CHANNEL MASTER
Real Name: Ed Kelly
Identity/Class: Human, magic user
Occupation: Fraudulent crystal healer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Gunthar, Mr. Small
Enemies: Traci Austin, Illuminator
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: "New Age Healing Through Crystal Wisdom" shop, 205 Charlotte Avenue, Fairview, Tennessee
First Appearance: Illuminator#2 (1993)
Powers/Abilities: Ed had a large quantity of amethyst and quartz crystals which he could use to generate images from people's memories and absorb the light energy generated by the Illuminator. He was also able to summon demons, such as Gunthar.
History: (Illuminator#2) - Kelly encountered Traci Austin, who had recently been traumatized by her encounter with the demonic Nightfire. Kelly offered her help, saying that it was his job to heal broken souls.
(Illuminator#3) - Traci related her encounter with Nightfire to Ed, and he projected images of it on his crystal. He took her back into a room full of crystals and told her to allow one of them to choose her. When one of the crystals began to glow (prearranged by Ed), Traci took it.
Traci's friend Andy, secretly the hero Illuminator, began to investigate her whereabouts, and came to Ed's shop to learn more. Ed used his crystal to reveal events of Andy's past, including how he had gained his Illuminator powers. However, Ed thought he was dealing with a "weirdo," not a super-hero. Andy was tempted to see if he could learn more about his powers from Ed, but managed to clear his head. When Ed brought Andy into the crystal room, Andy began to set off lights through each of the crystals, using his powers to expose Ed's hoax. Terrified by the Illuminator's powers, Ed summoned forth the demon Gunthar. However, the Illuminator managed to defeat Gunthar.
The Illuminator fired a blast of light at Ed, but he absorbed it into the crystals he wore and rechanneled it as negative energy with six times the power. The Illuminator was stunned, and Ed brought in Traci and his other followers ("channelers"). Traci tried to tempt Andy into becoming one of them, showing images from her crystal of other worlds he could journey to with their power, but the Illuminator revealed that there was one world which Ed could not bring her to-- Heaven-- and furthermore, that he didn't even believe in the crystals. When Traci realized she had been deceived she threw her crystal away, and the Illuminator destroyed all of Ed's crystals, leaving him powerless.
Kelly went to Nashville to inform Mr. Small what had happened. Mr. Small was put out by Kelly, suspecting that Kelly didn't believe in him anymore than he did the crystals. He placed Ed within a crystal then shattered it, terminating Ed's service to him.
Comments: Created by Glenn Herdling, E. Craig Brasfield and Frank Turner.
Gunthar and Mr. Small created by Glenn Herdling, Fred Haynes and Frank Turner.
Kelly only went by "Channel Master" in his advertisements. His phone number was 555-SCRY.
Gunthar also appeared in a pin-up found in Illuminator#2.
by Prime Eternal
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Channel Master should not be confused with:
Gunthar was a demon native to another dimension who could access Earth through the crystals possessed by Ed Kelly. He could control crystals as weapons and fire them through the air. Kelly summoned Gunthar to assist him against the Illuminator, and Gunthar quickly realized that he was dealing with a "Christian soldier." He declared that the Illuminator's light powers could not harm him in the way it did a "hellspawn" because he was "something else entirely." The Illuminator caught one of Gunthar's crystals and purged it of his evil then placed his light within it and hurled it at Gunthar. The crystal struck Gunthar and reopened the portal to his own dimension, sending him home.
--Illuminator#3
Mr. Small was the mysterious figure who Ed worked for. He operated from an office in Nashville, Tennessee, and assisted Kelly in arranging his sham of crystal healing. When Kelly was defeated by the Illuminator, Small wondered if Kelly believed in anything, including Small himself. No longer trusting him, Small placed Kelly within a crystal then crushed it in his hand, declaring that his service was terminated. Mr. Small planned to deal with the Illuminator another day.
--Illuminator#3
Images taken from:
Illuminator#3, page 3, panel 2
Gunthar- Illuminator#3, page 14, panel 2
Small- Illuminator#3, page 22, panel 8
Last updated: 04/14/07
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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