General Wade Eiling

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caption= Wade Eiling as The General
Art by Howard Porter.
character_name=General Eiling
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Captain Atom" #1
(March 1987)
creators=Cary Bates
Pat Broderick
alter_ego = General Wade Eiling
species =
homeworld =
alliances=Suicide Squad
The Society
Injustice Gang
partners =
aliases=The General, Shaggy Man
supports =
powers=Superhuman strength, speed and endurance,
Regenerative healing factor, Military expert

General Wade Eiling, sometimes known as The General, is a fictional character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in "Captain Atom" #1 (March 1987), and was created by Cary Bates and Pat Broderick.

Fictional character biography

Wade Eiling is a military tactician who blackmails the accused Nathaniel Adam into participating in an atomic experiment. This turns Nathaniel into the nuclear being Captain Atom, and causes Adam to disappear for 18 years. This is considered a failure by Eiling and Megala, the project's main scientist. They would attempt the experiment again, which ends up with the creation of Major Force.

During the 18 years in which Adam is gone, Eiling marries his wife and acts as father to his two children. Eiling also manipulates Captain Atom into serving the military. His first attempts, a chance for Adam to view his children in exchange for retrieving a lost submarine, falls apart in issue #3 of the 1980s "Captain Atom" series. This embarrasses Eiling in front of his superiors. The same issue details the cover story for Captain Atom that Eiling helps create, one that is, in his words, "a scenario just far-fetched and hokey enough to sound authentic". His continuing conflicts with the title character were a major focus of the 1980s "Captain Atom" series. Eiling would also form an intensely adversarial relationship with Megala.

"JLA"

In "JLA" #24 after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, Eiling sends a military team to salvage the indestructible body of the second Shaggy Man from the Pacific Ocean. Green Lantern and Aquaman attempt to stop the Corps from retrieving the body, but their efforts are thwarted when Green Lantern's ring-generated protection is ultrasonically disrupted and Aquaman suffers a case of the bends.

The General returns to his base of operations, Threshold. From there he orchestrates a military assault on the JLA. Answering a call for help in Phoenix, Arizona, the Justice League are attacked by American military forces. Spearheading the offensive is a new superhero team called the Ultramarine Corps. Recruited and genetically enhanced by Eiling's lab team, The Ultramarines already exhibit signs of terminal illness. Meanwhile, Batman, the Huntress and Plastic Man track Eiling to Threshold, where they discover that the general transferred his brain patterns into the indestructible body and took his own life. Eiling's personal computer reveals his military plans, the flawed Ultramarine Project, and the Shaggy Man brain transfer blueprints. Suddenly, Eiling emerges from an adjoining room and attacks.

The JLA battle the military and the Corps until "JLA" #26, (Feb 1999). Eiling's forces consider mutiny as doubts against attacking the League come to a head. Superman, whose super-senses have diagnosed the Ultramarine's disease, persuades the Ultramarine Corps that Eiling has used and betrayed them. The Corps members, who volunteered for service in good faith, switch sides and speed with the JLA toward Threshold.

Even against the combined might of the JLA and the Ultramarines, the General is unstoppable. Batman notices that Eiling's tactical edge and focus are diminished in his new artificial form. Working together, the team fights the monster onto a bulk-matter teleport platform. Eiling is transported to 433 Eros, a 'rocky needle', six miles in length, at the heart of the Sol system's asteroid belt.

The Injustice Gang

He stays there for several months until Queen Bee recruits him into Lex Luthor's new Injustice Gang. Eiling battles against the Justice League a second time as part of a coordinated attack, this time utilizing a large-scale machine gun. At least once he declares that the League was wrong to banish him to the asteroid with no trial whatsoever. During the battle, Eiling almost bites off Steel's hand. The battle moves to one of the White Martian warships that is currently inside the Phantom Zone. There, Eiling states his plan to utilize the weapons of mass destruction on various Earth itself. Orion's war dog Sturmer participates in a trick against Eiling. The canine tackles the man through a ship's airlock, into the Phantom Zone, where Eiling is lost for some time.

Back As A Threat

Having somehow escaped, he has since appeared in the JSA comics fighting Hal Jordan. He is one of the hundreds of villains recruited into the Society. He is a participant in the Battle of Metropolis, the first step of the Society's war on the heroes. This effort fails. Later, he is recruited into the Suicide Squad, where he betrays the team to their intended target. Rick Flag detonates a bomb implanted in Eiling's head, ending the threat. His head and brain eventually regenerate, but results in some amnesia. Eiling continues to serve as a Squad member through Salvation Run.

Other media

Television

A significantly altered version of General Wade Eiling appeared in the "Justice League Unlimited" voiced by J.K. Simmons. (The animation model blends both Simmons and one of his other characters, J. Jonah Jameson from the Spider-Man films.) In the episode "Dark Heart", as a US Air Force General fighting the nanomechanical constructs. After the "Dark Heart" was shut down by the Atom, General Eiling and his soldiers confiscated the device, making suspicious comments about the Justice League satellite laser that had been used to hold off the nanomachines. General Eiling was later shown to be a member of Project Cadmus. The group was born of fears that the Justice League would go rogue, and Eiling served as their military tactician. Later, he compelled Captain Atom to decide on his loyalty: to the USAF, or to the Justice League. After Cadmus disbanded, Eiling was relegated to a position he described as that of a "pencil-pusher".

Unhappy with this situation, and still regarding superpowered beings as a threat to humanity, he enacted a radical pre-emptive plan in "Patriot Act". After breaking into Cadmus Labs and stealing a serum, he injected into himself. The serum had been designed to create "Captain Nazi," a potential super-soldier for Hitler during World War II. However, it was captured by Spy Smasher before it could be used. Due to its age, the serum transformed Eiling into a giant, disfigured humanoid, making him similar in appearance to his "General" days in the comic books. Despite this, he retained his human intellect, and went off to kill the Justice League (especially Superman) during a parade in Metropolis. However, he ironically ended up fighting the League's non-superpowered members: Green Arrow, Speedy, Shining Knight, Crimson Avenger, Vigilante, Stargirl, and S.T.R.I.P.E. (an homage to the original Seven Soldiers of Victory) before being persuaded to depart by a softspoken little old lady and a crowd of Metropolis civilians, as he was trying to warn them of the dangers of super-powered beings, and as they pointed out: "You're the only one here with super-powers". Before leaving, he did warn the people that he was "right," and tell them that he'll be back if the Justice League becomes a major threat.

General Eiling has also appeared in issue number 5 of the "Justice League Unlimited" spin-off comic book.

Video Games

Wade Eiling as The General appears in the Nintendo DS version of "Justice League Heroes".