Son of Vulcan

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caption=Son of Vulcan's debut. Cover art by Dick Giordano
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=Son of Vulcan
real_name=Johnny Mann
publisher=Charlton Comics later by DC Comics
debut="Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds" #46 (May 1965)
creators=Pat Masulli and Bill Fraccio
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status=Deceased
alliances=
previous_alliances=
aliases=
relatives=
powers= one power from each of the Roman gods |

Son of Vulcan is the name of two fictional characters, one created by Charlton Comics in 1965, the other by DC Comics in August 2005. Son of Vulcan was one of the characters DC Comics purchased from defunct Charlton Comics in 1983.

Johnny Mann

Charlton Comics

Son of Vulcan first appeared in "Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds" # 46 (May 1965), retitled "Son of Vulcan" with issue # 49, and was created by writer Pat Masulli and penciler Bill Fraccio. Charlton staff writer Joe Gill would write most of his stories. Predating the Charlton "Action Heroes" line, Son of Vulcan is not properly part of that group. His final Charlton story, "The Eye of Horus" in "Son of Vulcan" # 50 (Jan. 1966, the last issue), was the first professional work of writer and future Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas.

History

The original Charlton character was Johnny Mann, a reporter who was crippled in one leg during a war. When he complained aloud that the gods play with men's lives, Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, appeared and argued that men's destinies were their own. Finally, Vulcan agreed to give Johnny powers that would help him fight injustice by himself. By calling on Vulcan's name, Johnny would transform into a (healthy) warrior with one power granted by each of the Roman gods (a concept similar to that of the original Captain Marvel). As the Son of Vulcan, Johnny had several adventures, but remained a little-known hero.

DC Comics

DC has made very little use of Son of Vulcan. He appeared briefly (and apparently died) in the "War of the Gods" miniseries that followed the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" fictional crossover. DC then published a new "Son of Vulcan" miniseries whose title character and series premise was unrelated to the original.

History

At DC, during the War of the Gods, the Roman gods wanted Son of Vulcan (Johnny Mann) to be their champion against the Greek gods' champion, Wonder Woman, but he refused, so they chose Captain Marvel instead. Son of Vulcan investigated the cause of the war, and met Harmonia, daughter of the Greek god Ares, who was also investigating it. They learned the war was part of a plan by the sorceress Circe to gain absolute divine power. Son of Vulcan and Harmonia fell in love, but the two apparently died in battle.

Miguel Devante

Brief synopsis

Orphan Miguel "Mikey" Devante, 14, is taken hostage by Jason Woodrue a.k.a. the Floronic Man at the Big Belly Burger in Miguel's hometown of Charlton’s Point. A relatively unknown hero named Vulcan tells Mikey to free the other hostages while he battles the Floronic Man. Miguel stays back after freeing the other hostages to ensure Vulcan is safe. Miguel saves Vulcan from danger by chopping off Floronic Man's arm with Vulcan's sword. Vulcan chooses Miguel to be his successor.

After their adventures, Miguel and the android Pandora later go to San Francisco, where Miguel is seen talking to Beast Boy of the Teen Titans and presenting himself as simply "Vulcan". While he evidently did not join the Titans during the One Year, he does appear in the line-up for the new "Titans East" one-shot, scheduled for release in November, 2007.

Son of Vulcan was also in "Infinite Crisis" #6 as one of the spellcasters who summon the Spectre at Stonehenge. Seeing as Miguel's powers stem from a transferable Metagene virus it has yet to be revealed why he was there.

He recently appeared in "JSA Classified" #19 written by his creator, Scott Beatty. He is one of the competitors at Roulette's fight, but, apparently, manages to survive and flee the scene.

Son of Vulcan was left badly injured, seemingly dead at the end of the "Titans East" one-shot. "Titans" #1 revealed that he's still alive, but in a coma, along with Lagoon Boy and Anima.

Trivia

*Darkseid once masqueraded as a Son of Vulcan knockoff named "Janus, Son of Jupiter". As Janus he possessesed great strength and the ability to fly. He also carried a supposedly indestructible shield and a high-tech mace. As Janus, Darkseid appeared to be as a handsome, blonde human. He first appears in "Super Powers" series 3 #3 (Nov 1986).

References

* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/s/sonvulc.htm International Catalog of Superheroes: Son of Vulcan]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/sovulcan.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Son of Vulcan]
* [http://darkmark6.tripod.com/charlton_index.html Index to the Earth-4 adventures of the Charlton Action Heroes]
* [http://comics.org/ The Grand Comics Database]
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-09-30 CBR: Oddball Comics]