| Faceless Hunters | |
|---|---|
 The Chun Yull incarnation of the Faceless Hunter as depicted inGreen Lantern vol. 4 #15 (November 2006). Art byEthan Van Sciver (penciller), Oclair Albert (inker), and Moose Baumann (colorist). | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Strange Adventures #124 (January1961) |
| Created by | Gardner Fox (writer) Mike Sekowsky (artist) |
| Characteristics | |
| Place of origin | Klaramar |
| Notable members | Chun Yull |
| Inherent abilities |
|
TheFaceless Hunters are a race of alien supervillains in theDC Comics universe that first appeared inStrange Adventures #124 (January 1961). They were created byGardner Fox andMike Sekowsky. The Faceless Hunters hail from Klaramar (the word Klar-a-mar breaks down into "clear of imperfection": Klar is theGerman language term for "clear", and "mar" can mean either blemish or imperfection).
The Faceless Hunters made three appearances in DC Comics flagship science fiction anthology title, all written by Gardner Fox -Strange Adventures, in issues #124 (January 1961) with artists Mike Sekowsky andMurphy Anderson, #142 (July 1962) with art byCarmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, and #153 (June 1963), with art byGil Kane andSid Greene. All three stories also featured on the covers of those issues, with art by Murphy Anderson.
Since then they have made few appearances in the DC Universe: as one of 'The Forgotten Villains' inDC Comics Presents #77-78 (January - February 1985), written byMarv Wolfman and drawn byCurt Swan andDave Hunt, briefly inResurrection Man #25 (February 1999) andYoung Justice #50 (December 2002), inGreen Lantern (vol. 5) #12 (July 2006) and #15-16 (December 2006 - January 2007), written byGeoff Johns, andSuperman: World of New Krypton #9 (November 2009).
The Faceless Hunters first come to public attention in 1961 after one of them,Klee Pan, is intercepted trying to steal major world sculptures such as theMount Rushmore heads and theEaster Island statues.OregonHighway Patrolmen Bob Colby and Jim Boone are assigned to Mount Rushmore and confront Klee Pan, who explains that he comes from Klaramar - a world revolving within an atom on the planetSaturn and he is looking for a stone face left on Earth millennia ago which will prevent Saturn from exploding. He reveals that an evil Faceless Hunter,Chun Yull, planted a time-bomb on Earth and threatened to detonate it unless he was made supreme ruler, but died giving no clues as to where the face, which can defuse the bomb, was hidden. Boone deduces that the face is on the Moon, and Klee Pan takes Colby and Boone there and then to Saturn after cutting the face from the Moon's surface. When the face is destroyed by a trap set by Chun Yull, the patrolmen help reconstruct it and disarm the bomb. The Faceless Hunters replace the face on the Moon in gratitude, and Klee Pan gives both men telepathic abilities.[1]
Having teleported himself to Saturn instead of dying, Chun Yull vows revenge on the patrolmen who had thwarted him, and on Earth. He captures Colby and Boone and builds a new bomb, then teleports them all to Klaramar, where Klee Pan once again foils Chun Yull and returns Colby and Boone to Earth.[2] A year later, Chun Yull telepathically commands Colby and Boone to build a machine which increases his size and transports him to Earth again, which he threatens to destroy unless he is made 'Earth Citizen Number One'. After theUnited Nations comply, he reveals that he lied - Faceless Hunters are unable to destroy a planet unless they are citizens of it. Meanwhile, Colby and Boone manage to beam themselves to Klaramar and Klee Pan saves Earth and again captures Chun Yull.[3]
After this defeat, Chun Yull is imprisoned in inescapable 'Spheres of Light', from which theEnchantress frees him because she needed his space traveling powers; he then travels the stars for over 20 years looking for a sorcerer she wishes to team up with to rule the Universe. Together with Yggardis the Living Planet, Atom Master, Kraklow the Mystic,Vandal Savage, Mister Poseidon andUltivac, Chun Yull and Enchantress form part of a criminal organization known as The Forgotten Villains.[4]Superman joins a disparate group of minor heroes from the 20th century and the future banded together as theForgotten Heroes and defeats Chun Yull in the future, returning him to captivity.[5][6]
FollowingCrisis on Infinite Earths, Chun Yull and the Forgotten Villains battle the Forgotten Heroes again; this time 1.93 million years in the past. He is returned to captivity in the 20th century inRip Hunter's Time Machine, after being abandoned with the rest of the Forgotten Villains by Kraklow and defeated byAnimal Man.[7] Eighteen months later, he is seen fightingYoung Justice on the island nation of Zandia.[8]
Just over three years later, three Faceless Hunters working as bounty hunters, including Chun Yull, are hunting Green Lanterns.[9] They take control of the minds of a number of theGlobal Guardians to capture Green LanternHal Jordan; but are mistakenly attacked by a team ofRocket Reds assuming Green Lantern is with them - thwarting their plans to wipe his memory.[10]
The Faceless Hunters later appears inSuperman: World of New Krypton #9 (November 2009), under the command ofJemm, Son of Saturn who appears to be thede facto ruler of all three Saturnian races, including the albino Koolars and the yellow Faceless Hunters.[11]
The Klaramarians are normally of sub-atomic size, although they can control this, and are often much taller than humans, with a corresponding increase in strength. They also have access to extremely advanced alien technology. Both Chun Yull and Klee Pan possess great strength and the ability to absorb the material or energetic properties of anything they touch and project those properties explosively. Yull demonstrated the power of unaided flight while battling Superman.[5]
Most Klaramarians also appear to be telepaths. Klee Pan demonstrated the ability to grant limited telepathy to humans.[1]
A Faceless Hunter appears inJLA/Avengers #4 as a brainwashed minion ofKrona.
