Rip Hunter

Infobox comics character


caption=Art by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund.
character_name=Rip Hunter
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Showcase" #20 (May 1959)
creators=Jack Miller (writer)
Ruben Moreira (artist)
real_name = Richard "Rip" Hunter
species =
homeworld =
alliances = Linear Men
Forgotten Heroes
aliases =
supports=
powers = Genius level inventor. Time-traveler. Skilled in fighting styles and martial arts from every era of history.

Rip Hunter is a DC Comics character who first appeared in "Showcase" #20 (May 1959), then his own series which ran for 29 issues (1961-65). He later starred in the eight-issue "Time Masters" series (1990), written by Bob Wayne and noted author Lewis Shiner. He was created by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira.

Publication history

The Challengers of the Unknown were a quartet of science fiction adventurers created by Jack Kirby. They debuted in 1957, and their commercial success spawned two other science fiction characters: Cave Carson and Rip Hunter. Hunter was the more successful of the two, with excellent art in his early appearances by Joe Kubert, Mike Sekowsky, and Nick Cardy. Hunter was the leader of a gang of time travelers who featured in brisk and historically accurate adventures in various eras. DC editor Jack Schiff reported that he and writer Jack Miller had "lots of fun" creating the comics, and this was evident in the fast-paced stories. [cite book |title= |last=Jacobs |first=Will |coauthor=Gerard Jones |year=1985 |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |location=New York, New York |isbn=0517554402 |pages=pp. 38-39]

Rip Hunter has had a number of revisions within the fictional DC Universe, those changes are generally connected to larger events and story lines. The writing and editorial staff often use a narrative device within the comics known as a crisis event to explain dramatic changes to the appearance or personality of characters. Rip Hunter has undergone a number of different developments within this fictional universe.

1959 - 1985

In his original incarnation, Rip Hunter is portrayed as an ordinary man who uses his self-invented Time-Sphere to travel through time. Aided by his friend Jeff Smith, girlfriend Bonnie Baxter, and Bonnie's kid brother Corky, they have adventures in time. Those stories were told in the self-titled series Rip Hunter which ran for 29 issues between 1961 - 1969.

The character is next seen in the series "Challengers of the Unknown", where, in the year 12,000,000 A. D., he assists the Challengers of the Unknown,Swamp Thing, and Deadman defeat the dictatorial Sun Lords ["Challengers of the Unknown" #85-87] . The character's next major appearance is in "Action Comics" #552-554. With the aid of Superman and the team known as the Forgotten Heroes, an alien invasion of Earth is prevented. ["Action Comics" #552-554 (Feb-Apr 1984)] .

The Forgotten Heroes are then seen in the 1985 series "Crisis on Infinite Earths", a mini-series intended to change the fictional universe shared by DC characters. During that story, Hunter is used as a plot device to enable the superheroes of the Multiverse to travel to the dawn of time where they face off against the Anti-Monitor. The battle effectively destroys the Multiverse. Hunter reunites with some of his Forgotten Heroes teammates, as well as cosmic heroes Adam Strange and Captain Comet, in a quest to defeat the Anti-Monitor once and for all. With the help of Brainiac, they journey to Apokolips, where the tyrant Darkseid uses his advanced science to peer into the Anti-Matter universe and aid Alex Luthor, Superman, and Superboy-Prime in the ultimate destruction of the Anti-Monitor. ["Crisis on Infinite Earths" #11] . This narrative event allows the writing staff of DC comics to alter many of their heroes and fictional situations.

1985-2004

The "Crisis on Infinite Earths" series was used as a plot device to dramatically alter the fictional histories of many characters. Unlike most other characters, Hunter continues with the same personality and memories that preceded the event. This is used as literary device to portray him as a man out of time without a home. No one remembers that he existed. The writers further expanded on this by having their new fictional universe contain an alternative version of the character, one who was native to this time-line, also a master of time travel.

This original version of the character is then depicted as attracting the attention of the Linear Men with his attempts to reach his original universe ["Legends of the DC Universe 80-page Giant" #1 (Sep. 1998)] . Impressed by Hunter, the Linear Men recruit him into their ranks and the writers alter the appearance of the character using the stress of time travel as an explanation for those changes. Now with white hair and bionic implants, he is seen in a number of series that involve time or the manipulation of time as an element of the narrative—most notably during the "Zero Hour" mini-series and event.

In "The Kingdom", Hunter is seen to turn on the other Linear Men and joins forces with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, as well as some young heroes from the future, to defeat the time-traveling villain Gog. As a result of the battle, he finally breaks down the barrier to Hypertime ["The Kingdom" #2 (Feb. 1999)] .

Shortly thereafter, the Linear Men, including the original character of Hunter, are destroyed during the Imperiex onslaught ["Superman" (vol. 2) #165 (Feb. 2001)] . Although their consciousnesses survive and they eventually construct new bodies for themselves, they have been driven insane by the experience. The Quintessence disband the Linear Men and Hunter vanishes in a whirlwind ["Superman the Man of Steel" #118 (November 2001)] .

