Night Thrasher: Dwayne Taylor Appreciation 2020

[taozen]

Dwayne Michael Taylor had a privileged yet difficult childhood. He witnessed his parents being killed in front of him as a child and vowed vengeance every sense. Sound familiar? It should. Dwayne forgot about how his parents died and the face of their killer. He trained himself for years and became Night Thrasher. Honestly he is a combination of Batman, Tony Stark (gifted inventor and engineer but not a genius) and a dash of the Punisher. He was originally written as very angry and would often lose control. This was a common and cliched habit that many writers would give Black character but that is a story for another thread. During the day, he ran the Taylor Foundation which he inherited from his parents. Like I said it is a bit familiar narrative. By night, he trained and began to patrol the streets. After donning the mantle of the night's seeker of justice, he decides that he would be more effective if he formed a superhero group. Inspired by the Fantastic Four, his original intent is to have a total for 4 member. He finds 5 other heroes to join him and the New Warriors are born.




I became a fan of Night Thrasher as a kid reading the New Warriors. I always had an appreciation of heroes with martial arts training and this character fit the bill perfectly.

Creators:
Night Thrasher was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz and first appeared on the last page in The Mighty Thor issue 411 in 1989 and fully in the next issue of The Mighty Thor #412.

Power suit Origin:
Dwayne had formed a partnership with two mutants, Silhouette and Midnight's fire, before he formed the Warriors but their partnership ended when Silhouette was paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet. Silhouette's brother, Midnight's Fire, blamed Dwayne, and began to try to draw Dwayne into a confrontation. Forced to choose sides Silhouette sided with Dwayne, distancing herself from her brother's evil. It was because of the threat of Midnight's Fire that Dwayne built his power suit. Fire mutant powers gives him physical capabilities just beyond Captain America's so Dwayne had a reason to fear him.

Physical Stats:
Height: 6’3” Reading the New Warriors book, I did not realized Dwayne was so tall. Most artist do not show his height IMO.
Weight: 220 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black


Abilities:

Thrash is an excellent hand to hand fighting combatant and is trained in various martial arts. Some listing have him so proficient that he is considered a master of at least one. He is an excellent acrobat/gymnast, a talented designer of battle-suits and small armaments, and a good computer hacker. His strength was enhanced by his Mark II combat armor, but not to a superhuman degree.

According to the villain Genecide, Dwayne has unspecified "advanced DNA". In issue #10 of the original New Warriors series, Emma Frost states he was somehow immune to her telepathic scans. The advanced DNA aspect of his genetics has never been explored and has great story and character development potential.

I have always believed that Thrash has good potential as a character but is often ignored and underutilized. And since a there is a New Warriors comic being released this year, it is a great time to appreciate its founding member.

[taozen]

Thrash bring Nova, Richard Rider, back into the game:

New-Warriors-team-earliest-thrasher-recruiting-Nova.jpg

[taozen]

An example of his dynamic combat skills:

Night-Thrasher-vs-Bengal.jpg

[taozen]

Here is Thrash taking on the Punisher and he get the upper hand on him;

[taozen]

Thrash vs his archrival Midnight Fire:
midknightfire vs thrash.jpg

[taozen]

Just a cool comic opening show when he began his tangle with Frank Castle:

[Hypestyle]

I would like to see Night Thrasher mentor Miles Morales for a while. Could be interesting. You don't get to see "batman/spider-man" in any other setting for legal reason..

[dkrook]

I would like to see Night Thrasher mentor Miles Morales for a while. Could be interesting. You don't get to see "batman/spider-man" in any other setting for legal reason..

It would be Interesting to see if Night Thrasher's style, methodology, and edge rub off onto Miles being that he's still young and impressionable. It would be like if the Prowler was a full on hero and mentored Miles.

[taozen]

Anyone know where this is from? Punisher comic? Is it worth picking up for Thrash content?

jailed.jpg