This is Secrets to Conceal, a feature where we spotlight notable recurring mysteries in comic books and show the clues and see if you could have solved them had you been following the comic at the time! This time, we look at the secret behind the Justice League's Bloodwynd.
For five years, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis guided the Justice League to become one of the most popular DC comic book series, while taking a sort of sitcom approach to the superhero team, based in great part on DC not allowing Giffen and DeMatteis access to the biggest superheroes, so the lesser-known heroes of the team gave Giffen and DeMatteis greater freedom to develop their personalities in different ways, and so the centerpieces of their team were the Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and the Justice League's new organizer, Maxwell Lord, who set the team up with the United Nations.
Well, after five years, Giffen and DeMatteis left the book with a long storyline called "Breakdowns," and when it ended, in Justice League America #60 (by Giffen, DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire and Terry Austin), Martian Manhunter chatted with Maxwell Lord about how Max should restart the League, but that J'onn J'onnz was leaving the League...
So the Martian Manhunter flew off to go on new adventures...
In the epilogue of the story (in Justice League Europe #36, by Gerard Jones, Chris Wozniak and Robert Campanella), the rest of the League slowly decides to leave, too, beginning with Guy Gardner...
Until the team is just Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice and Blue Jay (an Ant-Man-inspired hero from another world), but this "new" team was quickly broken up by an attack by a Despero-possessed L-Ron...
After a hunter saves them by blowing off L-Ron's head, Blue Beetle, Fire and Ice quit the team in disgust. This, though, leads into Justice League Spectacular, where the team reforms, now with Dan Jurgens and Gerard Jones in charge of the teams (Jurgens for Justice League America and Jones Justice League Europe)...
This, then, leads to the mystery of Bloodwynd...
What were the clues behind Bloodwynd's identity?
It all started when the villainous Weapons Master captured the entire new Justice League lineup in Justice League America #61 (by Dan Jurgens and Rick Burchett). He is then accosted by a mysterious being known as Bloodwynd. All we know about his power set at this point is that he can fly (and he apparently knows where the Justice League's old headquarters is)...
He also can apparently turn intangible and/or invisible.
He then fires some sort of energy beam from his eyes at the Weapons Master, which he claims is a magical sort of fire blast...
The Weapons Master then escapes, but Bloodwynd heads to Justice League headquarters in the following issue (by Jurgens and Jackson Guice) to get help from Maxwell Lord and Oberon. He then reveals that he has some sort of magic telepathy...
While fighting the Weapons Master on Earth (while the Justice League is trapped in another dimension), he shows some sort of super-strength ability...
After having defeated the Weapons Master, he helps the League return to Earth, where he accepts Maxwell Lord's invitation to join the Justice League (this is a weird moment where Max is still sort of connected to the League, much to Superman's chagrin)...
Blue Beetle, though, doesn't trust Bloodwynd (I imagine this is Jurgens poking a little fun at how often superhero teams really just let strangers join their team without any real information about who the new heroes are), and so he vows to find out what Bloodwynd's deal is...
In the next issue (Burchett back on finishes), we see that Bloodwynd wants just a bare room, and not decked out with anything in particular, which, of course, drives Blue Beetle nuts, as it keeps him from having any clues as to deciphering what Bloodwynd's deal is...
The League is visited by people from Maxima's planet of Almerac, who need help. Bloodwynd surprisingly has knowledge of how alien technology works...
He then shows his telepathy again when he notes that Fire is busy thinking about her new costume, something she didn't tell anyone but Ice about...
His telepathy is powerful enough that he is able to use it to make contact with the League's new villain, Starbreaker (a villain who had clashed with the League years earlier who had a mad on for the Guardians of the Universe)...
After Starbreaker captures the League, he notes that Bloodwynd is very powerful, almost on the level of Superman overall...
While the League is in captivity, suddenly, a Guardian of the Universe shows up, and Starbreaker frees the League so that he can attack the Guardian...
of course, the Guardian turns out to be Bloodwynd in disguise...
Is it a matter of shapeshifting or was it an illusion? Who knows?
At the end of the story, Bloodwynd shuts down something that gave Superman and Maxima trouble for them to shut down themselves...
Okay, so the next few issues are just repeating clues (strength, flight, energy beams and telepathy), as Beetle becomes more and more obsessed.
Things come to a head, though, in Justice League America #69, when Doomsday punches Bloodwynd through an oil tank, causing a fiery explosion...
As Beetle goes to help Bloodwynd, he sees through the fire who Bloodwynd REALLY is! However, the timing is bad...
as just as he learns the truth, Doomsday grabs hin, and beats him nearly to death...
Beetle survives, but is in a coma.
Okay, when Beetle gets out of the coma, we learn the truth, but before that point, what's YOUR answer, folks?
So who was Bloodwynd?
The truth is revealed in Justive League America #74, part of the Destiny's Hand storyline, where the League travels to an alternate dream/nightmare universe created by Doctor Destiny where the Silver Age Justice League are now a group of fascists...
At the end of the issue, Bloodwynd is fighting against the Martian Manhunter of this alternate reality when he suddenly reveals himself to be...the Martian Manhunter!
In Justice League America #77 (Burchett on full pencils and inks), we see that while Manhunter was flying off in Justice League America #60, he was distracted by the real Bloodwynd...
and then he was forced to become Bloodwynd...
So all of Bloodwynd's "magical" powers were just Martian Manhunter's regular powers of strength, flight, telepathy, invisibility, intangibility, shapeshifting and Martian Vision. And he reveales his true self when caught in the fiery explosion, as Martian Manhunter has an aversion to fire. Did YOU solve the mystery?
Okay, there have been TONS Of these little mysteries out there over the years, so feel free to suggest some of your favorites to me at brianc@cbr.com!