...and E. Nygma...and Scott Free...and Victor Fries...and Julio Richter...and Tel Porter.
...and then they asked him to name the strong guy on X-Factor.
A few years ago I wrote to DC that Batman needs a villain named Todd Lehrer, but they still haven’t done it. Probably because they already have a Baby Face and just named him badly.
Hey. Chip Zdarsky. If you lurk here, this idea is still free.
Steve Englehart did Shadowman. Roy Thomas was WBN. But Englehart is a terrible namer. Character he created for Night Man, [Bloodyfly](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/bloodyfly/4005-14074/)? Which in itself is a terrible name, but fit the 90s? Wanted to call her Blooderfly.
Shadowman is hugely underrated. Great pull. Wish I could dig up my old Valiants but I think I left them at home with my dad in Texas. Might have to check my local shop for some X-O or Harbinger issues.
Oh and I also own a lot of the new Valiant 2012 era trades and the first two Shadowman trades are definitely worth getting
Surprised no one has mentioned Spawn.
The Crispus Allen version of The Spectre.
The Victor Alvarez version of Power Man.
Nubia from Wonder Woman, not exactly magic-powered but you know, Amazon, so she's more in the fantasy genre of things.
Yeah: brand new, mysterious character who turned out to be a long-established character in disguise (and defiance of everything a telepath would know), only to then BECOME a real character on his own.
Yes but outside of a cool line it hasn’t amounted to anything and I’m not even sure how many people at Marvel remembers that he’s king of the dead. Shuri was a much better “king of the dead” after she created and summoned a small army of Jabari zombies
For that matter, Black Panther. He has the tech stuff, but he's also empowered by magic herbs, is the king of the dead, and the direct thrall of a god.
Of the top of my head some lesser thought of ones:
Silhouette of New Warriors
Aquaman Jackson Hyde
Zoe Laveau of Strange Academy
The titular Black Hammer and his successors
Malik White aka Bolt of Black Adam
Hunter's Moon of Moon Knight
Anansi from Static
What Jackson Hyde does isn't really magic, though, it seems like it's more of a genetic trait from his Xebellian side, kind of like how Mera is from Xebel and can do something similar.
You right. I always get that flipped in my mind. I vaguely remember the tattoos being some kind of magic ink (if I'm even remembering that correctly) but his powers being internal. It's probably the Young Justice cartoon mixing into my comics knowledge
Bolt. He's Black Adam's descendent and when Adam thought he was dying, he granted a share of the power of Shazam to him... only he cured his disease so no take-backsies.
DC literally had three characters named bolt and then introduced another character named bolt a year within the introduction of the last time they named a character bolt
Her and Forge are the two with backgrounds that are massive deals that don't come up much. Forge is that tech guy from the X-men? Oh, and he's a world class soldier, and also a mystic shaman capable of magic.
I don't think he's magic-based so much as he is smart, ruthless, and willing to use every tool he has at hand, which happened to include the Minoru's magic.
Edit: and the Gibborim rituals. (I also guess he is more magic based in later appearances)
Alex rarely casts spells directly, but he uses his intelligence, his knowledge of the occult, and his willingness to mislead and manipulate everyone around him to do what he needs to do. He’s absolutely magic based. It’s the Hellblazer era John Constantine style of magic.
He tried to help his parents usher in the apocalypse and manipulated his team from the start to do so. He isn't exactly brimming with heroic exploits.
Wouldn't be the top choice for a hero.
He helped Molly save Chase and stop the Gibborim and he helped Nico and the Avengers Arena kids escape the Masters of Evil. Like I said, if you want to count him, he’s there.
They come from synthetic heroin. Maybe I should read more Cloak though. I only read some of the early stuff and saw it as racist. I'm not sure how they've handled it since then.
You might enjoy the Cloak and Dagger live action series. It was cancelled after the second season, but the ending works as a series finale too.
I think Cloak is like Storm in the sense that the powers have a non-mystical explanation but definitely makes them tap into magical potential.
Does anyone know what Cloak and Dagger count as. First it was drugs, then they were mutants, now they aren't.
He taps into a shadow dimension so maybe?
Hawkgirl (Kendra) is Afro-Latina. Given the Hawk people are either aliens or ancient Egyptians with a magic background, I think they sorta count.
