This year is the tenth anniversary of this website.
It’s been a wild ride. From being the only place that celebrated the 20th anniversary of a Milestone to being the first place to even have biographies for many of these characters it has been a wild ride.
We already did a top 20 to celebrate the 20th anniversary so this time I present the TEN MOST POWERFUL BLACK HEROES in Milestone comics!
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Blood Syndicate#1, May 1993
Brief Biography: The young woman who would come to be known as the only Masquerade has a past shrouded in mystery. From an early age, he realized his gender identity did not match his physical body; he was a man trapped in a woman’s body. After the Big Bang, he gained the power to shapeshift and immediately used these abilities to make his body reflect what’s always been in his mind, becoming physically a man. Masquerade has been both an ally and enemy of the Blood Syndicate over the years. Why he’s here: An omnimorph with the limitless potential he’s a powerhouse just beging for someone to use him right!
~DIG DEEPER INTO MASQUERADE HERE~
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Brief Biography: Carlos joined the force syndicate with his sister Flashback in order to help them assimilate after moving to the US from Panama. He knew from early on that he was gay. While in the force syndicate he fell in love with Tech-9 one of the founding members of Force Syndicate, though Tech-9 had no idea of Carlos’s true feelings. His gang-banger lifestyle left a strained relationship with himself and his father. On the night of the Big Bang event, he was one of many gang members to attend the event. Why he’s here: If Ivan Velez had been given more time Fade’s time travel and potentially time control based powers would have been developed further.
~DIG DEEPER INTO FADE HERE~
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Brief Biography: When a member of the D’masi police force chased an intergalactic criminal to earth. An African-American man stepped in between her and certain death resulting with him mortally wounded. Grateful to the lower life form for his sacrifice she used her people’s advanced technology to heal him and in the process unlocked his full potential and enhanced him. After this she left earth promising to return for him one day. After the Big Bang event he became the most mysterious member of the super human team the Blood Syndicate. Why he’s here: DMZ was the most intriguing mystery posed by the original Milestone line of books. We had never seen his face, his power was vague and his connection to Icon just really drove us crazy. When the great Dwayne Mcduffie revealed his past on a comic book forum years of head scratching and speculating had ended and I was sold!
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Icon #1, May 1993
Brief Biography: Raquel Ervin is an outspoken young black woman who is the first teenage mother in comics, the woman who inspired Augustus Freeman into becoming Icon and later becomes his partner. As the superhero Rocket, Raquel uses an inertia belt which allows her to fly, re-channel kinetic energy, and even form shields. Why she’s here: Her powers are unique and oh so formidable. Her battle with Oblivion proves that she is one of Milestone’s strongest.
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Hardware #1, 1993
Curtis Metcalf was blessed with a prodigious intellect in the art of computing, electronics, metallurgy. At a young age, Edwin Alva took him under his wing and Curtis’ creations single-handedly made Alva billions. Upon realizing that his father figure was corrupt and he was held in little regard he rebelled. Creating the identity of Hardware he waged a one-man war against Alva and his corrupt company. Over the course of his career, he helped Icon repair his ship, befriended Rocket, and supplied technology to Static during the new 52. Why he’s here: Where do I begin? How about the fact that he’s the most brilliant mind on the planet? No? Oh how about a suit that can go toe to toe with Icon and capable of producing a red sunbeam to cut superman in half…yup!
~DIG DEEPER INTO HARDWARE HERE~
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Shadow Cabinet #7, 1994
Brief Biography: Stella was a girl who always had an aptitude for mathematics, to this end upon graduating from High School she enrolled in a college-level degree of said subject. It was here that she witnessed her college professor using an experimental Tachyon telescope for a teleportation experiment. It went horribly wrong and he was being bombarded by cosmic rays. Fearing for his life she pushed him out-of-the-way and took the full brunt of the cosmic rays and radiation. She was transformed into a human pulsar. She was found by Hardware who used his technology to help stabilize her powers and help her control them. Why she’s here: I’ve always liked her design and all of her appearances after her debut suggest she was going to be a major player in Dakota. With her power set, she’s a female Static, easy!
