SONIC

Real Name: Daniel Bannion

Identity/Class: Human; advanced technology/exo-skeleton user

Occupation: Unrevealed;
    at least formerly a mercenary;
    at least formerly a technician;
    his membership in A.I.M. would make him, on some level, a terrorist

Group Membership: Formerly A.I.M., the Seekers (Chain Lightning/Thomas Bannion, Fireball, Grasp/Herb Bannion, Laserworks; two unidentified)

Affiliations: Louis Cale, Leonard Carlson, Lynn Church, Kearson DeWitt, Hunters (armored mercenary team), Midnight (Jeffrey Wilde), Professor Power (Anthony Power), Raiders, Scratch, Secret Empire, Thunderball (Eliot Franklin)

Known Relatives: Herb Bannion (Grasp, brother), Thomas Bannion (Chain/Chain Lightning, brother);
    Lois Bannion (niece; Herb's ); Theodore Bannion (nephew, deceased);
    possibly others (see comments)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    at least formerly a hidden lab outside Denver, Colorado

First Appearance: Iron Man I#214 (January, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Sonic wore an armored suit, which granted him superhuman strength (lifting roughly 10 tons) and durability due to the armor's metal (presumably steel) composition. The armor had no advanced resistance to extreme cold, which could both render it immobile and brittle (easily shattered by blunt forces). The armor also had limited heat resistance, as the inexperienced young mutant pyrokinetic Rusty Collins could generate sufficient heat to force each of the Seekers to surrender and yield their armor. A blast from Iron Man's chest concussion beam proved incapacitating to Sonic.

     Like his brothers/teammates, Sonic's armor included simple onboard computers with radar and contained jet boots that enabled flight at 150 mph.

    Sonic has a sound cannon on the chest of his armor that could generate intense sonic disruptions. He could vary the intensity of the blasts from stunning and knocking down unarmored individuals to severely paining Iron Man through his model 8 (silver centurion) armor.

    In the first demonstrated armor, Sonic could release his back unit as a "mechanical crab," which could walk across the ground and grasp and bind to others, agonizingly draining their energies. The process was virtually incapacitating even for Iron Man. Iron Man was able to destroy the crab with his pulse bolts.

    Sonic subsequently used a more compact mobile energy-leecher that he could launch to grasp onto and painfully drain the energy from a subject, much like the mechanical crab.

    Presumably to be a technician in Advanced Idea Mechanics, one had to have a significant training, experience, and aptitude in technology.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (there are not images that show his face clearly)
Hair: Orange

History:

(Iron Man I#214 (fb) - BTS) - The Bannion brothers (Daniel, Herb, and Thomas) were former members of AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) who had encountered Iron Man at least once, earning a grudge against him.

(Iron Man I#214 (fb) - BTS / Iron Manual 3#1) - The Bannions left AIM and went freelance, eventually designing their own armor and adopting the identities of the armored mercenary Seekers: Chain, Grasp, and Sonic.

(Iron Man I#214 (fb) - BTS) - The Seekers learned of the bounty on Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter).

(Iron Man I#214 (fb) - BTS) - At a hidden lab somewhere outside Denver, Colorado, the Seekers completed inspection of their secondary weapons.

(Iron Man I#214) - At Chain's order, the Seekers commencing inspection of the primary weaponry. Sonic noted his sonic cannon to be at max function. They then prepared to go catch Spider-Woman.

(Iron Man I#214 - BTS) - After Julia used her powers to save people from falling girders, a man known as Scratch contacted the Seekers to inform them of her whereabouts in exchange for a payment.

(Iron Man I#214) - The Seekers soon confronted Spider-Woman, with Sonic asking if she would give up without a hassle, or if she would make them sweat for it. Spider-Woman told them to "stuff it," but Grasp stunned her with his electrified gauntlet.

    As Chain prepared to bind her, his and Sonic's armors picked up the cloaked Iron Man approaching. After Sonic guided Chain to join him in firing on and hitting Iron Man, he decloaked and engaged them, although they dodged his initial pulse bolts.

    After Spider-Woman fled into the woods, all three Seekers confronted Iron Man. Firing into the ground, Iron Man drove them back with rock and dirt. After Iron Man hurled Grasp to the ground, Sonic -- noting that this was the second time Grasp had gotten stung -- severely pained Iron Man with his sonic cannon. As Iron Man hit the ground, Sonic acknowledged that he wouldn't stay down for long, but he took advantage of Iron Man's vulnerability to release his back unit as a "mechanical crab" that clamped around Iron Man's chest and agonizingly drained his energy.

