Vandal Savage

VANDAL SAVAGE

Real Name: Vandar Adg

Class: Cro-Magnon mutate

Occupation: Conqueror

Group Affiliation: formerly Injustice Society of the World, Tartarus, The Society

Known Relatives: Scandal (daughter), Vandar Adg (father, deceased)

Aliases: Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Khafre, many others

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Green Lantern I #10 (Winter, 1943)

Powers: Vandal Savage never physically aged, and his extended lifespan has made him a brilliant conqueror, strategist and scientist. Vandal Savage possessed a number of mystic powers that needed blood sacrifices to work. These abilities included superhuman strength, endurance and the power to open interdimensional warps.

History: (Green Lantern I #10 (fb), History of the DC Universe #1, Time Masters #8) - 50,000 years ago Vandar Adg was born into the Blood People, a tribe of Cro-Magnons. Time traveler Rip Hunter knew that Vandar would one day become a great force of evil, and hoped to prevent his rise to power by killing him. Hunter mistakenly killed Vandar's father, traumatizing the young Cro-Magnon. Years later a strange meteor fell from the sky close to Vandar. He lapsed into a coma, and upon awakening found himself transformed into an immortal. Now known as Vandal Savage he embarked on a quest for power that would last millennia. Through the years he continually warred with another man who had been given powers by the same meteor, the Immortal Man. In the dying days of Atlantis Savage founded the Illuminati.

(JLA #84, 86 (fb)) - <20,000 years ago)- Savage’s clan migrated from Asia along the Bering Land Bridge, headed to the Americas. They encountered Dakath the Burning, a savage wounded Martian that slaughtered Savage’s tribe. After two months of ongoing conflict Savage surprised the alien and beheaded it.

(Green Lantern I #10) - Vandal claimed to have been a king in Sumer, the pharaoh Cheops who built the great pyramids, Julius Caesar, ruler of the Roman empire, and the conqueror Genghis Khan. He served as military aide to both Napoleon and Bismarck.

(JSA #42-44) <Egypt, 15^th Dynasty> - Savage acquired the Orb of Ra, used it to revive Ahk-Ton the Metamorph, create an army of sand-homunculi and set out to regain control of Egypt. After conquering and razing Kahndaq he laid siege to the temple of Karnak, but was opposed by King Khufu, Black Adam and the time traveling Hawkgirl II, Captain Marvel and Mr. Terrific II. The heroes defeated his army after enlisting the help of Ra, and Ra de-aged Savage into an infant, with the hope that he would change his life as he cycled from child to adult for the second time.

Savage also claims to have been Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. Savage decided there was too much danger in being a prominent leader, so he thereafter devoted himself to being a kingmaker. In the following centuries he advised William the Conqueror, Napoleon and Bismarck.

(Final Night #2 (fb, BTS)) - <500 years ago> Savage fell madly in love with a woman, but she thought Savage was vulgar and demanding, and would have nothing to do with him, Savage blackmailed her into sitting for a painting, and blackmailed Leonardo da Vinci into painting her. The Mona Lisa was the result, and it became one of da Vinci's most famous works.

(Green Lantern I #10) - Doiby Dickles drove a mysterious man to a Park Avenue club, and was attacked by goons soon afterward. He asked for Green Lantern to investigate, and returning to the club the stranger said his name was Vandal Savage, and messing with Doiby was just a joke to get Green Lantern's attention. He knew GL knew Alan Scott, and asked for a meeting. In his civilian identity Alan met with Vandal, who wished to purchase his safe deposit box at the Wheat Exchange Bank, saying he was superstitious, and that he thought it would bring him luck. Alan turned him down, and Savage smiled to his face, but sent goons to break into the bank, stealing 100 shares of Consolidated Steel Savage needed to become chairman of the company. GL and Doiby investigated Consolidated, and Vandal knocked them out, using GL's weakness of wood, and put them in chairs in which GL couldn't move without electrocuting Doiby. Vandal knew all about GL, including his secret identity, and decided to tell them his story. He was an immortal Cro-Magnon, and loved power, so he wanted America to lose WWII, knowing he could manipulate the country far more efficiently if it was a dictatorship. Vandal bid them adieu, revealed that the chairs they were in were just a projection, and warned them that he'd reveal GL's identity if they interfered in his plans. Savage was appointed the US war labor chief, and the heroes followed him to Washington while Savage sent more gunmen against them. GL exposed Vandal as a fraud, he was using Doiby's birth certificate since he didn't have one, and fearing life imprisonment for defrauding the US government he fled to his cavernous hideout in Kentucky with the heroes in pursuit. He trained a gun on them, and said he was almost sorry to see them go because they'd relieved the boredom of immortality for him. GL used his power ring to disintegrate the floor beneath Savage, and he plummeted into its cavernous depths.

