Origin
Eobard Thawne
Zoom
took his name from Professor Zoom, also known as the Reverse Flash,
Barry
Allen's
archenemy from the 25th Century. Professor Zoom was obsessed with the
second Flash
and later killed his wife Iris
(who was actually sent to the future). Not knowing his wife was still
alive, Barry hunted down Eobard and in the resulting fight
accidentally broke Professor Zoom's neck.
This
page deals with Hunter Zolomon Zoom, for further information on
Eobard Thawne see: Professor
Zoom.
Creation
Zoom
(aka Hunter Zolomon) was created by Geoff
Johns
and Scott
Kolins.
Zoom made his first comic book appearance in Flash
Secret Files #3.
Character Evolution
Dedicated Profiler
Hunter
Zolomon grew up in Richmond,
Virginia.
His parents rarely spoke too one another or even to him. On the day
Hunter was set to leave home to go to college, on his way home he
found the police laying siege to his home. He found out that his
father was a serial killer who had killed five young girls. Hunter's
mother gave her husband up to the police, but this caused him to
murder her and then be killed by the cops after he refused to come
willingly. After this, Hunter became obsessed with understanding how
the criminal mind functions and stopping people like his father from
killing innocent people. Hunter studied psychology and criminology at
George Mason University where he met his girlfriend, and later wife,
Ashley.
Both of them shared a love of running and eventually joined the
F.B.I.
together and became agents. Hunter's love for Ashley was only
seconded by his love for her father, whom he saw a a surrogate father
figure.
Tragic Profile
Both
Hunter and Ashley worked under Ashley's father in the FBI's profiler
division for a period shortly after they were married. During that
time, Zolomon profiled dozens of low-level super-criminals believing
wholeheartedly that many were not merely "evil" but
misunderstood and mentally unstable due to their tragic backgrounds.
Unfortunately, the Zolomons' career at the FBI was tragically cut
short. When Hunter was profiling a costumed criminal named "The
Clown," he miscalculated the villain's childlike mindset and
convinced Ashley's father that the criminal they were pursuing would
be unable to face his adult life, and thus would be unable to use a
gun as a weapon. He was wrong. As a result of the incident, Ashley's
father was killed, and Hunter himself was shot in the leg, partially
crippling him and forcing him to use a cane to walk. As such, Hunter
would never run again. Ashley left Hunter soon after this, and he was
also was let go from the FBI. Later on it was revealed that Ashley
was the one who was largely responsible for Zolomon's discharge from
the Bureau, holding a grudge over Hunter's arrogant assumptions
concerning criminal behavior, and because of his causative role in
the death of her father.
Eventually,
Hunter found himself in Keystone
City,
home to the Flash. There, he was able to get a job in the local
precinct as a criminal profiler, working in the Department of
Metahuman Hostilities. With his new range of work, he was in constant
contact with the Flash, Wally
West.
The two soon hit it off and became good friends. Hunter was a key
player in several of Flash’s cases, yet he always felt resentment
towards the Flash as he was stuck behind a desk.
A Timely Creation
Hunter
was injured by Gorilla
Grodd
when Grodd staged a massive prison break and as a result was left
paralyzed from the waist down. Hunter asked Wally to use the cosmic
treadmill,
found in the Flash
Museum,
to travel back in time and stop the event from taking place. Wally
declined the offer, saying that he could not take the chance in
disrupting the time stream. Hunter was angered by this, and felt that
Wally had refused his offer because he had never suffered personal
tragedy or loss like the previous Flashes (i.e. Barry Allen) and thus
could never understand the importance of Zolomon's request or how
terrible it truly felt to suffer great loss. Consequently, Hunter
broke into the Flash Museum in a desperate attempt to use the cosmic
treadmill himself. It didn’t work. The resulting explosion
destroyed the museum. It was soon after that Hunter found that all
was not well. The explosion at the museum knocked Hunter's connection
to time out of sync. According to Jay Garrick, this may well have
opened a wormhole in time, causing Hunter Zolomon to always be
disjointed from the current timestream. With this new ability, Hunter
Zolomon was able to slow time down relative to himself, even bringing
it to a complete stop, yet move normally through it, thus giving the
impression of tremendous super speed.