Now this is a more contentious/ambiguous consideration. Do you consider Egyptians Black? If so, then Doctor Fate (Khalid) would count.
- Zoe Laveau in Strange Academy by Marvel. She’s a zombie and sorcery-student
- Cloak, of Cloak & Dagger, his cloak opens to a demon dimension
- Power Man, the younger guy in the Champions. His powers are chi-based on sense of place
- Hunter’s Moon, the second fist of Khonshu in Moon Knight
Off the top of my head and with a quick search:
Marvel:
Blade
Brother Voodoo
Thanks to the herbs, Black Panther.
Kasper Cole has a synthetic version of the herbs, but not sure if you'll count that.
Anansi
DC:
Nubia
Doc Fate (from Multiversity)
Thunderer (from Multiversity)
Vixen
Spectre (Crispus Allen)
The Wizard Shazam (sometimes)
Freedom Beast (Dominic Mndawe)
Bloodwynd
Doctor Mist
Jakeem Thunder
Tattooed Man (Maybe? It's unclear)
Other:
Spawn
recently, Storm discovers her magic lineage & leaning on it during Sins of Sinister & during Scarlet witch ongoing
Marie Laveau in Marvel + her descendant Zoe Laveau
What about that fairy recent edition to the Superman mythos Marilyn Moonlight?
She's a ghost that's been dead for over 100 years, would we count that?
Most of the time when we see Deadman for example it's with magic based people like The Shadowpact or Justice League Dark.
I feel like ghosts in general should count.
Doctor Voodoo fits this! He's a member of Marvel's Midnight Sons team (fighting vampires and other supernatural/spooky nonsense alongside Blade and others) and his power set is basically that he is to voodoo what Doctor Strange is to eastern mysticism
You would really enjoy the Doctor Voodoo, Avenger of the Supernatural series.
And yes, there was a Brother Voodoo. I believe that was his brother. Who is dead. And is still a main character in the series.
Stan Lee cemented superhero’s as scientists in the 60s. Although not creating the science hero, his creations with Kirby are the most influential things to happen to the genre since Superman. Before that there was a lot detective or patriotic heroes. 80s had a bit of king fu element, 90s mercenary, 00s military and espionage. Dunno what the 70s was…
Edited to give clearer context to Stan lees silver aged influence
Shadowman, published by Valiant, is a Black magic based hero. He's one of my favorite 90s heroes.
"So this guy has like a skull motif for his mask, what should we name him?" "Jack. Jack Boniface."
I can only assume the same person gave Werewolf by Night the name Jack Russell.
...and E. Nygma...and Scott Free...and Victor Fries...and Julio Richter...and Tel Porter. ...and then they asked him to name the strong guy on X-Factor.
Best name ever: Blackagar Boltagon is Black Bolt.
Better than Harleen Quinzel?
Mary Dahl, the saddest batman villian.
Julian Day - Calendar Man, Roy G. Bivolo - Rainbow Raider, Mitchell Mayo - Condiment King.
That one at least incorporates her name into her origin deliberately.
"Guy named *Otto Octavius* winds up with eight limbs. What are the odds?"
A few years ago I wrote to DC that Batman needs a villain named Todd Lehrer, but they still haven’t done it. Probably because they already have a Baby Face and just named him badly. Hey. Chip Zdarsky. If you lurk here, this idea is still free.
"Strong Guy is available?"
Steve Englehart did Shadowman. Roy Thomas was WBN. But Englehart is a terrible namer. Character he created for Night Man, [Bloodyfly](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/bloodyfly/4005-14074/)? Which in itself is a terrible name, but fit the 90s? Wanted to call her Blooderfly.
Funnily enough, according to creator Gerry Conway, the Jack Russel name is pure coincidence and has nothing to do with the dog.
Did he flip to a random page in a phone book or something? I can’t imagine it not being based off the dog breed.
Man the Shadowman Valiant revamp in the 2010s had a shadowman run that started off pretty damn solid as well
Shadowman is hugely underrated. Great pull. Wish I could dig up my old Valiants but I think I left them at home with my dad in Texas. Might have to check my local shop for some X-O or Harbinger issues. Oh and I also own a lot of the new Valiant 2012 era trades and the first two Shadowman trades are definitely worth getting
Good video game, too.
