Waverider (comics)
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| Waverider | |
 Waverider as drawn by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding in Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey #1. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Armageddon 2001 #1 (1991) |
| Created by | Archie Goodwin Dan Jurgens |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Matthew Ryder |
| Team affiliations | Linear Men |
| Abilities | Time travel, precognition, lightspeed flight, intangibility, invisibility, quantum energy blasts |
Waverider is a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Armageddon 2001 #1 (1991).
Contents |
[edit] Character History
[edit] Armageddon
The being known as Waverider was originally a human scientist, Matthew Ryder. In the year 2030, the world has been ruled for 20 years by an armored despot known only as Monarch, who has destroyed all of Earth's super-heroes. Most of the people of Earth have had their wills crushed by Monarch's reign. Ryder, however, was as a child rescued from a collapsing building by an unknown superhero, later known as Bennett Dilly - his future college roommate, and was inspired by his memory of this event to fight back. Knowing that Monarch had once been a hero before some unknown event turned him to evil, Ryder volunteers as a time travel test subject in hopes of travelling to the past and preventing Monarch from ever coming to exist. Though previous test subjects have died, Ryder was able to enter the timestream and was transformed into a being able to travel freely through time.
As Waverider, Ryder is also capable of seeing a person's most probable future by temporally merging with them. The future he sees is by no means assured, and reading a person a second time can result in a wildly different vision. Typically, Waverider is able to temporally merge with subjects without them becoming aware of it although they sometimes have some recollection of the possible future. Waverider uses this power to try and learn which hero would become Monarch but is unsuccessful as his mere presence changes the future. When Waverider attempts to read Captain Atom's future, the interaction of their powers resulted in a massive amount of quantum energy being unleashed. This creates an opening in the quantum field which allowed Monarch (who had been monitoring Waverider's actions the whole time) to travel back in time to ensure his own existence.
After Monarch's defeat, Waverider continues to use his powers to travel the timestream attempting to render aid whenever possible. Waverider's attempts to 'fix' the timestream lead him to clash with the Linear Men on multiple occasions.
[edit] Linear Men member
Eventually, Waverider joins the Linear Men. His first official test comes when he is shown Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday. He rushes back in time to fix things. Matthew Ryder, his counterpart, follows and convinces him to let things be. As he states, "Aren't we on the verge of granting Superman immortallity?"
Ryder and Waverider, hidden by their technology, watch the last moments play out in real time. ("Legacy of Superman" #1 1993)
Both Superman and Doomsday however, return. Waverider assists Superman in a second battle by providing Superman with both information on Doomsday's origin and a means of defeating Doomsday by transporting the creature to the end of time (although Doomsday is later recovered by Brainiac).
[edit] Zero Hour
In a prelude to the Zero Hour event, Waverider and Rip Hunter fight Monarch, who has built a crude time travel device. After bouncing across several eras, Waverider attempts to use his powers to overload Monarch's armor. The plan backfires, and because of Waverider's interference, Monarch evolves into Extant. Hunter informs Waverider that Monarch should have died in the encounter.
During the Zero Hour event, Extant and Waverider come into contact at Vanishing Point, the Linear Men's home base. Extant removes his mask and reveals that he has the same powers as Waverider, and even his appearance. Extant informs Waverider that he has used the powers of Hawk, Dove, and ultimately Waverider himself to achieve his current form.
Later in the miniseries, an Extant from another point in the timeline (between his evolution from Monarch and the meeting at Vanishing Point) kills Waverider and absorbs his energy. This version later merges with the present day Extant.
[edit] Waverider II
[edit] Linear Men
Another member of the Linear Men is Matthew Ryder, a normal looking Time Traveller, from the future that replaced the one from which Waverider came. Instead of working for Monarch, Matt Ryder worked for Lex Luthor.
At a time when both Waverider and Matt Ryder are working together for the Linear Men, Waverider I tries to save his grandfather whom he watched die of a heart attack as a child. Matt Ryder stops him, and proves to Waverider that it was Matt's grandfather rather than Waverider's.
[edit] Zero Hour
During Zero Hour and after the absorption of Waverider, Matt Ryder was told by Metron that to save the universe, precise time travel of which only Waverider is capable, was needed. The Linear Man Matt Ryder became the new Waverider.
[edit] 52
- See also: 52 (comic book)
During Week 26 of the weekly event 52, the villanious offspring of Doctor Sivana, Junior and Georgia, are seen rebuilding their missing father's sphere of Suspendium, currently able to let them travel in time and change their unpopular past for the better. Able to open a gateway in the past, but having to suspend their experiment, they were able to see Waverider in the timestream, but failed to recognize him before shutting down the machine. On the second day of week 27, at 05:25:20, an anxious Waverider is seen talking with the dying Time Commander, one of the former timetravelling villains he tried to recruit in his efforts to save the timeline, shortly before Skeets finds out they're hiding and kills the Time Commander. He then questions Waverider, trying to extort the whereabouts of his enemy, Rip Hunter. When Waverider refuses, Skeets brutally tortures him. Skeets asks questions that indicate the golden alloy of Skeets body, impervious to time portals, was taken from a 500 year-old corpse, implying it to be Waverider's own skin.
[edit] Powers and abilities
As Waverider, Ryder is an immensely powerful being of pure quantum energy. In addition to time travel and experiencing a person's timeline during physical contact, his known powers include the ability to alter his body to replicate another person or turn invisible, to fire energy blasts, to pass through objects and to fly at twice the speed of light. He is immune to temporal manipulation.
[edit] Other media
Waverider has appeared recently in animated form on the cartoon series Justice League Unlimited as a member of the super-sized, post-Thanagarian-invasion Justice League of the DC Animated Universe.
The character has made only very brief cameos throughout the first 26 episodes of the series, most notably at the beginning of "Initiation" (2004) and the end of "Hunter's Moon" (2005) and "Divided We Fall" (2005).
Although no explanation has been given for the DCAU Waverider's origin or powers, they are presumed to be the same as his comic book counterpart. As the pre-Crisis Hawk and Dove (Hank and Don Hall) are also members of the JLU, there was speculation that the Armageddon 2001 storyline would be adapted; however, the producers have since revealed that the character was included simply because he was visually striking, and to play with fans' expectations.
Even more surprising than Waverider's inclusion in the JLU was that the character, despite limited screen time, made his action figure debut in Mattel's "Justice League Unlimited" toy line in the summer of 2005.
