Blockbuster is the name of four supervillains and a criminal organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.[1] The first iteration was an adversary of Batman and Robin, while the second served as one of Nightwing's greatest enemies. The latest version first appeared in the pages of the series 52 wherein he is directed into battle against Lex Luthor's team of superheroes.
The Mark Desmond version of Blockbuster first appeared in Detective Comics #345 (November 1965), and was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino.[2]
The Roland Desmond version of Blockbuster first appeared in Starman #9 (April 1989), and was created by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle.
| Converted: | y |
| Character Name: | Blockbuster |
| Alter Ego: | Mark Desmond |
| Species: | Metahuman |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Debut: | Detective Comics #345 (November 1965) |
| Creators: | Gardner Fox (writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
| Alliances: | Secret Society of Super Villains Suicide Squad |
| Powers: |
|
| Cat: | super |
| Subcat: | DC Comics |
| Villain: | y |
| Sortkey: | Blockbuster (comics) |
The first Blockbuster was Mark Desmond, a chemist who desired to increase his physical strength. Experimenting on himself, he succeeded in making himself stronger and taller, but as a side-effect of the process he also became almost mindlessly aggressive.[3] The mentally debilitated Desmond was cared for by his brother Roland, a local criminal, who kept their mother from discovering what Mark had done to himself.[4]
Roland manipulated his brother into committing crimes on his behalf until they came into conflict with Batman and Robin. Bruce Wayne had once rescued a young Desmond from drowning, and he discovered that he could calm the enraged adult Desmond by removing his cowl and showing his face.[5] Desmond later found himself clashing with Batman on various occasions.
Blockbuster absorbed energies from the Alfred Memorial which gave him some powers and was once substituted for the super-strong undead villain Solomon Grundy from Earth-Two due to a machine that was substituting people from both Earths. Green Lantern caused him to fight Solomon Grundy, leading to them both briefly getting the fight knocked out of each other. While Solomon Grundy was taken back to Earth-Two by the Justice Society of America, Blockbuster was handed over to the police by the Justice League.[6]
Blockbuster joined the Secret Society of Super Villains briefly for a battle with the Justice League.[7]
King Kull enlisted Blockbuster, Penguin, Queen Clea of Earth-Two, and Ibac of Earth-S to wreck Atlantis and use a cloud to sink islands. They are thwarted by Superman, Wonder Woman of Earth-Two, Green Arrow, and Spy Smasher of Earth-S.[8]
Later, Amanda Waller recruited Desmond for her revived Suicide Squad. He was killed fighting Darkseid's creation, Brimstone.[9]
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Mark Desmond is a patient of Dr. Phayne's. He lives on the estate and at night he undergoes procedures to enhance his intelligence. He is exposed to small amounts of a green compound intravenously. An accident is caused by a new patient believing he is in pain and the cascade of green liquid overdoses Desmond and creates an explosion. The overdose exposes a super-strong man calling himself Blockbuster. He rampages from the building in pain and knocks an attacking Hawkman unconscious.[10] Blockbuster was later mind-controlled by Necromancer to help her steal an artifact from a Washington D.C. museum, which brought the attention of Hawk and Dove. They teamed up with Batman and Robin to stop Blockbuster and Necromancer.[11] Mark Desmond later appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains upon having been recruited by Outsider. When Catwoman breaks out of Arkham Asylum, Mark Desmond and Signalman confronted Catwoman on a rooftop, which ended with Catwoman being knocked out.[12]
| Character Name: | Blockbuster |
| Converted: | y |
| Alter Ego: | Roland Desmond |
| Species: | Metahuman |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Debut: | Starman #9 (April 1989) |
| Creators: | Roger Stern (writer) Tom Lyle (artist) |
| Alliances: | Blockbuster's Gang Underground Society Black Lantern Corps |
| Powers: |
|
Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a severe illness forced him to be treated with experimental steroids. Like his brother Mark, Roland became a child-minded super-strong monster. He ran wild in the Southwest, but Batman and Starman (Will Payton) brought his rampage to an end.[13] [14]
Desmond became obsessed with elevating himself greatly above his debilitated brain. A pact with the demon Neron granted him a full intellectual mind and Desmond embarked once more on a career of crime and destruction even after his soul is restored. He began his revived criminal career by causing chaos in the town of Manchester, although his schemes were foiled by the speedster, Impulse.
Desmond then moved to his mother's hometown of Blüdhaven. He forced the crime lord Angel Marin out of power and took over the city's criminal rackets. Roland's plan was to build a criminal empire in Blüdhaven that would eventually enable him to extend his dominion over Gotham, Star City, Metropolis, and New York's underworlds. For that purpose, he bought the corrupt elements of the city's police department, most notably Police Chief Redhorn and Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames.
Despite his swift and vicious consolidation of power, Blockbuster's hold on Blüdhaven's organized crime was nevertheless weakened by the intervention of the city's new protector, Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the former Robin), who, with Oracle's help, foiled Desmond's plans at every turn. Oracle often removes money from Blockbuster's accounts and he has a man working to stop and find Oracle, named Vogel.[15]
Desmond's primary goal became the elimination of the young vigilante.[16] He placed a contract on Nightwing's life, employing the services of several assassins, including Lady Vic, Stallion, Brutale, the Trigger Twins, and Shrike.
As a further result of his initial transformation, Desmond later developed albinism and a heart defect. He was restored to (comparative) health by a heart transplant from one of the talking apes of Gorilla City, and was consolidating his control over Blüdhaven and contemplating a takeover of Gotham City, when he was killed by the new Tarantula, Catalina Flores.[17]
As part of the Blackest Night event, Roland's corpse is reanimated by a black power ring and recruited to the Black Lantern Corps.[18]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Blockbuster appears asking Nightwing to help with a job.[19]
Lex Luthor created a new Blockbuster in the pages of the miniseries event 52 to serve as an opponent of his manufactured hero team Infinity, Inc. Little is revealed about this Blockbuster, save for the fact that Luthor possesses some measure of control over his actions and level of strength. Luthor also comments that he is stronger than either of the previous two Blockbusters. This brute's cognitive abilities and appearance are very similar to the original. With controlled interference from Lex Luthor, Blockbuster kills the superhero Trajectory.[20]
A Blockbuster appears among the villains exiled to an alien world in Salvation Run. In issue #3, it is revealed to be a disguised Martian Manhunter.
A newer, female Blockbuster appears in the swamps of Louisiana and fights Mon-El.[21]
All Blockbusters have immense strength, stamina, and a high resistance to physical and energy attacks. Once transformed, most of them loses their intellect. In a straight battle, typically the greatest weakness is their comparatively slower speed, making it relatively easy to evade opposing fights, although this is of limited use if confronting Blockbuster inside buildings.[22]
After selling his soul to Neron, Roland Desmond gained supergenius intelligence.[23]
In Stan Lee's Just Imagine... series, Blockbuster is reimagined as Brock Smith, a death row inmate notorious for a series of mass murders committed with his bare hands, who is rescued by the series' mysterious villain Dominic Darrk and re-empowered with extra super-strength (and a purple carapace) as part of a villainous Doom Patrol. He is defeated and de-powered by Batman and Wonder Woman (who crack his purple facade with Wonder Woman's staff), and dies after running over a live electrical cable.[24]