Weather Wizard

Background

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Powers and Abilities

Mardon can manipulate weather patterns on a large scale. He can immediately change conditions, and make them as wide or as focussed as he wishes. He can blanket an entire city in hurricane winds, or have the winds focussed at a single target, with no effect on their surroundings.

He uses these powers in a wide variety of ways, including:

• Creating mini glaciers large enough to crush small buildings.
• Operating under the sea by holding back large areas of water (in DC Heroes RPG terms, Water Control).
• Carrying passengers in cyclones (Air Control).
• Paralyzing targets with heat cramps (Paralysis).
• Creating hail strong enough to level buildings.
• Creating tornadoes within targets to explode them from the inside, whether they’re buildings (Air Control) or a person’s stomach (Mental Blast/Sharpness).

Tactics

In combat he usually stays airborne, raining his powers down on his opponents. While he can fly without visible effects, he often has a cloud on which to stand or sit, leaving a vapour trail behind him.

Mardon has is capable of understanding the technology his brother created, building sophisticated gadgets based on weather control technologies. He’s also an experienced thief.

He has worked closely with other Rogues. When working as a group they often use their powers in concert, even having certain stock manoeuvres, such as the “Hail and Well Met”, where Captain Cold freezes their targets’ feet in place, Mirror Master transforms them into mirrors, and Weather Wizard uses a gale to shatter them.

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History

Jumping off a train taking him to prison for burglary, Mark Mardon made his way to his brother’s laboratory. What took place there is uncertain. One version has Mark finding his brother dead of a heart attack when he arrived, and the other version has him responsible for his brother’s death.

Mardon has confided in Captain Cold that he did in fact kill his brother accidentally, unwilling to give himself up as Clyde wanted. But given his unstable psyche, it’s unclear whether this is true, or a result of his guilt over what he’s done with his brother’s discoveries.

Wave that wand

His brother Clyde had just made a breakthrough in discovering a way to control the weather. Either Clyde had himself created the Wand, or Mark took his notes, creating the wand which allowed him to harness the weather to his wishes. Either way, he used it to commit crimes adopting the name Weather Wizard.

His first clash with the Flash (Barry Allen) came when he turned up in Central City. Mardon sought revenge on the police officers responsible for some of his arrests, and he demolished an entire police station with hailstones. He escaped their first clash using a wall of fog, but the Flash caught up to him as he created a huge glacier of ice to crush a detective’s house.

The Flash managed to melt the glacier, evaporate the ensuing flood, and take Mardon out relatively easily.

Escaping prison, Mardon built an experimental weather control station in Oakley County. He cut the area off from the outside with heavy winter weather and thick cloud cover. He demanded $100,000 from his prisoners in exchange for ending the weather, intending to invest it in a bigger version of the weather control station.

The odd weather drew the attention of Elongated Man and Kid Flash, who eventually took Mardon down.

Rogue life

He continued to come up against the Flash. That meant both regular crimes, using his powers to help him get clean away, and seeking revenge against those responsible for his imprisonment, a list which now included the Flash. He also became one of the original members of the Flash Rogues Gallery.

In prison, he read a book on Superman’s home planet, learning of something he could use for revenge. Cobbling together pellets which could set off extreme weather, he calculated the winds which would take them where he wanted them. Mardon then built a long-range hypnosis device to place the clues which eventually led Superman and the Flash to visit him in prison.

Pulling out a Weather Wand he’d cobbled together, he unleashed Kryptonian Black Lightning on Superman. That was supposed to turn him into a killer. However Flash and Superman had expected a trap, and had arrived disguised as each other, foiling Mardon’s plot.

Briefly teaming up with Sinestro, Mardon built a device which would cover the planet with an invisible shield of particles. That would prevent the Guardians from detecting Sinestro. In exchange, Sinestro linked Flash’s heart to that of the planet, so that, whenever he used his speed, weird ecological catastrophes occurred.

They clashed with Flash and Green Lantern, and Mardon was angered when he learned that Sinestro’s plan would probably destroy the planet. The pair were captured.

The Top is dead

On learning of the Top’s death, the Rogues gathered for a private ceremony. They listened to his last recorded message to them, from the moments before his death. Unwilling to let anyone else rob Central City if he no longer could, he’d set bombs in the six locations of his recent crime spree. These would destroy the city, and could only be deactivated if stacked on top of each other.

Not trusting the authorities would believe them, the Rogues retrieved the bombs. However the Flash’s intervention meant that Captain Cold was captured, and his bomb taken.

