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Zoom (comics)
Encyclopedia
Zoom is a fiction
al comic book
supervillain
from the DC Comics
universe
. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West
, the third Flash
and is the third of the Reverse-Flash
es. As Hunter Zolomon, he first appeared in The Flash: Secret Files & Origins #3 and was created by Geoff Johns
and Scott Kolins
.
IGN
's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Zoom as #37.
Hunter Zolomon had a troubled relationship with his parents, who rarely spoke to each other or to him. On the day Hunter was to leave for college, he came home to find the police laying siege to his house. His father was a serial killer
who had killed six young girls, and when his mother told the police, his father murdered her, and was subsequently killed by the police after refusing to give up.
Hunter became obsessed with understanding the criminal mind to stop people like his father, studying psychology
and criminology
in college, then joining the F.B.I.
along with his girlfriend Ashley, whom he later married, specializing in low-level costumed criminals. One case resulted in Ashley's father being killed (Hunter had thought the criminal they were after was incapable of facing his adult life, and thus would not use an 'adult' weapon such as a gun). Ashley left him shortly thereafter, and the F.B.I. terminated his employment. Hunter was also left with a damaged knee due to the case, requiring a cane for walking and unable to ever run again.
After arriving in Keystone City
, he got a job as a profiler, working with the police in their Department of Metahuman Hostilities. His work put him in constant contact with the Flash, Wally West
, and the two became good friends. His insight was critical in solving a number of cases, but he always resented being stuck behind a desk.
in Iron Heights
, when Grodd staged a mass prison break, and was left paralyzed from the waist down. He asked Wally West to use the time-traveling cosmic treadmill
in the Flash Museum
to prevent this from occurring, but West refused, saying that he could not risk damaging the timestream. Zolomon, feeling that Wally should be prepared to disregard such fears for the sake of their friendship, then broke into the museum and attempted to use the treadmill himself. The resulting explosion destroyed the museum and shifted Hunter's connection to time - described by Jay Garrick as him being 'derailed' from the timeline by the explosion - thus allowing Zolomon to alter the speed at which he could move in time, giving him the effect of superspeed.
Zolomon decided that West had refused to help because, unlike the previous Flash Barry Allen, West had never suffered personal tragedy, and thus did not understand how terrible it could be. Zolomon decided that if he became the new Zoom and caused a great tragedy in Wally's life, this would help the Flash become a better hero. After borrowing speed from the other speedsters to even the playing field, briefly allowing him to match Zoom's near-light speeds, Flash succeeded in defeating Zoom, and prevented his former friend from killing his then-pregnant wife Linda Park
. However, Zoom's attack caused a miscarriage of their twin children. Thanks to Wally using the slight 'rips' in time that were being created by the use of Zoom's powers, Zolomon was forced into a temporal anomaly - being shoved into the rift essentially tied a 'knot' in his timeline - and ended up in a coma
tose state, continually watching the death of his father-in-law.
Zolomon's ex-wife, Ashley Zolomon, replaced him as profiler and spent a lot of time attempting to communicate with him. Due to a car accident, Ashley was hospitalized for some time. It is around this period that Zoom awoke from his coma, out of concern for Ashley. He cautiously chose to remain in his cell, however.
Zoom is driven out of his self-imposed imprisonment by Cheetah
(a.k.a. Dr. Barbara Minerva) in an attempt to both harness superspeed and induct him into the growing Secret Society
. The two share a minor romance, but nothing serious happens as Zoom still considers himself married to Ashley.
Zoom later infiltrates the already-growing "Rogue War" between Captain Cold
's Rogues, the Trickster
's reformed Rogues, and the Top
's brainwashed Rogues. Quickly spiriting his estranged wife Ashley out of danger to the home of Linda Park, Zoom returns to the battlefront to dispatch Captain Cold, claiming that the "Man Who Mastered Absolute Zero" is wasting the Flash's time with his longstanding, self-aggrandizing methods of villainy.
