BATAL
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human (possibly mutant or mutate), conventional weapon user (citizen of Syria)
Occupation: Government agent
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: The Syrian government
Enemies: Sabra (Ruth Bat-Seraph)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Hero (English translation of codename)
Base of Operations: Syria
First Appearance: New Warriors I#58 (April, 1995)
Powers/Abilities: Batal carries a wide assortment of weaponry and equipment, including powerful firearms made of plastic (to defeat metal detectors) as well as more elaborate gear in the shape of green five-pointed stars, such as a shield.
Batal is also apparently bulletproof, though whether this is a characteristic of himself or his costume is unclear. However durable he is, the super-strong Sabra was still capable of shattering his neck with a physical blow.
History: (New Warriors I#58) - Batal accompanied a Syrian
delegation to Israel-Syria peace talks being held at the UN in New
York. The Israeli delegation to the talks, including Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin, were attacked en route by unidentified super-terrorists.
The terrorists were defeated by Justice, Firestar, and Speedball of the
New Warriors with the help of the Israeli super-agent Sabra. However,
when Agent Pachiuk, head of security for the talks, saw Batal, he
mistook him for one of the terrorists (who had worn similar costumes).
Batal dared him to shoot, saying that the ricochet might amuse
Pachiuk's fellow agents. Justice took Batal's gun telekinetically, and
Sabra identified him, telling Justice to "go ahead... shoot him dead".
The two exchanged numerous hostile remarks, but refrained from physical
confrontation out of professionalism. That came to an end when Sabra
was suddenly controlled by an unknown outside force. She crippled Batal
with a savage punch in the neck, then attempted to kill the peace talk
delegates. The Warriors were barely able to stop her.
(New Warriors I#59) - After Sabra was finally broken from her manipulators' control by Justice's recitation of the Mourner's Kaddish, Batal was taken away by ambulance. It was reported that his neck was broken, but there was "no apparent nerve damage", and he was expected to recover.
Comments: Created by Evan Skolnick, Patrick Zircher, Bruce D Patterson and Andrew Pepoy.
Who was controlling Sabra? Who did those terrorists work for? Why did their uniforms look so much like Batal's costume? No one knows. The end of the first NW series left an awful lot of dangling plot threads.
Clarifications: The Syrian super-agent Batal has no known connection to
Images:
Full shot - New Warriors I#58, p28 (including ads)
Head shot - New Warriors I#58, front cover
New Warriors I#58 (April, 1995)
New Warriors I#59 (May, 1995)
Last updated: 02/20/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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