Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Blitzkrieg is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Publication history

The character (also known as Baron Reiter and simply the Baron) was created by

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

and

Don Heck Donald L. HeckDonald L. Heck
at the Social Security Death Index. Retrieved on Septem ...

, and first appeared in ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' #246 (September 1977).

Fictional character biography

Baron Reiter was originally a vicious German army officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who was blinded and disfigured when a concentration camp prisoner threw a bottle in his face. German scientists experimented on the Nazi which restored his sight, but not his appearance. Nonetheless, he is given superhuman strength, invulnerability, optical energy beams, and the ability to fly. While he can initially manifest each of these abilities one at a time, he underwent training to incorporate these abilities together. Baron Blitzkrieg's first several appearances were antagonistic encounters with

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

and

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. Afterwards, Baron Blitzkrieg was a frequent opponent of the

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

; brainwashing

Commander Steel Commander Steel (also known as Captain Steel, Citizen Steel and Sergeant Steel) is the name of three superheroes appearing in media published by DC Comics, all members of the same family. The first Steel appeared in ''Steel, The Indestructible ...

, confronting with

Hourman Hourman or Hour-Man is the name of three different fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The original Hourman was created by writer Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily in ''Adventure Comics'' #48 (March 1940), during t ...

which resulted in Red Bee's death, conspiring with

Zyklon Zyklon was a Norwegian blackened death metal band formed in 1998 by Samoth and Trym of Emperor, along with members of Myrkskog. Their style has been described as modern death metal with black and industrial undertones. After more than a two ...

to use the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

to destroy

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

before bring defeated by the original Liberty Belle,

Johnny Quick Johnny Quick may refer to: * Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate) * Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers) See also * Jonathan Quick, hockey player {{dab ...

and Jay Garrick / Flash, trying to stay hidden in Jamaica, and being a benefactor of

Axis Amerika Axis Amerika is the name of two different teams of supervillains who have appeared in American comic books published DC Comics. The original team, created by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Brian Murray, first appeared in ''Young All-Stars'' #1 ...

. The Baron is the leader of Shadowspire, conspiring with

Vandal Savage Vandal Savage (Vandar Adg) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is said to be a Cro-Magnon warrior who gained immortality and advanced healing abilities after encountering a strange meteorite during prehis ...

's Symbolix organization in experimental research behind

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

, and an assassination attempt which is foiled by

Deathstroke Deathstroke is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character first appeared in ''The New Teen Titans'' #2 (December 1980) as Deathstroke the Terminator. In his co ...

. Baron Blitzkrieg later joined the Society, but he is killed by

Superboy-Prime Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent; colloquial: "Prime") is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A boy from the Reality, real world Isekai, transported to the DC Universe, as an Alternative vers ...

. His corpse is entombed below the Hall of Justice and later revived as a

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

Powers and abilities

Baron Blitzkrieg has enhanced strength, agility and endurance. Additionally, he wore body armor that offered some protection from physical attacks and possesses heat vision and the ability to fly, and also could travel between Earth-2 and

Earth-X ''Earth X'' is a 1999 comic book limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. ''Earth X'' was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian version of the Marvel Un ...

Other versions

In the alternate '' Flashpoint'' timeline, Baron Blitzkrieg makes a minor appearance in which he is killed by

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

In other media

* Baron Reiter appears in flashbacks depicted in the fourth season of ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'', portrayed by

Jimmy Akingbola James Olatokunbo Akingbola () (born 7 April 1978) is a Nigerian-British television, theatre and film actor. He rose to fame playing PC Neil Parker in '' Holby Blue'', and subsequently Antoine Malick in its parent series ''Holby City''. He has su ...

. This version is an African individual who grew up in a small village until bandits destroyed it. Though Reiter survived, the event traumatized him and he vowed to never feel that powerless again. After becoming a mercenary and founding Shadowspire, he led them in occupying

Lian Yu Lian Yu (; 1886 - 13 August 1972), art name Liqing ().was a diplomat, politician, judicial officer and lawyer in the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. He was an important politician during the Reformed Government of the Republi ...

to find a magical artifact called the Khushu Idol and enslaved people to harvest "Slam" drugs as a front. After

A.R.G.U.S. A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans) is a fictional government organization appearing in DC Comics. A.R.G.U.S. first appeared in ''Justice League'' vol. 2 #7 and was created by Geoff Johns and Gene Ha. Headed by Amanda Walle ...

sent

Oliver Queen Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

to Lian Yu to infiltrate Shadowspire and uncover Reiter's intentions, he joined forces with a slave named Taiana Venediktov to find a map leading to the idol. Despite finding it, hiding it in a cave system, and detonating the entrance, Reiter found the idol regardless and sacrificed two of his men to gain power from it, acquiring superhuman strength and telekinesis. He subsequently fought Queen and Taiana until the former killed him. * Blitzkrieg appears in '' Freedom Fighters: The Ray'', voiced by

Scott Whyte Scott Whyte is an American actor, best known for his role as Chris Anderson on '' City Guys''. He has also appeared in television series such as ''That '70s Show'' and ''Just Shoot Me!'' and the films '' D2: The Mighty Ducks'' and its sequel, '' ...

. This version is a male speedster from

and a member of the New Reichsmen.

References

External links

* {{Freedom Fighters Arrow (TV series) characters Characters created by Don Heck Characters created by Gerry Conway Comics characters introduced in 1977 DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics metahumans DC Comics Nazis Fictional African people

Blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...

Fictional Nazi fugitives Wonder Woman characters