Zoom
Hunter
decided that if he could cause a great tragedy in Wally’s life, he
would be able to make the Flash a better hero, and thus, became the
new Zoom. Zoom began a reign of terror, which of course grabbed the
attention of the scarlet speedster. To defeat his new enemy, Wally
had to match Zoom's fourth dimension “speed”. Flash had to borrow
Kid Flash’s (Bart
Allen)
and Jay
Garrick's
speed to catch up with him, and in Wally’s words, "even with
their speed, Zoom was still a blur."
Eventually,
Wally was able to bring Zoom down, preventing him from killing Linda
Park,
who at the time was pregnant with twins. However, Linda suffered a
miscarriage due to being hit partially by Zoom's sonic boom. Using
the slight “rips” in time created by the use of Zoom's powers,
Wally was able to force Hunter into a temporal anomaly where he would
watch the death of his father-in-law over and over, all while in a
comatose state.
Hunter's
ex-wife, Ashley, replaced him in Keystone City as a profiler. She
spent a lot of time trying to communicate with Hunter. She was
hospitalized due to her involvement in a car accident. It was at this
time that Hunter awoke from his coma, out of concern for his spouse.
Even though plagued with concern, he chose to stay within his cell.
Major Story Arcs
Rogue War
For
More Information: Rogue
War
Zoom
is driven out of his self-imposed imprisonment by Cheetah in an
attempt to both harness superspeed and induct him into the growing
Secret Society of Super Villains. The two share a minor romance, but
nothing serious happens as Zoom considers himself to still be married
to Ashley.
Zoom
later infiltrates the already growing "Rogue War" between
Captain
Cold's
Rogues, the Trickster's
reformed Rogues, and the Top's
brainwashed rogues. Quickly spiriting his estranged wife Ashley out
of danger to the home of Linda Park, Zoom returns to the battlefront
to dispatch Captain Cold, claiming that the "Man Who Mastered
Absolute Zero" is wasting the Flash's time with his
longstanding, self-aggrandizing methods of villainy.
As
the Flash and Kid Flash (Bart
Allen)
attempt to contain the battle, Zoom throttles Kid Flash and threatens
to snap his neck in a manner reminiscent of what Barry Allen had done
to Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom). Before Zoom can kill Kid Flash,
however, Professor Zoom himself arrives on a cosmic treadmill, with
Jay Garrick chained to the front end.
A
battle ensues between the two Flashes and Kid Flash against the two
Zooms, but in the end, the two Zooms accomplish what they intend.
They grab the Flash and jump onto the treadmill. Zoom then forces the
Flash to watch their first fight, in which Linda was severely injured
and miscarried. Zoom feels that Wally West should be made to focus on
the feelings of sorrow and loss from this experience and tells
Professor Zoom to rewind it so that he can watch it again. But as the
scene starts to rewind, West's uncle and mentor Barry Allen appears,
riding his own Cosmic Treadmill and saying that he has been looking
for Professor Zoom.
Barry
Allen removes West from immediate danger, telling West that he is
here to return Thawne to his proper place in time, and that no matter
how bad it seems, West can win this if he "just pushed himself a
bit". He and Thawne then disappear through time. Zoom, enraged,
begins to run around the world, building up speed with which to kill
Linda. Wally rushes to catch up, but is a step or two behind. At the
last minute, he realizes what Barry's advice meant and puts on a
final burst of speed, pushing himself, and hitting Zoom in the back.
Zoom falls forward and is caught in the sonic boom which he himself
used to kill Linda's babies (this ends up creating a “fissure in
time” that restores Linda’s pregnancy, just in time for her to
give birth). Zoom runs for the treadmill, but West forces them back
to their mutual present. Along the way, they view scenes of Zoom's
life. Zoom realized his mistreatment of Wally and briefly apologizes
before slipping into the timestream. He is later seen as a ghost-like
figure apologizing to his wife.
Infinite Crisis
For
More Information: Infinite
Crisis
Despite his apparent demise at the end of the Rogue War, Zoom
reappears in Infinite Crisis as a member of Alexander
Luthor Jr.'s
extended Secret
Society of Super-villains
as the Society's head speedster. In Infinite
Crisis #1
he is part of the team of super-villains who engage the Freedom
Fighters
in combat, where he scars Damage's
face badly.
