#Ian karkull

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Oh. Oh no. I hadn't heard that. That's just... incredibly sad. But that's a hell of a life.

So forgive me if this is too broad a question... but you mentioned recently that Jay Garrick is 106. And I know Alan Scott, Ted Grant, and Ma Hunkle are all still alive. And even for the wartime heroes who have since passed on, a lot of them seem to have had children who can't be older than 30 like Jack Knight or Jade and Obsidian.

Do super-powers just make people age slower? But how does that apply to their spouses? Joan Garrick seems nearly as vital as her husband when I've seen her interviewed.

Oh. Right. This wasn't publically available news to a lot of people. Or rather while it was publically available it wasn't widely broadcast. Joan Garrick passed away, only a few months earlier this year, at the age of 102 after a sudden worsening of condition from a minor fall. She is buried in Valhalla Cemetery in upstate New York where her husband's plot waits beside her. Her funeral was a well attended but private ceremony with representatives from every group and generation of superheroes. I am told the speech by Kid Flash, formerly Impulse, was particularly beautiful.

As for how a woman of her kind reached the age of 102, how her husband goes strong at 106 and why so many of his contemporaries are still with us, that comes down to a single event on June 29th of 1941.

(Battle between the Justice Society and the villainous Ian Karkull, photograph published by the New York Times)

Ian Karkull was a former archeologist who discovered the remains of the lost city of Rangor somewhere in modern day Algeria where he discovered various lost sciences and mysticism that also drove him quite mad. Upon returning to civilization he fought against Dr. Fate many times and was, before this event, presumed dead.

Having instead retreated to the mystical realm known as the Shadowlands, Karkull had discovered through means unknown the identities of the next 9 Presidents of the United States after Franklin Roosevelt. Assembling a group of villains including mobster Alexander the Great, Tigress, Doctor Doog, Lightning Master, Sieur Satan, Tarantula (not to be confused with the All Star Squadron member of the same name), Wotan and Zachary Zor. He sent each of them across the country to assassinate each man where they were stopped by the present members of the Justice Society. When each villain was stopped (save for Wotan, who DID kill his target, try not to think about the implications of that too much) the JSA assembled in New York to do battle with Karkull himself where their combined onslaught overwhelmed his ability to contain the shadow energy his body was made up of, exploding over the assembled heroes. This magical detonation is assumed to be the cause of these heroes' extended longevity, the heroes present being The Atom, Doctor Fate, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Hourman, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, The Spectre, Starman and The Flash's then girlfriend Joan Williams.

These heroes aged remarkably slowly in the following decades though most have since passed away in the line of duty or via mechanisms of age once their extended years did indeed begin catching up with them in other ways (a la Johnny Thunder's Alzheimer's diagnosis and eventual death).

This was one of the Society's most consequential battles in general, since its events directly lead to Starman joining the JSA in full, Dr. Fate foregoing the Helmet of Nabu in future battles, Hourman entering semi-retirement due to the health effects of Miraclo and Green Lantern stepping back from active membership out of guilt in his inability to stop Wotan from killing a small child.

On the other hand, Maxine Hunkel is just 100% like that. Death has not taken her because Death does not dare to approach her until she is good and goddamn ready.

[rainbowobsidiandesigns]

I love Alex Ross' paintings so much, and have SO MANY thoughts about Todd and Ian. So I put the two together! Inspired by Ross' famous Harley painting.

https://linktr.ee/rainbowobsidiandesigns

[cantsayidont]

August 1985. The original WHO'S WHO entry for Doctor Fate gives an okay rundown of how things stood at the time of the Crisis, with a few minor caveats. Here's the history text:

BACKGROUND Archaeologist Sven Nelson and his son, Kent, then a boy, were exploring an ancient temple in the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia. Kent found the entombed body of the giant ancient wizard Nabu the Wise, who was in suspended animation. Nabu was actually a being composed of pure energy who had originated a half million years ago on the planet Cilea [sic] and had taken human form. He was revived by a gas that killed Sven Nelson. Over the following years, Nabu trained Kent in sorcery. Finally, when Kent reached adulthood, Nabu presented him with a helmet, a cape, and an amulet and, naming him Doctor Fate, sent him back to the outside world to battle evil. On his way to America, Doctor Fate first met Inza Cramer, who eventually became his wife. There, Doctor Fate became a founding member of the Justice Society of America (see JSA).

