Zook (character)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Zook is a fictional character that appeared in
comic books 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 ...
published by National Periodical Publications (now known as
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 ...
) in the 1960s. He was the partner of the
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 ...
J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
(now known as
Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" in ''Detective Comics ...
). Zook's first published appearance was in the story, "The Invaders from the Space Warp" from ''
Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...
'' #311 (January 1963).


Fictional character biography

Zook was one of four beings from a planet in another dimension whose first recorded appearance on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
was on Jade Island. They arrived on Earth via a spacewarp that was accidentally opened by a scientist from their world. Of the four aliens, two were criminals (names of both unrevealed), a third was R'ell, who chose to pursue the criminals, and the fourth, who snuck through the space warp after R'ell, was a zook, a different type of being from the other three, whom R'ell called "a mischievous little animal". Upon their arrival on Jade Island, the two alien criminals, armed with
ray-gun A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have various names: ray gun, de ...
s, robbed a general store. This caught the attention of Patrolwoman Diane Meade, who was vacationing on the island. Meade contacted Captain Harding, who in turn contacted Detective John Jones. Jones transformed into his other identity, the Martian Manhunter, and flew to the island. The first of the aliens he encountered was Zook, who was being chased by residents of the island who feared him because of his strange appearance. One of the islanders threw a branch at Zook's head, which knocked Zook unconscious. The Manhunter convinced the islanders that he would deal with Zook, so the islanders left Manhunter alone with the alien. Before Manhunter could attempt to revive Zook, he heard ray-gun blasts. He concluded that it must be the criminal aliens who were firing the ray-guns, and left Zook so that he could confront the criminals. Upon seeing the Manhunter, the criminals fired their ray-guns, but the weapons had no effect on him. He easily defeated both of the criminals and took them to a jail on the island, where they were incarcerated. At the jail, Manhunter learned that there was yet another alien on the island. Manhunter found this other alien, who was named R'ell, and who explained how the aliens had travelled to Earth through a space warp. The warp was still open on the island, and R'ell was determined to find the criminals and take them through the warp back to their own world. The warp would soon close, so R'ell and Manhunter had to hurry back to the jail. Meanwhile, the criminals had escaped from the jail by using their power to vibrate their bodies and cause a small earthquake. By the time Manhunter and R'ell arrived, the criminals were already gone. They were spotted by Diane Meade, who secretly followed them to an abandoned cottage that was near the space warp. The aliens discovered Meade and were threatening her with their ray-guns when Manhunter and R'ell finally caught up with them. Manhunter and R'ell were helpless to stop the criminals so long as they had their hostage. Suddenly the criminals began hopping about and crying in pain. Zook, who had also found the cottage, had sneaked up on the aliens and had used his power to generate heat to heat up the ground beneath the criminals. While the criminals were distracted Diane ran away. Manhunter grabbed both of the criminals and told R'ell to hold on tight to him. Carrying all three aliens, Manhunter flew through the space warp and managed to toss the aliens through the warp back into their own world seconds before the warp closed. However, Manhunter had forgotten about Zook—who had to remain on Earth now that the warp had closed. Zook seemed to like Manhunter and jumped into his arms. Manhunter decided to keep Zook as a pet.


Further adventures

Zook quickly learned to speak
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and became Manhunter's crime-fighting partner. He appeared in the "Manhunter from Mars" stories published in ''Detective Comics'' #311, 312, 314–318, 320–322, 325 and 326. Zook continued intermittently as Manhunter's crime fighting partner when the series moved from ''Detective Comics'' to ''
House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...
'' with Zook appearing in issues #143-149, 151, 156-158, 166, 168, 171-172. Much later, Zook appears in ''
Superman/Batman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly American comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ' ...
'' as one of the aliens that lived on Earth that were being mind controlled by an extraterrestrial invasion force. He took the form of Batman and Superman's enemies and tried to kill them.''Superman/Batman'' #29-32 (2006-2007)


Powers and abilities

Zook can alter the shape and temperature of his body, and has sensitive antennae that allow him to track anyone he has previously met and see through disguises.


In other media

* Zook appears in '' All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' #5. * Dolls resembling Zook appear in ''
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 T ...
''.


References

{{Martian Manhunter Comics characters introduced in 1963 DC Comics aliens DC Comics shapeshifters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics sidekicks Fictional characters who can change size Fictional characters who can stretch themselves Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Fictional humanoids Fictional Martians