Warblade is a
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 from
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 ...
/
Wildstorm
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...
.
Publication history
Warblade starred in two of his own miniseries, '' Warblade: Endangered Species'' in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and ''The Razors Edge: Warblade'' in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
/
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
.
Fictional character biography
Warblade is the special
codename
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a Code word (figure of speech), code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may ...
picked by Reno Bryce, a long-green-haired artist. In his youth, Reno's parents were killed by the alien Daemonites. Reno survived and swore vengeance against them, dedicating his life to martial arts to avenge them.
He was kidnapped by the organization known as Cyberdata, brainwashed and transformed into a member of their strike team, the S.H.O.C.s. His teammate Misery used her powers to make him think that he was in love with her but quickly changed the focus of her manipulations to Ripclaw. She was revealed to be a traitor and Warblade killed her. After this,
Ripclaw
''Cyber Force'' (sometimes stylized as ''CyberForce'' or ''CYBERFORCE'') is a comic book series created by writer and artist Marc Silvestri in 1992 through his publishing studio, Top Cow Productions, and published by Image Comics.
Publication h ...
attacked Reno, thinking that he was the traitor, as well as for his feelings for Misery, and almost killed him.
Reno was found bleeding in Gamorra by Jacob Marlowe. He was saved by Jacob and joined his Daemonite hunting team, the
Wild C.A.T.s. Like many of the Wild C.A.T.s, Reno turned out to be half human and half Kherubim, (also known as a "Gifted One" for his match of human/Kherubim parents) a race of aliens that had fought the Daemonites for millennia.
Warblade met
Ripclaw
''Cyber Force'' (sometimes stylized as ''CyberForce'' or ''CYBERFORCE'') is a comic book series created by writer and artist Marc Silvestri in 1992 through his publishing studio, Top Cow Productions, and published by Image Comics.
Publication h ...
(at this time a member of the
Cyberforce) again and after quite some fighting between their teams and the two men themselves, Ripclaw finally saw through all the lies and deception upon Misery's defeat and realized that it was Misery who was the traitor. After the realization that Warblade had not been lying at all, and had been trying to help him the entire time, they became friends and allies.
During his time with the Wild C.A.T.s, Reno fought Pike, a half-human, half-Kherubim assassin. During a
Native American ritual, Pike had taken the drug
peyote
The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...
and had a vision of himself killing a Wild C.A.T.s member, a goal he would dedicate the rest of his life to. Their first fight ended indecisive.
Reno went with the Wild C.A.T.s to Khera, home of the Kherubim, where he met other shapeshifters like himself. He became an apprentice to the ancient shapeshifter Lord Proteus at the Shaper's Guild and learned many new ways to use his powers. He was disappointed when fellow Wild C.A.T.s members
Voodoo
Voodoo may refer to:
Religions
* African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups
* African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo
** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
and
Spartan
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...
uncovered the darker side of Kheran society. The Wild C.A.T.s left Khera soon afterward and returned home.
Back home, Reno stayed with the team and began a relationship with Jules, Emp's assistant. Soon afterwards the team disbanded following the apparent death of their teammate
Zealot
The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jew ...
.
Reno retired and focused on his art. Pike hadn't forgotten his vision though. He attempted to kill Warblade and managed to disperse Warblade's molecules with an explosion that also killed Reno's girlfriend, Jules. Reno was able to literally pull himself back together and wanted revenge. He tracked Pike to
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
, where they fought again. This time Warblade won and he killed Pike and added the final insult to the dying Pike: even if Pike had killed Warblade, he would have failed his quest, because the Wild C.A.T.s had been disbanded for months.
Afterwards he fell into a state of depression, that eventually led to the loss of his powers and his hands. After a little soul searching, some violent confrontations that almost led to his death, and an experimental drug given to him by the scientist responsible for suppressing his alien genes, he regained his powers.
Reno returned to New York City and retired as a superhero. He became a full-time artist again, though he still met up with his teammate
Grifter
A grifter may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Grifters (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
* ''The Grifters'' (novel), a 1963 American novel by Jim Thompson
* ''The Grifters'' (film), a 1990 American adaptation of the novel
* Grifter (ch ...
from time to time. He was forced to use his powers again during one of his expositions, when the Kherubim Brotherhood of the Sword turned a large part of New York's population into bloodthirsty creatures.
He appeared briefly during the ''
Captain Atom: Armageddon'' storyline, before the new Void entity Nikola Hanssen rebooted the
Wildstorm
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...
Universe into WorldStorm.
WildCats vol. 4
Warblade is one of the several WildCats that
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
has managed to recruit; under the black-ops codename of "Cutlery Kid," he is deep in Kaizen Gamorra's extraterrestrial colony, providing intelligence back to Spartan on Earth.
The New 52
Warblade had a role in the series, ''The Ravagers'' as
Rose Wilson
Rose Wilson is a fictional character appearing in American comic book, American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Art Nichols, first appearing in a 1992 issue of ''Deathstroke the Terminator'' #1 ...
's partner. Warblade is one of the chief members of the Ravagers, the personal army for N.O.W.H.E.R.E.. As such, he follows the orders of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s leader Harvest. During the Culling, Warblade was among the members of the Ravagers that tested the survivors of the kill-or-be-killed tournament. During the altercation, several test subjects of the Colony escaped. Along with Rose Wilson, Warblade was tasked with tracking down some of the escapees, as well as to kill
Caitlin Fairchild. He is killed by Deathstroke.
In other media
* Warblade appeared in the
Wildcats animated series. His voice was provided by
Dean McDermott
Dean McDermott (born November 16, 1966) is a Canadian actor best known as a reality television personality with his wife, actress Tori Spelling, and as the host of the cooking competition ''Chopped Canada''. He played the role of Constable Renfi ...
. Here Warblade discovered his powers when he becomes part of the group, in the first episode. Because of this, he was the group's rookie, a position occupied by Voodoo in the comic book. While still an expert martial artist, he's also a computer expert which becomes useful in the overall plot.
* Warblade stars in a solo mini-comic series called ''Warblade: Endangered Species'' (#1-4). Warblade makes a trip once a year to Japan, to hone his Martial Arts skills, although this time, he's traveling with the intentions of killing his former best friend—One who has been possessed by a Daemonite during their time in Cyberdata together. It is also in this series that he ends up meeting up with his old ally*
Ripclaw
''Cyber Force'' (sometimes stylized as ''CyberForce'' or ''CYBERFORCE'') is a comic book series created by writer and artist Marc Silvestri in 1992 through his publishing studio, Top Cow Productions, and published by Image Comics.
Publication h ...
—the last member of the Cyberdata team—until he joined
Cyberforce. (*former ally turned enemy by a telepath (Misery), who used her powers to try to make everyone kill each other. After much fighting and Reno almost losing his life, Misery was defeated. Reno and Robert (Ripclaw) would become friends and allies --> *See
WildC.A.T.s
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.
Publication history
The team first appeared in August 1992 in the first issue of their epon ...
/
Cyberforce "Killer Instinct" Crossover for more details*)
* A Warblade figure from
Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys Limited is a Hong Kong toy company. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 1966 by Sam Chan as Playmates Industrial, manufacturing dolls for other companies. In 1975, Playmates began marketing their own line of pre-school toys, ...
was released in 1994.
[ ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warblade (Comics)
2004 comics debuts
DC Comics characters who are shapeshifters
Fictional artists
Fictional characters with metal abilities
Fictional melee weapons practitioners
Wildstorm Universe superheroes
WildStorm limited series
WildCats characters
Characters created by Jim Lee
Male characters in animation
Male characters in comics