As the Flash and Kid Flash (Bart Allen
) attempt to contain the battle, Zoom throttles Kid Flash and threatens to snap his neck in a manner reminiscent of what Barry Allen had done to Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom
). Before Zoom can kill Kid Flash, however, Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) himself arrives on a cosmic treadmill, with Jay Garrick chained to the front end, Zoom having earlier captured Jay and forced him to take him back to the day of Professor Zoom's death to recruit his assistance.
A battle ensues between the two Flashes and Kid Flash against the two Zooms (during which Kid Flash escapes Zoom by vibrating to become intangible, the only speedster power Zoom can't duplicate). In the end, the two Zooms accomplish what they intended, grabbing the Flash and jumping onto the treadmill. Zoom then forces the Flash to watch their first fight, in which Linda is severely injured and miscarries. Zoom tells Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) to replay the experience as he feels that Wally West should be made to focus on the feelings of sorrow and loss from this experience. As the scene starts to rewind, West's uncle and mentor Barry Allen appears, riding his own cosmic treadmill after searching for Professor Zoom.
Barry removes Wally from immediate danger, telling Wally that he was here to return Thawne to his proper place in time, and that no matter how bad it seems, West can win if he "just pushes himself a bit." He and Thawne then disappear through time. Zoom, enraged, begins to run around the world, building up speed with the intention of killing Linda by colliding with her. Wally rushes to catch up, though he's just a step or two behind. At the last minute, he realizes what Barry's advice means and puts on a final burst of speed, pushing himself, and hitting Zoom in the back. Zoom falls forward and is caught in the sonic boom that his past self created to kill Linda's babies, causing him to take the brunt of the force. This action creates a "fissure in time" that prevents Linda's original miscarriage and restores her pregnancy just in time for her to give birth in the present. Zoom runs for the treadmill, but Wally forces them back to their mutual present. Along the way, they view scenes of Zoom's life. Zoom realizes his mistreatment of Wally and briefly apologizes before slipping into the timestream. He is later seen as a ghost-like figure apologizing to his wife.
Zoom returns in Infinite Crisis
as the Society
's chief speedster, claiming that their adversaries would all be stronger heroes if they survive. In Infinite Crisis
#1, he is part of the Society strike force responsible for massacring the Freedom Fighters
. Zoom himself scars Damage
by pummeling him with punches at superspeed.
's grandmother
, to help her protect Bart from a great tragedy that the villain Inertia
was setting up. It is unknown whether Zoom traveled to this time period himself, or if he became stranded there after his last encounter with Wally West.
He was also pursued by the Justice League
in an attempt to locate Sinestro
after Batman
and Hal Jordan
learn of the existence of the Sinestro Corps
.
Zoom is pursued by the Justice Society of America
into Atlanta. Damage is banned from the city, but enters anyway seeking revenge. During a scuffle, he ends up taking Zoom hostage until being talked down by Liberty Belle
. Disappointed that Damage is not "improving", he throws a sharp pipe to kill him. Liberty Belle uses her superspeed to catch it and toss it back, knocking Zoom unconscious.
In DC Universe #0, he can be seen as a member of Libra
's Secret Society of Super Villains.
he frees Inertia
from his paralysis, inflicted previously by Wally West, hoping to make him his apprentice as a new Kid Flash
, teaching how to "improve" his own life and the ones of other by inflicting great tragedies. Inertia learns the lesson too well, and claiming himself to be "Kid Zoom", the new master of tragedies, turns over the Flash's Rogues and Zoom altogether. Employing the timestream manipulation powers Zoom granted him against his master, he reverts the body of Zoom to the crippled, broken body of Hunter Zolomon, stripping him of his powers.
like most of the DC Universe speedsters do. He can apparently use this ability to move at "speeds" rivaling those of even Wally West
, and usually "faster" than the speeds that even Wally can muster in most cases. Rather than actually time traveling, Zoom is controlling the speed at which time flows around him, allowing him to go faster or slower in time than everyone around him. Since Zoom is not actually moving at superspeed (rather, he is greatly slowing down time relative to himself, and can make himself so "fast" that even most of the Flashes look to him to be moving in slow motion), the temporal nature of his speed allows him to avoid the usual problems encountered by other Flash-type speedsters (friction, seeing and hearing at such near-light speeds, et al.), whose automatic and unconscious use of the Speed Force overcomes those problems. As he is moving at a normal velocity, and the rest of the world is "slow", those hindrances simply do not affect him. This aspect also means that he is unable to become intangible like other speedsters can by vibrating their molecules at certain frequencies, giving them a distinct advantage.
