Big Bang (comics)

"This page is about the Milestone Comics event. For the Caliber Comics imprint see Big Bang Comics"

The Big Bang is a Milestone Comics event published by DC Comics. The event was first chronicled in Blood Syndicate #1 by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr. and Denys Cowan, and "Static" #1 (April 1993) by Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III.

Publication history

The Big Bang is a significant event in the fictional history of Milestone Comics, in which many of the superheroes and supervillains of Dakota - including Static and the Blood Syndicate - got their powers. The concept was the brainchild of Christopher Priest, who cites African-American urban legends as the inspiration [http://www.digital-priest.com/comics/adventures/milestone.htm] .

The event took place in Paris Island, which had long suffered from heated gang wars. In 1993, the leaders of all of the Paris Island gangs decided to settle their grievances once and for all, in a massive "gang bang" confrontation dubbed the "big bang". Word of the "Big Bang" spread, and eventually got around to Dakota's police department. Mayor Jefferson ordered them to spray every gang member present with an experimental tear gas laced with a radioactive marker that would allow the police to track the participants down later. The mayor was hoping that this would boost her reputation for being "tough on crime".

But the gas also contained a mutagenic compound called "quantum juice" (or "Q-juice"). Most of those exposed to it -- police included -- died on the spot. The rest mutated, some being deformed, some gaining unusual abilities in the process. The survivors were dubbed "bang babies". The mayor disavowed any involvement. The survivors went on to become superheroes and supervillains that continued to roam the city of Dakota for years to come. The survivors of two gangs - the Paris Bloods and Force Syndicate - formed the core of the Blood Syndicate, a gang of bang babies which claimed Paris Island as their turf.

tatic Shock

In the animated series "Static Shock", the Big Bang takes place in the episode "Shock to the System". A huge gangfight takes place in a restricted area on the docks. The fighting attracts the attention of the police, who arrive in helicopters and call for the gang members to drop their weapons. As the gang members run, one of them shoots out the helicopter searchlight. The police respond by throwing tear gas into the area. The cannister hits several barrels of mutagenic substances, which explode. A large cloud of gas covers the area and all of the gang members (and others who happened to be nearby) gain various powers from it and become known as "Bang Babies". It was later revealed that Edward Alva Sr had planned for the Big Bang to go off. In "Replay", Ebon finds himself in the past and attempts to set off an earlier (and much larger) Big Bang, but he is stopped by Static, Gear, and Timezone. In "Power Outage", when it is revealed that all Bang Babies are being cured of their powers, Ebon steals the last of the Big Bang gas to set off a second Big Bang. When Hotstreak attempts to steal the gas for himself, the cannister is opened and he and Ebon fuse into one giant shadowy-firey Bang Baby.

Notable bang babies

*Aquamaria
*Blood Syndicate
*Ebon ("Static Shock" animated series)
*Gear
*Hotstreak ("Biz Money B")
*Rubber-Band Man
*Static
*Talon ("Static Shock" animated series)

ee also

* Metahuman