REDSTONE

Real Name:  Michael Redstone

Identity/Class: Extradimensional/alternate reality (Earth-712/"Earth-S") human mutant, mutate, magic-user, or otherwise;
    Native American (Apache nation)

Occupation: Adventurer

Group Membership: Apache nation; formerly the Redeemers (Black Archer/Wyatt McDonald, Foxfire/Olivia Underwood, Haywire/Harold Danforth, Inertia/Edith Freiberg, Lamprey/Donald McGuiggin, Mink/Julie Steel, Moonglow/Melissa Hanover, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Pinball/Chester Freeman, Remnant/Frank Edwards, Shape/Raleigh Lund, Thermite/Sam Yurimoto)

Affiliations: Cerebrax, Master Menace (Emil Burbank), Professor Imam, Scarlet Centurion, Squadron Supreme (Arcanna Jones, Blue Eagle/James Dore Jr., Hyperion/Mark Milton, Power Princess/Zarda Shelton, Doctor Spectrum/Joseph Ledger, Whizzer/Stanley Stewart)

Enemies: Nth Man (Thomas Lightner, originally from Earth-616);
    formerly Squadron Supreme

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Red," "Big Red" (nicknames used by Haywire), "Mr. Red" (nickname used by Shape), "Chief" (nickname used by Thermite), "pal" (nickname used by Foxfire)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Squadron City;
    formerly Richmond Manor, New Troy;
    formerly a reservation on the Apache mountain range

First Appearance: Squadron Supreme I#9 (May, 1986)

Powers/Abilities: In unrevealed ways, Michael Redstone was infused with and tied to the Earth's vibrational energy field. This connection granted him vast strength (at least class 100), durability, stamina, and reflexes. By smashing the ground, he could create vibrational shockwaves that directly targeted a person's organs, greatly affecting even enhanced metahumans such as Power Princess. Redstone quickly loses all his power and vitality, aging within seconds as soon as he leaves Earth's orbit. The process proved irreversible beyond a certain point. Obstinate, smug and quick to anger, Redstone was vocal about his dislike for the Squadron Supreme, their Utopia Program and especially Hyperion.

History:
(Squadron Supreme I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Growing up on the Apache reservation, Michael Redstone dreamed of one day going one on one with Hyperion.

(Squadron Supreme I#7 - BTS) - At an unrevealed point in time after he found himself empowered, Redstone was noticed by Professor Imam. When Nighthawk came to Imam in hopes of recruiting super powered allies to fight the Squadron and their Utopia Program, the Professor handed Nighthawk a power pyramid that would guide him to those who could help him.

(Squadron Supreme I#9) - Nighthawk and his allies, former villains Mink, Pinball and Remnant, followed the Power Pyramid to the Apache mountain range. Flying on Remnant's floating carpet, Nighthawk tracked Redstone down.

(Squadron Supreme I#9 - BTS) - After hearing Nighthawk's pitch, Redstone decided to help out and joined what would become known as the Redeemers.

(Squadron Supreme I#9) - Remnant, ever quick and handy with a needle and thread, whipped up a costume for Redstone who initially had some reservations about having to wear what Remnant called "a union suit." However, as soon as he put it on, he admitted that it made him look impressive. Eager to take on Hyperion, Redstone settled in even as the Power Pyramid started to guide the Redeemers to their next recruit.

(Squadron Supreme I#10 - BTS) - Several weeks passed, during which time the Redeemers ranks swelled to include ten members including Redstone. As they trained in secret in Nighthawk's luxurious New Troy manor, they kept close tabs on the Squadron's whereabouts and activities.

(Squadron Supreme I#10) - During one of their regular meetings, the Redeemers watched a recent news report on the death of Tom Thumb and the introduction of the Hibernaculum, designed to preserve life even in the face of certain death. They then all shared what they'd learned about the Squadron and how they could use it to speed up the team's downfall. Nighthawk followed this by turning the subject to how the ten of them were going to overthrow the Squadron.

(Squadron Supreme I#10 - BTS) - At the end of the meeting, it was decided that Redstone and Moonglow would infiltrate the Squadron, literally by applying for a job as members of the Squadron Supreme.