Even if his powers are not tied to the Speed Force, he has twice shown the ability to grant superspeed to other beings, granting Cheetah
a speed rivaling Wonder Woman
's, and restoring Inertia's speed, freeing him from his Speed Force-induced paralysis to turn him into his apprentice. This ability is related to the manipulation of the timestream, as he can allow others to tap into time through himself, and shut down this connection at will. Skilled individuals, like Inertia, have shown the ability to use Zoom as a mere tool, overriding his manipulation over them after tapping directly into the timestream.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al 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...
supervillain
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...
from 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...
. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
, the third Flash
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
and is the third of the Reverse-Flash
Reverse-Flash
Reverse-Flash is a title that has been taken by three supervillains in DC Comics. All of them have super-speed and are enemies of the Flash dynasty.-Golden Age:...
es. As Hunter Zolomon, he first appeared in The Flash: Secret Files & Origins #3 and was created by Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
and Scott Kolins
Scott Kolins
Scott Kolins is an American illustrator, writer and creator for multiple different superhero and science fiction comic books. His main credits are as a penciler but he is an established inker as well as colorist and has some credits as a writer.-Biography:...
.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Zoom as #37.
Origins
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who had killed six young girls, and when his mother told the police, his father murdered her, and was subsequently killed by the police after refusing to give up.
Hunter became obsessed with understanding the criminal mind to stop people like his father, studying psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
in college, then joining the F.B.I.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
along with his girlfriend Ashley, whom he later married, specializing in low-level costumed criminals. One case resulted in Ashley's father being killed (Hunter had thought the criminal they were after was incapable of facing his adult life, and thus would not use an 'adult' weapon such as a gun). Ashley left him shortly thereafter, and the F.B.I. terminated his employment. Hunter was also left with a damaged knee due to the case, requiring a cane for walking and unable to ever run again.
After arriving in Keystone City
Keystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
, he got a job as a profiler, working with the police in their Department of Metahuman Hostilities. His work put him in constant contact with the Flash, Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
, and the two became good friends. His insight was critical in solving a number of cases, but he always resented being stuck behind a desk.
Transformation into Zoom
Hunter was severely injured in an attack by Gorilla GroddGorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. He debuted in Flash v.1 #106 , and was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino....
in Iron Heights
Iron Heights
Iron Heights Penitentiary is a fictional setting in the , a maximum-security prison which houses the many Flash rogues and superhuman criminals of Keystone City and Central City when captured...
, when Grodd staged a mass prison break, and was left paralyzed from the waist down. He asked Wally West to use the time-traveling cosmic treadmill
Cosmic treadmill
The cosmic treadmill is a fictional time travel device in the DC Comics universe. The treadmill first appears in The Flash #125 written by John Broome.-Origins:The treadmill was first seen in The Flash #125 written by John Broome...
in the Flash Museum
Flash Museum
The Flash Museum is a fictional museum that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The museum is dedicated to the superheroes sharing the alias of the Flash, with its primary focus on Barry Allen...
to prevent this from occurring, but West refused, saying that he could not risk damaging the timestream. Zolomon, feeling that Wally should be prepared to disregard such fears for the sake of their friendship, then broke into the museum and attempted to use the treadmill himself. The resulting explosion destroyed the museum and shifted Hunter's connection to time - described by Jay Garrick as him being 'derailed' from the timeline by the explosion - thus allowing Zolomon to alter the speed at which he could move in time, giving him the effect of superspeed.
