#edwin alva sr

[nerdgatehobbit]

That night, Robert is looking through old family photos. When she shows up, Sharon's first thought is that he's looking at Mom, but Robert is more looking at young Virgil, trying to figure out what has happened. Sharon opens up about a time when they were younger, Virgil took the blame for spilling hamburger meat at a family barbeque since Mom was already annoyed with Sharon for something else. Looking back, Sharon thinks they didn't fool her but she didn't call them out for it either.

Telling him to not tell Virgil, Sharon vouches for him, asking him to give Virgil the benefit of the doubt. When Virgil himself shows up, she heads out to let the guys talk, giving her brother a good night kiss on the cheek as she exits (to Virgil's affront).

The two Alvas have a confrontation in a lab, where it turns out that the younger Alva has learned the wrong lessons from his father about power and taking what he wants by any means possible (in this case, his father's attention).

Up on the roof, Robert decides to trust Virgil right as Virgil is about to explain things. I suspect part of it is Robert deciding that if Virgil was about to tell him of his own volition, then whatever is going on can't be that serious. Well, it is serious, but it's not a problem. Furthermore, Robert suspects that some of it is connected to him grieving his mother, which might be projection on his part, as Robert is definitely worried about doing a good job as a single father.

I do wonder how things would have played out differently in the show if Robert had been told at this point; I've gathered that at least in one version of the comics, being told early on had both parents supportive of Virgil being a superhero (as the mom was alive there). At the very least, it would have solved the problem of Robert thinking Virgil was being flaky on him.

Robert expresses his pride in his son before heading back into the house. Virgil still wants to tell him but then get distracted by hearing the distant sounds of the battle taking place at the Alva Industries skyscraper.

The aerial battle is impressive, with matters being complicated by the fact that Edwin Alva Sr. tries to have his security forces hold back and even stop but Edwin Alva Jr. refuses to not go all out.

Static arrives just as matters worsen, with the security forces firing on Omnifarious in his force field bubble despite their boss's orders. To stop them, Static turns into a human electromagnetic pulse, which also affects the surrounding buildings. Hopefully the late hour means that the damage will be relatively low stakes, especially as it looks more like a daytime business/industrial district than a residential one or one with an emphasis on medical care.

A drained Static lands flat on the roof where Edwin Alva Sr. is, with them starting a conversation only to be interrupted by the still-winged Edwin Alva Jr., still adamant that his father only cares about his company as he either didn't notice or care that his father tried to limit the attacks being done.

Wanting to destroy the whole building, Omnifarious breaks the belt's worth of gas capsules at once. There's a quick sequence of him shifting forms, with him reverting to normal and going "Dad" before turning to stone, as seen below.

Static expresses his regret for telling Alva Sr. that Omnifarious was his son, noting that he thought the two of them could talk out whatever issues they had between them. As he flies over on his lid, Static notes he's luckier than some.

On that bittersweet note, the episode ends. "Junior" emphasizes the importance of trust, open communication, and the importance for parents to try balancing giving them independence and paying attention to your kids, especially as they near adulthood where it gets much trickier to find that balance.

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Edwin Alva

The founder and chief executive officer of Alva Industries, Edwin Alva Sr. was sinister and unscrupulous industrialist who never paused in putting innocent people in danger in his pursuit for wealth and success.  His scientists discovered the Quantum Vapor finding that the substance possessed profound mutagenic properties that could drastically alter the human genome.  Greatly intrigued by the potential commercial applications of the Quantum Vapor, Alva arranged for a deplorable and inhuman experiment to test the effects of the vapor on human subjects.  

Alva had learned that a group of street gangs had planned on congregating at the Dakota Docks.  Alva arranged for a cloud of the vapor to be released at the docks, exposing everyone there.  He had no idea if this would prove fatal, but determined that it was merely gang members from an impoverished urban area whom no one important would miss.  

The Quantum Vapor ended up transforming all who breathed it in.  Most were bestowed with a variety of different metahuman powers and attributes.  Uncertain how to best monetize this development, Alva continued to monitor the activities of those effected while obfuscating any involvement by himself and his company.  The heroic Static came to suspect Alva’s involvement in the releasing of the Quantum Vapor and the creation of the ‘Bang Babies.’  Aware of Static’s investigation, Alva took steps to try to take the hero out; although fortunately the hero managed to evade these efforts to do him in.  

