Vartox, baby...

[west3man]

I remember some Superman comics from waaaaybackwhen that had a guy with Superman-like powers. They were cool, they were enemies, they were cool, again... I dunno.

I just know ol' boy was bumpin' some 70's flava, complete with hairy-chest-exposed-by-vest fashion statement.

Anyone remember or dig Vartox? I saw a post that implied that he made an appearance relatively recently. Any truth to that?

TALK ABOUT VARTOX, CONSARNIT!


Well, lookee what I found... http://supermanica.info/wiki/index.php/Vartox

http://supermanica.info/wiki/images/a/ab/Vartox.jpg
http://supermanica.info/wiki/images/a/ab/Vartox.jpg

[cactusmaac]

That is a very gay costume.

[JulianPerez]

Vartox was GREAT! He was an older, more experienced type superhero that was a sort of ally and mentor figure to Superman, Sean Connery to Superman's Indiana Jones. He and Superman were great allies and friends together, because they both understood what it was to lose a home planet.

Vartox and Lana had a thing together, as I recall.

You can see him in the background of Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow," among other appearances. He is a member of the great supporting cast that Superman had in the 1980s created by Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin, including the Kristin Wells Superwoman and that guy that was a bird-riding Viking.

[PatrickG]

Dan Jurgens brought Vartox back post-Crisis at the end of his SUPERMAN run for a three issue story.

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/250/2178/320/Vartoxpost.jpg

But Vartox has not resurfaced since then.

[SOGG]

Didn't he also have some supertech on him? I have the comic where that panel comes from and I seem to remember that him and supes slugged it out in that one. But for some reason, I keep thinking of tablets being involved in that story...

[west3man]

Didn't he also have some supertech on him? I have the comic where that panel comes from and I seem to remember that him and supes slugged it out in that one. But for some reason, I keep thinking of tablets being involved in that story...
It's been a LOOONG time since I read that first story. I have one of those lil digest comic thingees with Vartox on the cover, but I don't think I ever found the story he's in. Weird.

Anyway, I remember thinking he was a pretty neat character.


Btw, cactus, you're right about the costume, but there are a ton of other heroes I could say the same thing about.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Btw, cactus, you're right about the costume, but there are a ton of other heroes I could say the same thing about.

I dunno. Except for maybe Kraven, I can't think of another super-character who more looks like he should be a member of the Village People.

[west3man]

I dunno. Except for maybe Kraven, I can't think of another super-character who more looks like he should be a member of the Village People.
Please. There's nothing more macho-manly than thigh-high frickin' BOOTS!

What?

[JeffreyWKramer]

Please. There's nothing more macho-manly than thigh-high frickin' BOOTS!

What?

Especially when worn with a leather vest and very brief briefs that appear to be leather in front, but to have yellow stripes on the ass.

Very macho-manly... as in, he could be up there with the Indian, the construction worker and the cop singing "Macho Man."

[west3man]

Especially when worn with a leather vest and very brief briefs that appear to be leather in front, but to have yellow stripes on the ass.

Very macho-manly... as in, he could be up there with the Indian, the construction worker and the cop singing "Macho Man."
It almost looks like Liefeld designed that shoulder gear.


SOGG: Looking at the lil cylinders on the sides of his boots, you may be right about the tech thing. I don't remember that, at all, pre-Crisis, but *shrugs*

[JulianPerez]

Didn't he also have some supertech on him? I have the comic where that panel comes from and I seem to remember that him and supes slugged it out in that one. But for some reason, I keep thinking of tablets being involved in that story...

Vartox was from the planet Valeron, which was highly technologically advanced before it was destroyed. Further, he was also, like Superman himself, an accomplished technological genius, engineer, and scientific wizard; I'm not sure which appearance of his you mean. What else do you remember? I probably have it.

I dunno, I like Vartox's costume, but I probably wouldn't if he was drawn by any other artist like Kurt Schaffenberg. Curt Swan has an amazing ability to make even the worst costume designs charming. That guy's got style!

[cactusmaac]

I dunno. Except for maybe Kraven, I can't think of another super-character who more looks like he should be a member of the Village People.

