Manchester Black is the leader of a team of super-powered antiheroes called the Elite, who gain popularity for viciously killing their foes. Superman battles the Elite before killing their members and temporarily depowering Black by damaging his brain. Following this, Black's sister Vera assumes leadership of the Elite's remants.[2]
In Our Worlds at War, Black regains his powers and joins the Suicide Squad to recruit Doomsday and battle Imperiex. Later, Black battles Superman before realizing the error of his ways and committing suicide.[3]
Black is resurrected in The New 52 continuity reboot and depicted as a high-ranking S.T.A.R. Labs executive.[4][5] He later works with Superman to save Earth from the Phantom Zone criminals and uses his powers to erase the public's knowledge of Superman's identity, killing him in the process.[6][7][8]
Powers and abilities
Black is a powerful telekinetic and telepath. He can create detailed illusions on a vast scale, erase memories, and could telepathically control thousands of minds at the same time. While controlling Bizarro and Silver Banshee, he was able to temporarily grant them enough sanity to enable them to communicate and form plans.
David Ajala as Manchester "Ches" Black in Supergirl.
In other media
Manchester Black appears in Supergirl, portrayed by David Ajala.[9] This version is a Black British man who fell in love with an Empath from Ikthanol named Fiona Byrne (portrayed by Tiya Sircar). After the Children of Liberty capture and kill Byrne, Black seeks revenge by forming the Elite and using a Martian artifact called the Staff of H'ronmeer that grants telepathic powers, only to be killed by Martian Manhunter.
Some of Black's appearances have been reprinted in trade paperbacks:
Justice League Elite (reprints: Action Comics #775, JLA #100, JLA Secret Files 2004 (lead story), and Justice League Elite #1-4, tpb, 208 pages, 2005, TitanISBN1-84576-191-XDC, ISBN1-4012-0481-3)
Superman: Ending Battle (reprints 2002's Superman (1986 series) #186-87, Adventures Of Superman #608-09, Superman: Man Of Steel #130-31, and Action Comics #795-96, tpb, 192 pages, 2009, DC, ISBN1-4012-2259-5)
References
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 193. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^"Manchester Black Voice - Superman vs. The Elite (Movie)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 23, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^"Manchester (Young) Voice - Superman vs. The Elite (Movie)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 23, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
