Who's Who in the Superman Comics

Waverider

Waverider

In an alternate timeline, the super heroes were destroyed by one of their own at the dawn of the 21st Century. By the year 2030, a malevolent dictator, The Monarch, was ruler of Earth. Armored from head to toe, no one knew the true identity of Monarch, only that his rule was heavyhanded and unjust.

Matthew Ryder, a scientist and social activist, was determined to change the world for the better. Working on a time traveling experiment, Ryder gained the attention of Monarch. The experiments at the time proved unsuccessful, as the subjects were killed during the time traveling process. The Monarch tried to test the quantum project by using Matthew Ryder as a guinea pig...gambling on Ryder's death. Eventually, Ryder proved resilient, and survived the time travel. In the process, he gained the ability to personally travel through time, minus technological equipment. Taking the guise of Waverider, the hero journey into the late 20th Century and investigated the possible futures of several super heroes.

The Monarch, determined to stop Waverider, followed him into the past, and ultimately encountered the duo known as Hawk and Dove. Slaying the heroine Dove, Monarch then turned his attention of Hank Hall, alias The Hawk. However, the aggressive Hawk overpowered Monarch, and killed him. An agent of the Lords of Chaos, Hank Hall was also mentally unbalanced. When he discarded Monarch's mask to find out that it was his future self, Hall snapped. He instantly assumed the mantle of The Monarch.

Rampaging through Metropolis, The Monarch fought Superman, The Justice League, The Titans, and The Metal Men. However, it was the combined efforts of Waverider and Captain Atom which led to Monarch's defeat.

From that point, Waverider joined The Linear Men, a clandestined corps of individuals who keep the timestream safe. Waverider and The Linear Men faced Monarch and his future self Extant, when Parallax, a crazed former Green Lantern, tried to alter reality.

Waverider, who can travel through the time stream and several dimensions, also possesses the ability to fly, as well as a measure of raw quantum force energy. This may allow him to fire controlled beams of energy as a defensive power.

Over his heroic career, Waverider has assisted Superman on numerous occasions, especially when The Man of Might was caught in the time stream.

First Appearance: Armageddon 2001 #1



Who's Who in the Superman Comics

Introduction

This is a listing of many of the notable characters and a few places that have appeared in the Superman comics from the 1986 revamp up until around 2008.

NOTE: A new, and more current version of the Who's Who is currently being worked on and can be accessed by clicking here.

Although Superman often appears in other DC Comics, this text's information is limited mainly to what has occurred in the regular Superman comics.

Many thanks to Scotty V, Derrick Lyle Coleman, Dean Vanek, Genevieve Clemens and Benjamin Grose who all helped out at one time or another with writing and updating these Who's Who descriptions.

The listings are displayed as follows:

  • Surname, Firstname - Text describing the character, place, object, etc...

Relevant issues of the Superman comics are listed as such:
  • SUP = Superman
  • MOS = Man of Steel
  • AOS = Adventures of Superman
  • ACT = Action Comics
  • MOT = Man of Tomorrow

The Issue Number for each of these titles is written in this manner: “#000”. (e.g. SUP #123)

“First Appearance” refers to the issue since 1986 unless otherwise noted.



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