It was only after Alva’s oft-neglected son, Edwin Jr. exposed himself to the Quantum Vapor that the villain began seeking a means of reserving the effects of the vapor.  Alva arranged for the abduction of Rubberband Man, Talon and Gear as his test subjects in his search for a cure.  Static ended up joining forces with his enemy Hotstreak in a successful effort to free those Alva had abducted.  Although Edwin Jr. was ultimately cured, Alva himself continued to shirk his culpability in the whole affair.  Whether or not the villain was ever made to pay for his many crimes has yet to be revealed.  

Actor Kerrigan Mahan provided the voice for Edwin Alva Sr. with the villain first appearing in the second episode of the first season of Static Shock, ‘Aftershock.’  

[luckyshotkid]

i’m rewatching static shock and i COMPLETELY FORGOT that edwin alva sr is played by attack beast’s voice actor. i haven’t heard kerrigan in at least 5 years and yet my brain still laser-focused on his voice as soon as he started talking. good lord 

[falconlord5]

Junior

For any would be dogsitters out there: seven dogs in your home at once is too much.

Little sisters, don't you just love 'em?

Written by Dwayne McDuffie

Wow, that guy is an asshole. I've straight up humiliated my parents in public (never intentionally, but you know how it is), and they never talked to me like that.

Directed by Denys Cowan

Ah, there's Static.

Your puns are terrible Static

That is the problem with superhero identities: you can't tell people when you're doing the right thing.

Edwin Alva Sr, you need to die. Preferably from a red hot poker up your ass

Richie being the voice of reason, while Static is being me

Alvin Jr is nuts. Sympathetic, but nuts

I don't think firing lightning bolts at a ship on fire is the right idea, Static

Mixing and matching all those powers can't be good for you

Ah, the days before cell phones. When I was a kid, one of my cousins had a mickey mouse phone in her room

Good idea, Static. Shame it's the wrong one.

Sharon's a good sister. A pain in the ass, sure, but take it from an older brother: being a pain in the ass is part of being a sibling.

Those are mutually contradictory orders, dude.

Hope no hospitals were in range, Static

Static created by Dwayne McDuffie, Derek T. Dingle, Denys Cowan and Michael Davis

Animated by Koko

[multiverseforger]

Curtis "Curt" Metcalf is a genius inventor who, in his Hardware identity, uses a variety of high-tech gadgets to fight organised crime. A central irony of the series (of which Metcalf is fully aware) is that Metcalf's employer, respected businessman Edwin Alva—who provides the resources Metcalf uses to create Hardware's hardware—is secretly the crime boss whom Hardware is trying to bring down.[1]

Metcalf was a working class child prodigy who was discovered aged 12–13 by a big-time businessman, Edwin Alva Sr., who with the blessing of Curt's parents, enrolled Curt in A Better Chance, "a program intended to get minority students into elite prep schools".[3] Curt proved to be much smarter than all the other prep school students, graduating at age 14, and earning his first college degree at age 15. Alva paid for Metcalf's whole college tuition up to six additional college degrees, in exchange for Metcalf coming to work, after graduation, in Alva Industries' "Inspiration Factory" program, with his "own lab, entirely too big a salary, and mandate to indulge [his] curiosity by investigating whatever struck [his] fancy"; Metcalf's inventions made Edwin Alva Sr. many millions of dollars.[3]

After a few years, and wanting a share of profits earned by his inventions, Metcalf asked Alva for a "royalty point or two". Alva's answer was: "Curtis let us dispense with any misconceptions you may be labouring under. You are not family. You are an employee. Neither are you heir apparent. You are a cog in the machine. My machine. You are not respected, Curtis. You are merely useful. You may go now".[3] Metcalf's first thought was to quit, but his contract forbade him from working for any competitors: "If [he wanted] to work in [his] field [of expertise], [he] had to do it for Alva".

