SHOCKWAVE

PERSONAL DATA

• Alter Ego: Grant Emerson
• Occupation: College Student
• Group Affiliation: Guardians, Titans, 7 Thunders
• Known Relatives: Al Pratt (Atom I, natural father, deceased), Mary Pratt (natural mother, deceased), John and Kate Emerson (adoptive parents, deceased), Neil Emerson (Dr. Polaris, uncle)
• Base of Operations: Empire City
• Known Aliases: Damage

HISTORY

Shockwave is the code-name used by Grant Emerson during his time with the Guardians. When Grant's powers first activated he started calling himself Damage because of the destruction that usually resulted whenever he used his powers. To avoid arrest for the damage caused during Grant's battles against various threats he agreed to be a part of the then-government sponsored New Titans team. Grant eventually quit the team, but without their backing he had to go into hiding to avoid arrest. During this period, Grant was one of several young heroes selected by the mysterious Source to help save the Earth. This informal group dubbed themselves the Seven Thunders.

Some time after the Seven Thunders' sole mission Grant was contacted by his fellow Thunder, Jackie Sellers, aka Tazer of the Guardians. Jackie had wanted to set Grant up on a date with her roommate, Debbie, who was also a member of the Guardians. Grant agreed and came to Empire City to met Jackie and Debbie. During their date, however, there was a battle with a super-villain and it appeared that the public (and government) would learn that Damage was in Empire City. Grant's exposure was averted by the quick thinking of the Guardian's resident sorcerer Rift who used his magic to create a costume concealing Grant's identity and announced to the press that the "unknown hero" was in fact the Guardians' newest member, Shockwave.

At first Grant was leery of becoming a full-time hero again, especially after all the damage he had caused before, but after the team's leader, Paladin, adapted one of the Human Bomb's regulator belts to help Grant control his powers he agreed to keep the Shockwave identity and join the team. Grant was only with the Guardians a short time before the team faced their greatest battle, and lost. During the coming of the Millennium Giants one of the Giants, Sekhmet, threatened to destroy Empire City and the Guardians battled in vain to stop it. During the battle Shockwave tried to stop Sekhmet by piloting the Guardians' jet on a collision course with the Giant, figuring his powers would give him the best chance of the whole team of surviving. Before he could even get the jet close to Sekhmet, however, the Giant destroyed the plane in a massive blast of energy. The power in the blast completely overwhelmed the regulator belt and Grant's power to absorb energy overloaded and he exploded. Stunned from the sudden release of energy Grant fell into the sea and was thought lost.

Eventually, Grant made it to shore but when he returned to Empire City he could find no trace of the team. After a few weeks of fruitless searching Grant went on the run again, surfacing briefly to try out for the the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans. When that failed he went underground again until recently, when the outstanding charges against him were dropped (actually they had been deleted from the government's computers) and he joined the newest Titans team.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Vandal Savage once stated that Grant was the most powerful metahuman on planet with the possible exception of Superman. Grant's problem is that he has no control over that power. At this point in time Grant's power manifests itself in battle by steadily increasing his physical power, making him stronger as time goes by. Damage can also direct his power as an energy blast or a concussive force that causes objects to explode. Grant also absorbs energy that is directed at him. The problems start when Grant's power levels increase to a point where he has difficulty controlling them. When this happens the power levels start to increase rapidly until Grant's body expels the energy in a violent explosion, which usually winds up leveling several blocks of real-estate and leaves Grant about as powerful as the average American teenager.

As Shockwave, Grant wore a modified version of one of the second Human Bomb's regulator belts. When Grant's internal power level reached too high a point, the belt would kick in and neutralize the power, reducing Grant to a normal human power level but without the usual massive explosion. Damage has been steadily working on controlling his powers and has recently been trying to learn to use his powers to fly. Brief encounters with future incarnations of himself indicate that Grant will eventually master the power of flight and will also gain telepathic powers and even the ability to travel through time.