Immortality is a topic that has been debated by philosophers as far back as Socrates and as recently as Descartes. However, only one entity has ever been regarded as capable of conquering space and time in any version of the debate, and that is the soul. Is the soul even real? Is the soul even real? Is the soul even real?
Is it possible, if it is, for it to exist for more than one lifetime? The very notion of death and rebirth is explained and validated by entire religions. However, although most real-world conceptions of immortality have tended to be metaphysical, comic books have a tendency to be literal. There are several immortal entities who inhabit the pages of DC Comics, but only one of them can claim to be the Deadliest.
Vandal Savage, who first appeared in Green Lantern issue #10 and was created by Alfred Bester and Martin Nodell, has been affecting humans since before recorded history started. To most people, immortality is a blessing that allows them to explore the universe’s greatest mysteries without worrying about running out of time.
It was only an instrument for Savage’s global dominance. Vandal Savage has been a constant denominator in every battle, war, and event that has affected human history. Let us look into the origins of the Demented Immortal Being.
Origins – From Vandal Adg the Second to Vandal Savage
Scientists believe that early human life originated some 500,000 years ago when the Homo genus diverged from its original Habilis species type. Early humans emerged in modern-day Africa, and after spending millennia confined to their native land, they finally began migrating across the lands that they would come to dominate in the distant future. Some 50,000 years ago, pre-historic mankind arrived on the continent that would come to be known as Europe one day; the center of power for all of humanity.
The Cro-Magnons were simple folk, to be sure, but they already exhibited signs of an organized society. The most common amongst those traits was the formation of tribes. There was the Bear Tribe; the group of people who brought Fire to Humanity with the blessing of the New God Metron. There was the Wolf Tribe; ferocious, feral fighters who went into battle with a pack mentality; and often came away with nary a man lost.
And finally, there was the Blood Tribe. Brutal, ruthless, utterly without mercy; there is no phrase associated with violence that you cannot attribute to these barbarians. They were fearsome nomads who instigated trouble wherever they went and were locked in a seemingly-eternal conflict with the Bear Tribe.
The Blood Tribe was willing to devolve to such depths of depravity in their pursuit of “game”, that it is said the practice of cannibalism originated because of them. Well, to be more precise, with their leader. You see, while most of planet Earth was still in its nascent stages of re-development, there was one man in particular who ended up evolving eons faster than his fellow early humans.
When a meteor crash-landed near the Blood Tribe’s settlements, he went to investigate and was bathed in the cosmic radiation being emitted by the crater. It imbued him with intellect and strength far superior to anyone from his species at the time; or even in the future. Every child born into the Blood Tribe must take up their father’s name when they pass away, as a mark of respect for their lives. But Vandal Adg wasn’t an ordinary child anymore.
He had seen the cruelty of life, felt its cold hands close around his own throat. He wasn’t going to let “fate” dictate his life anymore. Adg took control of his tribe and ruled over it with an iron fist for decades. During his reign, he realized that being the only person of his time to know things that would only come to pass in the future gave him an innate sense of authority. And the more he exercised hi-power, the more he came to like it.
He was born with a name that was his own and then re-christened with his father’s ashes. Now, he would reclaim his identity; and with it, the entire world. The entirety of Human History would be defined by the overt- and covert- actions of one of the most intelligent yet primitively brutal human beings to ever exist; Vandal Savage.
How He Shaped Human History: The Many Lives of Vandal Savage
Being immortal makes Savage’s existence inherently unique. He would be living far beyond the natural capacities of a human body; so it only makes sense that throughout the course of recorded history, his actions are attributed to various individual personalities. His early efforts toward global domination were stymied by the unpredictable arrival of a time-traveling Bruce Wayne.
Even though he’d lost his gear, his bearings, and his very sense of self, the Batman was still one of the greatest fighters in the universe. After being temporally displaced into the Land of the Cro-Magnons, an amnesiac Bruce gave Vandal Savage the beat-down of a lifetime. For that, he would mark Bruce Wayne as one of his mortal enemies.
