Baron Blitzkrieg

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Baron Blitzkrieg
Baron Blitzkrieg.jpg
Baron Blitzkrieg as seen in Young All-Stars #9.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceWorld's Finest Comics #246
Created byGerry Conway
Don Heck
In-story information
Alter egoReiter
Team affiliationsShadowspire
Secret Society of Super Villains
Black Lantern Corps
AbilitiesSuperhuman strength
Heat vision
Flight

Baron Blitzkrieg is a supervillain in the DC Comics universe, originally residing on Earth-Two.[1] He first appeared in World's Finest Comics #246 (August–September 1977). His first several appearances marked an antagonistic relationship with Wonder Woman and he later faced both the Amazon and Superman towards the end of World War II.[2]

A version of the character named Baron Reiter appeared in the fourth season of the Arrowverse television series Arrow played by Jimmy Akingbola.

Fictional character biography[]

He is a frequent opponent of the heroic All-Star Squadron, a band of costumed adventurers who fight domestic and foreign menaces during World War II.[3] Baron Blitzkrieg was originally an especially vicious German army officer who was blinded and disfigured when a concentration camp prisoner threw a bottle in his face. German scientists restored his sight but not his appearance. So they experimented on Blitzkrieg, giving him superhuman strength, invulnerability, optical energy beams and the ability to fly. However, each of these abilities are manifested one at a time and only with training is he able to incorporate them together.[4]

Baron Blitzkrieg is the leader of Shadowspire and allied with Vandal Savage's organization known as Symbolix. Together, they incorporate experimental research which produces the superhero Damage. The Baron becomes a recurring foe in Damage's series, starting with issue number three.

During the JSA tie-in to Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Baron Blitzkrieg has joined the Society. The Philadelphia heroine known as Liberty Belle, who gets her powers from the Liberty Bell, attempts to jumpstart her abilities by ringing the bell. Due to the recent supposed death of Uncle Sam (who later returned in A Brave New World), her powers are unfocused, and Blitzkrieg is thought to have been killed by the sonic shockwaves. He appears again in Infinite Crisis #7 where he is killed by Superboy-Prime who destroys the Baron's head with his heat vision.

Baron Blitzkrieg has been identified as one of the deceased entombed below the Hall of Justice. In Blackest Night #4, he is revived as a member of the Black Lantern Corps.

He also appeared in Batman: The Widening Gyre by Kevin Smith.

Baroness Blitzkrieg[]

One Year Later, a new, Nazi-themed speedster supervillain named Baroness Blitzkrieg recently appeared as a member of The Fourth Reich, a team of Nazi-themed supervillains in Justice Society of America. Brutal in her killings, she runs through her victims and turns them into pulp. She is presumably a descendant of the original Baron Blitzkrieg; the Baroness joined the Nazi supervillain group Fourth Reich, and sometime before that group was hired by Vandal Savage to help exterminate the families of old Golden Age superheroes. For her part, the Baroness slaughtered several of the descendants of Commander Steel, but was later beaten by Jay Garrick during an unsuccessful attempt to kill young Mike Dugan, son of retired hero Stripesy and stepbrother of Stargirl.

Powers and abilities[]

Baron Blitzkrieg has enhanced strength, agility and endurance. He wore body armor that offered some protection from physical attack. He has heat vision and he can fly.

The pre-Crisis version of the character could travel between Earth-2 and Earth-X.

Other versions[]

Flashpoint[]

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Baron Blitzkrieg is killed by Frankenstein with a sword driven through his chest.[5]

In other media[]

  • Baron Reiter appears as the main antagonist in flashbacks depicted in season four of Arrow, portrayed by Jimmy Akingbola.[6] This version of the character is not German, but African nor is called Baron Blitzkrieg.[7] Baron Reiter grew up in a small village in Africa till one night, bandits came to the village taking with them water, gold and women and burning down the village afterwards. Though Reiter survived, the event traumatized him and he decided never to feel this powerless ever again. He is the leader of a criminal organization called Shadowspire he founded years ago in Afghanistan, as a soldier of fortune. In pursuit of a magical artifact called the Khushu Idol (the same item that imbues Damien Darhk with power), Shadowspire occupied the island Lian Yu and enslaved people to harvest drugs called "Slam" as a front. A.R.G.U.S. sends Oliver Queen to Lian Yu to infiltrate Shadowspire and uncover Reiter's intentions. Once Oliver Queen and fellow slave Taiana Venediktov find a map leading to the idol, they eventually find it, hide it in a cave system, and detonates the entrance. Reiter finds the idol and sacrifices two of his men to gain power from it, acquiring superhuman strength and telekinesis. He fights Oliver and Taiana, with Oliver killing Reiter and reluctantly doing the same to Taiana to save her from the idol's influence.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 17. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008), "Baron Blitzkrieg", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 37, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
  3. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  4. ^ Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0345501073.
  5. ^ Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 (June 2011)
  6. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (July 22, 2015). "'Arrow' Cast DC Villain Baron Blitzkrieg for Season 4". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. ^ Abrams, Natalie. "Arrow boss explains Baron Reiter casting". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2015.

External links[]

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