Multiplex

MULTIPLEX

Real Name: Danton Black

Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Supervillain, nuclear physicist

Group Affiliation: The Society

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: (Danton Black) Firestorm I #1 (March, 1978) (Multiplex) Firestorm I #2 (April, 1978)

Powers: By absorbing outside energy sourced Multiplex could create duploids, exact duplicates of himself. Each duploid possessed superhuman strength, but the more duploids he created, the smaller each one became. The duploids would disappear after Multiplex drained off any absorbed energy.

History: (Firestorm I #1, 2) - Black was an assistant to Dr. Martin Stein, who was designing the new Hudson Nuclear Power Plant to be automated and fail-safe, but was fired for stealing lab supplies. He went to the Nuclear Regulations Council and accused Stein of stealing his plans for the plant, and they were forced to hold off the plant's opening. Stein feared the negative publicity would keep the plant from ever opening, and decided to put the plant on line by himself. Black assumed the plant was closed, and entered it in order to copy Stein's files to back up his allegations, but found Stein and high school student Ronnie Raymond unconscious by the reactor. They's been knocked out by Edward Earhart and his Coalition to Resist Nuclear Power, and they set dynamite charges to finish them and the plant off. Black tried to save them, but the dynamite went off. The explosion blew apart the nuclear reactor, and it fused Stein and Raymond into a gestalt atomic being, Firestorm, while Black was bathed in radiation and left unconscious. Black learned he'd gained powers, including the ability to split himself in two. Taking the supervillain identity of Multiplex he broke into the Hudson Plant, knocked out Stein and absorbed the energy of the nuclear pile to enhance his nuclear-powered abilities. Firestorm chased him off, and he fled to State U, which also had a pile. Firestorm changed the pile into harmless phosphorescence, and the weakened Multiplex was easily overcome by the hero.

(Firestorm I #5) - Multiplex was kept in a medical center before being taken to prison, but he recovered and broke out. Finding he could absorb any type of energy he built up his power reserves before sending two duplicates into a subway to absorb electricity from the third rail. Firestorm confronted the duplicates and overloaded Multiplex with nuclear energy, causing him to split into a thousand duplicates who were virtually harmless. Multiplex's duplicates dissipated, and Multiplex was glad he didn't confront Firestorm directly. He met the Hyena, who also hated Firestorm, and they decided to team up to destroy the hero.

(Firestorm II #13 (fb), 11, 12) - The original Firestorm seemingly died, but his archenemy Cliff Carmichael got a call from Firestorm’s old enemy Killer Frost, who assured him his old foe lived on in the new Firestorm, a matrix of the new hero and the old one. Cliff was reluctant to get back in the super villain game, but knew it would be worth it to see Firestorm suffer. He recruited Multiplex and Typhoon to his cause, upgrading their powers against their wills, and forcing them to obey him. Typhoon Typhoon created a destructive storm in Detroit, Firestorm’s new base. Multiplex was obsessed with letting the world know he could beat Firestorm in a fight. Firestorm responded, and was ambushed by the villains. Multiplex sported new, enhanced powers, flight, super strength, and an amped up ability to duplicate himself. During the battle the new Firestorm started disintegrating Multiplex’ duplicate bodies, and the original thought he was stepping over the line with his callous violence, so he took control. He managed to defeat Multiplex and Typhoon, but discovered that they both had circuitry in the back of their necks. The circuitry drained him, at which point Carmichael confronted him, opening up Firestorm’s mind, and threatening to kill all his loved ones. Firestorm defeated Cliff, but the original, Roy Raymond, died in the process.

(Villains United #1) - After threatening Multiplex, Black Adam inducted him into “Lex Luthor’s” Society.

(Villains United #2) - Luthor wanted to destroy the Secret Six III, a group of dissident villains that refused to join the Society, so he sent Multiplex and a number of other Society members to confront the Six aboard the Petrovia, a Russia cargo freighter carrying Thanagarian weapons destined for the Society. The Society defeated the Secret Six and brought them back to Lex Luthor.

(Justice League of America II #1-6) -After Multiplex' death he still had some duplicates running free, but they slowly degenerated into a catatonic state before death. Felix Faust, in the employ of Solomon Grundy, manipulated Red Tornado into putting his essence into one of the dupes so his wife would finally have a human husband. Grundy just wanted Tornado's android body to construct an immortal body for himself. Tornado found that Multiplex' body was rapidly deteriorating, and the JLofA helped him defeat Grundy, and returned his consiousness to his android body.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom

Multiplex received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #16.