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Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate)

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For the superhero, see Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers).
Johnny Quick
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearance"Crisis on Earth Three!", Justice League of America #29 (August 1964)
Created byGardner Fox (writer)
Mike Sekowsky (artist)
In-story information
Full nameJonathan "Johnny" Allen
Jonathan "Johnny" Chambers
SpeciesMetahuman
Place of originEarth-Three (pre-Crisis),
Antimatter Earth (post-Crisis),
Earth-3 (post-52),
Earth 3 (post-New 52; post-Rebirth)
Team affiliationsCrime Syndicate of America
Crime Syndicate of Amerika
Crime Society of America
Abilitiessuperspeed, possibly others similar to the Flash

Johnny Quick is the name of several fictional supervillains appearing in stories published by DC Comics. All are evil or corrupted alternate-universe counterparts of the Flash. Johnny Quick first appeared in Justice League of America #29 (August 1964) alongside the rest of the Crime Syndicate of America.

Fictional character biography

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Crime Syndicate of America

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Johnny Quick was a supervillain on the alternate Earth designated as Earth-Three, but rather than being a counterpart of the Earth-Two Johnny Quick, he was a version of the Flash.[1] He and the other members of the Crime Syndicate of America (all of whom were villainous counterparts of Justice League of America members) were Earth-Three's only superpowered beings, and had never been defeated by Earth-Three's primary hero, Alexander Luthor (a heroic counterpart to Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor). They travelled to Earth-1 as they were out of shape from inactivity, but were defeated by the JLA, with Quick being defeated by Batman. They were also defeated by the JSA, on Earth-2, but using a trick they imprisoned the JSA and battled the JLA again, where the Flash defeated Quick by making him work up so much speed he couldn't control it and collapsed. The Crime Syndicate were then imprisoned by Green Lantern in the vibratory barriers between Earth-1 and Earth-2. Once they were released by time-traveling villain Per Degaton to help him change history and take over Earth-2, though they tried to overthrow him. They tried to get him, but he revealed he had made sure he and his Time Machine would vibrate at a different speed to them, meaning they couldn't touch him. They told him who they were, and he decided to use them. He then made them steal nuclear missiles from the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 on Earth-Prime and brought them back in time to Earth-Two's 1942 by towing them behind his time machine, not caring about the fact war would happen due to this. When they tried to defeat him, they were hurled into 1982 of Earth-1, as he had made sure this would happen if any of them touched him. They materialized on the JLA's satellite headquarters, and defeated the heroes. The JLA traveled to the past and teamed up with the JSA and All-Star Squadron to prevent Per Degaton's plan. When Per Degaton was defeated, these events were erased from existence. Like the rest of the Crime Syndicate, Johnny Quick perished during the Crisis at the hands of the Anti-Monitor when a wave of antimatter destroyed Earth-Three.

During the "Convergence" storyline, Johnny Quick was with the Crime Syndicate when they planned to free Superwoman from death row.[2]

Anti-Matter Johnny Quick

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See also: JLA: Earth 2

The character was revived in the 1990s as a villain from the "Anti-Matter Universe", rather than being from Earth-Three. Unlike the Flash, Johnny receives his powers by injecting himself with a drug called "Speed Juice" (whether this is a variation of the super-speed inducing drug "Velocity 9" from the regular Flash's Earth is not known). This Johnny Quick is the counterpart of Wally West. According to Grant Morrison, who created this version of the character, he had a predecessor (corresponding to Barry Allen), whose blood was used to create the Speed Juice. A flashback to the early days of the Crime Syndicate showed this character as resembling the Pre-Crisis version.[1] While Quick is part of that Earth's "Ruling Elite", he is hopelessly addicted to "Speed Juice" and goes into massive physical withdrawal without it. As part of the tribute the world's leaders present the Crime Syndicate with on a regular basis, they supply Quick with fresh supplies of his drug, sometimes altered to be more euphoric.

In Justice League of America (vol. 2) #51, Jesse Chambers says "This Johnny Quick has my father's face", implying that the name is more than coincidence and that the New Earth Johnny Quick, and the "original" (Barry Allen counterpart) Antimatter Johnny Quick are genetically the same person.

Crime Society of America

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See also: 52 (comics)

In 52 Week 52, an alternate version of Earth-Three (called Earth-3) was shown as a part of the new Multiverse. In the depiction were characters that are altered versions of the original Justice League of America, including the Flash. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the two panels in which they appear, but the altered Flash is visually similar to the Crime Syndicate Johnny Quick.[3]

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Three, making this a new character unrelated to previous versions.[4] Earth-3 is a world populated by evil counterparts of Earth-2 heroes, where Johnny Quick is part of a "Golden Age" "Crime Society".

The New 52 and DC Rebirth

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In The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity (launched in 2011), Johnny Quick is one of the members of the Crime Syndicate to arrive from Earth 3 at the conclusion of the "Trinity War" event.[5] Johnny Quick, known as Jonathan Allen on Earth 3, works with Rhonda Pineda as professional thieves and killers. One night after killing two cops, "Johnny and Rhonnie", as they are known, end up cornered on the roof of S.T.A.R. Labs during a storm. Lightning hits a satellite, electrocuting Johnny, causing him to gain his powers, while Rhonda also gains hers by falling into the lab near Ray Palmer's Atomico work.[6]

During the Forever Evil storyline, Johnny Quick invades Iron Heights Penitentiary and frees its inmates at the time when the Rogues were in the middle of freeing Trickster.[7] When Lex Luthor's team infiltrates the fallen Watchtower, Johnny Quick joins in the fight against them where Captain Cold uses his cold-gun to freeze Johnny Quick's leg and break it off. When Alexander Luthor of Earth 3 is freed and becomes Mazahs, he kills Johnny Quick and steals his powers.[8]

During the "Year of the Villain" event, Earth 3 and Johnny Quick were revived. When Perpetua arrived on Earth 3 to get the Crime Syndicate of America on her side, Johnny Quick was against this idea and was killed by Perpetua as he began to run away.[9]

During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline, Batman revives Johnny Quick using a Black Lantern ring to help fight the forces of the Darkest Knight.[10]

Infinite Frontier

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Following the reboot of the multiverse after Dark Nights: Death Metal, a new Earth 3 and Johnny Quick are created. Jonathan Chambers is a serial killer who uses his superspeed to go on a murder spree across Central City, accompanied by his girlfriend Atomica.[11]

Powers and abilities

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All incarnations of Johnny Quick possess the same abilities as the Flash.

In other media

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Film

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Video games

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Johnny Quick appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Anthony Ingruber.[13] After the Justice League go missing, he and the Crime Syndicate pose as the Justice Syndicate until the Flash and the Reverse-Flash corner and force him to expose the Crime Syndicate's plans.

References

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  1. ^ a b Greenberger, Robert (2008). "Crime Syndicate". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  2. ^ Convergence: Crime Syndicate #1. DC Comics.
  3. ^ 52, no. 52, p. 11/3 (May 2, 2007). DC Comics.
  4. ^ Brady, Matt (2007-05-08). "THE 52 EXIT INTERVIEWS: GRANT MORRISON". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  5. ^ Justice League (vol. 2) #23. DC Comics.
  6. ^ Johns, Geoff (w), Reis, Ivan (p), Prado, Joe, Eber Ferreira, Rob Hunter, Andy Lanning (i), Reis, Rod, Tomeu Morey, Tony Avina (col), Napolitano, Nick J. (let). "Forever Numb" Justice League, vol. 2, no. 26 (February 2013). DC Comics.
  7. ^ Forever Evil #1. DC Comics.
  8. ^ Johns, Geoff (w), Finch, David (p), Friend, Richard (i), Oback, Sonia (col), Leigh, Rob (let). "Forever Evil Chapter Six: The Power of Mazahs!" Forever Evil, vol. 1, no. 6 (May 2014). DC Comics.
  9. ^ Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #1. DC Comics.
  10. ^ Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. DC Comics
  11. ^ Crime Syndicate #1. DC Comics
  12. ^ Harvey, James (2023-12-05). ""Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part One" Release Date". The World's Finest. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  13. ^ "Lego DC Super-Villains confirmed with first trailer". 30 May 2018.
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