TheSportsmaster is the name of differentsupervillains appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The first version of the character;Lawrence "Crusher" Crock, is usually depicted as a criminal who uses sports-themed weapons and gadgets to commit crimes. He is also the husband ofPaula Brooks and the father ofArtemis Crock.

Sportsmaster
The Lawrence Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster as depicted inWho's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #21 (November 1986).
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	All-American Comics #85 (May 1947)
Created by	John Broome Irwin Hasen
In-story information
Alter ego	Lawrence "Crusher" Crock Victor Gover
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Injustice Society Legion of Doom
Abilities	Masterathlete and hand-to-hand combatant Utilizes sports-themed weapons such as exploding baseballs, flying bases, rocket baseball bats, knockout basketballs, lacrosse snare nets, exploding hockey pucks
Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media
Team affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains (Justice League Unlimited), League of Shadows (Young Justice)

Crusher / Sportsmaster appeared inYoung Justice, voiced byNick Chinlund, andStargirl, portrayed byNeil Hopkins.

The Lawrence Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster first appeared inAll-American Comics #85 (May 1947) and was created by writerJohn Broome and artistIrwin Hasen.^[1][2]

The Victor Gover incarnation of Sportsmaster first appeared inManhunter #17 and was created byJohn Ostrander, Doug Rice, andKim Yale.

He was the foe of the originalGreen Lantern andWildcat. He was first known asCrusher Crock, a frustrated athlete who turns to a life of crime.^[3] He was a member of different incarnations of theInjustice Society.^[4] He helped capture the JSA using an exploding ball, after which they were hypnotized and then during the Patriotic Crimes he steals Old Ironside. He teams up with (and later marries) theGolden Age villainessHuntress. Later they have a child namedArtemis Crock who became the third Tigress. In his later years he spent time behind bars but at least on one occasion was broken out of prison by his daughter - then a member ofInjustice Unlimited.^[5]

InFinal Crisis, Sportsmaster appears as one ofGeneral Immortus' followers.^[6]

InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Sportsmaster appears as a member ofLeviathan.^[7][8]

The second Sportsmaster isVictor Gover, an African-American former football player who possessed "photographic reflexes". Blacklisted from the world of professional sports after hismetahuman abilities are exposed, Gover becomes a criminal and enemy ofManhunter. He later joins theSuicide Squad for one mission duringWar of the Gods.^[9]

FollowingZero Hour: Crisis in Time!, Gover is reimagined as a powerless white athlete and gambling addict. Wildcat later beats Gover, forcing him to retire and attendGamblers Anonymous.

Sportsman is the name of two characters modeled after the original Sportsmaster.

The Earth-2 version is a telekinetic metahuman whose abilities are derived from an anti-proton globe. However, the globe affects his brain, forcing him into crime.

The Earth-1 version isMartin Mantle, an athlete whose father forced him to undergo unsafe enhancement treatments that will eventually kill him. As the Sportsman, he possesses Olympian-level physical attributes and specialized equipment of his own design.

Crock uses sporting-themed weapons such as explodingbaseballs, flyingbases, rocketbaseball bats, knockoutbasketballs,lacrosse snare nets, explodinghockey pucks. Their outfits generally included a baseball cap, catcher's mask, paddedjersey,catcher's chestguard,football-style pants, and cleats.^[3]

Each of the Sportsmasters and Sportsmen had superb physical attributes on par with Olympic athletes in their prime. As noted above, Victor Gover also had "photographic reflexes".

An alternate timeline variant of Sportsmaster appears inFlashpoint. This version was incarcerated in Doom prison. He attempts to escape during a prison break, only to be killed byEel O'Brian.^[10][11]

• A character based on Sportsmaster namedSportsman appears in theJustice League two-part episode "Legends", voiced byMichael McKean.^[12] He is a supervillain from an alternate universe and member of theInjustice Guild.
• An unidentified Sportsmaster makes non-speaking cameo appearances inJustice League Unlimited.^[13] This version is a member ofGorilla Grodd'sSecret Society.
• The Lawrence "Crusher" Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster appears inBatman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced byThomas F. Wilson.^[13]
• The Lawrence "Crusher" Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster appears inYoung Justice, voiced byNick Chinlund.^[13] This version is the ex-husband of theHuntress, with whom he has two daughters,Artemis Crock andCheshire. Additionally, he is a former member ofRa's al Ghul'sLeague of Shadows who became the top assassin and enforcer ofProject Cadmus' Board of Directors, theLight. In the first season, Sportsmaster uses his relationship to Artemis to blackmail her into joining the Light, only for her to betray and capture him. Having escaped sometime before the second season, during which he was replaced byDeathstroke, he vows vengeance onBlack Manta for Artemis' apparent murder at the hands of Manta's son,Kaldur'ahm, but lays his vendetta to rest when he discovers that Artemis faked her death to infiltrate the Light.
• The Lawrence "Crusher" Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster appears inStargirl, portrayed byNeil Hopkins.^[14] This version is a member of theInjustice Society of America (ISA). In the pilot episode, Sportsmaster partook in the ISA's attack on theJustice Society of America (JSA)'s headquarters. In the two-part episode "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.", Sportsmaster assists the ISA in enacting Project: New America, only to be foiled and defeated by Stargirl's JSA. In the episode "Summer School: Chapter Thirteen", Artemis Crock breaks Sportsmaster andTigress out of prison so that they can helpCindy Burman and the JSA fightEclipso. Following this, the Crock family move in next door to the Whitmore-Dugan family. In the third season, Sportsmaster and Tigress work with the JSA to investigateGambler's death and find the person responsible for spying on Blue Valley's citizens until they are killed byIcicle.

• TheBatman: The Brave and the Bold incarnation of Sportsmaster makes a non-speaking cameo appearance inScooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold.^[13]
• Sportsmaster was considered to appear inThe Suicide Squad as a member of the eponymous team.^[15]

• The Lawrence "Crusher" Crock incarnation of Sportsmaster appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[16]
• TheYoung Justice incarnation of Lawrence "Crusher" Crock / Sportsmaster appears as a boss inYoung Justice: Legacy, voiced again by Nick Chinlund.^[13]