BLOK

Real Name: Blok

Class: Extraterrestrial (Dryad)

Occupation: Legionnaire

Group Affiliation: Legion of Super-Heroes, formerly League of Super-Assassins

Known Relatives: Ki-Lan (Silver Slasher, cousin)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Metropolis, Earth, 30th Century

First Appearance: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #253 (July, 1979)

Powers: Like all inhabitants of Dryad, Blok's body was made of rock, and he possessed superhuman strength and durability. He was an average hand-to-hand combatant, and wore a Legion flight ring.

History

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #2) - Lightning Lord formed a new Legion of Super-Villains, with each of them swearing a blood oath to kill at least one Legionnaire. Lightning Lord swore on his oath to kill his brother Lightning Lad, which he said had been his destiny since he was born. Light Lass awoke in chains in a cell, and Lightning Lord promised her he wanted to help her, not hurt her. He said he loved her, and all the proof she needed was that she was still alive. He asked her to join the Legion of Super-Villains and help him kill Lightning Lad, saying he’d been talking to the storm, and the storm had assured him she’d come to him. Light Lass turned him down, saying he was more insane than ever. Element Lad tracked the resurgence of the Legion of Super-Villains across several planets, brief his team, and realized he was in for a major test of his leadership. Star Boy, Dream Girl and Shrinking Violet returned from Ventura to help out, with Star Boy bemoaning his vacation being ruined and wishing he could just spend more time with Dream girl being romantic. The League of Super-Assassins joined with the Legion of Super-Villains, and Lightning Lord sent them and Magno Lad to M-17W, a manufacturing center in the galactic core, to steal the plant’s fusion powerspheres. Shvaugn Erin alerted the Legion, and Dawnstar and Wildfire responded first, but Lazon gave Dawnstar radiation sickness with his light powers, and Magno Lad ripped Wildfire’s containment suit apart. Shadow Lass, Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy and Timber Wolf arrived as support, but the villains escaped using a dimensional rift opened by Zymyr. Shadow Lass treated Dawnstar, while Chameleon Boy brought Wildfire a new containment suit. They pursued the villains, but were ambushed by Terrus, who attacked their spaceship with a meteor shower. Cosmic Boy checked in with the Legion Academy, and alerted Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl about the danger. They were on Medicus One, with Saturn Girl receiving prenatal treatment and her delivery date fast approaching. Lightning Lad worried about the safety of his sister, not knowing she was already in captivity. Zymyr opened a spacewarp that stole the polymer screen around Earth that served environmental functions and controlled space traffic. Element Lad, Lightning Lad, and despite everyone else’s objections, Saturn Girl, responded. Saturn Girl went into labor, and Tyr was disappointed to be fighting a pregnant woman, but contented himself with the fact that she’d be easy to kill. Zymyr ended the confrontation, warping his teammates away, and Element Lad and Lightning Lad rushed Saturn Girl to the Medicus One Maternity Ward. Dr. Gym’ll told Lightning Lad he’d been paging him, and that if he wasn’t planning on pulling any more moronic stunts it was time to get in the delivery room. Element Lad, who’d been pacing back and forth in worry, fainted. Queen Projects and Karate Kid flew back to Orando after their honeymoon, but the Legion of Super-Villains were waiting for them, and Magno Lad, Hunter and Mist Matser brought their spaceship down. They took the heroes legion rings and sent out the alarm signal, saying the Legion would come running to their own doom.