(JLA: Year One #2) - <1951> Savage pressured the House Un-American Activities Committee into investigating the JSA, and forcing the hero team to disband.

(JLA: Year One #2) - Locus came to Savage, asking him for help in destroying the JLA. Savage recruited Solomon Grundy, Thorn, Eclipso and Clayface II and sent them against the League.

(JLA: Year One #3) - Savage and Locus oversaw T.O. Morrow's attempts at creating artificial life.

(JLA: Year One #9) - Locus turned against Vandal Savage, razing his headquarters to the ground.

(Flash I #137) - Vandal Savage sought revenge by making retired members of the JSA his prisoners. This time he was defeated by Flash I and Flash II. The JSA decided to reform because of this event.

(Action Comics #553) - Vandal Savage and Abraxas, inc. uncovered the secrets of the time pyramids and infected Superman with time seeds from the pyramids. Vandal set a forcefield around Superman and Metropolis Park, and as the seeds dropped they turned the park into a prehistoric jungle that comforted Savage because it reminded him of his beginnings. Superman broke through the forcefield and the seeds spread to the heart of Metropolis. Vandal talked to reporter Lana Land and claimed the time-reversal in Metropolis Park was due to a time-flux, and that Abraxes placed a forcefield around it to study it and find a way to get fossil fuel from it. He went on to say that Superman destroyed the force field because he didn't think things through, and undid Abraxes' work. Superman and the Forgotten heroes traveled back in time to the Big Band and destroyed the original time pyramid, erasing the pyramids from the present and undoing the damage they did to Metropolis.

(Flash II #1, 2) - Vandal Savage rediscovered his mystic powers, which faded thousands of years ago. He became a drug lord in NYC, with his principle product being Velocity 9, a deadly chemical that sped up human metabolism. He also resumed leadership of the Illuminati, influencing actions of governments throughout the world.

(Damage #0) - Vandal Savage met with Nadjia Wahrman and Baron Blitzkrieg in cyberspace and decided to give it another go at capturing Damage. They all believed Damage’s DNA would unlock the mystery of the metagene, and Vandal Savage promised to clone new superhuman bodies for the Baron and Nadjia. He then planned to create an army of superhumans loyal only to him.

(Justice League Task Force #17-21) -

(Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1) - Vandal Savage wanted a superteam to destroy the Titans so he captured Omen and forced her to pick and locate number of villains for his team. Vandal couldn’t guess that Omen chose villains she knew would not get along in the long run. Savage assembled Siren, Gorilla Grodd, Red Panzer, Lady Vic and Cheshire as Tartarus. He promised Tartarus an opportunity to control mankind’s destiny.

(Final Night #2) - The Sun-Eater engulfed the sun, and Savage arranged for off-world transport because he believed Earth was doomed. He took advantage of the chaos on the ground, robbing the Louve and making of with the Mona Lisa, a portrait of his old infatuation. He was captured by Batman and Superman.

