A Justice League Hero’s Parent Almost Became a STONE-COLD Killer

In the Terrifics, one of the smartest men in the DC Universe showed just how ruthless he could really be in battle.

Warning: The following contains spoilers from The Terrifics #27 by Gene Luen Yang, Sergio Davila, Vicente Cifuentes, Protobunker, and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.

Doctor Silas Stone is the father of Justice League team member Victor Stone, Cyborg. He is also a member of the T-Council, an organization of scientists formed by fellow scientific genius Mister Terrific. While Doctor Stone has never been the nicest person in the DC Universe, The Terrifics #27 saw him nearly become a cold-blooded killer.

Having worked for S.T.A.R. Labs, Dr. Stone is perhaps best known for his role in the creation of Cyborg. Although he was a neglectful father, Dr. Stone equipped his son with cybernetic parts after a teenage Victor was caught in a lab explosion. Although the procedure was done to save his son’s life, Stone unilaterally made the decision to change Victor’s life forever, and that choice formed a wedge between father and son that existed for years.

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In The Terrifics #27, Mister Terrific has called on the T-Council to assist his team in locating Simon Stagg and a group of subway travelers who have been taken underground by some unknown force. Along the way, the Terrifics encounter a once-human monster that Plastic Man realizes is a transformed version of his son, Offspring. Even after this information is relayed to the teams, Doctor Stone has to be stopped from using lethal force against the creature.

Once tensions have died down, Mister Terrific reveals to the others that he met Doctor Stone years ago and the doctor offered him the opportunity to become his intern. Terrific declined, and the doctor took offense to his decision. Terrific later offered Stone membership on the T-Council, not only because of the doctor’s intelligence but also as a way to ease tensions between them, However, that effort that appears to have failed.

Once Mister Terrific has a moment alone with Stone, he admits to having a healthy admiration for the doctor and his work, but also warns him to watch his tone when addressing him and his teammates. Doctor Stone conveys a mutual respect for the third smartest man in the world and informs him that if his tone is brash it’s because he doesn’t believe in mincing words or saying any more than what is absolutely necessary.

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As the conversation continues, Doctor Stone reveals the key difference between Terrific and himself, namely that the doctor values progress over the retaining of humanity. This sheds a disturbing light on what he once did to his son and presents the idea that his motivations possibly were not solely in the interest of saving Cyborg’s life. Terrific disagrees with the doctor’s ideals, and the conversation ends with Doctor Stone harshly stating that he is grateful that Terrific did not accept his internship, as his views would have undoubtedly slowed the doctor’s progress.

Later in the issue, the T-Council comes into contact with more humans who have been turned into monsters, this time the civilians the heroes ventured into the underground caverns to find. Stone immediately begins firing his weapon in an effort to terminate the creatures and is reprimanded again, this time by Man-Bat. Although he is stopped from killing any of the human-creature hybrids, Doctor Stone still calls Man-Bat naive for wishing to spare the monsters and reminds the biologist that “It’s either them or us.”

The behavior displayed by Stone in this issue is not the first display of ruthlessness seen during the DC Rebirth era. When his wife was diagnosed with cancer, Stone created several clones of himself that he experimented on in an effort to find a cure for her. After he was unable to find a cure in time to save her life, Stone callously disposed of the clones, an action that later came back to haunt him.

While Doctor Silas Stone is a member of an organization meant to do good, he has shown on numerous occasions that he harbors a certain degree of ruthlessness. Fortunately, this side of his personality seems to emerge during times when he or the people he cares about are threatened. Although his actions in the Terrifics were somewhat reprehensible, the reasons behind his actions were totally understandable. Calling him a hero is a bit of a stretch — as is calling him a villain — but he is certainly human.

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About The Author

D. R. Bickham is a raving fan of Mixed Martial Arts and everything that has even a remote connection to superheroes. His hobbies don’t include much more than reading comics, playing video games (especially RPGs) and writing books. He is the author of the “Unnatural Selection” series, which focuses on babies born with superhuman abilities, and is hoping that his own children display super powers at some point in the near future. He dreams of some day performing stand-up comedy in front of a live audience and singing onstage with his favorite rock group, Muse.

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