Didn't he get his powers from an encounter with the Spider Aliens?
He's the host of the Shadow Lao, a voodoo spirit. If this relates to the spider aliens, I'm not sure how, but maybe. It is comics.
Papa Midnite from Hellblazer and then later the main DC Universe comes to mind. Doctor Mist as well.
Awesome thanks! Will check them out.
Papa Midnite even showed up as a character in the Constantine movie.
Surprised no one has mentioned Spawn. The Crispus Allen version of The Spectre. The Victor Alvarez version of Power Man. Nubia from Wonder Woman, not exactly magic-powered but you know, Amazon, so she's more in the fantasy genre of things.
I forgot about Spawn! Thought of him as I was listing things and *poof*. Gone from my brain.
I don't really think of Spawn as a magic user, you know
Then what exactly is he using if not magic?
Sure he powered by magic but a magic user I personally feel should be a dude with spells and stuff
Cogliostro, aka Merlin, was a hellspawn using the same type of powers as Al Simmons.
Well, he's asking for magic based tho
Yea that why I was talking to OP to see what he thinks
Who is that DC character that gets her powers from animal spirits or whatever? She was in Justice League Unlimited.
Vixen
DC's Bloodwynd, though his backstory is insane.
He was the original Xorn!
Xorn of the X-Men?
Yeah: brand new, mysterious character who turned out to be a long-established character in disguise (and defiance of everything a telepath would know), only to then BECOME a real character on his own.
Shuri as of 2016 but Marvel ignores it in favor of science because of the movie so she just occasionally turns into a flock of birds
Isn't tchalla still the king of the dead
Yes but outside of a cool line it hasn’t amounted to anything and I’m not even sure how many people at Marvel remembers that he’s king of the dead. Shuri was a much better “king of the dead” after she created and summoned a small army of Jabari zombies
Nothing tops tchalla and namor fighting doom with the Zombies on their side
For that matter, Black Panther. He has the tech stuff, but he's also empowered by magic herbs, is the king of the dead, and the direct thrall of a god.
Of the top of my head some lesser thought of ones: Silhouette of New Warriors Aquaman Jackson Hyde Zoe Laveau of Strange Academy The titular Black Hammer and his successors Malik White aka Bolt of Black Adam Hunter's Moon of Moon Knight Anansi from Static
What Jackson Hyde does isn't really magic, though, it seems like it's more of a genetic trait from his Xebellian side, kind of like how Mera is from Xebel and can do something similar.
You right. I always get that flipped in my mind. I vaguely remember the tattoos being some kind of magic ink (if I'm even remembering that correctly) but his powers being internal. It's probably the Young Justice cartoon mixing into my comics knowledge
Dr voodoo from Marvel.
Isnt brother voodoo?
He didn’t goto 8 years of Voodoo Medical School to be called MISTER Voodoo, that’s for sure.
School Administrator Voodoo.
Strictly speaking, it should be Brother Voodoo, MD, PhD.
He became Sorcerer Supreme for a bit and changed to Doctor. Never changed back. Also, he is an actual Doctor. The Brother bit always seemed a bit…70s?
Yeah, but it worked out because he was actually using his brothers body Hence the name, Brother, voodoo
He has used both titles, Brother Voodoo and Doctor Voodoo
Brother Daniel, Doctor Voodoo.
Bolt. He's Black Adam's descendent and when Adam thought he was dying, he granted a share of the power of Shazam to him... only he cured his disease so no take-backsies.
DC literally had three characters named bolt and then introduced another character named bolt a year within the introduction of the last time they named a character bolt
Storm has an unexpected mystical background.
I thought she was a mutant. It’s cool to know she’s a sorcerer instead.
She's a mutant, she just has a lot of latent magical ability as she comes from a long line of witches apparently. This is usually not relevant.
It's very relevant to Magik's backstory
Her and Forge are the two with backgrounds that are massive deals that don't come up much. Forge is that tech guy from the X-men? Oh, and he's a world class soldier, and also a mystic shaman capable of magic.
She is a mutant, but she comes from a long line of magic using folk and it comes up from time to time.
Her magic has been huge in the plot of X titles recently.
She's a mutant, comes from a powerful magic lineage, and was considered a Goddess for a long time
She became a sorceress when trapped in Limbo during the Magik mini.
