John Lynch

JOHN LYNCH

Real Name: John Randall Lynch

Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Soldier

Group Affiliation: I.O., formerly Team 7

Known Relatives: Robert Lane (Burnout, son)

Aliases: Topkick

Base of Operations: Mobile, Earth-50

First Appearance: WildC.A.T.s I (Wildstorm) #1 (August, 1992)

Powers: Lynch possessed telekinesis and telepathy, as well as an accelerated healing factor. He was an excellent military strategist and combatant.

History: John Lynch was an IO agent who earned a promotion heading the elite Team 7. They were exposed to radiation and the Gen Factor to give them superpowers, breaking up soon after because they no longer trusted their own government.

(WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #1, 2) - John Lynch and the I.O. monitored an explosion in Georgetown after a clash between the WildC.A.T.S. and the Cabal fighting over Voodoo, a woman with the power to see Daemonites and exorcise them from humans. Void warped them away from the explosion, and the I.O., who were investigating them, tried to pull them into their field headquarters using one of their psionics. Void warped the team away from I.O. hq back to the WildC.A.T.S. MIRV. I.O. director John Lynch wasn’t thrilled with a rogue covert action team on the loose and dispatched a squad of Black Razors to deal with them. The WildC.A.T.S. learned that the Cabal was using their mole B’lial, who’d possessed U.S. vice president Dan Quayle and the U.S. government’s resources to construct a dimensional gateway to the Daemonite homeworld in a project called Reunification. Marlowe said he’d need Voodoo to exorcise Dan Quayle of the Daemonite possessing him, and Voodoo said she had no idea what she’d landed herself in. Zealot explained that the Kherubim and Daemonites had been at war for eons, and the WildC.A.T.S. and Cabal were from groups stranded on Earth long ago. Thirty years ago the Daemonites scored a major victory, and without Voodoo’s help they’d win the war for Earth. The Black Razor squad came at the WildC.A.T.S., deciding to shoot first and ask questions later. After a brief fight Lynch told Marlowe he wanted to make a deal with him, the identity of the Daemonite mole for the location of Project Reunification. The WildC.A.T.S. went to S.D.I. Astronomics, where Dan Quayle and the Cabal were set to receive the Orb of Power needed for Project Reunification from NASA. The WildC.A.T.S. dealt with the Cabal members, but Dan Quayle introduced his bodyguards, the government sponsored superteam Youngblood.

(WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #4) - Lynch read a copy of the National Eye, detailing how the WildC.A.T.S. foiled Project Reunification and exorcised Dan Quayle. Lynch was pleased with his old associate for accomplishing what he’d been unable to because his hands were tied.

(Darker Image (Image) #1) - When black-op Deathblow was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer he decided to settle some old scores, and traveled to Costa Mesa to kill General Manuel Ortega, who’d killed Deathblow’s partner when they tried to infiltrate his drug cartel in 1990. Ortega had a working relationship with the U.S. government, so John Lynch couldn’t officially condone Deathblow’s actions, even though Washington wanted Ortega dead because he’d become a liability. Lynch and Security Czar Craven told Lieutenant J.L. Conrad that Deathblow, who he’d served with in Panama in the ‘80s, had gone rogue, and sent him and a strike force to Costa Mesa to stop him. Deathblow reached Ortega’s compound where a firefight erupted between him, the strike force and Ortega’s security. Deathblow and Conrad were the only ones left standing, and when Deathblow found Ortega, he’d summoned a demon, saying he had power now that he served the Black Angel. Conrad and Deathblow destroyed Ortega’s charm necklace he’d used to kill the demon, causing it to vanish. Deathblow put a gun to Ortega’s head, and told Conrad he’d been played for a fool. Conrad couldn’t accept that Lynch had lied to him, and he’d lost his men for no reason, so he wouldn’t back down, and Deathblow shot him. Deathblow executed Ortega, and returned to Washington. Deathblow slugged Lynch, damning him for getting good men killed because he was playing games, and said he was through with Lynch.

