Wise Son

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Powers and Abilities

Possessed of an ultra-dense molecular structure, Wise Son is, to the extent thus far demonstrated, beyond the reach of physical harm. He can still be stunned or knocked unconscious (as demonstrated in his fight with Icon), though this requires quite a bit of effort.

He discovered in the latter part of his career that he could also temporarily bestow some of his protective powers upon others while touching them. It is unknown whether he could extend his healing properties (i.e. his DC Heroes RPG Invulnerability) to others as well.

History

Wise Son is a Bang Baby, a gang member who received superhuman powers in the wake of the Big Bang. The Big Bang was supposed to be a rumble between all of the major gangs of Paris Island to settle their turf wars, once and for all. The Dakota City Police Department learned of the impending showdown and developed a special tear gas that also contained a radioactive marker.

Their plan was to use the gas to break up the Big Bang. Then they would trace the gang members down the next day by tracing the radioactive “tags.” Instead, most of those exposed to the tear gas died, and the handful of surviving gang members that lived had all developed superhuman abilities.

One of the Bang Babies, Rolando Texador, took the name Tech-9 after his favorite type of pistol. Texador gathered his fellow survivors together with a proposal. Tech-9 wanted to form a new gang, the Blood Syndicate, with the aim of achieving substantive positive social change. They took over an abandoned door factory, which they simply dubbed The Factory.

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Leadership

Operating from The Factory, the Blood Syndicate smashed crack houses throughout Paris Island. They were trying to rid the neighborhood of the dealers while taking the money captured in these operations to fund their activities. In the course of their work they would acquire new members, and put an end to many threats in Paris Island.

Wise Son assumed leadership of the Blood Syndicate after the death of Tech-9, though he was not as capable a leader as Tech-9 was. Indeed, Brickhouse and Third Rail left the Syndicate for a time because of their dissatisfaction with Wise Son’s leadership.

As time went on, Wise Son grew into the role. He became an active influence in the community as a whole. He was even able to stop a riot during the Utopia Park project by speaking to the crowd.

One of the Blood Syndicate’s greatest enemies was the Demon Fox. After numerous battles, the Blood Syndicate finally defeated the Demon Fox at the cost of Syndicate member Kwai’s life. After this final battle, the Blood Syndicate disbanded and went back to their separate lives.

After the split

In the wake of the original Syndicate’s disbanding, former Syndicate member-turned-criminal Holocaust began forming a new Blood Syndicate that was more sympathetic to his schemes. He recruited several villainous Bang Babies as well as some former members of the first Syndicate. He then arranged a confrontation with Icon to remove that hero as an obstacle to his plans.

This became Holocaust’s ultimate undoing. Icon had brought Hardware, Static, and Rocket as backup. One of Holocaust’s new recruits was an undercover federal agent. And all of the members of the previous Syndicate who had joined had only done so to uncover Holocaust’s plots and partners.

With the rest of the original Blood Syndicate also arriving to support their friends, Holocaust’s crew was quickly subdued and taken into custody.

In a last ditch dominance play, Holocaust challenged Wise Son to a one-on-one duel for leadership of the Blood Syndicate. Wise Son agreed and capably battered Holocaust. Frustrated, Holocaust grappled Wise Son and pushed his powers to the limit.

The conflagration consumed Holocaust, leaving naught but a skeleton behind, while leaving Wise Son unharmed. Having earned the Blood Syndicate’s respect anew, Wise Son took leadership of the reformed team with a promise to focus on fighting for justice.

Milestone Forever

One result of the Final Crisis series was the integration of the Milestone Universe into the mainstream DCU. The cataclysmic events therein destroyed the universe in which Milestone took place. But the powerful psychic Dharma was able to harness the power of Rift, the powerful being behind the original Milestone/DC crossover, to save his universe’s inhabitants.

The two realities have been merged as if they were always one. Dharma altered “histories and memories of both, but only enough to smooth out any inconsistencies.”

The only people currently aware of the transition are Icon, Superman, and Dharma. Icon and Superman have agreed to keep the secret and help Dharma when necessary to complete the interweaving of realities.

This process was hindered by Starbreaker’s attempt to steal Dharma’s powers and is thus on-going. Dharma stated that it would be months, if not years, before it was complete. This was likely also a metatextual statement on the incorporation of the Milestone characters into DC Comics’ mainstream titles.

As of this writing (February 2010) it is unclear what alterations to the Blood Syndicate’s history may have occurred as a result of the merging.

Description

Wise Son is an intense-looking African American man. He usually dresses in civilian attire — jeans, tennis shoes, a t-shirt, maybe a denim jacket.

He often wears a dark blue baseball cap with a lunar crescent and a star embroidered with gold on the front — which he uses as symbols of Islam.

Personality

Wise Son was a very angry man. Angry with the injustices of American society, angry with the violence on his streets, angry with the circumstances of his personal life. He turned to Islam to get a sense of empowerment. Yet he only followed the trappings and eschewed the actual teachings and lifestyle.

During his time with the Blood Syndicate Wise Son has matured a great deal. He learned to deal with his emotions more rationally. He embraced Islam as an uplifting influence instead of simply paying it lip service. Wise Son has become an inspirational person, and was actually able to stop a riot by addressing the crowd.

A similar progression of maturity can also be seen in Wise Son’s personal life. Initially he was a self-serving misogynist who actively avoided responsibility toward the others in his life. The events of the Blood Syndicate series and even more notably the Wise Son: White Wolf mini-series made him rethink his priorities.

Wise Son consequently became more actively involved with the lives of his family, his children, and their mother than he was before.

Quotes

“You know, all you gotta do is show a little self-control and things like this won’t happen.”

(Bringing the Utopia Park riot to a halt) “We are men and women. The most powerful, beautiful, most intelligent creatures on the planet… in life itself… despite what we believe of ourselves sometimes.” […] “We can’t let this anger… this outrage get the best of us. We can’t let anyone else get hurt now. Because we are human… because we are men and women. We have to stop.”

(To Holocaust): “You thought the Blood Syndicate was a gang, and all of its members a bunch of gangsters. That ain’t all there is to it, bro. That ain’t never been all of it. We’re family. A while back, Icon told me there would always be justice in the world, long as there were people willing to fight for it. As of today, the Blood Syndicate is ready to fight.”

DC Universe History

The Big Bang and the Blood Syndicate can dropped into any urban area where gang activity plays a major role. Wise Son can be used individually as an angry urban rabble-rouser who evolves into a genuinely gifted community leader.

By Kynn Bartlett, edited by JD and Roy Cowan.

Source of Character: Milestone Imprint, DC Comics.

Helper(s): David J Oakes, milestone.luthor.com (defunct).