Manchester Black (Prime Earth)

Manchester Black
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Manchester Black
Affiliation	Formerly Authority, Super Elite, Task Force XI, S.T.A.R. Labs, Elite
Base Of Operations	Formerly Hamilton County · New York City
Status
Alignment	Neutral
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	British
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Criminal · Formerly Vigilante, Government Agent
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6' 0"
Weight	210 lbs (95 kg)
Eyes	Black
Hair	Black
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	Joe Kelly · Doug Mahnke
First Appearance	Teen Titans Vol 5 #1 (September, 2014)
Appearance of Death	Action Comics #1050 (February, 2023)

Manchester Black was a British anti-hero with powerful telepathic and telekinetic powers and the leader of a team of super-powered individuals known as The Elite.

History

Early Adventures

At some point, Manchester founded The Elite, a violent and pro-active Superteam. Eventually, this team came into conflict with Superman, and as a result Superman and Manchester developed a long-lasting instinctive dislike for one another, holding diametrically opposed philosophical perspectives.

New 52

Manchester Black somehow became a high-ranking executive at S.T.A.R. Labs. He created Algorithm, an A.I. that committed acts of terrorism across New York City in order to lure the Teen Titans to S.T.A.R. Labs, where he organized an attack on himself to be saved by the Titans and gain their trust. Eventually, he teamed up with Titans and formed a new version of The Elite with Wonder Girl, Power Girl, Klarion, Guardian, Kid Flash, and Trinity.

DC Rebirth

Black formed the Super Elite when he helped some aliens escape the Kroogarians. He discovered Superman's secret identity and made the aliens Kathy Braden and her father Cobb infiltrate the life of the Kent Family, becoming their neighbors in Hamilton County. Eventually, he managed to capture Superboy and nullified his powers for a while, forcing him to watch images of Lois and Clark fighting the Elite and suffering.

When Black confronts Superman, the two argue over what it takes to keep people safe; kill criminals. Superman disagrees and Black restores Jon's powers and corrupts him to fight alongside him. But Jon ends up returning to normal and Kathy uses her powers to create a transfer of Black's consciousness to one of the Braden family's dairy cows.

At some point, Black managed return to a human form and joined the Task Force XI; a substitute for Suicide Squad consisting of world's most powerful telepaths. Amanda Waller activated it to extract information from Brainiac after he abducted Earth's heroes, not knowing that he was trying to save the universe from the Omega Titans. The resulting strain killed the world collector as he tried to fight back.

Infinite Frontier

Black was cornered by the authorities for his crimes. He almost escapes but is shot in the back by a sniper and taken into custody by Superman, who takes him to Fortress of Solitude.

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Death

Following Black's time on Warworld, he was confronted by Lex Luthor, who wants to know more about Superman's time on Warworld. Black, then, expresses his desire to abandon working with Luthor, but Luthor refuses and electrocutes him. Coming to, Black finds him strapped to Luthor's mysterious Project Blackout, revealing he intends on using him for this one last project that would easily kill him. Before he dies, Black mocks Luthor by revealing that, during his time on Warworld, Superman never bothered spending any thoughts on him before laughing at him. Furious, Luthor activates the machine, killing Black as he uses his powers to erase the memory of both the elder and younger Superman's identities from the world, save for a handful. When Superman learns of what Luthor did to Black, Superman ends up taking Luthor to jail for Black's murder

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Psychokinesis: Manchester Black is an incredibly powerful psychic with vast telepathic and telekinetic powers. With his power he is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Superman and Superboy.
  • Telekinesis: Manchester Black is an extremely powerful telekinetic. He has thrown Superman several hundred meters without moving a muscle after stopping the advance of his Heat Vision dead in its tracks. He also used his telekinesis to slice Frankenstein's hand off.
    • Telekinetic Force Field: Manchester Black is capable of creating invisible force fields out of telekinetic energy. These force fields are able to withstand the heat vision of Superman with ease, as well as the bullets of Frankenstein's Bride.
    • Flight: Manchester Black can use his telekinesis to levitate himself in the air.
  • Telepathy: Manchester Black is a powerful telepath. At some point he read the mind of Superman to learn his secret identity as Clark Kent.
    • Illusion Casting: Manchester Black is able to create illusions in the minds of others. He made Superman and Superboy believe their tree was still burning even after the fire had subsided. He also conjured an illusion of Superboy's dead cat in front of him.
    • Mind Control: Manchester Black is able to mentally dominate and control a person's every action. He displayed the ability to control minds when he took over the mind of Superboy, making him attack his allies. This ability appears to be harder to perform for Manchester.
    • Astral Projection: Using his telepathic powers, Black is able to bring his soul outside his body. He usually only does this as a last result if he believes his physical body is in danger of being destroyed.
      • Possession: After taking up his astral form, Black is able to possess another creature's body. He is able to completely control the actions of this creature, and there is no time limit to how long he can stay put in one body. He once took over the body of a cow as a last resort.

Abilities

• Deception
• Leadership
• Tactical Analysis
• Stick Fighting: Manchester nearly beat the Teacher to death.

Other Characteristics

• Alcoholism

Notes

• Manchester Black was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke, first appearing in Action Comics #775. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Manchester Black first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Teen Titans (Volume 5) #2 by Will Pfeifer and Kenneth Rocafort.
  

Trivia

• He is openly bisexual, at one point joking that he is "48 percent gay on [his] mother's side."

Related

• 44 Appearances of Manchester Black (Prime Earth)
• 19 Images featuring Manchester Black (Prime Earth)
• 3 Quotations by or about Manchester Black (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Manchester Black (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.

Authority member This character is or was a member of The Authority, a team of superheroes initially appearing in WildStorm Comics who declared themselves beyond the government, taking justice into their own hands. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Authority members" category.

Power Girl Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Power Girl. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Power Girl Villains category."

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."