Supersonic

Supersonic
Real name	Dale Enright
Aliases
Gender	Male
Nationality	American
Occupation	Engineer
Affiliations
Marital status	Single
Base of operations	Phoenix, Arioza; Astro City
Alignment	Good
Publication
Creators	Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson
First appearance	Astro City: Local Heroes #4

Ah, the old days. Back when I was younger, thinner, faster. And not just physically. Everything was a game then. Challenging, exciting --

--Dale Enright

 

Dale Enright is a superhero of Astro City. Once a simple engineer, Enright had fallen victim to a caustic explosion which gave him superhuman abilities. 

History

Dale Enright was an engineer working for Hillman Holdaway Aircraft in Phoenix, Arizona when a wind tunnel accident involving experimental turbines imbued him with superpowers. Calling himself Supersonic and adopting a jet motif, he became a crimefighter who enjoyed a long and storied career. He fought a wide range of super-powered criminals, including the Red Dahlia, the Kirlian Man, and Mr. Teleport; and confronted the Radium Ants, the Ogliarchons, and other threats. Rather than simply rely on his superpowers, Supersonic used his analytical mind and engineering knowledge to outwit nearly all of his opponents. He faced enemies all over the globe, often defended Phoenix and Astro City, ventured into space, and even traveled through time on at least one occasion. He even died once, beaten to death by Lady Lethal, but that proved temporary.

While living in Arizona, Enright formed friendships with a young woman named Caroleen and local police lieutenant Ed Robbins. Enright hid his dual identity as Supersonic from his friends, even after his relationship with Caroleen became romantic. The observant Robbins did eventually discover Enright’s secret, but kept this information to himself for decades.

Over the years, Enright’s mental agility began to wane, either due to age, some sort of power change, or perhaps simply “one too many knocks to the head.” The plans and wild ideas he employed to defeat his foes no longer came to him so easily. Realizing that his physical and mental prowess had diminished, Enright retired from superheroics. Caroleen and Dale (now married, his identity known to her) settled down in Phoenix, where they lived together until Caroleen died from a terminal illness.

After Caroleen’s death, Dale relocated to Astro City, hoping that in a city with so many superheroes, he would never be required to put on his costume again. However, he was coaxed out of retirement by Ed Robbins to combat one of Ominuss’ rampaging robots in the Hartley neighborhood, at a time when all of the city's other superheroes happened to be unavailable. Supersonic managed to defeat the robot through brute force and sheer will, but returned to retirement immediately afterward.

Dale Enright spends his retirement focused on gardening and other domestic activities.

Powers and Abilities

• Unique Physiology: A turbine accident caused an explosion which granted Dale Enright the ability to move at superhuman speeds as well as the strength of the industrial planes of which the turbines were designed for. 
  • Superhuman Speed: Supersonic is well known for the extreme speed at which he flies and maneuvers. He can turn on a dime, fly alongside jets- and his speed extends to his mental capacities, allowing him to learn quicker than the average mind. He can spin his hands to create a cyclone, he can even generate enough speed to propel himself through space. 
  • Superhuman Strength: Supersonic can lift objects much larger and heavier than he is; this includes parts of buildings and space shuttles among many others. He can lift objects out of the ocean and crush immense robots with significant effort.
  • Superhuman Durability: Supersonic is bulletproof. However, he is not invulnerable and can take damage if significant damage is done- though it takes a considerable ffort to truly harm him. He's been seen, even in his older age, to be punching through durable armors without any damage being to done to himself.
  • Accelerated Healing: Supersonic was beaten to death once. He even had a funeral held because of it. However, he eventually recovered and remarked  that he had not died but was beaten within an inch of his life. Despite his age, his body was still in well enough shape that he could return to duty should he have pushed himself to do so.
  • Tactical Analysis: Supersonic would much rather use his tactical sense and sense of style rather than push his way through his opponents. He routinely outwitted his enemies by traveling through time, splitting into multiple versions of himself and using their own technology against them. He always had a clever way of controlling a situation.  

Trivia

• Supersonic was once seemingly killed when Lady Lethal pummeled him to death. However, after a few days after his initial "death" he revived on the autopsy table.  

Appearances

This list is incomplete. 

Astro City: Local Heroes #4 - Knock Wood Astro City Special: Supersonic #1 - Old Times Astro City: A Visitor's Guide #1 - A Visitor's Guide

Gallery

 

External links

• Supersonic at Comic Book Database