Quakemaster is a fictional

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 ...

in the

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 ...

universe. He first appeared in '' DC Special'' #28 (June–July 1977) and was co-created by writer Bob Rozakis and artist John Calnan.

Fictional character biography

Robert Coleman is an architect of some note in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

. His reputation is irreparably damaged when an apartment complex he designed and built does not withstand a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

. Feeling that he has been wrongly branded, Coleman creates the alias of the Quakemaster and uses his super-charged jackhammer to create earthquakes in

. His scheme backfires and only his buildings are damaged in the quakes. Quakemaster is defeated and captured by

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. Quakemaster is later released and recruited by the

Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League, Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #1 ...

to be part of the team working with the Silver Ghost to kill the Freedom Fighters. This story was scheduled to appear in ''The Secret Society of Super-Villains'' #16-17, but the title was canceled before it could be published. It eventually appeared in issue #2 of ''

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...

'', a limited series produced by DC Comics. Quakemaster is part of a team of supervillains recruited by

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

and Brainiac during ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

''. Quakemaster later takes to hanging out with other villains who have apparently fallen on hard times. This group includes Black Mass,

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

, the original

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

and the

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

. The villains gather at a New York bar to play games of

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

. In one such game, the villains lose most of their weapons and devices to civilian Wally Tortelloni. When the villains gang up to track Tortelloni down and retake their devices, they are apprehended by members of the Justice League International. In ''The Adventures of Superman'' #608 (November 2002), Quakemaster is one of the numerous villains hired by Manchester Black to attack

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 ...

's friends and family. He is once again defeated. In ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'', Quakemaster became a member of the

Powers and abilities

Quakemaster has no inherent powers or abilities. He uses a power charged jackhammer of his own design. It projects pulse waves of energy capable of destroying concrete or smashing bone.

Other versions

For a brief time, the name Quakemaster is used by fellow villain the Ventriloquist during the

disaster known as the Cataclysm.''Robin'' (vol. 2) #53 (May 1998) Still later, another supervillain called Geomancer takes up Quakemaster's m.o., although seemingly without the aid of technical equipment. In the first issue of the ''

Hero Hotline Hero Hotline is a fictional DC Comics corporate superteam introduced in ''Action Comics, Action Comics Weekly'' #637 (cover-dated January 1989). It was created by Bob Rozakis and Stephen DeStefano. History Hero Hotline is a corporate 24/7 hero fo ...

'' miniseries, the titular team battled an exo-skeleton-wearing criminal who was using a super-powered jackhammer to tunnel under a building which had been erected over the hiding place for his loot while he was in prison. Although the character was identified as potentially being Quakemaster, his identity was never verified.

References

{{reflist

External links

Quakemaster
at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe Comics characters introduced in 1977 DC Comics supervillains Fictional architects