(DC One Million #1-3) - Northern Mongolia; Savage bought five Rocket Red warsuits armed with nuclear detonators. Tempest, Arsenal, Supergirl and Jesse Quick interrupted his business, but Savage defeated them and strapped them inside his newly-purchased Rocket Red suits. He launched Tempest’s Rocket Red suit at Washington, D.C. Tempest escaped, and it misfired and decimated Montevideo instead. He then sent the other three warsuits and captive heroes into orbit, but they were rescued. Savage made a worldwide broadcast demanding all armed forces to be placed under his control, announcing that he was the new ruler of the world. Savage’s plans were foiled and his mind was infected with a virus, so he went to Egypt and unearthed the blitz-machines he developed in WWII and declared war on the nations of Earth. He was defeated by Arsenal’s team with the aid of Martian Manhunter, and was forced to flee into the desert.

(JLA #85, 86) - When the Burning consumed Martian Manhunter the JLA sought out Vandal Savage in his arctic stronghold, since he’d once encountered the Burning, the savage predecessor of the Martian race. They brought him to the JLA Watchtower along with the severed head of the Burning he kept as a trophy. Savage explained his history and triumph over the alien before being turned over to the World Court.

(Villains United #5) - Vandal joined Lex Luthor's Society. He talked to Luthor about his misgivings about the Society, but Luthor interrupted their discussion to have a briefing with the Fearsome Five. Vandal felt disrespected and quit the Society.

(Flash II #227 (BTS), 228-230) - Vandal Savage formed a church that worshipped him, and he let his loyal followers drink his blood, giving them superhuman powers. He wanted the Summoner to bring about end times, convinced humanity would worship him when the apocalypse came. He needed the alien weapon the Summoner and tried to steal it from the Flash Museum but failed. He had his congregation meet Flash and they told him they needed the Summoner to save a dying member of their church. Flash complied and Vandal Savage took the weapon from him. He shackled Flash alongside Flash Jay Garrick and Kid Flash, who’d previously tried to stop Savage. Savage used the Summoner to pull asteroid 4787 Thanatos from its orbit and set it on a collision course with Earth. He hoped the asteroid would give him more power in the way a falling meteor had millennia earlier, but failing that the asteroid’s impact would leave Earth in shambles with Vandal ready to lead the planet with his followers. The speedsters escaped their bonds, and Flash confronted Savage. Flash reversed the Summoner’s polarity, sending the asteroid away. Savage stepped in front of the Summoner and was himself hurled into space towards the asteroid, but before he disappeared he told Flash he would ensure that Flash’s bloodline would last forever because he would be back to watch over Flash’s children.

(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #31 (fb)) - Tokamak sold his cloning technology to Vandal Savage in exchange for some radioactive material. He didn’t reveal that the tech had been performing erratically as of late.

(DC One Million #1) - <85,271 AD> Savage and Solaris trapped Justice Legion A in the past and brought the JLA to their era to die.

(Martian Manhunter II #1,000,000, DC One Million #4) - Savage went to Mars to find the Knight Fragment, an object of power capable of destroying Solaris that was long ago hidden by the Martian Manhunter. Vandal Savage recovered the Knight Fragment from Mars, supposedly the last remaining kryptonite in the universe, fulfilling his bargain with Solaris. He didn’t know that the 21st Century JLA had disguised a Green Lantern power ring as kryptonite, foiling Solaris’ plan to kill Superman Prime. Savage took Resurrection Man’s teleport gauntlets, but they’d been tampered with by Chronos. Savage ended up in the 21st century in Montevideo seconds before the nuclear attack the past Savage launched at the country atomized it, and Savage.

Comments: Created by Alfred Bester & Martin Nodell

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe Vandal Savage lived on Earth-2.

Vandal Savage received profiles in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #25, Who’s Who in the DC Universe #4 and JLA-Z #3.

A statue of Savage was seen in the New Flash Museum in Flash II #211.

Vandal Savage was pictured on the cover of Flash II #225

A photo of Vandal Savage and the Injustice Society of the World was seen in the JSA Museum in JSA #52.

When Resurrection Man attuned his mind to the cosmos in Resurrection Man #18 his memory of his past lives were restored and he realized Vandal Savage had been his mortal enemy throughout all of his lives. Although brief glimpses of their battles have been shown no details emerged other than the fact that they have fought each other time and again.