I nominate that guy from the LOSH who wore what looked like a corset.

[JeffreyWKramer]

I nominate that guy from the LOSH who wore what looked like a corset.
You talking Cosmic Boy when he wore the black thing that left most of his torso bare? Yeah, that one was also tremendously gay.

[west3man]

Vartox was from the planet Valeron, which was highly technologically advanced before it was destroyed. Further, he was also, like Superman himself, an accomplished technological genius, engineer, and scientific wizard; I'm not sure which appearance of his you mean. What else do you remember? I probably have it.

I dunno, I like Vartox's costume, but I probably wouldn't if he was drawn by any other artist like Kurt Schaffenberg. Curt Swan has an amazing ability to make even the worst costume designs charming. That guy's got style!
No argument from me. Swan's work is classic, imo.

[PatrickG]

Incidentally, Vartox is known to be an homage to Sean Connery in Zardoz.

http://casaprofonda.freeblog.hu/Files/0401/zardoz.jpg

[SOGG]

Vartox was from the planet Valeron, which was highly technologically advanced before it was destroyed. Further, he was also, like Superman himself, an accomplished technological genius, engineer, and scientific wizard; I'm not sure which appearance of his you mean. What else do you remember? I probably have it. <snipped for space>

Well, the cover had Vartox holding a gun to a kneeling Superman or something. The story had to do with Vartox's wife, I think. It's a really old comic. Inherited from my dad.

[JulianPerez]

Ahh, the issue that you’re talking about is Superman No. 281, 1974.

Is it THIS one?

http://www.strictlybids.com/sites/robert61/images/0000342276_1.jpg

The plot of it is that Vartox’s redheaded wife, Elyra (who he married after the first woman he loved, Syreena, turned out to be an energy-siphoning terrorist) died a few months after their marriage. Vartox invented a time-scanscope to view the cause of her death, and learned it was because on Earth, her “biological twin” she had been connected to Sykes, an earth criminal. When her twin died, Syreena died too.

The reason the two heroes were fighting was because






SPOILER WARNING






Vartox pretended to be a criminal, promising his foe great riches if he came with him to Valeron. The Earth justice system would not prosecute Sykes for the death. Vartox had to get Sykes to Valeron of his own free will, so that that the gangster could be prosecuted for her death.

Superman refuses to allow Sykes to go to prison for 60 years. Vartox says he already served it – and had Sykes aged 60 years by Valeron technology, returning to Earth with Superman at age 90!

The energy tablets you are talking about may be one of two things: either Vartox’s time-scanscope, or Vartox has the ability with psionic energy to create objects such as walls and nets.

Another ability you might be talking about is the time that Vartox, hit by a “z-charge” gun, fought Superman to obtain an element to restore his youth from an allergic alien.

[SOGG]

Ahh, the issue that you’re talking about is Superman No. 281, 1974.

<snipped for space>

Holy crap dude. That's amazing. I read this comic when I was 5 or something. So there's at least 20 odd years separating me from that event. I remember really liking that comic. Cheers for bringing the memory back.

That memory of yours is a superpower.

[JulianPerez]

Vartox is pretty awesome. He's a wonderful, great Cary Bates creation. I'd love to see him return in some form, but I'd be too nervous they'd get the character all wrong and mangle him.

The Supermanica entry doesn't mention that Vartox also had the ability to psychokinetically create objects such as weapons and nets, Green Lantern style.

Intriguingly enough, Vartox was one of the few individuals that could actually defeat Superman in a fair fight, along with the Flame Dragon of Krypton, the Composite Superman (Amalgamax), the Galactic Golem, Validus, and Amazo (who had two Superman-specific appearances, including one where Superman first used the awesome boxing-glove armed Supermobile!).

[Apathy Boy]

http://supermanica.info/wiki/images/a/ab/Vartox.jpgMan, I hate to admit it, but...

That costume is really starting to grow on me.

[west3man]

Incidentally, Vartox is known to be an homage to Sean Connery in Zardoz.

http://casaprofonda.freeblog.hu/Files/0401/zardoz.jpg
Yowza.

I think that movie was before my time. Thank goodness.