Metcalf thought that with some advanced hacking, he could find something on Alva to use as leverage, but found that almost everything about Alva was "Stone Cold Crooked":

Metcalf: "It took me weeks to put it all together, but the evidence was clear and incontrovertible. Edwin Alva Sr. is at the center of an incredibly complex web of corruption. My benefactor and role model, the economic savior and humanitarian pillar of the city of Dakota has connections to organized crime. He launders tens of millions of dollars in drug money, he has most of the city and state government in his pocket, he illegally manufactures weapons and sells them to foreign governments".[3]

Metcalf decided to stop Alva first by anonymously sending "copies of evidence to the FBI, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the state and local police, several newspapers and, just for fun, Hard Copy and A Current Affair".[3] Then he waited a while for the fireworks, but learned that Alva was too big, beyond the reach of the law. But Metcalf decided that maybe Alva wasn't beyond his own reach; so with Alva's own equipment and resources, Curt created "Hardware - the High Tech Creature of the Night, who's been checkmating Alva's illegal operations for the last ten months is, in a way Alva's own creation".[3]

So just about every night Metcalf dons a selection of his many high tech gadgets (which he hides away in an abandoned basement/bomb shelter connected to his private lab) to track down and destroy all of Alva's illegal business operations and Alva's factories where weapons of war are manufactured: "This used to be a bomb shelter. Now it's where I keep all the stuff I've scammed from Alva. He's turned the city upside down looking for Hardware. I live in his basement".[3]

Hardware works with many other superheroes over his career, such as Blood Syndicate and Icon. He even teams up with a few that he considers fictional, such as Steel and Superman. In one instance, he assists in the evacuation of Utopia Park, a newly built theme park, which is being destroyed by riots.

DC UniverseEdit

Following the death of Darkseid (as chronicled in Final Crisis), the space-time continuum was torn asunder, threatening the existence of both the Dakotaverse and the mainstream DC universe. The being known as Dharma was able to use energies that he harnessed from Rift (upon that being's defeat in Worlds Collide) to merge the two universes, creating an entirely new continuity. Only Dharma, Icon, and Superman are aware that Dakota and its inhabitants ever existed in a parallel universe.[4]

In the revised continuity, Hardware and the other Milestone characters have apparently always existed in the DC Universe. The first non-Dakota heroes he encounters are the Justice League of America, whom he meets while aiding the Shadow Cabinet in kidnapping Kimiyo Hoshi, and stealing the remains of Arthur Light.[5]

During the mission, he defeats Red Arrow, and expresses an attraction to Vixen. After attempting to flee the Justice League Satellite with Light's shrunken corpse, Hardware is surprised and beaten into unconsciousness by Hawkman.[6] It is later revealed that, during Hoshi's brief period of captivity, Hardware gave her a new costume which can collect and assimilate light energy. Due to this new function on her suit, Hoshi is able to regain her powers and Dr. Light's identity after Curtis gives her Arthur's remains.

Soon after, Hardware teamed up with Blue Beetle in order to stop SYSTEM smugglers from selling stolen Alva Industries technology to the notorious Intergang. The pair of heroes were ambushed by one of the smugglers wearing advanced SYSTEMatic powered armor designed by the new Gizmo, an ally of SYSTEM. Hardware begrudgingly realized he needed the Beetle's help to defeat the smugglers and capture the stolen weaponry. Despite his initial dislike of Blue Beetle, Hardware and the young hero part on friendly terms after successfully rounding up the smugglers.[7]

Hardware later appears in the aftermath of the JLA's dissolution following Final Crisis. After raiding the hideout of Dakota crime lord Holocaust, he is forced into helping the remaining Justice League members track down Dr. Light, who went missing while chasing Shadow Thief and Starbreaker.[8] Using a tracer installed in her costume, Hardware is able to track Dr. Light and the others to the Shadow Cabinet's HQ, Shadowspire. There, Hardware and the League confront Starbreaker, who has transformed into a massive being made of energy after consuming Dharma's blood.

During the battle, Hardware is successfully able to persuade young hero Firestorm from killing Shadow Thief, a feat that impresses Vixen. Thanks to the energy collectors in Dr. Light's suit and some assistance from John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps, the group is able to defeat Starbreaker once and for all.[4]

Another new beginningEdit

Following the events of Flashpoint, Hardware becomes a mentor of sorts to Static, who has now left Dakota and moved to New York City. He provides the youth with a modified flying disk and a new costume which possesses a holographic interface that allows them to communicate over vast distances. He also gets Static a job as an intern at the New York branch of STAR Labs.

