ALTER EGO: Isaiah Crockett
OCCUPATION: College Student, Adventurer
MARITAL STATUS: Single
RELATIVES: Estelle Crockett (mother), Unknown H’San Natall (father), Lorenso Crockett (step-father), Argent, Risk, Fringe (half siblings), Prysm (half sibling, deceased), Scorcher (half sibling, deceased)
GROUP AFFILIATION: Titans
HEIGHT: 5’7”
WEIGHT: 180 lbs.
BIRTHDATE: June 21st
EYES: Orange
HAIR: Orange
HISTORY: Isaiah Crockett was raised in a stable middle-class family. His mother was already expecting him when she married Judge Crockett. Unaware his son was actually an alien-human hybrid (part earthling and part H'San Natall), Isaiah's father just tried to instill his son with a strong sense of right and wrong. Isaiah was diligent and intelligent. At age sixteen, he qualified to take college classes, but his first day at Ivy University would prove to be a fateful one.
Isaiah (who would later become Joto), Toni Monetti (who would later become Argent) and Cody Driscoll (who would later become Risk) were all abducted by an alien race, the H'San Natall. Just before Crockett was abducted, the Atom was caught in the energy stream and was transported as well. Once on the alien ship, they met and rescued another earth girl (who would later become Prysm) who was raised in a virtual reality environment that mimicked life on earth (based on old TV shows from the 1950's). The group of teen-agers was able to escape the aliens and return to earth.
During the adventure, the teens learned that they were half-alien, that their mothers were impregnated by the H'San Natall, and that they were all born on June 21st. Apparently, the kids were part of a sleeper agent program by the H'San Natall to defeat the super-powered beings already on Earth. The group stayed together, and with the funding of Loren Jupiter, became the latest incarnation of the Teen Titans. Atom decided to remain on the team to learn how to readjust to his life as a teen-ager. Isaiah initially adopted the codename Slager, due to his heat powers. His father suggested a new codename for him: Joto (which is Swahili for ‘heat'). Joto served as a dedicated member of the team.
During a battle with Haze (Jarrod Jupiter), Joto made the ultimate sacrifice. In an attempt to save Mr. Jupiter's life, Joto's body was badly burned, and he seemingly died. Although the team presumed Joto dead and grieved him, Joto had not actually died. Just before Joto's physical body expired, he touched Prysm on the cheek and sent out a heat pulse with his ‘life essence' into her. Joto's life essence remained within Prysm, dormant, until another altercation with the H'San Natall and The Veil. The H'San Natall had exhumed Joto's body and reanimated it, making him a mindless killing machine. When Prysm came within close proximity of Joto's reanimated corpse, he was able to transfer his life essence into his body. The Titans and Superman were able to talk to H'San Natall out of any further acts of aggression. Fringe elected to remain in space. The rest of the team returned to earth but decided to go their separate ways and disbanded. Joto went back to his previous life to resume his schooling and reunite with his family.
Deciding to retire from the super-hero scene altogether, Isaiah returned to Ivy University in Rhode Island and declared a major in physics and chemistry. A few semesters later, he learned that Prysm was killed by the Executioner. Overcome with grief for the loss of his dear friend, his powers uncontrollably resurfaced, and he was forced to drop out of school. It was during this unexpected hiatus that he sought the help of specialists at S.T.A.R. Labs and learned that his heat powers had evolved to a new level. After months of seclusion and testing at S.T.A.R. Labs, Isaiah gained control of his powers and became Joto again.
Recently, Isaiah has returned to Ivy University. Although he is an inspiration to other African-Americans as a super-hero, his studies are always his top priority.
POWERS & ABILITIES: Joto continuously absorbs thermal energy from his environment and continuously broadcasts it at low levels. In order to use this power for specific purposes, he must mentally concentrate, thus causing the thermal energy to swirl about his body, creating a visible aura of flames around him (usually around his hands). In order to project it towards a specific target, he must mentally “push” some of the energy swirling around him towards that target.
By mentally “pushing” thermal energy behind or beneath him for propulsion, Joto can fly. The more heat he expels, the faster he flies. His maximum speed has yet to be established, but he flies very swiftly and maneuvers in flight quite well. He can generate enough propulsive force to carry considerable weights to great heights at high speed.
Joto can generate intense heat. He can melt a metal object the size of a cannon almost instantly. He can fly towards a thick wall of solid rock and melt through it so quickly that he can continue flying right through the hole he has melted without pausing.
When he is in contact with an object, Joto can sense things about it in his minds. This happens when he sends a heat pulse through something and then summons it back. In this way, Joto gains information about the item he has touched. Thus, Joto is able to “see” through walls. For example, if he dispatches a wave of heat through a building exterior, when the wave returns to him, it comes back with data on the number of rooms and its occupants.
Joto’s thermal powers are still developing. The full extent of them has yet to be determined. He shares a psychic rapport with other H’SanNatall gened teens, such as Risk and Argent.