After being exiled from the Blood Tribe for his humiliating defeat, Savage decided to graduate from ordering mindless oafs around to do his bidding. Using his superior intelligence, he was able to legitimately chart out the course of world history with his actions. The short-lived Time Masters series’ 1st volume revealed the exact extent.
King Arion’s reign over Atlantis came to an abrupt halt when the Lost City has Sunk Once Again. It was revealed that the secret society responsible for its fall was the Illuminati, and its shot-caller was none other than Vandal Savage himself. Over the coming centuries, he assumed many guises in his quest for world domination. His first known appearance in the annals of history is as a king of the pre-historic Sumerian civilization.
In ancient Egypt, the Immortal Lord tangled with Prince Khufu and his lover Chay-Ara; the duo that would go on to become the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. In 2578 BC, he was the Pharaoh Khafre and had made an enemy of Lord of the Order Nabu; aka Dr. Fate. It was also during this time that his perpetual enemy, the Blue Beetle, was created for the first time as the Scarab. In 100 BC, he rose to power off the back of the Roman Senate and established an Empire that spanned from Europe to Asia and even Africa.
During this time, he took on the name Julius Caesar. In the 11th century, Vandal would display exactly why he was called a Savage, when he cut through the world yet again; this time, on horseback as the Mongolian Khagan Genghis Khan. But after observing the practical drawbacks of exposing himself in public every time his desire for conquest acted up, Savage decided to make a tactical retreat to the shadows.
In 1358, in anticipation of a prophecy, he created the Czech city of Sapristi, which became his personal venting ground and human experimentation sight. He would go on to find the object of his prophecy- Lex Luthor- nearly a millennium after laying Sapristi’s foundations. In 1718 AD, Savage decided to take his exploits to the far seas and adopted the identity of Edward Teach; the infamous English privateer who would be remembered forever as the pirate men called Blackbeard.
He would continue to influence global politics well into contemporary history. Savage was instrumental in engineering Napoleon Bonaparte’s imperial ambitions and laid the groundwork for the ascent of the Nazi Party as an aide of Otto von Bismarck.
These are just some of his confirmed identities; given the fact that Savage has been alive for nearly 50,000 years, it’s hard to say just how many historical figures were simply Vandal in disguise. His machinations- both tangible and cerebral- have had permanent consequences on DC’s non-super continuity. That’s not to say he hasn’t tried to take them out anyway.
Vandal Savage: The Immortal Bane of the JSA/JLA
Savage has been one of the most-prominent antagonists for the Golden Age Justice Society of America and all its subsequent incarnations. He debuted in a Green Lantern comic, confronting Alan Scott with a look that is radically different from his current appearance. He swiftly went on to become a major thorn in The Flash’s side; and before you can ask which one, it’s both of them. In The Flash issue #137, Barry Allen visits his Earth-Two counterpart to ascertain the source of mysterious power outages that have been occurring on his planet.
Jay Garrick reveals to him that the locations of the power outages match the addresses of JSA members; and that all of them are missing. It is revealed that Vandal Savage has captured most of the Justice Society, and plans to use all the resources of the Injustice League to exact revenge from America’s Protectors before the Two Flashes save the day. He made better progress during the One Year Later event.
Turning into a doomsday cult leader, Vandal Savage tried to conquer the Earth by causing an extinction-level event. He wanted to steer an asteroid into the planet and cleanse it of the impurities that were making his path to Godhood, a nuisance. When that failed, he snatched his dues from the Society by taking out Minute-Man, Mister America, and General Glory alongside his Fourth Reich before being stopped by the rest.
His dealings with the third Flash would be far more morbid. Vandal Savage creates the superspeed drug known as Velocity 9 that gives its users powers akin to the Speed Force’s; with the side-effect of eventual death. When Savage exposes Wally to this formula, he ends up going into a frenzied state and wakes up stripped of his powers. Eventually, he was able to regain his powers and run Savage out of town.