[thisdayincomics]

February 23

Death is an abstract entity, the embodiment of the end of life in the Marvel Universe, and the opposite of Eternity, the embodiment of the universe. Death first appeared in Captain Marvel #26 (February 23, 1973). Death is predominantly depicted as a skeleton cloaked in a black or purple robe, and at times appears as a Caucasian human female. Thanos's scheme to conquer the universe is due to him being determined to prove his love for Death by destroying all life. Although Thanos obtains the artifact the Cosmic Cube and succeeds in taking control of the universe, Death abandons the character when he is defeated by the combined might of Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer and the Avengers.

Curt Metcalf was a working class child prodigy who was discovered aged 12–13 by a big-time businessman, Edwin Alva Sr., who with the blessing of Curt's parents, enrolled Curt in A Better Chance, "a program intended to get minority students into elite prep schools". Alva paid for Metcalf's whole college tuition up to six additional college degrees, in exchange for Metcalf coming to work, after graduation, in Alva Industries' "Inspiration Factory" program, with his "own lab, entirely too big a salary, and mandate to indulge [his] curiosity by investigating whatever struck [his] fancy"; Metcalf's inventions made Edwin Alva Sr. many millions of dollars. In his Hardware identity he uses a variety of high-tech gadgets to fight organised crime. A central irony of the series is that Metcalf's employer, respected businessman Edwin Alva—who provides the resources Metcalf uses to create Hardware's hardware—is secretly the crime boss whom Hardware is trying to bring down. Hardware debuted in Hardware #1 (February 23, 1993).

[nerdgatehobbit]

The episode "Junior" kicks off with a dedication ceremony. I am genuinely wondering if this is meant to tie into the gym destruction in "Child's Play", with Alva Industries contributing to the repairs. Alva's speech refers to it as a new addition, but that could just be him talking up his involvement. Edwin's son is present but is treated dismissively by him.

Robert is dismayed by Virgil's absence, but Sharon assures him that he must have a good reason for it.

At a "Quik Stop" store, Static is dealing with a group of thieves, which has caused him to miss the dedication ceremony. As Robert is unaware of his son's vigilante activities, he's concerned about Virgil becoming irresponsible. Back at the community center, Edwin Alva Junior's off-hand comments to a reporter have to be smoothed over by his father.

This episode is rather overt in paralleling the father and son dynamics between the two families, with both fathers getting frustrated by their sons' behaviors. Of course, it doesn't help that Alva Sr. engages in unethical actions so the bigger concern for him is his son not maintaining the façade of him being a law-abiding businessman. Meanwhile, Virgil would come off as increasingly flaky to someone unaware of his secret identity, with it not helping that Richie has spent at least one episode ("Winds of Change") pushing Virgil to focus on his superhero duties than civilian activities. That mindset might be passing over to Virgil at this point.

[nerdgatehobbit]

Static ends up messing with Edwin Alva as part of his plan to prevent the mecha from capturing him during "The New Kid". It'll be interesting to see how this dynamic of a streel-level hero and evil businessman plays out in the show, as I half-suspect there might be some Spider-Man and Green Goblin influence (or perhaps, the show writers deliberately veered away from that type of dynamic).

Right now, Edwin is actively trying to prevent Static from exposing him as being responsible for the Big Bang. It does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity for Edwin to not encounter Virgil and to see how Edwin would view him as a civilian, but maybe that'll happen in a later episode.

[nerdgatehobbit]

Tired of his father's treatment of him, Edwin Jr. decides to use his father's materials to become a Bang Baby. There is some exposition via a prerecorded message about it being Quantum Vapor, but Edwin is confident he can predict it. Using the capsules, he can temporarily gain a superpower. Above, he's briefly gained super strength.

Omnifarious decides to target an Alva Industries cargo ship first, wanting to destroy the company so his father will pay attention to him instead.

Upon his arrival, Static tries to prevent the ship from sinking. When that fails, he quickly refocuses on getting the employees to shore. Static is not amused by the new supervillain, between him explaining his alias' meaning and the threat to the people. There's also a remark about how Latin is an elective in public schools.

Partway through the fight, Static recognizes him. So Omnifarious uses a capsule to gain x-ray vision and learn Static's face even if he doesn't (yet) know his identity.

Matters continue to be tense at both the Alva and Hawkins households. In between targeting his father's ships, Omnifarious figures out Static's secret identity and calls the Hawkins household to threaten him into staying out of his way.

