Amazo
15 years ago - Amazo is first activated, used by his creator Professor Ivo to kidnap the Justice League, his Absorbtion Cells allowing him to mimic the superpowers of the League. He is defeated by Black Canary.
12 years ago - 3-year-old Amazo's programming matrix is upgraded. Professor Ivo reprograms him to copy Justice League member powers conceptually in real-time. Before he is imprisoned, Ivo sets the new matrix to begin compiling.
2 years ago - 13-year-old Amazo's new programming matrix is complete. He attacks the Justice League, and is able to defeat their entire lineup, along with all back-up members of the league who come to assist, before he is defeated when the League is disbanded.
1 year ago - 14-year-old Amazo's original android body is recovered by Gorilla Grodd for the Legion of Doom. His new programming is wiped leaving a much simpler power matrix. He is stored in their headquarters.
2992 - Amazo's head is unearthed by the archeologist father of Kirt Neidrigh.
Sometimes with some of the villains from DC's history, we're fighting an uphill battle to try to imagine a singular version of them based on their cannon comic appearances. Villains have a tendency to be fully re-imagined every time they show up. Even the REALLY big baddies, like Lex Luthor or the Joker, will vary wildly from one appearance to another.
I bring this up here because Amazo presents a particularly tough version of this problem. He's very popular, so he turns up all the time, but there is an almost absurd variance in how he's depicted. He's always a THREAT, but the scope of that threat is all over the place. he's been a mindless machine, and he's been human enough to have his own personality. Rather than try to synthesize all that variety, we're going to be just leaning into our preferred version of the character.
I bring this up here because Amazo presents a particularly tough version of this problem. He's very popular, so he turns up all the time, but there is an almost absurd variance in how he's depicted. He's always a THREAT, but the scope of that threat is all over the place. he's been a mindless machine, and he's been human enough to have his own personality. Rather than try to synthesize all that variety, we're going to be just leaning into our preferred version of the character.
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Amazo's Comic HistoryAmazo is one of the original Justice League baddies, from before the team even had their own book. He debuted in 1960's Brave and the Bold # 30, where he challenged the League by copying all of their powers and using them to capture them for his creator, Professor Ivo. The image of the League each trapped in individual glass chambers, with Amazo stretched out on a table while Ivo sits at a nearby terminal, gassing the heroes to steal their powers permanently, is one of the iconic visuals of League history.
Amazo has come back time and time again, all across the classic Justice League history. As is so often the case, my personal favorite appearance came during Morrison's JLA run, in this case in an issue written by Mark Millar with his usual penchant for high action and flippant irreverence. A new model Amazo appears, and when a massive roster of League reservists show up, we learn that this one can adapt new powers instantly as more Justice League members appear, making him virtually unbeatable, until Superman disbands the League in front of him, rendering him powerless. Classic. |
Our Amazo StoryRather than try to include lots of different appearances of Amazo across the timeline, we're going to set him up to be a HUGE threat, but to do that we're going to limit him to only a few stories. Obviously we need to start with his first appearance, which is one of the most iconic stories in the early Justice League timeline. Notably, this happened back before the membership of the League really expanded, so we wanted to make sure this takes place with the original five members. Wonder Woman's role in that original lineup has since been canonically replaced with Black Canary, and we liked the idea of her being there so much that we decided that she's going to be the one that actually saves all the superpowered leaguers. After that story, we really want to make sure the Mark Millar story happens.
Moving forward, Amazo is traditionally a regularly occurring baddie, but if we want to set him up for that role, he needs to not be such a titanic threat. To that end, he has his new programming (which has proved to have a pretty big flaw) removed, stripping him back to just his original power set. He's still absurdly powerful, and having him as a backup plan for the Legion of Doom will be an amazing story. |
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