By Scott Braden
Many new titles, characters, and publishers were introduced to the comic book market in the early 1990s. While many are gone, some have left lasting impressions, like high school kid Virgil Hawkins who became the electrifying Static.
The quick-witted kid became Static after the Big Bang event transformed a number of citizens from the fictional city of Dakota into superpowered beings. He was written by Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III with art by John Paul Leon, Steve Mitchell, and Shawn C. Martinbrough. The young hero helped to protect his city from villains like Hotstreak and Holocaust.
The comic was not just another superhero story; it also focused on kids growing up and issues that were important at the time. Some have said that the first year of the title was the best superhero monthly comic at the time.
Here's the first of our four-part look at the first year of this compelling, original character.
Static #1
DC Comics/Milestone Media; June 1993
Trial by Fire Part One – Burning Sensation
“You don't start none there won't be none” is scrawled on the forefront of the premiere issue's front cover, and that's just about the high level of bravado that Virgil Hawkins gets up to when he's the hero Static.
Inside the comic, in his identity as Static, he's trying to protect an arcade that Frieda Goren, a young schoolmate who he's got a crush on, frequents. Suddenly, a group of gangbangers who work for a heavy named Hotstreak go after Frieda, and that's when Static enters the scene.
Taking out the “trash” like a electrically charged Spider-Man, he saves the day while reminding himself that as Static, he's not supposed to know his potential “girlfriend” while bidding her adieu.
The scene then changes to Static returning home as Virgl, where the reader meets his strong-willed mother and his overbearing sister, Sharon. After brief banter, he heads up to his bedroom to talk to Frieda on the phone, who has called to tell him how the hero Static saved her life.
The next day, Hawkins meets up with his friends at school – the ultra-cool Larry Wade and the overly sensitive ballet dancer Rick Stone – as well as Hotstreak's boys. Given the task to round up Frieda for Hotstreak, the toughs intimidate the students, with one of Hotstreak's thugs pulling out a gun.
Leaving the scene, Virgil transforms into Static, and he finds Frieda coming face-to-face with her pursuer, the mysterious Hotstreak. Superpowers collide as Static and Hotstreak go head to head, with our hero getting the upper hand by binding a metal chain around the villian.
Then, as Hotstreak melts his bindings, Static recognizes his opponent as Biz Money B, a thug who bullied him at school. Falling to the ground after multiple punches, Static is defeated by Hotstreak, unintentionally shedding his mask and revealing his secret identity to his beloved Frieda while saying, “You don't understand. I can't fight him. I can't beat him. I can't… I can't…”
Not bad for a first issue, huh?
Static #2
DC Comics/Milestone Media; July 1993
Trial by Fire Part Two – Everything But the Girl
Static's origin issue opens up a little time after the end of the exciting series premiere, with Hawkins and Frieda discussing the climactic events of the first issue. This melds into a flashback of Hawkins' first meeting with Biz Money B, where he gets beaten up by the thug for attempting to defend Frieda's honor in school.
Flash forward to the present where Hawkins, crying and revealing his insecure side to Frieda, continues his story by describing the events that transpired on Paris Island on the night of the Big Bang – the genesis event that caused a number of Dakota's citizens to become super-powered.
With a gun that he acquired from his friend Larry firmly in hand, Hawkins was preparing himself to have his revenge on Biz Money B. While telling himself that he is not “a walking bullseye” and “a loser,” he also comes to the sober conclusion that more importantly, he's not a killer either. This epiphany serves to reinforce Hawkins' character and shows the reader just what kind of hero he really is, and he makes no bones about it.
Just as he's dumping the gun into the river, though, Hawkins gets caught up in the gas of the Big Bang. Laid unconscious for some time, Hawkins awakens to see Biz Money B down on the ground and mistakenly considered dead, and then looks up to find super-powered people flying toward the city. Then, Hawkins finds himself the target of the mysterious “Indigo Base” authorities, which prompts him to first use his electromagnetic powers to defend himself.
His first show of force works, and he flies out of Paris Island no longer Hawkins – but now the superhero Static. Coming back to the present, Hawkins tells Frieda that “so a legend was born,” and chronicles the time it took to practice his skills, so he could bust up crack houses, street thugs, and fight other crime – victories that stopped when he met Biz Money B again. Realizing what he had to do, he sets out to face Hotstreak once more – and this time, to the reader's surprise, there's little or no resistance from the super-powered bully.
Triumphantly returning to Frieda's house where he stands floating just outside her upstairs window, Static learns to his displeasure that she only thinks of him as a friend. Meanwhile, he's caught the eye of another, Holocaust, who wants Static to either work for him . . . or die.
Static #3
DC Comics/Milestone Media; August 1993
Trial by Fire Part Three – Pounding the Pavement
“Pounding the Pavement” starts off with lots of action – and lots of sparks! Static spends the first several pages of the issue saving armies of victims from near disaster using a combination of his superhuman abilities and the lessons he learned from his Chemistry One class.
Then, after all the excitement, we see him at his part-time job, performing mundane tasks like washing dishes. It's through this plot point that we see another of Hawkins’ impressive traits: modesty. It's also at this time that he receives a phone call at work from Frieda, who informs him that some “terminator guy” is after Static.
Hawkins immediately tells his boss, Ms. Ervin, that he's got to go and that it's an emergency – whether she decides to fire him or not. Fast forward to Static in downtown Dakota, where he learns that his pursuer is named Tarmack. After acquiring this knowledge, Static returns home and prepares for school the next day.
At school he learns that Tarmack is nearby, and a battle between the two soon takes place. The fight turns out to be a draw, when suddenly, Tarmack throws a car on an innocent bystander and demands that he and Static settle their differences once and for all in Bradshaw's Parking Lot at midnight.
After the fight – and after school – Hawkins and his friends are taking the subway home and talking about the big fight between Static and Tarmack. It's during this exchange that Frieda tells Hawkins and the others that Tarmack is older and bigger, and that Static should leave him to the more powerful Milestone character, Icon.
Before leaving the train, Hawkins whispers to Frieda that he has two things for the upcoming fight that Tarmack doesn't – a brain and a plan. Later, outside of Bradshaw's, Static meets up with Tarmack for a fight to the finish.
But after a relatively one-sided battle where Static is winning, the hero finally takes Holocaust’s soldier down for the count…but not without Holocaust bringing the fight to Static.
Scott Braden is an Overstreet Advisor and former Gemstone Publishing staffer. We'll have Part 2 of this feature on Static's first year next week.
