Vartox

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Contents 1 Character stats 2 Character biography 2.1 Vernon O'Valeron 2.2 Syreena 2.3 Post Crisis 2.4 Current status 3 Powers and abilities

Character stats

• Vartox's first appearance: Superman #281, art by Nick Cardy
• publisher:DC Comics
• debut:Superman vol. 1 #281, (November 1974)
• creators:Cary Bates (writer), Curt Swan (artist)
• alter_ego : Vartox
• species : Tynolan
• homeworld : Valeron
• alliances :
• aliases :Vernon O'Valeron
• powers :Flight, Invulnerability, Superhuman strength and senses, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Energy projection, Astral projection, Ability to transfer these powers to others

Vartox is a superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #281, (November 1974), he was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan. Vartox bears a striking resemblance to Scottish actor Sean Connery and his name and appearance are regarded as an allusion to the movie Zardoz in which Connery starred.

Character biography

Vartox is from Valeron, in the "Sombrero Hat" Galaxy. Vartox is a friend and equal to Superman and the two have shared many adventures together. In a later stroyline Vartox, like Superman, loses his homeworld and adopts a new world which he is sworn to protect. He is older than Superman who described him as "a force for good in the universe when I was still a super-tot" (Superman #375, September 1982: "The Stoning of Lana Lang"). Vartox described himself as "far more experienced" than Superman(Superman #281, November 1974: "Mystery Mission to Metropolis"). Vartox is in love with Lana Lang and has shared a rivalry with Superman for her affections.

In November 1974, the psychic twin of Vartox's wife is killed on Earth. Since the two women are "biologically linked", Vartox's wife also dies at the same moment. Determined to bring his wife's proxy killer to justice, Vartox journeys to Earth in order to lure Frank "Killer" Sykes to Valeron. Superman pursues the pair and battles Sykes, to whom Vartox has transferred a portion of his Hyper-Power. Figuring out Vartox's mission, Superman allows Sykes to be extradited and tried on Valeron, where he is found guilty of murder.

Vernon O'Valeron

Valeron is later destroyed and Vartox temporarily assumes the secret identity of "Vernon O'Valeron", and takes a job as a temporary security officer at television and media company Galaxy Communications (where, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman worked as co-host of the evening newscast, in his own secret identity of Clark Kent). While at Galaxy, Vartox met and fell in love with Lana Lang, once Superman's childhood sweetheart and modern-day rival (with Lois Lane) for his affections. By the time Lana and Vartox met, however, she had abandoned her pursuit of Superman as hopeless, not because her feelings had changed or she thought that Lois was the "better woman", but because she had accepted the reality that any true relationship with a man who literally took the responsibility of the world on his shoulders was all but impossible. Thus, Lana was struck hard by the bitter irony that "Vernon O'Valeron" turned out to be another such man, compounded by the fact that the world that Vartox was committed to was an entirely different planet—and one whose atmosphere was poisonous to Earthlings.

Syreena

During another of Vartox's stays on Earth, Lana was caught up in a complex revenge plot orchestrated by a former lover of Vartox's from Valeron. Syreena wanted payback for what she saw as Vartox's betrayal of her; in truth, his "betrayal" was arresting her for criminal acts committed with a siphoned portion of Vartox's powers, stolen from him through a device disguised as an amulet Syreena had given him as a "gift of love".
Syreena first gave Vartox and Lana false hope by transforming Lana (in the guise of an "energy phantom") so that she could breathe in Tynola's atmosphere; she then made it appear that an accidental ricochet of Vartox's "hyper-energy" beams had turned Lana to stone. All the while, she was mentally manipulating Vartox from afar, appearing as her own "ghost" to render him irrational and unable to guess the truth.
In the end, two things ruined Syreena's plan: one, she accidentally left pieces of the amulet she had once given Vartox (which he had crushed upon learning its secret) behind at one of her "ghostly" appearances, giving him tangible proof of her survival, and two, deep down, she still loved Vartox, and found herself unable to deny him happiness. Syreena restored Lana, at a terrible cost; the effect could not be dispelled, only transferred, dooming Syreena to "life" as a stone statue. However, Vartox and Lana were forced to part once again—the effect that would have let her live on Tynola was apparently linked to the pertrification effect, and both were transferred away when Lana was "cured". After saying good-bye to Lana, Vatrox departed Earth, taking Syreena with him.

Post Crisis

See Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1999 a post-Crisis version of Vartox was introduced by Dan Jurgens and Steve Epting. He makes his debut in Superman vol.2 #148, alongside two other aliens named Vestion and Paz. This version has significantly reduced powers, apparently slightly less than the post-crisis Superman, and a revised costume. A brief mention of Vartox's homeworld Valeron is mentioned in 'Team Superman #1,' at that time it had a super-champion called Ontor who claimed he was "the only sentient wearing a cape for thirty-eight light years in every direction." Ontor dies in the story so presumably Vartox assumes Ontor's role as he claims to be Valeron's protector in the later storyline.

