Hazard (DC Comics)
Hazard (Rebecca "Becky" Sharpe) is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.[1]
| Hazard | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Infinity Inc. #34 |
| Created by | Roy Thomas |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Rebecca "Becky" Sharpe |
| Team affiliations | Injustice Society |
| Abilities | Psionic powers that can alter probability as she wishes. |
Hazard made her live-action debut on the fourth season of The Flash, portrayed by Sugar Lyn Beard.
Fictional character biography
During the anti-hero mania that was sweeping the US (during the Legends mini-series, 1986), Miss Rebecca Sharpe took the opportunity to avenge the death of her grandfather, Steven Sharpe III alias the Gambler. Rebecca took the name Hazard and joined with Wizard in his new Injustice Society – which he called Injustice Unlimited. However, she refused to allow anyone to be killed, nor would she cause anyone's death in the process. They overcame the security at the International Trade Conference in Calgary—namely Infinity, Inc. and a contingent of the Global Guardians—and forced the heroes to help in some mayhem. Hazard took Wildcat and the Tasmanian Devil to Las Vegas and, with their help, financially ruined Mr. Taj, proprietor of the Taj Mahal Casino - it had been the crooked games of the casino which were in part to blame for her grandfather's suicide. They all returned to Calgary to share in the stolen wealth which the Wizard had been gathering but the plan went haywire when Hourman (Rick Tyler) revived and freed himself, as well as when Solomon Grundy was brought in from the Arctic Circle. It was Solomon who incapacitated Hazard, but in the confusion she was able to escape.[2]
Only weeks later, Hazard joined again with the villains Icicle and Artemis, along with the Harlequin (Marcie Cooper). Harlequin brought in the Dummy and a duped Solomon Grundy. Under the leadership of the Dummy, their first goal was to murder the members of Infinity, Inc. so that the world and the criminal underworld would know and fear Injustice Unlimited. Though Hazard had previously voiced an unwillingness to take life, she consented to the murder of the super-powered Infinitors. The first target was Skyman, and he was successfully murdered by Harlequin. Within days Hazard joined with Harlequin and the Dummy to murder Pat Dugan working at Stellar Studios (the Infinity, Inc. HQ) outside Los Angeles. When Pat's young son became a collateral target, however, Hazard used her powers of probability manipulation to help save their lives – the Dummy decided instead to use Dugan as bait for the rest of the Infinitors. When the other heroes arrived at their HQ and the battle was begun, Hazard feigned the loss of her dice and did not join in. Afterwards, when the villains were successfully defeated, Hazard voluntarily entered into custody for her role in the criminal events.[3]
Hazard last appeared with several other villainesses who were hunting male superheroes who had been turned into animals by Circe. This takes place in a magically entrapped New York City.[4]
Powers and abilities
Hazard has psionic powers that she uses in conjunction with special dice to influence probability as she wishes. She can cause good luck or harmful "accidents" to befall someone. The origin of her powers, nature of her dice, and the relationship between them are unknown. In addition, she keeps herself in good physical condition but has no known training in hand-to-hand combat.
Family
- Steven Sharpe III is Rebecca's grandfather and was the original Gambler who vexed the original Justice Society in the late 1940s.
- Steven Sharpe V is Rebecca's cousin. He has taken over their grandfather's criminal mantle as the current Gambler.
Other characters named Hazard
Rebecca Sharpe is not the only person to take up the name Hazard:
Manuel Cabral is the head of Rainforest Technology who takes up the name Hazard when he leads the Black Ops. He and the Black Ops have clashed with Steel many times.[5]
On Earth-2 as part of "The New 52" reboot, Roger Sharpe is a man operating in Casablanca. When Hawkgirl arrived in Casablanca while investigating the death of Alan Scott's fiancé Sam Zhao, she encountered Roger Sharpe using the alias of Darcy Twain at the Double Zero Casino.[6]
In other media
Rebecca Sharpe / Hazard makes her live-action debut in the The Flash season four, portrayed by Sugar Lyn Beard.[7] Introduced in the episode, "Luck Be a Lady" Rebecca "Becky" Sharpe is a young woman plagued with bad luck until she was exposed to dark matter following the Barry Allen's return from the Speed Force during a previous episode. After acquiring the power to emit a field that alters local probability, bringing her good luck while causing bad luck to everyone else, she successfully robbed a bank and prevented the Flash and the authorities from stopping her. Dubbed "Hazard" by Vibe, Sharpe sees this new power and its effects on those around her as retribution for her previous suffering. As she continues to benefit from her new power, the field expands and threatens to engulf all of Central City until a burst of energy from the destabilized S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator negates her power temporarily, allowing the Flash is able to capture Sharpe and remand her to Iron Heights Penitentiary. In the episode "True Colors", after Barry is framed and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, he and Sharpe befriend each other. While escaping from Iron Heights alongside Kilg%re, Dwarfstar and Black Bison after learning the warden planned on selling them to Blacksmith, she confesses to not wishing harm on anyone and being afraid of her powers, though Barry inspires her to use her powers for good. Even in spite of the warden exposing Barry' identity, Sharpe chooses to help him by stopping the warden, her fellow prisoners, and Blacksmith. However, the Thinker appears and uses an energy blast to disable the prisoners' powers before stealing them and transferring his consciousness into Sharpe's body, killing them all in the process.[8] In the following episode, "Subject 9", the Thinker continues to use Sharpe's body to fulfill his plans before transferring his consciousness to Fiddler's body due to the build-up of dark matter.
References
- Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- Infinity Inc #35-37 (1987). DC COmics.
- Infinity Inc #51-53 (1988). DC Comics.
- Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #175. DC Comics.
- Steel Vol. 2 #0. DC Comics.
- Earth 2 #15. DC Comics.
- "The Flash' Casts Sugar Lyn Beard as Hazard (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
- http://comicbook.com/dc/2018/01/31/the-flash-season-4-episode-13-true-colors-preview/