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| Cyclone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Red Tornado: Kingdom Come #2 (June 1996) As Cyclone: Justice Society of America Vol. 3 #1 (February 2007) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Maxine Hunkel |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Justice Society of America Justice League |
| Notable aliases | Red Tornado |
| Abilities | Flight Wind manipulation Sound wave control |
Cyclone (Maxine Hunkel) is asuperheroine appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. She is the granddaughter of the originalRed Tornado, the niece of theCyclone Kids, and a member of theJustice Society of America.
The character made her live-action debut in theDC Extended Universe filmBlack Adam (2022), played byQuintessa Swindell.
Although not named as such at the time, the character who would eventually become known as Maxine Hunkel first appeared (as a new Red Tornado) inKingdom Come #2 (June 1996) by writerMark Waid and artistAlex Ross.
A decade later, prior to the relaunch of theJustice Society of America series, writerGeoff Johns created Maxine Hunkel, a hero who would follow the legacy of the Red Tornado. Remembering the character he designed forKingdom Come, cover artist Alex Ross based his design for Maxine on the earlier character,retroactively making them one and the same.
Johns said:[1]
I came up with the character and concept [of Maxine]. When I told Alex, he told me about this character that he’d put intoKingdom Come, and discussed Maxine being the ‘younger’ version of that one.
Maxine made her debut in theDC Universe inJustice Society of America (vol. 3) #1 (February 2007).
Maxine Hunkel is the granddaughter ofMa Hunkel, an honorary member of the Justice Society who operated as the originalRed Tornado and is currently a caretaker of theJustice Society of America's headquarters. In addition, Maxine is also the niece of theCyclone Kids who served as Red Tornado's sidekicks. Maxine grew up idolizing her grandmother's allies in the JSA.
As a 6-year-old, Maxine was once kidnapped byT. O. Morrow, themad scientist who created the secondRed Tornado, a powerful android. Morrow infects Maxine with "nanobytes" that are the apparent source of her powers. Cheerful, bubbly, and extremely intelligent (4.0 GPA and a 1300 SAT score in high school), Maxine is a 19-year-old student atHarvard University and an avid fan of the works ofL. Frank Baum, particularlyThe Wizard of Oz, and linked works such as the musicalWicked. However, her talkative nature and know-it-all personality often alienates her peers and leave the young woman isolated. Her outcast status causes her to suffer from atypical depression.
As she reached adulthood, she began to manifest unusual superhuman abilities. A sneeze demolishes her grandmother's garage and, the next day, she awoke inside a tornado five hundred feet off the ground. She soon realizes that she has the power to manipulate wind.
When the Justice Society decides to expand its ranks and provide training to new heroes, Maxine is one of the first on their list. She is invited to join the team byPower Girl andMr. Terrific and accepts through extreme amounts of excitement (her motormouth response nearly causes them to revoke the offer). Shortly afterwards, she is introduced to the rest of the JSA and her fangirl personality becomes evident in her bubbling reaction to meeting her heroes, particularly fellow teenStargirl. During the first meeting of the group, the current holder of theMr. America mantle literally falls into their midst and perishes. As a way to help her deal, fellow member Stargirl distracts her into building a superhero outfit.[2]
Maxine officially debuts as Cyclone inJustice Society of America (vol. 3) #3, honoring both the Red Tornado and her former sidekicks, the Cyclone Kids (Maxine's aunt and uncle Amelia "Sisty" Hunkel and Mortimer "Dinky" Jibbet). During this time, she also gains a pet monkey named "Frankie", whom she dresses up to look like one of the winged monkeys fromThe Wizard of Oz (she also wears a green pointed hat from time to time, causing her to resemble both theEnchantress (who wore an identical hat) and theWicked Witch of the West). She undergoes a brief crush on teammateDamage when he is made incredibly handsome temporarily, and slowly starts learning to become less of a motormouth.[3]
During the "Final Crisis" storyline, Maxine is seen as part of the superhero army drafted byAlan Scott to defend various Earth interests from the conquering forces ofDarkseid.[4]
After the JSA suffers a massive supervillain attack, the team divides into two. Cyclone joins the newly formedJSA All-Stars team, and soon after finds herself becoming attracted to her teammateKing Chimera.[5]
In "Doomsday Clock", Cyclone returns alongside many other superheroes to the DC Universe whenDoctor Manhattan, inspired bySuperman, undoes the changes that he made to the timeline that erased the Justice Society of America and theLegion of Super-Heroes.[6]
Maxine possesses the power of wind manipulation, allowing her to mentally summoncyclones andwhirlwinds, project powerful bursts of air, and fly through the air by riding wind currents. Additionally, she can control sound waves.[volume & issue needed]
Cyclone appears inBlack Adam, portrayed byQuintessa Swindell.[8][9] This version was recruited into theJustice Society by team leaderHawkman and displays romantic feelings for teammateAtom Smasher.
