| Wizard | |
|---|---|
.png) The Wizard as he appeared on the cover ofAmerica vs. The Justice Society #3 (March 1985). Art byJerry Ordway. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | All Star Comics #34 (April 1947) |
| Created by | Gardner Fox Irwin Hasen |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | William Asmodeus Zard |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Injustice Society The Secret Society of Super Villains |
| Notable aliases | Frederick P. Garth |
| Abilities | Skilled high-level spell-casting Illusion-casting Astral projection Hypnosis Teleportation and dimensional transportation via the Key to the Ghost Zone |
TheWizard (William Asmodeus Zard) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. He is a magic-user who is a known enemy of theJustice Society of America,Superman of Earth-Two, and theJustice League of America.
The Wizard was played by Joe Knezevich in the first season of the television seriesStargirl forDC Universe andThe CW network.
The Wizard first appeared inAll Star Comics #34 (April–May 1947) in the story titled "The Wiles of The Wizard" written byGardner Fox with art byIrwin Hasen.[1] In October 1947, the Wizard was one of the six original members of the Injustice Society, who began battling theJustice Society of America inAll Star Comics #37 (October 1947).[2]
Born in approximately 1913, William Asmodeus Zard grew up living a life of crime. As a gun man for various crime bosses, he ultimately ended up in jail. With the passage of time, he formulated a strategy to become a specialized kingpin. To accomplish this task, he moved to Tibet and trained under a proficientlama in the mystic arts of illusion and deception. Upon completion of his training, he proceeded to slay his master. Returning to the United States, he embarked on a career as a criminalmagician. Believing that theJustice Society of America was merely a cover for a criminal organization, he first offered a reward of $1,000,000 to them in the paper under the alias W. I. Zard, later asking to join them. To prove to himself that they were not really criminals, the Wizard attempted several criminal acts which were thwarted one by one by members of the Society. Realizing his misconception, he tried to destroy them with his illusions, but was stopped byDoctor Mid-Nite's blackout bomb.[3]
The Wizard helped to form theInjustice Society withPer Degaton,Vandal Savage,Thinker,Gambler, andBrain Wave, which engineered five jailbreaks. Each member proceeded to steal some key item from the U.S. government while leading an army of prison escapees, taking control of a portion of the American midwest, and collectively they captured their heroic counterparts, with the Wizard capturingWonder Woman andJohnny Thunder. However,Green Lantern was able to outwit Brainwave who believed him to be dead after he fell into a ravine, though hispower ring saved him at the last moment, and free the rest by impersonating the Thinker who he had captured, who was acting as a judge in the 'trial' of the JSA, where the Wizard was acting as prosecutor. The Wizard's escape was circumvented by some junior fans of the JSA.[4]
The Wizard proceeded to escape prison once more and reformed his gang with new membersIcicle,Fiddler,Sportsmaster,Huntress, andHarlequin. Each member would try and commit a 'patriotic crime', steal a historical item, and the leader would be voted for by the American people. The Harlequin, as it turned out, was actually not a criminal at heart; she merely kept up the pretense to attract the attention ofGreen Lantern. The JSA were captured after being knocked out by the Sportsmaster's bomb and having their memories removed. Along with aspiring Justice Society member theBlack Canary, the Harlequin soon freed the heroes and restored their memories with her hypnotic glasses. However, a subliminal message had been left to restore the members to their mindless state when they heard fingers snapping, allowing the Injustice Society to recapture them when they attempted to stop the crimes. The Wizard, during the crimes, stole theFreedom Train. The JSA were placed in a chamber in which they would soon be killed. However, their memories were restored again, by the Black Canary, and they captured their foes.[5]
In the late 1940s, the Wizard was contacted byColonel Future to help get revenge on Earth-Two'sSuperman by removing him from existence and given the Glastonbury Wand, which had once belonged toMerlin and had been stolen by Future's henchmen. The Wizard accidentally eliminated only his memory of being Superman, but his Clark Kent identity remained. In 1950, Clark marriedLois Lane; Lois realized he was Superman after seeing evidence of his invulnerability. Lois found the Wizard, who was now homeless and unable to perform acts of magic due to his shattered confidence at not being believed that he was responsible for Superman's disappearance. She convinced him to restore Superman's memory, after which the Wizard was happy to be sent to jail because he was now publicly known to have successfully removed Superman for a "couple of years".[6]
The Wizard soon escaped and visited the Black Canary, exacting revenge on her for interfering with his second Injustice Society by granting the powers of a sonic scream to their baby daughter also named Dinah Lance. Thisgirl eventually grew up to become the secondBlack Canary.[7]
The Wizard proceeded to form a new villainous organization known as the Crime Champions, which teamed up with their counterparts onEarth-1 to battle the Society andJustice League of America. The villains used a vibration device accidentally discovered by the Fiddler to escape to the other Earth after committing robberies. The Wizard escapedGreen Lantern and Black Canary during a million-dollar robbery. He disguised himself asDoctor Alchemy using his magic and the rest of the Earth-2 criminals disguised themselves as the Earth-1 Crime Champions. He battledSuperman andGreen Arrow, and helped trap the J.L.A. in their headquarters with magic. On Earth-1 he battledHawkman and Black Canary and was beaten again, before being finally defeated byAquaman,Wonder Woman, and the Earth-2 Flash. Years later, he again reformed the Injustice Society which were temporarily victorious, enlisting the aid of extra-dimensional writerCary Bates in killing several members of the J.S.A prior to their being revived.[8]
By the 1970s, Zard and the other Injustice Society members invaded the Justice Society headquarters, severely injuredHourman and staged a crime spree that spanned the globe. They were later apprehended.
