Goldface
Goldface is a DC Comics fictional supervillain character, originally a foe of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and later The Flash. He is the ex-husband of Blacksmith. A version of the character appeared in the fifth season and sixth season of The Flash, played by actor Damion Poitier.
Goldface | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Green Lantern #38 (July, 1965) |
Created by | Gil Kane |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Keith Kenyon |
Team affiliations | Union 242 Underground Society |
Abilities | Superhuman strength, durability, stamina and agility due to gold-based elixir Former Abilities His serum also bestowed radiation emission, energy cancellation and Chrysopoeia; gold transmutation |
Publication history
Goldface was first seen in Green Lantern #38 (July 1965)[1] and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane.
Fictional character biography
Keith Kenyon is a criminal scientist. He drinks a gold-based serum he has been working on. This grants him superhuman strength and invulnerability. He also exhibits a golden glow.
Gold being yellow gives him a great advantage over the superhero Green Lantern, as the hero's powers do not work on that color. However, Goldface is defeated while trying to steal sunken gold needed for his endeavors.[2]
Goldface creates gold-plated armor and a 'gold-gun' which sprays liquid gold. After many clashes with Green Lantern, Kenyon decides to change his motif and ruthlessly began taking over criminal empires. Over time, his flesh itself became a kind of organic metal.[1]
At some point, his origin was retconned so that he was not a criminal scientist by trade, but a student of political science at the University of California, Coast City, who had discovered a sunken chest of gold contaminated by toxic waste that gave him his powers. The son of a prominent labor union leader, Kenyon initially rebelled against his blue-collar father by pursuing great wealth through a career as a super-criminal.[1]
Kenyon eventually moves to Central City and becomes a foe of the Flash (Barry Allen). After serving time, Kenyon moves to Keystone City and, following in his father's footsteps, becomes an honest union leader himself, and now leads Keystone City's largest labor force.[1]
He was most recently a supporting character in the stories of Wally West, the previous Flash, prominently featured in a story arc that had his ex-wife Blacksmith and her Rogues taking over Keystone and Central City.[3]
His activities after the One Year Later jump are unknown, but he is later seen incarcerated and killed by Tomar-Tu after the latter becomes a Darkstar.[4]
Powers and abilities
Goldface's skin has been altered by exposure to his elixir making him nearly invulnerable to damage. His elixir enhanced his strength, agility, and endurance. He wears armor crafted from the gold he found, which offers some protection from physical and energy attacks, and he often utilizes weapons based on the gold he found. Keith's serum once bestowed upon him the ability to project low frequency emissions of ultraviolet radiation which he called "Auric Energy". With this "Auric Energy", Goldface not only boasted resistance to opposing energies besides Green Will energy, but he could also change anything or anyone affected by its spread into pure solid gold.[5] He used a prop weapon called his Gold Gun to hide the fact the energy projection was a natural ability given by the concoction that empowers him, making it seem that the energy came from the gun rather than himself.[6] These so-called "Auric Energy" powers seemingly faded away over time, however.
In other media
Goldface appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by an uncredited Lex Lang. He appears as a recent member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society. This version can turn anyone to gold by touching them similar to King Midas. He is first seen in "Dead Reckoning" during the raid on Gorilla City turning the gorillas into gold. When the Secret Society holds a meeting with Luthor to discuss their plans, Luthor makes an example out of Goldface and uses a device on his belt to hurt Goldface's face. He survived, for he was then seen during the mutiny within the Secret Society, when he sided against Gorilla Grodd and was subsequently frozen by Killer Frost and blown up by Darkseid along with the other mutineers.
A different type of Goldface appears in the Green Lantern: The Animated Series spin-off comics. This version is a surviving member of Razer's species named Tajz and was given his abilities by Zillius Zox to take out the Interceptor crew.
Goldface appears in The Flash episode "Goldfaced," portrayed by Damion Poitier. This version is an African-American metahuman with the ability to turn sections of his body to gold, as well as manipulate items made of gold. He operated a black market dealing in stolen high-grade technology for use in robbery and against law enforcement. In addition, Goldface is Blacksmith's ex-boyfriend. Using aliases, Barry Allen and Ralph Dibny infiltrate Goldface's black market to obtain a Neuro-Stasis Field Generator to use against Cicada. Despite his initial suspicions of them, Goldface agrees to give them what they want in exchange for their assistance in a heist at Ivo Laboratories to steal life-saving technology. Unable to go through with the theft, Barry and Ralph take down Goldface's men, even though they had earlier been rendered powerless by Goldface's Meta-Cuffs. They then battle Goldface himself, with Barry managing to defeat him by tricking him into striking an electrical box; causing his gold to melt off and leaving him unconscious. In the episode "Love is a Battlefield", Goldface ends up in a turf war with Blacksmith as both were after the Rappaccini's Daughter flower. Thanks to a strategy by the Flash, pollen from the flower was released and caused the two crime lords to hear what they really think about each other.
References
- Greenberger, Robert (2008), "Goldface", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 140, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017
- Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 144. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- Geoff Johns (w), Scott Kolins (p). "Crossfire" The Flash v2, 183-188 (April–September 2002)
- Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #44. DC Comics.
- Green Lantern Vol 2 #38/48 (1965-6)
- Green Lantern Vol 2 #48 (1966)
External links
- Green-Lantern era Goldface profile from the DCUGuide site
- A more recent profile from a Flash fansite