Running parallel to those stories, another version of the character is seen having adventures, as the inventor of time travel technology in the Post-"Crisis" universe ["52" Week Six] , Hunter aids heroes Booster Gold and Animal Man in their own time-traveling adventures before taking on the vast Illuminati conspiracy during the eight issue series "Time Masters". This more gritty and realistic (symbolized by jeans and a t-shirt rather than a costume) take on the character attempts to change the past to prevent the Illuminati, led by Vandal Savage, from coming into existence. During the series, a relative of the character known as Dan Hunter decides to stay in the past at the time of the Revolutionary War. This is used to create a link between Rip Hunter and the pre-existing western themed Dan Hunter, a character associated with Tomahawk. The series concludes with Hunter being stranded in the prehistoric past ["Time Masters" 1-8 (Feb-Sep 1990)] .

Also, in the "Chronos" miniseries, starring Walker Gabriel, an alternate version of Gabriel, experimenting on time travel to avert World War III, mentions a horrible accident suffered by a Commander Hunter, who apparently scattered himself across time, with only "bits of flesh and bone" which kept resynchronizing in the lab.

2004- present day

The character's next major appearance is within the page of 2004's "Justice Society of America" where he takes members of the modern day Justice Society of America back in time to fight the villainous Per Degaton ["JSA" #66, 68-72 (December 2004-June 2005)] . Once again, the character is used as a device to allow for time-travel and for other heroes to travel forwards and backwards in time. This version of the character returns to a sci-fi influenced costume and the use of a time bubble. The ramifications of being a time-traveler are explored by the writer Geoff Johns, who turns the name Rip Hunter into an alias. This is explained as being part of an attempt by the character to hide all of the details of his history, lest an enemy travel back in time and kill him as a child.

The themes of time and changes to the timeline are next explored in the weekly series "52". Following up from events in the "Infinite Crisis" mini-series, Booster Gold tries to contact Hunter. Booster discovers his base of operations in an time-locked concrete bunker in the Arizona desert, but when he finally manages to enter the bunker, he finds only a blackboard, a globe, and some pieces of paper filled with writings about the future, with references to facts and events like the mortality of Vandal Savage, the last Lazarus Pit of Nyssa Raatko, and the appearances of the mysterious Supernova. The purpose of the blackboard was to provide clues for the readers of upcoming storylines within that series and other DC Universe titles.

As the series progresses, more and more time-traveling characters, such as Waverider are killed by a mysterious figure who is later revealed to be Skeets ["52" Week Nineteen] . ["52" Week Twenty-Seven] .

Hunter finally emerges in the Bottle City of Kandor. Working with Supernova, Hunter has been trying to try to put together a machine that will "fix" time before Skeets can find him ["52" Week Thirty-Six] . Upon discovering Mr. Mind burrowing into Skeets' shell, Rip Hunter uses T.O. Morrow and the severed head of Red Tornado as a bait for the Venusian worm ["52" Week Fifty-One] . Mr. Mind metamorphoses into a nigh-omnipotent imago form, a "hyperfly" feeding on universes. Hunter then reveals to Booster Gold and Booster's ancestor Daniel Carter that the Multiverse is restored as 52 individual universes as a result of Alex Luthor's actions after he escaped his "paradise dimension". Mr. Mind seeks to devour every parallel universe. Sealing Mr. Mind in a time-rift, the multiverse is saved. ["52" Week Fifty-Two] . Hunter warns the others to keep the Multiverse a secret for the time being as he eagerly prepares to explore it.

The character is next seen as an integral part of the cast of the "Booster Gold" series. Here, the character acts as a companion and adviser to Booster Gold. Rip has also since changed his outfit from a futuristic red and green to a more classical Indiana Jones-type adventuring outfit. The series uses the events of "52" as a basis for the characters to travel in time and attempt to fix or prevent lingering anomalies or evil time travelers from altering the present. As in "52", the blackboard in Rip Hunter's lab provides clues to the readers about upcoming events and storylines within the fictional universe.

In "Booster Gold" #1,000,000, the series writer Geoff Johns revealed that Rip is the son of Booster Gold. Rip traveled back in time to ensure that his father would do what he needed to do in order to start the Carter family legacy of being the Time Masters.

In Carl Draper's "Checkmate" blog, reference is made to the Smith-Baxter Group, a time-travel consultancy whose founders were trained by Hunter (presumably Jeff Smith and Bonnie and/or Corky Baxter from the Time Masters mini-series).

References

External links

*DCDP|Rip Hunter
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/riphuntr.htm Toonopedia entry]
* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=riphunter Rip Hunter, Time Master Biography]
* [http://darkmark6.tripod.com/riphunter.html Rip's pre-Crisis Index]