Current status

In 2006, Kurt Busiek wrote on the Comic Bloc Forum that Vartox would reappear in an upcoming Superman arc. Vartox will be in my second major arc. You'll like him. However, Busiek left Superman before using the character.

He will appear in Power Girl #7 where he comes to earth to claim Power Girl as his wife.

Powers and abilities

Vartox is described as a Hyper-man, possessing Hyper-powers. The origin of these powers is never revealed but Vartox did state he "acquired" his Hyper-powers as a young man(Superman #374, August 1982: "Love is deadlier...the second time around"), so he was not born with them like Superman himself. Vartox stated that his powers were "psychic by nature"(Action Comics #499, September 1979: "As the World Turns...for the Last Time."). The majority of Vartox's powers are manifest as beams from his hands or eyes and range in color from pink to orange to white to blue in color, though they principally seem to be yellow/gold. The powers described below are ascribed to the original pre-crisis Vartox.

• Invulnerability roughly analogous to the Bronze Age Superman. Vartox survives the explosion of a planet at ground zero, can survive without breathing in deep space and is stated as having no weakness to magic. His only shown vulnerability is when his hyper-power is siphoned away by an outside source.
• Hyper-Strength, described as greater than Superman's.
• Hyper-Speed, described as greater than Superman's.
• Flight. Vartox is capable of unaided intergalactic flight.
• Hyper-senses. These take at least two forms, though there are possibly more. Hyper-Vision, evidenced as analogous to telescopic vision, microscopic vision(at least to a molecular level) and the ability to see through any substance(unlike Superman's own X-ray Vision which cannot see through lead). Hyper-Vision also boosted a time-viewing machine to enable it to view the past of another planet rather than the one it was situated on. Vartox also has some form of super-hearing as he was able to hear Jimmy Olsen's ultra-sonic signal watch and listen to a conversation taking place thousands of miles away.
• Vartox has a Hyper-body which he has described as "an ethereal Hyper-body which dwells within my physical essence. On occasion this 'phantom self' has been dispatched into action without my knowledge --directed by my own subconscious wishes" (S No. 373, Jul 1982: "Lana Lang's Farewell to Earth"). This hyper-body is capable of possessing another person, taking control of them and imbuing that body with Vartox's own powers. Alternatively, Vartox can also temporarily boost another person with a portion of his hyper-power, giving them abilities that rival his own.
• Vartox has demonstrated some mind control abilities, even across a great distance and over as many people as a whole town. Despite this, he has never directly demonstrated any skills at telepathy or empathy. This could be because he is capable of broadcasting psychically but is not psychically receptive, or is perhaps due to some personal moral stance against invading the privacy of others. Vartox has also demonstrated the ability to project sounds and images directly into another person's mind.
• Vartox may have some precognitive powers as he once used his hyper-power to predict the outcome of a battle between himself and Superman.
• Vartox has hyper-hypnotic powers which he has used on several occasions to take on the appearance of another person.
• On one occasion Vartox demonstrated super-breath.
• Vartox can transform himself into pure hyper-energy, creating a power surge great enough to render Superman unconscious.
• Vartox has demonstrated the ability to teleport both himself and others over large distances.
• Vartox can make himself immaterial at will and can also make other objects, such as walls, immaterial to allow others to pass through them unhindered.
• Energy Powers: Vartox can emit a range of energy powers from his hands, eyes and in one case his foot. These have taken the forms of hyper-charges, which are capable of killing or rendering a target unconscious, the extremely powerful hyper-obliteration charge, as well as hyper-disintegration beams.
• Telekenesis: Vartox possesses a very powerful form of telekenesis which he has used in many ways, to manipulate his environment, to rain remote-control blows on an enemy from a distance, to shape water into tidal waves, to choke Superman with his own cloak and to repair a shredded parachute, amongst others.
• Frost Powers: Vartox can generate hyper-frost to freeze a target. He can use this to freeze a person solid, this condition wears off within the hour leaving the subject unharmed.
• Vartox has a form of heat vision.
• Techno-empathy: Vartox has demonstrated the ability to interface directly which even super-sophisticated computers.
• Magnetic powers.
• His hyper-energy can also be shaped to make objects, such as nets, barriers and forcefield bubbles.
• Vartox has also demonstrated a host of other, less quantifiable powers such as being able to transform a 3-dimensional object into a 2-dimensional one, drastically increase the weight of objects and in some cases seemingly transform matter at a molecular, and possibly atomic, level.
• Vartox carries devices on his theighboots capable of emitting some kind of gas which Superman speculated was probably paralysis causing.
• Vartox is also an accomplished inventor and scientific genius.

The post-crisis Vartox seems to be of a much lower power level. He possesses powers of flight, some degree of invulnerability and super-strength and hyperspeed a little below the post-crisis Superman. He has also demonstrated that he can shoot destructive hypercharges from his hands and generate forcefields.