Whirlwind (comics)

Whirlwind
Whirlwind appears on the cover of Avengers #139 (Sep. 1975). Art by John Romita Snr.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales to Astonish #50 (Dec. 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	David Cannon
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Thunderbolts Masters of Evil
Notable aliases	Human Top, Charles Matthews
Abilities	Superhuman speed, reflexes, coordination, balance

Whirlwind is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales To Astonish #50 (Dec. 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

David Cannon is a mutant, who after discovering at an early age that he could move at great speeds turns to a life of crime. This eventually brings Cannon, using his first alias the Human Top and pursuing his career as a jewel thief, into conflict with Giant-Man and the Wasp on several occasions.^[1] Defeated each time, Cannon then redesigns his costume and adopts the alias of Whirlwind, and adopts the identity of "Charles Matthews", chauffeur of Janet Van Dyne.^[2] Whirlwind joined the supervillain group the second Masters of Evil, and participated in a plot to destroy the Avengers.^[3] He joined the third Masters of Evil, and participated in a Vermont battle against the Avengers.^[4] With Batroc and Porcupine, he went on a mission for the Red Skull.^[5]

Cannon continues with the identity of "Charles Matthews",^[6] the chauffeur of Janet Van Dyne, first with the intent of robbing her, later with the intent of hitting on her. In the role of Charles, he pines for Janet, making advances towards her when Henry Pym is presumed to be dead during his run in Marvel Feature.^[7] Charles is later fired for trying to embezzle Janet's money,^[8] and Hank finally discovers that Charles is Whirlwind later on in the series, forcing Whirlwind to abandon the identity.^[9]

Whirlwind is then employed by master villain Count Nefaria, and joined his Lethal Legion. Nefaria temporarily amplifies the abilities of Whirlwind and super-powered team-mates Power Man and the Living Laser before sending them against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria, who is subsequently defeated by the Avengers.^[10] Whirlwind joined the third Masters of Evil in a plan to destroy the Avengers, but caused the defeat of the Masters by attacking prematurely.^[11] Whirlwind later upgrades his costume when joining a new version of the Masters of Evil formed by Baron Zemo.^[12] Whirlwind partnered with the Trapster, obtained a new battle armor and weapons from the Tinkerer, and battled Captain America in an attempt to bolster his criminal reputation.^[13] He then partnered with the Tiger Shark, traveled to San Francisco to steal an experimental "psycho-circuit", and battled the West Coast Avengers.^[14] Whirlwind also shows signs of an obsession with the Wasp, as he forces prostitutes to dress in her past costumes and then assaults them.^[15]

Whirlwind and Trapster end up fighting, due to a bounty placed on the former by the up and coming criminal mastermind Ricadonna. Trapster glues Whirlwind to the floor just at the start of his spin. He continues twirling, breaking many of his bones, including his spine.^[16] He makes a full recovery and is forced to join Baron Zemo's team of Thunderbolts.^[17] After leaving them, he gathered a group of villain together and tried to extort money from the new Thunderbolts director Norman Osborn, but was viciously beaten by Osborn and is now forced to work for him secretly.^[18] In Dark Reign: Zodiac, Cannon is shown as a mole for Zodiac, working as Norman Osborn's chauffeur.^[19]

Whirlwind later attacks Hank Pym blaming him for Janet's death during the Secret Invasion and outraged by his taking her codename. He is defeated by the Avengers Academy student Striker. In a conversation between Striker and his mother, it is revealed that she hired Whirlwind to stage the attack to gain publicity for Striker.^[20]

Powers and abilities

Whirlwind is a mutant who possesses the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at great speeds, without impairing his ability to see, speak, or interact with his environment (for instance, pick up objects or change clothes). Although he can rotate at subsonic speeds he can only travel in a straight line for a limited time, or fly like a helicopter for an even shorter length of time. He possesses superhuman agility, reflexes, coordination, and balance, and often uses himself as a human battering ram. Whirlwind has the ability to focus air currents generated by his rotation into a jet stream powerful enough to blast a hole through a brick wall, as well as create a windscreen able to deflect matter as massive as a falling boulder. He also has the ability to create small tornadoes.

