Superhero Origins: Static

Superhero Origins: Static

This teenage superhero is simply electrifying. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be exploring the comic book origins of Virgil Ovid Hawkins, otherwise known as Static.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1993’s Static #2, which was expanded upon in 2000’s Static Shock cartoon series.

This superhero was originally created and published by Milestone Comics, before the studio closed, causing him to crossover to the DC Comics universe. An African American teen, Static is one of the few heroes to represent minorities, and was influenced by Marvel’s Spider-Man.

In original issue, Static’s origin was not initially revealed, as the series opened with Static as a hero roaming the city and facing off against other super powered youths.

Following a grueling fight with one foe, Virgil opened up about his past with a classmate slash love interest, who knew his secret identity, having taken him in, and nursed him back to health.

As it turned out, he was once an ordinary, albeit geeky, fifteen year old teen with a passion for comics and role-playing games. Growing up in the poorest and most crime-ridden area of Dakota City called Paris Island, he was regularly beaten up at the hands of a school bully who called himself Biz Money 8.

In response, Virgil’s friend Larry Wade convinced him to carry a gun, and to use it to get revenge.

While Virgil thought he could go through with murdering the human piece of garbage after tracking the bully to a pier, he discovered that he didn’t have it in him. Instead, he threw the gun out into the water.

Immediately after, Virgil found himself caught up in a large police bust as they had tracked the gang as well.

The police began to throw a special new tear gas at the youths to subdue them. However, this untested gas didn’t do as intended, which was to simply allow the cops to track escapees.

Rather, the gas turned out to be deadly, inadvertently killing most of the gang members. Incredibly, the handful that survived mutated.

While Virgil was exposed, he was fortunate enough to have survived when most of the youths had died horribly.

He then witnessed other survivors having been horrifyingly changed, or now able to perform incredible feats, such as fly.

Before he could make his escape, police drones chased him down. Afraid, he unwittingly unleashed his own new power, an electromagnetic blast, which destroyed the robots.

Following this, Virgil was confounded by the way objects and electrical devices reacted to his body. However, with lots of practice he learned to control it. He even learned to use electromagnetics to levitate himself using metal objects.

Having witnessed the brutality of the police and the gangs, Virgil decided to wield his powers, taking on the identity of Static, after sowing his own costume.

As a hero, he did everything from bust up crack houses, to rounding up street thugs. Soon enough, he learned that his high school bully had gained his own powers, re-emerging as Hotstreak, a fire themed supervillain. This was the same foe that had beaten him to a pulp in his last battle.

While Static prepared for a rematch, he continued to battle a variety of supervillains called “gang babies”, and became the city’s mutant savior.

In the years that followed, Static has received a cartoon series, and franchise reboots. He eventually worked alongside the Justice League. He even joined the Teen Titans, while continuing to protect his hometown.

As a minority superhero, Static has never shied away from exploring everything from the themes of complicated teen relationships, to the subjects of gang violence, drugs and abuse, making him for a more mature comic series.

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