(Legion of Super-Heroes Annual I #3) -

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #3) - Dawnstar, Wildfire, Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass and White Witch set course for Orando, but were being followed by Terrus and Zymyr. Zymyr opened a spacewarp that warped in most of the Legion of Super-Villains to ambush the Legionnaires. On Earth Cosmic Boy agreed to keep watch on the planet while Element Lad assembled the rest of thew Legion to fly a ship to Orando. Cosmic Boy was worried about Element Lad devoting all their resources to Orando, but trusted his judgment. He was thankful when Night Girl sent a video message offering the help of the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Projecta and Karate Kid were chained in a cell next to Light Lass, and Lightning Lord visited her to again plead with her to join him, saying she’d join his Legion in a passage to a new world where they would rule. She made it clear she’d rather die, and he called her a traitor to her own blood, grabbing her and shocking her before walking off disgusted, saying he no longer had a sister. Dream Girl woke in her crashed ship on Orando, finding Star Boy and Shrinking Violet still unconscious. She recognized Projecta’s castle from her vision where a Legionnaire was die, and she was ambushed by Hunter and Silver Slasher. Dawnstar and her teammates were in danger of being overwhelmed by the Legion of Super-Villains until element Lad and his reinforcements arrived. Nemesis Kid, Cosmic King, Neutrax and Ron-Karr placed the polymer screen around Orando, and hooked it up to their stolen powerspheres. They planned to warp Orando away to another world where there was no Legion of super-Heroes. Nemesis Kid had always been drawn to the powerful, and couldn’t wait to arrive in a new world where he’d be the supreme power, planning on declaring himself the emperor of a universe. Zymyr was prepared to warp the planet, but Nemesis Kid wanted to give his Legion a little more time battling the Legion of Super-Heroes to see if they could kill any of them before they left. The Legionnaires were winning, so Nemesis Kid gave the order to warp away the Legion of Super-Villains, inadvertently taking some of the Legionnaires with them, and warped Orando to a space between dimensions.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #5) - Light Lass broke free as did Karate Kid, and they freed their teammates stranded on Orando. Light Lass hijacked Zymyr’s ship and set a course back to the orbit around Orando, while Karate Kid died in battle with the Nemesis Kid. The Legionnaires waiting in the space where Orando once was were met by Gigi Cusimano, who recalled them to Earth by orders of the Science Police, and Brainiac 5 protested that the order was irrational. Gigi flirted with Sun Boy, and negotiated with Dream Girl, who convinced her to allow Brainiac 5, Sun Boy, Shadow Lass and Mon-El to stay put should Orando return. Queen Projecta cradled Karate Kid’s charred corpse as the Legion of Sup-Villains surrounded her. Projecta raged at the villains, saying they’d ravaged her planet and killed her husband, and demanded they leave Orando. Nemesis Kid told his teammates to stay back, saying he wanted to be the one to kill her. Light Lass observed the events from Orando from her ship, and, unwilling to see another teammate die, changed course back to the planet. Light Lass charged into battle against the Legion of Super-Villains, but Lightning Lord demanded they leave her be, because she was his sister, and because she’d betrayed him he had the right to kill her. Light Lass almost pitied her insane brother, but after a fierce battle she soundly beat him. The rest of the LSV prepared to attack her when her teammates stranded on Orando came to the rescue, with Element Lad disabling several of the LSV by changing the air around them to helium, causing them to lose consciousness Nemesis Kid told Zymyr to call in the rest of their team as backup, and Projecta assured him she was going to kill him. Element Lad disabled Ol-Vir by turning his clothes to lead, poisonous to Daxamites. The rest of the LSV were soon overwhelmed, and Mist Master, Ron-Karr and Radiation Roy decided the fight was already lost, and boarded Zymyr’s ship, warping themselves back to the space around Orando. Zymyr decided that their dream of finding new worlds to conquer was never to be, and said he would no longer be burdened by humans, and prepared to warp away. His spacewarp accidentally took Light Lass and Lightning Lord with him back to his homeworld Gil’Dishpan. Projecta created illusions of Hell, telling Nemesis Kid that was where he belonged. His power dispelled her illusions, but she Projecta didn’t back down, saying she was the descendant of wizards and kings, and needed only her own strength to finish him. Projecta snapped his neck, and told her stunned former teammates that as queen it was her right to execute a condemned man. The villains aboard Zymyr’s ship crashed and were easily captured by the Legion, and Brainiac 5 hoped to repair the ship to brink back their stranded teammates, but Gil’Dishpan technology defied all known physics and his own super-genius. Projecta held a funeral for Karate Kid, and told her subjects she blamed herself for allowing such evil on her world. The remaining members of the Legion of Super-Villains were contained in one of Zymyr’s spheres, and she instructed the Legionnaires to enter the remaining sphere. Projecta said Orando was ill-suited for modern times and contact with other planets, so she’d use Zymyr’s machine to find new worlds where Orando and her citizens could be left in peace, and told the Legion to never seek her out. Orando warped away, and the Legionnaires hoped their teammates would capture Zymyr and rescue them. Esper Lass sent a telepathic message to the Legionnaires, mocking them. She’d penetrated Zymyr’s mind, and knew how to use his spheres, allowing her to warp herself and her teammates away while the Legionnaires were stranded in their sphere between dimensions.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #7, 8) - Lightning Lass demanded Dream Girl and the Legion readmit her to the team despite their rule against duplicate powers, and she said she didn’t want Dream Girl to change her powers again. Dream Girl responded that  she wouldn’t think of tampering with her powers again, as she knew better, and told Lightning Lass she was not up on current events, because her brother was on leave taking care of his newborn son. Lightning Lass was in shock, but overjoyed that she was an aunt. Cosmic Boy mused that Lightning Lass replacing her brother on the team fell right in with his plans, and he told Wildfire he had some ideas to discuss with him. Colossal Boy helped his mother pack up her belongings so she could return home. He said he was just getting used to the idea of her as President, and she responded that she felt the same way, which was part of the reason she resigned. Chief Zendak sent out an alert asking for Legion assistance. The remaining members of the Legion of Super-Villains were approaching Earth, and he wanted them arrested before landing. Colossal Boy was quick to respond. The rest of the Legion met with Shvaugn Erin and prepared for takeoff in their hangar. Timber Wolf confronted Lightning Lass about ghosting him since she left the Legion. She said she’d cut ties with him because he’d decided the Legion was more important than their relationship. He pointed out that she just rejoined the Legion, and she replied that she came to that decision after soul-searching and a journey of self-discovery that he chose not to join her in, and made it clear she had no more romantic feelings for him. Cosmic Boy tried to figure out a way to make his plan to shake up the Legion work. Night Girl visited him, asking him to take a trip with her to Kathoon. Cosmic Boy said that if the Substitute Heroes could survive without Night Girl the Legion could survive without him once they found their missing teammates. He told Night Girl he was considering going off active-duty permanently, saying his exit might be the perfect catalyst to move the Legion forward. The Legion and Gigi Cusimano and Shvaugn Erin in their new Science Police battle armor, cornered the remaining members of the Legion of Super-Villains on the planet S’cardas IV. The Science Police attached an intensifier to Sun Emperor, giving him feedback from his own power, and blasted Spider Girl unconscious. Wildfire defeated Cosmic King while Blok took out his former teammate Neutrax, saying he was more confused than dangerous. White Witch used a dispersal spell to reveal Chameleon Chief, who was trying to hide by disguising himself as a rock, and Lightning Lass accidentally stepped on Micro Lad, putting an end to the evil team. The Science Police loaded the LSV on a ship to Takron-Galtos, and Erin asked Wildfire if he’d like to join them and say hello to all the criminals they’d put away. Wildfire said he’d seen quite enough of Takron-Galtos lately and told Erin to make sure the Science Police started doing a better job keeping their prisoners locked up. Erin shed a tear, asking Wildfire to find Element Lad and the other missing Legionnaires and promising to personally throw away the keys to the prison planet.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #9) - Dream Girl chaired a meeting of the Legion, and Cosmic Boy was concerned that they’d been operating at half-strength for so long and suggested a membership drive. Before Dream Girl could plan a drive the Legion were reunited with their teammates Element Lad, Shrinking Violet, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy and Ultra Boy, just back from Limbo. After a joyous reunion the Legion decided to throw a party. The Sklarian Raiders caused a incident in Hong Kong, so Dream Girl sent Element Lad, Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet to deal with it. The Sklarians were illegally shipping frozen organs to their home planet and the Legion shut them down.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #10) - The Worldcomp computer chose the candidates for the next President of the Earth, and the Khunds assembled a terror team to assasinate the candidates. Chief Zendak learned of their plot, and fearing it was a diversion to pave the way for a Khund invasion of Earth he had the majority of the Legion of Super-Heroes fly a spaceship into Earth’s orbit to keep watch alongside Science Police crafts. The rest of the Legion were assigned to protect the candidates, with Sun Boy foiling a Khund assassination attempt on Candidate Lopyt of Acapulco and Invisible Kid saving Candidate Leung of Yangtzopolis. Invisible Kid accidentally opened a spacewarp during the fight, and he and the Khund ended up in Earth’s orbit. Invisible Kid’s Legion transuit protected him, but the Khund died, leaving Invisible Kid in a state of shock. Elemnt Lad brought the Kid back to the Legion spaceship and told him to get some rest before they decided if he violated the Legion code. Wildfire guarded Candidate Mojai Desai of India, who bragged that his family had been leaders for generations, and he’d be sure to be elected. A Khund assassin burst into Desai’s flying mansion, and during his fight with Wildfire he brought the mansion down on his own head. Wildfire flew Desai to safety, and his family safely escaped in lifeships. Coasmic Boy announced to his teammates that he was taking an extended leave of absence to spent time with Night Girl. He went on to say he was making several changes in his life, but refused to elaborate. Colossal Boy, Yera and his parents celebrated Marte’s last day as President. She said she looked forward to going back to teaching at university. The Khunds tried a last ditch effort to spark a war with Earth, and sent an assassin to kill Marte. Colossal Kid fought him off, saving his mother’s life, but was wounded by a laserblast to his arm.