Black

Black is a villain introduced in the serial "Legion of Lawndale Heroes". He makes his first appearance in Volume 5, Part 1 ("Keeping Things Hidden").

First appearance

Black is a member of a group of mercenaries including "Red" and "Team Leader". He, along with his teammates, is hired by John Dynell in an effort to kidnap Legionnaires Jane Lane, Daria Morgendorffer, and Quinn Morgendorffer.

The group manages to break into the lightly guarded Legion compound. Red manages to subdue Jane Lane, having transformed into a biological form that is immune to Jane's magnetic abilities.

However, the remaining Legionnaires -- Sandi Griffin, Tiffany Blum-Deckler and Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer -- manage to catch up with the armored car. One of Sandi Griffin's self-clones crashes her yellow corvette into the armored car, forcing the vehicle onto its side.

Black managed to remove Team Leader from the vehicle, and confronted the Legionnaires after Red was injured by a temporarily conscious Jane Lane. Black fought with Charles Ruttheimer with each attempting to change into a biological form that could defeat the other. Black eventually transformed into a unknown biological polymorph built for killing any biologically based opponent, but Charles transformed into a glycine-heavy biological form that would affect the neurotransmitters of anything that would attempt to consume it. Black was left momentarily paralyzed as a result, and the Legion escaped.

Unlike his counterparts, Black seemed to be relatively unharmed despite his defeat. He told John Dynell that he would attempt to complete the contract, despite the teams failure and despite Dynell's refusal to pay.

Powers/abilities

Black was give his nickname by Team Leader. He is named after his black hair, which he wears in a crewcut. Black does not like this nickname, but appears to put up with it when used by his teammates. He is a very physically fit male, muscular and with great endurance.

Despite the failure of Team Leader's group, Black is a talented mercenary-for-hire with some sort of special forces training, although it is unknown to which military branch Black belonged. It was remarked that Black's team had "a great kill list" and that the group was highly talented. Furthermore, Black was a member of the secret society of superpowered beings known as The Elite. It is unknown if Team Leader's mercenary team has Elite sanction, or if they operate independently.

Black has the ability to take on any biological form he can think of, even biological forms that don't exist or are extinct or that are amalgams of several different creatures. (Dinosaurs, etc.) He has the natural abilities of such animals and can very quickly change from one form to another. It is unknown how long he can remain in a particular form, but has created many specialized forms to use during particular mission situations.

Mercenary team

Black grudgingly respects the other members of his team, going so far as to attempt to remove Team Leader from the capsized armored car and holding off attacking the Legion until securing her safety.

Black has been reprimanded several times for sexually abusing (or attempting to abuse) females during the course of a mission, whether they be targets or bystanders. However, unlike Red, Black has only required infrequent warnings.

Despite his superpowers, Black prefers to use weapons and standard military tactics to deal with dangerous opponents. He told Sandi Griffin, Tiffany Blum-Deckler and Charles Ruttheimer that his contract to capture the Legion only included Jane, Daria, and Quinn, implying that the three other Legionnaires could choose to retreat and let Black complete the contract.

Weapons

It is assumed that Black is familiar with weaponry of all types due to his special forces training.

Black's preferred weapons are the Heckler MP7 and the Jatimatic sub-machine gun.