The Monitor is a fictional character created by writer Marv Wolfman[1] and artist George Pérez as one of the main characters of DC Comics' Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series.
The character began appearing, along with his assistant Lyla, in numerous DC Comics titles beginning in 1982, three years before the Crisis began in July 1985; these appearances made it seem that he was some sort of weapons dealer for supervillains. This was all part of the setup Wolfman and the staff of DC Comics planned for the Crisis, showing the Monitor currying favor with villains such as Maxie Zeus, prior to calling on the heroes.[2] The Monitor was depicted in the shadows for all of his appearances in DC's mainstream superhero titles, and his face was first revealed in one of their few remaining non-superhero titles, the war comic G.I. Combat issue #274.
Publication information
Publisher: DC Comics
First appearance:
Appearance of Death: Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (July, 1985)(in shadows) The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #21 (July 1982)(fully seen) G.I. Combat #274 (February 1985)
Created by: Marv Wolfman, George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego: Monitor
Phonetic: mánətər
Translation:
Notable aliases:
Affiliations: Doctor Light (New Earth), Harbinger (New Earth), Pariah (Multiverse)
Team affiliations:
Enemies: Anti-Monitor (Antimatter Universe), Harlequin (Earth-3), Executrix, Krona (New Earth), Hawk (New Earth), Superboy-Prime (Earth-Prime)
Base Of Operations: Satellite
Status
Alignment: Neutral
Identity Secret:
Race: Monitors (Multiverse)
Citizenship:
Marital Status:
Occupation: Guardian of the Multiverse
Origin
Origin: Born on a moon of Oa, the positive matter doppelganger of the evil Anti-Monitor.
Universe: Earth-One
History
The Monitor spent his early life learning the secrets of the universe. Sensing his enemy's existence, they engaged in a million year war - ending in a draw, with both rendered imobile and unconcious.[1] They remained that way for nine billion years, until the dawn of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
When Pariah inadvertantly freed the Anti-Monitor, the Monitor was awakened as well. He planned to protect the Multiverse. He observed Pariah trapped within his netherversal chamber.
Building a ship, the Monitor scoured the Earths for heroes he would need for his ultimate confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. He raised Harbinger from a child to serve as his assistant. Together, they gathered data on the Multiverse.
As anti-matter swept across the Multiverse, the Monitor grew weaker as each positive matter universe was destroyed.
The Monitor was killed by an Anti-Monitor controlled Harbinger, his powers being transferred to her - part of his plan to save the remaining universes.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Monitor's powers were never well defined, but he was able to sense his counterpart's existence in the Anti-Matter Universe and fight with him from Oa's moon using energy powers (though the feedback of the attack placed him in suspended animation for eons).
- He was able to save Pariah (and possibly empower him to never die and be always drawn to where the Anti-Monitor was about to strike next) and create an entire satellite headquarters out of nothingness.
- Apparently, he could not create the protective netherverse without dying first, although this may have been because he did not have the time to come up with a less lethal plan.
- As a Monitor he can, as told by Metron "Create with a thought".
Abilities
- Genius-level intellect: Monitor is extremely intelligent, almost omniscient.
Strength level
Incalculable
Weaknesses
The Monitor level of power depend in the number of positive matter universes. If the number reduces, his powers will also reduce.