Zolomon decided that West had refused to help because, unlike the previous Flash Barry Allen, West had never suffered personal tragedy, and thus did not understand how terrible it could be. Zolomon decided that if he became the new Zoom and caused a great tragedy in Wally's life, this would help the Flash become a better hero. After borrowing speed from the other speedsters to even the playing field, briefly allowing him to match Zoom's near-light speeds, Flash succeeded in defeating Zoom, and prevented his former friend from killing his then-pregnant wife Linda Park
Linda Park (comics)
Linda Park is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She first appeared in Flash #28. Linda is Korean-American...
. However, Zoom's attack caused a miscarriage of their twin children. Thanks to Wally using the slight 'rips' in time that were being created by the use of Zoom's powers, Zolomon was forced into a temporal anomaly - being shoved into the rift essentially tied a 'knot' in his timeline - and ended up in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
tose state, continually watching the death of his father-in-law.
Zolomon's ex-wife, Ashley Zolomon, replaced him as profiler and spent a lot of time attempting to communicate with him. Due to a car accident, Ashley was hospitalized for some time. It is around this period that Zoom awoke from his coma, out of concern for Ashley. He cautiously chose to remain in his cell, however.
Rogue War
Cheetah (comics)
The Cheetah is a fictional character, a super-villainess appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Popularly regarded as the archenemy of Wonder Woman, the Cheetah first appeared in 1943 in Wonder Woman #6 , written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston...
(a.k.a. Dr. Barbara Minerva) in an attempt to both harness superspeed and induct him into the growing Secret Society
Secret Society of Super Villains
The Secret Society of Super Villains is a group of comic book supervillains that exist in the DC Universe...
. The two share a minor romance, but nothing serious happens as Zoom still considers himself married to Ashley.
Zoom later infiltrates the already-growing "Rogue War" between Captain Cold
Captain Cold
Captain Cold, real name Leonard Snart, is a comic book villain created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino as one of the archenemies of Flash. He is a leader of the Rogues...
's Rogues, the Trickster
Trickster (comics)
The Trickster is the name of two fictional characters, DC Comics supervillains that are both enemies of the Flash. The original Trickster first appeared in Flash #113 , while the second debuted in Flash #183 .-James Jesse:The original Trickster is a practical joker and conman whose favorite...
's reformed Rogues, and the Top
Top (comics)
The Top is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Universe. One of the earliest members of the Silver Age Flash's "Rogues' Gallery", the character debuted in The Flash #122 .-Fictional character biography:...
's brainwashed Rogues. Quickly spiriting his estranged wife Ashley out of danger to the home of Linda Park, Zoom returns to the battlefront to dispatch Captain Cold, claiming that the "Man Who Mastered Absolute Zero" is wasting the Flash's time with his longstanding, self-aggrandizing methods of villainy.
As the Flash and Kid Flash (Bart Allen
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
) attempt to contain the battle, Zoom throttles Kid Flash and threatens to snap his neck in a manner reminiscent of what Barry Allen had done to Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom
Professor Zoom
Eobard Thawne, who has gone by the codenames "Professor Zoom" and "Reverse-Flash", is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe. Thawne is the Arch enemy of the superhero Barry Allen, the second hero to be called the Flash...
). Before Zoom can kill Kid Flash, however, Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) himself arrives on a cosmic treadmill, with Jay Garrick chained to the front end, Zoom having earlier captured Jay and forced him to take him back to the day of Professor Zoom's death to recruit his assistance.
A battle ensues between the two Flashes and Kid Flash against the two Zooms (during which Kid Flash escapes Zoom by vibrating to become intangible, the only speedster power Zoom can't duplicate). In the end, the two Zooms accomplish what they intended, grabbing the Flash and jumping onto the treadmill. Zoom then forces the Flash to watch their first fight, in which Linda is severely injured and miscarries. Zoom tells Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) to replay the experience as he feels that Wally West should be made to focus on the feelings of sorrow and loss from this experience. As the scene starts to rewind, West's uncle and mentor Barry Allen appears, riding his own cosmic treadmill after searching for Professor Zoom.
