Superhero Sundays: Static Shock
By Ian Wilson
Rating: G
Word Count: 304
Summary: a brief biography of DC Comic’s Static
Greetings, people of the internet, and welcome to another Superhero Sunday. I’m Ian Wilson, Fellowship and Fairydust’s comic and superhero expert. Today, I want to talk about a character that I developed a fondness for as a young boy; Static.
Virgil Hawkins was an ordinary 15-year-old in the city of Dakota. He’s geeky, has a knowledge of science and pop culture, and enjoys playing D&D and reading comics. That is until one evening, when he was exposed to radioactive chemicals.
After taking a beating from a school bully, Virgil decides to take revenge, having been given a handgun by his best friend, Larry Wade. That evening, several rival gangs were meeting in Paris Island (the poorest and roughest neighborhood in Dakota) to have it out once and for all. Once there, Virgil simply couldn’t bring himself to shoot his enemy, and tossed the gun in the water. However, the police were also there. They sprayed the area with a type of tear gas containing a radioactive marker that would allow them to track the gang members. The teargas backfired, killing many of those exposed to it. The survivors were mutated, gaining superhuman abilities. Including Virgil. Virgil had the ability to control electromagnetism. He decided to use this ability to help clean up the streets of Dakota. He called himself Static. Virgil must now balance school and social life with his vigilantism, making wisecracks and pop-culture references along the way.
Static was created by Dwayne McDuffie and John Paul Leon for the now defunct comic publisher, Milestone, in 1993. Milestone went under, but Static was saved from fading into obscurity when Warner Brothers bought the character and featured him in the TV series Static Shock, which I watched with regularity as a lad. Static was eventually given a place in DC Comics superhero lineup.