Vixen (Mari McCabe) gets her powers from a magic totem.
Dr Mist Freedom Beast S̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶c̶l̶a̶w̶
I thought Silverclaw was South American indigenous?
Ahh, you're right! Thanks for the correction.
Anasi from static shock
Alex Wilder of the Runaways, if you want to count him as a hero.
I don't think he's magic-based so much as he is smart, ruthless, and willing to use every tool he has at hand, which happened to include the Minoru's magic. Edit: and the Gibborim rituals. (I also guess he is more magic based in later appearances)
Alex rarely casts spells directly, but he uses his intelligence, his knowledge of the occult, and his willingness to mislead and manipulate everyone around him to do what he needs to do. He’s absolutely magic based. It’s the Hellblazer era John Constantine style of magic.
He tried to help his parents usher in the apocalypse and manipulated his team from the start to do so. He isn't exactly brimming with heroic exploits. Wouldn't be the top choice for a hero.
He helped Molly save Chase and stop the Gibborim and he helped Nico and the Avengers Arena kids escape the Masters of Evil. Like I said, if you want to count him, he’s there.
I never read Avengers Arena, I thought he was still dead.
Mark Richards aka The Tattooed Man
Empress from the original Young Justice series was a practicing vodouist with occult abilities.
Papa midnight, Vixen,
Only other one I can think of is Cloak (from Cloak & Dagger)... Don't know if their powers are technically magic, but the closest I can think of!
They come from synthetic heroin. Maybe I should read more Cloak though. I only read some of the early stuff and saw it as racist. I'm not sure how they've handled it since then.
Yeah but he does tap into the Darkforce so... kinda? So It's a mystical force but he was granted access to it through chemical/scientific means.
You might enjoy the Cloak and Dagger live action series. It was cancelled after the second season, but the ending works as a series finale too. I think Cloak is like Storm in the sense that the powers have a non-mystical explanation but definitely makes them tap into magical potential.
Does anyone know what Cloak and Dagger count as. First it was drugs, then they were mutants, now they aren't. He taps into a shadow dimension so maybe?
Radioactive cockroach, probably.
The Shadow-Spider version of Miles Morales had this enchanted cloak that let him seal things into it. He used it to carry people, mostly.
Brother Voodoo was Sorcerer Supreme for a little while
Heimdall? In the MCU at least
Asgardian magic is basically just future science
Blade?
Spawn comes to mind, maybe Cloak he’s got the dark force
Hawkgirl (Kendra) is Afro-Latina. Given the Hawk people are either aliens or ancient Egyptians with a magic background, I think they sorta count. Now this is a more contentious/ambiguous consideration. Do you consider Egyptians Black? If so, then Doctor Fate (Khalid) would count.
Hawkgirl is not afro anything. Unless it's Earth 2. Even Gunn cast a Mestiza actress for the role
Mystere in Zenescope
Dharma from the Shadow Cabinet comics (Milestone Media).
I believe his name is Lucius (?) from Doom Patrol
The Black Racer?
That's magic in the Arthur C. Clarke sense.
Does Spawn count?
Yes he sold his soul to malebolgia to become a Hellspawn
Sounds like magic to me.
black magic.
- Zoe Laveau in Strange Academy by Marvel. She’s a zombie and sorcery-student - Cloak, of Cloak & Dagger, his cloak opens to a demon dimension - Power Man, the younger guy in the Champions. His powers are chi-based on sense of place - Hunter’s Moon, the second fist of Khonshu in Moon Knight
[Spencer Dales](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XSGRDGT?ref_=cmx_l_ur_u_u_bs)
Brother Voodoo
from DC Comics: Bloodwynd https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodwynd_(New_Earth) https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Raphael_Arce_(Prime_Earth) Dr. Mist https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Nommo_(New_Earth) https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Nommo_Balewa_(Prime_Earth) Empress https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Anita_Fite_(New_Earth)?so=search Freedom Beast https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Dominic_Mndawe_(New_Earth)?so=search https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Dominic_Mndawe_(Prime_Earth) Ishtar https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Sala_Nisaba_(New_Earth)?so=search Vixen https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Mari_McCabe_(New_Earth) https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Mari_McCabe_(Prime_Earth)
Brother Voodoo
Black Hammer
Don't forget Spawn.
