Obsidian (comics)

Obsidian is a fictional character, a sometime superhero in the DC Comics universe.

History

Obsidian is the biological son of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Golden Age villain known as Thorn. As Todd James Rice, he was raised in an abusive adoptive home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He found out in his late teens that he had a twin sister, Jennie-Lynn Hayden, alias Jade. They met, discovered they both had superpowers and, operating under the assumption that Green Lantern was their father (which they did not know for certain at the time, but did eventually learn to be true), decided to follow in his footsteps.

As Obsidian and Jade, they were founding members of the superhero team Infinity, Inc., a group composed mainly of the children, grandchildren and protégés of members of the Justice Society of America and appearing in the Infinity, Inc. comic book. Obsidian also served briefly with the Justice League.

Obsidian apparently inherited schizophrenia from his mother, Thorn. He turned evil corrupted by Ian Karkull and used his shadow powers to spread darkness over the entire world. He was defeated by his father and retreated to the Shadowlands, the otherdimensional plane from which he derives his powers. Later Obsidian joined the mystical villains Mordru and Eclipso to seek vengeance (unsuccessfully) on Green Lantern and the JSA. Following his defeat, Obsidian was cured of his mental imbalance.

After being cured, Obsidan went into retirement. It was during this time that Todd finally came to terms with the fact that he was gay. Todd soon met and fell in love with Damon Matthews, an assistant district attorney who works with the vigilante Manhunter (Kate Spencer). Todd's powers went dormant during most of this time, but have returned recently, following the death of his twin sister Jade during the Infinite Crisis. He has since then returned to being a super-hero and is still dating Damon happily.

Powers

Unlike his sister, Jade, whose powers resemble their father's, Obsidian has various shadow-based powers from his father's exposure to Shadow energy after a battle with Ian Karkull. Obsidian is connected to the Shadowlands, a dimension of primordial, quasi-sentient darkness. At will, Obsidian can merge with his own shadow and possess the shadows of others. In his shadow form, he is stronger than in human form, can pass through solid objects and can fly. After being corrupted by the Shadowlands, Obsidian was able to control his shadow powers to the point that he could grow to enormous size and create objects out of shadow, in a similar way that his father and sister can create objects out of green energy.

Obsidian also has limited telepathic abilities and can force a person to see the evil side of their own soul, which has been known to drive people insane. Whether or not the Shadowlands are somehow linked to Nightshade's homeland the haunted and barren Land of Nightshades has yet to be revealed.

Sexuality

Obsidian had always expressed the usual confusions of someone uncertain with their own sexuality. He had a short-lived, troublesome relationship with Marcie Cooper, the third Harlequin, shortly before the disbanding of Infinity, Inc. Later, sexual confusion was shown during his tenure in the Justice League, when he told his friend Nuklon that the only two people he could ever love in the world were his sister and him. When Nuklon asked if he was gay, Obsidian did not fully answer, instead asking "Why must there be labels?" After Obsidian's redemption, JSA penciller Steven Sadowski stated that Todd's sexuality would be dealt with whenever he returned to that title.

Todd appeared in Manhunter #18 where he shared a kiss with Damon Matthews, a gay recurring character, and spoke in the fashion of a lover, confirming his sexuality. Marc Andreyko, the writer of Manhunter, goes into detail about selecting Obsidian as Damon's lover, stating that:

"I didn't want to make a character gay unless it felt organic. So, the list was pretty short. Then I remembered when Obsidian was in the JLA years ago and Gerard Jones, the writer, danced around the issue. I went back and read all my Infinity, Inc.'s and although Todd dated women, it was always a mess"

Andreyko also stated that DC was supportive, wanting a "visible gay character" and that it was "a general void in the DCU that needed exploration". Geoff Johns, a writer of JSA since its beginning, was also stated to support the idea.

Other media

Obsidian has made brief cameo appearances in the television animated series Justice League Unlimited.

References

External links