Whirlwind | |
![]() Whirlwind appears on the cover of Avengers #139 (Sep. 1975). Art by John Romita Snr. |
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Publication information | |
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Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Tales to Astonish #50 (Dec. 1963) |
Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | David Cannon |
Species | Human Mutant |
Team affiliations | Thunderbolts Masters of Evil |
Notable aliases | Human Top, Charles Matthews |
Abilities | Superhuman speed, reflexes, coordination, balance |
Whirlwind is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales To Astonish #50 (Dec. 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
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David Cannon is a mutant, who after discovering at an early age that he could move at great speeds turns to a life of crime. This eventually brings Cannon, using his first alias the Human Top, into conflict with Giant-Man and the Wasp on several occasions. [1] Defeated each time, Cannon then adopts the alias of Whirlwind, and after joining the supervillain group the Masters of Evil battles the Avengers on a periodic basis.[2]
Cannon later takes on the identity of “Charles Matthews”,[3] the chauffeur of Janet Van Dyne, first with the intent of robbing her, later with the intent of hitting on her. In the role of Charles, he pines for Janet, making advances towards her when Henry Pym is presumed to be dead during his run in Marvel Feature.[4] Charles is later fired for trying to embezzle Janet’s money,[5] and Hank finally discovers that Charles is Whirlwind later on in the series.[6]
During one battle, master villain Count Nefaria temporarily amplifies the abilities of Whirlwind and super-powered team-mates Power Man and the Living Laser before sending them against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria, who is subsequently defeated by the Avengers. [7] Whirlwind later upgrades his costume when joining a new version of the Masters of Evil formed by Baron Zemo. [8] Whirlwind also shows signs of an obsession with the Wasp, as he forces prostitutes to dress in her past costumes and then assaults them. [9]
Whirlwind is later incapacitated when accidentally caught in a deluge of paste from a weapon of the criminal the Trapster, [10] although eventually makes a full recovery and is forced to join Baron Zemo’s team of Thunderbolts. [11] After leaving them, he gathered a group of villain together and tried to extort money from the new Thunderbolts director Norman Osborn, but was viciously beaten by Osborn and is now forced to secretly work for him. [12]
Cannon possesses super speed, reflexes, coordination, balance, as Whirlwind often uses himself as human battering ram. Since upgrading his armor Whirlwind has added to his offensives via the use of wrist-mounted blades and thrown shuriken, whose damaging potential are greatly increased by the velocity of his whirling powers.
This version wears a streamlined suit of armor with multiple blades, that is adopted (without explanation) by the Earth-616 version. [13]