    As Sonic taunted Iron Man, noting that killing him could be considered self defense, Iron Man channeled his pulse bolts until they reached disintegration intensity and vaporized the "crab." Iron Man then took out Sonic with his chest concussion beam.

    Spider-Woman and Iron Man finished off Chain and Grasp.

(Fantastic Four I#342 (fb) - BTS) - Herb Bannion's son, Ted, committed suicide by self-immolation in imitation of his idol, the Human Torch (Johnny Storm).

(Fantastic Four I#342 - BTS) - Daniel and Thomas spoke to Herb, noting that they thought he had been drinking too much. Nonetheless, they agreed to help him gain vengeance on the Torch.

(Fantastic Four I#342) - The Seekers confronted the Torch as he was speaking to pyrokinetic mutant Rusty Collins, and Sonic knocked down both Collins and Storm. Collins' flames caused the Seekers to become stuck in tar, and the Seekers mistakenly assumed the Torch to be the source of the flames despite his vow.

    Unclogging their jets, the Seekers took to the air and -- after Chain tracked them to Queens  -- nailed both men with fire-retardant foam. Storm and Collins narrowly escaped the taxi as Sonic destroyed it with his sound-cannon.

(Fantastic Four I#342) - After Storm and Collins fled into the basement and destroyed the fusebox, plunging it into darkness, the Seekers followed via search beams. Storm guided Rusty to douse the Seekers in flames, and after their insulation began to fail, the Seekers agreed to remove their armor in exchange for the flame barrage ceasing.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#355 (fb) - BTS) - The Seekers received new and improved armor, the expense of which made them eager to accept jobs.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#355 (fb) - BTS) - The Secret Empire hired the Seekers.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#355 (fb) - BTS) - Empire agents sent the Seekers to aid Midnight and a number of Secret Empire agents (who had captured Nova (Rich Rider)) as they battled Moon Knight, Night Thrasher, Punisher, and Spider-Man atop a Manhattan rooftop.
    Midnight was informed that reinforcements were on the way.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#355) - After the Seekers joined the fight, Midnight informed them that he could have taken them without help, but Sonic noted that the Secret Empire paid top dollar, and Chain added that they had to pay for their new armor.

    As Sonic and Chain both targeted Spider-Man with sonic cannon blasts that shattered concrete and an energy chain, the Punisher peppered Sonic with both of his automatic weapons. Undamaged, Sonic claimed to be bored by the Punisher's low-tech attack and launched his newer, more compact energy leecher at him.

    As Midnight prepared to escape with the captive Nova, Grasp noted they had fulfilled their contract by stalling the heroes sufficiently, and the Seekers flew off.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#355 - BTS) - Night Thrasher cut the energy leecher off of the Punisher.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#358 (fb) - BTS) - After Nova was freed and joined Darkhawk, Moon Knight, Night Thrasher, Punisher, and Spider-Man against the Secret Empire's forces (including Lynn Church, Midnight, and Thunderball), the Empire again paid the Seekers to engage (and this time take out) the heroes at the Empire's warehouse base.

Darkhawk I#36 - BTS) - Darkhawk and Venom swam underwater, escaping to nearby shore.

Darkhawk I#37) - The Seekers ambushed Darkhawk as he approached the Fisherman's Wharf building in which his father was being held by Louis Cale; the distraction allowed Venom to sneak into the building undetected. As Darkhawk's force field held off blasts from Chain Lightning and Fireball, Laserworks again nailed him in the back. Enraged with his father's fate and the Seekers' involvement, Darkhawk turned his shield to block blasts from all four Seekers then savagely confronted and took down Sonic and Fireball. Darkhawk subsequently manipulated Chain Lightning and Laserworks into blasting and incapacitating each other. As the last two Seekers fell into the water, Darkhawk entered the building and helped his father get free.

    The police fished the Seekers out of the bay.

Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth and Tom Morgan.

    In Spider-Man: Friends and Enemies#2, Sonic noted that they had three new members, but it looks like the same four from the Darkhawk issues, plus two more unidentified. Maybe there was a new person in one of the armors? Fireball doesn't look quite the same...Or maybe there was a seventh Seeker not shown on panel?
    The Iron Manual noted that they had TWO new members at that point.