Barry removes Wally from immediate danger, telling Wally that he was here to return Thawne to his proper place in time, and that no matter how bad it seems, West can win if he "just pushes himself a bit." He and Thawne then disappear through time. Zoom, enraged, begins to run around the world, building up speed with the intention of killing Linda by colliding with her. Wally rushes to catch up, though he's just a step or two behind. At the last minute, he realizes what Barry's advice means and puts on a final burst of speed, pushing himself, and hitting Zoom in the back. Zoom falls forward and is caught in the sonic boom that his past self created to kill Linda's babies, causing him to take the brunt of the force. This action creates a "fissure in time" that prevents Linda's original miscarriage and restores her pregnancy just in time for her to give birth in the present. Zoom runs for the treadmill, but Wally forces them back to their mutual present. Along the way, they view scenes of Zoom's life. Zoom realizes his mistreatment of Wally and briefly apologizes before slipping into the timestream. He is later seen as a ghost-like figure apologizing to his wife.
Zoom returns in Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
as the Society
Secret Society of Super Villains
The Secret Society of Super Villains is a group of comic book supervillains that exist in the DC Universe...
's chief speedster, claiming that their adversaries would all be stronger heroes if they survive. In Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
#1, he is part of the Society strike force responsible for massacring the Freedom Fighters
Freedom Fighters (comics)
Freedom Fighters is a DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company Quality Comics. Although the characters were created by Quality, they never were gathered in a group before acquired by DC...
. Zoom himself scars Damage
Damage (comics)
Damage is a DC Comics superhero who first appeared in a comic book of the same name during the Zero Hour crisis. He is the son of the original Atom Al Pratt. He has been a member of the Titans, the Freedom Fighters, and Justice Society of America....
by pummeling him with punches at superspeed.
One Year Later
Zoom later appears at the sacking of Rome, being approached by Bart AllenBart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
's grandmother
Iris West Allen
Iris West Allen is a fictional character who appears in various DC Comics publications. She is a one-time wife of the second Flash , Barry Allen, the aunt of the third Flash, Wally West, and the grandmother of the fourth Flash, Bart Allen...
, to help her protect Bart from a great tragedy that the villain Inertia
Inertia (DC Comics)
Inertia or Kid Zoom is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe.-Creation:When questioned as to who created Inertia, Ethan van Sciver wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit. The rest was offered to Mike Wieringo , Grant Morrison , and Todd Dezago...
was setting up. It is unknown whether Zoom traveled to this time period himself, or if he became stranded there after his last encounter with Wally West.
He was also pursued by the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
in an attempt to locate Sinestro
Sinestro
Thaal Sinestro is a fictional character, an alien supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, Sinestro is the former mentor of Hal Jordan and the arch-nemesis of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro first appears in Green Lantern #7 . In 2009, Sinestro was...
after Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
learn of the existence of the Sinestro Corps
Sinestro Corps
The Sinestro Corps is a group of fictional characters, a villainous analogue to the Green Lantern Corps in the DC Universe. It is led by the supervillain Thaal Sinestro.-Before the Corps:...
.
Zoom is pursued by the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
into Atlanta. Damage is banned from the city, but enters anyway seeking revenge. During a scuffle, he ends up taking Zoom hostage until being talked down by Liberty Belle
Jesse Chambers
Jesse Chambers is a fictional comic book character in the . Chambers, who first used the superhero name Jesse Quick and later Liberty Belle, is the daughter of Golden Age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle...
. Disappointed that Damage is not "improving", he throws a sharp pipe to kill him. Liberty Belle uses her superspeed to catch it and toss it back, knocking Zoom unconscious.
In DC Universe #0, he can be seen as a member of Libra
Libra (DC Comics)
Libra is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America #111, published in June 1974, where he formed the first incarnation of the Injustice Gang...
's Secret Society of Super Villains.
Final Crisis
In Final Crisis: Rogues' RevengeFinal Crisis: Rogues' Revenge
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge is a three-issue 2008 mini-series produced by DC Comics. The series is a tie-in to Final Crisis, and is written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Scott Kolins. This reunites the creative team for the first time since their critically acclaimed run on The Flash Final...
he frees Inertia
Inertia (DC Comics)
Inertia or Kid Zoom is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe.-Creation:When questioned as to who created Inertia, Ethan van Sciver wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit. The rest was offered to Mike Wieringo , Grant Morrison , and Todd Dezago...
from his paralysis, inflicted previously by Wally West, hoping to make him his apprentice as a new Kid Flash
Kid Flash
Kid Flash is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero The Flash. The first incarnation of the character, Wally West, debuted in The Flash #110...