Although Doctor Fate first appeared in MORE FUN COMICS #55, he didn't have any kind of origin for the first year — in fact, until MORE FUN #66, which was the first time he was seen without his helmet, he often intimated that he had no human identity! The above account comes mostly from MORE FUN COMICS #67, which also gave him a name: Kent Nelson. The planet from which Nabu said he'd originally come was spelled Cilia; "Cilea" appears to be a typo.

Nelson came to realize that when he donned his helmet, his personality was being increasingly supplanted by that of Nabu, who was a mystical "Lord of Order." Hence, Nelson put the helmet aside, thereby greatly reducing his powers, and instead wore a different helmet that did not conceal his entire face as the original had. Doctor Fate thereafter joined the All-Star Squadron (see All-Star Squadron), and months later, his original helmet was stolen by the sorcerer Kulak and hurled with him through "an infinity of dimensions."

The idea that Nabu possessed Kent Nelson wasn't indicated in the Golden Age stories; it was first suggested in Marty Pasko's 1975 Dr. Fate solo adventure in 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #9. Using this to explain why Kent adopted the half-helmet in MORE FUN COMICS #72 in early 1942 (which didn't originally have any in-story explanation) was a Roy Thomas thing — the stuff with Kulak happened in ALL-STAR SQUADRON #27–28 in 1983.

Years passed, and Nelson married Inza. His own magic powers and temporal energy absorbed from the villainous Ian Karkull kept Nelson physically in his twenties. The magic kept Inza physically in her twenties as well.

Ian Karkull was a Golden Age Dr. Fate villain, seen in MORE FUN #69, but the "temporal energy" absorption refers to ALL-STAR SQUADRON ANNUAL #3 in 1984, a cumbersome Roy Thomas contrivance to help explain why even the non-super JSAers were still unusually spry in the '80s, when most of them were pushing 70.

Under circumstances yet to be revealed, however, Doctor Fate regained his original helmet and began wearing it whenever he went on a mission. Now, whenever Nelson puts the helmet on, his psyche is entirely replaced by that of the Lord of Order, Nabu, although the latter retains Nelson's memories. Doctor Fate continues to be an active member of the Justice Society of America.

The eventual consensus was that Doctor Fate reclaimed his original helmet sometime after his last Golden Age appearances in 1944, but before the end of WW2. In any event, he had it back by the time of his first Silver Age appearance in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21, 19 years later. Dr. Fate remained a JSA member until the others were sent to limbo in the LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY SPECIAL, after the Crisis, and then joined the new Justice League.

POWERS & WEAPONS When wearing his original helmet, Doctor Fate is one of the most powerful of all known sorcerers, capable of virtually any kind of magical feat. However, his power is still dwarfed by that of the virtually omnipotent Spectre (see Spectre). When he is not wearing Nabu's helmet, Doctor Fate cannot cast spells. However, thanks to his training by Nabu, Doctor Fate can still fly and levitate objects. Nabu also made him superhumanly strong and nearly invulnerable even without the helmet, although Doctor Fate still needs to breathe.

Saying Kent Nelson couldn't cast spells without the Helm of Nabu isn't exactly correct, as he managed it on a number of occasions in Bronze Age stories. Also, his levitation and invulnerability were magic spells, based on molecular control; it's just that his personal abilities were much more narrowly focused than a magician like Zatanna.

[satansluckycigarette]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Justice Society of America (Comics), Preacher (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Ian Karkull/Todd Rice, Proinsias Cassidy/Dee Characters: Todd Rice, Ian Karkull, Dee, Pronsias Cassidy Additional Tags: Non-Consensual Touching, Non-Consensual Kissing, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Abuse Summary:

Todd goes to New Orleans to flee Ian and meets some interesting characters.

