| Whizzer | |
|---|---|
 The Whizzer (Robert Frank), fromAll Winners Comics #14 (Jan. 1945). Art byAl Fagaly. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | USA Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) |
| Created by | Al Avison (penciller; writer unknown) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Robert L. Frank[1] |
| Species | Human mutant (latent) |
| Team affiliations | Liberty Legion Invaders All-Winners Squad Avengers |
| Abilities | Self-taught hand to hand combatant Superhuman speed and reflexes |
TheWhizzer (Robert L. Frank) is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He first appeared during the period called theGolden Age of Comic Books.
The Whizzer has super-speed powers, which (in his original origin story) he acquired from an infusion ofmongoose blood. He appeared in bothUSA Comics andAll Winners Comics from 1941 to 1946, and was revived by Marvel in the 1970s.
Robert Frank / Whizzer first appeared inU.S.A. Comics #1 (August 1941), published byTimely Comics. The character was created bypencillerAl Avison and an uncredited writer.[2] One source creditsStan Lee as the writer,[3] but there are no other sources to support the credit.[4] The Whizzer appeared regularly inU.S.A. Comics through issue #17 (September 1945).[5]
At the same time, Whizzer also appeared regularly inAll Winners Comics, from issue #2 (September 1941) through #21 (December 1946). In issues #19 and #21, he was part of theAll Winners Squad, a superteam that also includedCaptain America,Bucky Barnes, theHuman Torch,Toro, theSub-Mariner andMiss America. These were the character's last appearances during the 1940s.[6]
WriterRoy Thomas reintroduced the Golden Age Whizzer inGiant-Size Avengers #1 (August 1974). Two years later, inThe Avengers Annual #6 (November 1976), writerGerry Conwayretconned the character to be amutant whose abilities were activated by the mongoose blood transfusion. InThe Invaders (March–May 1976) andMarvel Premiere (April–June 1976), written by Thomas, the Whizzer joined the Invaders and theLiberty Legion.
Robert L. Frank was born inSt. Louis, Missouri. After the mobster Granno frames him and his father Emil for murder, they flee to Africa, where Robert develops a fever (originally, his was depicted as being bitten by acobra). Emil saves him with a transfusion ofmongoose blood (the same mongoose that killed the cobra in the initial story), but dies soon after from stress.[7][8][9] After developing superhuman speed from the transfusion and defeating Granno, 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 from theRed Skull.[10] When the Liberty Legion and Invaders disband after World War II, the Whizzer joins theAll-Winners Squad.[11][12]
The Whizzer afterward spent some years battling alcoholism and depression and was, for some time, homeless in theBowery section ofManhattan.[13] He also works as a nuclear laboratory technician.
In 1942, the Whizzer acquired a new sidekick, a stereotyped African-American friend named Slow-Motion Jones.[14] Slow-Motion always had a phone in his hat available in order to contact The Whizzer immediately when there is trouble. Pre-dating moderncell phones by decades and looking just like a hand-held receiver, how it works goes unexplained. In the second of these stories, it is attached to a folding gadget inside his hat, but no obvious wire. The Whizzer also began using the alias "Jack Robinson," as in "faster than you can say Jack Robinson" and expanded the wings on his headdress to show a full bird rather than simply wings. He wrote about how he received his powers in his diary. Frank Rone, a burglar who robbed his safe was able to duplicate his powers and became a formidable foe, but lacked Whizzer's experience.[15]
In the modern age, the Whizzer reappears as an aging hero who had married fellow superheroMiss America. The Whizzer encounters and briefly serves with theAvengers, who aid him in controlling his sonNuklo. He is reunited with Nuklo, but suffers a heart attack. At the end of this adventure, the Whizzer erroneously believes himself to be the father ofQuicksilver andScarlet Witch.[16]
The Whizzer was later duped by theLiving Laser into battling the Avengers,[17] and suffers a second heart attack.[18] He then battled theAtlanteans andNamor alongside the Avengers.[19] After a humbling defeat at the hands of the supervillainCount Nefaria[20] the Whizzer retires.[21]
He later returns to fight a final battle against his old enemyIsbisa. The Whizzer dies after suffering a fatal heart attack while fighting Isbisa, but his sacrifice enables Nuklo to be cured of his excessive radiation and begin a normal life.[22]
Arnim Zola later creates a clone of Whizzer who is killed byDeadpool.[23]
Due to a reaction between his latent genetic mutation and an injection of mongoose blood, Robert Frank has the ability to move at superhuman speed and has superhuman reflexes. He can create cyclones by running in circles, and can run up walls and across water. Even in middle age, he could run at approximately 100 mph.
The Whizzer learned a unique, self-taught fighting style that exploits the ability to move at superhuman speeds.
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Whizzer has had his own group of enemies during his superhero career:
