THE SHAPER
Real Name: Barton Ford
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Affiliations: None known
Enemies: Darkhawk, Portal, and the NYPD
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None used
Base of Operations: East Village, New York, NY
First Appearance: Darkhawk#42, August 1994
Powers/Abilities:
Shaper possesses the ability the remold inorganic matter into any shape he
desires; through his touch; his touch is also lethal to all organic matter.
Shaper can also direct the energy source from his powers into flight.
During combat, Shaper wore "shaped" armor of his own design, the specifications
of which are unknown.
History: (DH 42) Having previously committed at least three murders in the name of his art, sculptor Barton Ford sought for ways to capture the deaths of superbeings in statue form. Fortunately for Ford, a strange piece of metal had recently come into his possession. Attempting to weld the metal onto one of his works, Ford reeled with shock when the metal began to glow, and exploded. Ford soon discovered the explosion had given him the ability to reshape any object he touched. And, thanks to his nosy landlord, Ford also discovered how his new ability functioned against organic material. Learning of Darkhawk's interference in an armored car heist perpetuated by a friend of his, Ford dubbed himself the Shaper, molded a suit of armor, and flew off to make Darkhawk his first superpowered victim.
(DH 43) Searching for Darkhawk, Shaper arrived too
late for a confrontation, and childishly destroyed some property.
Continuing his search, Shaper instead ran into Portal; who had been
filling in for Darkhawk. Being an equal opportunity nutcase, Shaper launched
a surprise attack, knocking Portal off-balance, and destroying a chimney.
Portal then teleported to ground level, to save some civilians; leaving
himself open for Shaper's next blindside attack. Fighting in the middle of
the street; Shaper callously killed three construction workers who had stood
between himself and Portal. Watching the battle on the news, Chris
Powell resolved to help somehow, and rushed to the scene.
(DH 44) After letting the deaths of the construction
workers slow down Shaper, Portal attacks, and seems to take the upper hand.
Shaper uses a mailbox as a weapon, temporarily keeping Portal at bay; until
Portal finally wises up and teleports in and out of the ersatz battlefield,
blasting Shaper at will. The battle rages back and forth, until the combatants
end up in a parking
garage.
Sneaking into the garage, Chris Powell distracts Shaper with a belt, and gets his butt thrown across the room for the effort. After passing on the reason for his appearance, Powell passes out. Portal returns to the fight, and uses his ingenuity, coupled with some handy alien gadgets, to put Shaper down for the count. When Powell wakes up just a short while later, he finds Portal about to kill Shaper; and places himself in danger to prevent that act. Finally seeing the light of reason, Portal agrees to spare Shaper, and instead have him incarcerated.
Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth, Nick Choles, and Tod Smith. After the cancellation of the Darkhawk title, Shaper's fate was left unknown. Unlike most creations of the 90's, Shaper had both an interesting appearance and unique powers; he could make an interesting return.
CLARIFICATIONS: The Shaper
should not be confused with:
Profile by the Ex-Whaler
Last updated: 07/19/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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