[dailyjsa]

Who's Who Update 1987 #3

[folklore-fantasy-and-sci-fi]

Ooh he’d be so messy about it still. Best case scenario I see happening at that point in their relationship would probably be Alan tracking Todd down because Jennie or Al literally tells him they’re worried about him, and walks in on Ian being… well, Ian. INSTANT energy blast to the chest, which I’m not sure Todd would’ve responded well to 😬

Thinking about an AU where Alan somehow finds out about Ian and saves Todd before Milwaukee can even happen

[augustheart]

my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called “the shadowlands” 😳 you’ll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

me: yeah whatever. i don’t feel shit

five minutes later: dude i swear i just saw the shade

my buddy todd pacing: ian karkull is lying to us

[random-movie-ideas]

Essential Characters to Include in a Doctor Fate series

These are the most essential characters to include:

Kent Nelson AKA Doctor Fate

Khalid Nassour AKA Doctor Fate

Inza Cramer-Nelson AKA Doctor Fate

Wotan

These are less essential, but I'd rather have them than not:

Eric Strauss AKA Doctor Fate

The Justice Society of America

Justice League Dark

Mordru

Ian Karkull

These are not essential, but including them will get you a thumbs up:

Linda Strauss AKA Doctor Fate

The Phantom Stranger

The Lords of Order

The Lords of Chaos

[usedgingertwinkhole]

DCAU Ian Karkull literally had tentacles.

I do not wish to picture this...

[comicsiswild]

JSA (1999) #7

[dcdreamblog]

This is a sensitive topic, so feel free not to answer, but several heroes have turned to villainy before (for example, the hero Obsidian), and I'd like to know how that's discussed in your profession's circles.

Are they still considered heroes? Most have returned to the role, but I could see some people refusing to view them as such.

Let's...take Obsidian as a sample case, just because by the fact that his and his family's identities are public we can get a bit more into the weeds without wild speculation.

(Obsidian's official portrait/poster during his original tenure in Infinity Inc)

Todd Rice and his twin sister Jennie-Lyn Hayden are the biological children of the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott and the former villainess Thorn AKA Rose Canton.

Canton was originally "cured" of her schizophrenia through prolonged treatment on Themyscira but after the HUAC trial and the passage of the Keane Act lead the Amazons to retreat from wider civilization, Canton chose to return to the world at large, seeking a fresh start despite warnings that the continued effectiveness of her treatment couldn't be guaranteed outside of Paradise Island (due mostly to "Man's World's" inability to recognize or empathetically treat a mentally ill woman in that time period, especially one with a criminal record)

Canton, under an assumed identity, romanced and eventually married Alan Scott. Only for her Rose persona to reappear during their honeymoon. Fleeing without a trace to avoid allowing Rose to kill Scott, Canton also placed the twins their honeymoon had produced up for adoption to protect them from herself.

While his sister was adopted by well meaning, imperfect parents in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Rice was raised by an abusive alcoholic who kept the truth of Rice's parentage and sister from him into his young teenage years. Escaping his household and meeting up with his sister, Rice took the name Obsidian due to the shadow controlling powers he had gained, possibly due to any number of exposures during his father's or mother's superhuman careers. Joining up with other children and proteges of the JSA, they founded the hero team Infinity Inc.

The problems arose when Rice began to manifest symptoms of his own schizophrenic disorder, exacerbated by events such as the breakup of Infinity Inc, his sister's depowering and leaving Earth alongside the modern Green Lantern, a final confrontation with his birth mother leading to her death AND Rice's unconfronted (and thus, unsupported) homosexuality.

His reunion with Scott was also not what the young man had expected, with the famously gruff and laconic Scott failing to be the emotional presence his long lost son needed. Rice was easy enough to manipulate via Scott's old enemies Ian Karkull, Mordru and Eclipso who pushed Rice into a confrontation with his adoptive father that ultimately turned deadly.