, teaching how to "improve" his own life and the ones of other by inflicting great tragedies. Inertia learns the lesson too well, and claiming himself to be "Kid Zoom", the new master of tragedies, turns over the Flash's Rogues and Zoom altogether. Employing the timestream manipulation powers Zoom granted him against his master, he reverts the body of Zoom to the crippled, broken body of Hunter Zolomon, stripping him of his powers.
Flash: Rebirth
In Flash: Rebirth, when the original Professor Zoom is imprisoned in Iron Heights, Zolomon speaks to him, saying they can help each other be better.Powers and abilities
Zoom can alter time relative to himself, as opposed to using the Speed ForceSpeed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
like most of the DC Universe speedsters do. He can apparently use this ability to move at "speeds" rivaling those of even Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
, and usually "faster" than the speeds that even Wally can muster in most cases. Rather than actually time traveling, Zoom is controlling the speed at which time flows around him, allowing him to go faster or slower in time than everyone around him. Since Zoom is not actually moving at superspeed (rather, he is greatly slowing down time relative to himself, and can make himself so "fast" that even most of the Flashes look to him to be moving in slow motion), the temporal nature of his speed allows him to avoid the usual problems encountered by other Flash-type speedsters (friction, seeing and hearing at such near-light speeds, et al.), whose automatic and unconscious use of the Speed Force overcomes those problems. As he is moving at a normal velocity, and the rest of the world is "slow", those hindrances simply do not affect him. This aspect also means that he is unable to become intangible like other speedsters can by vibrating their molecules at certain frequencies, giving them a distinct advantage.
Even if his powers are not tied to the Speed Force, he has twice shown the ability to grant superspeed to other beings, granting Cheetah
Cheetah (comics)
The Cheetah is a fictional character, a super-villainess appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Popularly regarded as the archenemy of Wonder Woman, the Cheetah first appeared in 1943 in Wonder Woman #6 , written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston...
a speed rivaling Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
's, and restoring Inertia's speed, freeing him from his Speed Force-induced paralysis to turn him into his apprentice. This ability is related to the manipulation of the timestream, as he can allow others to tap into time through himself, and shut down this connection at will. Skilled individuals, like Inertia, have shown the ability to use Zoom as a mere tool, overriding his manipulation over them after tapping directly into the timestream.
Television
- Although officially Zoom never appeared in the DC animated series Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
, there is a direct reference to him. In the episode "Divided We Fall", the Lex LuthorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
/BrainiacBrainiac (comics)Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
hybrid creates artificial replicas of the Justice LordsJustice LordsThe Justice Lords are fictional heroes-turned-villains who first appeared in the two-part Justice League episode "A Better World" .-Biography:...
(the seven founding members of the Justice LeagueJustice LeagueThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
from an alternate dimension where they had taken control over the world by reforming it into a fascist dictatorship and wear different costumes than the Justice League) and pits them against their counterparts. Since the Flash died before the Justice Lords were formed, there technically never was a Justice Lord Flash. Ergo, Luthor/Brainiac creates an android Flash whose design is identical to Zoom's design (while the lenses of his cowl remain white instead of black). Lastly, Android Flash's comments to the Flash echo Hunter's accusations. The Android Flash was first of the "Justice Lords" to be destroyed.
Video games
- Zoom is the fourth level boss in the game Justice League Heroes: The FlashJustice League Heroes: The FlashJustice League Heroes: The Flash is a side-story which complements the main events during Justice League Heroes of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles...
. - Zoom appears in DC Universe OnlineDC Universe OnlineDC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG by Sony Online Entertainment – Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez...
voiced by Robert Dieke. He is a boss character in the duo mode of a mission where the players have to rescue Flash from Gorilla Grodd.
External links
- Profile on Hunter Zolomon
- Profile on Zoom
- Crimson Lightning - An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.