Zoom
is also present during the Battle of Metropolis,
where he fights against several members of the JSA.
He is one of the few members of the Society to escape.
One Year Later
For
More Information: One
Year Later
Zoom
later appears at the sacking of Rome, being approached by Bart
Allen's
grandmother
to help her protect Bart from a great tragedy that the villain
Inertia
was setting up. It is unknown whether Zoom traveled to this time
period himself, or if he became stranded there after his last
encounter with Wally West.
He
is also pursued by the Justice
League
in an attempt to locate Sinestro
after Batman
and Hal
Jordan
learn of the existence of the Sinestro
Corps.
Zoom
is pursued by the Justice
Society of America
into Atlanta. Damage
is banned from the city, but enters anyway, seeking revenge. During a
scuffle, he ends up taking Zoom hostage until he is talked down by
Liberty
Belle.
Disappointed that Damage is not "improving", Zoom throws a
sharp pipe to kill him. Liberty
Belle
uses her superspeed to catch it and toss it back, knocking Zoom
unconscious.
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive
For
More Information: Flash:The
Fastest Man Alive
In
Rome,
Italy
on August 24, A.D. 410, two cloaked figures watch a battle. One of
them is revealed to be Zoom, and the other one is Iris West Allen. A
deal is made for Zoom to go after Flash.
In
the present in Keystone City, while The Flash is visiting, Captain
Cold threatens him to extradite him to Los
Angeles
when suddenly Zoom arrives.
Bart
is still in shock as he sees his grandmother Iris holding a gun to
him. Zoom, still in his clutches smiles a psychotic grin. Iris shoots
three times and Bart is able to see that she's shooting darts at him.
As he grabs one in mid-air, Zoom runs up behind him. As he jumps at
Bart, he begins to say that they are trying to help him. Bart doesn't
believe it and hits Zoom in the neck with the dart. He is out cold.
He turns to his grandma and demands some answers.
Iris
apologizes to Bart. She was hoping they could catch him off guard.
She says she shot at him for his own good. Zoom agreed to help her
take Bart out of super-heroing temporarily. The darts were designed
to make speedsters powerless for about a week. Bart wants to know
what's supposed to happen this week.
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge
Zoom
joins up with Libra's
Secret Society, intending to cause more problems for heroes to
overcome. He was meant to be Darkseid's
herald, though, when the Rogues
refuse to join, he is given a more immediate task. Zoom recruits
Inertia
from the Flash
museum,
giving him a portion of his time-based superspeed. The Reverse Flash
beats Inertia badly, scolding him for his part in the death of Bart
Allen.
Zoom
then reveals Libra's plan: to make Inertia the new Kid
Flash.
He would fight as a member of the Society, a ghost of the Flash and
the Titans'
failures. Though initially hesitant, the idea appealed to Inertia, as
did the idea of getting to keep his powers, and the young speedster
agreed.
Because
Inertia tricked them into killing Bart Allen, the Rogues attack the
speedsters. Zoom decides enough is enough. He fights back,
proclaiming his hatred for the Rogues and their silly games and that
he will kill them all. Luckily for the Rogues, Piper
comes to the rescue, hypnotizing the entire group. Libra shows up
soon after and stabs Piper with his spear. With him is the Weather
Wizard's
child. Libra offers the Rogues one last chance to join him.
Inertia
tires of the whole thing and runs at Libra, snapping his fingers and
killing the child. Zoom screams at the boy for interfering, but
Inertia has other ideas. He proclaims himself Kid Zoom and somehow
managed to steal all of Zoom's time for himself, reverting Zolomon
back to his crippled state, and leaving the Reverse Flash powerless.
Though
Zoom theorized that he just needs the cosmic treadmill again to
regain his powers, this is unlikely to happen, partially because the
cosmic treadmill was destroyed during the Rogue War and partially
because Geoff Johns made it clear through his storytelling that he
was angry at the way the character (along with the other Flash
villains) had been treated during the year after he had left the
book. Removing the character's powers meant that another writer would
be less likely to misuse Zoom.
