Superman vs the Elite
Who are the Elite? by Jerry Whitworth
On June 12, Superman vs the Elite will be released on DVD. Based on the story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?” produced by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Lee Bermejo for Action Comics in 2001, the Elite are a group of powerful younger heroes who have no issue with taking life in combating evil and are generally supported by the public, though it flies in the face of everything Superman and his generation of heroes believe in. The Elite borrow its influence from WildStorm’s popular series the Authority by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch which features a likewise homicidal group of superheroes. Unable to stand by and allow the Elite to break laws in their bloody path in the name of justice, Superman consistently challenges their practices until they finally battle it out as the world watches.
Manchester Black
MANCHESTER BLACK
Leader and founder of the Elite, Manchester Black is Earth’s most powerful psionic, capable of incredible feats of telepathy, telekinesis, mind control, and illusion. Abused physically, mentally, and sexually by his parents, Manchester grew up in an unnamed area of England where he protected his sister Vera from their parents (who often violently argued) but took to using his powers to kill people for his amusement. Resenting traditional heroes who allow villains to return again and again to trouble the world, Black resolved himself to form a group of his own kind of heroes that would kill criminals and make the world a better place.
Coldcast
COLDCAST
Nathan Jones is a metahuman with the ability to manipulate electromagnetism born and raised in the mean streets of Chicago (losing his right eye in a gang fight while protecting his brother Christopher which unlocked his metagene). His abilities offer a large variety of capabilities including flight, force fields, energy blasts, generate a pulse to fry electronics, slow electrons (essentially stopping time), and tap into the Earth’s electromagnetic field.
Menagerie
MENAGERIE
Bonded to a cache of alien creatures that offer their individual abilities to their host, the Puerto Rican woman known simply as Pam joined Black’s Elite. She can employ these aliens to act as wings, armor, tail, body spikes, and claws and can be detached to act independently of her (such as a spying device or offensive attack). Several of these creatures offer various secretions that can cause euphoria, compel others to tell the truth, and act as a highly corrosive acid.
The Hat
THE HAT
A mysterious demon known as the Dragon that has taken the form of a drunken magician, the Hat wears a large hat that it appears anything can be pulled from (such as physical items and spells). As a demon, he has various other abilities such as limited invulnerability, capable of breathing fire, and capable of sensing magic.
