General Wade Eiling

General Wade Eiling, sometimes known as The General, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a prominent military general who contributed to Nathaniel Adam's transformation into Captain Atom and later becomes a supervillain after transferring his brain into Shaggy Man's body.

Eiling appears in ''The Flash'', portrayed by Clancy Brown, and ''Justice League Unlimited'', voiced by J. K. Simmons. In the latter series, he is a member of Project Cadmus who later transforms into a monstrous form reminiscent of Shaggy Man using a World War II-era super-serum.

Publication history

Wade Eiling first appeared in '' Captain Atom'' #1 (March 1987) and was created by Cary Bates and Pat Broderick.

Fictional character biography

Wade Eiling is a military tactician who blackmails the accused Nathaniel Adam into participating in the atomic experiment that turns Nathaniel into the nuclear being Captain Atom, and causes Adam to disappear for 18 years.

During Adam's disappearance, Eiling marries Adam's wife and raises his two children. Following Adam's return, Eiling manipulates him into serving the military.

Eiling is later diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, recovers the body of the first Shaggy Man, and transfers his brain into it to save himself. Eiling battles the Justice League before they transport him to the asteroid 433 Eros.'' JLA'' #24 (December 1998)

Eiling is later rescued and joins Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. In ''Infinite Crisis'', Eiling joins Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Eiling later joins the Suicide Squad. After he betrays the team to their intended target, Rick Flag detonates a bomb implanted in Eiling's head. His head regenerates, but he is rendered amnesiac.

Eiling is reintroduced in The New 52 continuity reboot, where he uses Captain Atom as a weapon. He also appears in the series ''The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men'', where he opposes the eponymous hero.

Powers and abilities

General Wade Eiling specializes in military warfare. As the General, Eiling possesses immense physical strength and is functionally immortal. He can regenerate his body rapidly and does not require food, water, or sleep to survive.''JLA'' #26 (February 1999)

Other versions

The General appears in '' JLA/Avengers'' #4 as a brainwashed minion of Krona.

In other media

Television

* General Wade Eiling appears in ''Justice League Unlimited'', voiced by J. K. Simmons. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version is an Air Force General and member of Project Cadmus who regards metahumans as a threat to humanity. Following Cadmus' disbandment, he is relegated to a "pencil pusher". Upon learning that his former superior Amanda Waller no longer considers the Justice League a threat, Eiling injects himself with Captain Nazi's super-soldier serum and transforms into a monster. He battles the Justice League before being convinced to surrender, but vows to return if the League becomes a threat.
* General Wade Eiling appears in '' Young Justice'', voiced by Jeff Bennett.
* General Wade Eiling appears in ''The Flash'', portrayed by Clancy Brown. This version is a U.S. Army major general who worked with S.T.A.R. Labs five years prior to the series to develop a means of creating psychic interrogators until Harrison Wells learned he was abusing the program's test subject Grodd and broke ties with him.
* General Wade Eiling makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the ''My Adventures with Superman'' episode "Two Lanes Diverged".

Video games

General Wade Eiling as the General appears in the Nintendo DS version of '' Justice League Heroes''.

Miscellaneous

* General Wade Eiling as the General appears in issue #5 of the ''Justice League Unlimited'' tie-in comic.
* General Wade Eiling appears in the ''Young Justice'' tie-in comic.

Reception and analysis

''The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide'' found that in the character of General Wade Eiling the comic had created "an appalling specimen of military pigheadedness who can justify every iniquitous piece of behaviour under the blanket of national security". ''The Supervillain Book'' summed up Eiling's character as an "immoral soldier".

According to George A. Gonzalez, the ''Justice League Unlimited'' incarnation of Eiling represents the negative side of "aggressive military policies of the 2000s" by the US government, like "wanton violence" and "fixation on 'power' (i.e. military force)". Through his deliberate transformation into "a huge, hideous, grayish monster with superpowers", Eiling "embodies the ugliness of militarism". Eiling also serves as an example of the development of comics over the decades: While in the 1940s and 50s comic heroes were "unabashed patriots", in the figure of General Eiling from the 2000s they fight against a representative of a misunderstood patriotism that values the reputation of the nation-state higher than the lives of any number of civilians.

Markus Engelns gives a different characterization of Eiling based on the ''World War III'' storyline, in a later stage in the character's development: Eiling no longer has his function as a general and has lost any discernable motive beyond fighting, which emphasizes his dangerous nature even more.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eiling, Wade
Characters created by Cary Bates
Characters created by Pat Broderick
Comics characters introduced in 1987
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters with accelerated healing
DC Comics immortals
DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
DC Comics characters with superhuman senses
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics military personnel
DC Comics television characters
Fictional generals
Fictional major generals
Fictional United States Army personnel
Suicide Squad members