(Squadron Supreme I#10) - Learning that Squadron members Blue Eagle, Shape and Whizzer were making an appearance at a civil service building in midtown Cosmopolis, the two simply walked into the job agency and introduced themselves as eager potential recruits. Intrigued, the Squadronners wanted Redstone and Moonglow to demonstrate their abilities. When Redstone lifted a car over his head with no visible effort and Moonglow made them believe she could control light and gravity, the Whizzer decided they definitely had potential and could be of use, seeing as the Squadron was greatly understaffed. Redstone and Moonglow were blindfolded and taken to the team's hidden base, Squadron City.

(Squadron Supreme I#10 - BTS) - Redstone and Moonglow leaving with Whizzer and the others made TV headlines. When Nighthawk and Black Archer watched the report, Wyatt was most pleased, seeing as this meant they only had to sneak in three more members. Later at Squadron City, with Redstone and Moonglow in temporary guest quarters, the Squadron Supreme discussed what to do with these new applicants.  Whizzer proposed a trial membership, while Arcanna cautioned that a thorough background check was in order. The zealous Blue Eagle suggested they'd subject the two to the b-mod (behavior modification) device that turned the Squadron's former enemies, the Institute of Evil, into loyal members of the team. In the end, it was decided to not only let the two of them join without altering their minds, but that the Squadron would also launch a nation wide recruitment program to enlist other superhumans who might not know they'd be welcome to join.

(Squadron Supreme I#11 - BTS) - In the weeks that followed, Redstone and Moonglow were joined by their fellow Redeemers Haywire, Inertia, and Thermite, who were all admitted to the Squadron on a provisional basis as well.

(Squadron Supreme I#11) - During a series of "capture the flag" training sessions with the Squadron, the team was split in two squads. Redstone, Moonglow, Blue Eagle and Shape squared off against Lamprey, Haywire, Inertia, Thermite and Foxfire. In the opening moments, Redstone reminded the mentally retarded Shape about the maneuver they had been practicing. Shape formed himself into a torpedo and was launched at the flag by Redstone, only for Lamprey to catch him. The two teams then tried to prevent the other from reaching the flag post, with Thermite using his fire blasts to keep the charging Redstone at bay. However, his team still won when Moonglow used her illusion powers to slip by the enemies unnoticed. Afterwards, Moonglow apologized to Redstone for having used her real powers. Michael assured her no one important noticed. Minutes later, on the shuttle back to Squadron City, Whizzer announced to the new recruits they'd best get ready for a special assembly that night. As it turned out, the Squadron had arranged a press conference during which the five recruits were officially inducted into the team. During the swearing in ceremony, Redstone couldn't help but think they were sacrificing personal honor for the liberation of their country.

(Squadron Supreme I#11 - BTS) - The ceremony was watched by Redstone's fellow Redeemers who were overjoyed to see their teammates were now in. Later that night, now an official Squadron member with full clearance, Moonglow accessed all the plans on the b-mod device, Squadron City's location and its defenses. She sent it to Master Menace via modem in the hope he could come up with a way to counteract the effects of the brainwashing device.

(Squadron Supreme I#11) - After completing her task, Moonglow assured Redstone and the other newly inducted Redeemers she'd completed her task without anyone seeing her (in reality, A.I.D.A., the sentient A.I. in Tom Thumb's lab spotted her and told Ape X, whose b-mod treatment prevented her from betraying a Squadron member for any reason, even if that member was doing something to harm the Squadron. This conflict of interest led the cybernetic simian to have a nervous breakdown that rendered her catatonic; further, given the effect the information had on Ape X, A.I.D.A. was reluctant to share it with anyone else.--Snood)

(Squadron Supreme I#11 - BTS) - Nighthawk and the other Redeemers were contacted by Master Menace who had used the b-mod design schematics that Moonglow had sent to construct a device that undid the mental reprogramming. Figuring they needed someone to test it out on, Haywire was contacted to lure Lamprey to a spot where the Redeemers and Master Menace were waiting. Lamprey was overpowered and subjected to the treatment, returning the energy vampire to his dangerously unstable former self. The next candidate they decided to recruit was Shape. While on a mission to Harbor City, supervised by Blue Eagle and the Shape, Redstone and Thermite managed to lure their simple minded malleable team member away by promising to go on a picnic. Once they figured no one spotted them, Thermite encased Shape in a block of ice which Redstone carried to the nearby Redeemers hideout (unaware they were actually followed by Blue Eagle).

(Squadron Supreme I#11) - Redstone brought Shape in, who was still squirming and screaming that this wasn't the picnic he was promised. He put him in the machine anyway.