(A photograph of Obsidian, taken from the streets of Milwaukee before his battle with the Justice Society. Photographer unknown.)

The JSA at large became involved, leading to a public battle in the streets of Milwaukee where Rice and Scott came to blows directly. Rice was publically defeated and remanded into psychiatric custody of some kind (though obviously details are not forthcoming on that, nor should they be)

Next the world saw of him, Obsidian was announced as a member of the JSA's modern roster where he has remained, more or less, to this day. Obsidian was, until the return to public prominence of Extrano, the most notable gay man in the superhero community, he currently lives alongside his husband and son in Los Angeles and has been a public advocate for mental health treatment and the normalization of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders in public life, most famously saying

"If the gay thing AND the mentally ill thing hadn't both been sealed in together so long. Things would have been different." in an interview for the Justice League Queer's website.

The superheroes who "fall from grace" (as loathe I am to use that particular metaphor) and then return to it are to be, more often than not, celebrated.

One of the main things my profession exists to detail is that our protectors are, for all its wondrous complexities, human. Todd Rice happens to be a human who was struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness, unknowingly keeping himself in the closet, an abusive upbringing, the trauma inherent in superhero work, a birth father who was not emotionally available, the loss of a sibling and team who had been his only support system AND being radicalized by a trio of evil shadow wizards.

The fact that he came back to the light at ALL is nothing short of a miracle in being. He was in custody, he got treatment, he got OUT of treatment and has spent every day since saving lives and advocating for people like him to the best of his ability.

If we cannot accept that, cannot see the ineffable good in mankind the manifests in that journey with all its peaks and valleys. Then what the FUCK are any of us doing any of this for anyway?

[fancyfade]

this is the only good moment in this ableist plotline

ID under cut

[image: two pages from JSA #8 featuring Todd Rice (Obsidian) and Ian Karkull. Ian is in his shadow form and is slashing at Todd's back, but todd dissipates. he reappears behind Ian, unimpressed.

TODD: Ian, please. You think You've been pulling my strings this whole time? You thought you were using me, but -- you're the one who's been used. Ian looks surprised and fearful and raises one arm up slightly defensively.

TODD: You opened up a bottomless pit when you tapped into my darkness. And now... (todd appears behind Ian) you are no longer needed.

Todd thrusts a hand through ian's chest and makes a fist. Ian crunts in pain and todd starts absorbing him or something?

IAN: Aargh! Arrh no....

TODD: You only hoped to rule the shadowlands. I am the shadowlands!

end image

[sebeth]

I Tried To Quiet My Demons

[i-r-readcomics]

JSA

Volume: 1 #7

Darkness Falls (Part I of III)

Writers: Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer

Pencils: Stephen Sadowski

Inks: Michael Bair

Colours: John Kalisz

Covers: Alan Davis, Mark Farmer

Featuring: Atom-Smasher, Black Canary, Doctor Fate, Flash (Jay Garrick), Hawkgirl, Hourman, Sand, Sentinel, Star-Spangled Kid, Wildcat, Ian Karkull, Obsidian

DC

[dccomicrants]

Obsidian

Content Warning: DC has questionable portrayals of mental illness yet again, mentions of Alcoholism and abuse

Summary: A brief character summary of Todd Rice is the son of the first Green Lantern and a founding member of infinity inc.

Comic Issues: Manhunter (2004-) #18, DC Pride 1, JSA (2000-),

Todd Rice is the son of Alan Scott (Green Lantern/Sentinel) and Rose Canton (Thorn). He’s the twin brother of Jennie-Lynn Hayden and the ‘domestic partner’ (DC just call them boyfriends) of Damon Matthews. Todd and Jennie-Lynn were conceived during the short honeymoon that Alan and Rose had. Rose faked her death in the fire that burned down their cabin and later gave up Todd and Jennie-Lynn for adoption, fearing that her alternate personality, Thorn would try to hurt the kids.

