Aztek (comics)

Aztek is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. Based out of the fictional Vanity City, Aztek is the champion of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. The character first appeared in Aztek, The Ultimate Man #1 in August 1996, created by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Following the short run series, Aztek appeared in several issues of JLA also written by Morrison.^[1]

Fictional character biography

Uno is raised from childhood by a secret organization named the Q Society to be the champion of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl to battle their enemy, the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. He is given a magical suit of armor that bestows many abilities, complementing Uno's peak human mental and physical abilities.^[1] After his training is completed, he enters the United States and assumes the identity of recently deceased physician Curt Falconer.^[2]

Aztek later joins the Justice League,^[3] but resigns when it is revealed that one of the mysterious benefactors of the Q Society is supervillain Lex Luthor.^[4] He is later blinded helping the League save the Earth in a battle against the planet-destroying machine Mageddon (apparently the Tezcatlipoca that the cult was referring to all along). Aztek ultimately sacrifices himself to allow Superman the chance to destroy Mageddon/Tezcatlipoca, during the World War III story arc.^[5]

Powers and abilities

Aztek has peak human physical and mental conditioning. He wears an ancient helmet and armor (powered by a "four-dimensional mirror"), from which he derives flight, infrared and X-Ray vision, invisibility, intangibility, bodyheat camouflage, entrapment nets, plasma beams and density manipulation, as well as augmenting his peak physical abilities to superhuman levels. The helmet could feed information directly into his brain even after he was blinded in his first confrontation with Mageddon. The four-dimensional power source could self-destruct in a highly explosive manner.^[1]

Other versions

The Rock of Ages

A younger black female Aztek, with the same abilities, was seen in Grant Morrison's run on JLA during "The Rock of Ages" storyline in which the JLA traveled to an alternate future overrun by Darkseid. She sacrifices her life to destroy Darkseid's lunar facilities.

In other media

Aztek in Justice League Unlimited along with Shayera Hol, Superman and King Faraday in the episode "I Am Legion".

Television

• Aztek appeared in Justice League Unlimited, mostly appearing in brief cameos throughout the series. After making a very brief appearance in "Question Authority" (voiced by Chris Cox), he made a more significant appearance in "I Am Legion" (voiced by Corey Burton) where he helped Superman and Shayera Hol investigate where Lex Luthor had gone after escaping prison. Superman asked Aztek to scan the scene to see if he could find out where Luthor went, but had no luck after finishing his scan. King Faraday then appeared behind the trio and introduced himself to Aztek.

Bibliography

The original run of the eponymous title has been collected as a trade paperback: JLA Presents: Aztek, the Ultimate Man (by co-authors Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, and pencils by N. Steven Harris, and inks by Keith Champagne, 1996, collects Aztek, the Ultimate Man #1–10, 240 pages, April 30, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1688-9)^[6]

Aztek also appeared in several issues of Morrison's JLA (5, 10–12, 15, 36, 38–41), as well as the final two issues of Mark Millar's JLA: Paradise Lost and his fill-in issue for JLA (27.)

He has profile entries in JLA Secret Files and Origins #1, JLA–Z #1, and The DC Comics Encyclopedia.

References

External links

• Aztek at the DCU Guide
• Aztek History at Fanzing, by Alan Kistler
• Movie Poop Shoot's look at Aztek: The Ultimate Man