Blue Snowman

Blue Snowman (also known as The Snowman, real name Byrna Brilyant) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Blue Snowman is a woman disguised as a man who uses the invention of "blue snow," a special form of precipitation that freezes everything it touches. She is also notable as being an enemy of Wonder Woman and a member of the original Villainy Inc.

Blue Snowman
Blue Snowman in Power Girl #7 (2010)
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSensation Comics #59 (November 1946)
Created byWilliam Moulton Marston
In-story information
Alter egoByrna Brilyant
Team affiliationsVillainy Inc.
Notable aliasesThe Snowman
AbilitiesUsed a telescopic snow ray to create and reverse blizzards
Genius-level intellect

Publication history

Blue Snowman first appeared in Sensation Comics #59 and was created by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter.[1]

Fictional character biography

Earth-Two version

Byrna Brilyant's scientist father died while working on his invention of "blue snow," a special form of precipitation that freezes everything it touches. This invention was intended to "serve humanity," although precisely how seems rather vague. Thinking to put her father's work to more profitable use, Byrna creates the masculine identity of the Snow Man and unleashes the petrifying power of blue snow upon the farming community of Fair Weather Valley, demanding each farmer's "life savings" in return for the chemical antidote that will free crops, livestock, and people from the snow's effects. The Blue Snow Man is discovered in "his" mountain sanctuary by Wonder Woman, who forces "him" to defrost the valley.[2]

Like many of Wonder Woman's enemies, Brilyant is sentenced to prison on the Amazon penal colony Transformation Island, but in 1948 she and seven other female super-villains escape and pool their talents as Villainy Inc.. Led by the Saturnian slaver Eviless, the evil eight are again defeated by Wonder Woman. In this appearance, she calls herself the Blue Snow Man.[3]

Byrna retained her male appearance and name in this second appearance, but what if anything is to be made of her choice of criminal identities is unknown.

Post Crisis

After all of the Golden Age Wonder Woman stories were erased from history by the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, Blue Snowman fell into obscurity for many years. However, the Blue Snowman reappeared as she is pursued and defeated by Power Girl and Doctor Mid-Nite. She is accidentally killed and devoured by a giant alien bug that Vartox brought to earth in order to impress Power Girl.[4] In this version, Byrna uses a robotic suit of armor that is capable of creating snow. She is mentioned as "an old Wonder Woman foe," suggesting that her battles with Wonder Woman had occurred in the past. She was also mentioned as having worked with the Ice Pack, which did not exist in that continuity.

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Blue Snowman is first seen when appearing briefly after battling Wonder Woman and her ally Hessia alongside her robot minions.[5]

DC Rebirth

After the events of DC Rebirth, Blue Snowman's origin is altered. At some point, Byrna Brilyant came into contact with Veronica Cale, who had equipped Brilyant with an Exo-Mecha suit. This suit enabled Brilyant to attack Washington D.C. with blue snow, though her suit was eventually destroyed by Wonder Woman which in turn rendered Brilyant comatose.[6]

Powers and abilities

Blue Snowman possesses no superhuman powers, but has a genius-level intellect.

Equipment

Blue Snowman relies upon a "telescopic snow ray" to create petrifying blizzards and a "defroster ray" for reverse effects. She uses a variety of gadgets, including a hat that produces blue snow and a smoking pipe that projects icicles.

Other versions

DC Super Friends

Blue Snowman appeared as a member of the Ice Pack with Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Minister Blizzard, Killer Frost, and Icicle in issue #16 of the Super Friends comic book series. Along with the Ice Pack, the group was able to freeze the Super Friends in a solid block of ice. Later, Blue Snowman argued with Killer Frost over the Selma Diamond, which resulted in the two women encasing each other in ice and allowed Superman and Aquaman to take them into custody.[7]

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Blue Snowman appeared in the All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold comic book series (which is based on the animated series of the same name). She was seen with the other Wonder Woman villains (consisting of Amoeba Man, Angle Man, Cheetah, Crimson Centipede, Fireworks Man, Giganta, Mouse Man, and Paper-Man) as they, along with an assortment of Batman's villains, crashed the wedding between Batman and Wonder Woman. They were swiftly defeated by the joint efforts of the Justice League and the Amazons of Themyscira.[8]

The Legend of Wonder Woman

Blue Snowman was set to appear in the second volume to The Legend of Wonder Woman, a retelling of Wonder Woman's origins by Renae de Liz and Ray Dillon. However, DC cancelled the project under unknown circumstances. De Liz later posted preliminary artwork featuring Blue Snowman on Twitter.[9]

See also

References

  1. Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 68. ISBN 978-0345501073.
  2. Sensation Comics #59 (November 1946). DC Comics.
  3. Wonder Woman #28 (March 1948). DC Comics.
  4. Power Girl #7 (February 2010). DC Comics.
  5. Superman/Wonder Woman #4 (March 2014). DC Comics.
  6. Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #41 (2018). DC Comics.
  7. DC Super Friends #16 (August 2009). DC Comics.
  8. All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #4. DC Comics.
  9. Renae De Liz [@RenaeDeLiz] (16 December 2016). "As a love letter to the fans of Legend of Wonder Woman who patiently awaited Part 2, here's an icy villain for ya :)" (Tweet) via Twitter.
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