Sonny Sumo is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

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 ...

. He first appeared briefly in ''

Forever People Forever People are a group of extraterrestrial superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They first appeared in ''Forever People'' #1 ( cover-dated February-March 1971), and were created by Jack Kirby as part of his ...

'' #4 (September 1971) and was created by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Publication history

Sonny Sumo first appeared briefly in ''

'' #4 (September 1971) and was reintroduced in the pages of ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely ...

'' #2 (August 2008).

Fictional character biography

Prior to his encounter with the

, Sonny Sumo was an honorable figure who used his prowess in

to compete as an underground fighter. Unbeknownst to Sonny or his manager, Harry Sharp, Sonny contained a portion of the

Anti-Life Equation The Anti-Life Equation is a fictional concept appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Various comics have defined the equation in different ways, but a common interpretation is that the equation may be seen as a mathematical proof ...

that enhanced his ability to harness his '' qi''. The Forever People were able to unlock the Equation's powers with their

Mother Box Mother Boxes are fictional devices in Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting in the DC Universe. The Mother Boxes appeared in the feature films ''Justice League'' and ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' of the DC Extended Universe. History Created b ...

, allowing him to recover permanently from wounds sustained in an organized battle against a robot called Sagutai. Sonny then joined the team in their battle against

DeSaad DeSaad (also spelled Desaad) is a supervillain, appearing in books published by DC Comics. He is one of the followers of Darkseid from the planet Apokolips in Fourth World (comics), Jack Kirby's Fourth World meta-series. As DeSaad serves as Darks ...

, using his unique abilities to force

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...

's minions into a deep sleep. This event earned Sonny and his allies the ire of Darkseid himself, who used his Omega Sanction to trap Sonny in

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...

Final Crisis

In the second issue of ''

'', Sonny Sumo is seen living in present-day Japan. His role as a fighter has earned him some level of celebrity with the pop-culture driven youths that frequent metahuman nightclubs, including Super Young Team. Shilo Norman discovers Sonny in the club after a battle, using a

to heal his wounds. Sonny joins Shilo in his quest to battle the

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

who have fallen to Earth. They are soon joined by Super Young Team, before joining the remnants of

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

. Sonny Sumo eventually revealed that he was not the original Sonny, who eventually died after being transported to Japan. This Sonny was from Earth-51, an alternate universe.''Final Crisis'' #6

References

External links

Comicvine.com: Sonny Sumo Profile

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: Sonny Sumo Battles
2] {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumo, Sonny Characters created by Jack Kirby Comics characters introduced in 1971 DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics martial artists Fourth World (comics) Fictional sumo wrestlers