DANIEL SHOMRON
Real Name: Daniel Shomron
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Psychiatrist
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Gabrielle Haller, Magneto (as
Magnus), Charles Xavier
Enemies: Hydra (Rudolf Kranz, Baron
Strucker and unidentified others), Jemail Karami and his assassination
team
Known Relatives: David Haller (Legion, godson),
Gabrielle Haller (wife, deceased)
Aliases: "Dan" (nickname used by Charles Xavier)
Base of Operations: Paris, France;
formerly Haifa, Israel;
formerly a mobile army hospital in Korea
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#161 (September,
1982)
Powers/Abilities: Daniel Shomron possessed no
superhuman powers. He was a skilled psychiatrist and director of a
mental hospital specializing in helping Holocaust survivors cope with
the horrors they experienced in the camps. Inquisitive and caring,
Shomron managed to keep a cheerful disposition despite his often
emotionally draining work.
Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 138 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#161 (fb) - BTS) - Daniel Shomron worked as a psychiatrist for the US Army during the Korean War. While helping battlefield casualties come to terms with their injuries or the horrors of war, he met Charles Xavier who was serving in the army at the time. Shomron, unaware of the fact Xavier was a telepath, was most impressed by the way Charles seemed able to help even the most severe mental cases. Calling him the best instinctive psychologist he'd ever seen, Shomron befriended Xavier. The two stayed in touch after the Korean conflict ended.
Upon returning to Israel, Shomron moved to the seaport
city of Haifa where he converted a posh resort into a mental hospital
for Holocaust survivors suffering from psychiatric disorders. Among the
staff members he hired, both professionals and volunteers, was a Nazi
deathcamp survivor who called himself Magnus.
When Shomron and his staff proved unable to treat Gabrielle Haller, a survivor of camp Dachau whose mind collapsed into catatonic schizophrenia, Daniel decided his old friend Charles Xavier might be able to help out. It took Shomron several messages to locate his old friend, who was travelling across the mediterranean and Egypt at the time. In the end, Shomron got a hold of Charles and told him he needed his help.
(Uncanny X-Men I#161) - Daniel drove his army jeep to the
port of Haifa to pick up Charles Xavier who had travelled by boat from
Cairo. Catching up on the way, Xavier was impressed by the way Shomron
was leading his life. Upon arriving at the hospital, they were met by
Magnus who accompanied them to their patient, Gabrielle Haller. Without
Shomron or Magnus noticing, Charles Xavier entered the young girl's mind
and, with some doing, used his telepathy to break down the psychic
barrier she'd erected to protect her mind. Moments later, Gabrielle
regained consciousness for the first time in years, screaming for her
mother and father. After putting Gabrielle to bed, Shomron insisted
Charles and Magnus joined him in toasting Xavier's early success.
However, none of them were aware their conversation was overheard by a
spy working for Baron Strucker and Hydra.
(Uncanny X-Men I#161 - BTS) - Shomron continued his work at the hospital while, for the next several weeks, Charles, Gabrielle and Magnus travelled across Israel in an attempt to reacquaint her with the world. During this period, Haller and Xavier fell in love.
(X-Men I#40 - BTS) - Amazed at the fact his friend Magnus
had somehow constructed a wheelchair far more practical than the ones
supplied by the Red Cross, Xavier wondered if he was more than "just" a
volunteer orderly as he claimed to be. Returning the favor, Magnus
replied that there was also more to Charles than met the eye. Xavier
gently rebuffed the inquiry by stating he was merely a miracle worker
specializing in acute mental disorders, just as Daniel Shomron said he
was when he introduced them a few weeks ago.
(Uncanny X-Men I#161) - One
night, on their way to dinner, the mental hospital was suddenly
besieged by unknown troops who succesfully managed to kidnap Gabrielle
despite Magnus and Charles' best efforts. Daniel Shomron was
relieved to see Charles and Magnus were alright following the attack. He
told them they'd managed to take one of the mysterious soldiers
prisoner, but that he refused to talk. Enraged by the fact his lover was
taken, Xavier forcibly used his telepathy to gather all the information
he needed from the mind of, as it turned out, former SS major turned
Hydra operative Rudolf Kranz.
(Excalibur III#14 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly after she broke up
with Charles, Gabrielle discovered she was pregnant. Deciding not to
inform Xavier and to raise their child herself with Shomron as the boy's
godfather, Gabrielle and Daniel eventually fell in love and got married.
When Haller's career took her to Paris, Daniel accompanied her and David
there.
(New Mutants I#28 (fb) ) - While in Paris, Shomron was the
victim of a band of terrorists led by Jemail Karami. The Arab assassins
went on a killing spree, shooting every jewish person they could find
and forced their way into Haller's home. Daniel instinctively used his
body to shield David and died instantly.
(X-Factor I#108 (fb) ) - With Mystique out to kill David
Haller, X-Factor was sent in to protect him. Before they went out,
Valerie Cooper briefed the team on Haller's origins and how witnessing
Shomron's death caused the boy to develop split personalities that
eventually led to him becoming Legion.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks).
Daniel Shomron shares his name with the Israeli general
who commanded the 1976 paratrooper raid into Uganda, which freed some
100 odd hostages. Though unconfirmed, it seems Dave Cockrum based Daniel
Shomron's physical appearance on that of the late great actor Allan
Arbus (1918 - 2013). A fitting choice, considering Arbus played army
psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the hit television show M*A*S*H*, which
was set during the Korean war. A propos of nothing: while the actual
Korean war lasted a little over 3 years (1950-1953), M*A*S*H* was
on for 11 seasons (1972 to 1983)... Guess the horrors of war and
meatball surgery have a longer lasting appeal when you put some canned
laughter in...
Gabrielle Haller's original stories placed her as a holocaust survivor. While that was reasonable in a 1980 (or so) story, it seems less likely that she could have been 75-80 years old in the stories occurring in recent years, even is she was only 5-10 years old during World War II. Sure, that's a stretch, but not unreasonable. But, as time marches on in reality, it just becomes increasingly unlikely that she is a year older each year, while none of the other characters age. So, Gabrielle Haller was severely traumatized...whether it was by her own experiences or by learning of how horrific the holocaust was...or perhaps something happened that slowed her aging...or something else, we don't have to decide for now...
--Snood
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Daniel Shomron should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p5, pan2 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p5, pan3 (meets Xavier)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p9, pan1 (has a prisoner)
New Mutants I#28, p12, pan2 (dies)
Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#161 (September, 1982) - Chris
Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise
Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#28 (June, 1985) - Chris Claremont (writer), Bll
Sienkiewicz (pencils & inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
X-Factor
I#108 (November, 1994) - John Francis Moore & Todd DeZago
(writers), Jan Duursema (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Kelly
Corvese & Bob Harras (editors)
X-Men I#40
(January, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt
Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Last updated: 01/13/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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