Chris Nutall
Mar 4, 2006, 04:57 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/headshots/elijah-snow.gif"align=left hspace=10 alt="Elijah Snow">Real name: Elijah Snow
Known alias: Fourth Man
First appearance: Planetary (Vol.1) # 1
Known relatives: Uncle Caleb (presumed dead).
Known allies: Jakita Wagner, The Drummer, Ambrose Chase (presumed deceased) Axel Brass, John Stone, Jenny Sparks (deceased), Anna Hark, Sherlock Holmes (deceased).
Major enemies: The Four, Alien Authority
Eyes: White
Hair: White
Elijah Snow is a century baby, one of a number of people born at the turn of the century, and has dedicated his life to finding the secret history of the world. Starting young, Snow crossed paths with a very old Sherlock Holmes in 1919 and was trained by the great detective in the art of deduction. Building the Planetary organisation, Snow charted the secret history of the world, writing ‘planetary guides’ that exposed the secret history. (Several of the guides fell into unworthy hands, including Lovecroft, Hark and Dr Dowling of the Four Voyagers). In at least one case Snow didn’t include the entire story in the Guide, therefore indirectly sabotaging an attempt to access the Dreaming.
It is not clear when Snow first became aware of the Four Voyagers. (Logic suggests something in the 1970s). The Four Voyagers, ruthless superhumans determined to control the world from behind the scenes (including exercising a degree of control over Stormwatch and the US Military) were acting to hoard information about the secret history, keeping it only to themselves. Snow confronted them and vowed to oppose them at all costs. After a long twilight conflict between Planetary and the Four (including covert raids on secret superhuman factories), the Four seemed victorious – capturing and wiping Snow’s mind of his memory of their existence.
(Despite Snow’s horror at the Four Voyagers’ intentions and secrecy, he has acted in a similar manner himself from time to time, hoarding items that might prove of value in the struggle. He has also acted to destroy a massive spacecraft that might have provided many answers to humanity, simply to get rid of Jacob Greene.)
The remainder of the Planetary field team, however, needed Snow back and took the risk of recovering him and ‘re-recruiting’ him, while trying to keep the memory blocks intact. Snow joined the team, but discovered that his blocks were slipping, particularly after a confrontation with one of the Four. Snow set out to discover the truth and finally broke through the blocks in 1999.
Since then, Snow and Planetary have waged a war against the Four and their allies, destroying an attempt to access the Dreaming, capturing William Leather and stranding Jacob Greene on a monstrous starship. Snow’s actions have caused some concern among his allies; he removed Leather from custody and tortured him until he revealed the history of the Four Voyagers. The Drummer, however, believes that Snow’s purpose on Earth is to preserve things, and his actions are intended to do just that – i.e. stranding Greene to avoid killing him, hiding Leather to avoid drawing the Four’s fire onto the rest of the team. This has not yet been conclusively proven.
Snow, as a century baby, has power over an element, in his case cold. Snow can freeze the air around him, or freeze someone’s brain, or create ice from nowhere. He also appears to have some degree of super-strength, although not as much as Wagner (or Superman). Snow’s main ability, however, is his mind: he is extremely clever and cunning, as well as having a matchless knowledge of the hidden traps in the Earth.
Personality wise, however, Snow is a mixed bag. He is capable of ruthlessness and stunning cruelty (witness his treatment of the Invisible Man and Dracula and his method of disposing of Jacob Greene). At least when mind wiped, Snow was extremely intolerant of the Drummer’s quirks. On the other hand, he is capable of generosity (using part of his vast wealth to help Mrs Chase), love, and moral outrage. Snow also apparently disliked Jenny Sparks, at least at first, and denied sleeping with her, as did she. It has recently been proven that Snow outlasted Sparks, thus proving that he may not be dependent upon the 100year rule.
Snow has also shown considerable bravery, placing himself fearlessly in the firing line time and time again, including taking a direct part in raids on the Four’s installations. During several of those missions, however, he imperilled the team’s safety, once by permitting a very young Drummer to damage the computers – and causing the building to explode – and again by taunting Dr Dowling after he recovered parts of his memory.
Appearances:
Planetary 1-8, 10-20, ongoing.
Planetary/Authority: Ruling the World.
Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth.
Planetary/JLA.
The Monarchy #5 (cameo).
Known alias: Fourth Man
First appearance: Planetary (Vol.1) # 1
Known relatives: Uncle Caleb (presumed dead).
Known allies: Jakita Wagner, The Drummer, Ambrose Chase (presumed deceased) Axel Brass, John Stone, Jenny Sparks (deceased), Anna Hark, Sherlock Holmes (deceased).
Major enemies: The Four, Alien Authority
Eyes: White
Hair: White
Elijah Snow is a century baby, one of a number of people born at the turn of the century, and has dedicated his life to finding the secret history of the world. Starting young, Snow crossed paths with a very old Sherlock Holmes in 1919 and was trained by the great detective in the art of deduction. Building the Planetary organisation, Snow charted the secret history of the world, writing ‘planetary guides’ that exposed the secret history. (Several of the guides fell into unworthy hands, including Lovecroft, Hark and Dr Dowling of the Four Voyagers). In at least one case Snow didn’t include the entire story in the Guide, therefore indirectly sabotaging an attempt to access the Dreaming.
It is not clear when Snow first became aware of the Four Voyagers. (Logic suggests something in the 1970s). The Four Voyagers, ruthless superhumans determined to control the world from behind the scenes (including exercising a degree of control over Stormwatch and the US Military) were acting to hoard information about the secret history, keeping it only to themselves. Snow confronted them and vowed to oppose them at all costs. After a long twilight conflict between Planetary and the Four (including covert raids on secret superhuman factories), the Four seemed victorious – capturing and wiping Snow’s mind of his memory of their existence.
(Despite Snow’s horror at the Four Voyagers’ intentions and secrecy, he has acted in a similar manner himself from time to time, hoarding items that might prove of value in the struggle. He has also acted to destroy a massive spacecraft that might have provided many answers to humanity, simply to get rid of Jacob Greene.)
The remainder of the Planetary field team, however, needed Snow back and took the risk of recovering him and ‘re-recruiting’ him, while trying to keep the memory blocks intact. Snow joined the team, but discovered that his blocks were slipping, particularly after a confrontation with one of the Four. Snow set out to discover the truth and finally broke through the blocks in 1999.
Since then, Snow and Planetary have waged a war against the Four and their allies, destroying an attempt to access the Dreaming, capturing William Leather and stranding Jacob Greene on a monstrous starship. Snow’s actions have caused some concern among his allies; he removed Leather from custody and tortured him until he revealed the history of the Four Voyagers. The Drummer, however, believes that Snow’s purpose on Earth is to preserve things, and his actions are intended to do just that – i.e. stranding Greene to avoid killing him, hiding Leather to avoid drawing the Four’s fire onto the rest of the team. This has not yet been conclusively proven.
Snow, as a century baby, has power over an element, in his case cold. Snow can freeze the air around him, or freeze someone’s brain, or create ice from nowhere. He also appears to have some degree of super-strength, although not as much as Wagner (or Superman). Snow’s main ability, however, is his mind: he is extremely clever and cunning, as well as having a matchless knowledge of the hidden traps in the Earth.
Personality wise, however, Snow is a mixed bag. He is capable of ruthlessness and stunning cruelty (witness his treatment of the Invisible Man and Dracula and his method of disposing of Jacob Greene). At least when mind wiped, Snow was extremely intolerant of the Drummer’s quirks. On the other hand, he is capable of generosity (using part of his vast wealth to help Mrs Chase), love, and moral outrage. Snow also apparently disliked Jenny Sparks, at least at first, and denied sleeping with her, as did she. It has recently been proven that Snow outlasted Sparks, thus proving that he may not be dependent upon the 100year rule.
Snow has also shown considerable bravery, placing himself fearlessly in the firing line time and time again, including taking a direct part in raids on the Four’s installations. During several of those missions, however, he imperilled the team’s safety, once by permitting a very young Drummer to damage the computers – and causing the building to explode – and again by taunting Dr Dowling after he recovered parts of his memory.
Appearances:
Planetary 1-8, 10-20, ongoing.
Planetary/Authority: Ruling the World.
Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth.
Planetary/JLA.
The Monarchy #5 (cameo).