Chunk (Chester P. Runk) is a fictional character appearing in comics published by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. He first appeared in ''The Flash'' (vol. 2) #9 (February 1988) and was created by
Mike Baron
Mike Baron (born July 1, 1949) is an American comic book writer. He is the creator of ''Badger'' and the co-creator of ''Nexus'' with Steve Rude.
Biography
Mike Baron entered the comics industry with an illustrated text piece in ''Weird Trips Ma ...
and
Jackson Guice
Jackson "Butch" Guice (born June 27, 1961) is an American comics artist who has worked in the comics industry since the 1980s.
Biography
Guice was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.. Retrieved March 21, 2008. Growing up in the 1960s, Guice was fond o ...
.
Chester P. Runk appears in
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
by Brandon McKnight in
the CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Arrowverse
The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW Seed. ...
television series ''
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'' starting in the
sixth season.
Fictional character biography
Maverick
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
and
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
Chester P. Runk had no living relatives. Chester was a child prodigy and an
M.I.T.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
graduate, but he also had serious psychological problems. According to
Cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. , at the age of twenty-four, Runk had developed a "matter transmitting machine", a primitive long range teleportation device.
Due to a lack of sensible safety procedures on Runk's part, his machine imploded and became a part of his body after his first test of its long range teleportation capabilities. The accident made him superstrong and resilient, and gave him the power to teleport anywhere he wished on Earth and off. He was also forced to physically absorb forty-seven times his own weight in superdense matter like diamonds, just to keep the machine from eating him or collapsing him down to a dimension lower than the one he had access to. Chester had become a human black hole. Runk came to the Flash's (Wally West) attention during a crime spree where he was seen literally eating
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
s to feed the machine.
[ He was also seen stealing expensive high tech research equipment. Chunk appears to have been diagnosed as mentally unstable before the accident, and had been seeing a therapist named Jarret Parker for years.]
The Void
Chester could access a local pocket dimension he called "the Void", a barren rocky waste that is home to strange prehistoric creatures. He had sent many people there over the three-year period since his accident, the first being Jarret Parker Ph.D., his former psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
, and Karin Preus, a woman who had rejected his advances. Many dozens of innocent bystanders, many who were guilty only of annoying Chunk, were stranded and forced to eke a living out of the Void's severe landscape, by learning how to hunt the lizards, insects and giant winged reptiles that make their homes in the canyons. Some grew food using the guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
of the winged reptiles to cultivate seeds taken from some of the many cars Chunk had taken. However, a majority of the victims Chunk sent into the void were murderers, sadists and criminals. Some of the roving bands of criminals had even turned to cannibalism. Chester brought Wally there at the end of their second fight where he joined up with a group of decent-minded survivors. Wally soon convinced Chunk that he would be hailed for his scientific discovery if he would just send all his victims back to Earth. Chester revealed to Wally that he could not control himself when he left the Void; the partially formed singularity simply threw him out whenever it got hungry. Chester agreed to do so, and further police investigations declared him innocent of any charges.
He was unable to bring all of his victims back right away, though he never stopped trying. Finally, they all returned to Earth during a going away party thrown by the Rogues
A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior.
Rogue or rogues may also refer to:
Companies
* Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon
* Rogue Arts, a film production company
* Rogue Entertainment, a software comp ...
for Captain Cold
Captain Cold (Leonard Snart) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the leader of the Rogues, a loose criminal association, as well as the older brother of Golden Glider. An adversary of the various su ...
. Wally West
Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash (DC Comics character), Flash. His power consists mainly of speedster (fiction), superhuman speed. ...
had been invited as a gag by the Trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...
, and he arrived with Chunk, but the victims destroyed the hotel ballroom where the party was being held, nearly instigating a riot in the process. Wally and The Rogues were able to assist the police in subduing the mob before they got out of hand.
In a backup story in ''The Flash'' (vol. 2) Annual #2, a team of scientists approaches Chunk, asking to study the Void. Chunk sends one of the scientists there (humorously, the scientist was unprepared). As the scientist shifts through several dimensions, including the one Wally was in, one with razor-sharp spikes, and even one with no air, he returns to Earth relatively unharmed. He comments that there seemed to be a great interdimensional cataclysm, and Chunk's powers give him access to the remains. While this is a vague allusion to ''Crisis on Infinite Earths
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to March ...
'' in which the DC Multiverse was destroyed, an official connection was never established.
Waste removal and other battles
"Chunk" later worked as a "waste removal specialist" because he believed "everyone has something they’d like to disappear". He was close friends with Wally West, and for a while employed Wally's mother as his secretary. Due to the wealth rolling in from his new business, he was able to buy Wally's former mansion, and moved into it along with a great deal of distantly related relatives. During this time, Chester is confronted with one of the few things he cannot remove, a large tumor from the brain of a very sick woman. Against her explanations of offering money, Chester explains that since he cannot actually see the tumor, he cannot remove it, and even if he were able to locate its exact position via x-rays, its disappearance would result in air rushing to fill the space it formerly inhabited, imploding the woman's head and killing her. The woman leaves, but not without help, a friendly visitor offers to give her a ride home.
