King Faraday is a fictional secret agent featured in

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. Faraday first appeared in ''Danger Trail'' #1 (July 1950), and was created by

Robert Kanigher Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...

and Carmine Infantino. Faraday's last appearance in the 1950s was in '' World's Finest Comics'' #64 (May-June 1953). He was picked up again after more than twenty-five years, in ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

'' #313 (July 1979).

Fictional character biography

He was named "King" by his father as a joke, a play on the phrase "King for a day". An ex-soldier, he took a position as a counter-espionage agent for the U.S. government and engaged in a variety of standard spy-type capers. Some of his ''Danger Trail'' adventures were reprinted in '' Showcase'' #50 (May–June 1964) under the title "I-Spy". Faraday has since been incorporated full-bore into the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lante ...

as a member of the Central Bureau of Intelligence. At one point, he was Nightshade's mentor. In fact, he had a hand in both her and Bronze Tiger being recruited into Task Force X. He has also teamed up with

a few times. On two of the occasions he has helped Batman in the capture of

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in '' Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman ...

. One Year Later, he is a member of Checkmate, serving as the Bishop for White Queen

Amanda Waller Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and ...

. Faraday is part of '' The New 52: Futures End''. He is working with Grifter to investigate alien and cross-dimensional spies on Earth.

Skills and abilities

Faraday possessed no

superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans or human-like beings with enhanced qualities and abilities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Th ...

abilities but was a trained espionage agent and an expert hand-to-hand fighter and marksman.

Other versions

New Frontier

Faraday plays a prominent role in the alternate universe series '' DC: The New Frontier'' by Darwyn Cooke. King Faraday is a Chicago native who leads an effort to contain and corral the large amount of super-powered entities appearing including orchestrating "Project Flying Cloud" with Carol Ferris, Col. Rick Flag Sr. and Col. Hal Jordan. King uses various illegal methods, such as laying a trap for Barry Allen with a robotic

Gorilla Grodd Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''T ...

, even though he has not committed any crimes. Despite all this, he forms a friendship with one of his assignments: the

Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...

after J'onn sacrificed his last chance to return home to save Faraday from a rocket. He is killed in the last issue of the series while defending his friend from a psychic attack from The Centre.

Smallville

King Faraday appears in '' Smallville Season 11'', based on the

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

. Faraday is a Checkmate agent who looks after a female

White Martian The White Martians are one of three fictional extraterrestrial races native to Mars in the DC Comics' shared universe. White Martians, also known as Pale Martians, appear in the comics of the DC Universe, chiefly ''JLA'', '' Martian Manhunter' ...

, and raises her as a daughter, naming her Megan Morse. After Zod's attack on the Castle (one of Checkmate's bases) during Season 9 episode "Sacrifice", she and Faraday stay locked inside the facility. Faraday ends up dying, and Megan escapes. His last transmissions were later found by

and

in the remains of the Castle.''Smallville Season 11 Special'' #1

Tangent

King Faraday appears in the 1997 Tangent Comics one-shot ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness ...

''. In this depiction he is a Moldavian exile who is fascinated by mysteries and has his own magazine "King Faraday Digest" based around his investigations and published by "The House Of Mystery" which was managed by Roy Raymond and originally owned by Alfred Pennyworth, until Pennyworth was bought out by "Ralph Digby" an obvious play on the Elongated Man Ralph Dibny. In his appearance in Tangent Comics he is resurrected from the grave by the Green Lantern after his death during a plane malfunction. He is resurrected with the intention of completing his last mystery so he can return to the afterlife in peace.

In other media

Television

* King Faraday appears in ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 United States, American superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. ...

'', voiced by Scott Patterson. His first appearance was in the episode "Double Date", in which he was a federal agent assigned to guard Steven Mandragora, but he escaped. It was established in the 3rd season opener "I Am Legion" that he was appointed as the Justice League's official liaison with the U.S. government. In the episode "To Another Shore", he and a group of government agents wearing jet packs appear in a scene, helping

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as being ...

in a fight against members of the

Secret Society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ...

(who were trying to obtain the Viking Prince's corpse). One point of interest in the scene is when he refers to his fellow agents as "goldbrickin' yahoos", a catchphrase more associated with Nick Fury, a Marvel Comics character Faraday preceded. * King Faraday appears in the ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen ...

'' episode "Performance", voiced by Clancy Brown. He is shown as an

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

agent investigating Jack Haly's Circus where everyplace that they had visited has had their tech robbed. King Faraday later arrives in Geneva with his fellow agents to arrest

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

and places an inhibitor collar on him.

Film

* King Faraday appears in '' Justice League: The New Frontier'', voiced by Phil Morris. In the film, Faraday is a Federal Agent who initially is against super powered beings who are not affiliated with the government. He and others agents take custody of a government rocket scientist that fled to Gotham. He later oversees the classified Mars mission and after noticing J’onn Jon’z attempting to board the rocket and attempts to apprehend the alien. J’onn ends up saving Faraday from being incinerated after knocking him unconscious. This act changes Faraday’s view of him and the two become friends. Faraday and J’onn soon arrive at an air force base to stop a standoff between US Soldiers and Heroes attempting to assist. Agreeing with Superman that the fear and paranoia between both sides must come to an end, Faraday shakes hands with Superman to end the hostilities. He later leads the ground forces against the Centre's dinosaur army. Faraday is gravely wounded by a T-Rex while protecting J'onn from a psychic attack by the Centre. Unable to escape from the T-Rex, Faraday ignites two grenades before being swallowed whole by the

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, killing them both. * King Faraday appears in '' Catwoman: Hunted'', voiced by Jonathan Frakes.

References

External links

DCU Guide: King Faraday chronology

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faraday, King Comics characters introduced in 1950 Characters created by Carmine Infantino Characters created by Robert Kanigher DC Comics superheroes DC Comics male superheroes Fictional secret agents and spies King Faraday Fictional government agents Suicide Squad members