Soames' true nature, the two entered into a Mexican standoff
Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
that only Nite-Wing survived.