Welcome back, nerd squad.
When many people think of the word virus, they don’t necessarily think of Jicomics.
Viruses are something our brain usually reserves for the real world, for us mortals.
But just because superheroes are tough and often perceived as being immortal, it doesn’t
mean that they can’t get sick too or that they are all immune to the reaches of viruses
or disease.
In fact some viruses are made just to target super-powered beings specifically.
Today we’re going to explore some of these viral infectious and sometimes contagious
threats that have acted as a menace to some of our favourite comic book characters as
we count down the top 10 scary superhero virus disasters.
Be sure to stick around till the end of this list, where I will have some bonus content
coming your way.
Alright, let’s get counting.
10 Jigsaw Disease
While it could be argued that Judge Dredd is not a superhero comic, I feel like a case
could also be made that in essence it is one.
Judge Dredd’s actions often aim to be superheroic at least, in regards to the harsh dystopian
world that he exists within.
The Jigsaw disease is an alien disease that pops up in the comics, causing those that
suffer from it to slowly disappear piece by piece, hence its name.
In the comics we meet a man named Prosser, nicknamed the Jigsaw Man who believes that
he only contracted the disease because he was intentionally and specifically exposed
to it by the evil Judge Child.
The scariest thing about this disease is it seems to have no set timeline in regards to
how long it will take before you completely vanish.
9 Virus X
This virus is an old one but an effective one.
Before the cure was found that is.
It threatened to wipe out Superman in Superman vol 1 issue 156, where it first appeared.
This virus was known as Virus X and was said to wipe out any Kryptonian it came into contact
with, within 30 days.
When it reappeared later in the comics, we would see that the symptoms and effects of
the virus were similar to leprosy and it would be added that the virus was also able to be
passed on to Earth creatures as well.
So not just Kryptonian were at risk the second time around.
It was later discovered that the cure to this virus lies within being exposed to White Kryptonite.
Though considering White Kryptonite is also deadly to all plant life, I’m not sure if
this would be a viable cure for most other life forms outside of Kryptonians.
8 Phase Two Virus (and Phase One Virus?)
In the Manslaughter arc of the Batgirl and the Birds of Prey comic series, we saw Gotham
face a pretty terrifying threat when it came to some of the main male superheroes that
we know and love as well as just male characters and the entire male population of Gotham.
The Daughters of Gotham were a group of women working under villain, Patient Zero, who was
a former medical worker that had come to the conclusion that men were responsible for all
the crime and death in Gotham and that they needed to be wiped out.
Phase One of the virus made all the men sick but Phase Two would lead to certain death
of all men and only men upon being released.
Fortunately the Birds of Prey and other female superhero friends managed to come together
to prevent the virus from being released and save the day.
8
7 Techno Organic Virus
This is the virus that was used by Apocalypse to infect Nathan Summers aka Cable.
The techno organic virus is generally known for being slow acting but incredibly painful.
Over time it changes one's body from organic matter to techno matter as we've seen happen
to Cable's arm and eye.
In fact the only reason that Cable has managed to hold it off for so long from taking over
his entire body is due to his powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities.
This virus was actually created by Mister Sinister under the orders of Apocalypse.
Though Mister Sinister double crossed his master and attempted to infect Apocalypse
with the virus in order to kill him.
But the virus ceased to work in the way Sinister had hoped.
Red Hulk has also been momentarily infected with the techno-organic virus by Cable.
However he was able to successfully burn the virus out before it could take hold using
his radioactive heat during the events of X-Sanction.
6 Transmode Virus
This virus is actually similar to the techno-organic virus.
It was created by the Technarchy, a race of techno-organic sentient alien lifeforms.
Once infected with the virus, it would work to transform the living tissue of it's victims
into technology on a cellular level.
Eventually those affected would become a phalanx, a full-fledged technological alien species
which was of course created by the Technarchy and is often aligned with them.
5 Ultron Virus
The Ultron Virus was made with the intent of transforming those it infected into an
Ultron Sentinel.
Not only transforming those infected physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
Those infected would also be instilled with the hateful and murderous feelings and emotions
of Ultron himself as well as feel an uncontrollable urge to infect others and spread the virus.
Ultron himself made the virus based off of the Transmode Virus which he has picked up
during his connection to the Phalanx.
He then strengthened and altered the Transmode Virus using powerful Eternal technology to
make the Ultron Virus.
His original intent was to infect the entire universe with the virus.
4 Legacy-1 Virus
The legacy virus is one of the most famous in the comics.
It plagued the X-Men and the world of mutants after being released accidentally by Mister
Sinister.
In fact Mister Sinister felt so bad, he even tried to work to cure it.
As much as he’s a villain, Sinister still loves mutant kind and definitely did not want
to see them wiped out.
The virus itself was created by Stryfe, Cable’s evil clone.
It only affected those with the mutant x-gene.
The first time a mutant used their powers after contracting the virus would see it activate.
This original strain of the virus basically acted like a fast-acting cancer in those affected.
3 Legacy-2 Virus
Yeah there were two strains for the Legacy virus and while the second strain was not
as fast-acting, I’d argue it was worse.
This strain of the virus was slower acting and would cause mutants to lose control of
their powers before death, basically becoming a ticking super-powered uncontrollable time
bomb.
But before this happened symptoms of those suffering from it would include skin lesions,
cough, fever and auto-immune deficiency, lowering their immune system and making them more vulnerable
to other illnesses.
So yeah, basically this version of the virus was like the mutant version of our world’s
AIDs.
2 The Clench
This virus is basically a mutated version of Ebola.
Also known as Ebola Gulf A it was originally created by the Order of St Dumas to wipe out
all the sinners on the planet.
It’s also been used by Batman villain, Ra’s Al Ghul as well.
The disease proved to be quite the match for Batman, threatening to wipe out almost all
of Gotham City at one point in the comics as it was believed to have no cure.
In fact this threat stretched even beyond Gotham City, threatening to wipe out 90% of
all humanity.
At least that’s what Ra’s Al Ghul promised.
But before the disease could be released, Batman and his team managed to prevent any
outbreaks from happening at one point, literally blowing up the virus.
Because sometimes that’s how that works.
In comics.
1 Anti-Life Equation
This is a virus that Darkseid sought to control and use to infect everyone in order to solidify
his rule over the cosmos.
It’s not your typical virus.
It doesn’t make you physically ill at all or threaten your existence but what it does
threaten is your will to live.
The anti-life equation is a theory that was posed in opposition to the Martian Life Equation.
What it seeks to prove is that life, in essence, is meaningless.
That hope, love and freedom serve no purpose in life.
That resistance is ultimately futile.
When Darkseid finally managed to succeed in solving the Anti-Life Equation, he had it
spread via the internet and digital messaging to everyone on planet earth.
During the events of Final Crisis, this caused a global pandemic of mental illness, depression
and resulted in basically everyone, supers included surrendering to Darkseid.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you enjoyed this list.
What are some of the scariest diseases that you know from the comics?
Which one do you think could be considered the most deadly if released?
Are there any disease or virus cures that you loved the most or thought were the most
ridiculous?
Let us know what you have read and some of your thoughts in the comments below.
And be sure to give that subscribe a click on your way down there, if you haven’t already.
This has been top 10 nerd and I’m your host, Amanda McKnight, reminding you as always to
stay nerdy, YouTube.
Oh,and watch out for that bonus content!