I'm not sure if Virgil is being flippant about the possibility that Sharon wants a call from Reginald (who he thought the call was originally was from) or if this episode was originally meant to air prior to the events of "Bent Out of Shape". Although everything about it being a landline with call waiting really does highlight this show was made at the turn of the millennium. All three teens are using cordless phones, though.

Richie tries to upgrade Static's mask, but Virgil points out that aluminum foil won't stop x-ray vision and that it's a bit late to be trying to prevent Omnifarious from learning his secret identity. While it could be helpful to find a way to prevent others from doing so, I completely get why Virgil doesn't want lead on his face.

Virgil decides that he'll be the one to tell their fathers about both of their superpowered activities, so that night he interrupts Edwin Alva Sr.'s sleep to let him know Omnifarious' secret identity, telling him to look at his labs if he doesn't believe him before leaving.

[multiverseforger]

Curtis "Curt" Metcalf is a genius inventor who, in his Hardware identity, uses a variety of high-tech gadgets to fight organised crime. A central irony of the series (of which Metcalf is fully aware) is that Metcalf's employer, respected businessman Edwin Alva—who provides the resources Metcalf uses to create Hardware's hardware—is secretly the crime boss whom Hardware is trying to bring down.[1]

Metcalf was a working class child prodigywho was discovered aged 12–13 by a big-time businessman, Edwin Alva Sr., who with the blessing of Curt's parents, enrolled Curt in A Better Chance, "a program intended to get minority students into elite prep schools".[3]Curt proved to be much smarter than all the other prep school students, graduating at age 14, and earning his first college degree at age 15. Alva paid for Metcalf's whole college tuition up to six additional college degrees, in exchange for Metcalf coming to work, after graduation, in Alva Industries' "Inspiration Factory" program, with his "own lab, entirely too big a salary, and mandate to indulge [his] curiosity by investigating whatever struck [his] fancy"; Metcalf's inventions made Edwin Alva Sr. many millions of dollars.[3]

After a few years, and wanting a share of profits earned by his inventions, Metcalf asked Alva for a "royalty point or two". Alva's answer was: "Curtis let us dispense with any misconceptions you may be labouring under. You are not family. You are an employee. Neither are you heir apparent. You are a cog in the machine. My machine. You are not respected, Curtis. You are merely useful. You may go now".[3] Metcalf's first thought was to quit, but his contract forbade him from working for any competitors: "If [he wanted] to work in [his] field [of expertise], [he] had to do it for Alva".

Metcalf thought that with some advanced hacking, he could find something on Alva to use as leverage, but found that almost everything about Alva was "Stone Cold Crooked":

Metcalf: "It took me weeks to put it all together, but the evidence was clear and incontrovertible. Edwin Alva Sr. is at the center of an incredibly complex web of corruption. My benefactor and role model, the economic savior and humanitarian pillar of the city of Dakota has connections to organized crime. He launders tens of millions of dollars in drug money, he has most of the city and state government in his pocket, he illegally manufactures weapons and sells them to foreign governments".[3]

Metcalf decided to stop Alva first by anonymously sending "copies of evidence to the FBI, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the state and local police, several newspapers and, just for fun, Hard Copy and A Current Affair".[3] Then he waited a while for the fireworks, but learned that Alva was too big, beyond the reach of the law. But Metcalf decided that maybe Alva wasn't beyond his own reach; so with Alva's own equipment and resources, Curt created "Hardware - the High Tech Creature of the Night, who's been checkmating Alva's illegal operations for the last ten months is, in a way Alva's own creation".[3]

So just about every night Metcalf dons a selection of his many high tech gadgets (which he hides away in an abandoned basement/bomb shelter connected to his private lab) to track down and destroy all of Alva's illegal business operations and Alva's factories where weapons of war are manufactured: "This used to be a bomb shelter. Now it's where I keep all the stuff I've scammed from Alva. He's turned the city upside down looking for Hardware. I live in his basement".[3]

Hardware works with many other superheroes over his career, such as Blood Syndicate and Icon. He even teams up with a few that he considers fictional, such as Steel and Superman. In one instance, he assists in the evacuation of Utopia Park, a newly built theme park, which is being destroyed by riots.