    In their first appearance, the Seekers were a serious challenge to Iron Man (until he turned his pulse bolts on them) and Spider-Woman. It was downhill from there, as Rusty Collins pretty much defeated them with only guidance from the Torch. They briefly challenged Spider-Man and his allies in the Round Robin arc. Even aided by the Raiders and Hunters, they were no match for three Avengers. Grasp was gone when they got a beatdown by Darkhawk and then were easily taken out by the neophyte Metahumes.

    Fantastic Four I#342 had an associate of Lois Bannion comment, "She -- and the rest of her family... they never really understood Teddy the way his real friends did."
To me, since he referenced Teddy, Lois, and "The rest of her family" rather than just saying "her father," it would seem to indicate that there are more family members...presumably at least a mother still around...but we don't know anything beyond what was said.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sonic should be distinguished from:

• SONIC CANNON - government weapon designed to be mounted on the back of a Humvee and used to incapacitate others via sound--PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly#592
• SONIC CRYSTAL - subterranean, sought to weaponized by Angus Munro and Hellfire Club--Marvel Graphic Novel: Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth
  
• SONIC DISRUPTOR - weapon used by Skrull slavers of Kral IV to ensure obedience of slaves, destroyed by Fantastic Four. Able to target and destroy entire planets--Fantastic Four I#92
  
• SONIC ENHANCERS - designed by Enos Warwick, destroyed by Cardiac and Chance. Catalyzed muscle growths to increase abilities of athletes, but also caused damage to memory--Amazing Spider-Man I#388/3
  
• SONIC FIELDS of DYSTOPIA - place Sleepwalker used to go to in order to escape the turmoil of the Mindscape--[Sleepwalker#23]
• SONIC PULSE GENERATOR - device stolen from Lou & Oscar's Lab Inc by Overdrive for Mr. Negative, lost in battle with Spider-Man, taken into police custody by Carlie Cooper--Amazing Spider-Man#564
• SONIC SCRAMBLER - Atlantean tank-like weapon used by Namor against Defenders--Defenders I#95
• SONIC SPONGE - device of Annihilus', used in attempt to snuff out Human Torch's flame--Fantastic Four Annual#6
• SONICORN of Earth-Amalgam ( ) - Unicorn and Sonar--Iron Lantern#1 letters
• SONIKLAW of Earth-Amalgam - Klaw + Sonar--Magnetic Men featuring Magneto#1
• other "Sonic" characters, items, places, etc.
  

images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#214, pg. 5,  panel 5 (Seekers, standing, first demonstrated armor);
       pg. 18, panel 4 (Sonic's crab grabbing Iron Man);
Fantastic Four I#342, pg. 12, panel 5 (Seekers in flight);
       pg. 13, panel 1 (Sonic blasting Rusty Collins and Johnny Storm);
Amazing Spider-Man I#355, pg. 10, panel 2 (Seekers; second demonstrated armor);
          panel 5 (Sonic launching energy leecher);
Amazing Spider-Man I#358, pg. 10, panel 2-3 (Sonic, costume shattered, full; and face, profile);
Darkhawk I#36, pg. 2, panel 2 (Seekers; third demonstrated armor)
Spider-Man: Friends and Enemies#2, pg. 17, panel 1 (Seekers; group);
          panel 2 (taken out by Hardnose);
Iron Manual Mark 3: Seekers entry (main)

Appearances:
Iron Man I#214 (January, 1987) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Tom Morgan (artist), Ralph Macchio (managing editor), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Fantastic Four I#342 (July, 1990) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Rex Valve (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#355 (Early December, 1991) - Al Milgrom (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Randy Emberlin (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#358 (Late January, 1992) - Al Milgrom (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Randy Emberlin (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
West Coast Avengers Annual#7 (1992) - Roy Thomas (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Tim Dzon & John Tartaglione (inker), Richard Ashford (assistant editor), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Iron Man I Annual#13 (1992) - Len Kaminski (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Richard Ashford (assistant editor), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#35-37 (January-March, 1994) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Todd Smith (penciler), Ian Akin (inker), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Spider-Man: Friends and Enemies#2 (March, 1995) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Ron Lim (penciler), Mick Gray & Mark McKenna (inkers), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Iron Manual Mark 3 (June, 2010) - Ronald Hugh Byrd Jr., Anthony Flamini, Kevin Garcia, Michael Hoskin, Rob London, Mark Robert O'English, Mike O'Sullivan, Markus Raymond, Peter Sanderson, Gabriel Shechter (writers), Mario Gully (new art), Alex Starbuck (assistant editor), John Denning (associate editor), Jeff Youngquist (editor)

First posted: 01/20/2020
Last updated: 02/19/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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