History
Yz is the real name of Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt, an invisible pink anthropomorphic thunderbolt-shaped magic genie who can do about anything if it has a human guide to steer it.
In 1940, the young Johnny Thunder became its master by saying the magic words "Cei-U" (or "say you" - which is "Yz" backwards) and they had many wonderful adventures together during the 1940s. Originally the Thunderbolt was believed to come from the Asian land of Badhnisia, but was recently revealed to be an djinn from the 5th Dimension.
In recent years, Johnny Thunder has suffered from Alzheimer's, and other potential heroes have become the Thunderbolt's master, first Johnny's ward Kiku, and later the reluctant hero Jakeem "J.J." Thunder, who currently works with the JSA. (The Thunderbolt also seems to have transferred some powers to Johnny Thunder's biological son, William Twotrees a.k.a. Will Power.)
Currently, Yz resides in a magic pen and is called into action when Jakeem clicks it and says the words "so cool". For a while, the Thunderbolt was merged with his archenemy, the blue djinn known as Lkz, into a purple Thunderbolt. Now it seems like the pink Yz is on his own again, or if not, at least he is the dominant part. He also merged with Johnny Thunder's soul, and became Johnny Thunderbolt, with an Yz appearance but with Johnny's mind, and now the original master is the genie.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Invisibility: In his initial appearances, Thunderbolt remained invisible, so Johnny thought that the supernatural things that happened to him were a consequence of his own abilities or personal luck. [1]
- Reality Alteration
- Electro-Blast
Weaknesses
- Exact Command: Thunderbolt's abilities, thanks to his magical powers, are quite vast; however, he is limited by only being able to execute Jakeem's (or, originally, Johnny's) exactly worded order. Yz must always follow the orders to the letter; if the user speaks a slang when giving an order, he will interpret it literally [2].
- Vulnerability to Water: Because of his electrical nature, Yz is damaged when he is in contact with water.[3].
- Power Limitation: Yz is ruled by strange djinn laws: For example, when he was with Johnny Thunder in Cuba, he refused any order from Johnny if not spoken in Spanish [4]. Killing seems to be a taboo under these laws, and Yz can't fill orders to kill anyone [5].
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and no longer apply.
- In Flash Comics #69, the Thunderbolt's wife, Mildred, calls him "Archibald".
- In Pre-Crisis, Thunderbolt came from Thunderbolt Dimension, a place with electrical-based lifeforms. [6].
Related
- 279 Appearances of Yz (New Earth)
- 42 Images featuring Yz (New Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Yz (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Yz (New Earth)
Footnotes
  Justice Society of America member |