King Faraday is a fictional secret agent featured in DC Comics. Faraday first appeared in Danger Trail #1 (August 1950), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino.[1]

King Faraday
King Faraday on the cover of Danger Trail vol. 2 #4.
Art by Paul Gulacy.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDanger Trail #1 (August 1950)
Created byRobert Kanigher
Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Alter egoKing Faraday
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsSuicide Squad
Checkmate
Central Bureau of Intelligence
PartnershipsNightshade
Notable aliasesWhite Queen's Bishop
AbilitiesExperienced espionage agent

Faraday's last appearance in the 1950s was in World's Finest Comics #64 (May–June 1953). He was picked up again after more than twenty-five years, in Batman #313 (July 1979).[2]

Fictional character biography

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Danger Trail #1, art by Carmine Infantino.

He is named "King" by his father as a joke, a play on the phrase "King for a day".

An ex-soldier, he takes a position as a counter-espionage agent for the U.S. government and engages in a variety of standard spy-type capers. Some of his Danger Trail adventures are reprinted in Showcase #50 (May–June 1964) under the title "I-Spy". Faraday is later incorporated full-bore into the DC Universe as a member of the Central Bureau of Intelligence. He is also Nightshade's mentor, and recruited her and Bronze Tiger into Task Force X.

In One Year Later, Faraday is a member of Checkmate, serving as the Bishop for White Queen Amanda Waller.

In The New 52: Futures End, Faraday works with Grifter to investigate alien and cross-dimensional spies on Earth.

Skills and abilities

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Faraday possesses no superhuman abilities but is a trained espionage agent and an expert hand-to-hand fighter and marksman.

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe variant of King Faraday appears in the Tangent Comics one-shot Green Lantern. This version is a Moldavian exile and detective who died in a plane crash before being temporarily resurrected by Green Lantern to solve his last unfinished case.
  • An alternate universe variant of King Faraday appears in DC: The New Frontier. This version is the leader of Project Flying Cloud, a movement to capture metahumans. However, he befriends Martian Manhunter and later sacrifices himself to save him from The Centre.[3]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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Video games

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King Faraday appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[7]

Miscellaneous

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King Faraday appears in Smallville Season 11. This version is an agent of Checkmate who bonded with a captive White Martian, treating her as a daughter. He is later killed during General Zod's attack on the Castle, one of Checkmate's bases, as Megan escapes.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Markstein, Don. "King Faraday". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. ^ Eury, Michael; Kronenberg, Michael (2009). The Batcave Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 239. ISBN 978-1893905788.
  3. ^ DC: The New Frontier #6
  4. ^ a b c d e "King Faraday Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 7, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  5. ^ Couch, Aaron (August 17, 2021). "Catwoman: Hunted Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Couch, Aaron (April 27, 2023). "Justice League: Warworld Cast Unveiled (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Smallville Season 11 Special #1
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