Good info, though, PG. Thx.

[prand_2002]

Kinda looks like Mr.Slave

[Spike-X]

Incidentally, Vartox is known to be an homage to Sean Connery in Zardoz.

http://casaprofonda.freeblog.hu/Files/0401/zardoz.jpg
What


the


F***?!?!

[marshal99]

Vartox has since made an appearance post-crisis in superman #148 & #150.

[Sanagi]

What


the


F***?!?!
Cloth diapers and bandoliers, quite the combination.

[west3man]

Vartox has since made an appearance post-crisis in superman #148 & #150.
Thanks.

I tried looking'em up, but the cover shots were weak (kinda like my connection, right now). Hopefully, I'll get to find out about'em, another time.

[Karl J. Barnes]

What


the


F***?!?!

Basically, what I thought, when I saw the movie. The movie ,also, had a very young and sexy Charolette(sp?) Rampling.

[jadegiant77]

wow, sean connery never looked more manly.... :rolleyes: And isn't vartox an impotence suplement? :D I can't believe Lana had a thing for that guy...if he can get some, there's hope for us all.

What was the Jurgens Vartox all about?

[Iangould]

Zardoz not only featured Sean Connery, it was also directed by John Boorman who went on to direct Excalibur and a bunch of other stuff.

Bizarre costumes or no, it's more interesting than 99% of the sf movies made since.

[Pinnacle]

I remember the Jurgens version a little bit but did not realize that it was based on a pre-Crisis character. The Jurgens story kind of bored me. His power level obviously makes him a character with potential but I think he needs something to make him stand out. And I don't mean the old costume. It was horrible

[Bicycle-Repairman]

I know this is off-topic, but for those who don't know Zardoz (1974) is a truly odd sci-fi movie directed by John Boorman. Sean Connery plays Zed, a gun-toting Exterminator who hunts primitive humans known as Brutals in a post-apocalyptic future. The Exterminators worship a false god named Zardoz, who appears as a giant flying stone head that vomits up guns and ammunition to his followers. To keep the Brutal population in check, Zardoz gives the Exterminators the following instructions:

"The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life, and poisons the Earth with a plague of men, as once it was. But the gun shoots death, and purifies the Earth of the filth of Brutals. Go forth... and kill!"

The plot gets weirder as Zed realizes that Zardoz is a fraud and travels to the Vortex, a country estate populated by immortal intellectuals known as Eternals. Without spoiling too much, Zardoz has a plot twist that literally takes a page out of The Wizard of Oz and a scene where Zed wears a wedding dress.

[PatrickG]

I think the Jurgens Vartox was sent by Brainiac to kill Superman with his wife as a hostage. But in the end, Vartox teamed with Superman to defeat Brainiac.

He was a staple supporting character for a time. I'd dig seeing him get a cameo in JLU with a Connery-esque accent.

The idea of a Sean Connery-style character with super-powers is interesting. I wouldn't mind a cocky, morally ambiguous type who respects Superman but might not always gel with his methods. But instead of being a jerk like Guy Gardner, Vartox is a suave ladies' man. Superman needs more interaction with people who get under his skin.

As-is, he pretty much seems to get along with people or scream ultimatims at them and the more characters who fall between those extremes, the better.

[Pinnacle]

Originally posted by PatrickG

I think the Jurgens Vartox was sent by Brainiac to kill Superman with his wife as a hostage. But in the end, Vartox teamed with Superman to defeat Brainiac.

He was a staple supporting character for a time. I'd dig seeing him get a cameo in JLU with a Connery-esque accent.

The idea of a Sean Connery-style character with super-powers is interesting. I wouldn't mind a cocky, morally ambiguous type who respects Superman but might not always gel with his methods. But instead of being a jerk like Guy Gardner, Vartox is a suave ladies' man. Superman needs more interaction with people who get under his skin.

As-is, he pretty much seems to get along with people or scream ultimatims at them and the more characters who fall between those extremes, the better.

Good insight into how the character could be used. I could be interested in Vartox if he was used in this manner and we had more story to go with him. Like many characters he's not interesting because he just shows up and then disappears.