Vibe (comics)

Vibe (real name Paco Ramone or Francisco "Cisco" Ramon) is a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984),^[1] and was created by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton.^[3] Vibe made his live action debut in The CW's television series The Flash as Cisco Ramon, portrayed by actor Carlos Valdes.

Fictional character biography

Paco Ramone or Francisco "Cisco" Ramon's career as Vibe began shortly after Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League. When young Cisco heard that a new Justice League was forming in his own hometown of Detroit, he decided to give up his position as the leader of a local street gang, Los Lobos, to join.^[1] What made Ramon a candidate was his metahuman ability to emit powerful vibratory shock waves.

Vibe's presence on the team caused Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter to harbor some strong doubts about the new JLA, particularly after he got the League involved in a rumble with a rival gang.^[4] Vibe soon proved his mettle during the League's battles against Cadre,^[5] Anton Allegro^[6] and Amazo.^[7] He stayed with the League through the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, when his powers played a vital role in defeating Despero.^[8]

During Darkseid's assault on Earth during the Legends mini-series, the Justice League of America was disbanded and Paco left his JLA comrades to seek the familiar solace of the streets. Vibe was attacked by one of Professor Ivo's androids, and became the first Justice League member to be killed in the line of duty.^[9] The Martian Manhunter brought Vibe's body back to the League's mountain sanctuary, where Vibe was laid to rest in a cryogenic chamber. Paco's dead form has twice been resurrected by evil-doers.^[10][11]

One of Vibe's younger brothers, Armando, developed a similar set of vibratory powers and joined Booster Gold's team of heroes, the Conglomerate, using the code names Reverb and later Hardline.^[12] He has since been depicted as the owner of a dance club named Reverb in the Little Tachyon section of Old Town Metropolis.^[13]

In the Trinity maxi-series, reality is altered, and a living Cisco is shown as a member of The League, an underground version of the Justice League.^[14] Soon after Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman return, his head is disintegrated by an energy blast, killing him again.

Blackest Night

In a Justice League of America tie-in to the "Blackest Night" storyline, Vibe was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, rising from his coffin in the Hall of Justice.^[15] Alongside the Black Lantern Steel, Vibe attacked his former teammates, Gypsy and Vixen, until Doctor Light destroyed him.^[16]

The New 52

In DC's Free Comic Book Day 2012 sample during The New 52, a gatefold revealed various characters who will make an appearance in Justice League over the coming year, one of which is Vibe. Geoff Johns revealed that Vibe's return would be explored in greater detail in the third story arc of Justice League.^[17] On August 26, 2012, DC announced a new Justice League of America title which would feature Vibe.^[18] On November 5, 2012, DC announced that Vibe would star in his own ongoing monthly title.^[19] It was written by Andrew Kreisberg and drawn by Pete Woods and debuted in February 2013.^[20] In new continuity, Vibe's powers derive from being "caught in the event horizon of a Boom Tube", in which "interdimensional forces rewrote his DNA". Justice League of America's Vibe lasted for ten issues, with the final issue released on December 18, 2013.^[21]

Powers and abilities

Vibe's sonic powers enabled him to create shock waves of considerable strength. His power could shatter concrete or steel. His agility was above average (and he was a superb breakdancer). Under Batman's tutelage, Vibe became a more skilled combatant.

Vibe's reintroduction in 2013 has sought to establish him as a more powerful character. Part of this was redefining his powers as having to do with interdimensional physics. Justice League of America establishes that Vibe's sonic waves have the power to disrupt the Speed Force, making him one of the few characters in the DC Universe who poses a serious threat to the Flash.^[22] For this reason, he is recruited into the JLA by Steve Trevor, which exists to guard against the threat of the main Justice League going rogue.^[23] In Justice League of America's Vibe #3, Amanda Waller says "Cisco Ramon might be one of the most powerful super-humans on the planet. He wields vibrational powers that could in theory shake the Earth apart. And he's the only person we know of who can find and track interdimensional breaches." ^[24] He is also undetectable by security cameras.^[23]

Other versions

Justice League Unlimited

Vibe has a major role in issue 15 of the Justice League Unlimited comic book series where he stopped Doctor Sivana's plan to rebuild Mister Atom.^[25]

In other media

Television

• Vibe has made several appearances in Justice League Unlimited. He was often seen next to other members of the Detroit League, but he did not get a major role in any episode. His most prominent action is helping rescue civilians in the New Mexico city attacked in "Flashpoint". He is shown with fellow Detroit-era members Vixen, Steel and Gypsy in the final "curtain call" of the episode "Destroyer".

Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon on the CW series The Flash.

• Carlos Valdes portrays Cisco Ramon on The CW's Arrow and The Flash. He made his debut as a guest in the Arrow episode "The Man Under the Hood" and is a series regular on The Flash. Along with Dr. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), he is part of the S.T.A.R. Labs team which supports Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) in using his powers to save lives and fight crime as the Flash, and eventually becomes good friends with Barry. He helps design technology to help Barry's superhero career as the Flash, and in crossover episodes with Arrow, provides augmentation for Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), the Atom (Brandon Routh) and Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) as well. He was also mentioned in the Arrow episode "Green Arrow" to have made Oliver's new Green Arrow costume, and in the pilot episode of Legends of Tomorrow as having made Sara Lance's White Canary costume. Cisco is fond of inventing colorful names for the villains Barry's team comes across, giving them their supervillain monikers from the comics.

In Season 1, Cisco, like the others, learns that their beloved mentor Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) is really the murderous Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne; Cisco's curiosity and cunning intelligence is instrumental in exposing this, including in an averted timeline in which he is killed for his discovery. It is later revealed that Cisco was also affected by the particle accelerator blast, and that as a result he can detect and remember alternate timelines. Thawne hints that Cisco may have other abilities and that he is at the beginning of a "great adventure".

In Season 2, it is shown that Cisco can see where the metahumans of Earth-2 are with his powers, allowing him to inform Barry of their location. He keeps it hidden for a little bit, dreading that the powers could make him like "Wells" (Eobard), but Wells' Earth-2 doppelgänger reveals Cisco's secret to the team (which Cisco claims he was planning to reveal anyway). Afterwards, Barry and Caitlin follow Cisco's tradition and nickname him "Vibe", based on his visions.^[26][27] Later on when he identifies the Reverse-Flash's return, he has seen the future and not present time, further expanding his abilities.

• In the Season 2 episode "Welcome to Earth-2," Cisco's Earth-2 counterpart is a supervillain named Reverb. He is shown having the ability to shoot powerful vibrating waves from his hands, much like the comic-book version, and claims that Cisco is more powerful than he realizes; he is also the boss of Deathstorm and Killer Frost (the Earth-2 versions of Firestorm and Caitlin). Reverb declares his intent to betray Zoom and offers Cisco the chance to join him in ruling Central City, which Cisco declines. When Reverb and Deathstorm nearly kill the Earth-1 Flash, Zoom appears and kills them both for disobeying him. Coincidentally, Zoom kills Reverb the same way Reverse-Flash killed the alternate Cisco.

• Vibe made an appearance in his 2-part DC Nation cartoon short called "Enter Extremo". Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Film

Vibe's Earth-3 counterpart Breakdance is shown in the movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths voiced by Carlos Alazraqui. He is a member of the Crime Syndicate of America and first appears as part of Owlman's clean-up crew. Breakdance is shown with the other evil counterparts of the Detroit-era Justice League, including Gypsy Woman and Vamp.

Video games

Vibe appears as playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Web series

• Cisco appears in the animated Web Series: Vixen voiced by Carlos Valdes. In episode 3, Cisco Ramon has been running a modified facial recognition algorithm created by Felicity Smoak at S.T.A.R. Labs in an attempt to locate Meta-humans outside Central City. The software picks up Mari's encounter with the thugs from Episode 1, and Cisco alerts a distracted Barry Allen, who is attempting to locate a missing USB drive containing crime scene statistics. Cisco gives Mari the name "Vixen", and tells Barry that she's currently in Detroit before asking him to check out the situation.
• In the Web Series DC Super Hero Girls, Vibe is one of the background students.

References

External links

• Cosmic Teams: Vibe (Cisco Ramone)
• DCU Guide: Vibe (Cisco Ramone)
• DCU Guide: Hardline (Armando Ramone),