Kent Shakespeare
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Contents
Biography
Upbringing
Richard Kent Shakespeare was raised in the New Rochelle district of Metropolis on Earth by two supportive parents, Robert and Laura Shakespeare. A shy and intelligent child, Kent was a target of school bullies. These experiences gave Kent a strong empathy for outcasts and misfits.
While attending medical school in early 2989, Kent was accidentally exposed to a mystery virus. When no immediate negative effects could be detected, the virus was deemed harmless. Eventually, serious symptoms developed, and Kent found himself gravely ill.
Doctors began to fear for his life and sent him to Colu for examination by brilliant former Legionnaire Brainiac 5. Brainiac 5 discovered that the virus had actually taken control of Kent's body; the virus gradually replaced and improved his body, and began to perform necessary biological functions by itself. Instead of threatening Kent's life, the virus had transformed him into a more efficient, more powerful biological entity.
A hero
Once the negative effects of the illness subsided, Kent had grown about seven inches taller, added considerable mass, and gained dramatically enhanced strength and endurance. Brainiac 5 believed that the most useful – and safest – place for Kent was with the Legion of Super-Heroes. Because the team was suffering mass defections during the worst years of the post-Collapse depression, Kent was welcomed there.
Kent joined the Legion on April 14, 2990, with the code-name "Impulse." Kent became a reliable, respected member in the group's darkest years. He also became an easy friend of Jo Nah; later they continued to be friends. The Legion at that time was at odds with Earthgov, and Kent's idealism didn't make any friends in high places.
When Kent crossed the government once too often, the Science Police decided to make an example of him in September 2991 and attempted to arrest Kent on trumped-up charges. The charges forced Kent to abandon the deteriorating Legion and flee Earth; soon afterward, the Legion completely disbanded.
Exile
Earthgov agents continued to hound Kent out into the galaxy, forcing him to use the network of former Legionnaires living around the United Planets to avoid capture. He found himself on Braal with ex-Legionnaire Rokk Krinn when the Braal-Imsk War broke out. Military service seemed like as safe a haven from his pursuers as any, so when the Braalian draft board attempted to press Kent into service, he put up only token resistance. Kent was sent into combat with Rokk and was among the troops stationed at Venado Bay when the Imskians attacked with their devastating "Damper" weapon. Fortunately for Kent, he wasn't injured because the weapon affected only Braalians.
When the war ended, Imskian Occupational Army authorities allowed Kent to go avoid capture by Earthgov by settling in a pediatrics clinic on the medical planet Quarantine. He was put there partly to keep an eye on the son of Garth and Imra Ranzz, Garridan, who'd been diagnosed by Brainiac 5 as a carrier of the deadly Validus Plague. Kent developed special relationships to many children of the ward, including Garridan and an unusual girl named Ivy.
In late 2994, the clinic on Quarantine was attacked by the Persuader, an attack that was thwarted with the help of now-Science Police officer Gim Allon and Kent himself. After the attack, Kent heard about the ex-Legionnaires who were working to resurrect the team, and Kent eagerly left Quarantine to join them. It was difficult to leave behind the children of whom he'd grown so fond, but Kent felt the Legion was needed to set things right in the universe.
Back in action
Upon rejoining the Legion, Kent was immediately embroiled in the new United Planets-Khundia war. After the war, Kent, Jo Nah, and Celeste McCauley traveled to Zuun to investigate the so-called "Quiet Darkness" of Darkseid.
Like most of the other "adult Legionnaires," Kent did not participate directly in the battle for Terran independence. Instead, Kent spent most of his time on Talus. He joined his teammates in speculating about whether the SW6 Legionnaires were the real Legion or not. When Earth died, Kent helped rescue the populace and resettle the Terrans to New Earth. Soon after this, he and Celeste were sent on assignment to Quarantine to study Celeste's new-found emerald powers. When Mordru's spell re-animated the dead corpses of cadavers in Quarantine's morgue, Kent helped protect Ivy and the other children.
