DAMON
CONQUEST
Real Name: presumably Damon Conquest
Identity/Class: Extra-Dimensional (New Universe) human, presumptive paranormal
Occupation: Drug lord
Group Membership: Head of Conquest Dynamics
Affiliations: Daedalus "Dad"
Darquill (employer);
Hounds, Max, Danielle Stone, Tattoo (agents); Rebecca
Chambers (pawn and lover);
He also had unspecified connections within the US Justice
Department, as well as in a number of other countries, including
Japan.
Enemies: Justice (John Tensen); the forces of the Land of Spring
Known Relatives: Daedalus Darquill (possible father, see comments)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California, USA, Earth-New Universe; "Far Place"
First Appearance: Justice#1 (New Universe) (November, 1986)
Abilities: Damon Conquest appeared to
possess paranormal abilities, but these may have only been
illusionary powers, granted by Darquill. He generated destructive
energy blasts, siphoned the life from others, survived blasts
from Justice's normally lethal "sword" (sometimes,
anyway), and may have head telepathic or emotion-manipulating
abilities.
As part of his illusionary role in the Far Place, he referred to
himself as a wizard.
History:
Damon Conquest was a drug dealer employed by Daedalus
"Dad" Darquill, and operating out of Los Angeles. In
addition, he was the head of Conquest Dynamics, which may have
been the legitimate business front for their drug operations.
BTS - <July 22, 1986> - The White Event occurred, exposing people across the planet to the energies of the Starbrand. As a result, numerous people began to develop paranormal abilities.
BTS - Darquill developed paranormal abilities and created the illusionary world of the Far Place. Within that realm, Damon Conquest served as Darquill's unholy son. He also served as his liaison to the real world.
(Justice#15 (fb)) - Darquill targeted Department of Justice agent John Tensen with his hallucination power, intending to transform him into one of his "Hounds." Damon Conquest forced Tensen, at gunpoint, to enter the Far Place. Tensen managed to partially deflect Darquill's mental attack with his shield, so that rather than become one of Darquill's slaves, he instead became part of his imaginary dreamworld. As a result, he came to believe that he was a native of the Far Place--a Justice Warrior named Tensen.
(Justice#1(fb)-BTS) - Darquill sent agents to slay Tensen, but instead he was returned to reality.
(Justice#1) - <August 6-7, 1986> - Damon
punished one of his agents, Mr. Hardesty, for failure by forcing
him to cut off his own finger, after the fashion of the Japanese
"Small Sacrifice." Darquill contacted Conquest,
informing him of Tensen's return to reality. Darquill instructed
Damon to have Justice finished off while he was still disoriented
from the transfer.
Justice took down the Factory, a New York based drug operation
under Darquill's indirect control. Darquill instructed Conquest
to "Unleash the Hounds."--perhaps he's related to
Montgomery Burns?
(Justice#2) - <8/8/86> - A group of Hounds attacked and were fought off by Justice. One Hound escaped with his life, but was terminated painfully as punishment for failure upon returning to Conquest. Justice, having learned of Conquest's existence in LA, began the trek across the country.
(Justice#3) - <8/12/86> - Darquill informed Conquest that he had sent Tattoo after Justice, resulting in serious injuries and the death of one of Justice's allies, but that Justice had survived. Conquest planned to allow Justice to recover and then eliminate him personally when he arrived.
(Justice#4) - <10/3/86> - Justice arrived in LA and confronted Conquest. As the two battled, Conquest managed to nail Justice with a direct hit, but rather than kill him, he was instead transported back into the Far Place. Within the Far Place, Justice eventually received another energy blast that caused him to flash back and forth between reality and the Far Place. Justice's continued disappearances and reappearances enabled him to get the upper hand on Conquest. Justice managed to shoot him in the shoulder, after which he stopped shifting between reality and illusion. However, because he expected to shift away, he did not react in time, and Conquest managed to escape.
(Justice#5) - <11/1-5/86> - Justice and Rebecca Chambers traveled to Darquill's estate, to which Conquest had retreated. Justice found his powers useless against Darquill, but then caught Conquest off guard and took him hostage, forcing his temporary surrender. However, their agent Tattoo then grabbed Chambers, and the three vanished into the Far Place with her, leaving Justice alone in reality. Within the imaginary realm, they planned to manipulate Chambers' mind, turning her over to...the Dark Side...or maybe it should be the Far Side?...
