Blizzard (comics)


Blizzard is the name of different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a member of Iron Man's rogues gallery.
Donnie Gill was portrayed by Dylan Minnette, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first and second seasons.

Publication history

Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, the Gregor Shapanka version of Blizzard appeared as Jack Frost in Tales of Suspense #45, and as Blizzard beginning in Iron Man #86. He was killed off in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #20.
The Donnie Gill Blizzard first appeared in Iron Man #223 and was created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton.
The Randy Macklin version of Blizzard first appeared in the Marvel Holiday Special #2 and was created by Sholly Fisch and Tom Morgan.

Fictional character biographies

Gregor Shapanka

Gregor Shapanka is a Hungarian scientist obsessed with immortality, and decides that the study of cryonics is the first step towards his goal. Shapanka takes a job at Stark Industries to fund his research and attempts to steal directly from Tony Stark. After being caught and fired by Tony Stark for trying to steal from Tony Stark's secret vault, Gregor creates a suit containing cold-generating devices and is dubbed by the papers as "Jack Frost." He attempts to raid Stark Industries where he captures Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, but is defeated by Iron Man.
Several years later, Gregor Shapanka escaped prison and attacked Stark's Long Island industrial complex using a new far more powerful cold-generating battle-suit and calling himself the Blizzard. This time, Blizzard was out to steal Stark's climatron device which could be used to alter weather patterns. Blizzard nearly froze Iron Man to death, but Iron Man was rescued by Potts. Iron Man caused Blizzard's battle-suit to short-circuit and then captured him.
Gregor Shapanka obtained financing for recreating his cold-generating costume from multimillionaire Justin Hammer. Blizzard formed a partnership with two other clients of Hammer known as Blacklash and Melter. Together, the three criminals attacked a hotel casino in Atlantic City, only to be defeated by Iron Man and private bodyguard Bethany Cabe.
Shortly thereafter, Shapanka reconstructs his cold suit in prison. When Electro uses his electrical powers to break out of the adjoining cell Shapanka is caught in the blast and the suit is fused to his body. Electro and the Blizzard then join forces to take over the Daily Bugle, but are stopped by Spider-Man and Daredevil.
Some months later during the Demon in a Bottle storyline, Justin Hammer hires the Blizzard to join an army of supervillains and battle Iron Man.
Blizzard's body somehow gained the ability to generate intense cold without artificial means. Feeling alienated from humanity, Shapanka went to live in an ice palace he created within a mountain. Hulk found Jack Frost's new home and destroyed the ice palace. Jack Frost was seemingly killed in the collapse of his ice domain.
Gregor Shapanka reappeared in the guise of the Blizzard. Somehow, Blizard had lost his bodily power to generate cold and once again needed his battlesuit to create low temperatures. Shapanka returned to crime and formed a gang to aid him. However, upon robbing a bank in New York City, Blizzard and his henchmen were found and defeated by Spider-Man and were taken into police custody. Thanks to his lawyer, Blizzard was soon back at large and kidnapped Bobby Saunders. Through Saunders, Blizzard intended to get revenge for his most recent defeat. Blizzard mistakes a villainous version of Iron Man from the year 2020 for the modern Iron Man and attempts to ambush him. The future Iron Man however is on an urgent mission to find Bobby Saunders and instantly kills the Blizzard with a repulsor blast.

