I spent the better part of last week in the hospital with pneumonia, which stinks. The doctors sent me home with oxygen until my lungs are fully healed, and that stinks too. But that sounds like the perfect reason to finally do a List of Six on wind and air-themed comic book characters!

These would make a good superhero theme

I’m working towards summoning Captain Planet. We’ve already got lists for fire and water superheroes; wind was the next logical choice. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many wind-based superheroes or villains, so I had to dig pretty deep on this one! Still, we’ve only got two more powers to call before we can take pollution down to zero! Let’s get to it!

Join me after the jump for the six coolest comic book characters who rely on wind power to do their thing!

6. Cyclone

Not Cyclops

Not the first Cyclone on this list…and not the only Cyclone at Marvel Comics. Wind powers are pretty simple, so of course there exists a low-level Marvel super-villain who invented a suit that could create wind gusts. The original Cyclone was all manner of minor trouble for Spider-Man. The second Cyclone was a waste who died off-panel. The third Cyclone has stuck around and even joined the Thunderbolts for a bit. He’s even popped up in the current Secret Empire storyline, so this Cyclone has some staying power!

5. Whirlwind

Everybody loves blades and spikes!

Speaking of super-villains whose power is to spin around really fast, Whirlwind is another one! Longtime Avengers adversary and arch-nemesis of the Wasp, Whirlwind is one of those working class villains whose always good for a random appearance here or there. He spins around super fast and has decked himself out in razor blades to better the effect. These are the sorts of evil ideas that guarantee you constant villain work.

4. Samurai

Get it?!

Samurai isn’t specifically a comic book character, but he’s the next best thing: a Super Friend! Back when that classic cartoon was in its heyday, the powers-that-be decided to draft a bunch of minority characters to the team. That sounds like a good idea in theory, but they instead came up with a bunch of hugely racist stereotypes like Samurai. There was Apache Chief, the Native American who could turn into a giant, but whose identity was based entirely around being a Native American. There was El Dorado, the Mexican with a teleporting cape, but who was still named after a vaguely Hispanic-sounding thing. And then there was Samurai, the Asian man with wind powers, who was named ‘Samurai’ likely because that’s an Asian thing. Still, he’s totally got wind powers and he totally counts!

3. Cyclone

Teenage superhero

The youngest hero on this list is Maxine Hunkel, a character created to tie deeply into the lore of the DC Universe. She was designed to be the granddaughter of a famous Golden Age superhero in order to draft her into a rebooted Justice Society of America in 2006, back when that series was getting a big boost at DC. She was a fun, bubbly, super-smart young woman who developed wind powers thanks to a mad scientist messing with her as a kid. She was part of the new, younger generation Society, and kind of disappeared after all that hype went away.

2. Wind Dancer

Also teenage. Kids love wind.

Speaking of young female characters who disappear when their hype goes away, how about the New Mutant Wind Dancer? Every couple of years, the X-Men introduce a new class of new mutant characters to have adventures. It worked back in the 80s, after all. But modern comics being what they are, these new mutants never seem to last, and that sadly includes Wind Dancer. Sofia Mantega was a major player in the new mutant lineup of 2003, but then Marvel changed their minds and her class no longer matter. She would later crop up again as a member of the New Warriors, but that idea also went bust. Sorry Wind Dancer!

1. Red Tornado

Not about to appear in Justice League movie

The most famous wind-powered superhero in comics is also the lamest member of the Justice League! Not only is the android Red Tornado just a crappy knock off of Vision of the Avengers, but the Justice League already had a Vision knock-off in the form of Martian Manhunter. Red Tornado is the sort of melodramatic android who is always wondering if he can cry or know love. And rather than just be a simple android with super-powers, DC Comics also added on the idea that Red Tornado is an air elemental given form. Just shove a bunch of different origins in there, why don’t’cha?

——————–