Slingshot (comics)

Superherobox


caption = Slingshot, from "Dynamo 5" #1 (January 2007). Art by Mahmud A. Asrar.
character_name = Slingshot
publisher = Image Comics
debut = Dynamo 5 #1 January 2007
creators = Jay Faerber
Mahmud A. Asrar
alter_ego = Olivia Lewis
full_name =
species = Superhuman
homeworld =
alliances = Dynamo 5
aliases =
supports=
powers = Flight

Slingshot (real name Olivia “Livvie” Lewis [Her last name was given as "Lews" in one panel of "Dynamo 5" #1, but as "Lewis" in a subsequent panel, and in all subsequent issues, such as "Dynamo 5" #10.] ) is a fictional comic book superhero, a member of the superhero team Dynamo 5, which appears in the monthly series of the same name from Image Comics. Created by writer Jay Faerber and artist Mahmud A. Asrar, Slingshot first appeared in "Dynamo" 5 #1 (January 2007).

Character history

Following the assassination of Captain Dynamo, the much-beloved superhero protector of Tower City, his widow, former government agent posing as a now-retired investigative reporter Maddie Warner, discovered from his personal effects that he had been unfaithful to her countless times. Despite her devastation at this discovery, Warner realized that without a full-time protector, Tower City would be vulnerable to Captain Dynamo’s legion of super-villain enemies. She used her skills and the information she discovered to track down five people who could be Dynamo’s illegitimate children.

Olivia “Livvie” Lewis was the second of Captain Dynamo’s children that Warner contacted. Gathering all five of the children together, Warner exposed them to the same unidentified radiation that gave Captain Dynamo his powers forty years earlier, unlocking their powers. Livvie inherited her father’s ability of flight, took the codename Slingshot, and works to protect Tower City with her newly discovered brothers and sisters.Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #1; January 2007.]

Personality and family life

Livvie's biological mother passed away when Livvie was young enough to require her adoptive father and her mother's widow, Neil Lewis, a high-priced Washington DC lawyer, to learn how to cook. [Neil's name was revealed in "Dynamo 5" #10; January 2008; Page 19. The passing of Livvie's mother was established in "Dynamo 5" #4; June 2007; Page 11.] Livvie is a junior at Georgetown University, an overachiever, [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=8898 Weiland, Jonah; "Ain't Nothing but a Family Thing: Faerber Talks Dynamo 5"; Article on ComicBookResources.com; December 20, 2006] ] and a driven activist who is involved with half a dozen different volunteer organizations and extracurricular activities, which include working as a reporter for G.U.'s campus newspaper, "The Hoya", and volunteering at a clinic, though her workaholic nature leaves less time for her boyfriend Derrick than he’d like.

As a member of Dynamo 5, Slingshot is dedicated and attentive.Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #2; February 2007.] She is respectful and reserved towards Maddie Warner, usually referring to and addressing her as "Ma'am", or "Mrs. Warner", and eschewing profanity in her presence. She finds Warner's writings as a journalist to be "brilliant", and objects to her brother Spencer's view that this deference is an attempt on her part to "suck up" to Warner. She is not completely deferential to Warner, however. For example, she angrily refused to comply with Warner's order that she and her siblings stay in Tower City to protect it after she learned of her father's aforementioned kidnapping.Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #11; March 2008.]

In "Dynamo 5" #4, Neil receives a disturbing phone call. He tells Livvie that it is a wrong number, though she is not satisfied with this explanation, [Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #4; June 2007.] and it is later revealed to be part of a plot of some persons who learned of Livvie's superhuman abilities. These people kidnap Neil, and threaten to kill him unless Livvie frees a witness from F.L.A.G. custody named Lionel Barstow, who is set to testify at a trial. Sensing that the kidnappers do not know about Livvie's siblings, the entire Dynamo 5 team kidnaps Barstow from F.L.A.G. custody, and frees Neil Lewis. They discover, however, that Barstow is an assassin with a "death touch" that can kill people by merely touching them. When caught, he decided to testify against his employers, who kidnapped Neil Lewis. Although Livvie's siblings are outraged at learning that they freed a murderer, Livvie is satisfied to have freed her father. [Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #10 & 11 (January 2008; March 2008).] The questionable nature of this act was later brought up when Livvie and her siblings discovered that Spencer was a half human, half alien hybrid that Captain Dynamo had fathered when he encountered a woman on another planet. His siblings discover this when Spencer is rendered unconscious, and reverts to his true, alien appearance. When criticized for concealing this fact, he accuses his siblings of hypocrisy, pointed out that they let Barstow walk away. Livvie contends that they needed to get her father to safety, and that they could have gone after Barstow, but is told that they look to her for direction because she is their leader, a status that Livvie vehemently rejects. [Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #12 & 13 (April 2008; May 2008).]

Neil Lewis was profoundly disturbed to discover his daughter's secret when she rescued him, and pained to learn that Livvie's mother cheated on him with Captain Dynamo. Livvie, however, recalling her feeling of betrayal with Spencer, sympathized with him, but reassured him that because of Dynamo's shapeshifting ability, he could've impersonated Neil himself when he fathered Livvie, and that Livvie's mother may not have truly cheated on Neil. [Faerber, Jay; "Dynamo 5" #14; June 2008.]

Powers

Slingshot has the superhuman ability to defy gravity, and fly under her own power. The top speed and altitude she can achieved unaided is currently unknown, but she is able to use this ability to be an effective fighter in battles. In one encounter with the reptilian monster known as Whiptail, she was able to fly around the creature fast enough to create a miniature tornado, causing it dizziness, without suffering any ill effects herself. Although she did not inherit her father’s superhuman strength, she is able to generate extra thrust while in flight, as she is able to carry another person when flying. She also uses the speed she can generate while in flight to knock out an opponent with the impact of a single punch. Whether this is a physiological adaptation that exists as part of her flight power, or a result of reinforced gloves, is unclear.

References

External links

* [http://www.dynamo5.com Dynamo 5 Home page]