Todd grew up in an abusive home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His adoptive father was an alcoholic and you can imagine how that worked out for Todd. He met his twin sister as a teenager and the two became superheroes Obsidian and Jade, deciding to follow in the Green Lantern’s footsteps as at the time they were only assuming that Alan was their father.

Jennie and Todd were founding members of Infinity Inc, a team of heroes that was mostly full of the kids of the JSA as they had been denied JSA membership initially. Todd at one point had a conversation with Albert Rothstein who was going by Nuklon at the time and currently goes by Atom Smasher where Todd said that he was pretty certain the only people he could ever love were his sister and Al (that’s pretty gay bro).

Todd inherited schizophrenia from his mother (he was and currently is medicated for this), but the thing that actually did him in was the fact that his powers include a connection to the shadow realm. As a result, he was able to see the blackness within others’ souls. This ability gradually drove him insane. During his insanity, he began a revenge plot against both of his fathers, with Ian Karkull influencing him.

His ‘insanity’ was cured only after Todd joined forces with Eclipso and Mordru to seek vengeance against Alan (again. He failed twice). Todd retired from being a hero, which lead to some introspection and the realization that he was in fact gay. He then ended up meeting and falling in love with Damon Matthews, an Assistant District Attorney who works with Kate Spencer aka Manhunter. His powers go dormant until Jennie dies, which leads to him being a hero again but still dating Damon. Damon and Todd are trying to (or were trying to who knows with what DC is doing these days) to adopt a child together with no success due to the fact that Todd tried to plunge the world into eternal darkness. Apparently, that’s disqualifying for adoption.

Now back as a hero, he joins the JSA and serves as the security guard at their headquarters. He also has a whole plotline where he becomes a shadow-y egg and it’s a whole thing but basically, that was nullified so I won’t deal with that.

Todd and Alan are estranged at best, and they have a rocky relationship though they agree that they love each other. In DC Pride, Todd and Alan share a heart to heart where Alan explains that Todd being openly gay and happy is what gave Alan the strength to come out which is incredibly sweet when you remember that Alan lived through the 20s, 30s, 40s, etc where being openly gay was a good way to have an awful life.

Overall, Todd’s wonderful. He’s funny, he’s multitalented (the man can fly helicopters), he’s also very honest and he’s able to keep others on his toes (He joked once that he was ‘cured from being gay’ just to get to look at the expressions of the various JSA members and lemme tell you their expressions were genuinely priceless). Todd and Damon are also really cute together and DC needs to let them stay happy.

[docgold13]

365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

March 12th Obsidian 


Todd Rice is the son of Alan Scott (the Golden Age Green Lantern) and Rose Canton (the one time supervvillain known as The Thorn).  Alan Scott did not know of Todd and his twin sister’s existence and Canton put the two children up for adoption fearing that her being a former villain would ruin their lives. Unfortunately, the two siblings were split up and Todd was adopted into a highly abusive household. In his early teens, Todd discovered that he possesses super powers. Specifically, he could manifest and manipulate a dark force of energy emanating from an alternate dimension. This energy enabled him to fly and could also be used to create constructs. Soon thereafter, Todd also discovered his parentage and the fact that he had a sister. Renaming himself ‘Obsidian,’ he sought out his sister (the super hero Jade) and the two of them helped to form the group of legacy heroes known as Infinity Inc. Later, Obsidian joined the Justice League. Obsidian suffers from the mental disorder schizophrenia.  The villainous scientist, Ian Karkull, used Todd psychological difficulties so to manipulate the young man, tricking him into committing evil deeds. Alan Scott was able to help Obsidian overcome Karkull’s manipulation and ongoing treatment has enabled the hero to better cope with his mental illness.   Obsidian has subsequently joined the most recent iteration of The Justice Society. Actors Lance Henriksen and Dan Payne portrayed an older and younger version of the character in the television series Legends of Tomorrow. Obsidian first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25 (1983).