(Justice#7) - <12/19-25/86> - Within the Far Place, Conquest observed Chambers' progress, as she slew a group of Justice Warriors under Darquill's instruction
(Justice#8) - <12/27/86> - Within the Far Place, Rebecca Chambers, although becoming more and more indoctrinated as an agent of Darquill, made it clear she wanted no part of the romantic advances of Conquest.
(Justice#10) - <2/17/1987> - Within the Far Place, Conquest happily supervised the preparation for the slaughter of the Land of Spring (the forces of good within the illusionary Far Place). This assault would be powered by energy siphoned from the corruption of Justice, caused by the use of his "sword" in anger, against their agent, Black Justice. In addition, Rebecca Chambers was now Conquest's lover.
(Justice#11(fb)) - Justice learned of the defeat of the Land of Spring, and saw the image of Conquest laughing as he took over their castle.
(Justice#13) - Conquest sent his agent, Max, to terminate Mr. Markham for refusing to distribute his drugs. Max was successful, but was then destroyed by Justice.
(Justice#15) - Within the Far Place, Conquest
applauded the report of the utter defeat of the forces of Spring,
and was even more happy to receive Endolana, the former Queen of
the Land of Spring, as his personal plaything.
However, with the aid of Nightmask, Justice began to learn his
true past and the nature of the Far Place. When Darquill sent
forces to destroy Justice, he instead leapt through the portal
into the illusionary realm. Within that realm, he again battled
against Conquest, and surprised him by switching his normal sword
and shield hands. Justice blew a hole through the unprepared
Conquest, killing him.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and Geof Isherwood.
Damon had a black streak running through his hair, when they remembered to draw it.
It is unclear whether there is/was any direct relationship between Conquest and Darquill. Darquill went by the alias "Dad," so it was not just Conquest who used that name. Damon Conquest hardly seems like a likely real name, but no other was ever given. In the Far Place, Conquest seemed to be the son of the "extra-dimensional" ruler Dad, but on Earth, in reality (you know what I mean), he may have only been a respected and trusted second-in-command.
If you read Prime Eternal's primer on the New Universe, you'll see that in the first year, a lot of the writers and creative teams missed the point entirely. The team(s) behind Justice were the biggest offenders, as they used a large group of alternate dimension characters. This was all revealed/ret-conned to have been a warping of reality by Daedalus Darquill. This occurred in Justice#15, by Peter David, who brought Justice into line with the NU's stated properties and premises.
Anything which took place in the first 15 issues should be taken with a grain of salt. Tensen (and apparently the writers, as well) was under the influence of Darquill, and so anything he saw or did was affected by this. It was never clearly established what exactly took place, but I would ASSume that the events on Earth were real events, although the characters within them may have been altered by the hallucinations, or may have been hallucinations altogether. Any of the beings he fought against may have been paranormals, or they could be normal people, made to appear differently and to possess powers by Darquill.
Conquest discusses the White Event as having happened "Yesterday" in Justice#1. It is credited with having affected Darquill and Conquest's powers and having resulted in Justice's transfer back to reality. This story was written before the Far Place was revealed/retconned to be an illusionary world, and Justice, Conquest, and Darquill revealed/retconned to be paranormals, rather than extradimensional beings. So the later dates, estimated during a New Universe timeline listed in the NU titles a year or so later, and listed in this profile, are likely much more accurate.
There was also a lot of "Changing Writer's Syndrome" going on during the Far Place issues of Justice, making it even more inconsistent and hard to follow. Goodwin, Englehart, Isherwood (all within the first six issues), then Gerry Conway, and then finally clarified (and terminated) by Mark Gruenwald and Peter David.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connections to
images:
Other appearances:
Justice#2-5 (December, 1986 - March, 1987)
Justice#7-8 (May-June, 1987)
Justice#10-11 (August-September, 1987)
Justice#13 (November, 1987)
Justice#15 (January, 1988)
Last updated: 08/25/02
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
All characters mentioned or pictured are
™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real
thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com