International Ultramarine Corps

Superteambox


imagesize=225
caption=International Ultramarine Corps from JLA Secret Files 2004 #1,
artists: Ed McGuiness & Dexter Vines
team_name=International Ultramarine Corps
publisher=DC Comics
debut="DC One Million" #2, (November 1998)
creators=Grant Morrison (writer)
Howard Porter (artist)
base=Superbia
members=Warmaker One
Flow
4-D
Pulse 8
Goraiko
Knight
Squire
Kid Impala
Jack O'Lantern Vixen
Olympian
memberlist=
subcat=DC Comics
hero=y
villain=
sortkey=PAGENAME|The International Ultramarine Corps, formerly the Ultramarine Corps, is a fictional team of superheroes published by DC Comics. They first appeared in "DC One Million" #2 (November 1998), and were created by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter.

History

The Corps was created by the U.S. as a government-sponsored group of superhumans to rival the more independent Justice League. Led by General Wade Eiling, the original members of the team were Flow, 4-D, Pulse 8 and Warmaker One. During a fight with the JLA, the UMC realised that Eiling was dangerously insane and that they were on the wrong side; they then sided with the League against their leader.

Having developed a mistrust of governments, the Corps subsequently declared themselves independent of any and all nations and built a free-floating city in which to dwell, which they named Superbia and set in the air above the ruins of Montevideo. They put out a call to other disaffected superheroes to join them in their city, and received a number of responses from around the globe, although the total population and demographics of Superbia are unknown.

With the Justice League mysteriously absent, the Corps responded to an attack by Gorilla Grodd on Kinshasa, the capitol of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unknown to them, this was actually a preliminary incursion by the dimension-hopping Sheeda and the Corps found themselves totally outclassed. Superbia was knocked out of the sky, causing many casualties to both the onboard population and the population of the city it fell upon, and a number of the Corps were killed by Grodd and the Sheeda, led by the Nebula Man. Squire, a junior member of the Corps, alerted Batman and a rescue was attempted, which itself looked doomed to failure until the rest of the newly-returned League (themselves rescued by Squire from the pocket universe of Qwewq) arrived to help.

Disgraced, the Corps was on the verge of disbanding when Superman suggested that they enter the pocket universe and act as its defenders. It was eventually revealed they failed to save it (insteading placing the seed of weakness in it). Though they have yet to return, members Knight II , Squire III, Vixen and Tasmanian Devil have recently reappeared.

Membership

Original members

*Warmaker One (Lieutenant Colonel Scott Sawyer) - has a body composed of a type of energy which phases out of normal reality, and as such is contained in a high-tech suit of power armour. His armor is equipped with rockets and the ability to "broadcast" sounds and other sensory information, enabling him to overload Superman's super-senses.
*Flow (Major Dan Stone) - a creature of living water. As time wore on, Flow became more monstrous and less humanoid in appearance and changed his name to Glob.
*4-D (Captain Lea Corben) - given the power to change her dimensions, so that she could become four-, three-, two-, or one-dimensional at will, making her hard to capture and confine. In her own words, she also stated that she had the ability to draw power "from other dimensions and bring it into the Third Dimension" and use it to supercharge the blows she could deal out; she promptly then proved this in battle by knocking out Wonder Woman with a single blow.
*Pulse 8 (Captain John Wether) - was originally in control of the fundamental forces of the universe, such as gravity, electromagnetism and the like. His more recent appearance, as The Master shows him using his powers to literally rewrite reality using something called a "Quantum Keyboard". It is unknown whether this is a further development of his pre-existing powers, a whole new power, or merely a new way of describing his old powers.

Later members

*The Knight II (Cyril Sheldrake) - an English costumed hero who takes after his inspiration Batman. Cyril is the second Knight, and served under the original Knight (his father, the Earl of Wordenshire) as his Squire. Cyril has a rather coarse attitude, and engages in friendly but prejudiced-seeming banter with the Irish Jack O'Lantern.
*Squire III (Beryl Hutchinson) - a superhero similar to that of Batman's sidekick Robin. Beryl is an expert in communications and communication technology, to the extent that she can even read information patterns by touch. She is brave and strong-willed, and cares deeply for Cyril.
*Goraiko - a large, superhumanly strong, superhumanly dense Japanese superhero apparently made out of the psychic energy of a young Japanese girl who resides in some sort of sensory deprivation casket. Goraiko speaks only in haiku and mathematical equations. The girl has a little doll in the casket that appears to be the inspiration for Goraiko's shape, but it is unknow if it is necessary for the manifestation of the being. Goraiko is a founding member of the Japanese equivalent of the JLA, a team called Big Science Action. [As seen in Final Crisis Sketchbook #1 (June 2008)]
*Jack O'Lantern (Liam McHugh) - an Irish terrorist who derives some measure of mystical ability from an enchanted jack o'lantern. He is also extraordinarily agile and, although the Knight makes fun of his slim build, stronger than he looks.
*Vixen is a model and veteran hero who has been part of many teams, including the Justice League and the Suicide Squad.
*Olympian (Aristides Demetrios) - the national hero of Greece. He apparently wears the mythical Golden Fleece, which contains the souls and abilities of many Greek heroes, and as a result, he is able to use many of those abilities, such as the strength of Heracles. There is one drawback; the presence of so many minds within his own often confuses him, making him seem as if he has a split personality. During his most recent appearance, he was described as the "disgraced 'schizophrenic Superman' of Greece", implying that this personality disorder had led to some sort of public embarrassment.
*Kid Impala - The young successor to M'Bulaze the original Impala.
*Tasmanian Devil (Hugh Dawkins) - is a metahuman with the ability to turn into a supernaturally large and intelligent were-devil.

Notable appearances

*"DC One Million #2", November 1998
*"JLA #24-26", December 1998 to February 1999
*"JLA: Classified #1-3", January 2005 to March 2005
*"Frankenstein #4 2007

Collected editions

Their appearances have been collected in a number of trade paperbacks, all written by Grant Morrison:

* "DC One Million" (with Val Semeiks, DC, 4-issue mini-series, 1998, tpb, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0320-5)
* "JLA: Justice for All" (with Howard Porter & John Dell, tpb collects "JLA" #24-33, 1999, ISBN 1-56389-511-0)
* "JLA: Ultramarine Corps" (with Ed McGuiness & Dexter Vines, tpb collects "JLA Classified" #1-3, DC, 3-issue story arc, 2004, 144 pages, October 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1564-5) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=8196 "JLA: Ultramarine Corps" profile at DC] ]

References

External links

* [http://galileo.spaceports.com/~xsufiru/databank/InternationalUltramarineCorps/index.htm International Ultramarine Corps Guide at the JLA Watchtower Remix]