Kid Amazo

Kid Amazo is a fictional cyborg from DC Comics, built to be the "son" of Amazo. Originally meant to star in a 2004 hardcover called JLA: Kid Amazo,^[1] he made his debut three years later, in the pages of JLA Classified; as a result, he was "predated" by the similar Marvel Comics character Victor Mancha, the son of Ultron. His civilian identity is Frank Halloran.

Fictional character biography

Kid Amazo, as his "father" before him, was built by mad scientist Professor Ivo, who was still pursuing his dream of vengeance against the Justice League of America. As Amazo, merely an advanced robot, failed, the next approach would be to cross bio-mechanical material from Amazo's body with human ova and DNA, in order to obtain a cyborg being who would exhibit the best traits of both human and artificial life. To advance his plans and complete Kid Amazo's instruction and programming, Professor Ivo sends him away to live with humanity. The young cyborg is given the human identity of Frank Halloran, a 21-year-old college student, student of existentialism and follower of Nietzsche's Übermensch concept. Frank forms a close relationship with Sara Shapiro, who, unbeknownst to him, is his "mother" (or at least the donor of the human ova needed for his creation). Sara is the daughter of Professor Ivo, who assigned her to be the young cyborg's handler. As Frank is ignorant of his true past, he merely sees Sara as a confidant and believes he cannot pursue a relationship with her because her Jewish parents would disapprove of Frank's atheism.

Upon witnessing a battle between Amazo and the Leaguers, young Frank Halloran is forced to reconsider his assumptions when Amazo saves Sara's life. He becomes increasingly fascinated by superheroes and their ideals, where Sara responds only with cold detachment. Frank, still shaken up, is later confronted by Amazo itself. Amazo reveals to Frank the truth about his nature, and Frank convinces himself to join Amazo, whereupon he assumes the alias "Kid Amazo."

Eventually, Kid Amazo has a change of heart and decides to fight on the side of the angels, leaving Professor Ivo to wonder which will be stronger — Frank's human upbringing or his mechanical origins. Frank's every attempt to be a hero backfires horribly, and when Amazo unleashes a Big One in Berkeley, the "Kid" is forced to stop him. However, his attempts to help are misunderstood and when the authorities pursue him, he is forced to wound a policeman to escape.

Alone, Frank tries to hone his newfound abilities. The Martian Manhunter performs a psychological evaluation on Frank and judges the boy to be on the brink of insanity. The Justice League decides to closely monitor Frank's further attempts to better himself by exploring both sides of his heritage. He fights minor villainy as "The Kid," but winds up the target of Amazo, the League, and Sara herself. This, added to his inability to cope with his isolation and loneliness, leads him to explore his villainous side, which again brings him to the attention of the Justice League.

His life in shambles and his sanity shattered by the revelations about his past, Kid Amazo embraces his full power. Able to mimic both powers and minds, he truly becomes a one-man Justice League. However, his power becomes his downfall, as Batman and the rest of the Leaguers decide to voluntarily bicker and quarrel among themselves, destabilizing both their team and Kid Amazo's mind. The stress of a single mind mimicking a shattered team is enough to make Kid Amazo explode. In the end, Sara is left to mourn her son/lover, and the League is left to deal with the real rancor unearthed by their phony quarrel.

Powers and abilities

Due to his Amazo "heritage", Kid Amazo has the abilities of the first League core members, but has only displayed super strength, speed, invulnerability, flight, heat and x-ray vision, and an accelerated healing factor. His main and most advanced power is being able to mimic the mind and personality of the core members of the Justice League, gaining an intimate knowledge of the relationship between the Leaguers and being able to predict the outcome of their teamwork. He possesses the absorption cells of his predecessor.

References

• Diamond Previews catalogue volume XVI, #6 (June, 2004).

External links

• Brady, Matt. "JLA & The Kid: Peter Milligan on Kid Amazo," Newsarama (Feb. 10, 2004).
• Brady, Matt. "Kid Amazo Postponed," Newsarama (Mar. 16, 2004).
• Solicitation for the never-published JLA: Kid Amazo, "DC Feature Articles - April 2004:" Toon Zone (Apr. 2004)