Mardon used an invisibility cloud to sneak into the police station to retrieve it. Mirror Master was the last of them to return to their hideout, with a captive Flash. They stacked the bombs, which started an automated recording of the Top, telling them that they now had a minute to assemble the bombs in the correct order or they would explode.

Fortunately, the Flash got free, hurriedly going through the possible variations until the bombs were disabled.

Neither hail nor rain…

Learning of an experimental Vibrojector, which could slow down the vibrations of targets, Mardon decided to steal it to use against the Flash. Bringing down the plane carrying it in the Bermuda Triangle, he created an air bubble at the bottom of the ocean to allow him to loot it.

The disturbance drew the attention of Aquaman and Mera, who investigated. Mardon knocked both out, but Mera was badly injured. As a result the enraged Aquaman came after Mardon, catching up to him before he could get his waiting helicopter in the air, and taking him down.

One of the core members of the Flash’s Rogues Gallery, Weather Wizard often worked alongside the other members in plots to beat the Flash.

One instance is when they convinced the simple-minded, but powerful, Big Sir, that the Flash was his enemy, despite Mardon’s dislike of the plan. Equipping him with advanced technology, they let him loose. But despite some initial success, Flash eventually convinced Big Sir that he’d been fooled, and he turned on the Rogues.

Later, taking advantage of the Flash’s distraction while on trial for the murder of Professor Zoom, Weather Wizard had robbed an armoured car when he was abducted, apparently by Zoom, who imprisoned with other Rogues.

Escaping the death trap ’Zoom‘ left them in, they tracked him to the future, learning that it was actually Abra Kadabra in disguise. Arriving in his home time, they got caught in the same trap the Flash had fallen into, and had to work with him to escape and beat Abra.

Following Barry Allen’s death, Mardon went into semi-retirement, although he never managed to stay out of crime for long. It’s likely during this period that he had a brief relationship with New York police officer Julie Jackam.

Fire and brimstone

Frustrated by the lack of respect his failed career had brought him, Mardon, along with Captain Cold, Heatwave, Captain Boomerang and Mirror Master, accepted the offer Abra Kadabra brought them from Neron, to make them feared.

Carrying out his plan, they discovered they’d been tricked into creating massive devastation at strategic points, allowing Neron to operate on Earth. They were, themselves, victims of the devastation, dying and their souls going to Neron’s realms.

Neron eventually restored their bodies to serve him as part of a plan against the Flash (Wally West). West beat Neron, getting the Rogues souls retuned to their bodies.

With the help of the Trickster, the Rogues made sure that they were protected from reprisals from Neron. Following his time in Hell, Mardon briefly considered using his powers in a more beneficial manner, flirting with reclaiming drought-stricken regions, but this didn’t last for long.

Progeny

The Wizard was recruited by Blacksmith, who was forming her own group of Rogues as part of a plan to take over Keystone City and Central City. She taught Mardon smarter ways to use his powers. She also revealed that he had a son, Josh, by the recently deceased Julie Jackam.

The child appeared to have innately the powers that the Wand gave Mardon. Blacksmith said that she may be able to make Mark’s powers innate, but it would require the baby’s dissection.

Mardon attempted to kidnap Josh, but was opposed by the Flash. He seemed to have little compunction about Josh’s fate, until he recognized something of his brother in the child’s eyes. The distraction this caused allowed Flash the opportunity to subdue him.

Briefly sent to Iron Heights prison, Mardon soon escaped in a prison break orchestrated by Blacksmith. He rejoined her Rogues in time for their plan to go into action. Taking out most of the obstacles with ease, the plan ran into a hurdle when the Thinker took over Central City.

The plan eventually fell apart, but Mardon, Mirror Master and the new Trickster were rescued by Captain Cold. They formed a new Rogues group, under Cold’s leadership.

Rogues vs. Rogues

He was the first of the Rogues to join the Society, scoping it out before the others agreed to join. He served in most of its major battles, including the hunt for the Secret Six, during which he had his right arm broken by Cheshire.

The Rogues soon came into conflict with other groups of Rogues. One was a group of newer Rogues led by the Top, whose enmity with Captain Cold led him to compete. A third group was made up of reformed Rogues trying to bring them to justice. The war between the factions soon escalated into the open, drawing the attention of the Flash.

When Zoom turned up, he also turned on the Rogues, leaving the survivors to escape while the Flash and Zoom were occupied with each other.

