Johnny Rocket

John Wade’s grandfather and namesake was the original Johnny Rocket, a superhero and member of the Liberty League in the 1940s and ‘50s. He was the youngest member of the team, and continued his crime-fighting career even after the League disbanded. John eventually settled down, married, and raised his children; his heroic identity faded into obscurity along with much of his powers, and Johnny Rocket’s last adventure was sometime in 1955. He never revealed his true identity or “officially” retired, but happily gave up superheroics for a well-deserved normal life. John Wade’s son Jacob apparently didn’t inherit his father’s powers, which suited John and his retirement just fine. Jake Wade also married and his son was born and raised in Freedom City, named after his grandfather. Johnny had a fairly normal childhood, unaware of his grandfather’s heroic exploits until his late teens, when Sonny Farris, the last surviving member of the TNTrio from the 1950s, tracked John Wade, Sr. down and blasted him and his 17-year-old grandson with a shotgun. The elder Wade had enough super-speed left to protect his grandson but not himself as well. He fell, badly hurt. The brutal attack and the need to rush his grandfather to the hospital sent a surge of adrenaline through Johnny Wade, and suddenly he was racing them both through the streets of Freedom City at super-speed! He brought his grandfather to the emergency room and immediately used his newfound powers to capture Sonny Farris. It wasn’t long before the new Johnny Rocket came to the attention of the Freedom League and they asked him to join up. Johnny accepted immediately, which is pretty much the way he did everything. He didn’t bother with a secret identity, since his real face was already splashed on TV screens and newspapers across the country from his capture of Sonny Farris. Unfortunately, that led to problems when Johnny’s other secret came out. The media cut loose when an ex-boyfriend of the Freedom Leaguer revealed that Johnny Wade was gay, and provided photographs that were plastered across tabloids worldwide. Rather than deny it, Johnny came out publicly in a live press conference and various interviews. While that derailed much of the public relations disaster, there were (and still are) conservative voices calling for Johnny Rocket’s removal from the Freedom League, citing him as a “bad influence.” The unconditional support of Johnny’s grandfather and his teammates—including the usually conservative Captain Thunder—was a great help to the young hero, both personally and publicly. John Wade made it clear to all who would listen that he was tremendously proud of his grandson and considered him a worthy successor. The other Leaguers similarly expressed their respect for their teammate and condemned any prejudice against him. Johnny used the situation to not only live openly, but to support causes he cared about, including PSAs and services for gay youth, and becoming an outspoken advocate of equal rights. Since his premier as a local hero in Freedom City, Johnny has gone from a brash and often impulsive newcomer to a seasoned veteran of the Freedom League. He has fought numerous super-criminals in Freedom City and elsewhere, including some legacies of his grandfather’s adventures, and even travelled through time to work with the original Johnny Rocket in his younger days (as John Wade revealed, once it was safe to do so without risking a time paradox). Still, the biggest moment in Johnny’s life is when he met paramedic Chris Penny and the two of them became a couple. The elder John Wade lived long enough to see marriage equality come to Freedom City and to attend his grandson’s wedding. Johnny credits his husband fornearly all of his present maturity.Chris and Johnny are raising a teenaged daughter, Jonni, who is a clone created as part of a plot by Dr. Simian.

Physical Description

Special abilities

Johnny Rocket can move and react at superhuman speed. His running surface speed is well over a hundred thousand miles per hour, far faster than any conventional vehicle. Johnny can move hundreds of miles in just seconds. His reaction time is proportionately greater as well, allowing him to take action before most people are even aware of it, and to perform routine tasks that would ordinarily take hours—from reading several books to rebuilding a machine—in the space of a few seconds. His momentum while moving is sufficient to allow Johnny to skim across the surface of water without sinking, or to run up vertical surfaces without falling. Rocket uses his speed to rain flurries of blows down on opponents, or to attack every opponent within a particular area virtually at once. By spinning his arms or running in a tight circle, he can whip up a powerful vortex of air able to blast objects away with hurricane-like force.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

It was a running joke for some time (no pun intended) that the Freedom League’s unofficial battle-cry was “Johnny, wait...!” given the speedster’s tendency to rush head-long into any situation, usually at many times the speed of sound. Time and experience—along with the guidance of his grandfather—helped to cool Johnny’s famous hot-head tendencies. In particular, coming out and becoming a role-model had a tremendously sobering influence on Johnny, as did becoming a mentor and, later, a partner and husband. While Johnny Rocket retains his famous devil-may-care attitude and talent for talking a mile a minute while moving even faster, he is considerably more cautious. This particularly true when he is leading the Freedom League in the field, as he is now responsible for the team’s junior members, a position he remembers well. Johnny is a kind, sincere guy who loves being a superhero and helping people. When not off on Freedom League missions or spending time with family and friends, he supports charity events (especially for the LGBT community) and does “odd jobs” all around Freedom City, lending a hand at super-speed, quick enough to do a day’s work in practically the blink of an eye.

Current Location

Freedom City

Species

Human

Year of Birth

1981

Gender

Male

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Blonde

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

White

Height

5'10''

Weight

165 lbs