But his best appearance has to be as the embodiment of Cain during the Final Crisis event. Imbued with the original sinner’s spirit, Savage became a biblical nightmare that was capable of separating the Spectre from Crispus Allen and enslaving it. Keep in mind that the Spectre is as strong as Superman, if not stronger.
In the New 52, he was part of a mystic anti-hero organization called The Demon Knights during the Dark Ages. It was also during this re-boot that he came within a hair’s breadth of killing Kal-El. Had it not been for the kryptonite-based chemotherapy, Superman would have succumbed to the radiation poisoning that Vandal Savage had administered to him. With the DC Omniverse in full effect, he has since reconciled with his adversaries and is part of a superhero/villain group called The Totality.
It is their job to monitor all developments in DC’s Omniverse, and ensure that no matter what happens, something like the Batman Who Laughs never infects DC’s pages ever again. His association with the Justice Society of America and the Justice League later is going to last as long as he’s alive, it seems; which is going to be till the 853rd century, to be precise.
What Makes Him So Dangerous?
Vandal Savage is renowned for being a man whose skills within the fields of combat are second to none. Throughout his long history, Savage has either been taught or has developed many fighting styles of his own. However, Savage prefers to mostly use weaponry when fighting against his opponents. Swords, battle-axes, throwing knives, battle maces; were Savage’s weapons of choice before gaining immortality.
After gaining it, he became a no-nonsense murder machine. The radiation surrounding the meteor not only gave him immortality, but also increased his natural strength, stamina, and speed.
Also, the effects would change and alter Savage’s brain functioning into a unique state of development that instantly surpassed the Cro-Magnon stage. Savage has a body that is invulnerable to age, disease, and fatigue, thanks to alien nanotechnology called Tektites that also fuel the powers of his greatest rivals; Immortal Man and Resurrection Man.
Although he is an immortal being, he isn’t- it isn’t like Vandal Savage cannot die. While his body cannot age, it can sustain damage; and if he gets pushed too far in a fight, Vandal can even “lose his immortality”, as he has on many occasions. This is why Savage mostly prefers avoiding direct confrontation, using his knowledge and skills instead to become a supremely tactical planner and master strategist.
The amount of knowledge that Savage gained in his 50,000-year-long, humanity-shaping lifespan makes him exceptional in nearly all fields of learning; from medicine to politics and all things in between. He has spent a millennia gathering resources, creating connections, and razing the Earth on mere whims. While he possesses no superpowers in the traditional sense of the term, Vandal Savage doesn’t need them.
Unlike his Lazarus Pit-dwelling immortal buddy, Savage has plenty of other ways to replenish his immortality. His goals aren’t as noble as Ra’s’ either; which makes him even more dangerous than a man who runs an organization called the League of Assassins. At best, Ra’s al Ghul looks like an obnoxious high school debater in front of Vandal; at worst, he’s a disgrace to the title of Immortality.
Why Vandal Savage needs to get more recognition
To be fair to him, there has been greater representation for Vandal Savage in recent years, most notably in the Young Justice animated series, where he serves as the chief antagonist of the entire show. This version of Savage is the creator- and destroyer- of the city of Atlantis and is a much more layered character than his comic book counterpart.
He’s one of the reasons why Young Justice has been hailed as one of the best DC animated series’ of all time. Another depiction comes from CW’s live-action adaptations of the DC Universe. This version of Vandal Savage is actually the ancient Egyptian Hath-Set; the murdered and mortal nemeses of Prince Khufu and his lady Chay-Ara; aka Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
While the Arrowverse version of Vandal Savage was a more straightforward villain than a seasoned conqueror, we feel that there’s a lot more wiggle room in the DCEU now. Thanks to Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” and the upcoming Flash movie that is looking to adapt material from the pivotal Flashpoint event, Vandal Savage showing up in a DC Comics-based movie is no longer a fantasy.
After all, they’ve brought in Black Adam; if they can bring the protector of Khandaq to our movie theatres, they can figure something out to get the alpha male of the Homo genus the spotlight he deserves. Vandal Savage is a defining member of the DC Rogues Gallery. He’s a man who has, for better or worse, shaped it.