Arion (comics)
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| Arion | |
 Arion, Lady Chian and Wyynde art by Jan Duursema |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Warlord vol. 1 #55, (March 1982) |
| Created by | Paul Kupperberg (writer) Jan Duursema (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Ahri'ahn |
| Place of origin | Atlantis |
| Abilities | Master of Atlantean magic, expert swordsman. |
Arion is a fictional character a swords and sorcery hero published by DC Comics. He debuted in Warlord vol. 1 #55 (March 1982), and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Jan Duursema.
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[edit] Publication history
Arion began as a secondary feature of the DC Comics book Warlord with issue #55. The Arion feature continued its run until the issue #62. Arion then gained his own series Arion Lord of Atlantis beginning with #1, (November 1982). the Arion, Lord of Atlantis title lasted for 35 issues, running from November 1982 to September 1985. There special double sized finale issue showed the destruction of Atlantis. Arion also appeared in DC Comics Presents in a crossover with Superman.
[edit] Fictional character biography
The title character Arion is a powerful Homo Magi from the nobility of ancient Atlantis. Ari'ahn and Garn Daanuth[1] are the twin sons of Calculha and Dark Majistra, two very powerful Atlantean sorcerers. While Calculha raised Ari'ahn to be a follower of light and the Lords of Order, Majistra raised Garn to be an acolyte of the Lords of Chaos. His companions include an Atlantean guardsman, Wyynde[2], and Lady Chian[3], his lover and the captain of King D'Tilluh's royal guard. Among his enemies are his brother Garn Daanuth, a formidable practitioner of the dark arts and Chaon, the puissant god of evil and chaos. [4]
He appeared later in the Crisis on Infinite Earths and was made part of Power Girl's backstory. He eventually turned up in the present day where his body was taken over by Mordru and his spirit imprisoned in Gemworld. His spirit was finally released and allowed to go to the afterlife by Power Girl and Hawkgirl, (along with a recently awakened Dove II), in order to weaken Mordru. Before his soul departed, Arion revealed to Power Girl that she was not his granddaughter and thus not an Atlantean. He cryptically stated to Power Girl that he had promised her mother to protect her, that she was proud of her, and that she would soon need her aid.[clarify]
[edit] Current status
- See also: Infinite Crisis
Arion recently reappeared in Infinite Crisis as one of the mystics gathered in Atlantis to keep the Spectre at bay, and later in the Day of Vengeance tie-in special as one of many magical beings summoned to help rebuild the shattered Rock of Eternity. No explanation was given for Arion's involvement at the time, but it was revealed during Kurt Busiek's Superman run that this Arion was in fact a pretender, a native of Akron named Bill Knightley. Knightley had decided to trade on Arion's name and reputation to build himself up in the mystical community.
The true Arion's involvement in the storyline begins in the year 1659, when Arion is awakened from a night of debauchery by visions of a cataclysmic future centered around the presence of Superman. Cut off from his natural magicks, Arion employed certain artefacts to propel himself forward to Superman's present. Arriving in Metropolis, Arion subjected Superman and his friends at the Daily Planet to a vision of a possible future where Superman and other alien heroes' involvement in humanity caused people to become dependent on them and ultimately produced an apocaplyse. Arion hoped to force Superman to retire and prevent the predictions from coming true.
Superman was given two weeks in which to decide how he'd deal with Arion's request, during which Arion illustrated his point by magically steering a "field trip" of adolescent New Gods, chaperoned by Lightray and Fastbak, to come crashing into Metropolis and go wild with their divine powers, causing untold havoc and general interference with the populace. Superman defused the situation with Lightray's help and deduced Arion's involvement. At roughly the same time, Arion kidnapped Bill Knightley from outside the Oblivion Bar, interrogated him, and nearly killed him. The only thing to save Knightley was his knowledge of the recently begun "Tenth Age of Magic," a tumultuous change in the world's mystical equilibrium. Knightley claimed to be studying the shift and Arion decided he might have some value alive.[5]
At the end of the two weeks, Arion and Superman met again; the Kryptonian hero chose to remain active as part of Earth's defense and deeply involved with humanity. Arion's vicious response was to cast a powerful mind manipulation spell, with the intent of using Superman as a weapon to remove the threat of other alien heroes, like Superman's ally, the Martian Manhunter. The spell was resisted, however, due to mental resistance from Superman.
