- You're looking at an entrepreneur!
- — Blinder src
Blinder was a career criminal who crossed paths with Static.
History
The man known as Blinder was a petty Dakota City criminal who had had numerous run-ins with the law. During his latest stint in prison two years ago, he decided to make a name for himself by killing fellow convict Teshomé Hawkins, who had been convicted of the notorious Van Hauser murders. However, Blinder seriously underestimated Teshomé, who severely beat him, sending him to the infirmary. Blinder lost his left eye in the attack, earning him his nickname.
As he recovered, Blinder concluded regaining his freedom was wiser than being top dog in prison. So, Blinder served his time quietly and was released on parole a year later. Now back on the streets, Blinder rejoined his old street gang. As a result, he was among the hundreds of gang members who fought in the "Big Bang," a major turf war that would determine which gang was Dakota's most powerful. The situation worsened with the arrival of police officers, who deployed a special tear gas to help them more easily capture all the gang members. Unknown to the officers, the gas had been secretly laced with Quantum Juice, a bizarre mutagenic substance that killed 90 percent of those at the Bang while the survivors known as "Bang Babies" became genetic freaks. In Blinder's case, he gained the ability to surround himself in an impenetrable force field.
Immediately realizing the potential of his new power, Blinder organized a new gang and then embarked on a bloody campaign to eliminate his criminal rivals. Soon afterward, Blinder or perhaps one of his minions acquired the formula for ZCE, an illegal designer drug far more addictive than ecstasy. Blinder set up labs throughout Dakota to produce ZCE, sales of which skyrocketed over night and turn his gang in a major criminal empire.
Life was good for Blinder until he learned his hated foe, Teshomé, was freed after new evidence exonerated him of the Van Hauser murders. Though initially angry, Blinder realized he now had the chance to exact his revenge. So, the drug lord ordered his men to track Teshomé's movements and make regular reports to him.
Eventually, Blinder led some of his thugs to ambush Teshomé while the latter was jogging with his nephew, Virgil. The criminals successfully kidnapped Teshomédespite Virgil's valiant efforts and drove off with their captive. However, Blinder did know that Virgil was secretly the teen superhero, Static. After donning his costume, Static trailed Blinder's limo until it arrived at the druglord's mansion. Blinder showed off his wealth and status to impress Teshomé, who instead mocked the druglord as a punk. Incensed, Blinder ordered his men to torture Teshomé to death and then left to conduct some drug business. That is when Static burst into the mansion's torture chamber, stunned Blinder's men with an electrostatic blast, and then escaped with Teshomé.
Blinder was furious that Teshomé was not dead, and had no sympathy for his men being outmatched by Static. His anger was tempered after learning that Teshomésoon died of a heart attack. With his enemy dead, the druglord refocused his energies on his criminal empire.
However, Blinder had unwittingly earned a new enemy in Static, who wanted to bring the druglord to justice. As a result, the teen hero declared a one-man war on Blinder's drug labs, costing him millions. Taking matters into his own hands, Blinder bought a cache of energy blaster rifles called "superhero killers," with which he armed his thugs. They then waited for the teen hero to attack a one of the few ZCE drug lab that was still operational. Static declared that he was taking in Blinder, who responded by taunting the hero for being unable to save Teshomé. Blinder and his men then fired on Static, who used his electromagnetic powers to shield himself from the barrage and then disabled the superhero killers. Blinder's men fled, and he quickly joined them, activating his force field to cover his escape. Static was prepared for this as well and fired an electromagnetic pulse that temporarily disabled Blinder's force field. Suddenly defenseless, Blinder was captured by Static, who shocked him unconscious and left him tied up for the cops.
With his drug empire destroyed and once again in prison, Blinder proved Teshome right that he was still just a punk.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Force Field: Blinder has the psionic ability to generate an field of energy around his body. This energy seems comparable to the electromagnetic force fields generated by Static though Blinder's field is invisible. Blinder can turn the field on or off at will.
The forcefields have easily withstood a sustained barrage of high-caliber gunfire without suffering damage, either to itself or Blinder. Certain types of radiant energy, such as sunlight, pass through the field as do air and thus sound waves. Whether this means that Blinder is vulnerable to lasers, gas or intense acoustic force is not yet known either. It is also possible that his force field naturally screens out all energy over a certain threshold.
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Power Loss: Blinder's force field is vulnerable to certain types of electromagnetic pulses. When exposed to such an EMP, his field loses the ions which hold it together, causing it to collapse and rendering him defenseless.
Other Characteristics
Related
- 1 Appearances of Blinder (New Earth)
- 3 Images featuring Blinder (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Blinder (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Blinder (New Earth)
Footnotes