Speed (comics)

Speed (comics)

Superherobox|


caption=Tommy Shepherd as Speed
Art by Jim Cheung.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Speed
real_name=Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd
species=Unknown
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Young Avengers" #10 (February, 2006).
creators=Allan Heinberg
Jim Cheung
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=Secret Avengers
Young Avengers
aliases=
powers=Superhuman speed
Molecular acceleration.

Speed (Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd) is a fictional character and member of the Young Avengers, a team of superheroes in the Marvel Universe. His appearance is patterned on that of Quicksilver and first appeared in "Young Avengers" #10. In "Young Avengers #12" he took the costumed identity Speed and joined the Young Avengers.

Fictional character biography

Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd is presumably the only son of Frank and Mary Shepherd, who are divorced. He was born and raised in Springfield, New Jersey.

Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) and the other Young Avengers recently located him as another teenager with ties to the Avengers using the same program devised by the Vision that Iron Lad used to locate most of the current Young Avengers, their intent being to recruit more super-powered teens who could help them rescue their abducted teammate, Hulkling.

The Young Avengers find Tommy in a high-powered facility in Springfield that Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) initially describes as "just juvie" (juvenile hall), though the facility and its staff are equipped with advanced offensive and defensive technology such as robotic suits and power dampening containment cells.

Vision states that Tommy is being held at the facility, presumably under court order, because he "accidentally" vaporized his school. When they release him from his cell, it was immediately noted that Tommy, a white-haired speedster, bore a striking resemblance to Billy ("twin-like") and Quicksilver, sharing the latter's hair color and similar abilities.

The team then runs into the armed officers of the facility. Tommy cynically and cruelly begins attacking the officers and fleeing doctors, stating that he had been locked up for months and that during his time there, he was tested and experimented on with the goal to make him into a living weapon. Hawkeye and Patriot (Elijah Bradley) manage to stop him and convince him to join them in rescuing their teammate Hulking from Kl'rt the Super-Skrull.

Little more has been revealed about the facility or Tommy's experiences there prior to his release, nor have they been addressed by the other Young Avengers or Tommy himself.

In "Young Avengers" #12, Tommy decides to officially join the team and adopts the codename "Speed".

Young Avengers Presents

In "Young Avengers Presents" #3, Tommy joins Billy as they search for the Scarlet Witch through Genosha and Wundagore before finally encountering Master Pandemonium at a former residence of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. Master Pandemonium decides not to fight the boys after recognizing Wiccan's magic as being the same as the Scarlet Witch's and realizing that the two boys are the same as Wanda's previous children, William and Thomas. Instead, he elaborates on their history concerning Mephisto and the Scarlet Witch and advises them that the history they search for is filled with "darkness and chaos" and that they should embrace who they are in the present.

Later on, in "Young Avengers Presents" #6, he goes on a date with Kate to help relieve her tensions about losing her name and bow to Clint Barton. He then helps her break into the Secret Avengers home base and reclaim her bow. During the course of the evening, the two share a kiss, addressing the heretofore unspoken love triangle between himself, Kate, and Patriot. However, Kate decides to attempt a relationship with Patriot instead.

Parentage

In "Young Avengers" #11, Tommy's possible relationship to the Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Billy was revealed by the Super-Skrull and Vision. In the past, Scarlet Witch was so desperate to have children that she used her reality-warping powers to create twin sons out of fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto. When the boys' souls were reabsorbed into Mephisto, they destroyed him and their souls were reincarnated as Tommy and Billy.

Heinberg stated on the situation in a transcript with fans, "According to Billy's theory, the souls of Wanda's twins inhabited his and Tommy's bodies when they were dispersed from Mephisto. But it's only a theory." [ [http://www.avengersforever.org/chat/transcripts/Heinberg.htm Avengers Forever - Chat Room Transcript ] ] He also stated in another interview that his plans for the new 'season' involved the two searching for Wanda, stating "If everything goes according to plan, Wanda will indeed return to "Young Avengers" early in Season Two, when Billy and Tommy embark on a search for the true source of their powers. [ [http://www.prismcomics.org/display.php?id=1233 Prism Comics » Features » Ten Queeries with Allan Heinberg ] ] . Indeed the "Young Avengers Present" issue from March 2008 has been solicited as involving "twin brothers" Wiccan and Speed looking for their "mother Wanda" [ [http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/Mar08/solicitations.html NEWSARAMA.COM: MARVEL COMICS SOLICITATIONS FOR MARCH 2008 ] ] .

Much conjecture has been made as to their appearance and powers, and while Marvel's official character files state that they are, indeed, her childrenFact|date=May 2007, in the comics the only indication there of is K'Lrt's statements and Vision's files. Billy believes himself to be Wanda's son, however Tommy has been more skeptical about the situation.

However, in "Young Avengers Presents" #3, where Speed and Wiccan search for the Scarlet Witch, Tommy's skepticism appears to have entirely diminished. He refers to himself as Wiccan's "big brother" (though neither truly knows who is older) and frequently refers to the Scarlet Witch during their search as "Mom." ["Young Avengers Presents #3"]

Powers and abilities

Speed is superhumanly fast and his top speed is unknown, but he can exceed the speed of sound. He can also generate hyperkinetic vibrations that accelerate the molecules in matter, causing any solid object he directs his vibrations at to explode. In "Young Avengers Presents" #3 he asserts that he is "Quicksilver fast", shown running from the eastern seaboard of the United States to Genosha, an island off the east coast of Africa, in the same amount of time it takes Wiccan to teleport the same distance. This indicates that Speed is fast enough to run across the surface tension of a body of water without sinking. During the Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways crossover, when both teams invaded the Cube in order to save their friends, in a screen shot Speed was shown exploding a gun in his hand, possibly by focusing his hyperkinetic vibrations. It is unknown how well he can focus or channel these vibrations.

Other versions

The Last Avengers Story

In a one-shot story about the final Avengers story, Billy and Tommy grew up as the children of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. As a child, Tommy witnessed the accidental murder of his mother by his uncle, Quicksilver, which caused their father, the Vision to become emotionless and withdrawn. Tommy (known as "Tommy Maximoff") chose to become a student of Doctor Strange and learn the mystic arts. He and his brother Billy (who became a villain known as "the Grim Reaper" and sought revenge against him and their father) communicated via holograms where Tommy implored his brother to give up his villainy, stating that he was apprehensive to fight him. Eventually the Reaper joined forces with Kang and Ultron-54 and their "final battle" with the Avengers. Tommy sought advice from Doctor Strange about what to do concerning his brother, stating that he was not ready to fight him. Tommy decided to assist the Avengers and tried to reach and recruit the Vision, who had become near-catatonic and enormous having apathetically allowed his molecules to diffuse, but to no avail. Angered and frustrated, Tommy left to fight his brother. Tommy and Billy were locked in battle until their father the Vision saw this and came to his senses and destroyed Ultron, ending the fight.

Unlike his Earth-616 counterpart, Tommy Maximoff inherited his mystical abilities from his mother, the Scarlet Witch rather than his uncle's super speed. As a student of Doctor Strange, Tommy was able to perform various magical feats, including concussive mystical bolts and creating force fields. ["The Last Avengers Story" #1, 2]

References


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