Posts Tagged ‘Kurt Busiek’

Flying Fox

Monday, October 26th, 2009
Art by Brent Anderson

Art by Brent Anderson

Contributed by Ronald Byrd

The Flying Fox (real name Samantha Cronin) is one of the many super-heroes active in Astro City; the daughter of a senator and a political aide who was once the girlfriend of the 1950s super-hero Atomicus, she is relatively new to the hero business, and thus little about her activities has been revealed. She appeared at Astro City’s Comicon ’00 and was set to appear in a series of stories by Bulldog Comics before the company’s building vanished without a trace, and on one occasion she rescued a busload of schoolchildren from the street gang called the Bonebreakers. In her civilian identity, Samantha is openly gay and has a girlfriend named Kath, but in her identity as the Flying Fox she is only rumored to be a lesbian and has apparently not made a point of revealing her sexual orientation.

The Flying Fox possesses no superhuman powers but is an excellent athlete and fighter; she travels on a flying aero-cycle.

Flying Fox first appears in Astro City #21, vol 2 and is confirmed as lesbian during a conversation with her mother in Astro City: Local Heroes #2.

© and ® Juke Box Productions. Used without permission.

Chain

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Contributed by Ronald Byrd

Chain (AKA Gordon), one of the many super-villains active in Astro City, was among the victims of the so-called “Black Mask Killer,” killed when he became suspicious of a mass crimewave that was part of a master plan by the ex-hero known as El Hombre. Never actually seen, his murder was reported in #14. Following his death, Chain’s unnamed spouse, an African-American man, notes that he “always tried to get [Chain] to go legit—sell his apparatus to some big company, or something. I mean—shifting your mind into a metal body. Think of what that’d mean to undersea work, or space exploration.” Unfortunately, Chain was never interested in this potentially more lucrative use of his capabilities. He is known to have cleared at least two million dollars in a “Montreal raid,” but like most other super-villains, he had little ability to hold onto money.

Art by Brent Anderson

Art by Brent Anderson

Via unspecified technology, Chain was able to shift his consciousness from his human body into a metallic one made of links. In this form, he could be scattered into pieces, only to re-form himself and recover from any physical damage; only his “brain-link” was vulnerable to harm. It might be presumed that he had various other superhuman traits as well.

Chain was confirmed as gay in Astro City #15, vol 2.

© and ® Juke Box Productions. Published by Homage/ Wildstorm. Used without permission.