Whirlwind (comics)

The character first appeared in Tales To Astonish #50 (Dec. 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.[1]

David Cannon was born in Kansas City, Missouri. After discovering his mutant powers to move at great speeds at an early age, he turns to a life of crime. This eventually brings Cannon, using his first alias as the Human Top and pursuing his career as a jewel thief, into conflict with Giant-Man and the Wasp on several occasions.[2][3] Defeated each time, Cannon then redesigns his costume and adopts the alias of "Whirlwind", and adopts the identity of Charles Matthews, chauffeur of Janet van Dyne.[4][5] Whirlwind joined the supervillain group the second Masters of Evil, and participated in a plot to destroy the Avengers.[6] He joined the third Masters of Evil, and participated in a Vermont battle against the Avengers.[7] With Batroc the Leaper and Porcupine, he went on a mission for the Red Skull.[8]

Cannon continues with the Charles Matthews identity,[9] first with the intent of robbing van Dyne, later with the intent of hitting on van Dyne. In the role of Charles, he pines for Janet, making advances when Hank Pym is presumed to be dead during the run in Marvel Feature.[10] Charles is later fired for trying to embezzle Janet's money,[11] and Hank finally discovers that Charles is Whirlwind later on in the series, forcing Whirlwind to abandon the identity.[12]

Whirlwind is then employed by master villain Count Nefaria and joined the Lethal Legion. 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 subsequently defeated by the Avengers.[13] Whirlwind joined the third Masters of Evil in a plan to destroy the Avengers, but caused their defeat by attacking prematurely.[14] Whirlwind later upgrades his costume when joining a new version of the Masters of Evil formed by Baron Zemo.[15] Whirlwind partnered with the Trapster, obtained a new battle armor and weapons from the Tinkerer, and battled Captain America in an attempt to bolster his criminal reputation.[16] He then partnered with the Tiger Shark, traveled to San Francisco to steal an experimental "psycho-circuit", and battled the West Coast Avengers.[17] Whirlwind also shows signs of an obsession with the Wasp, as he forces prostitutes to dress in the Wasp's past costumes and then assaults them.[18]

Whirlwind and the Trapster end up fighting, due to a bounty placed on the former by the up-and-coming criminal mastermind Ricadonna. Trapster glues Whirlwind to the floor just at the start of his spin. He continues twirling, breaking many of his bones, including his spine.[19] He makes a full recovery and is forced to join Baron Zemo's team of Thunderbolts.[20] After leaving them, he gathered a group of villains together and tried to extort money from the Thunderbolts' new director Norman Osborn, but was viciously beaten by Osborn and is now forced to work secretly.[21] In Dark Reign: Zodiac, Cannon is shown as a mole for Zodiac, working as Norman's chauffeur.[22]

Whirlwind later attacks Hank blaming for Janet's death during the "Secret Invasion" and outraged by Pym taking the Wasp codename. He is defeated by the Avengers Academy student Striker. In a conversation between Striker and his mother, it is revealed that she hired Whirlwind to stage the attack to gain publicity for Striker.[23]

Whirlwind was recruited by the Mandarin and Zeke Stane into joining the other villains in a plot to take down Iron Man. Whirlwind receives a new costume from Mandarin and Zeke Stane.[24]

During the "Infinity" storyline, Whirlwind was seen with Blizzard robbing banks when they are approached by Spymaster. Spymaster enlists Whirlwind and Blizzard to help him and the villains he recruited to attack the almost-defenseless Stark Tower.[25]

Whirlwind was hired by Power Broker's "Hench" App to kill Ant-Man as part of the App's demonstration to Darren Cross. When Cross was unwilling to give Power Broker the 1.2 billion dollars he demanded for investment in the Hench app, this caused Power Broker to cancel the demo and cancel Whirlwind's assassination on Ant-Man.[26]

During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Whirlwind was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. Using Kobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed Whirlwind into a teenager named Scotty. When Baron Zemo and Fixer restored everyone's memories, Whirlwind went on a rampage with Absorbing Man. When the Hood and Titania show up to retrieve Absorbing Man, Whirlwind joins Absorbing Man in siding with Hood's Illuminati.[27]

During the "Opening Salvo" part of the Secret Empire storyline, Whirlwind is among the villains that joins the Army of Evil.[28] Whirlwind, Batroc the Leaper, and Living Laser attack a haggard, bearded man in torn World War II army uniform who identifies himself as Steve Rogers. He is assisted by people that appear to be Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes with both his arms.[29]

Whirlwind is a mutant who possesses the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at great speeds, without impairing his ability to see, speak, or interact with his environment (for instance, pick up objects or change clothes). Although he can rotate at subsonic speeds he can only travel in a straight line for a limited time, or fly like a helicopter for an even shorter length of time. He possesses superhuman agility, reflexes, coordination, and balance, and often uses himself as a human battering ram. Whirlwind has the ability to focus air currents generated by his rotation into a jet stream powerful enough to blast a hole through a brick wall, as well as create a windscreen able to deflect matter as massive as a falling boulder. He also has the ability to create small tornadoes.

Whirlwind wears full body armor. Since upgrading his armor, Whirlwind has added to his offensive capabilities via the use of two 10-inch-diameter (250 mm) hardened tool-steel sawblades mounted on metal wrist bracelets, which are driven by two DC servo-motors each and activated by palm switches. He also uses thrown shuriken and razor sharp jacks, whose damaging potential is greatly increased by the velocity of his whirling powers.

• Whirlwind at Marvel.com