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Fictional character From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry "Hank" Henshaw is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and normally goes by the name Cyborg Superman. Created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens, the character originally appeared primarily as an enemy of Superman, however in recent years he has also been an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps.
| Hank Henshaw | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hank Henshaw as the original Cyborg Superman on the variant cover artwork of Action Comics #1055 (May 2023, DC Comics), art by Sebastian Fiumara. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Hank Henshaw: The Adventures of Superman #465 (May 1990) As Cyborg Superman: The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993) |
| Created by | Dan Jurgens |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Henry "Hank" Henshaw |
| Species | Human/Kryptonian cyborg |
| Team affiliations | NASA Sinestro Corps Manhunters Warworld Alpha Lanterns |
| Notable aliases | Superman Man of Tomorrow Grandmaster The Cyborg Martian Manhunter Metallic Mass Murderer Alpha-Prime |
| Abilities |
|
At times, he is also referred to as The Cyborg (not to be confused with Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg)[1]
In 2011, IGN ranked him #33 of the "Top 100 Comic Book Villains".
Hank Henshaw first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #466 (May 1990), and was created by Dan Jurgens.[2][3][4] He first appears as Cyborg Superman in the Reign of the Supermen storyline.[5]
Hank and the other three members of the Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, are exposed to radiation from a solar flare during a LexCorp experiment.[1] Hank and Terri survive, but suffer adverse effects from the radiation: Hank's body begins to decompose and Terri begins phasing into another dimension before being rescued.[6]
After Henshaw's physical body is destroyed, he transfers his consciousness into the LexCorp mainframe. He appears to Terri, but she is driven insane and commits suicide. Using NASA communications equipment, Henshaw possesses the ship that carried Superman from Krypton as an infant and uses it to explore space.[1][7]
Henshaw believes that Superman caused the ship accident after throwing the Eradicator into the Sun and plots revenge on him.[8][9]
After Doomsday kills Superman, Henshaw poses as him to destroy his reputation and claims to be him resurrected as a cyborg.[9][10] He rescues Bill Clinton from an assassination attempt, after which he endorses him as the "true" Superman.[10][11][12]
During this time, rival cults worshiping Henshaw and the Eradicator are established.
When Mongul's spaceship appears over Coast City, Henshaw attacks and severely injures the Eradicator, allowing Mongul to destroy the city. Henshaw also murders a family of vacationers trying to escape the devastated area.[13] He then convinces the White House and the public that the Eradicator was responsible.[14] After tricking and defeating Superboy, Henshaw prepares to launch a nuclear warhead to convert Metropolis into a second Engine City.[14][15]
Superboy escapes and warns Steel, Supergirl, and the resurrected Superman of Henshaw's plans.[9][16] The four confront Mongul and Henshaw while Superboy stops the missile from hitting Metropolis.[17] Henshaw attempts to kill Superman with kryptonite, but the Eradicator sacrifices himself to save Superman, altering the kryptonite and causing it to restore his powers. Superman kills Henshaw, who claims that he will eventually return.[18][19]
Henshaw returns by transferring his mind into a device he placed on Doomsday. He travels to Apokolips, where he possesses an Apokoliptian trooper. Henshaw and Doomsday take over most of Apokolips before Darkseid imprisons the former.[20]
Darkseid later frees Henshaw, who joins an intergalactic council seeking to bring Superman to trial for the crimes of his ancestors.[21] When the council learns of Henshaw's role in the destruction of Coast City, they sentence him to death. As an electronic consciousness, Henshaw cannot be killed by normal means and is transported beyond the event horizon of a black hole.
Henshaw encounters Hal Jordan / Parallax at the Source Wall.[22] Parallax uses his powers to generate representations of the victims of Coast City, which tear the Cyborg's body apart. Jordan then disperses Henshaw's consciousness, and the Cyborg is seemingly destroyed once again.[1]
Superman later encounters Henshaw on New Genesis, where he has used the Source Wall's power to create a small world from his memories. After being defeated, Henshaw escapes, constructs a new body, and becomes an art teacher. He eventually returns to villainy and allies with Toyman, creating a machine that splits Superman into Superman Blue and Superman Red.
Henshaw later attempts to take over Kandor, but fails when he is defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone. He later returns and becomes the leader of the Manhunters before being destroyed and reduced to a disembodied head when the Manhunters' home world of Biot explodes.[23][24][25]
Henshaw is later rescued by the Sinestro Corps, reconstitutes his body, and joins their ranks.[8][26][27][28][29] During this time, he revisits his past and desecrates his wife's corpse.[8]
Meanwhile, the Manhunters begin an assault on the JLA satellite. Hawkgirl, Black Lightning, and Red Arrow retaliate; however, all three are neutralized when Henshaw assists in the attack and he successfully tampers with the mechanics of the satellite core. As the satellite is thrown out of orbit, Superman appears and engages Henshaw in battle. Their fight continues on Earth, while Sinestro transports his crew and his ship from the anti-matter universe. At first Superman seems to have the upper hand; however after two punches, Henshaw strikes with great power and rage, punching him through the Statue of Liberty. By the end, Henshaw has Superman in a choke hold, thinking that the victory is near.[8]
He is later seen briefly in Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime, having presumably been beaten back by the combined strength of Superman, Supergirl, and Power Girl.[30]
Hank Henshaw's body is destroyed when the Green Lantern Corps detonate New Warworld and Sinestro Corps power battery to destroy the Anti-Monitor. However, he is recovered by the Manhunters.[31]
In Brightest Day crossover, Henshaw allies with the Alpha Lanterns.[32][33][34] He forces Ganthet to work on reversing the augments that turned the Green Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns, hoping that he can use the resulting information to restore his original body.[35] Henshaw is killed by Boodikka, but his consciousness survives inside Doomsday and eventually forms a new body.[36]
In Reign of Doomsday, Doomsday assimilates Henshaw's technology before being transported to another dimension.[37][38][39]
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Hank Henshaw is a human doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and a colleague of Caitlin Fairchild.[40] His role as Cyborg Superman is taken by Zor-El, a cyborg Kryptonian and servant of Brainiac.[41][42]
Following the DC Rebirth relaunch, Henshaw's role as Cyborg Superman is restored.[43][44][45][46][47][48]
Hank Henshaw is a "technomorph". Unlike a simple technopath which can physically manipulate technology with their mind, Henshaw can extend his consciousness into any machine.[49] Through his technomorphic abilities, Henshaw also gained Kryptonian powers similar to Superman, while editing out weaknesses, such as his vulnerability to kryptonite. He could even commandeer complex alien technology, including power rings,[36] controlling and assimilating the energy fueling them, as well as their batteries.[47]
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