The Rogues drifted apart for a while, until they were reformed by Inertia. Recruiting Mardon, Inertia broke his wand, revealing that he had internalized the power a while ago, but had a mental block preventing him from using his powers without the wand. Inertia offered to remove the block, and Mardon agreed to join him.

Assembling a device Inertia said would allow them to stop time, they were soon confronted by The Flash (Bart Allen). But his powers were neutralized as Wally West returned to Earth. Things quickly got out of control, as Inertia manipulated the Rogues into murdering Bart. With his death, the reality of the situation hit the Rogues, and they turned on Inertia, who fled.

Exile

Running, Weather Wizard was captured by the Suicide Squad. The Rogues were the first group exiled to a distant planet where the government was secretly sending super-villains. The planet turned out to be a training ground for Apokolips’ forces. Still, Mardon was among those who escaped it when the scientists among the group assembled a teleportation device, returning to Earth.

Initially listening to Libra’s proposition of forming a new Secret Society of Super-Villain’s, the Rogues decided not to join. This did not go down well with Libra, who set up a new group of Rogues, using seized equipment of some of the Rogues.

The New Rogues sent them a message, warning them to submit to the SSoSV or they would execute Captain Cold’s father. The Rogues refused, quickly found the New Rogues, and killed them. Mardon easily dispatched Weather Witch. Cold then had Heatwave kill his father for him.

Josh Mardon’s dead

Hunting down Inertia, they found him forced to be sidekick to Zoom. But Inertia soon turned the tables, taking Zoom’s powers away from him. Before the Rogues could properly fight him, Libra appeared, offering Inertia a role in his Society. Furthermore Libra threatened the Rogues that he would kill Mark’s son, Josh, whom he had with him, if they didn’t also comply.

Captain Cold left the decision to Mardon, but the decision was taken from his hands when Inertia attacked, obliterating Josh. The Rogues then fought him, and when Piper, who had also been hunting Inertia, managed to freeze him in place, the Rogues executed Inertia.

Learning that Barry Allen had returned, the Rogues knew they had no chance of retiring, as they’d considered doing. So they decided to continue as a group.

Personality

A hardened criminal, Mardon has a cocky attitude. Furthermore, he has exhibited psychotic and unstable tendencies at times. While he has little regard for others, he won’t necessarily set out to murder others unless they’ve crossed him. But this seems to be purely for practical reasons of the trouble it may cause him.

Early in his career he tended to hold grudges against those who’d been responsible for his previous failures. He often sought revenge on them as much as committing robberies. Later this seemed to evolve into more of taking revenge on society, and he sometimes enjoys exercising the destructive nature of his abilities simply for the fun of it.

He seems to have contradictory facets to his personality. These allowed him a good enough grasp of the technology his brother created to build additional devices, yet he seems limited in how to apply his powers in non-standard ways, requiring others to show him how to do things.

He also seems unwilling to accept the true extent of the power he wields, robbing banks when he could be robbing countries.

Relationships

His brother, Clyde, seems to have been the person Mark felt closest to, even though Mark seemed to feel inferior to him. Whether or not he was responsible for Clyde’s death, the event shocked Mark. He has convinced himself that he was responsible, leaving him a sense of guilt that likely exacerbated his self-esteem problems.

This low self-worth could be why he continues with petty crimes when his powers would allow him to do far more.

Mardon initially saw his son simply as a way of gaining more power. But when he recognised some of himself, and his brother, in the child’s eyes, he seemed to connect with him, and was no longer interested in exploiting him.

Quotes

“I predict stormy weather ahead.”

“I took Flash by storm and I can rain on your parade too, Boomerang!”

“Quite the weather we’re having.”

“Mark Twain said, ’It is best to read the weather forecast before praying for rain.‘ Think about that before approaching me next time, officers.”

“Guns ? Man made your ammunition. God made mine.”

Weather Wizard: “I’ve warned people for years I’d grow a tornado inside their belly and burst them wide open.”
Mr. Magic: “Yaaaaa—”
Weather Wizard: “That was never an empty threat.”

“When I was a child, there was only one person who looked out for me. One person who wanted to help me. My brother. My brother was the only good thing in this world. But I murdered him. I murdered my brother because I couldn’t stand the idea of going back to prison. If I killed my brother, Libra, if I electrocuted the only person who ever cared about me — what makes you think I care anything about that child ?”

By Gareth Lewis.

Source of Character: DC Comics (covers up to Rogues Revenge #3).

Helper(s): capita_senyera, Chris Cottingham, Eric Langendorff.