Richard Swift (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Image                  = Strm-06.jpg
 * ImageText              = Shade
 * RealName               = Richard Swift
 * CurrentAlias           = The Shade
 * Distinguish1           = Shade
 * Distinguish2           =
 * Aliases                = Mr. Black, Louie Fox, Dicky
 * Identity               = Secret
 * Alignment              = Neutral
 * Affiliation            = formerly Injustice Society, Injustice Unlimited
 * Relatives              =
 * Universe               = Earth-Two; New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = Opal City; formerly Keystone City; London, England


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = 6'2"
 * Weight                 = 170 lbs
 * Eyes                   = Grey
 * Hair                   = Black
 * UnusualFeatures        = Bleeds Shadow instead of blood, greyish skin


 * Citizenship            = British
 * MaritalStatus          = Single
 * Occupation             = Protector of Opal City, retired Criminal, aristocrat
 * Education              =


 * Origin                 = Mystical connection to the Shadowlands
 * PlaceOfBirth           = London, England
 * Creators               = Gardner Fox; E. E. Hibbard; James Robinson
 * First                  = Flash Comics #33


 * HistoryText            =

Pre-Crisis
A common thief who could manipulate the shadows with his cane, he fought both the Golden Age Flash and his Silver Age counterpart Barry Allen, ironically being the villain for the first meeting of the two heroes in the famous "Flash of Two Worlds" story, that reintroduced the Golden Age Flash to the Silver Age.

Post-Crisis
A member of the Injustice Society – now called Injustice Unlimited. They overcame the security at the International Trade Conference in Calgary, Canada — namely Infinity, Inc. and a contingent of the Global Guardians — and forced the heroes to help in some mayhem. The Shade took Fury (Lyta Trevor) to Athens and, with her help, stole a piece of the Altar of Erebus from within the Hill of Ares (the Areopagus). After a brief brush with the Olympian the Shade and Fury returned to Calgary, the Shade to share in the stolen wealth being gathered by the Wizard. But the plan went haywire when Hourman (Rick Tyler) revived and freed himself, as well as when Solomon Grundy was brought in from the Arctic Circle. It was the Green Flame who incapacitated the Shade, and after the confusion he was taken into custody by Canadian law enforcement.

Later the Shade literally kidnapped the city of Keystone City (including the Golden Age Flash and the city's entire population) into a parallel dimension where he kept his prisoners in suspended animation for nearly thirty years, before the Silver Age Flash rescued his namesake and the city from the Shade's clutches.

Post Zero-Hour
After the events of Zero Hour, the DC Universe was substantially altered as a result of Hal Jordan's plan to recreate the universe. The Shade was one of the heroes most affected by Zero Hour, as the time and space warping nature of Jordan's scheme changed the Shade's personal timeline and indeed his very being.

No longer a generic villain with a magical cane, The Shade was now the morally ambiguous English gentleman turned immortal named "Richard Swift". Shade's powers were retconned as being internal and not based from his cane. Able to tap into a horrific alternate dimension of shadows, which he could manipulate and shape into whatever form he wanted similar to. A man of wealth, Shade traveled within the literary circles of the Victorian Era England, befriending author Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde.

As time passed, Swift began using aliases for himself such as "Mr. Black", and went by "Shade" to those he was on good terms with. He also developed enemies, such as the mysterious dwarf Culp), who like Shade was immortal and had the same darkness energy powers as Shade. Other enemies included the murderously corrupt Ludlow family, who Shade had all but wiped out when the family manipulated Shade in order to murder him for sport, with the surviving generations of the family vowing revenge on the Shade.

The Shade kept a lengthy journal and eventually fell in love with United States east-coast city of Opal City. Setting up residence in Opal City, Shade befriended Opal City's sheriff, Brian Savage (once DC's Western hero, Scalphunter) and slowly amassed a small personal fortune, while also moonlighting as a hired killer.

The Shade fled back to England during the early days of World War II, to aide the Allies in fighting the Nazis. While on patrol with the British hero Captain X, Shade was ambushed by Culp when a bomb fell from a German fighter plane onto the two men. To survive, Culp was forced to seek shelter by literally merging with an unknowing Shade.

When the age of costumed heroes began and unknowingly influenced by the malevolent Culp, Swift decided to give himself the name "The Shade" (added a 'the' to his nickname) in 1942. Downplaying his formidable shadow powers, Shade committed crimes in various cities, most notably Keystone City, where he found himself a nemesis in the form of the Flash, Jay Garrick. The Shade would privately refer to his battles as "the joust", which he engaged in for the simple thrill of combat with another super-powered combatant.

Despite his turn to super-villainy though, Opal City remained untouched by Shade as the villain considered the city he lived in off-limits. Indeed, The Shade has been known to be protective of Opal City, to the point of using his powers to kill any criminals who attempt to commit crimes in the city. The Shade even would engage in the occasional super-hero battle, saving Howard Hughes from the villainous Johnny Sorrow. However, Culp slowly began to fight Shade to gain dominance of Shade's body, culminating in the Shade believing that Culp was alive and plotting against him and ultimately to him and Dr. Fate teaming up to find Culp, never knowing that the villain he was seeking was inside his stomach. Shade would later team up with the Golden Age Mist to murder the retired super-hero Invisible Hood, though it is unknown if Culp was responsible for this act of murder.