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #11) - The entire Legion of Super-Heroes held a quorum to deal with Legion business that’d been kicked down the road for months. Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl rejoined the team, and after the meeting they met with Cosmic Boy to reflect on their past. Cosmic Boy said they provided a sense of continuity since they were the original Legionnaires, and they all started to feel a little bit old.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #12) - The Legionnaires held an election to determine their new leader with Element Lad running against Brainiac 5. Element Lad had the full support of Shvaughn, and she was pleased that he had the support of the original Legionnaires as well. The original Legionnaires, with Graym Ranzz in tow, announced they were leaving active duty, but wanted to share their ideas for the future of the Legion with Element Lad. Element Lad convinced them to become permanent rotating advisors that could be called form the reserves in an emergency or offer guidance to new members. The votes came in, and Element Lad prevailed. The Legion’s biggest fan, Flynt Brojj, awaited the news and came to Legion hq to hear it first. The original Legionnaires and Element Lad decided their fans always stuck with them through thick and thin, so they’d let Flynt be the first to hear.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #13) - The Legion of Super-Heroes had a membership drive, and Blok was amazed at how many people showed up, assuring the crowd everyone would get a fair opportunity to prove themselves. Timber Wolf’s lawyer Ziirf showed up to give Blok a message globe from his client. The rest of the LOSH were enjoying some recreation time with Star Boy and Sun Boy playing holographic Dungeons & Dragons and Computo providing refreshments. Shrinking Violet distracted Sun Boy from the game by groping him. Block played Timer Wolf’s message for his teammates. He said he was going to the planet Lythyl to carry out Karate Kid’s last request. Lythyl was a sadistic planet full of sociopaths, and he wasn’t sure if he’d make it out alive, but he knew the billions in credits he’d receive if he was successful could help a lot of children. The Legion were forbidden from interfering with his business, but Element Lad wanted to assemble a covert team to rescue him from Lythyl if needed. Sensei and Timber Wolf arrived on Lythyl, where they were shackled and told they’d serve as slaves until they earned their freedom or died. Sensei revealed to Timber Wolf that Karate Kid’s father the Black Dragon ahd been corrupted on Lythyl, which was why he could never forget the planet. Sensei couldn’t stand by watching the Lythyls abusing one of their fellow slaves and went into action, attacking his guard. Timber Wolf joined him, and they showed they were easily a match for the Lythyls. The Lythyls were impressed, saying they might have what it took to become citizens, and took them to the judges of Lythyl to determine their fate. Judges Gorax, Steggus and the teenager Myg wanted to see their prowess, and sicced a water dragon on them, telling them to master the beast. Sensei and Timber Wolf fought the beast, and eventually were able to command it back to the water from which it came. Myg said he would test them next, and brought them to the multiverse nexus that was a source of legend on Lythyl. Myg was impressed with Sensei’s martial arts technique and wanted to test him, so the two engaged in combat but fought to a standstill. Sensei declared him a noble opponent, but still struck him unconscious so he could continue his mission with Timber Wolf. Sensei insisted they take Myg with them, hoping to take him away from Lythyl before the planet corrupted him entirely, because he saw potential in the young lad. They fought their way to the Sacred Oasis and the Island of Stones, the most sacred spot on all of Lythyl. Element Lad’s team of Mon-El, Invisible Kid and White Witch flew to Lythyl, with White Witch’s magic keeping them from being detected. Mon-El was glad Invisible Kid had been cleared for the death of the Khundian assassin he’d accidentally killed, but told him he had to make it a priority to learn how to control his new powers. Timber Wolf completed his mission and was rescued alongside Sensei and Myg by his fellow Legionnaires before the Lythyls could rip them to shreds. Timber Wolf said the Lythyls believed the Island of Stones was as hard as them, and that nothing would ever grow there. Prophecy said that if anything did grow there the Lythyls would grow soft so Karate Kid’s final request was to plant a seed on the island.