Whirlwind wears full body armor. Since upgrading his armor, Whirlwind has added to his offensive capabilities via the use of two 10-inch-diameter (250 mm) hardened tool-steel sawblades mounted on metal wrist bracelets, which are driven by two DC servo-motors each and activated by palm switches. He also uses thrown shuriken and razor sharp jacks, whose damaging potential is greatly increased by the velocity of his whirling powers.

Other versions

Heroes Reborn

This version wears a streamlined suit of armor with multiple blades, that is adopted (without explanation) by the Earth-616 version.^[21]

In other media

Television

• Whirlwind appears in the 1994 Iron Man animated series voiced by James Avery and later by Dorian Harewood. He is shown as a henchman for the Mandarin.
• Whirlwind appears in The Avengers: United They Stand episode "Command Decision" voiced by Peter Windrem. He is seen as a member of Baron Helmut Zemo's Masters of Evil.
• Whirlwind appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "A Brat Walks Among Us". He helps Doctor Doom, Abomination, MODOK, Melter, Screaming Mimi, Toad, Sabretooth, Juggernaut, and the Wrecking Crew in claiming the Infinity Fractal from a tiara worn by Brynnie Braton.
• Whirlwind appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "The Man in the Anthill" voiced by Troy Baker. He goes on a rampage in town after stealing a sonic emitter from a college and he fights the Wasp. When Whirlwind chases after Wasp, he gets tricked into heading right into a swarm of flies. When he breaks free using his powers, Whirlwind charges Ant-Man and Wasp, but is taken down by Wasp. Whirlwind ends up incarcerated at the Big House. He overrides the power dampener that prevents him from using his powers and goes on a rampage against the Ultron Synthezoids until he learns the hard way why the prison is called the Big House when he ends up pinned down by Ant-Man's finger. Nick Fury later mentioned to Ant-Man and Wasp that Whirlwind was hired by Klaw to steal a sonic emitter. When Nick Fury discovers from Clay Quartermain that Whirlwind is actually a mutant, he had Clay double the power on Whirlwind's power dampener and to also notify the Mutant Response Division in order to give Whirlwind to them. When Whirlwind is in his cell, he gets in a conversation with Mad Thinker on why he hasn't planned an escape attempt yet. Mad Thinker tells Whirlwind that the Big House is one of the four major supervillain prisons and that every supervillain will be free when the security systems break down. In the episode "The Breakout," a technological problem at the Big House causes its inmates to escape. Whirlwind fought Ant-Man until he collided with Griffin. In the episode "Masters of Evil," Enchantress transforms herself into Whirlwind in order to lure Wasp into a trap.

Video games

• Whirlwind also appears as the first level's main antagonist in the video game Captain America and the Avengers.
• Whirlwind appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. He is among the supervillains that Iron Man controls with the special nanites. When the nanites take over, Whirlwind is among the villains that attacks both sides. He will attack the heroes alongside the other nanite-controlled inmates (including Diamondback and Moonstone) at the portal when Prison 42 in the Negative Zone is going to explode. He later attacks the heroes at the Fold's tower.

References

1. ^ Tales To Astonish #50 - 52 + 55
2. ^ Avengers #46
3. ^ Avengers #54
4. ^ Avengers #83
5. ^ Captain America #130
6. ^ Marvel Feature #6 Nov. 1972
7. ^ Marvel Feature #5-6 Sept-Nov 1972
8. ^ Marvel Feature #9 May 1973
9. ^ Avengers vol.1, #139 Sept. 1975
10. ^ Avengers #164 - 166
11. ^ Avengers #222
12. ^ Avengers #270 - 277
13. ^ Captain America #324
14. ^ West Coast Avengers #16
15. ^ Avengers vol.3, #71
16. ^ Daughters of the Dragon #3 (2006)
17. ^ Thunderbolts vol. 2, #104
18. ^ Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness
19. ^ Dark Reign: Zodiac
20. ^ Avengers Academy #5
21. ^ Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil (2000)

External links

• Whirlwind at Marvel.com