Soon, he and the Injustice Society members went to Earth-1 to recruit younger villains to fight the Justice Society. The Wizard went there with the Fiddler, but once on Earth-1 he unexpectedly found that his sorcerer's powers began to weaken. Apparently, the travel from Earth-2 to Earth-1 caused the effect; the reverse happened with thePhantom Lady, who gained intangibility power when she traveled fromEarth-X to Earth-1.[9]
On Earth-1, the Wizard joinsDarkseid'sSecret Society of Super Villains, which he later took over with other villains who revolted. The Wizard was later apprehended and sent to jail, where his powers largely faded. After escaping from prison, the Wizard reformed the Secret Society and tricked them into obtaining four magical relics: the Cloak of Invisibility, the Power Glove, the Power Stone, and the Dragon Box. Unable to control the Dragon Box, the members of the Society were captured, but the Wizard incorporated the remaining three items into his new costume. The Wizard led the Secret Society back to Earth-2 in a plot to capture the JSA, which was a success when they captured theAtom,Doctor Mid-Nite, andMr. Terrific. The JSA were alerted and defeated them.[10]
InJustice League of America #166–168 (1979), Wizard,Professor Zoom,Floronic Man,Blockbuster, andStar Sapphire switch bodies with members of the JLA and learn their secret identities.Identity Crisis reveals thatZatanna erased the villains' knowledge after their defeat.
The Wizard later returned to Earth-2, once again reassembling the Crime Champions with the help of Johnny Thunder of Earth-1, but was once more defeated by the combined might of the JSA and JLA.[7] He later appeared briefly during the JSA's trial before congress for allegations of misconduct during World War II, but was quickly defeated byDoctor Fate.[11]
Sometime later, he moved to Canada and joined with the Fiddler and theShade as well as new villains theIcicle,Artemis Crock (later called theTigress), theHarlequin, andHazard, to form the groupInjustice Unlimited, the second incarnation of the Injustice Society, where they foughtInfinity, Inc. and theGlobal Guardians. The Wizard was presumably killed by the second generationHourman, Zard still had the trick of faking his death.[12]
Of course, this too was an illusion, and he had transported himself to the land of Faeries where he could recoup his power base. Once more, he was defeated by an assemblage of heroes and by his own ego.[13]
The Wizard appeared in theJSA All-Stars miniseries in which he disguised himself as the villain Legacy and captured the elder members of the Justice Society. He was then "killed" by the Spectre.
Shortly afterIdentity Crisis,Despero gave the surviving Secret Society members their memories back. In theJLA story, "Crisis of Conscience", the Wizard appeared as part of a reformed Secret Society of Super Villains looking to avenge themselves against the forced erasure of their memories. Aided byFelix Faust, they attacked theDaily Planet, and were stopped once again by the Justice League. After defeating Despero at Wayne Manor, the League was disbanded and Zatanna re-wiped the memories of all six Society members.
He has since appeared inJSA: Classified as part of a new Injustice Society that includes theIcicle, theTigress,Solomon Grundy, theGentleman Ghost, theRag Doll, andJohnny Sorrow and gained possession of the key to the Ghost Zone.
InInfinite Crisis, the Wizard was again seen in theSecret Society of Super Villains.[14]
He showed up again fighting under the command ofJohnny Sorrow as part of theInjustice Society.[15]
In the DC Universe following the end of the "DC Rebirth" brand, Wizard was seen as a member of the Injustice Society in the 1940s.[16][17]
The Wizard originally only knew the secrets ofillusion, hypnosis and astral projection. In later times, he is a skilled magic user capable of performing various effects. Maybe his highest power degree was when he possessed the Wand of Glastonbury. He came into possession of the key to the Ghost Zone allowing him access to another dimension and teleportation through it.
There are different characters who are called Wizard:
An unrelated Wizard,Carter Hammill, appears inBatman and Robin, portrayed byLeonard Penn.
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