(Deathblow (Image) #2, 4) - Deathblow brooded about being raised a patriot and growing up a killer. He completed a training exercise in Arlington, VA simulating the killing of terrorists to save a hostage, and his best friend Travis, I.O. control officer of Deathblow’s Special Activities Division was watching. He told Deathblow he knew he’d visited a church recently, and asked if he’d turned to God because after his last physical he learned he had a brain tumor. Travis wondered if Deathblow had a deathwish because of his guilty conscious, and reminded him of what he did in Costa Mesa, but Deathblow said it was them or him. John Lynch briefed the S.O.G., telling them they were to be dropped into an Iraqui intelligence center, where they would inflict maximum casualties, collect whatever information they could, and then be airlifted out. Lynch briefed Craven about Deathblow’s mission status. A pair of F-111’s were bombing Iraq’s energy grid as Deathblow and his strike force were being dropped into the intelligence center, giving them enough time to complete their mission and remain unnoticed. Lynch said that if the black-ops were captured or anything else went wrong a battleship armed with cruise missiles was stationed on the Persian Gulf to destroy any evidence of U.S. involvement. The Order of the Cross learned that the Black Angel had broken free of the tomb where they’d held him prisoner for centuries, and Imam Farouk informed Hassan Kussein, asking him to make the Iraq desert a DMZ until the Order could take care of the demon. Deathstroke, Trickle and the strike force burst into the intelligence center, mowing down everyone in sight. Farouk fought back, but Deathblow, thinking he was part of a second black-op team sent by Lynch, shot him, only to discover to his horror that he really was a man of God. With his dying breath Farouk begged Deathblow to stop the Black Angel. “Kussein” turned out to be a body double, and Deathblow and his team were airlifted out as an arc light dropped bombs on the intelligence center.

(Deathblow (Image) #5) - Deathblow went for a checkup at Memorial Hospital, NYC and getting a MRI. While he waited for the results he watched a news story in the waiting room about a young boy who raised a child from the dead in Central Park after the child drowned during a field trip. Deathblow found himself wishing for a miracle. The doctors noted that Deathblow’s cancer had spread throughout his body, and by all rights he should have been dead. Dr. Anderson correctly theorized that a bio-agent was triggering a change in Deathblow’s body, altering his cells and changing his physiology. Chief of staff Dr. Markus shut him down, saying his theory was impossible. Anderson told Deathblow that instead of a year to live, he had two months at the outside. Deathblow was furious, and when Anderson asked if he had family or loved ones that should be contacted Deathblow replied that he had nobody. Dr. Markus reported to Lynch and Craven, reporting that Detahblow’s cancer was triggering the secondary stages of the gen-active process. It had been a long time since Deathblow had been exposed to the gen-factor during Project Genesis, and Lynch and Carver admitted they were pleased they’d finally see results.

(Deathblow (Image) #9) -The Black Angel planned to bring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse down on Earth and to sacrifice Christopher, a miracle working child that was God’s chosen, in order to open the gates of Hell. The Black Angel and his possessed servants stormed Montcairn Abbey, where the Order of the Cross and Deathblow were protecting the boy. John Lynch and a squad of Black Razors were monitoring the scene from a surveillance van, and when he got the opportunity Lynch donned Razor armor and impaled the Black Angel. The Black Angel burst into flames, leaving behind only a charred skeleton. Black Angel’s servants continued their fight against the Razors, but they unexpectedly started disintegrating as the Black Angel absorbed their lifeforce to heal himself. He grabbed Christopher and flew away, telling Deathblow he’d kidnapped his ex-wife and to meet him in Babylon because there was still a place for him in the Angel’s army. Deathblow asked Lynch to help him prevent judgment day, but Lynch replied that Craven would frown on him aiding Deathblow because he still wanted to see Deathblow and the Order of the Cross dead. Lynch had to investigate a biker SPB in Nevada, but said he’d make a few calls and see if he could get Deathblow some help.

(Gen13 (Image) #3) -

(Deathblow (Image) #10-12) - John Lynch contacted CyberJack, pleading to get backup for Deathblow, who was in battle with the Black Angel. Lynch knew that there were numerous government grudges against Deathblow, but the stakes were too high to take that into consideration, because the Antichrist Black Angel was prepared to open up the gates of Hell and bring about judgment day. CyberJack contacted Backlash, Grifter and Dane, who agreed to aid Deathblow. Dane Backlash and Grifter fought the Four Horsemen while Deathblow and Mary drove to the WTC to confront the Black Angel. Lt. O’Brien and Special Agent Fox tried to arrest Deathblow, still suspecting him of being Herod, but Lynch called them to rescind all warrants against Deathblow, telling them that I.O. Travis Trickle, now dead, was the real Herod. O’Brien and Fox joined Deathblow in his battle against the Black Angel. Deathblow destroyed the Black Angel with the Sword of Heaven and the miracle boy Christopher used the sword’s Heavenly power to turn back time and undo most of the damage the Black Angel and Four Horsemen had caused. In this healed timeline John Lynch and CyberJack were left with nagging questions about what happened.

(The Authority I #13, 16) - The Authority became worldwide celebrities, and Lynch was invited to one of their after-hours parties aboard the Carrier.

Comments: Created by Jim Lee & Brandon Choi.

John Lynch was originally published by Wildstorm Comics, an imprint of Image Comics, which DC acquired the rights to in January, 1999.

John Lynch's appearance in Darker Image (Image) #1, Deathblow (Image) #2, 4, 5, 9-12 was reprinted in Deathblow Deluxe Edition. His appearance in WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #1 was reprinted in Millennium Edition: WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #1. His appearance in WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #1, 2, 4 was republished by DC Comics in a digital format.