The Flash: Rebirth
For
More Information: The
Flash Rebirth
An Alliance?
A
de-powered Hunter Zolomon appears in the final issue of the series as
an inmate of Iron Heights Prison, occupying the adjoining cell of the
original Professor Zoom. He proposes an alliance with Thawne, stating
that they can both be of use to one another and can help each other
"Be better."
Powers & Abilities
Personal
Time Manipulation: Hunter Zolomon's primary ability is to alter
time relative to himself, as opposed to utilizing the Speed Force
like most of the DC Universe speedsters do. He can move his own
personal timeline forward as seemingly unlimited speeds, and he can
even stop time altogether. However, he cannot travel back in time. He
can apparently use this ability to move at "speeds" to
surpass even Wally West, the fastest of the Flashes. Since Zoom isn't
actually moving at great superhuman speeds (rather, he is greatly
slowing down time relative to himself and can make himself so "fast"
that even most of the Flashes look to him to be moving in slow
motion, instead), the Flashes cannot steal his speed when he is
moving. The temporal nature of his speed allows him to avoid the
usual problems encountered by other Flash-type speedsters (friction,
seeing and hearing at such near-light speeds, etc), whose automatic
and unconscious use of the Speed Force overcomes those problems. As
he is moving at a normal velocity, and the rest of the world is
"slow", those hindrances simply do not affect him.
Intangibility:
Originally, Hunter Zolomon, unlike speed force-driven rivals like
Wally West, could not vibrate through solid matter. However, this
appears to have been retconned and he can move through solid matter,
although the nature of this power is never clearly defined.
Shock
Waves: Zoom also possesses the ability to create very powerful
sonic booms and shock waves with just the snap of his fingers, an
ability he used to kill Linda's unborn babies.
Though
not specified, Zoom appears to have a host of other powers such as
longevity, superhuman speed, superhuman endurance, and
invulnerability. The aforementioned would be necessary to explain
certain feats Zoom has accomplished.
Striking
Power: Moving
at the speed of light, Hunter Zolomon is able to convey tremendous
striking power, allowing him to deliver destructive blows to
character's of even Wonder Woman's caliber. Wonder Woman even stated
Zoom's punches hurt more than punches from Superman.
Other Media
Television
Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited
Zoom
never officially appeared in the DCAU series Justice League
Unlimited, but his image and likeness are referenced in the
episode "Divided We Fall." As the Luthor/Brainiac hybrid
creates artificial replicas of the Justice Lords (the fascist
versions of the Justice League from an alternate dimension within the
show) and pits them against their counterparts, Luthor/Brainiac
creates a special replica of The Flash in Zoom's color scheme, since
the Justice Lord Flash died before the Justice Lords were formed. The
evil android Flash's design is identical to Zoom's (although the
lenses of his cowl remain white instead of black), with his taunts
and jeers referencing Zolomon's own accusations of Wally West. In the
end, he was destroyed by The Flash along with the rest of the android
Justice Lords. Elements of the real Zoom also appear in the Flash
Museum during the episode "Flash and Substance." He is
voiced by Michael Rosenbaum.
The Flash (2014)
In
The CW's The Flash TV series, Zoom is the main antagonist of Season
2. He is voiced by Tony Todd. He comes from Earth-2 but his identity
and true origin has yet to be revealed. His costume is a black
version of the Flash suit but completely covers his face and he has
blue lightning. He wants to kill all speedsters in the Multiverse and
steal their speed powers.
Hunter
Zolomon (played by Teddy Sears) also makes a cameo during Season 2 as
Jay Garrick's Earth-1 counterpart. Jay and Caitlin attempt to locate
Jay's Earth-1 counterpart in order to obtain some DNA to fix his
speed powers. They are unable to find someone named Jay Garrick, but
Jay reveals that he already found a man named Hunter Zolomon, who
would have been named Jay Garrick, but his mother died in child birth
and he was later adopted and raised by the Zolomons.
It
is later revealed that Jay Garrick's real name is
Hunter Zolomon, and he was a prolific serial killer, with at least 23
victims before becoming Zoom.
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