(Squadron Supreme I#11 - BTS) - Meanwhile, Black Archer and Remnant spotted Blue Eagle and managed to capture him.

(Squadron Supreme I#11) - After a brief discussion, it was agreed to subject the Blue Eagle to the mind control device, though Nighthawk demanded they'd only use it to erase his memory of what he had seen here. Remnant and the Black Archer held the struggling Eagle in place while the behavior modification began. Still, even this minor violation of his former teammate's mind left the conscientious Nighthawk feeling he'd just sold his soul.

(Squadron Supreme I#12) - A year after the Squadron officially took over America, the team came back to Washington to report the results. Redstone, Moonglow and the other Redeemers and un-brainwashed members felt somewhat uneasy standing with the Squadron as Power Princess proudly announced the Squadron Supreme had achieved all it had set out to do. The speech was concluded with the official opening of the first Hibernacle, designed to keep anyone dying or to hold the recently dead in cryonic suspension until a cure for their ailment could be found. Redstone was one of the pallbearers who ceremoniously carried the hibernaculum's deceased inventor Tom Thumb inside.

(Squadron Supreme I#12 - BTS) - Nighthawk and the remaining Redeemers, using information supplied by Moonglow, traveled to Squadron City, penetrated its magical cloak and waited around for the Squadron to return from their Washington ceremony.

(Squadron Supreme I#12) - As soon as they landed on their airfield, the Squadron Supreme spotted Nighthawk and his Redeemers. Much to the Squadron's surprise, Redstone and the others switched sides. However, in the opening moments of their inevitable confrontation Dr. Spectrum managed to trap the hands of all his opponents in force bubbles. Redstone, using his raw strength and connection to the Earth, easily yanked out a large chunk of the runway as he tried to free himself. Once Spectrum had been taken out by Inertia, Redstone was free to confront Hyperion and finally realize his childhood dream of facing the hero in combat. Redstone found himself at a distinct advantage when the recently blinded Hyperion lost his radar glasses after getting hit. Now truly blind, Hyperion desperately tried to hit his opponent, who kept battering him mercilessly. At one point, Redstone's teammate Inertia stepped in and redirected the force of Hyperion's punches, causing it to hit and knock out Power Princess instead. Redstone then managed to catch Hyperion in a full nelson and attempted to get the Squadronner to admit he'd finally met his match. As he continued to struggle, Hyperion realized Redstone had always held back during the tests and training sessions. He also suspected his opponent might be drawing his strength from the Earth itself, but before he could continue on this train of thought the energy leech Lamprey drained most of Hype's power, leaving him thoroughly drained and beaten. Nighthawk told Redstone to take Hyperion to their chopper and then see to the other victims of the battle. Redstone was unable to prevent Foxfire (who had sincere doubts about the Redeemers' mission) from killing Nighthawk in an attempt to stop the fighting and allow the Squadron to win. Foxfire easily outmaneuvered Redstone, even threatening him not to force her to do the same to him. However, she was critically injured by the vengeful Mink even as the hostilities between the Squadron and the Redeemers ceased. In the aftermath, Redstone and the surviving Squadron and Redeemer members visited the morgue to grieve for those who did not live through the encounter.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1 - BTS) - Redstone remained with the Squadron Supreme while the team began to slowly dismantle the Utopia Program. Unbeknownst to everyone on Earth (except for Professor Imam and Master Menace), Earth-616's Nth Man had entered their reality and was slowly starting to grow and devour all he encountered out in space. Imam alerted Hyperion (who was meeting with the president and the newly instated cabinet) and asked him to come to his Temple of Contemplation. Figuring Power Princess might be needed as well, Hyperion set out to look for Zarda.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1) - Fed up with what he perceived as a lack of progress in shutting down the Utopia Program, even suspecting the Squadron was lying about wanting to relinquish control over the country, Redstone decided to trash Tom Thumb's laboratories in Squadron City. He was stopped by Power Princess, who couldn't figure out why Redstone was so eager to destroy all of Thumb's technological wonders. While Zarda had intended to only stop Redstone, their fight caused even more damage to the lab. When she tried to reason with him, the furious Apache slammed the ground, creating a shockwave that hit the powerful Amazon's insides in such a way that she was momentarily stunned. As she began to realize there was more to Redstone's power than brute force alone, Hyperion flew in and stopped the fighting. Redstone was still outraged, claiming the Squadron was needlessly stalling. With no time to waste on this discussion, Hyperion informed Redstone a crisis had come up and left him in charge of both Squadron City and asked him to head up the plans to dismantle the Utopia Program in their absence. As he watched the two heroes fly off to meet with Imam, Redstone couldn't help but feel impressed, as well as a little unsure of what to do next.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1 - BTS) - After meeting with Imam, the Squadron team leaders learned of the unidentified menace from space rapidly approaching Earth. Imam accompanied the two heroes back to Squadron City.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1) - Redstone initially didn't buy Hyperion's claim of a sudden calamity more important than discontinuing the Utopia initiative, even claiming it was all a ruse so they wouldn't have to relinquish power. However, Imam used his mystical senses to share what he knew with the others, convincing Redstone the threat to Earth was quite real. It was then decided to seek out Master Menace's help, figuring he was the only one with the scientific expertise necessary to help save the world. As Hyperion flew off to meet his archenemy, he told Redstone and the others to pack for a weeklong excursion into space.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1 - BTS) - Master Menace was already aware of the threat to Earth, even before he was visited by the Scarlet Centurion, ruler of 40th century Earth. While the two evil geniuses discussed the matter, Hyperion approached Menace's citadel. After dealing with the defense systems, Hyperion managed to get Menace and the Centurion to help him save Earth. The villains disappeared into the future to build machinery that would trap and deflect the Nth Man to another dimension. After 15 years in the 40th century, Menace and the Centurion returned, having completed their equipment.

