THE JSA FACT FILE
The Red Tornado
The Tornado Tyrant of Rann; later the Tornado Champion; later John Smith
Residence: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown
First Appearance : Mystery in Space #61 (as the
Tornado Tyrant); Justice League of America #17 (as the Tornado
Champion); Justice League of America #64 (as Red Tornado)
Joined JSA: Justice League of America #65
Character History
The being that was to ultimately become the hero known as the Red Tornado was actually formed on the planet
Rann in the Earth-One universe. This being confronted Rann's adopted champion,
Adam Strange, and was defeated (Mystery In Space #61). Following that
defeat, the being contemplated the nature of good and evil and decided that
good was the superior force, as good always defeats evil. When the Justice League of America defeated Kanjar
Ro on Rann in an early case (Mystery In Space #75), the tornado being
decided to reshape itself in the form the super-hero team. Finding a suitable
home world, the hero re-shaped itself into replicas of the Justice League members it had
observed. Unfortunately, the tornado creature was also possessed of a dual nature:
an evil side and a good side. The good side called itself the Tornado Champion;
the evil side, the Tornado Tyrant. Confronting the Tyrant in its Justice League form, the
Tornado Champion was easily defeated. Disheartened, the Tornado Champion lured
to the Tyrant to Earth-One, where the Tyrant was defeated by the real Justice League
(Justice League of America #17). The Tornado Champion decided that there
was little satisfaction in being an imitation hero, and journeyed to Earth-Two in an
attempt to find a new identity. The Tornado Champion came upon the criminal T. O.
Morrow, who was creating an android with which to infiltrate and defeat the
Justice Society of America. Learning that the android was named "Red
Tornado" for a fringe character from the 1940s, the Tornado Champion
decided to assume control of the robotic form. The merging, however, had an unexpected
side effect: the Tornado Champion's memory was erased. Red Tornado
then seemed to be a new life-form who thought itself to be a new incarnation of the original Red Tornado.
Believing itself to be the original JSA associate, Red Tornado visited JSA headquarters and announced its return to active duty. The JSA, not recognizing the android, was incredulous but allowed the Tornado to accompany them to defeat a theft at a nearby museum. Through a series of mishaps choreographed by Morrow, Red Tornado seemingly killed the JSA members. Red Tornado then tracked Morrow to his lair and seemingly defeated him. When the remaining JSAers arrived to investigate, a booby-trapped weapon felled them all. Morrow then traveled to Earth-1, where he defeated the JLA as he had the JSA before them. Red Tornado, recovered from his previous injuries, followed Morrow and revived the JLA. The JLA and the android then defeated Morrow, uncovering a method to revive the JSA back on Earth-2. Morrow confessed that Red Tornado was his android construct, but the JSA still admitted him as a member in good standing (Justice League of America #64-65).
When the mad Star-God Aquarius attacked Earth-2, many JSA members were
captured and sealed in a magical bubble as Aquarius phased Earth-2 out of
existence. Red Tornado escaped, reaching Earth-One and contacting the JLA
(Justice League of America #72). The JLA disregarded the android to tend
to their own affairs, ultimately hearing him out two weeks later. When they
realized the JSA's dilemma, the JLA members quickly journeyed to the Earth-Two
universe, defeating Aquarius and returning Earth-Two to normal (Justice League
of America #73-74).
Red Tornado often felt he was an outsider in the JSA, and that he was not appreciated as a sentient, independent organism. When he stumbled across the Creators monitoring Earth-Two, he sought to impress his colleagues by defeating the aliens single-handedly. Instead, Red Tornado was captured and used as a conduit to bring Earth-One and Earth-Two together. The JSA defeated the Creators and rescued Red Tornado; however, his easy defeat and manipulation left Red Tornado more dejected than ever (Justice League of America #82-83).
During the 100th meeting of the Justice League of America, the JLA was summoned to Earth-2 to assist the JSA in defeating the Iron Hand, a sworn foe of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. The Iron Hand had created an orbiting weapon, shaped like a hand, that threatened Earth-2. Doctor Fate summoned a being known as the Oracle, who informed them of the Iron Hand's last defeat, which cost the life of one of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. The JLA and JSA split into teams and rescued the members of the SSV, who had been scattered throughout time, and with their help created a weapon that would destroy the Iron Hand's device. The delivery of the device to its necessary location was a suicide mission, one which Red Tornado secretly took while the other heroes were engaged in dealing with the Iron Hand and debating over who would go. In the resulting explosion, Red Tornado was believed to be destroyed (Justice League of America #100-102). Red Tornado survived, however, and was catapulted to the Earth-One universe, where he ultimately he became a member of the Justice League of America (Justice League of America #106).
Power and Abilities
Red Tornado's true form was a powerful entity composed purely of violent wind forces. His android form channeled these forces through his arms and legs to produce bursts of cyclone-force winds and high speed forward velocity. On occasion, Red Tornado used his high-velocity movement to render himself invisible to unaided human vision.
Weakness and Limitations
The limits of Red Tornado's true form are unknown. His android body is
extremely resilient but not indestructible. When fully constructed, the Red Tornado has liitle memory of his alien origins.