~DIG DEEPER INTO STARLIGHT HERE~
Publisher: Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Denys Cowan, Dwayne McDuffie, Derek Dingle, Christopher Priest and Micheal Davis
1st appearance: Static #1, 1993
Brief Biography: Virgil “Static” Hawkins was exposed to a mutagenic gas that swept his city of Dakota, which gave him and other ‘bang babies’ superpowers. With the ability to control electromagnetism, Static joined the Teen Titans and continued to protect his city while serving on the team. During DC Comics’ new 52 he moved to New York and starred in his own ongoing title which was among the first wave of cancellations. Why he’s here: Static is Milestone’s biggest and best success story to date! Easily the most recognizable Milestone character thanks to his very popular Static Shock t.v series. with power potentially to rival Magneto himself.
~DIG DEEPER INTO STATIC HERE~
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Brief Biography: Leonard Smalls Jr. was the son of Dakota mayor/Thomasina Jefferson and her husband Leonard Sr. He was always a sadistic and cold person but stepped over the line when on his sixteenth birthday he killed his father. Taking to the street he joined a local gang where he made plans to take over the Dakota underground. At the Big Bang, he was the only member of his group to survive. Holocaust then joined with the other survivors of the event to form ‘The Blood Syndicate” but unlike them was cruel, power-hungry, and sadistic. Why he’s here: Hands down there is no greater supervillain in Milestone history than the Holocaust. He has awesome power, battled against Black Lightning, Superboy, Static, Icon ect. He is quite simply a beast!
~DIG DEEPER INTO HOLOCAUST HERE~
Publisher: Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Icon #22
Brief Biography: A long time ago before Arnus came to Earth he sentenced Kali’lkak to isolation though he did not wish to do so because he was unable to live among civilized beings. Though his isolation was as comfortable as any citizen’s everyday life he did not view it as an act of mercy. Before he was sentenced to isolation though he decided to hurt Arnus and thus sabotaged his ship resulting in his crash landing on earth and him eventually becoming Icon. His exile was supposed to be rehabilitative but he left what he called a “prison planet” after killing his therapists he went on a rampage across the galaxy on his way to Earth to kill Icon. After killing over three hundred life forms he took to calling himself Oblivion. Why he’s here: He’s the most evil, vile sadistic villain Milestone had to offer. Like the Joker, Bullseye, or Sabretooth he takes joy in his villainy. His powers also allow him to take on any shape and even kill superhumans. The icon is the only being that even stands a chance. If Milestone ever had a villain who could jeopardize the whole of Dakota, it’s OBLIVION!
~DIG DEEPER INTO OBLIVION HERE~
Publisher:Milestone Media INC.
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
1st appearance: Icon #1, May 1993
Brief Biography: Arnus is an alien who crash-landed on earth during slavery and took on the appearance of a black human. He is equal in power to DC Comics Superman. As Augustus Freeman, he was a lawyer who later becomes Dakota’s premier superhero after a chance encounter with Raquel Irvin/Rocket. After the merger of DC and Milestone, he was shown to be friends with Superman. Why he’s here: Every fan knows I love me some Icon! Icon now is noteworthy for having lived the African-American experience from its colonial origins to its modern potential. The icon is a self-actualized, though very separate from humanity kinda man. The Superman power levels and parallel also make him very popular. If Superman is the poster boy for DC, Icon is the benchmark of power for Milestone!
~DIG DEEPER INTO ICON HERE~
Milestone Mondays
[Milestone Mondays takes place on a random Monday of each month and talks about, reviews or highlights art, cards, etc from the ’90s phenomenon that was Milestone comics.]
There you have it!
What did you think of our list, did we miss anyone?
Be sure to leave a comment below!
If you enjoyed this list be sure to check out
the Top 30 Black Superheroes- Traffic Edition,
the Top 30 Black Superheroes-Fan Edition,
the Top 20 Black Superheroes-Milestone Comics editions.
and