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1) - Redstone and the others flew shuttles from Squadron City to Master Menace's base where a fully prepared space worthy vessel was ready to be launched. Joined by Menace and the Scarlet Centurion, the Squadron and their ally Professor Imam blasted into space to either communicate with the entity or send it away. However, as soon as the ship reached escape velocity, Redstone began to suffer from violent spasms, crying out in pain as his massive form shriveled up in seconds. Hyperion ordered Dr. Spectrum to return Redstone to Earth. As Spectrum raced back to the surface with the shriveled old husk that was once Redstone, he reasoned his teammate must have "some kind of weird connection" to the Earth itself, reminding him of "somebody in Greek myth who fought Hercules."

(Squadron Supreme: Death Of A Universe#1 - BTS) - Despite the fact he was back on Earth, Redstone did not recover and instead died, with Spectrum powerless and unsure what to do. In the end, Spectrum hurried back to tell his teammates what had happened to Redstone even as they went forth to confront the mysterious space entity.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Sam de la Rosa (inks).

    In the early 1980s, DC Comics had Batman resign from the Justice League of America over political differences.  The Batman then went on to form his own team of heroes, the Outsiders.  The Outsiders included Geo-Force (a man with earth-based powers), Halo (a flying young woman with light-based powers) and by the mid-80s, they added Looker (a plain-Jane woman who was transformed into a statuesque beauty with mental powers).
    Considering the parallels between the JLA and and Squadron, I'd say this all could be considered a parallel with Nighthawk forming his Redeemers, with Redstone as Geo-Force and Moonglow as sort of a combination of Halo/Looker; although none of the other Outsiders had Redeemers counterparts.
--Ron Fredricks

    Unless otherwise specified, all locations and beings related in this profile refer to Earth/Reality-712 versions.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Redstone should not be confused with

• Redstone, home of the Beastmen of Earth-791 @ Marvel Preview I#18
• Redstone, turncoat Squadron member of Earth-31916 @ Supreme Power II#5
• Red Shift, former herald of Galactus @ Galactus: The Devourer I#1
• Red Guardian, Doctor Tanya Belinksy, former Defenders member @ Defenders I#35
• Red Zeppelin, Power Broker empowered wrestler @ Captain America I#328
• Or any other Redstone characters

images: (without ads)
Squadron Supreme I#9, p20, pan2 (main image)
Redstone close up (Squadron Supreme I#12, p11, pan4)
Redstone first appearance (Squadron Supreme I#9 p11, pan1)
Redstone able to hold his own against Hyperion (Squadron Supreme I#12 p32, pan5)
Redstone loses his powers and dies (Squadron Supreme Death of a Universe I#1 p42, pans3,4,5)

Appearances:
Squadron Supreme I#9 (May, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Sam de la Rossa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme I#10 (June, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Sam de la Rossa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme I#11 (July, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Sam de la Rossa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme I#12 (August, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Sam de la Rossa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe (November, 1989) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First Posted: 08/19/2014
Last updated: 01/30/2015

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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