Donald Gill

Born in Delaware, Donald "Donnie" Gill was a professional criminal hired by Justin Hammer. Since Blizzard was vaporized by Iron Man 2020, Donnie adopted the name. His first mission involved working with Beetle and Blacklash to capture Force, who had betrayed Hammer. However, Blizzard was clumsy and annoyed his teammates with his amateurish mistakes. After encasing Blacklash in ice, the trio fled as reinforcements arrived to protect Force.
The trio again tried to capture Force, who was protected by Iron Man. Although Blizzard fought better, when Force entered the fight he neutralized the villains' powers. Blizzard, Beetle, and Blacklash split up, fled and rested until their powers returned. Force found Blizzard, whose powers were ineffective against him so Blizzard fought him with bare hands. Force repelled him, blasting him through a wall. Blizzard doggedly tried to blast Force again, and was electrocuted. The Beetle and Blacklash abandoned Blizzard; Chemistro blamed them for their failures, and they were arrested.
Before Blizzard could be jailed, he was rescued by Rhino for Hammer. His loyalty to Hammer increased, although Iron Man tried to mentor him. Hammer negotiated with Iron Man for Blizzard, forcing the latter to help him take down the Ghost. Iron Man agreed, but Blizzard refused to believe that Hammer betrayed him. After hearing a recording, Blizzard was crushed; he surrendered to Iron Man, and was saved by Chemistro and Melter.
After solo missions against the Avengers and the New Warriors, attending the AIM Weapons Expo with several other super-villains and joining the largest group of the Masters of Evil, Blizzard worked with a smaller team. Their mission failed after interference from Agent X and his allies.
Blizzard attacked She-Hulk in a bar; instead of defeating him, she invited him for a drink. Drunk, he contemplated his lack of recognition. Before collapsing in a stupor, Blizzard noted that he liked She-Hulk. After reverting to her Jennifer Walters persona she collapsed, vomiting, on top of him.
With the Avengers disbanded, the Beetle decided to form a new group of Thunderbolts. Like the original Thunderbolts, they were former villains seeking redemption for their crimes as superheroes. Gill was one of the first members invited to join by Mach-IV, and he agreed. However, he lacked confidence despite his desire to help people. As a Thunderbolt, Blizzard fought several enemies, including Fathom Five, the Wrecking Crew and the Purple Man.
Blizzard and fellow Thunderbolt Speed Demon became close friends. When Speed Demon tried to commit crimes with the Shocker, Blizzard convinced him to use his former Whizzer outfit and a tracking device. Angry with Blizzard, Speed Demon tied him upside-down and naked on a bridge. Although doubting his status as a superhero and feeling hopeless, Blizzard gained strength from the others.
Baron Zemo, forming a group to fight Songbird's Thunderbolts, recruited Blizzard. His new teammate, the Fixer, enhanced Blizzard's abilities. He battled the Thunderbolts; the groups were soon assimilated, and Blizzard helped them against the U-Foes during Civil War. Against Overmind, Blizzard proved himself to his teammates by shielding them.
In the final battle against the Grandmaster, Blizzard's suit was destroyed after the Wellspring energy was released and he was pardoned for his past crimes. Blizzard later appeared as an inmate at the Raft.
Blizzard later aligns himself with Iron Man, Zeke Stane, Whirlwind, and Living Laser against the Mandarin but is defeated by the Mandarin's forces.
During the "Infinity" storyline, Blizzard was seen with Whirlwind robbing banks when they are approached by Spymaster. Blizzard and Whirlwind are recruited by Spymaster to join him and his villain allies in a plot to attack the almost-defenseless Stark Tower. During the briefing, Blizzard suddenly collapses. When Blizzard regains consciousness, he discovers that his skin has turned white. Blizzard had been exposed to the Terrigen Mists unleashed upon the face of the entire Earth by Black Bolt. Being unknowingly an Inhuman descendant, Blizzard experienced Terrigenesis which causes the manifestation of his latent powers. Blizzard thought that this was his opportunity to "be part of something bigger" and decided to leave Spymaster's team. However, he and Whirlwind were brutally attacked by Spymaster and Titanium Man when they tried to leave. Blizzard and Whirlwind were forced into taking part of the assault to Stark Tower. After Spymaster used teleporter discs to teleport some Iron Man Armors to the buyers, he escaped and left Blizzard and the rest of his accomplices to be discovered by the heroes which were using the tower as a base. They managed to defeat the heroes, and they were offered to be taken to Spymaster by Titanium Man. When they arrived to a spaceship where Spymaster was, they were ambushed by him and Titanium Man who revealed himself as Captain Atlas of the Kree. Blizzard and the other villains managed to escape custody and started fighting Spymaster, Titanium Man and the army of Iron Men. The actual Iron Man arrived to the spaceship, after having tracked down the armors, and helped Blizzard and his allies defeat the enemies. During the fight, Blizzard used the powers he discovered of being like a human battery to overcharge the armors and deactivate them, but he fainted and fell off the spaceship's cargo door. A suit Iron Man was controlling rescued him, but in order to let his friends escape, Blizzard froze himself and the suit. Blizzard was taken to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and was left under the simulation he had been delivered to the Inhumans in order to prove himself as the changed man Blizzard thought he was....until S.H.I.E.L.D. could know what to do with him.

Mickey Quaid

At the time when Donnie Gill was unavailable, Justin Hammer had a man named Mickey Quaid become a substitute Blizzard in order to assist Afterburner, Beetle, Blacklash, Boomerang, and Spymaster in fighting Silver Sable and the Wild Pack.

Randy Macklin

Randall "Randy" Macklin, an ex-criminal, fails to find work following his release from prison and uses a spare Blizzard costume he was safeguarding for his friend Donnie Gill. Macklin, however, is quickly defeated by Iron Man, who offers him a legitimate job at Stark Enterprises.

Jim

A man named Jim became the fourth Blizzard upon being granted cryokinesis by Mandarin and Zeke Stane as part of their plans to revamp and upgrade the different enemies of Iron Man. His first mission is to freeze desalinization plants in Abu Dhabi where it would leave the country with no water. It was revealed that Mandarin had a bomb placed in Jim's neck to ensure his compliance.
When Iron Man tries to persuade his enemies to turn against Mandarin, Blizzard heeded the calls as Iron Man deactivated the bombs on them Blizzard aligns himself with Iron Man, Zeke Stane, Whirlwind, and Living Laser against Mandarin and his Titanomechs. During the battle, Blizzard is impaled by a Titanomech.

Powers and abilities

All the Blizzards have similar powers, derived from their costumes. Micro-circuited cryogenic units make it possible to emit freezing rays, which lower the temperature of the surrounding air and release ice as a projectile.
Donnie Gill's costume is upgraded by supervillains Beetle and Fixer. This enables even greater manipulation of cold where Gill can encase people in snow and ice, create an ice barricade or generate "ice sleds" for transport. Following his Terrigenesis, Blizzard also developed electricity manipulation where he can manipulate electrical currents and charge the energies in his body.

Other versions

Earth-X

In the Earth-X reality, the Donnie Gill version of Blizzard has the same history. He was killed by Norman Osborn prior to the Green Goblin's rise to power.

House of M: Masters of Evil

In the House of M reality, the Donnie Gill version of Blizzard appears as a member of Hood's Masters of Evil.

Power Pack

The Donnie Gill version of Blizzard appears in Iron Man & Power Pack issue #2 with Speed Demon. He kidnaps Irena Crumb from her school and takes her to an abandoned warehouse across town, where he tortures her. Speed Demon runs in, telling him that Power Pack has found them; Power Pack bursts in, and a fight ensues. At one point, Blizzard freezes the ground, causing Speed Demon to slip and smash into him. The Pack captures Blizzard, and Lightspeed takes his mask so she can rescue Irena from Speed Demon incognito. Afterwards, Blizzard and Speed Demon are arrested.

In other media

Television