Jack Knight became the new Starman after the death of his brother David and united with Shade to save Opal City from the Mist and his family's reign of terror that threatened to destroy the city Shade had made into his home. Having returned to the United States and effectively retired since the Injustice Unlimited fiasco, Shade took an interest in Jack Knight and offered to mentor the man who helped save Opal City from the Mist. Jack (and the reader) would be privy to the Shade's diaries, learning much of his life and new backstory as well as his opinions on the various men who used the Starman moniker. Though many in Opal were distrustful of the Shade, he slowly won the trust of many in the city though Culp, furious at how the Shade had rejected evil, finally assumed full control over Shade's body. Gathering an army of villains who Jack Knight had battled over the course of the series, Culp (in Shade's body) cast a spell that allowed him to trap everyone inside Opal City using the shadow powers he possessed and began to destroy the entire city before Starman and the Shade (who ultimately expelled Culp from his body) opposed him. Ironically it would be the Shade's former ally the Golden Age Mist who would kill Culp, as Mist sold his soul to Neron to restore his mind (nearly gone due to Alzheimers) in exchange for his killing the Shade. However, Ted Knight would sacrifice his life to save Shade and Opal City from Mist's final rampage. At the end of the series, The Shade prepared for another "joust" with the newest incarnation of "The Spider", who attempted (and failed) to kill the Shade.

The Shade has since made cameo appearances in Green Arrow, JSA, and Birds of Prey, he was listed alongside magical-based villains such as Felix Faust and Circe, and was called "one of the greatest living users of the mystic arts". He also had a brief appearance in DC's Brave New World in 2006, where his late dinner in Madrid, Spain was interrupted by a 16th century serial-killer/occultist he had killed years earlier named Lord Maximilian Tockworth.

The first Starman annual shows what may or may not be the Shade's ultimate fate, as the protector of a utopian planet several thousand years into the future.

Unlike many other DC Comics characters, Swift has been able to improve his abilities over a span of around 150 years. Powers he possesses now he might not have had in previous centuries. In the future, Starman v2 author James Robinson tells us how Swift learns powers that practically make him god-like.
 * Powers                 =

ability to control darkness. His powers were revealed to be a connection to the Shadowlands (or Dark Zone), a dimension of primordial, quasi-sentient darkness which Shade, as well as other characters with similar powers, can channel for various effects. Swift, perhaps due to age, seems to be the most powerful possessor of Shadowland (Dark Zone) given powers. In the far future, Swift masters, through his shadow powers, how to travel to point A to point B practically instantaneously, as well as time travel.


 * Darkness Teleportation: ability to travel great distances in short amounts of time, by traveling between Earth and the Dark Zone.
 * Darkness Constructs: ability to create solid constructs out of shadows.
 * Shadowland Demon Control: ability to summon and command demonic creatures from the Dark Zone,
 * Darkness Projection: ability to project darkness
 * Darkness Force-field: ability to surround himself with a force field.

Immortality: Swift is an immortal not tied to a type of magic. The only time he lost his immortality was briefly in the second series of Starman, when Simon Culp broke away from him. However, it appears the only way he can lose his immortality is if he loses his shadow, which would require someone from likely the same event back in 1838 meeting up with him (very unlikely). He is highly resistant to attacks of all kinds, and survived a direct bomb fall on top of him, appearing only slightly dazed.

Swift is able to lift heavy objects such as large stone statues with his shadow
 * Abilities              =
 * Strength               =
 * Weaknesses             =


 * Equipment              =
 * Transportation         =
 * Weapons                = Cane-Sword


 * Notes                  =
 * The character of the Shade was created by writer Gardner Fox, and expanded upon by James Robinson.
 * Trivia                 =
 * The Shade has appeared in several episodes of the Justice League animated series as a member of the Injustice Gang, and later as part of Lex Luthor's Secret Society. This version of the Shade had more in common with his Golden and Silver Age roots, than the revisionist version of the character as seen in the pages of Starman. Actor Stephen McHattie provided the voice for the Shade.


 * The Shade was released as part of DC Direct's micro-heroes collection.


 * James Robinson's interpretation of the Shade may have been influenced by the literary character Arsène Lupin – a gentlemen thief created by French mystery writer, Maurice Leblanc. Although the Shade may be interpreted as a pastiche of Lupin, there is no direct correlation between the two characters.


 * James Robinson envisioned actor Jonathan Pryce's voice for the Shade's.


 * James Robinson's interpretation of the Shade and his counterpart in shadow, Culp, from the Charles Dickens novel The Old Curiosity Shop. Judging by Culp's similarity to the book's villain, Quilp, it can be assumed Swift is somewhat based upon the book's Victorian rake who means well, Richard (Dick) Swiveller (note the similarity in the character names).


 * In DC comics, some of the Shade's 19th century life was used as a basis for his friend Charles Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop. He also helped influence Hans Christian Anderson's tale The Shadow.


 * In James Robinson's comics, it is revealed the Shade has spoken to the Devil and God. Shade rejected the Devil and threatened he would take over hell. He also met Neron an rejected his offer, insulting the demon in the process.
 * DC                     =
 * Recommended            =
 * Shade #1
 * Shade #2
 * Shade #3
 * Shade #4

Related Articles

 * Shade cover art gallery
 * Shade appearances list
 * Scalphunter
 * Simon Culp
 * Spider (Lucas Ludlow-Dalt)
 * Starman (Jack Knight)
 * Opal City


 * Wikipedia              = Shade (comics)
 * Links                  =
 * Shade biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe