Tyroc

Tyroc
Tyroc as depicted in All-New Collectors' Edition C-55 (March 1978). Art by James Sherman and Jack Abel.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSuperboy #216 (April 1976)
Created byCary Bates (writer)
Mike Grell (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoTroy Stewart
SpeciesMetahuman
Place of originEarth
Team affiliationsLegion of Super-Heroes
AbilitiesReality warping scream

Tyroc (Troy Stewart) is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Comics, primarily as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries. Created by writer Cary Bates and artist Mike Grell, he first appeared in Superboy #216 (April 1976), and is one of DC's first black superheroes.[1]

Publication history

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Tyroc first appeared in Superboy #216 (April 1976), and was created by Cary Bates and Mike Grell.

Jim Shooter, who had been prevented from introducing black characters into the Legion in the 1960s,[2] objected to the characterization of Tyroc: "...I always wanted to have a character who was African-American, and years later, when they did that, they did it in the worst way possible....instead of just incidentally having a character who happens to be black...they made a big fuss about it. He's a racial separatist....I just found it pathetic and appalling".[3]

According to Mike Grell, who co-created Tyroc with Cary Bates, the character of Tyroc was "sort of a sore spot with me".[4] He had previously tried to introduce black characters into the series, but had been prevented by then-editor Murray Boltinoff.[5] Grell recalled: "I kept getting stalled off...and finally comes Tyroc. They might as well have named him Tyrone. Their explanation for why there were no black people [in the Legion] was that all the black people had gone to live on an island. It's possibly the most racist concept I've ever heard in my life...I mean, it's a segregationist's dream, right? So they named him Tyroc, and gave him the world's stupidest super-power".[6]

Grell's dislike of Tyroc was strong enough that he deliberately made him look ridiculous: "I gave him a silly costume. It was somewhere between Elvis' Las Vegas costume and something you would imagine a pimp on the street corner wearing".[5]

Grell notes that physically, Tyroc is based on the football player Fred Williamson: "I modeled him somewhat on Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, who was a movie star at the time...and gave him this "Elvis Presley goes to Las Vegas" kind of a costume, and that's pretty much it. That was the extent of my contribution to Tyroc".[6]

Some writers, including long-time Legion scribe Paul Levitz, claimed that Tyroc's powers, based upon sound, made him too difficult a character to depict in a comic book, despite similar characters being introduced beforehand. Tyroc was the only Legionnaire introduced prior to 1989 who did not appear during Levitz's initial 15-year run on Legion.[7] Levitz says this was because he thought Tyroc was "just such a stupid character....a sound-based character is, I think, intrinsically futile in a silent medium. He just never worked for me, so I did my best to dodge him".[8] Despite his initial stance on the character, Levitz said in a Newsarama interview that Tyroc would be in his new Legion of Super-Heroes series.[9] Tyroc appears in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 6) #2 (August 2010), marking the first time that the character has appeared in an in-continuity tale written by Levitz.

Fictional character biography

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Tyroc is a resident of Marzal, an island which usually exists in another dimension and occasionally appears on Earth. Its people are descended from African slaves who revolted while being transported to North America in the 1700s and developed an advanced civilization with extreme isolationist tendencies.

Tyroc from Superboy #216
artist Mike Grell.

The Legion of Super-Heroes first meets Tyroc while responding to an emergency on Marzal. He initially refuses their help before working with them to save the island and joining the group.[10][11][12]

Later, Marzal is destroyed by the Dominators.[13] Invisible Kid and Tyroc join a rebellion against them and are rewarded by respectively becoming Earth's president and vice president.[14][15] Eventually, Jacques resigns to rejoin the Legion and Troy ascends to the presidency.[16]

Post-Infinite Crisis

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Following Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, Tyroc does not appear for many years, making brief appearances in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 5) #15 and Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1. He returns in The New 52 title Legion Lost, where he, Wildfire, Gates, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf, Chameleon Girl, and Tellus are trapped in the 21st century while pursuing a time-traveling genetic terrorist.

Powers and abilities

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Tyroc is a metahuman with reality-warping screams that possess various effects. He can create dimensional portals and force fields, transmute matter, generate fire and wind, telekinetically manipulate objects, manipulate weather and plants, induce vertigo, and view the past.[17][18]

As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, he is provided with a Legion Flight Ring, which allows him to fly, survive in space, and communicate with his teammates.

In other media

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References

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  1. ^ Mal Duncan is introduced in Teen Titans #26 (March/April 1970), but does not become a superhero until issue #44 (November 1976). John Stewart is introduced as a Green Lantern in Green Lantern #87 (December 1971/January 1972), but does not become a main character until issue #182 (November 1984).
  2. ^ Cadigan, p. 53.
  3. ^ Cadigan, p.61.
  4. ^ Glen Cadigan, The Legion Companion, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003; p. 89.
  5. ^ a b Cadigan, p. 89.
  6. ^ a b Cadigan, p. 90.
  7. ^ An alternate universe version of Tyroc appears, and dies, in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #300 (June 1983).
  8. ^ Cadigan, p. 111.
  9. ^ "PAUL LEVITZ Talks Legion of Superheroes". Newsarama.com.
  10. ^ Superboy #216 (April 1976)
  11. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes #265 (July 1980)
  12. ^ Superboy #218 (July 1976)
  13. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #16 (March 1991)
  14. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #34 (Early November 1992)
  15. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #38 (late December 1992).
  16. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #41 (March 1993)
  17. ^ Legion of Superheroes (vol. 7) #7 (May 2012)
  18. ^ Legion of Super-Bloggers, "Retroboot Legion of Super-Heroes #7", Sept 7, 2018, http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2018/09/retroboot-legion-of-super-heroes-7.html
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