Grimbor the Chainsman traveled to Quarantine to retrieve his love, Charma Drisden, from the clinic. Kent, Celeste, and other super-powered patients stopped the villain. Soon thereafter, Kent returned to Talus to rejoin the team. When the Legion attacked Glorith/Glorithverse on Baaldur, the sorceress de-aged Kent to about 10 years old. After that battle, the Legion was framed, and went on the run from the law. Now at least physically a child, Kent was sent to Quarantine so that doctors could study his condition. He was last seen playing cards with Ivy in Quarantine when the timeline was destroyed during the Zero Hour event.
Powers and abilities
The virus that radically transformed Kent Shakespeare's body apparently gave him limited invulnerability, super-speed, and super-strength. He also possessed far greater physical stamina than the average human, but he was still susceptible to mental fatigue and therefore required sleep. He also seemed to have a higher metabolism, which allowed him to heal much faster.
Kent Shakespeare was in medical school when he contracted the virus, and it is unclear as to how much more schooling he finished. He has some paramedical skills, which he employed in such cases as during the Black Dawn incident, at the clinic on Quarantine, and during the UP-Khundia War.
Other Kents and Impulses
When Kent Shakespeare first appeared in the comics, many fans speculated about a connection to Clark Kent/Superboy. Like Clark Kent, Kent Shakespeare wore glasses, and Superboy was no longer in continuity thanks to editorial mandate. Perhaps Kent Shakespeare was an attempt to insert a more traditional, optimistic hero like Superboy into a decidedly more downbeat Legion book? Was Kent Shakespeare a descendant of Clark Kent?
At the same time that Kent Shakespeare winked out of existence, Bart Allen appeared in the pages of Flash. Soon, Bart Allen took the "Impulse" code-name for himself. Shakespeare was never actually called "Impulse" in the pages of the various Legion comic books, though he appeared as Impulse in the 2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook.
Al Gordon's secrets
When Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4 began, co-plotter Keith Giffen asked the members of the creative team to create one or two new characters each. Kent Shakespeare was one of inker-writer Al Gordon's creations. In fact, Kent saw the most on-panel action in issues that were written or co-plotted by Gordon. In a conversation with Al Gordon at the 1997 San Diego Comic-Con, fan Steve Mohundro asked Gordon about plans for the character that never were shown on-panel.
Gordon revealed the following information about Kent Shakespeare:
- Gordon said that he wanted to create "a sort of Superman substitute." Yet he also wanted to create a character that started out "like a lot of us" – implying comic fans specifically. Before he got his powers, Kent was pretty smart, pretty awkward. When he gets his powers, it's a bit of a shock, but out comes his less timid personality. Still, Al says he thought Kent was always "a bit philosophical" after receiving his powers, considering what it meant for him to become so powerful.
- The virus that infected Kent Shakespeare was supposed to be an ancient Kryptonian virus, captured and put away for testing in the 20th century by Superman. A thousand years later, the virus is stored at Metropolis University, and someone lets it out.
- Kent Shakespeare is the only one infected by the virus because he is a descendant of Superman. Gordon said that he figured if Superman and Lois ever had kids, the offspring would have no powers. And after a thousand years, the little chance of powers in the gene would disappear. Kent Shakespeare, therefore, is a fraction Kryptonian. When the virus takes over his system, he gains powers close to Superman but lacking in some areas. For example, he had no vision powers and did not possess true invulnerability.
- When Gordon left the book, he had no definite plans for using the character. If the Timber Wolf mini-series (which he wrote) had been successful, Gordon planned to "pull" the characters that he created – Kent, Celeste McCauley, and probably Ivy – to the 20th century as well to join Brin Londo.
- In the second Wildstar miniseries from Image Comics, Gordon creations Aria and Jesse from the "Quiet Darkness" storyline made an appearance. Gordon said that he planned to (re-)introduce Kent Shakespeare in some form in a third Wildstar series, if it happened. So far, this has not occurred.
Sources
A great deal of Kent Shakespeare's background is detailed in sources outside the actual comic books. These sources include the 1990 postcard, the Who's Who entry, and 2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook by Mayfair Games.
Resources
- A lot of this information was taken from Steve Mohundro's DC's Original Impulse: Kent Shakespeare Web page.
