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He started in Milestone Comics and ended up in DC. He’s had his own cartoon show and even got to team up with the Justice League. Who is he? Static! How did this teen get the power to conduct electricity? Let’s find out!

Virgil Ovid Hawkins is the son of Jean and Robert Hawkins in Dakota City. His mother, Jean, would be shot and killed due to gang violence while working as a medic. Gang violence was always a threat for Virgil and Dakota City. A bully of Virgil’s would lead him to a confrontation, unfortunately it was on the night to end all gang wars with the biggest and baddest of them all, the Big Bang. The police would arrive with an experimental tear gas meant to track anyone who got away using small amounts of radiation. This instead would kill many present at the Big Bang and mutate the rest. Virgil was of the latter, gaining the power to generate electricty.

Inspired by the comic books he read, Virgil decided to fight crime with his powers. Soon, he was dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a high school student as well as a hero. Since those mutated were almost all violent gang members, they took to using their powers for crime and found Virgil to be a constant thorn in their sides. Virgil found he wasn’t the only Dakota City citizen trying to fight its new supervillain surge with the non-powered, Dusk. The two would have a complicated relationship both with their feelings of each other and how to bring criminals to justice.

Virgil’s personal life was filled with its own excitements. The only person who knew his identity was his friend, Frieda, whose boyfriend, Larry, was often involved with gang problems. Virgil’s friend Rick would come out as gay and Virgil was disgusted with himself for having homophobic thoughts and learned to be a better person and protect his friend and others from an attack on a gay pride rally.

It was during the rise of the Dark Side Club that had Virgil facing off against Clock King and an electricity wielding metahuman, they capture Virgil and force him to fight for entertainment. He’d fight Ravage in these battles and eventually she helped him escape, he’d meet Miss Martian and Aquagirl once freed. Soon, Virgil was getting involved with other teen heroes and even got to join the Teen Titans. He’d go to live in Titans Tower and help save the team when the tower is overtaken through its electronics, he’d overcharge the place to stop the attack.

In the New 52, Virgil’s life remains roughly unchanged with the exception that his sister, Sharon, had been kidnapped by mad scientists and cloned and there are now two Sharons. Virgil would be in contact with his friend and colleague, Hardware who would give him a gear upgrade. He’d often work with the Teen Titans but no longer a permanent member.

There you have it! The Static Shock cartoon was a lot of fun would get me to go out and find the old comic series. There were rumors that Static would be getting a live action show, possibly on CW’s Seed streaming service but nothing else has come up. Perhaps he’ll get to show up in the regular CW show. It’d be great for him to be working alongside the TV teams of heroes. See you next time!

Suggested Reading
Static
Static Shock
Static Shock Vol 1: Rebirth of the Cool
Milestone Forever
Terror Titans
Teen Titans Vol. 3

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net