Everyman

Everyman (Hannibal Bates) is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He debuted in 52 #21 (September 2006), and was created by Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Keith Giffen and Joe Bennett. His name is a combination of Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates.

Fictional character biography

Everyman is a shapeshifter, who can physically duplicate another person after eating part of their body. He was generally unpopular with his teammates, mostly due to his searching for toenails, etc., of his teammates that he could eat. It was later revealed that he had killed his teammate Skyman, and had been masquerading as him for quite some time. During the impersonation, he 'assisted' Natasha Irons in her investigation of Lex Luthor's super-human program. Skyman's ravaged body was shown; Hannibal stated that though he only needs a small portion, he just likes the taste. Natasha, who was romantically involved with Skyman, battled and nearly subdued Everyman, until Lex Luthor saved him.^[1]

When Steel (John Henry Irons) and the Teen Titans came to rescue Natasha Irons, Everyman lured Steel by posing as Natasha, then morphed into a giant crab and tried to crush him, but the hero easily defeated him.^[2] Fleeing the battle, Everyman was next seen masquerading as Lex Luthor as the former mogul was led to jail. His ruse was discovered by Clark Kent, and the real Luthor was placed into custody.^[3]

One Year Later

Everyman posed as Ted Kord, returned from the grave, until a DNA test proved otherwise, and he was taken into custody.^[4] He was later freed by Circe, who ordered him to disguise himself as Sarge Steel, and instigate the events leading up to the "Amazons Attack" storyline.

In the aftermath, Everyman was captured and arrested by Nemesis. Everyman reappeared, this time impersonating Green Arrow and tried to murder Black Canary on their wedding night. She managed to kill him with an arrow to the neck.^[5] His deception was not discovered until a month later when Batman and Dr. Mid-Nite performed an autopsy.^[6] It was later revealed by Granny Goodness (in the guise of Athena) that the switch was made during the Injustice League's attack on the wedding. Everyman was meant to pose as Green Arrow for a short time, then fake his death. Unfortunately, Everyman suffered from impotency, which forced him to try and kill Black Canary on the wedding night, rather than chance his cover being blown.^[7]

It was later revealed that Everyman had survived Black Canary's attack. The villain woke up, naked in an alley, with amnesia, believing himself to be Oliver Queen. He returned to "his" home, only to be confronted by the real Green Arrow.^[8] Although unsure of who was who at first, Black Canary was able to identify the fake by the stab wound on his neck, and rallied with her husband against him. Everyman managed to slip away, only to be captured by the new Big Game, who intended to use him in one of his plots.^[9]

Everyman was identified as one of the deceased villains entombed below the Hall of Justice.^[10] His body was later revived as part of the Black Lantern Corps.^[11]

Powers and abilities

• Thanks to Luthor's Exo-gene program, Everyman is able to duplicate any organic lifeform, provided he eats a small portion of it first. He loses those powers when his Exo-gene is shut down by Lex Luthor, but they are restored by Circe. His duplication is far more than skin deep. All physical evidence reads as identical to whoever he is impersonating. Even Hal Jordan's Green Lantern ring has been fooled. However, it appears Everyman cannot accurately duplicate non-organic matter, as evidenced when he replicated Sarge Steel, who possesses a metal hand. Nemesis was able to tell who the real Steel was by stabbing the imposter's "metal" hand with a pencil, drawing blood.

References