Whizzer (Marvel Comics)

Whizzer
The Whizzer and the Squadron Supreme as depicted on the cover of Avengers (vol. 3) #5 (June 1998). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceFrank: USA Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Sanders: The Avengers #69 (Oct. 1969)
Stewart: The Avengers #85 (Mar. 1971)
Created byFrank: Al Avison (penciller; writer unknown)
Sanders and Stewart: Roy Thomas and John Buscema
In-story information
Alter egoRobert Frank
James Sanders
Stanley Stewart
SpeciesHuman mutate
Team affiliationsSquadron Supreme
AbilitiesSuperhuman speed

Whizzer is the name of several characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first character debuted during the Golden Age in USA Comics #1 (Aug. 1941),[1] and was reintroduced in Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974). A second villainous version debuts during the Silver Age in The Avengers #69 (Oct. 1969), and a second heroic version debuting in The Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971).

The Whizzer appeared in the second season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Jessica Jones, portrayed by Jay Klaitz.

Publication history

The first character named the Whizzer first appeared during the Golden Age of comics, and later appeared briefly during the Silver Age.[2]

The second, villainous version appears in the final panel of The Avengers #69 (Oct. 1969), the first chapter of a three-issue storyline by writer Roy Thomas and penciller Sal Buscema.[3] The story arc introduced the supervillain team the Squadron Sinister, whose four members were loosely based on heroes in DC Comics' Justice League of America, with the Whizzer based on the Flash.[4]

Fictional character biographies

Golden Age

Silver Age

The Squadron Sinister are created by the cosmic entity the Grandmaster to battle the Avengers, who are the champions of the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror. The Avengers eventually defeat the Squadron, who are abandoned by the Grandmaster.[5]

The Squadron reappear in the title The Defenders, where they are reunited by the alien Nebulon. The villains receive greater power in exchange for the planet Earth, and create a giant laser cannon in the Arctic to melt the polar ice caps, thereby covering Earth in water. The Defenders prevent the scheme and defeat the villains and Nebulon.[6]

Whizzer and his two remaining teammates are teleported off world by Nebulon, returning with an energy-draining weapon. The Squadron Sinister plan to threaten the Earth again, but are thwarted by the Defenders and the Avenger Yellowjacket.[7] The Whizzer separates from the Squadron Sinister and adopts a new costume and alias, Speed Demon.

Bronze Age

Roy Thomas and penciller John Buscema created an alternate-universe team of heroes called the Squadron Supreme, who debut in Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971). After an initial skirmish with four Avengers, the teams unite to stop a common threat.[8] The Squadron Supreme's version of Whizzer is Stanley Stewart, who gained superpowers from the mutagenic effects of a fogbank of unknown nature.

Whizzer and the Squadron Supreme starred in a self-titled 12-issue miniseries (Sept. 1985 – Aug. 1986) by writer Mark Gruenwald.[9] The series explains that Grandmaster deliberately modeled the Squadron Sinister after the preexisting Squadron Supreme of Earth-712.[10] Gruenwald, Ryan, and inker Al Williamson created a graphic-novel sequel,[11] which stranded the team in the mainstream Marvel universe. The Squadron Supreme encounter the hero Quasar, and relocate to the government facility Project Pegasus. The Squadron Supreme appeared in a two-part story with the Avengers that returns them to their home universe.[12]

Modern Age

The Atlanta Blur from Supreme Power #5.
Art by Dan Buckley.

The mature-audience Marvel MAX imprint showcases the adventures of the Earth-31916 version of the Whizzer, the Atlanta Blur. Also named Stanley Stewart, the character is a young African-American man who develops super-speed as a result of exposure to an alien retrovirus.[13] He initially hides his ability, with the "Atlanta Blur" regarded as an urban legend.[14] When Hyperion is publicly revealed, Stewart also goes public,[15] becoming a celebrity with numerous endorsements. As the Blur, he reluctantly fights crime at the request of Nighthawk.[13]

Squadron Supreme of America

A variation of the Stanley Stewart version of Blur appears as a member of the Squadron Supreme of America.[16] This version is a simulacrum created by Mephisto and programmed by the Power Elite. Stewart was programmed to forcefully watch endless loops to keep up his brain speed while watching numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. files and unscrupulous videos. As a civilian, Stewart works as a computer programmer in Washington D.C.[17]

Powers and abilities

Each of the Whizzers possess superhuman speed.

In other media

References

  1. ↑ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 408. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ↑ Markstein, Don. "The Whizzer". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Manning, Matthew K. (2012). Spider-Man Chronicle: Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. DK Publishing. p. 122. ISBN 978-0756692360.
  4. ↑ Interview with Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails in The Justice League Companion (2003) pp. 72 – 73
  5. ↑ Avengers #69 – 71 (Oct. – Dec. 1969)
  6. ↑ Defenders #13 – 14 (May – July 1974)
  7. ↑ Giant-Size Defenders #4 (1974)
  8. ↑ Avengers #86 (Mar. 1971)
  9. ↑ Squadron Supreme #1 – 12 (Sep. 1985 – Aug. 1986)
  10. ↑ Squadron Supreme #8 (May 1986)
  11. ↑ Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe (1989)
  12. ↑ Avengers/Squadron Supreme Annual '98 and the one-shot Squadron Supreme: New World Order (both Sept. 1998)
  13. 1 2 Supreme Power #12 (Oct. 2004)
  14. ↑ Supreme Power #3 (Dec. 2003)
  15. ↑ Supreme Power #4 (Jan. 2004)
  16. ↑ Avengers #700
  17. ↑ Avengers (vol. 8) #18
  18. 1 2 "The Whizzer / Bob Frank Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 27, 2026. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  19. ↑ "Speed Demon Voice - Avengers Assemble (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 27, 2026. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  20. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (March 8, 2018). "Jessica Jones Season 2 Introduces Classic Marvel Hero Whizzer". CBR. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  21. ↑ Foerster, Anna (director); Melissa Rosenberg (writer) (March 8, 2018). "AKA Start at the Beginning". Marvel's Jessica Jones. Season 2. Episode 1. Netflix.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.