Here’s another one of those characters without which a cast of comic-book heroes is not complete. You’ve got to have the sea-going, aquatic hero, the champion of the ocean. For the Quantum Comics Universe, that character is more than just a tempest in a teapot. He’s a full-on Seastorm.
For the excitingly enigmatic Seastorm, I wanted a character who would be a match for a certain well-known Avenging Son. That character’s theme song from an old animated TV series that was my first attraction to comic books still gives me a tingle whenever I remember it: “Stronger than a whale, he can swim anywhere./He can breathe underwater and go flying through the air...!” So, for my Seastorm, I wanted a character who would be the successor of that Prince of Atlantis--but of course he had to be a distinctly “J.A. Fludd” creation. I thought I had the character exactly right for a while, but just in the last few days I came up with a better approach to him than I originally had, and I took down the initial concept and did a complete rebuild from, shall we say, the shoreline up.
So, Seastorm is stronger than a whale and can breathe anywhere, and yes, he can breathe underwater and go flying through the air. But his powers go way beyond that. The man otherwise known only as Jonas is strong enough to give a serious battle to the strongest Quantum heroes like the Stone and the Satellite, even the Bearcat. He can resist the pressures and temperatures of the most extreme ocean environments, and indeed “swim anywhere” there is water enough to swim through. He can see underwater at any depth. His lean and perfectly sculpted body extracts oxygen directly from the water into his bloodstream. But from here onward he gets even more awesome.
Jonas can control any fluid medium. Not just liquids--fluids. Scientifically, a liquid is “any substance having a consistency like that of water or oil.” A fluid is any substance that flows, which covers both liquids like water and gases like the air around us. Jonas’s powers cover liquids and fluids. In water, he can change, direct, accelerate, or slow down the movement of any current. He can actually alter the density and pressure of water to use it as a weapon. Imagine being swept up in an irresistible whirlpool, or dragged down to the ocean floor by an undersea vortex, or dashed against a reef by a super-powerful current. Seastorm can do that, and can also torpedo himself through water at super-speeds over great distances. On the surface of the ocean, he can summon a waterspout. On land, he can create vortexes, gales, or focused thunderstorm or typhoon effects. He can change water from liquid to vapor and back again with a thought. He can also lift himself into the air and fly as fast as an Air Force jet. With this and his strength, this is not a guy you want angry with you.
And then there are his other powers. Seastorm can communicate with all cetaceans--the family of marine mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. They’re all his allies, meaning if you must battle Seastorm you may also have to contend with a posse of Orca whales who have his back. And there are other beings in the sea who are Seastorm’s friends and also under his protection. Who are they, and how did Jonas become their champion? If you think they’re the denizens of an “Atlantis” like the one ruled by that other Prince of the Deep...come back for the next Quantum Comics Blog where we’ll all “fathom” together the awesome origin of Seastorm. It’s 20,000 leagues above boring!
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