Shatter (comics)

Shatter is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe.

Publication history

Shatter first appeared in Morlocks #1 and was created by Geoff Johns and Shawn Martinbrough.

Fictional character biography

The mutant Shatter was apparently just a normal teenager, living at home with his father, until his mutation activated. Knowing what people thought of mutants and what they did to them, he decided to kill himself. He took his father’s gun and shot himself in the head, not realizing that his new body made him virtually invulnerable. The bullet left a massive, cracked depression on the side of his head, but failed to do any mortal damage. Shatter then ran away from home, and at some point joined up with the Postman's Morlocks.

Shatter was among the Morlocks who found the mutant Cell, and rescued him from the police. He was the first to introduce himself to Cell, and quoted Malcolm X, “We are non-violent people with people who are non-violent with us.” Shatter figured that Cell was in shock.

Shatter sat playing solitaire and talking to Cell about his “Last Wish” to free his best friend, as Angel Dust and Electric Eve argued. When the fight started to get physical, they tried to intervene, only to get blasted away by Angel Dust’s power. As he got up off the subway tracks where he’d fallen, Shatter’s hood fell back, revealing the massive crater in the side of his head. Angel was horrified, thinking she’d caused the injury, and fled in horror. Later, Angel Dust approached Shatter to apologize, and he explained that it wasn’t her fault, and told her about his suicide attempt. Both Shatter and Angel Dust agreed on how much they hated life in the sewers, as Litterbug and Postman arrived, announcing that it was “Time to start making wishes come true.” Shatter’s wish was first, so they headed to the pound, tearing through the floor, and rescued Shatter’s best friend, his dog, Hank. Shatter was ecstatic that Hank still recognized and loved him. As they went to fulfill Eve’s wish, they had no idea she intended to murder her drug dealer/pimp ex-boyfriend. After the murder, the Morlocks confronted Electric Eve, Postman was furious that they’d been tricked into helping commit a murder. As the Morlocks argued, Hank began to bark wildly, and a Sentinel blasted Shatter, blowing off his right arm.

Postman carried the wounded Shatter to safety, as the Morlocks fled into their subway station home. As the others argued over Electric Eve’s actions, Shatter rested, the wound having been fused shut by the blast. Just then the police arrived, and shot Trader dead as he tried to protect Electric Eve. As the Morlocks fought back, Angel Dust tried to shield Shatter from the police, begging them not to hurt him (though they apparently had far worse in mind for her). Fortunately, Electric Eve fried those cops before they could do any more harm, and the surviving cops had their memories completely erased by the enraged Postman. Later, as Angel debated whether or not to go through with her wish—to see her parents—Shatter reassured her “Look, you’ve been telling me how… great they are. They deserve some closure, right? And so do you.” And then, while petting Hank, “There are still some good things left in this world.” After Angel’s tearful reunion with her parents, Litterbug revealed that he had a way to stop the Sentinels, at least temporarily, and that he knew this due to the fact that he’d helped build them.

Angel Dust and Electric Eve attacked Litterbug, but Shatter stopped them, “Litterbug’s not our enemy. He’s our brother. An’ it’s time we start actin’ like it.” Later that night, Litterbug drew a sentinel into a trap, Electric Eve temporarily overloaded its systems while Shatter froze its oil, locking it into place while Angel Dust and Litterbug re-programmed the giant robot. The Morlocks, (and Hank) then hid aboard the Sentinel, using it as a Trojan Horse to get into the Sentinel Central Command, at which point they tore their way out and began destroying the Sentinels, covering Electric Eve and Litterbug as they attempted to destroy the Central Command Center that controlled all local Sentinels. The psychotic Dr. Metellus, head of the project, stabbed Postman in the shoulder, but was knocked unconscious by Shatter’s trusty baseball bat. “That woulda been a home run. Triple at the very least,” Shatter quipped, as Eve and Litterbug destroyed the Controller, sending the Sentinels out of control. Shatter, Hank and the others fled, but Cell ran back in, and sacrificed himself to ensure Dr. Metellus wouldn’t survive to threaten his friends again, and then the entire building blew, taking all of Chicago’s Sentinels with it. Eve hot-wired a van in the parking lot, but Angel chose to go back to her parents as the others fled Chicago. Shatter asked, “You think, you think Angel Dust is going to be okay? What happens when the Sentinels are back on line?” Nobody answered, as the Morlocks headed south to find a new, safer home.

In the wake of M-Day—an event in which a mentally ill Scarlet Witch depowered over 90% of the mutant population—Shatter was one of the many who lost his powers.^[1] The energies of his powers were detected in The Collective.

Powers and abilities

His entire body is composed of a blue-black, diamond-hard, crystalline substance, which renders him invulnerable to most conventional attacks. He can regenerate lost limbs, and possesses the ability to crystallize any liquid substance he comes into contact with, such as water, oil, and presumably blood. Shatter’s main weapon is a wooden baseball bat, which he wields with great skill. He is also extremely intelligent.

Other media

Television

• Shatter appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "X-Calibre". He appears as a passenger aboard a ship under attack from Spiral and her Reavers. While he still has his crystalline form, his powers here differ where he can shatter objects when he is in contact with them.

Bibliography

• Morlocks #1-4

References

External links

• Shatter at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Uncannyxmen.net issue summaries of the Morlocks limited series
• Uncannyxmen.net character bio on Shatter