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #14) - The Legion interviewed applicants during their membership drive and had them demonstrate their powers. The Legion Academy all tried out, with Bouncing Boy on hand to cheer them on. Mentalla applied for membership, saying she’d be a valuable addition because her powers were similar to Saturn Girl, although her telepathy was used to control minds instead of reading them. Comet Queen, Magnetic Kid and Tellus all made it to the second round, and were given a trial by fire, joining the Legion on a mission to find out why the bridges and drainage systems of the California Coastal District were breaking down. Brainiac 5 led the mission, and had Mon-El team up with Magnetic Kid to use their powers to raise the newly sunken sections of California. Comet Queen rescued civilians in danger of drowning and Tellus picked up the thought-patterns of someone with sabotage on their mind. At Legion hq Energy Boy demonstrated he ability to create nuclo-globes when Polar Boy interrupted him by freezing his nuclo-globe and hands to show the Legion that he’d gotten much better at controlling his powers. He told the Legion he’d dissolved the Subs, and asked that they waive their old rule that new applicants had to be under 18 to consider him. Tellus led his teammates to the northern cost, where he sensed the thought-patterns coming from. The coast buckled and Mon-El went to investigate, finding Dev-Em on the scene. Dev-Em was now working for the U.P.’s Counter-Intelligence Corps and was also investigating the damage being done to California. Dev-Em made it very clear he was not impressed with the new would-be Legionnaires, and said the Legion would be better off if they offered him membership again. Dev-Em said the Corps had learned that the Dark Circle left behind a few stragglers on Earth to commit acts of sabotage, and Tellus tracked down the saboteur, an Ontiir clone. The clone sat in a weapon-chair and was set off another destructive device that caused a tidal wave. Mon-El used his heat vision to evaporate the tidal wave while his teammates tried to pierce the clone’s forcefield. Quislet, an adventurer from a microscopic dimension flying in a miniatures Trans-D Vessel, joined the fray in an attempt to impress the Legion. Quislet could animate inanimate matter, and took control of the clone’s weapon-chair, using it to defeat him. Quislet returned to his Vessel, and the weapon-chair crumbled to dust, as was usually the case for any matter Quislet possessed. The Legion inducted Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet and Tellus as new members. Saturn Girl said she had a recruit with an excellent reason to join the team, Sensor Girl. She wouldn’t reveal anything about Sensor Girl, but asked the Legion to trust her, much like they trusted her telepathy when she recommended Element Lad as a member, and the Legion welcomed Sensor Girl to their ranks.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #15) - Wildfire took the new Legion recruits on a training course aboard a Legion cruiser, but a solar flare hit their vessel. Wildfire’s containment suit was destroyed, and he had to return to a Legion storage tesseract to get a new suit, grumbling that Brainiac 5 was unable to mass produce suits that gave him consistent powers. The beacon that lured spacefaring dragons away from Imsk while migrating malfunctioned, and Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Shadow Lass and Mon-El went to deal with the situation. Sun Boy used his solar powers to keep the dragons away from Imsk until the beacon was repaired. Element Lad contacted them via holo-screen and told them the new recruits were missing, and sent them to investigate. He assembled Blok, Dawnstar, Lightning Lass, White Witch and Ultra Boy to act as backup if needed. Dream Girl questioned his leadership abilities, asking why he was spreading the Legion so thin without going on the mission himself, and Star Boy told him to ignore her.  The Legion went to the quadrant where the rookies were last seen and came across a star that shot solar flares at them, dragging them to a nearby asteroid. The Legion realized that a beam from the asteroid was guiding the solar flares. Dr. Regulus was behind the attacks and revealed his captives. He was being aided by the burning ones, flame creatures that lived on the asteroid, and promised to free his hostages if Sun Boy fought him in one-on-one combat. Regulus’ quest for vengeance had driven him near madness, and he still blamed Sun Boy for costing him his job. The Legionnaires left Sun Boy to his confrontation with his nemesis, and although Regulus had the upper hand with the Burning Ones at his side Sun Boy slipped his Legion flight ring on Regulus, causing him to fly upward and knock himself out against a cavern wall.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway & Joe Staton.

Blok received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3 and Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #1. He received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #13 under the Legion of Super-Heroes entry. Blok received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #13 under the League of Super-Assassins entry.

Blok had a cameo in Legion of Super-Heroes III #1, Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #326, 329.

Blok’s appearance in Legion of Super-Heroes III #2, 3, 5, 7-15 was reprinted in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #327, 328, 330, 332-340.

All characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please visit The Official DC Comics Site at: http://www.batman.com.