- Whizzer (Robert Frank)
Superherobox|
caption=The Whizzer (Robert Frank), from "USA Comics" #1 (Aug. 1941). Art byAl Avison &Al Gabriele .
character_name=Whizzer
real_name=Robert Frank
publisher=Timely Comics ,Marvel Comics
debut="USA Comics " #1 (Aug. 1941)
creators=Al Avison (penciller; writer unknown)
alliances=Liberty Legion InvadersAll-Winners Squad Avengers
aliases=
powers=Superhuman speed |The Whizzer is a fictional
comic-book character in theMarvel Comics multiverse. He first appeared as asuperhero in the 1940s period referred to as theGolden Age of Comic Books .Publication history
The first Whizzer (Robert Frank) debuted in "
USA Comics " #1 (Aug. 1941), published byTimely Comics . The character was created bypenciller Al Avison and an unnamed writer. One source creditsStan Lee as that writer, [cite web|url=http://www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lee_s.htm|title=Stan Lee|accessdate=2007-06-09|date=2006-10-29|publisher=lambiek.net] but there are no other sources to support the credit. Timely published solo adventures of the Whizzer throughout the first half of the 1940s, then, in 1946, the company then placed the character, along with its other strong characters such asCaptain America andSub-Mariner , into team format stories as part of theAll-Winners Squad in the final two issues of "All Winners Comics ". These were the characters' last appearances during the 1940s.Roy Thomas reintroduced the Golden Age Whizzer in "Giant-Size Avengers" #1 (Aug. 1974). Two years later, in "The Avengers Annual" #6 (Nov. 1976), writer
Gerry Conway reinterpreted the character's origin and history so that the "transfusion of mongoose blood" was not the source of the power, but the factor that "triggered a latent mutant ability". Thomas, in theWorld War II flashback series "The Invaders" #5-6 (March & May 1976), expanded on the character's wartime career as a sometime-member of the retroactively created superhero team the Invaders. Thomas later additionally made the Whizzer a full-time member of the home-front heroes theLiberty Legion , in "Marvel Premiere" #29-30 (April & June 1976). Neither team had existed in Timely Comics.Fictional character biography
The origin of the Golden Age character begins while Robert Frank is on a trip to
Africa with his father, Dr. Emil Frank, where Robert is bitten by acobra . Dr. Frank saves Robert by a transfusion ofmongoose blood, and soon discovers that he has developed super-speed. This is later changed in the modern age and it is stated that the mongoose blood simply acts as a catalyst for his mutant physiology. Frank then decides to fight crime and eventually accepts the offer of Invaders memberBucky , who forms the superhero team theLiberty Legion to rescue the other Invaders, who have been brainwashed by the villain theRed Skull . When the Liberty Legion and Invaders eventually disband after World War II, the Whizzer joins the newly-formedAll-Winners Squad . [Comic book reference| Title = All Winners Comics| Issue = 19 (Fall 1946) & #21| Date = (Winter 1946-47)| Publisher = ] The Whizzer afterwards spent some years battlingalcoholism and depression, and was for some time homeless in theBowery section ofManhattan .cite book | last = Sanderson | first = Peter | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City | publisher =Pocket Books | date = 2007 | location = New York City | pages = 18 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1-14653-141-6]In the modern age the Whizzer reappears as an aging hero who had married fellow superhero Miss America. The Whizzer briefly serves with the Avengers who aid him in controlling his son
Nuklo . At the end of this adventure, the Whizzer erroneously believes himself to be the father of the mutant twins Quicksilver and theScarlet Witch . After a humbling defeat at the hands of the supervillainCount Nefaria [Comic book reference| Title = The Avengers| Issue = 165| Date = (Nov. 1977)| Publisher = ] the Whizzer retires, [Comic book reference| Title = The Avengers| Issue = 173| Date = (July, 1978)| Publisher = ] but later returns to fight a final battle against an old war-time foe calledIsbisa . The Whizzer dies fighting Isbisa, but his sacrifice enables his son Nuklo to begin a normal life. [Comic book reference| Title = The Vision and the Scarlet Witch| Issue = 2| Date = (Dec. 1982)| Publisher = ]Other media
Television
An elderly long retired Robert Frank, the Whizzer, was featured in an episode of "" voiced by
Walker Edmiston . In this version, the Whizzer's powers are the result of an attempt at recreating the process that empowered Captain America.Footnotes
References
* [http://www.comics.org Grand Comics Database]
* [http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/ The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/whizzer.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Whizzer] (Timely Comics)
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