Chester is engaged to Wally's ex-girlfriend Connie Noleski.
At some point during this period, he was allied with Amanda Waller
Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and ...
's ad hoc team of Shadow Fighters
Shadow Fighters were a group of superpowered and non-superpowered DC Comics characters brought together, under the supervision of Amanda Waller, for the sole purpose of battling Eclipso in the ''Eclipso'' comic series. They were brought together i ...
, a diverse group brought together to fight Eclipso
Eclipso () is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre.
The character bares notable similarities to Dr. Jekyll and ...
. Armed, he would join the final battle and even confront Eclipso face to face.
During Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
's campaign to take over the Twin Cities, a rogue named Plunder
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
shot Chunk with the only thing that could hurt him, a bullet laced with White Dwarf Matter (the substance Atom
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons.
Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...
uses to shrink). The bullet wound opened up a vortex within his body, which sucked in everything around him, including people and light. The Central City
In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city i ...
Police Department called the KCPD in order to enlist the Flash's help, but he also ends up being sucked into the vortex. The situation was resolved when Wally recovered the bullet from the vortex in Chunk's body, which allowed him to quickly recover from his wound.
New 52
A ''New 52
The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new series ...
'' version of Chunk is reintroduced as an classmate/friend of Wallace West
Wallace West ( – ) was an American science fiction writers, science fiction writer.
Biography
He was born in 1900 in science fiction, 1900.
He began publishing during 1927 with the story "Loup-Garou" in ''Weird Tales''. The majority of ...
/Kid Flash
Kid Flash is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino
Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics ...
.
Powers and abilities
* Chester has the ability to absorb matter and expel it into a pocket dimension
A pocket universe or bubble universe, also colloquially called pocket dimension is a concept in inflationary theory, proposed by Alan Guth.
Description
It defines a realm like the one that contains the observable universe as only one of many inf ...
called the ''Void''.
* He has also exhibited super-strength and limited invulnerability, and was able to easily survive being struck by a small commuter van, and then used his bare hands to rip off its doors.
* He's immune to most physical attacks; any weapons used against him are absorbed by his body.
* Chunk could unconsciously manipulate local gravimetric fields and draw matter towards him.
* The only ballistic projectiles that have been shown to hurt Chunk are bullets coated or laced with ''White Dwarf Star'' material, the same substance that allows the Atom
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons.
Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...
to shrink.
Other versions
In this alternate future, Chunk works at S.T.A.R. Labs
Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...
with Flash ally Tina McGee
Tina McGee is a fictional character appearing in The Flash comic book series published by DC Comics. She first appeared in ''The Flash'' (vol. 2) #3. Tina McGee is a nutritionist and researcher for STAR Labs.
Tina McGee made her live action de ...
. He is aged and thinned by and finally killed by super-criminals in order to force cooperation from his colleagues. This future is framed in a present-day story where Chunk is invited as a special guest to a Flash-Day celebration.
In other media
Chester P. Runk appears in the Arrowverse
The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW Seed. ...
series ''The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'', portrayed by Brandon McKnight. Introduced in season six as a recurring character before being promoted to series regular for seasons seven
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...
and eight
8 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
8 or eight may also refer to:
Years
* AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era
* 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era
Art
*The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...
, this version is a self-taught, brilliant, yet socially awkward non-overweight scientist capable of building sophisticated devices out of discard junk and scraps who was inspired by his inventor father Quincy P. Runk (portrayed by Milton Barnes), who died in a car accident in the 1990s. In his first appearance, Chester built a machine capable of opening black holes, only to accidentally create one that fused with his consciousness; leaving him in a catatonic state while the black hole itself opened in places that held great emotional significance to him. Eventually, the Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
rescues his consciousness from the black hole and places it back into his body, ending the threat. After stabilizing in a special machine built by S.T.A.R. Labs
Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...
for several weeks, Runk is able to get his life back together as well as join Team Flash, providing assistance via his scientific expertise.
References
External links
Those who ride the lightning: Chunk Profile
Crimson Lightning
- An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.
GCD Project: Flash vol. 2 #9
DCU Guide: Chester P. Runk Profile
DCU Guide: Chester P. Runk Chronology
DCDatabase: Chunk
DCU Guide: Flash vol. 2 #177
DCU Guide: Eclipso - The Darkness Within #2
DCU Guide: Eclipso #11
{{Flash
Comics characters introduced in 1988
DC Comics male superheroes
African-American superheroes
Fictional inventors
Characters created by Mike Baron
Characters created by Jackson Guice
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics metahumans
Flash (comics) characters