Freedom Beast is the alias of Dominic Mndawe, a fictional

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

Fictional character biography

Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. His first appearance was in ''

Animal Man Animal Man (Bernhard "Buddy" Baker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily "borrow" t ...

'' #13 which occurs during the rule of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa. Dominic was under arrest for taking pictures of racially motivated acts of violence being committed by white

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

policemen. In a cell, Dominic was about to be killed by his captors when he is rescued by Animal Man and

B'wana Beast B'wana Beast (Michael Payson Maxwell) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history Created by Bob Haney and Mike Sekowsky, B'wana Beast made his first appearance in ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' # ...

(Mike Maxwell), Mndawe's predecessor and future mentor. After the rescue, Maxwell gives Mndawe the elixir and helmet that confer powers on their owner. The two briefly had a disagreement as Mndawe was adamant to continue his political resistance to the South African government and its policy of apartheid with while Maxwell was insistent that the calling is

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased pos ...

. However, they eventually reconciled on this point. Mndawe continued pursuing his political objectives which he justified with the personal maxim, "Today's politics is tomorrow's mythology". His powers include mind control and the ability to fuse two or more animals into one hybrid beast under the control of Freedom Beast. Animal Man and Freedom Beast then prevent the massacre of a group of peaceful demonstrators by Afrikaner police. Animal Man returns to the US, while Maxwell and Freedom Beast remain in South Africa. Mike Maxwell returns in ''Animal Man'' #47 (May 1992). He was being controlled by an evil force, the Antagon, and transformed into the Shining Man. He perishes in the ensuing battle. Animal Man and Dominic team up once again during the ''

Day of Judgement The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

'' incident, protecting African wildlife from the murderous intentions of demon invaders.

Further appearances

Freedom Beast appears in the ''

Day of Vengeance ''Day of Vengeance'' is a six-issue comic book Limited series (comics), limited series written by Bill Willingham, with art by Justiniano and Walden Wong, published in 2005 by DC Comics. Publication history ''Day of Vengeance'' is one of four lim ...

'' ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...

'' Special, in which he was possessed by Rage, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. He is also seen at the gathering of mystics at

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

in ''

'' #6. Freedom Beast reappeared as South Africa's representative in the reformed

Global Guardians The Global Guardians is a team of DC Comics superheroes whose members hail from countries around the world. The concept originated in the ''Super Friends'' Saturday morning cartoon, which aired after the comics stories in ''Super Friends'' #7- ...

in ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' v4 #11 and 14–17. He and his teammates were brainwashed by the

Faceless Hunter The Faceless Hunters are a race of alien supervillains in the DC Comics universe that first appeared in ''Strange Adventures'' #124 (January 1961). They were created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. The Faceless Hunters hail from Klaramar (the wor ...

and used as weapons against

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) Harold "Hal" Jordan, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created in 1959 by writer John Broome (writer), John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and f ...

. The Global Guardians were eventually freed, and Freedom Beast returned with them in ''

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

'' v2 #24 and #29–31. In ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely b ...

'' #4, Freedom Beast was seen fighting off a controlled

Gorilla Grodd Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''Th ...

on Watchtower 4 in

Gorilla City This page list the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites * the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. * Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for ...

. In '' Justice League: Cry for Justice'' #1, Freedom Beast is killed by minions of

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

. Dominic's partner

Congorilla Congorilla, originally a human character known as Congo Bill, is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Vertigo Comics. Originally co-created by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist George Papp, he was later transformed int ...

discovers his dying friend and vows to find justice for his murder. Prometheus is subsequently killed by

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

in issue #7 of the same series. In ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'' #60, Congorilla mentions that he still has Dominic's helmet and elixir in his possession. Seeking to honor the memory of his old friend, Congorilla ultimately resigns from the Justice League and goes to find a worthy candidate to become the new Freedom Beast. In ''Justice League International'' #1, a character alongside Congorilla appears wearing the mask, referencing Congorilla had found a successor. The identity of this character is unknown.

New 52

The 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 serie ...

, Freedom Beast is alive, making his debut when he comes to America to take down a hunting club that has created a synthetic version of his elixir. He teams with

Midnighter Midnighter is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books first published by WildStorm and later DC Comics once it absorbed the former. The character was created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch. The character made his ...

to free the captured animals and bring down the hunters.''Midnighter'' #8

DC Rebirth

Freedom Beast appears in ''Justice League of America'' vol. 5 #11, when

Killer Frost Killer Frost is a name used by several female supervillains and superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics: Crystal Frost, Louise Lincoln, and Caitlin Snow. Each different individual in the DC Universe assuming the Killer Frost p ...

and 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 ...

travel to Africa to ask him to help cure Killer Frost's condition.

References

External links