Cyberface

Cyberface
Cyberface. Art by Mark Welser
Publication information
Publisher	Image Comics
First appearance	Savage Dragon (vol. 2) #5
Created by	Erik Larsen
In-story information
Alter ego	Sebastian Khan
Team affiliations	Vicious Circle
Abilities	Technology manipulation, superhuman strength and invulnerability

Cyberface (Sebastian Khan) is a fictional character, a supervillain and enemy of the Dragon in the Image Comics Universe He first appears in Savage Dragon (vol. 2) #5 and was created by Erik Larsen.

Fictional history

The city of Chicago has long been renowned for its organized crime, most famously during the infamous reign of Al Capone. The mobs and gangsters managed to retain power for decades but the growing superhuman population threatened their rule by the early 1990s. Mafia crime lord, Antonio Seghetti, saw this growing menace and acted on it. He had his second-in-command, Sebastian Khan, exercise his technological expertise to try and come up with an answer to the freaks.

The mob had a healthy relationship with the small country of Lieberheim and it’s ruthless dictator, Dread Knight, was given a prototype suit of armour to increase his influence of power, as well as constructing him a legion of android soldiers, the Dreadheads.

With the success of the original armour, Khan improved upon his own designs and created the nigh-invulnerable armour that would allow Seghetti to assume the role of OverLord. In this new role, the crime lord was forced to remain within his suit or face certain death from the freaks he has subdued and recruited into his new organisation, the Vicious Circle.

OverLord soon spent less and less time with his Mafia associates while maintaining his new persona twenty-four hours a day. Khan was abandoned and left the mob to pursue other plans. At some unknown point, Khan gained superhuman powers to manipulate all technology and he took on the guise of CyberFace. Gathering a number of other superpowered criminals, CyberFace formed the Annihilators and prepared them to seize control of the Vicious Circle. Unfortunately for him, the Chicago Police Department’s Freak Force program interfered and apprehended him, as well as trapping the Annihilators in a dimensional limbo.

While in police custody, CyberFace was poisoned on the orders of OverLord and was presumed dead. Desperate to get CyberFace back so that he can testify against OverLord, as he is the only man able to identify the armoured crime lord in his human guise, the Dragon takes the dead man’s carcass to the government’s Project: Born Again program. The villain was partially resurrected before the facility was destroyed, and CyberFace wandered back to Chicago and was manipulated by Octopus, planning to use him to conquer the Vicious Circle.

Octopus was later apprehended and CyberFace was cleared of any charges after giving evidence against OverLord so that a warrant for his arrest could be made. Shortly after, Horde took possession of CyberFace and used his might to become the new leader of the Vicious Circle after the Dragon had killed OverLord.

Due to the incomplete resurrection, CyberFace slowly began to degenerate and was saved from death by Abner Cadaver, who infused him with the life essences of some of the Undead. This lifeforce was very unstable, and when CyberFace attempted to conquer Chicago in light of the Martian invasion, he was destroyed by a single punch from the Dragon.

Octopus, OpenFace and PowerHouse revived CyberFace in the gorilla body of BrainiApe, and he stole the OverLord armour from the government as part of a bid to reclaim the Vicious Circle, now under the leadership of Horde. In a mass battle which killed Horde, the remains of CyberFace were finally destroyed by BrainiApe.

Savage World

CyberFace formed the Annihilators and took them to seize control of the Vicious Circle. CyberFace managed to successfully claim leadership away from OverLord, who he then killed. From this point on, Khan’s sphere of influence continued to expand and the Vicious Circle soon became a serious force to be reckoned with.

When the Cosmic Cops invaded Earth in 1994, they managed to decimate much of New York City and looked set to expand their precincts to contain much of the planet. No heroes were able to get close enough to accomplish anything and numerous teams were being monitored and threatened with death if they acted. It was only when CyberFace entered the fray that the aliens were defeated.

The Cosmic Cops’ impressive technology was enslaved by CyberFace who then used it to destroy the invaders and convert them into his mindless cybernetic slaves. New York City was the next city behind Chicago to become controlled by CyberFace and his powerbase increased immensely. Few could oppose him now that he had the enhanced technology of the Cosmic Cops.

Three years later when the Martians launched their mammoth invasion of Earth and destroyed much of the planet, CyberFace again came to humanity’s rescue, albeit to serve his own selfish gains. CyberFace defeated these latest aggressors and added their technology to his growing cache of equipment was able to seize complete control of Earth and became the King of the World.

Only one person has had the audacity to truly oppose CyberFace, and that is Dragon. He carried out a failed assassination attempt which has earned him the unenviable position of being public enemy number one with a huge bounty on his head. In May 1999, our Dragon’s mind took control of his alternate timeline’s body and he has begun his own quest to depose CyberFace from power.

Over the next few years, Dragon proceeded to gather together a resistance movement that consisted of abandoned Vicious Circle members, the Underground Freaks and other freedom fighters. Dragon led an assault upon the White House which prompted CyberFace to flee up to the starship of Vanguard’s but was unable to hide from his arch-enemy.

Dragon confronted his foe, leading him to the isolation booth that once housed the Possessor, neutralising his powers. This then allowed the hero to free Vanguard so that they can gas CyberFace, leaving him locked away in case his incredible abilities are needed to save the Earth in the future. He could still access remote units under his control such as Wally who shot the villain dead rather than turn into his loyal slave.

Powers and abilities

CyberFace has immense electro-magnetic abilities that allow him to effortlessly manipulate huge amounts of technology. He also possesses great strength and invulnerability.

References

BLOODSTRIKE 10, 11

SAVAGE DRAGON 5, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 48, 49, 50, 78, 80, 85, 94, 95, 96, 100 (Flashback)

SAVAGE DRAGON/DESTROYER DUCK (Oneshot)

SUPERMAN/SAVAGE DRAGON: CHICAGO (Oneshot)

TMNT 10