| Jax-Ur | |
|---|---|
 Jax-Ur in depicted inAction Comics #883 (January 2010), art by Pere Pérez. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #289 (October 1961) |
| Created by | Otto Binder George Papp |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Kryptonian |
| Place of origin | Krypton |
| Partnerships | General Zod Faora Mala |
| Notable aliases | Dr. Phillings[1] |
| Abilities | See list
|
Jax-Ur is asupervillain appearing incomic books published byDC Comics, usually as anadversary ofSuperman. Created by writerOtto Binder and artistGeorge Papp, the character first appeared inAdventure Comics #289 (October 1961). He has been described as "the worst troublemaker in thePhantom Zone"[2] and was the first criminal banished there.[3]
Jax-Ur was an amoral and criminally deviant scientist on the planetKrypton.[4] He was sentenced to life imprisonment in thePhantom Zone for destroying Wegthor, a sparsely inhabited moon of Krypton, while experimenting with a nuclear warhead.[5]
In his first appearance, Jax-Ur escaped from the Phantom Zone and posed as a super-powered version ofJonathan Kent.[6]Superboy eventually sent Jax-Ur back to the Phantom Zone. He then usedSupergirl (Kara Zor-El)'s tears to escape from the Phantom Zone, but was defeated byMon-El.[7] Most of his later Silver Age appearances show him in his ghostly Phantom Zone form, except during rare escapes. He was often depicted plotting against Superman with fellow Phantom Zone inmatesGeneral Zod andFaora.
Jax-Ur later helps Superman defeatBlack Zero, the alien saboteur who ensured Krypton's destruction, before willingly returning to the Phantom Zone.[8]
Jax-Ur's first post-Crisis appearance is inAction Comics #846 (2007), written byGeoff Johns andRichard Donner.[9] He is one of the criminals unleashed from the Phantom Zone by Zod.[10]
InAction Comics #875, Jax-Ur is one of General Zod's "sleeper Kryptonians", who have adopted human identities to help further Zod's goals on Earth.[11] He works forS.T.A.R. Labs as a xenobiologist, during whichDoctor Light tasks him with investigatingNightwing's accelerated aging.[1] He builds a device tailored to regulate Chris's growth and stimulate his solar-powered healing factor to reverse the body damage done by his condition.[12]
It is later revealed that, like Chris Kent andThara Ak-Var are avatars of Nightwing and Flamebird, respectively, so is Jax-Ur an avatar of their enemy, "Vohc the Breaker". Continuing his age-old vendetta against the demigods, Jax-Ur/Vohc creates an artificial avatar of the Kryptonian deity Rao.[13] The combined entity is defeated by Flamebird and Nightwing.[14][15]
InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Jax-Ur first appears among the Kryptonian criminals seen in the Phantom Zone and he claims to have destroyed a moon.[16] Jax-Ur was fully introduced in theWorld of Krypton flashback segments, where he is depicted as a young military officer andLara's partner and fiancé.[17] Lara calls off their engagement when Jax-Ur reveals he supports Colonel Ekar, a commanding officer who deems Krypton's Science Council weak and self-absorbed and plans to overthrow it with a coup d'état. When Lara tries to fight Colonel Ekar and is defeated and caught, Jax-Ur tries to convince her to join their cause in order to save her life, but fails.[18] General Zod intervenes, killing Ekar and smothering the revolution. Jax-Ur is imprisoned with the other surviving insurgents, promising Lara he tried to save her and reaffirming his love for her.[19]
Jax-Ur appears inBatman/Superman World's Finest #18 (October 2023) and #19 (November 2023) in a storyline detailing the first team-up of Batman and Superman. Jax-Ur uses a breach in the Phantom Zone to escape to Earth and sends Batman to take his place in the Phantom Zone.
Like all Kryptonians, Jax-Ur possesses superhuman abilities derived from the yellow solar radiation of the sun of Earth's solar system. His basic abilities are superhuman strength, superhuman speed and superhuman stamina sufficient to bend steel in his bare hands, overpower a locomotive, leap over a tall building in a single bound and outrun a speeding bullet; he possesses heightened senses of hearing and sight including X-ray vision as well as telescopic and microscopic vision; virtual invulnerability; accelerated healing; longevity; powerful freezing breath; heat vision; and flight. His powers are generally depicted as being on par with General Zod.
Jax-Ur is generally depicted as both a scientist as well as a military warrior. He is exceptionally intelligent in the areas ofcloning as well asxenobiology; able to study Kryptonian genetics to determine connections between the respective Nightwing and Flamebird entities as well as how to create synthesized clones of avatars suitable to host the spirit of the red sun god Rao whom the Kryptonians worshiped. As a soldier, Jax-Ur is a competent military leader and hand-to-hand combatant with experience on the field of battle similar to General Zod and other imprisoned Kryptonian military dissidents.
In addition to his inherent Kryptonian abilities while beneath a yellow sun, Jax-Ur also served as a vessel for the alien god Vohc the Breaker. While merged and possessed by Vohc, Jax-Ur possesses increased superhuman strength as well as being vastly more intelligent with wisdom approaching virtual omniscience. Vohc was also immortal with a vastly superior healing factor rendering him effectively indestructible and possessed of divine power sufficient to place him on similar levels of godly power as the Olympians and other pantheons of Earthly deities. However, his powers were beneath Rao as well as Nightwing and Flamebird.
Similar to General Zod and other Phantom Zone escapees, Jax-Ur generally never experiences the full measure of his abilities as he is never allowed to spend any significant portion of time beneath Earth's yellow sun to charge and metabolize his cells with yellow solar radiation before being banished back into the Zone. As such, should he ever be allowed enough time to fully realize his abilities and potential, Jax-Ur's power levels would very likely approach or possibly surpass those of Superman as he is a fully mature Kryptonian male with exceptional natural physical prowess and experience in combat.
Like all Kryptonians, Jax-Ur is vulnerable to Kryptonite and red solar radiation which neutralizes and cancels out the yellow solar radiation flourishing in his cells. His virtual invulnerability offers no protection from mind control or magic, nor can it fully withstand the force of an atomic explosion or the force of opponents with greater strength and durability such as Doomsday. His superhuman strength is inferior to beings such as Doomsday and his superhuman speed is inferior to speedsters such as the Flash. Jax-Ur's intelligence does give him the advantage of utilizing his strength and speed to optimal performance.
An alternatedream world incarnation of Jax-Ur appears in "For the Man Who Has Everything". This version became amartyr after inspiring a group of protestors who consider his imprisonment in the Phantom Zone to becruel and unusual punishment and seek to free him.[20]
Jax-Ur appears inMan of Steel, portrayed byMackenzie Gray.[24] This version is the lead scientist ofGeneral Zod's battalion, the Sword of Rao.
Jax-Ur appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[25]