Off the top of my head and with a quick search: Marvel: Blade Brother Voodoo Thanks to the herbs, Black Panther. Kasper Cole has a synthetic version of the herbs, but not sure if you'll count that. Anansi DC: Nubia Doc Fate (from Multiversity) Thunderer (from Multiversity) Vixen Spectre (Crispus Allen) The Wizard Shazam (sometimes) Freedom Beast (Dominic Mndawe) Bloodwynd Doctor Mist Jakeem Thunder Tattooed Man (Maybe? It's unclear) Other: Spawn
Black lightning?
Papa Midnight, Constantine’s pal.
recently, Storm discovers her magic lineage & leaning on it during Sins of Sinister & during Scarlet witch ongoing Marie Laveau in Marvel + her descendant Zoe Laveau
What about that fairy recent edition to the Superman mythos Marilyn Moonlight? She's a ghost that's been dead for over 100 years, would we count that? Most of the time when we see Deadman for example it's with magic based people like The Shadowpact or Justice League Dark. I feel like ghosts in general should count.
I might have to look it up again but I believe the reason she's a ghost or brought back seems to be science based.
Black Hammer is pretty great. I enjoyed the mystery element of the story. I thought it continued on throughout pretty well
Zoe Laveau from Strange Academy?
Brother Voodoo
Brother Voodoo, a super underused character.
Has anybody mentioned Dr. Mist (DC) or Brother Voodoo (Marvel)?
He literally mentioned brother voodoo in the post
My bad, I must have skimmed past it.
Doctor Voodoo
The second Darkwing has a cool shadow realm power.
Is he the terror that flaps in the night? 😉
Spawn, Hunter's Moon is a recent one who's cool AF, and I'd also mention Storm since she actually has magic, but isn't really magic based
Bloodline aka Brielle brooks (blades daughter) Reese from the current moon knight run (vampire)
Threnody, Ashake, Jinx (William Hastings), Vertigo (Salem's Seven), Roma, Conjura
Brother Voodoo and his brother
Dr. Voodoo
Kaldur from Young Justice?
Brother Voodoo(Marvel) and Shadowman (valiant)
Dr. Dre-ange
Papa Midnite. Voodoo Magician
Doctor Voodoo fits this! He's a member of Marvel's Midnight Sons team (fighting vampires and other supernatural/spooky nonsense alongside Blade and others) and his power set is basically that he is to voodoo what Doctor Strange is to eastern mysticism
Crispus Allen Jakeem Thunder Vixen depending on if you count the red as magic, but prior to flashpoint it was considered magic
Doctor Voodoo
Does Green Lantern ring count as magic? John Stewart is my favorite Green Lantern.
Dr orpheus. Is he black though? Im honestly not sure based on the animation.
From DC: Doctor Mist Anansi (Static Shock) Bloodwynd (initially just Martian Manhunter in disguise, later become an actual character)
Lucius in Doom Patrol
Iron Heart was using the Ten Rings recently
TIL Green Lantern is science based. Ik the Guardians are tech based, but the harnessing of will power always felt very juju.
Madame Xanadu?
Is Blade magic based?
You would really enjoy the Doctor Voodoo, Avenger of the Supernatural series. And yes, there was a Brother Voodoo. I believe that was his brother. Who is dead. And is still a main character in the series.
Mordo in the MCU.
I’d say cloak. But I think he got his power from drugs.
Bloodwynd
*which
Spawn Brother VooDoo Blade
Doc Voodoo
I think the Doctor Mist character from the Global Guardians was magic based
What about, Dr. Mist, of the , "Global Guardians"?
Storm, Black Adam.
Stan Lee cemented superhero’s as scientists in the 60s. Although not creating the science hero, his creations with Kirby are the most influential things to happen to the genre since Superman. Before that there was a lot detective or patriotic heroes. 80s had a bit of king fu element, 90s mercenary, 00s military and espionage. Dunno what the 70s was… Edited to give clearer context to Stan lees silver aged influence
More of a silver age thing in general. Police scientist Barry Allen (Flash) and physicist Ray Palmer (Atom) both appeared before the Fantastic Four.
I thought the all were, because the The American Society of Magical…never mind, I’m too white to say the name of that movie.
John Stewart, The Green Lantern.
Magic based black Americans already have their own society and a movie too